Chapter 150
Now that Arceus had transformed the Gourmet Restaurant into a genuine pocket realm, Haruto naturally decided to revise his original plans.
From this point onward, he intended to collect all kinds of Pokémon—especially those capable of continuously producing edible ingredients—and raise them inside the Gourmet Restaurant.
He would turn it into his own personal ingredient farm.
With that goal in mind, Haruto was in no hurry to leave the forest.
There were plenty of Pokémon living here.
He began searching the surrounding area.
Caterpie were by far the most common inhabitants of the forest.
Haruto could barely walk a few steps without seeing another one lying on a leaf and happily chewing away.
He was not particularly interested in them, but he still collected several.
After all, Butterfree could help pollinate plants once they evolved.
As he continued onward, a pale-purple Rattata suddenly darted past his feet. It threw him a wary glance before fleeing at full speed.
Haruto watched it go and kept walking.
Although he intended to collect Pokémon, he could not think of any particular use for a Rattata.
A little farther ahead, he found an Ekans coiled among the grass, its patterned body partially hidden by the foliage.
The moment it sensed him approaching, it raised its upper body, flicked its tongue, and assumed an aggressive posture.
Haruto raised an eyebrow and released a faint trace of his presence.
The previously threatening Ekans instantly froze.
Terror filled its eyes, and once it recovered enough to move, it immediately began slithering away.
Haruto had no intention of letting it escape.
He swiftly caught up and lifted it from the ground with one hand.
He examined the Ekans carefully.
Its round, plump body looked as though it would contain an abundance of meat. Whether braised or simmered in soup, it would probably taste excellent.
Unfortunately, Haruto had sworn never to treat Pokémon themselves as ingredients.
He could only suppress the tempting thought.
After placing Ekans inside the Gourmet Restaurant, Haruto continued onward until he encountered a narrow river winding through the forest.
The current was gentle.
Ancient trees along both banks lowered their dense branches over the water, filtering the sunlight into scattered golden spots that danced across the surface in soft ripples.
The river was remarkably clear. Smooth pebbles and swaying aquatic plants were plainly visible on the bottom, along with the occasional flicker of something swimming through the light.
Haruto studied the glittering water thoughtfully.
"There should be plenty of Pokémon living underwater too."
Since he had decided to collect Pokémon, he could not overlook the aquatic varieties.
He was even planning to catch several Magikarp.
Naturally, he did not intend to boil them for dinner.
Magikarp were supposedly ninety percent bone.
Gyarados, however, was an excellent Pokémon, and Haruto wanted to raise at least one.
Reality was nothing like the games, though.
In the games, Magikarp naturally evolved into Gyarados after reaching a particular level.
In the Pokémon world, the transformation was nowhere near that simple.
The overwhelming majority of Magikarp spent their entire lives drifting aimlessly through the water with blank expressions, never managing to overcome the barrier to evolution.
As for capturing a wild Gyarados directly—
Haruto dismissed that idea almost as soon as it occurred to him.
This narrow river was far too small to conceal a Pokémon as enormous and ferocious as Gyarados.
Even if he did encounter one, he would not bring it into the Gourmet Restaurant.
Wild Gyarados were notoriously violent and possessed terrifying destructive power. If one went on a rampage inside his pocket realm, the damage could be catastrophic.
Haruto was not worried about the low probability of a Magikarp evolving.
What did low odds matter?
With enough Magikarp, surely one or two would possess exceptional talent and eventually break through into Gyarados.
Even those that never evolved would not be useless.
Their bright-red bodies were festive and attractive. He could always keep them as ornamental fish.
Goldeen and Seaking would also make beautiful additions to the pond.
Feebas might look awkwardly ugly, but once it evolved into Milotic, it became renowned as one of the most beautiful Pokémon in existence.
Its graceful form and elegant presence made it something Haruto absolutely wanted to raise.
The only difficulty was that evolving Feebas was no easier than evolving Magikarp.
To ensure its successful evolution, he would preferably need to find a Prism Scale.
