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"W-well... I wouldn't say that, e-exactly. Do you know if this kitchen is stocked with an Apriblender?" He did his best to lift his head above a counter, but couldn't see more than a few feet away, and there certainly wasn't an Apriblender in the immediate vicinity. Still, Mau was asking him just the right questions, and he loved to ramble on about Apricorns.
As he crooked his head, he started explaining what he knew... the stuff publicly available, of course. "Well, there are seven common varieties of Apricorn: White, Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Pink. It's the Pink Apricorn that got me wondering about possible cross-breeding. Unfortunately, Apricorn trees are rare enough in the wild, and few survive very long, since Trainers and Pokemon can quickly pick them dry or even destroy them. They're very fragile, you know? Anyway, since I got my own... uh, I mean to say... 'secret' garden now, I decided to try crossbreeding with some of the rental bug Pokemon. So far I've made a cross-breed of blue and green Apricorns, a Teal! But this means cross-breeding is possible! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!? Countless poss- I mean, I'm so sorry! I got so excited! Uh, um... Countless possibilities.. y-you know?"
he hadn't realized he was rambling yet again, or even notice that he had spoken several whole sentences without stuttering, but if he had he would have started stuttering anyway...

"Oh, uh... hmmm... I think an Apricorn would probably break a normal blender. They're, uh... I mean... That's to say... you normally need a hammer to even crack them, so... you see? As for cross-breeding, though.. that's exactly what I thought! Why would such a different color exist naturally? And my Apricorn map- I mean... my research has shown that White and Red Apricorns sometimes grow near enough each other naturally that natural cross-breeding could be possible!" he couldn't hide his excitement about the subject. He hadn't had the opportunity to grow Apricorns prior to joining Team Rocket (his family thought anything that could be grown should be edible, which the Apricorns weren't...) and since his research had grown by leaps and bounds. Why, any day now he could take it down to the labs and possibly get a real position as an Apricorn grower!
Mau's continued questions snapped him out of his fantasy. "O-oh, no sir. So far, the Teal Apricorn is the first cross-breed I've created. I am excited to learn its properties."

"Th-that would be nice," Liam mused, though he always assumed he would end up on field duty, due to his surprisingly small stature and ability to sneak into small spaces. "And yes, each color has a different attribute when turned into a Pokeball. I was always taught it was their magical properties, but you never know..?" He stuck his face into the glass pane in front of the oven door, watching the Apricorns inside sizzle lightly in the red glow of the coils. They seemed to be all right, but he lowered the heat a bit anyway. No need to cause them to break. That would ruin a perfectly good batch.
"I am excited to learn the attributes of the Teal Apricorn. Though it could possibly just be a combination of Green and Blue attributes? Wouldn't that be disappointing?" He laughed as he said this, a nervous laugh. his plans would be ruined, but he'd still have the research. "But... Mendel's research suggests crossbreeding of two varieties is possible, though they would probably produce offspring that are less 'potent' than their parents."

"Let's see..." Liam mused, sticking his face in the oven's window yet again. They weren't done quite yet, but he felt the need to check constantly anyway. "Blue Apricorns make... Uh... Lure Balls? They catch Pokemon best when, you know... uh... fishing? Green Apricorns make Friend Balls! They make Pokemon nicer." he knew the last part like the back of his hand, considering that the Friend Ball had been his personal favorite when trying to catch a Pokemon of his very own. It had never actually worked, but th idea of having a nice Pokemon appealed to him.
"As for White Apricorns..." He was musing again. It seemed to come naturally to him when talking about Apricorns, quite possibly his favorite subject. And he hadn't even stuttered in several sentences! "I don't, uh... th-think so?" So much for that record. "Y-you see, White Apricorns don't act-actually have a smell."
He rummaged through the bin beside him, still full of a multitude of berries. He had most of the common varieties, and even a couple failed cross-breedings, like a splotchy red/yellow one. Near the bottom he found a lone White Apricorn, too small for making Pokeballs, but it seemed to have fallen off the branch early, for some reason. He reached out, handing the stunted Apricorn to the older Rocket. "Sn-sniff it, really. I think... I think maybe that's because they have no color, so no smell, you know?"
This final question, and in such quick succession, threw Liam for a loop. Get an apprentice? "But I'm still just an apprentice myself, sir!" was his response. He hadn't meant to blurt it out as he did, but it had somehow escaped form his mind and out his mouth. And it was the truth. He had a long way to go before he could teach anyone the ways of the Apricorn.

"Yep," Liam responded casually, taking the Apricorn back, "No smell whatsoever. And no taste, if prepared in an Apriblender. Makes it a good choice for combining with other flavors as a base, though." He wasn't oblivious to the Pokemon pining for attention, and figured he could spare another Apricorn, especially one as particularly useless as this.
"Do you play fetch, Aki?" he asked, rubbing his head gently. "Here you go!" he tossed the apricorn across the room and over a table for the Vaporeon to bring back.

When he heard the thunk, Liam could only imagine a Vaporeon trying to carry a fruit trhough a solid table, only to realize that it didn't turn liquid as well. He wasn't sure what had happened, but when Aki returned, he was at least carrying the Apricorn, and on the plus side it looked like Vaporeon slobber was water as well. He took the Apricorn again and tossed it, out the open door this time. At least he was having some fun while he waited.
"I don't... actually eat them myself. Waste of a good Apricorn, you know? But I have tasted them. It's not bad. Pink shakes are pretty good, actually..."

"Well, they're pretty inedible if not prepared right... but not poisonous, I... hope. And the shakes are nutritious for Pokemon and give them a major boost! You can try them yourself, though... but they don't do anything for us." He laughed at this, juggling a spare Apricorn from hand to hand.

Liam would have tumbled back if he hadn't been leaning against the wall. As it was, he was able to catch the big blue puppy and give him a somehwat slick hug. This also caused him to laugh. "You know, if you would stop turning into water like that you probably wouldn't slide around so much, Aki." Still, he gave the Vaporeon a scratch under his neck ruffle and tossed the Apricorn again, closer this time.
With that... the oven pinged. The Apricorns were ready! He hopped up, all but shooing Mau out of the way to grab some oven mitts and scoop the dried Apricorns out of the oven one by one. He left one on top of the oven and fished one out of his bucket: one dried and one still fresh. The dried one was green while the fresh was pink. He made no mention of these two until he grabbed his basket, somewhat lighter now, and turned towards Mau.
"Thanks for keeping me company, mister Mau. You can, uh... ke-keep those two. Bring me the dried one and I'll try to make you a Friend Ball. And the pink one should make you a shake for you to try yourself." He thought it was a pretty good parting gift, and smiled up at the older man.