Soon, Barboach and Whiscash helped Ange plant the lotus roots, then the two brothers returned to their old home to pack for moving.
Ange went to help them.
The brothers dug out the remaining lotus roots in the puddles, while Ange and Munchlax helped carry them back home.
The Barboach brothers had already decided to store all the lotus roots at Ange's place. Ange placed them in his refrigerator and asked Diancie to deliver some to Barboach and Whiscash every noon and evening.
Just like that, the two brothers officially became neighbors with Ange's family.
***
A few days passed in the blink of an eye. One day, after Ange and Munchlax saw off the Pokémon that had finished breakfast, a system notification suddenly appeared. The mission list had changed.
[Serve 100 Pokémon within 30 days. (100/100) — Completed. Reward pending.]
The last beginner mission was finally done. Ange had even intentionally delayed it a bit, but it still finished faster than he expected.
He clicked "Claim Reward" without hesitation, and the system immediately popped up a message.
[Congratulations, Host has received: Constitution +2.]
As soon as Ange accepted the reward, another pop-up appeared in his mission list.
[Congratulations, Host has cleared the Beginner Stage. Achievement Rewards: Constitution +5, Intelligence +5, Home Binding Access, System Permission Sharing Access.]
Ange glanced at his personal status. Sure enough, the data had already been updated.
Ange
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 16 (+500)
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 8
Cooking Evaluation: A rookie whose food is edible.
He clenched his fists, feeling strength surge through his whole body, as if he could punch a Tauros to death.
He looked back at the mission list and saw that it had been updated again.
[Daily Mission 1: Train for 1 hour in the Cooking Training Room— Incomplete.]
[Daily Mission 2: Serve 10 Pokémon — Completed, Reward pending.]
Ange didn't even need to guess. These were fixed daily missions that would refresh every day. Without hesitation, he claimed the reward for the completed [Daily Mission 2].
A message popped up immediately.
[Congratulations, Host has received: 1 pound of rice.]
One pound of rice? That's pretty underwhelming.
Still, Ange thought it was reasonable. After all, daily missions refreshed every day, so receiving small rewards made sense.
He checked the system backpack and found the label "1 pound of rice" inside.
Come to think of it, it had been a while since he'd eaten rice. He decided to cook it for dinner tonight, maybe stir-fry two side dishes, which would be delicious. Luckily, there were already plenty of vegetables ready to harvest in the garden.
But… his beginner stage had ended. Would his cooking seasonings still be there? Without seasonings, he'd be at a total loss, he couldn't even stir-fry properly.
Then he remembered the special rewards: "Home Binding Access" and "System Permission Sharing Access."
What were those again?
"Diancie! Diancie!"
It was time for the guide fairy to appear again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Seeing Ange call so urgently, Diancie thought something serious had happened. But after hearing his question, it finally understood.
"Oh, so that's what you meant!"
It then carefully explained what "Home Binding Access" and "System Permission Sharing" meant.
First, the Home Binding.
Ange could select a place as his "home" and link it to the system. After binding, any Pokémon living inside that home could be summoned or returned at any time, no matter where Ange was.
Then, the System Permission Sharing.
Ange could pay Pokémon living in his home a salary in Happiness Points and share the System Store's access with them. That way, Pokémon could freely shop in the store themselves!
After hearing the explanation, Ange said in surprise, "Wow, that's super convenient!"
Diancie nodded. "Do you want to bind your home?" Its face was full of anticipation; it really wanted to shop in the System Store too.
"Of course! Bind it! Our current place is home, no question about it!"
"Alright."
As soon as Diancie spoke, a system prompt appeared before Ange.
[Would you like to bind your current residence as Home?]
[Yes/No]
Ange clicked "Yes" without hesitation. The system chimed:
[Congratulations, Host has successfully bound Home.]
Diancie asked again, "Would you like to share permissions with your Pokémon?"
"Of course, share them!" Ange replied immediately.
Sure enough, right after he spoke, another prompt appeared.
[Would you like to share a subsystem with your Pokémon?]
[Yes/No]
That subsystem must be the shared permission access, right? Ange clicked "Yes," and another window appeared.
[Please select subsystem recipients.]
Diancie
Komala
Munchlax
It was a multiple-selection list. Ange checked all three, and the system responded:
[Congratulations, Host has successfully shared subsystem permissions.]
After granting permissions, Ange noticed a new button had appeared on his personal interface.
[Distribute Salary]
He clicked it, and another window popped up.
[Please select salary recipients.]
Diancie ( )
Komala ( )
Munchlax ( )
It was also multi-select, with empty fields beside each name to input payment amounts.
Ange thought for a moment, then typed "500" for each. He wasn't stingy; he was just broke. The pay would definitely go up later.
He confirmed his input. His Happiness Points instantly dropped by 1,500, and at the same time, Diancie and the others saw a new interface appear before them.
Diancie
Balance: 500
Store
Backpack
All three Pokémon interfaces were identical except for the names, clean and easy to use.
As the system's guide, Diancie was already familiar with everything. Seeing the interface appear, it mischievously said to Ange:
"Thank you for the tip, Boss."
At this moment, Komala and Munchlax were still staring in confusion at the interface that had suddenly appeared before them.
Seeing this, Ange said to Diancie, "Alright, stop teasing them. Go teach Munchlax and Komala how to use the system before their CPUs overheat."
"Understood, boss!" Diancie replied, dashing off in a flash.
Ange shook his head helplessly.
Soon, the three Pokémon gathered together and began studying how to use the subsystem.
When Ange went to prepare lunch at noon, he noticed that his seasonings hadn't decreased. In fact, there seemed to be even more of them, along with flour and other ingredients.
Diancie then explained that the system had stocked up enough ingredients and seasonings to last him a month, to ensure a smooth transition. After that, if he still couldn't find new food sources, that would no longer be the system's responsibility.
