After the culinary training ended, Ange led his disciples in practicing Aura as usual, with the addition of Magearna today.
Unfortunately, besides Pawmi, still no other Pokémon had awakened their Aura.
Perhaps they had already grown accustomed to it, as Munchlax, Drizzile, and Haunter no longer felt as dejected as they did when they first started their cultivation.
Watching Pawmi, who was exceptionally serious today, Ange could not help but click his tongue in wonder.
"Pawmi, why are you so serious today?" Ange asked. It had sat there for several hours without even wiggling its butt once; this was very unlike Pawmi!
Pawmi opened its eyes with a stern, deadpan expression.
Paw paw~ This Pawmi wants to become powerful.
"Hahaha, is that so?" Ange was amused by Pawmi's little expression, "Then you must persist. Don't go fishing for three days and then dry the nets for two."
Paw~ I won't. This Pawmi is serious!
After saying that, it closed its eyes again to focus on its Aura cultivation.
Soon, the training time ended. Ange led the Pokémon out of the training room, intending to go back to the rooms to sleep.
"Magearna, you'll sleep in the room I arranged for you during the day. Is that alright?" Ange asked.
Magea magea~ Okay!
Magearna nodded.
"Volcanion, what about you? It's so late, and it's inconvenient for you to go back. Why not stay here?" Ange turned his gaze toward Volcanion.
Volcanion looked conflicted. Should it stay or not?
Magea magea~ Magearna looked at it with a face full of anticipation.
Seeing this, Ange winked at Volcanion.
"If you stay, I can let you and Magearna share a room!"
After saying that, he looked at Magearna, "Magearna, that's okay, right?"
Magea magea~
Magearna nodded repeatedly. Rather, this was exactly what it hoped for. For five hundred years, it had stayed with Volcanion, and they had never been apart.
Finally, Volcanion could not withstand the temptation and said pridefully, "Hmph, I'm only staying to protect Magearna."
Magea magea~
Seeing Volcanion agree, Magearna immediately ran over happily to give it a hug. However, before it reached Volcanion, it fell to the ground with a thud.
"Honestly!" Volcanion used its arms to grab Magearna by the waist and lift it up with a helpless look, "What would you do without me?"
Magea magea~
Magearna laughed sheepishly.
Seeing this, everyone else followed suit and laughed.
Just then, Metagross returned from finishing its classes. Consequently, Ange said, "Everyone, go back to your rooms to sleep. Diancie, please lead Volcanion and Magearna back to their room."
"No problem!" Diancie nodded and then looked at Magearna and Volcanion, "Let's go!"
Magea magea~
Magearna nodded happily and beckoned to Volcanion, signaling it to come along.
After leading them into the room, Diancie began to introduce the facilities, such as where the light switches were, how to use the bathroom, how to open the balcony doors and windows, and that there were quilts and blankets in the closet.
Although Ange had shown Magearna the room during the day, he certainly had not introduced it as detailed as Diancie did.
Following Diancie's introduction, Magearna curiously touched everything in the room. It pressed the light switches, opened and closed the closet, and turned the water faucet back and forth.
Once the introduction was over, Diancie spread a soft mattress and clean sheets on Magearna's bed, then added a pillow and quilt. That pillowcase was even woven by Diancie using Spinarak silk!
As for Volcanion, because of its massive size, it could only sleep on the blankets on the floor.
After finishing everything, Diancie said to them, "Goodnight, you two. Magearna, I hope you have sweet dreams!"
Magea magea~ Goodnight, Diancie.
Magearna stepped forward and gave Diancie a bedtime hug. This was something it used to do often for Princess Anna.
Diancie hugged Magearna back.
After Diancie left, Magearna took a blanket and covered Volcanion, who was already lying on the carpet. Subsequently, it lay down on the bed and covered itself with the fluffy quilt.
Magea magea~ Goodnight~
With that, it turned off the bedside lamp.
Moonlight shone through the balcony doors and windows, coating Volcanion in a silver glow. It quietly peeked through its eyelids and whispered, "Goodnight." Then, it closed its eyes again.
