Chapter 80: The First Step of the Dessert Emperor!

“At last, one of my doubts is resolved. It seems I truly have the potential to become an ancestor figure.” Zhu Suihan chuckled, “Do you two still want more energy cubes? I can make another batch for you.”

Dragonite shook her head decisively, and Milky Sprite pressed her belly to refuse as well. Just inhaling the fragrance from Zhu Suihan was enough—they felt sated and had no desire to eat anything else.

If not for their bodies assuring them all was well, they might have begged Zhu Suihan for some digestive medicine right then and there. Well, whether or not a trainer is versed in such basic remedies, she’d trust his medical skills first.

Ring—

The phone’s ringtone sounded. Zhu Suihan picked up.

Damn, it’s Naz again. This brat just won’t quit. Maybe I should make another alternate account and taunt her about her skin and figure? Don’t ask—learned it from Little Blue after traveling through time.

Forget it, targeting her is far too easy; better not to bother.

Sitting atop Dragonite’s back, Zhu Suihan reached out to amuse Milky Sprite, who was practicing “Tackle.”

“Big sister, do you know what time it is now?”

Naz: ......

Big... sister?

Naz’s hair whipped about, a pinkish-purple light radiating, causing Alakazam to grip his spoon nervously.

Sometimes, gender differences are like that. You never know how much hurt a casual word can cause. And it’s likely real damage.

“What did you do? I can’t use psychic powers to foresee any information from your body anymore.”

Bishas has scientific instruments to help, Naz knew this well. Every time she tried to predict the future, his information was shrouded in fog.

It could be considered a psychic version of a personal information firewall, and Naz was the hacker.

But this white-haired monkey was stranger still; like a classified computer that’s simply not connected to any network.

In simpler terms, it’s out of service range—a technological version of leaping beyond the five elements.

Zhu Suihan: ?

Wow, after all this time, you still haven’t given up.

“Can I sue you for invading my privacy?”

“I’m sorry, but phone recordings can’t be decisive evidence.”

Naz was nearly crushing her phone: “There’s good news from the Ether Foundation. What you wanted will arrive within half a month at most.”

Zhu Suihan laughed, “I suppose your boss won’t allow you to shortchange my share.”

Naz took a deep breath, and Alakazam instantly teleported over to calm her, handing her a fruit tea.

Calm down, calm down.

“What do you want?”

Zhu Suihan thought for a moment. “You guys must have some kind of energy fluctuation detector internally, right? Give me a whole set—the best kind.”

He didn’t want to bother with it, and its future use meant he couldn’t simply take one from the Joy Academy.

Better to find a scapegoat.

“Fine, it’ll be delivered to your academy tomorrow. Tell me how you did it.”

Zhu Suihan scratched Dragonite’s chin. “Simple. Strengthen the body, then eat all the energy cubes made from ten century-old berries in one go.”

Naz laughed in exasperation. “Are you sure you can eat that much?”

“Strengthening the body was a lie, but eating is definitely true. I’m now helping my baby brush her teeth.”

His tone was calm. “We just finished eating, believe it or not.”

Since he’s impervious to all, psychic powers must count too. Naz used to be able to capture his signals, but could only attribute it to malnutrition.

Naz was stunned. “Did you awaken some mysterious power?”

“Ah, yes, that’s not wrong.”

Zhu Suihan hung up. “Money. That’s certainly my superpower.”

This time, Naz didn’t get angry, but her already broken phone was clearly destined for replacement.

She could at least discern the truth in his tone.

Naz turned to Alakazam. “Go make arrangements. The best energy detector. At least now we know some of his preferences.”

He eats a lot, and only the best, and loves wealth.

If they target these points, they should be able to strike Zhu Suihan with exceptional results.

Perhaps they might even successfully recruit him—not for Sakaki himself, though.

According to Sakaki’s plans, this kind of talent is his future reserve for Silver, so building a good rapport is wise.

This mindset also influenced Ma Zhishi, or rather, the exorbitant deal at the start.

Sakaki, in his “fatherly” mindset, tended to consider things in more complex ways.

“This woman must really be crazy. Hope Sakaki can handle it.”

Zhu Suihan lounged on the sofa, browsing Rocket Group’s internal news on his phone.

Watching TV news was less interesting than Rocket Group’s; at least they aired things the TV couldn’t.

“My phone privileges are pretty high.”

A bit surprised, but understandable.

No matter. He just needed to wait for the next payment, then he could spend freely and joyfully again.

Berry wine was already on the agenda—a sudden windfall, and Zhu Suihan used ten-year-old berries in the brewing process, waiting for success.

“If only I had a Polteageist or something, it’d be even easier.”

But Polteageist only ferments high-concentration delicious juice; if he turned it into wine, would every day become a drunken stupor?

The night passed uneventfully. The next day, it was time for class again, and Dragonite and Milky Sprite—energized—headed to the big lake for training.

The nutrition from the energy cubes was so full that if they didn’t increase their training intensity, Dragonite might be fine, but Milky Sprite worried she’d someday give her trainer a sore neck.

She’d heard about Gigantamax from her big sister. As a native Galar Pokémon, Milky Sprite wasn’t unfamiliar with this power.

But Dynamax and Gigantamax are about boosting power, not just becoming huge.

“Milu!”

Milky Sprite faced Gyarados confidently.

I feel I’ve learned a brand new Tackle—the first step toward becoming the Dessert Emperor!

“Gala?”

Gyarados scratched his head with his whiskers, not quite understanding Milky Sprite.

Tackle—what new tricks could there possibly be?

