After breakfast, the Litwick group didn't leave right away. Instead, they stayed behind to help Ange clean up. Ange knew they were showing concern for him in their own way, so he didn't refuse.
Once the cleaning was done, he still sent everyone off together with Diancie and Munchlax.
While Ange was enjoying his peaceful days on the Nebel Plateau, the King of the Azoth Kingdom was leading his daughter and son to the royal tombs to pay respects to their ancestors.
Every year, the Azoth royal family held a formal memorial at the royal mausoleum and placed great importance on the ceremony.
The King of Azoth stood at the front, with his son and daughter on either side, the kingdom's only prince and princess.
After offering their prayers to the royal ancestors, a guard suddenly approached the king, whispered something in his ear, and the king's expression changed dramatically.
"Let's go. Take me there."
He immediately gestured for someone to lead the way.
"Sis, what happened?" Prince Romeo quietly asked his sister.
"I don't know. Let's find out," Princess Lila shook her head. "But it must be serious." She strode quickly after her father.
"Sis, wait for me!" Romeo hurried after her.
Led by a guard, the King of Azoth arrived at one of the tombs, where the wall had been broken open, leaving a large hole.
"What is this…" the King muttered, frowning deeply.
The guard stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this is Prince Ange's tomb."
"Prince Ange?"
"The brother of Queen Anna," the guard reminded.
"What?!" The King's eyes widened in shock. He glared at the hole in rage and roared, "Who did this?!"
The guard sighed helplessly. "It might have been grave robbers."
"Which grave robber has such nerve, to dare defile the royal tombs of Azoth? Do they have the courage of an Ursaring?! Investigate! If I catch them, I'll make them regret it!"
Watching their furious father, Prince Romeo turned to his sister. "Sis, Queen Anna… she's the one who single-handedly preserved the kingdom and secured its place within the League, right?"
Princess Lila nodded. "That's right. It was her."
In the history of the Azoth Kingdom, Queen Anna was known as the monarch who bridged the old and new eras and was, in truth, the last true ruler of Azoth.
Why? Because while the current king still held the title of monarch, his actual authority was only comparable to that of a League city mayor.
The Azoth Kingdom still existed in form, but in essence, it was merely a city under the League's jurisdiction, its territory far smaller than it had been five hundred years ago, when Queen Anna was alive.
Of course, compared to other regions, the Azoth royal family still retained more privileges, and all the land of Azoth was under royal ownership.
Five hundred years ago, when the League became the new governing body of the Pokémon world, kingdoms like Azoth, remnants of the old age, should have disappeared into history.
But Queen Anna, through her own strength, preserved Azoth from the League's hands. Though she sacrificed much, she ensured that the royal family did not fade away like other noble houses of the old world.
The one sitting on the throne now was her descendant.
"So Queen Anna had an older brother?" Prince Romeo said in surprise.
Princess Lila glared at him. "Even if you like tinkering with inventions, you can't just lock yourself in your room all day. You should at least read the kingdom's brief history! Queen Anna and Prince Ange were twins. But Prince Ange was frail since birth and passed away very young. Otherwise, the throne wouldn't have gone to his younger sister."
"I see…" Romeo scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
The king was furious over the desecrated tomb. He led his guards inside to inspect, and sure enough, Prince Ange's coffin had been opened.
Princess Lila and Prince Romeo, seeing the scene clearly, both frowned in confusion.
"That's strange. You said it was grave robbers, but why are all the burial items still here? Only the body is missing?" Lila asked.
When Prince Ange had "died," his parents, deeply fond of him, had prepared a lavish burial. The treasures entombed with him were worth enough to make an ordinary person live in luxury for life.
Yet now, all those treasures remained untouched in the tomb.
"Then maybe the grave robber was a pervert who liked corpses?" Romeo muttered.
Princess Lila knocked him on the head. "Don't say nonsense."
Not just the prince and princess, even the king was puzzled.
"Investigate! I want to know what happened!" the king ordered.
After the ritual, the King of Azoth and his entourage returned grandly to the Azoth Kingdom.
(Note: In the broad sense, "Azoth Kingdom" refers to all territory under the royal family's rule, including uninhabited regions such as the Nebel Plateau. In the narrow sense, it refers only to the inhabited royal city, the Azoth Royal Capital.)
Once back at the palace, Prince Romeo immediately buried himself in research in his lab, while Princess Lila stood before a painting on the wall, lost in thought.
The painting showed a young Queen Anna and her twin brother, Prince Ange. The two looked alike, both with the golden hair characteristic of the royal family of Azoth.
"Princess," said her personal secretary, Fiona, walking up to her. "Your Highness, what are you looking at?"
Lila shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's go."
***
That night, Ange and Munchlax trained their cooking skills for an hour (outside time) in the training room, then happily returned to their room to sleep.
The next day, Ange woke late as usual, then got up to prepare food for his Pokémon with Munchlax.
Because of what had happened yesterday, only the Litwick group came to the shop today.
Since his secret was already exposed, Ange didn't have to hide in the kitchen anymore. After preparing breakfast for the Litwick group, he joined Diancie, Komala, and Munchlax in the hall to eat together.
Seeing Ange unaffected by the previous day's events, the Litwick group gradually relaxed, their laughter returning, and the room was filled with cheerful voices once more.
"Chiru~ Chiru~~"
A soft chirp came from the doorway. Everyone turned to see a Swablu hesitating there, peeking nervously inside.
When it realized everyone was looking at it, it panicked and quickly hid its head behind the wall.
