Midway through his flight, Ange seemed to hear a notification from the System. Immediately afterward, he received a message from Diancie. It turned out that Diancie had helped him accept another mission.
Only then did Ange realize the previous notification was for a new task. He quickly opened the System to check the situation and indeed saw an additional entry on the mission list.
He had accumulated quite a few unfinished missions, so he had to scroll down to see the new one.
[Ingredient Collection Mission 2] Catch a female Combee — Pending.
[Ingredient Collection Mission 3] Collect Woof-Woof Cereal seeds — Pending.
[Ingredient Collection Mission 4] Collect Sticky Mushroom spores — Pending.
[Ingredient Collection Mission 5] Collect a certain amount of Hard Ore — Pending.
[Ingredient Cultivation Mission 2] Evolve a female Combee into Vespiquen — Pending.
[Ingredient Cultivation Mission 3] Successfully plant Woof-Woof Cereal — Pending.
[Ingredient Cultivation Mission 4] Successfully plant Sticky Mushrooms — Pending.
[Temporary Mission 1] Help Magearna refine dessert making to reach the level of a pastry chef — Pending.
[Temporary Mission 2] Help Magearna open a dessert shop — Pending.
[Temporary Mission 3] Help Carbink overcome its difficulties — Pending.
The new mission was to help Carbink...
Carbink? Where did a Carbink come from? Ange was a bit dazed.
Is there a Carbink nearby in trouble?
Thinking this, Ange quickly called out to Altaria, "Altaria, please land for a moment."
"Ria~~"
Altaria nodded and flapped its wings to descend rapidly, with Swablu and Metagross following closely behind.
"Blu blu~ Blu blu~" Ange, what happened?
Swablu landed on Ange's shoulder and asked curiously.
The Pawmi in Ange's arms also looked up at him in confusion.
Ange used his phone to find a photo of Carbink and then said to Swablu, Metagross, and Altaria:
"Please look around the area for a Carbink, the Pokémon in this photo. It might be in trouble."
"Blu blu~"
"Ria~~"
The mother and daughter, Altaria and Swablu, nodded. They flapped their wings and took to the sky again, searching in two different directions.
"Meta~"
Metagross also nodded and chose a direction to begin its search.
Meanwhile, Ange carried Pawmi and searched in another direction.
"Paw~~"
Pawmi jumped down from Ange's arms. Its nose twitched as it crouched on the ground like a little dog, trying to help Ange find Carbink through its sense of smell.
Ange smiled and asked, "Can you really find it like that?"
"Paw paw~ Paw paw~" Pawmi patted its chest, guaranteeing it would definitely find it.
"Alright then, do your best," Ange encouraged it.
"Paw~~"
Bolstered by Ange's encouragement, Pawmi became even more motivated, running back and forth across the grass at high speed.
Ange himself began to use his Aura Power to perceive the surroundings.
The Aura of a Pokémon is quite different from that of other objects, so as long as there was a Pokémon nearby, Ange could sense it immediately.
Sure enough, he soon felt a specific Aura fluctuation. He followed the sensation and quickly found a patch of tall grass.
Rustling sounds came from within the grass.
Could it be right here?
With that thought, Ange slowly approached the grass and gently pushed it aside.
However, he froze after clearing the brush. There was no Carbink inside, only a pair of Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ being intimate.
The two were originally in the heat of the moment and were startled by Ange's sudden arrival. Consequently, they both gave Ange a harsh glare at the same time.
Pah! Freak, disturbing someone's business, how unscrupulous!
After glaring at Ange, the Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ ran away angrily.
Ange's face was full of embarrassment, and he quickly moved to a different spot to sense again.
Soon, he felt several Aura fluctuations coming his way. When he reached the location and found a tree instead of grass, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.
If it was a tree, he didn't have to worry about embarrassment.
However, he was disappointed once more because this time he found several Fletchling chirping in the branches.
The Fletchling weren't afraid when they saw Ange. They merely gave him a casual glance before continuing to play among themselves.
As time passed, Ange searched the entire vicinity but still found no sign of Carbink.
Did I get it wrong? Is it not a nearby Carbink that's in trouble?
At that moment, Swablu, Altaria, and Metagross returned one after another. Ange quickly asked them, "Did you find anything?"
The three Pokémon shook their heads in unison.
Was I really mistaken?
Truth be told, Ange was a bit confused as to why the System wanted him to help Carbink. There were so many Pokémon in the world, and Pokémon were in trouble almost every moment, yet the System had never specifically asked him to help before!
Just as Ange was wondering, Pawmi came trotting back.
"Paw paw~ Paw paw~" I found them! I found them!
Ange was pleasantly surprised to hear this. "You really found them?"
"Paw paw~ Paw paw~" Pawmi nodded repeatedly.
"Where? Take me there quickly!" Ange said excitedly.
"Paw paw~ Paw paw~"
Pawmi nodded and beckoned to Ange before running off in one direction. Seeing this, Ange hurried to keep up, with Metagross, Swablu, and Altaria following close behind.
Under Pawmi's lead, Ange and the others arrived at the edge of a small pond quite a distance from their previous location.
There, three soaking wet and unconscious Carbink lay by the pond. The Pokémon in the pond were gathered at the water's edge, watching them.
When they saw Ange approaching, the Pokémon surrounding the Carbink retreated back into the pond, watching from a distance.