Even in extreme cases—smashing trees, mountains, rocks—it’s just about training move strength, not fundamentally changing the technique.

“Gala.”

Want to try?

“Milu!”

I was waiting for you to say that!

Milky Sprite backed up, aimed at Gyarados’s broad head, and rapidly condensed a ball of pink-glowing cream in her hands.

Tackle!

Whoosh!

The cream projectile struck Gyarados’s lips. He moved, then licked the creamy blob from his thick lips, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.

The cream tasted wonderful, but something felt odd, stirring a kind of restless anger within.

A contradiction, truly.

“Milu?”

Milky Sprite’s eyes shone, awaiting Gyarados’s feedback.

“Gala.”

The power’s alright, but that’s definitely not Tackle.

“Milu!”

Who says it isn’t? Just tell me if the main damage was impact!

Gyarados pondered. The impact barely scratched his well-tempered scales; what unsettled him was the elemental energy inside.

Anyway, this thing definitely isn’t Tackle.

“Gala.”

Wait here, I’ll find something to test.

Gyarados dove into the water, surfaced gripping a stone, and led Milky Sprite and Dragonite to a small island in the lake.

“Gala.”

Use your move on this stone. When you can punch a hole in it, your Tackle will be perfected.

“Milu!”

Milky Sprite condensed another cream projectile and fired it, leaving a noticeable dent in the stone.

It wasn’t clear on Gyarados’s body, but the stone revealed obvious damage, thrilling Milky Sprite.

Sure enough, her trainer’s guidance was correct!

Berry-cream ability user, the first move of the future Dessert Emperor—mastered!

Gyarados was silent for a moment, then looked at Dragonite.

Why is your little sister so peculiar?

“Woo.”

Who knows? Ask the trainer.

Dragonite also found this move a bit outrageous—it couldn’t be called Tackle at all.

It was more like a Cream Impact—what sort of Tackle is that!

If Milky Sprite could maintain the power but turn it into continuous output, wouldn’t it become like her Water Gun?

An upgraded Cream Impact—Cream Jet?

Anyway, with elemental energy inside, it certainly counted as a signature move, just lacking some variety.

But with the trainer’s luck, Milky Sprite needn’t worry about added effects from moves.

If she launched a Water Pulse and the opponent could still use moves while confused, she’d follow up with an Ice Beam.

Following the trainer's philosophy: only damage landing on the enemy counts as good output.

If you can’t hit your opponent, no matter how flashy, the move is useless.

“Gala.”

Gyarados shook his head. He could give Dragonite some advice on training, but Milky Sprite’s approach was beyond him.

He’d never seen such a bizarre attack style, especially with elemental energy mixed in.

Thankfully, he lacked Dragon-type, maybe just a trace in his ancestry.

Gyarados realized the earlier contradiction was from Milky Sprite mixing her Fairy-type energy into the cream.

Even if the impact was ignored, if that cream stuck to a Dragon-type Pokémon, the close-contact Fairy energy alone would give them a hard time.

Gyarados looked at Dragonite, then Milky Sprite, feeling the white-haired monkey might have a bias against dragons.

One Ice-type, one Fairy-type—both could thoroughly thrash Dragons if their powers were equal.

Dragon vs. Dragon is powerful, but that’s the natural law of intra-type advantages—not the devastating effectiveness of cross-type.

Gyarados understood well: immunity to certain types is indeed unfair, but it depends.

For example, Stone Edge or Mud Bomb—machine-gun moves—if accurate and strong enough, can bring down even high-flying Pokémon.

Who says Ground-type can’t hit Flying units!

Gyarados, with his wealth of battle experience, grasped a truth that future Alain’s Mega Charizard nearly died for.

Precipice Blades!

Ground-type, right? Don’t think your Flying-type means I can’t hit you!

Just like the days of relentless battle against Zygarde in Gigantamax Adventures—those combos were truly nauseating.

Thousand Arrows!

Earth Power!

[You sensed a massive presence!]

Zygarde, Swarm Change!

Thanks, but I really don’t want to sense that.

Thousand Arrows is a classic counter move; in reality, Earth Power alone could achieve the same effect.

Like Precipice Blades, Earth Power can erupt like a geyser in volcanic regions.

Beyond the exclusive skills of legendary beasts, other Pokémon have their own ground-type moves.

Take Cubone’s Bone Boomerang, which can be thrown skyward, or Lucario’s Bone Rush—using aura to form a long bone club to strike.

Leaping high and using Bone Rush—it's like slam-dunking, except you’re hitting the opponent’s head instead of the hoop.

Moves like Sand Toss, Mud Shot, Mud Bomb are even simpler—just stick to “force creates miracles” and add a touch of accuracy.

Earthquake—a deadly move—if you insist on using it against Flying-types, it’s best to restrict their flight first.

The depth of move development depends largely on the trainer’s skills; you shouldn’t copy textbooks blindly, but also not ignore them like Ash.

The master of counter-types, able to invent moves and achieve stellar results—so far, only Ash stands alone.

Every so often, partners or bystanders would marvel or puzzle over Ash’s chosen Pokémon or moves.

A classic story, really.

For example, Fairy-type immunity to Dragon-type—it's real, but only to elemental energy, not everything.

To illustrate: even if this little cream Pokémon faced a powerful dragon, a careless moment could mean serious injury.

A Dragon Rush might not deal damage, but the environment doesn’t immunize against the destruction Pokémon cause.

If your body isn’t strong enough, the aftermath of moves—shattered rocks, broken trees—could easily cause you serious harm.