Gourmet master of the Pokemon world

Chapter 313: The Shapeshifter

Finding Babu the Groundhog finally put An Jie's mind at ease.

He checked the time and realized it was already noon, so he said, "Let's have lunch first, and then look for a way out after we eat."

"Babu~" Upon hearing about lunch, Babu the Groundhog immediately perked up.

An Jie found a clearing in the forest, then took out a Poké Ball and released Aegislash and Bewear.

Next, he took out a table, chairs, cooking utensils, ingredients, seasonings, and other items.

Lilligant and the others hurriedly came forward to help, setting the table and sorting the ingredients. Except for the newly joined Morelull, no one was idle.

An Jie called out to Babu the Groundhog, "Babu Groundhog, wash the rice for me!"

"Babu~" Babu the Groundhog responded and immediately scurried off to get busy.

Babu Groundhog had been with An Jie for so long; even if he couldn't do anything else, washing rice was no problem.

Turning his gaze away from Babu the Groundhog, An Jie began to cook.

Since they were outside, he didn't bother with anything complicated and just wanted to make a few simple dishes.

The first dish was a cold bean sprout salad. He had sprouted bean sprouts with Growlithe a day before they set off, and he packed some in his backpack.

The second dish was steamed cod. The fish farms at home had a bumper harvest of cod recently. An Jie had sent a lot to the royal kitchen, but there was still a lot left.

Fortunately, there were many Pokémon at home who liked to eat fish, especially the Water-type Pokémon.

Finally, he would make a fragrant mushroom tofu fish ball soup.

There was so much fish at home that they couldn't finish it all, so An Jie made a lot of fish balls and stored them in his backpack, ready to use at any time.

Moreover, fish balls were delicious and could be prepared in many ways, so you never got tired of eating them.

An Jie had also sent a lot of fish balls to Penny in the Paldea region.

After deciding what to make, An Jie started to get busy.

He first said to Aegislash, "Aegislash, please help me prepare the fish!"

"Giruru~" Aegislash nodded and immediately picked up the fish to prepare it, gutting, scaling, and cleaning it with practiced movements.

Lilligant had already started helping without An Jie needing to tell her.

The quiet forest was very lively with An Jie and his Pokémon. Everyone chatted while working, and the newly joined Morelull quickly integrated into the group.

Since it couldn't do any work, it sat side-by-side with Floette and Flabébé on the edge of the table, shaking its head and cheering for An Jie and the others.

"Hoo la~ Hoo la~ Hoo la~"

"Labe~ Labe~ Labe~"

"Nyma~ Nyma~ Shoo shoo~"

Clang clang clang~ The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board as An Jie chopped vegetables was very rhythmic, and Morelull and the others swayed their bodies to the sound.

However, no one knew when the sound suddenly became a duet.

After An Jie finished chopping the vegetables, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

He turned his head and saw a person who looked exactly like him standing next to him, holding a knife and chopping vegetables just like him.

However, he was chopping messily, with scattered scallion segments and ginger scattered all over the table.

An Jie was really taken aback and almost threw the kitchen knife in his hand. Fortunately, he still had his wits about him, and he just took a few steps back in fright.

Unexpectedly, the other person also took a step back, imitating An Jie's expression and movements almost exactly.

"Who are you?" An Jie questioned the other person.

The other person also imitated An Jie's speech, but when he opened his mouth, it was: "Mo~ Mo~ Mo~"

An Jie: . . .

Okay, judging by that cry, it must be a Pokémon!

"What Pokémon are you? Change back quickly, or I'll be rude!" An Jie said, pointing at the other person.

Babu Groundhog, Lilligant, and Aegislash immediately stepped forward to surround him.

Seeing this scene, the other person was immediately frightened and trembled. With a flash of light, he… no, it, returned to its original form.

Looking at the soft and bouncy little guy in front of him, An Jie suddenly understood. It was a Ditto!

Ditto was a rare Pokémon, and An Jie didn't expect to encounter one here.

The key was that this Ditto was a Shiny one.

Ordinary Ditto were purple, while Shiny Ditto were blue.