Once again, Ange couldn't help but think how thoughtful the system was, considering every possible detail.
That evening, as usual, Ange went to the training room with Munchlax for their daily practice. After one hour, the system's mission panel changed.
[Daily Mission 1: Train in the Culinary Training Room for one hour — Pending completion, reward available.]
[Daily Mission 2: Host 10 Pokémon — Completed, reward received]
He tapped to claim the reward, and the system displayed a notification.
[Congratulations, Host, you have received: one handful of celery.]
Well, the daily mission rewards were about the same as always.
The next morning, Ange's door was knocked on by Diancie.
"Ange, there's a new mission. Want to accept it?"
"What mission?" he asked.
"See for yourself." Diancie brought up the task window and showed it to him.
[Procurement Mission: Go to Azoth Kingdom to purchase cooking ingredients. Accept?]
[Yes / No]
Ange froze for a moment upon reading it.
Azoth Kingdom, his former home! He had long thought about returning, but every time he remembered how much things must have changed, he felt a pang of hesitation at the thought of going back.
Was it finally time to return?
Diancie could sense Ange's mixed emotions. It felt the same, after all, Azoth Kingdom had once been its home too.
"Let's go back and take a look," Diancie said softly.
"Alright." Ange smiled, nodded to Diancie, and accepted the mission. The mission panel updated immediately.
[Daily Mission 1: Train in the Culinary Training Room for one hour — Pending completion.]
[Daily Mission 2: Host 10 Pokémon — Pending completion.]
[Procurement Mission: Go to Azoth Kingdom to purchase cooking ingredients — Pending completion.]
The daily missions refreshed automatically and didn't require acceptance. Though their rewards were ordinary, they were consistent, and Diancie had mentioned that there was an extremely small chance of receiving something special from them, depending on Ange's luck.
Moreover, once the beginner phase ended, none of his missions would have time limits anymore, though delaying some might affect access to future tasks.
After accepting the mission, Ange went downstairs with Diancie, Munchlax, and Komala.
A new day had begun.
In the kitchen, Ange tasked Munchlax with steaming mantou while he himself handled the previous night's reward, a handful of celery.
"Munch~" Master, what are you doing?
Munchlax kneaded the dough while staring eagerly at the celery in Ange's hands. Was the master about to make something delicious again?
Thinking of the fragrant rice they'd eaten last night, Munchlax's mouth instantly began to water uncontrollably.
It was just too little, barely enough for a taste.
The rice reward from yesterday had only been about half a kilo, nowhere near enough for Munchlax's huge appetite.
Smiling, Ange said, "We're not having mantou this morning. Let's try something different." He planned to use the celery to make steamed buns.
Mantou could never beat buns in taste.
Hearing this, Munchlax's eyes lit up, and its kneading movements sped up dramatically.
Ange glanced at Munchlax and shook his head with a helpless smile.
He washed the celery, chopped it finely, and mixed it with various seasonings. He even added scallions and garlic from his garden, along with the system's special sesame oil. The aroma was simply irresistible.
Once the filling was ready, Ange took the dough Munchlax had kneaded, rolled it into long strips, cut it into even portions, and began wrapping the buns.
Supporting the dough with his left hand, he added filling, then used his right thumb and index finger to pinch and twist the dough's edges. As he turned the bun, neat pleats appeared one after another.
The flavor aside, the buns' appearance alone was flawless, plump, round, and smooth, each about the size of a baby's fist, with evenly folded pleats so perfect they looked machine-made. It took serious skill to produce such craftsmanship.
Ange's hands moved swiftly; before long, the counter was lined with rows of plump, adorable buns. Munchlax's bright eyes stared unblinking at them.
"Munch~Munch~~" Master, I want to learn this!
Ange chuckled. "You want to learn?"
"Munch~~"
Munchlax nodded vigorously. It reached out to touch a bun gently, thinking, So cute.
"Sure, I'll teach you later," Ange promised.
"Munch!!"
Munchlax immediately spun in circles, overjoyed.
Once the other Pokémon finished breakfast, Ange, Diancie, Munchlax, and Komala sat around the table. In the center was a steaming bowl of buns, their rich aroma wafting through the air.
Munchlax kept twitching its nose, trying to inhale every bit of the scent.
"Alright, everyone, let's eat. Tell me if the buns are good," Ange said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Munchlax couldn't hold back and grabbed a bun.
"Huff, huff~~"
Fresh out of the steamer, the buns were piping hot. Munchlax inhaled sharply from the heat but refused to let go of the delicious treat.
Komala, though its eyes remained closed, was just as fast.
Munchlax took a big bite, revealing crisp, juicy celery filling mixed with chopped scallions. The freshness of the vegetables blended perfectly with the wheat aroma of the soft dough.
Exquisite!
"Munch~~~" So good!
Seeing Munchlax and Komala eat happily, Ange smiled and urged, "Diancie, you should try one too."
The four of them quickly finished the entire bowl of buns. Munchlax still looked unsatisfied and went on to devour another bowl of mantou on its own.
There was no helping it, the celery reward wasn't much, so there hadn't been enough to make more buns. For Munchlax, it was only enough to whet its appetite.
Feeling stuffed, Ange decided to take Komala in his arms and go for a walk with Diancie and Munchlax to digest.
The morning breeze on Nebel Plateau carried a cool touch that refreshed the senses. The family of four strolled leisurely across the grassy fields, occasionally greeting the Pokémon they passed along the way.
Compared to when Ange had first arrived on the plateau, the Pokémon's attitude toward him had completely changed. Not all had fully accepted him, but at least now, none ran away at the sight of him. At worst, a few pretended not to notice.
Of course, those were rare cases. Most Pokémon were quite friendly now.