Ange walked to the door and indeed saw Swablu crouching outside, head lowered.
"Swablu, since you're here, why not come in?"
At his voice, Swablu trembled slightly.
"What's wrong? Still afraid of me?" Ange asked gently with a smile.
"Chiru~ Chiru~"
Swablu slowly shook its head.
"Then what's the matter?" Ange asked, curious. He wanted to pat it on the head, but thinking it might startle the little bird, he quietly pulled his hand back.
"Chiru~ Chiru~~"
Swablu called out twice, but then seemed to remember something, lowering its head sadly.
Diancie stepped out beside him and said, "Swablu is apologizing to you for what happened yesterday."
Swablu quickly nodded in agreement.
After returning home with its mother yesterday, Swablu had thought for a long, long time. Although everyone said that humans were bad, and when it first learned that all the food it had eaten before had been made by a human, it had indeed felt fear and confusion, the happy times it spent at Ange's place were not fake, and neither were the delicious meals it had eaten.
No matter what others said, it couldn't believe that someone who could make such wonderful food like Ange was a bad person. It also liked the gentle Diancie, and the friends it shared meals, laughter, and fun with at the shop. It didn't want to lose any of that.
Thinking of the smile Ange wore yesterday, Swablu felt it had gone too far. After eating so much of Ange's food, it had even joined its mother in hurting him.
So today, after its mother went out, it secretly came to Ange's shop again to apologize.
"So you came to apologize." Ange smiled. "Alright then, I forgive you. I know what you did yesterday wasn't really what you wanted to do, right?"
"Chiru~ Chiru~"
Swablu nodded quickly.
"That's fine then," Ange said. "Have you eaten breakfast? Want to come in and eat something together?"
Hearing that, Swablu looked hesitant. It felt that after hurting Ange, it no longer had the right to eat his cooking.
Ange could tell exactly what it was thinking. He exchanged a glance with Diancie, and she immediately understood, stepping forward to gently pick Swablu up.
"Come on, eat with us. It feels too quiet here without you," Ange said.
Just as Diancie was about to carry Swablu inside, something suddenly fell from the eaves with a thud.
When Ange and Diancie looked, who else could it be but Fletchling? At that moment, it was sprawled out on the ground, looking up at them in embarrassment.
"What brings you here too?" Ange asked with a laugh.
Fletchling rolled over, jumped up, and quickly hid beneath the steps, peeking out nervously as if it didn't dare face Ange.
Ange couldn't help but chuckle. "If you don't come out, we're going inside without you."
Fletchling then timidly hopped out from under the steps, head bowed.
"Yako~ Yako~~"
It chirped softly.
With Diancie's help translating, Ange learned that it too had come to apologize.
Just like Swablu, Fletchling was very young. Much of what it knew came from its parents and relatives. Since their parents told them that humans were frightening, they naturally believed humans were frightening.
But they also had their own feelings and an eager curiosity to explore the world, forming their own understanding that differed from their parents' views.
And so, in this moment, instead of doing what their parents told them to, they followed their own hearts.
"Alright, I forgive you too. Let's all go inside and eat together." Ange stepped forward and picked up Fletchling. Its body trembled slightly at first but soon calmed down.
Holding the little Fletchling, Ange could clearly feel the change in its body's reaction, and a more genuine smile appeared on his face.
Just then, there was a rustling sound from the bushes nearby, and a Bellsprout hurriedly ran out.
"Sipo~ Sipo~" "Me too, me too, don't leave me behind!"
It turned out Bellsprout had been there all along, but it had been too shy to show itself. Seeing Swablu and Fletchling both forgiven, it panicked and ran out in a hurry.
Thud!
Perhaps because it ran too fast, Bellsprout tripped over itself and fell, tears welling up in its eyes.
"Hahaha~~~"
Ange and Diancie couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Placing Fletchling on his shoulder, Ange walked over to pick up Bellsprout, then everyone went inside to eat together.
Time passed quickly again.
In the following days, some of the Pokémon who had left after learning Ange was human began to return one after another.
Most of these returning Pokémon were young and native to the Nebel Plateau. Those who had personally suffered harm from humans would likely find it hard to accept Ange for some time.
As more Pokémon came back, the shop gradually grew lively again. Every morning, laughter and chatter filled the air. Everyone seemed genuinely happy, which made some of the Pokémon who disliked humans but secretly kept an eye on Ange feel puzzled.
Was that human's cooking really that good?
Of course, the fact that Swablu, Fletchling, and Bellsprout had been sneaking back to Ange's place couldn't stay hidden from their parents for long.
One morning, while everyone was eating breakfast in the shop, Ange and Diancie went out to water the flowers in the garden. When Ange looked up, he noticed a large Pokémon perched on the roof, glaring sharply at him. Who else could it be but Fletchling's parent, Talonflame?
"Uh… hello there!" Ange greeted, waving.
"Yalo~~"
Talonflame gave a low cry, then turned its head away, refusing to look at him.
"Talonflame, what brings you here? If you're worried about Fletchling, please don't be. I won't hurt it," Ange said, trying to start a conversation.
"Yalo~ Yalo~~" I'm here on everyone's behalf to keep an eye on you.
Talonflame replied, and Diancie translated for Ange.
All the Pokémon coming to eat here were children. Their parents couldn't stop them, so they sent a representative to watch over Ange instead.
That representative was Talonflame.
"I see. Well then, I'll be counting on your company," Ange said after a moment of thought. In truth, he didn't mind. With Talonflame watching, he believed that someday, everyone would come to see that he meant no harm.