Just as everyone was surprised to see the Ditto, the Ditto suddenly transformed, instantly turning into a Morelull.

It ran to An Jie's Morelull, knocked An Jie's Morelull over, and the two Morelull hugged together and rolled around on the ground. Everyone immediately couldn't tell who was the real Morelull.

An Jie looked surprised: What amazing transformation skills, they're exactly the same.

But this couldn't stump An Jie. As long as he opened his Observation Eye, he could immediately tell who was Morelull and who was Ditto.

So he pointed to the Morelull on the left and said, "You are Ditto!"

An Jie's confident tone made the Morelull's face show a look of astonishment, but soon it became unconvinced.

With another flash of light, it transformed again, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a yellow-flowered Flabébé.

This Flabébé flew to the side of the three Flabébé and scurried around for a while, and everyone couldn't tell who was the real yellow Flabébé again.

"Hoo la~ Hoo la~" I'm the real one!

"Hoo la~ Hoo la~" I'm the real one!

The two yellow Flabébé argued with their necks stuck out.

Ditto couldn't imitate An Jie's voice, but it could imitate the voices of Morelull and Flabébé very realistically.

An Jie's head hurt from their arguing, so he shouted, "Okay, stop arguing!"

The two Flabébé instantly quieted down.

An Jie pointed to the one on the right and said, "You are Ditto!"

That Flabébé immediately looked shocked, its face full of: How did you know?

It was still unconvinced; its transformation had never been seen through before!

In order to prove itself, Ditto successively transformed into Floette, Lilligant, Aegislash, and Bewear, but without exception, they were all recognized by An Jie at a glance.

Having nothing left to transform into, Ditto slumped softly on the grass, panting continuously.

Frequent transformation was physically demanding for it. Its level was too low, and it couldn't transform too many times.

(Note: In this work, when Ditto transforms, its base stats, skills, etc. will become the same as the transformation target, but its level will not. It's still its own, otherwise the levels that people have worked so hard to train will be achieved by Ditto with one transformation, which would be too buggy.)

Looking at the Ditto in front of him, An Jie suddenly had an idea.

Ditto can transform into anything, even mimicking the abilities of its opponents. Could it possibly mimic my own Aura?

If so, wouldn't Ditto be the perfect Pokémon to assist me?

Anjay thought, 'If I teach Ditto all of my culinary skills, it could become another version of myself!'

Hehe~ I'm so clever!

Sensing Anjay's eager gaze, Ditto shivered: "What do you want?"

At that moment, Ditto's data appeared before Anjay's eyes.

Ditto

[Type] Normal

[Ability] Imposter

[Gender] None

[Level] 12

[Move] Transform

[IVs]

HP: 20

Attack: 19

Defense: 22

Sp. Atk: 24

Sp. Def: 28

Speed: 30

The overall stats are average, but it's Ditto, so everything else is secondary. Having the Imposter ability and the Transform move is all that matters.

Anjay walked up to Ditto, crouched down, and asked with a smile, "Ditto, you're so amazing. You can transform into anything, right?"

Hearing this, Ditto immediately perked up, its face full of pride.

"Momo~" Of course!

Anjay placed his hand on its head, transmitted his Aura to it, and asked, "Can you try transforming into this?"

Ditto carefully sensed for a moment, then confidently put its hands on its hips.

"Momo~" No problem at all!

As soon as it finished speaking, its body flickered and transformed into Anjay's appearance once again.

Anjay carefully examined the other side. It was truly identical; he couldn't see any difference.

It's like looking at myself... It's quite strange... completely different from looking in a mirror.

"Momo~" At that moment, Ditto shouted, then unleashed a palm strike, and an invisible wave of energy spread out from it.

It's Aura!

Anjay's eyes lit up with surprise.

As expected of Ditto, it can even transform into Aura!

"Momo~ Momo~" See!

Ditto proudly placed its hands on its hips.

"Amazing! So amazing!" Anjay gave a thumbs up and praised Ditto profusely, "I've never seen such an incredible transformation!"

Mainly because he hadn't seen any other Ditto.

"Momo~ Momo~" Ditto was so pleased by Anjay's praise that its nose almost reached the sky.