Having made his decision, Haruto wasted no time.
He loosened his limbs, removed his outer clothes, and drew a deep breath before diving into the river with a splash.
The water was cool but not painfully cold. It wrapped around his body with refreshing comfort.
Before beginning his hunt, Haruto drew a large quantity of river water into the Gourmet Restaurant and used it to create a small pond.
He then collected fine sand, smooth pebbles, and aquatic plants, perfectly recreating the river environment so that any aquatic Pokémon he captured could live comfortably.
Once everything was prepared, Haruto moved his arms and began searching through the clear water.
The riverbed was visible in its entirety, and green plants swayed gently with the current.
Beside a cluster of vegetation not far away, a Magikarp lazily moved its tail.
Its eyes were blank, its expression vacant, and it drifted aimlessly up and down without any apparent purpose.
Haruto kicked lightly through the water and approached it as silently as a swimming fish.
Perhaps the Magikarp was genuinely unintelligent.
Or perhaps it simply failed to sense any danger.
Even when Haruto came within arm’s reach, it merely stared at him with those lifeless, round eyes and made no attempt to flee.
Haruto reached out and grabbed it.
Only then did the Magikarp belatedly realize something was wrong.
It suddenly displayed surprising strength, twisting and thrashing wildly as its tail slapped the water and scattered streams of bubbles.
Unfortunately, its struggles were utterly insignificant against Haruto.
He casually placed it inside the Gourmet Restaurant and released it into the newly created pond.
With his first capture complete, Haruto scanned the surrounding water again.
As expected, Magikarp were abundant here.
Nearly everywhere he looked, a red shape drifted through the river.
Some stared blankly into space, while others slowly nibbled at aquatic plants, all of them displaying a complete lack of awareness.
In barely more than ten minutes, Haruto captured over a dozen Magikarp—almost one every minute.
Eventually, a different figure appeared within his sight.
A Seaking.
Its body had an elegant, streamlined shape, and the sharp horn on its forehead looked exceptionally hard. Its scales reflected a faint glow beneath the water, while its movements were considerably more agile than those of the Magikarp.
The moment it noticed Haruto approaching, wariness filled its round eyes.
Its fins spread slightly, and tiny points of white light appeared across its body.
It was preparing to use a move, clearly warning him not to come any closer.
Haruto paid no attention and continued swimming toward it.
His approach thoroughly enraged the vigilant Seaking.
The white light around its body suddenly intensified. Its tail whipped rapidly through the water as it charged toward Haruto, leaving a faint afterimage behind.
Haruto remained completely untroubled.
He even had enough leisure to wonder whether it was using Horn Attack or Horn Drill.
The instant Seaking reached him, Haruto thrust out his right hand and seized the horn on its forehead.
The force of the collision pushed him several meters backward through the water, though that was mostly because he had no solid footing.
Seaking immediately panicked.
It had clearly never expected its attack to be stopped so easily.
It twisted its body in frustration as white light gathered around it again, preparing to launch a second move.
Haruto gave it no such opportunity.
Before Seaking could attack, he sent it directly into the Gourmet Restaurant.
He later captured several Goldeen as well, although he did not encounter another Seaking.
There was, however, an unexpected bonus.
Near a shallow stretch of riverbank, three plump, pink Slowpoke lay on the grass.
They stared vacantly ahead while their tails dangled motionlessly in the water, almost as though they were fishing.
Haruto was delighted.
Slowpoke were gentle Pokémon with sluggish reactions and almost no aggression.
More importantly, their tails were regarded as excellent ingredients.
Slowpoke tails also regenerated naturally, and the Pokémon felt almost nothing when they detached.
Haruto naturally would not pass up such a valuable, renewable source of food.
He immediately approached the three Slowpoke.
They remained in exactly the same positions, staring blankly ahead without noticing him at all.
Even when Haruto reached down and picked them up, they merely tilted their heads at a painfully slow pace.
Before any of them could fully process what was happening, Haruto transferred them into the Gourmet Restaurant.
Not one offered the slightest resistance.