NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29: Ch. 29
Just as we were able to see Ash and Gary playing in the sand mom came walking over to us.
"If we want to eat before the sun sets I need to get started on the Seaking. Can you pass it here?"
I shook my head.
"I'm the one who decided that we were having it for dinner, so I should see it through till the end."
Looking down I finished with.
"That's the least I should do for it."
I felt mom place a hand on my head and ruffle my hair a bit. Looking up she smiled at me.
"That's a good way to look at it Jake. Never forget what they give up for you."
Mom turned to Daisy and spoke.
"Go and play. Jake and I have work to do."
"Can I help?"
Mom just chuckled at the hyper little girl. Not this time sweetie, Jake and I can handle it."
"Oh. Ok."
She looked a little sad as she walked away. Mom spoke something so quietly that I nearly missed it.
"That could end up being a problem."
"What is?"
She looked at me and shook her head.
"Nothing for you to worry about it's adult stuff. Let's get to work."
Mom led me to a table out of sight from the other kids.
"Pull out the Seaking and put it on the table."
Holding the Pokeball I pointed it at the tabletop and pressed the button. With a flash the burned and dying Pokemon appeared on the table.
"It's suffering Jake."
Mom handed me a knife.
"Bring It's pain to an end."
As I looked between the Pokemon and the knife I made up my mind. Placing the tip of the knife in front of one of the Pokemon's closed eyes I thrust the knife forward, plunging the blade through the eye and into brain, giving it a swift death. As I pulled the knife out my hands shook a bit as I placed my empty hand on it's head. I stayed like that a moment before looking at mom.
"What do I do next?"
"Take the knife and carefully slit open the belly being careful not to cut open any of the internal organs."
Doing as she said I very carefully cut into the belly making very shallow cuts over the same spot until I cut through.
"Now pull out everything inside."
Setting the knife aside I used one hand to hold the belly open and the other to scoop out it's insides. Doing this myself was nothing like watching mom do it. The organs were squishy and slippery and the smell of blood was nauseating. When I had the organs out mom gave me the next instruction.
"Now, using the knife, cut from just behind the gills all the way to the tail running the knife parallel to the ribs."
Once more I did as she said, by the time I got to the tail I was pretty sure I had mangled the thing beyond all use. As the meat fell away from the ribs I saw alot of meat still attached to the ribs.
"Not bad for your first time. Now we do the same with the other side. Remember what you did the first time and try to do better on the second."
Flipping the Pokemon over I closed my eyes as I thought about what I had messed up before. Having that image in my mind I tried again. When I finished I didn't think I had improved but mom complemented me anyway.
"That was much smoother than the first time. You'll get better with more practice but you did very well for your first time."
Mom pulled a metal baking sheet from somewhere and had me set the two large filets on it side by side.
"When a Goldeen evolves into a Seaking they usually weigh about 86 pounds gaining about a pound every year. At 100 pounds their meat changes and become hard and tough, luckily this one was only around 90 pounds. More than enough meat for everyone and have a bit to split between the Pokemon we have with us."
Mom set the tray to one side.
"Now comes the important part."
Mom dug her hands into the guts and started squeezing them.
"Well what are you waiting for? Don't you want to find that Mystic Water?"
That's when I realized that without hands the only way for the Seaking to keep hold of it's Treasure was to eat it. Thrusting my hands into the pile of guts I started doing what mom was. Grab one organ and work from one side to the other feeling around inside. Half way through the pile I heard mom say.
"I think I found it, pass me the knife."
Placing the knife down beside her I watched as she picked it up and with one slash cut open the organ in her hand. There was a solid thump as something hard fell out and landed on the table. Mom picked it up and moved it to the side before she resumed squeezing the rest of the organs.
"It's very rare but sometimes a Pokemon can have two Treasures so always check everything before stopping."
I nodded as I continued working when I got to the last organ I felt something hard inside. Picking up the knife I slit it open and a lumpy round object fell onto the table. Mom was surprised when I found something but as covered in blood and guts as it was we weren't sure what it was. Mom looked at her Arcanine who had made it's way over at some point.
"Don't let anything steal those filets, we are going to clean up real quick."
Arcanine just nodded and mom picked up the tray of guts as I grabbed the two items we found. I followed mom to the shore where she just dumped the guts right into the water before taking a few steps away and rinsing her arms and the tray. Following her example I quickly rinsed off my own hands as well as the two items.
The one shaped like a tear drop was obviously the Mystic Water but mom didn't recognize the second item. Looking at it I had an idea but the system would be able to confirm. Looking around I saw we were alone and moved the items into my Item Box.
[Mystic Water....Boosts the power of Water type moves by 12%.]
[Damp Rock....Reduces energy required to use Rain Dance by 50%. Duration of Rain Dance increased by 50%.]
