"Good morning, Xiao Ze."
"Morning, Grandma."
"Grandma, I'm going to make you all some cream and fruit jam this morning."
Auron Vale had just come downstairs when he spotted Grandma Liu Xiangjun bustling about in the kitchen, so he spoke up right away.
"Sounds good — I'll bake some bread then. Anything else you'd like?"
"Just go with whatever you think, it'll all be fine."
With that, Auron Vale headed outside — he still needed to find Alcremie to get some cream.
"Alcremie? Are you awake?"
Auron Vale arrived at Alcremie's vine cottage and called out softly.
"Yaha?"
Alcremie rubbed her eyes and shuffled out of her little vine cottage at the sound of Auron Vale's voice.
"Yaha?"
She tilted her head at Auron Vale with a questioning look.
"Alcremie, you're so cute!"
Auron Vale couldn't hold back at the sight of sleepily blinking Alcremie — and then she hit him with a head tilt on top of it all.
That was it. Auron Vale completely surrendered and scooped Alcremie straight into a hug.
"Ah, Alcremie, you're just too cute."
"Yaha~"
Alcremie grinned triumphantly, then blew a puff of cream right into Auron Vale's mouth.
"Oh right — Alcremie, I need some cream. I want to make some cream fruit jam."
That mouthful of cream finally reminded Auron Vale why he'd come over in the first place.
"Yaha~"
Alcremie nodded without hesitation. Only then did Auron Vale carry her back inside.
With Alcremie's help, Auron Vale quickly blended the mint-flavored cream she produced with the fruit jam made from tree fruits.
"All done — Alcremie, want to try some?"
"Yaha~"
Alcremie nodded eagerly and opened her mouth wide.
"Ah~"
"Ha ha."
Auron Vale laughed, then scooped up a dollop of sweet-and-spicy jam made from Shetu fruit and lychee with a pair of chopsticks.
The faint bitterness naturally present in Shetu fruit was perfectly balanced out by the lychee's sweetness — so you couldn't taste the bitterness at all.
And the lychee's own subtle spice was softened by that bitterness too. Combined with the sweetness of both fruits and Alcremie's cool mint cream, adjusting the proportions just right created a flawless sweet-and-spicy jam.
"Yaha~"
Alcremie's eyes went wide after one taste.
Her own cream was already incredible on its own, but now paired with Auron Vale's carefully crafted jam? It wasn't just one plus one equaling two — it was absolutely phenomenal!
"Tastes good, right?"
"Mm mm~"
Alcremie nodded repeatedly, but her hand was already sneaking toward the bowl in Auron Vale's hands.
Auron Vale noticed, of course. He immediately activated his Ability: [Prankster], pulling the jam bowl back out of reach.
"Yaha~"
(Just one more bite, please please~)
Alcremie shot her hands up in a prayer gesture the moment she couldn't reach it, eyes wide and sparkling as she pulled out her most adorable expression.
"Okay—"
How could Auron Vale possibly resist that?
He set the bowl right in front of Alcremie. Here, have at it — eat until you're full!
Alcremie's eyes lit up, and she made a lunge for the bowl.
Fortunately, Auron Vale's reflexes were faster. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck just in time.
"You'd get buried if you jumped in."
Auron Vale laughed. Because there were so many Pokémon around, Auron Vale had deliberately fetched one of the big basins. The height was only about Alcremie's height, but the diameter was wide enough to fit two Alcremies standing upright inside. And the bowl was filled to the brim with cream jam — if Alcremie had launched herself in, there'd be no trace of her at all.
"Okay, hold on a second."
Auron Vale held Alcremie in one hand while reaching into the cabinet with the other for a small bowl.
"Here, use this to eat. This one's just the right size for you."
After ladling out a bowl of cream jam for Alcremie, Auron Vale turned back to portion out more — he needed to set some aside for the Pokémon in the backyard so they could taste it too.
Each person got a small bowl, each filled to the brim.
"Charizard, Crawdaunt~"
"Char?"
"Crikey?"
The two Pokémon lazing about in the living room looked up at the sound of their names and immediately padded over to the kitchen doorway — one head poking in from each side, staring at Auron Vale in confusion.
"Bring all of these over to Mawile."
Auron Vale double-checked the count to make sure every Pokémon would get a share, then handed bowl after bowl to Charizard and Crawdaunt, who would deliver them to Mawile.
Mawile managed all the small daily affairs in the backyard, so she was always the right one to ask for this kind of thing.
As Charizard and Crawdaunt made trip after trip back and forth, Lilligant helped out too.
In the end it was Mr.Mime who stepped in — Psychic powers whisked all the remaining cream jam out of the kitchen in one go — and only then did the Pokémon finally settle down to enjoy their breakfast.
For the Pokémon, having cream jam for breakfast was perfectly fine. After all, Auron Vale had mixed in some Energy Cube fragments, dried tree fruit pieces, and dried fruit to fill out the nutrition.
As for what the humans were eating — well, no Energy Cubes for them, obviously, so they'd need some side dishes and toast to go with it.
Once the food was ready, Auron Vale went to wake Mini Dragon. Grandpa Lu Xingguo and Dad were already up and had started eating.
"Not bad — is this made with Alcremie's cream?"
Grandpa Lu Xingguo took a bite of toast slathered in cream jam and asked in delight.
Liu Xiangjun tasted some too, her eyes brightening slightly. "Mm, definitely. But Xiao Ze tuned it himself using Alcremie's cream."
"Mm mm, not bad at all. Xiao Ze, you have this skill too?"
"Well, your grandson's a breeder, so of course he'd have a trick like this up his sleeve."
Dad spoke with a hint of pride in his voice.
That's my son!
"Zap?"
Mini Dragon blinked sleepily and licked something off the corner of her mouth.
"Zap!"
The instant the cream jam hit her taste buds, Mini Dragon snapped fully awake.
"Zap~"
Mini Dragon looked at Auron Vale sitting by her bedside and immediately understood — so she hurried over to his side and nudged him, communicating that she wanted more.
Auron Vale smiled and picked up Mini Dragon. "Come on, let's go downstairs. There's plenty more."
"Zap~"
(Chapter complete.)
———
Please give me Power Stones!
Support me on Patreon @ patreon(dot)com/SorenEclipse
Read 15 Chapters Ahead on Patreon!