Soon, Magearna's sleep-talking and Volcanion's snoring echoed in the room.
On Ange's side, after washing up, he lay in bed and opened the System. He thought he had heard a System notification during dinner; was it an illusion?
Sure enough, as soon as he opened the System, a pop-up window appeared.
[Congratulations to the Master for successfully hosting the first Mythical Pokémon. Reward: Mythical Berry Cultivation Secret Recipe!]
Mythical Berry?
Ange was stunned. He then retrieved a thick book from the System Backpack. The cover had the words "Mythical Berry Cultivation Method" written in large characters.
Ange had never heard of a Mythical Berry, but he had heard of the Mythical Pecha Berry. In the Pokémon games, that was a very important item used to awaken the Mythical Pokémon Pecharunt.
He opened the book. The first page read: Mythical Berry. Once every few years, a craftsman's meticulously cultivated fruit tree will yield a single, top-grade fruit possessed of incredible power.
The description was very vague.
Incredible power... what kind of power would that be?
Ange continued flipping through and found that cultivating Mythical Berries was indeed not easy. Not only did the planter need to take meticulous care of the tree, but only one could grow every few years.
The book also stated that in an orchard, only one tree of a specific type could produce a Mythical Berry.
For example, if Ange planted 300 Sitrus Berry trees, only one tree among them could evolve into the "Tree King." Then, that Tree King would yield only one Mythical Berry every few years.
The more Ange read, the more excited he became. The harder something was to cultivate and obtain, the more precious it was!
I wonder what the effect of this Mythical Berry will be! He couldn't help but look forward to it.
Ange flipped through the cultivation methods and was suddenly surprised to find that the most important material for cultivating Mythical Berries was the droppings of Mythical or Legendary Pokémon!
Hehe... Ange immediately thought of Volcanion! Sorry, Volcanion, but I must have your droppings!
As for the droppings of Magearna and Diancie... I don't even want to think about it! How could such cute Pokémon have droppings!
Besides the droppings of Mythical Pokémon, the conditions for cultivating Mythical Berries included frequent bathing in a Grassy Terrain and the use of the Tilling skill to nourish the soil.
These two points were not difficult for Ange.
Closing the book and storing it back in the System Backpack, Ange glanced at the System Mission List. The mission to gain Volcanion's recognition still showed as incomplete.
It seemed that even if it moved into the house, it didn't mean he had gained Volcanion's recognition!
I'll keep trying!
Next, Ange claimed the rewards for the three daily missions. They were all unremarkable small items. He casually closed the System and went to sleep.
The next day, as dawn was just breaking, Volcanion woke up to a burst of noise. It looked up and saw that Magearna was no longer on the bed.
"Magearna?"
"Oh no, how could I have slept so soundly?"
Saying that, it rushed to the balcony. Facing the rising sun, it saw Ange leading Munchlax, Drizzile, Pawmi, and Magearna in a run on the grass not far below.
Seeing that Magearna was fine, Volcanion breathed a sigh of relief.
After only a few steps, Magearna fell to the ground with a clang. It nimbly climbed back up and continued running behind Ange and the others.
Ange turned his head and said something to Magearna, seemingly trying to persuade it to go back home, but Magearna stubbornly shook its head, indicating it insisted on training together.
Left with no choice, Ange could only let it be.
Not far from where Ange was running, Metagross was guiding its students in battles.
Two Farfetch'd were clashing while holding two iron shovels.
They hadn't found suitable leeks yet, so they either made do with other leeks or carried the iron shovels Ange gave them.
Most of the time, they carried the shovels. This was mainly because they had grown used to using them while planting Thick leeks in the vegetable garden.
Today, Espathra was not training its speed. Instead, it was battling Croconaw and Lairon one-on-two. Even so, the two were no match for it, as it led them on a wild goose chase with its speed.