Anjay didn't immediately ask to catch Ditto but instead extended an invitation.

"So... amazing Ditto, would you like to join us for lunch?"

At that moment, Ditto's stomach conveniently rumbled.

At the same time, the aroma of freshly cooked rice wafted over, and Ditto twitched its nose and nodded slightly.

"Babu~ Babu~"

Babu the Groundhog was very confused. It walked up to Anjay, grabbed his pant leg, and looked puzzled: Why invite this guy to eat?

"You don't understand!" Anjay patted Babu the Groundhog's head with a smile, then said to Ditto, "Ditto, you can play with Floette and the others for a while. I still need to finish cooking; it will be ready soon."

"Momo~" Ditto nodded, and a light flashed on its body as it transformed into Flabébé, quickly joining Floette, Flabébé, and Morelull in their games.

That's the good thing about Ditto; it can transform into whoever it wants, quickly closing the distance with others.

Babu the Groundhog was a little unhappy, crossed its legs, and sat on the stool.

Ditto, who was playing with Floette and the others, saw this, and with a whoosh, it transformed into a Babu the Groundhog, quickly ran to Babu the Groundhog, and pulled Babu the Groundhog off the stool.

"Babu~ Babu~" What are you doing?!

Babu the Groundhog shouted angrily.

"Babu~ Babu~" Play together, play together!

Ditto said with a grin.

Although Babu the Groundhog was reluctant, under Ditto's enthusiastic influence, it quickly joined Ditto, Floette, Flabébé, and the others in chasing and playing on the grass.

Meanwhile, on Anjay's side, as time passed, a rich aroma began to permeate.

Babu the Groundhog and the others, who were already very hungry, stopped playing after smelling the aroma, lined up in a row, drool hanging from their mouths, staring unblinkingly at Anjay.

Anjay turned around and saw their comical appearance, so he said with a smile, "Go sit down, it's time to eat."

"Babu~"

"Momo~"

"Hula~"

...

The Pokémon cheered and ran to the table, sitting obediently.

Babu the Groundhog didn't forget to lift Morelull, who couldn't reach the table, onto it, while Aegislash used its ribbons to lift Komala.

Then Anjay and Florges came to the table with the food and filled each Pokémon's bowl with rice.

Watching the Pokémon feast, a smile appeared on Anjay's face.

"Is it good, Ditto?"

"Momo~ Momo~" Delicious, so delicious!

Ditto replied without looking up.

"Would you like to be able to eat delicious food every day in the future?" Anjay continued to ask.

"Momo?" Ditto looked up in confusion.

Anjay continued, "You can join us. Not only will I make you delicious food every day, but I can also teach you how to make delicious food!"

Hearing this, Ditto's eyes immediately lit up.

"Momo~ Momo~" I'll join! I'll join!

"Successfully lured," a bright smile bloomed on Anjay's face, "Then please take care of me in the future!"

"Momo~ Momo~" Take care!

Ditto lowered its head and continued eating, so easily entrusting itself.

Anjay pushed the food towards Ditto, "Eat more, don't be shy, there's still a lot."

Saying that, he also picked up a chopstick of vegetables and placed it in front of Morelull's plate, "Morelull, eat your fill too."

"Nemashu~" Morelull nodded obediently, its little mouth full.

As Anjay and the others were eating, they suddenly noticed that many Pokémon in the forest were attracted by the aroma of the food and gathered around.

Swirlix, Slurpuff, Phantump, Impidimp, Hatenna...

Anjay hesitated for a moment and asked, "Does everyone want to eat together?"

Hearing this, the Pokémon, who were originally just peeking out, jumped out of the bushes one after another.

So Anjay took out the plates and placed them on the grass, filling each Pokémon's plate with food.

In the end, because there wasn't enough food, he quickly made some more.

However, what Anjay didn't know was that a Pokémon was secretly observing him, and beside this Pokémon was none other than the Ponyta that had led him the way before.

After finishing lunch, Anjay and the others began to look for the route back to the navigation.

But the environment of the Mirkwood Forest was too complex, with dim light and layers upon layers of forest, making it impossible to discern directions inside.