When I told mom the effects of the Mystic Water she was very happy for me.
"Middle Grade Treasures are so much better than Lower Grade ones. I'm glad you have it. Now you just need a water type Pokemon."
"What abouts the other item?"
When I told her the effects her face went pale and she grabbed my shoulders.
"Are you sure that's what it said?! A 50% reduction in energy consumed as well as a 50% increase in duration!"
Seeing me nod she started shaking and closed her eyes. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and made sure I was paying attention.
"Do not tell anyone about that Treasure! Don't even mention it until we get home!"
"Why mom?"
"Jake a Treasure with two abilities is so rare you could probably count the number of then on the hand of a three fingered man."
She took a deep breath.
"That Treasure could be considered at the very top of Legendary Grade Treasures or even a higher grade if it exists."
She shook me a little and once more made sure I was paying attention.
"If the wrong people find out you have such an item they will be willing to kill to acquire it. Do you understand?!"
"Yes mom, I understand!"
Mom stood up and spoke.
"Now putting that aside we have dinner to make."
As we walked over to the two filets I wondered if I would be able to cook it properly.
"Mom I want to try cooking it myself but I don't want to ruin dinner for everyone. Can I take a small piece to cook for myself?"
"That's a good idea Jake."
She used a finger to show where I should cut.
"This small piece here would be perfect so go ahead and cut it."
After I moved the small portion onto a separate plate mom picked up the tray and we moved over to where she, Aunt Delia, and Aunt Beth had set up the field kitchen. I watched as mom sprinkled seasoning and then rubbed them into the meat and I followed along. Since we only had one frying pan she had me watch as she cooked the majority of the meat and then stepped to the side to let me try.
I tried to copy what she had done but I still ended up burning one side but luckily it was the side with the skin still attached so my dinner wasn't ruined. Just as I finished cooking the small piece of meat Aunt Delia and Aunt Beth had finished putting together all of the side dishes and everyone was called over for dinner.
Sitting at the picnic table across from my mom I picked up a bit of the Seaking meat and put it in my mouth. The flavor was amazing! Sweet and salty but there was a smoothness to the flavors, if one was missing the other would be two strong, they balanced each other perfectly. As I swallowed the mouthful of meat I heard a System notification in my mind.
[Requirements met....Capture, Kill, Butcher, Cook, and Consume a Pokemon by yourself. 4 out of 5 steps completed, Pokemon Eating System Unlocked.]
[Detected deep water type Pokemon as unlock meal. Corresponding rewards have been placed in the Item Box.]
As those two messages appeared before my eyes an electronic voice sounded in my head.
[Well it's about time! Nice to finally meet you Jake!]
Only one name popped into my head when I heard that and I muttered it out loud.
"Allister?"
My mom must have heard me because her head which had been turned to one side to talk to Aunt Delia immediately swung to looked at me. Seeing the look of wonder on my face she smiled and tapped my foot with hers.
[That's right! I'm Allister! I've been waiting for you to gain access for over a year!! It's nice to finally talk with you!]
'I'm excited to talk to you as well but if I want to be alone first.'
[Understandable. I'll keep quiet until later. After all now we have an entire lifetime to converse with each other!]
Mom was still staring at me so I just gave her a big smile.
"This is really good mom! Thanks for letting me help!"
And resumed eating. As soon as dinner was over I grabbed my fishing pole again and darted of not giving Daisy a chance to follow. Once I was away and had cast my line out I spoke into my mind.
So Allister. What did you want to talk about?'
[Everything! But first I probably should explain about your new System features!]
Without my prompting the System display opened and a screen I had never seen before appeared in front of my eyes. It wasn't much to look at if I was being honest.
Across the top was [POKEMON EATING] in bold letters and under that was a daily missions section with 5 tasks involving eating a certain Pokemon type or preparing them in a certain way, the hardest of the five was a specific Pokemon and exactly how to cook it.
Under that was a monthly mission section with 3 different tasks for eating a certain number of Pokemon to receive the rewards.
And the last section was a yearly mission and honestly it looked really difficult.
[Consume one type of Pokemon everyday for one year.....Rewards:???]
'So pretty straight forward.'
[For the most part yes! There are a few hidden things that are not specified. Such as that you receive a reward for every Pokemon you eat not just the ones on the mission boards. Rewards will vary depending on the rarity and complexity of the prepared dish! New items are also availablein the shop!]
The more I listened to Allister's voice the more I felt that I had heard it before. There was a tug on my line but I ignored it for now.
'Hey Allister why are there still grayed-out parts on my System?'
Across the top of my display there were still four tabs with "LOCKED" written on them.
[Unknown. I have never heard of this happening before and as I am not the one who made the System I don't know what is going on.]
As I focused on his voice it finally clicked as to where I had heard it from.
'So do you like being called Allister or would you prefer to be called Rotom?'