Similarly, Drilbur was battling two Charcadet in a one-on-two match. The "Good Boy" Charcadet always subconsciously blocked for the "Crybaby" Charcadet, absorbing the damage for it. This drew a severe scolding from Metagross.
I want you to cooperate with each other, not for one side to act as a shield for the other. If you do that, how can you grow together?
The "Good Boy" and "Crybaby" Charcadet were filled with shame. Tears were even welling up in the "Crybaby" Charcadet's eyes.
However, once Metagross finished its lecture, the "Crybaby" Charcadet suddenly looked determined. Subsequently, it said something to the "Good Boy" Charcadet. Sure enough, in the next battle, the "Crybaby" Charcadet no longer blindly hid behind for protection. Instead, it began to actively cooperate with the other, performing joint attacks and defenses.
Seeing this, a hint of satisfaction appeared in Metagross's gaze.
Watching the lively scene below, Volcanion actually became somewhat mesmerized for a moment.
Soon, Ange and the others finished their run. He took Munchlax, Drizzile, and Magearna back home.
Pawmi, however, ran over to Metagross's team. It said something to Metagross, who then called out to the Quilladin training alone. Consequently, Quilladin ran over to battle Pawmi.
Pawmi was no match for Quilladin, but it did not get discouraged just because it was knocked down once. Instead, under Metagross's direction, it continuously launched attacks against Quilladin.
By the time Ange had prepared everything and intended to go to the Royal Capital for work, he passed the third-floor window and still saw Pawmi training. He couldn't help but feel a sense of "my kid has finally grown up" sentiment.
Shortly after Ange left, the Pokémon came out one by one to eat breakfast before heading out to work.
Volcanion lingered for a long time before coming downstairs. Most of the other Pokémon had already finished breakfast. Diancie and Magearna were setting the breakfast on the table, intending to start their own meal with Munchlax and the others.
Magea magea~
Seeing Volcanion come down, Magearna quickly beckoned it over for breakfast.
After breakfast, Metagross returned to its room. Robert 2, under its control, stayed downstairs to clean up.
Komala and Pawmi left the house one after another.
Diancie sat on the steps at the door. While whispering with two Spinarak, it did not forget to continue weaving the sofa cover in its hands.
As its skills became more proficient, Diancie's "ambition" grew. It had moved from weaving pillowcases to sofa covers.
Furthermore, it was planning to dye the silk to weave colorful handicrafts. It was just discussing this matter with the two Spinarak.
Munchlax, Drizzile, and Haunter hid in the kitchen to discuss matters related to cooking.
Magearna took the phone Ange had just bought for it and sat next to Diancie to play. From time to time, it had to ask Diancie how to operate the phone, and Diancie always patiently guided it.
Volcanion stared at Magearna for a while, then stood up and walked outside.
Walking to the wall, it saw two Dolliv standing on the wall with their eyes closed, sunbathing. The Capsakid happily ran around their parents. Garganacl led a Nacli on a slow stroll across the grass.
Everything looked so peaceful.
Volcanion thought: Perhaps the existence of this human is a great blessing for the Nebel Plateau.
Pan pan~
Pancham appeared at its feet at some point and patted its leg.
"What is it?" Volcanion asked.
Pan pan~ I'll take you to see where we live!
Pancham looked proud. In fact, it had wanted to show off to Volcanion since yesterday.
Ange certainly wasn't a bad person!
"Let's go," Volcanion said.
Pan pan~
Pancham immediately led the way happily.
When they reached the Secret Fortress, Volcanion saw the clean and tidy rooms, as well as the items specially prepared for the Pokémon.
For example, the sand Hippopotas liked, the charcoal basins and charcoal for the Charcadet to sleep in, the perches for the bird Pokémon to rest on, and the televisions for the Pokémon's entertainment...
All of this was overturning Volcanion's perception.
Ange had done so much for the Pokémon. If it still ignored its conscience and claimed Ange had ulterior motives or bad intentions, then it really would be out of its mind.
At this moment, Ange did not know that because of an inadvertent act by Pancham, he had gained Volcanion's recognition.