Ange hurried over to check on the Carbink. He breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering they had only temporarily lost consciousness and were not in serious danger.
Next, Ange took out a dry towel, intending to dry the Carbink's damp bodies. They were Pokémon that disliked water, so being covered in it must be very uncomfortable.
"Paw~"
Seeing this, the nearby Pawmi ran to Ange's side and reached out a hand.
Ange smiled. "You want to help too?"
"Paw paw~ Paw paw~" Pawmi nodded repeatedly.
"Alright." Saying that, he stuffed the towel into Pawmi's hand and took out another one for himself.
In this way, Ange and Pawmi worked together, and soon the bodies of the three Carbink were dry again.
Furthermore, Ange took out some Berries that could restore physical strength and fed them. Before long, the three Carbink slowly woke up.
"A human?"
The newly awakened Carbink were very wary of Ange. After shouting out, they quickly moved away from him.
Ange was equally surprised because just now, one of the Carbink had used Telepathy, just like his Diancie.
Ordinary Carbink couldn't do that.
Is there something special about these three Carbink?
Ange quickly reassured them, "Don't worry, I mean no harm. I saved you just now while you were unconscious. My Pawmi found you by the pond, and I heard from it that you fell in."
"Paw~~"
Pawmi scratched its head sheepishly. In fact, it hadn't saved the Carbink; the Water-type Pokémon in the pond had helped pull them out.
Only then did the three Carbink remember. They had been in a hurry to find their lost Princess. When they tunneled out from underground, they accidentally opened the exit at the bottom of the pond, which led to them being submerged.
Learning that Ange had saved them, their gaze finally became less wary. One of the Carbink hopped forward to express its gratitude to Ange.
"Respected Sir, thank you for your rescue. My name is Majima. These two are my colleagues, Nate and Juuk. We were rude just now."
For safety reasons, Majima did not reveal to Ange that they were searching for the Princess.
Sir? Colleagues? What a strange way of speaking. And these three Carbink actually have names! How unexpected.
Ange suppressed his internal confusion and waved his hand. "It's alright, as long as you're okay."
"Thank you for your forgiveness," Majima said.
"By the way, are you hungry? Let me get you something to eat," Ange suddenly suggested.
Majima and the others looked at each other. They originally wanted to refuse, but their stomachs were indeed incredibly hungry. If they didn't fill their bellies soon, they might not be able to keep up with the Princess's pace.
"Thank you, human. We will certainly keep this kindness in our hearts," Majima said with a bashful expression.
It was too pathetic. They had utterly failed Minister Carbink's entrustment; they had not only lost the Princess but also fallen into a pond.
Ange spread a picnic cloth by the pond and then took out ingredients and cooking utensils from his System Backpack to place on top.
He hadn't expected to be asked by the System to find Carbink on the way, so he hadn't brought any prepared food and could only make something on the spot.
Seeing that there was still some rice in the System Backpack, Ange thought for a moment and decided to make some Egg Fried Rice.
Egg Fried Rice was simple and quick to make, tasted good, and was very filling, which suited the current situation perfectly.
He took out a stove. After lighting the fire, he placed a pan on top and poured in some oil from Dolliv.
After the experience of having no fire in the Great Crater of Paldea, Ange had specifically prepared several stoves to carry with him. These stoves were technological products of the Pokémon world using new energy. A single charge lasted a long time, and the heat could be adjusted at will, making them very convenient.
With this kind of stove, Ange could cook anytime, no matter where he was!
Although Fire-type Pokémon could also help with cooking, unless they were Pokémon with stable heat like Charcadet, Torkoal, Camerupt, or Carkol, other Fire-types were actually less effective than a stove.
While waiting for the oil to heat up, Ange quickly took out eggs, cracked them into a bowl, and whisked them. During the whisking process, he added an appropriate amount of Rock Salt.
Once evenly mixed, he poured the egg liquid into the hot oil pan.
Sizzle~~ The golden egg liquid expanded rapidly in the oil pan, and the aroma spread simultaneously.
The Carbink watched the busy Ange and smelled the fragrance drifting in the air, making their stomachs even hungrier.
Ange used a spatula to spread the egg liquid while shaking the frying pan, allowing the eggs to fully contact the oil to ensure all of it was fried.
At this point, Pawmi approached with a mouth full of drool. Ange laughed and asked, "You want to eat too?"
"Paw~~" Pawmi nodded vigorously.
Ange shook his head helplessly and agreed with a smile, "Fine, I'll make an extra bowl for you."
"Paw~" Upon hearing this, Pawmi immediately began running circles around Ange in joy.
Ange quickly said, "Get over there, be careful not to knock my things over."
"Paw~"
After responding, Pawmi happily ran to the side.
Meanwhile, Swablu was chirping to the three Carbink, boasting about how delicious Ange's food was. After hearing this, Pawmi quickly joined Swablu's praise group.
Carbink: So hungry! So hungry!
Then they heard Ange shout loudly, "Metagross, Swablu, Altaria, do you want to eat some as well?"
"Meta~"
"Blu blu~"
"Ria~~"
The three Pokémon responded at the same time. Of course they wanted to eat; how could anyone refuse the delicacies Ange made?
Hearing the Pokémon's affirmative answers, Ange said with a smile, "Then I'll make a bit more."
After setting the scrambled eggs aside, Ange poured in more oil. Once the oil was hot, he added the rice to stir-fry and added an appropriate amount of Rock Salt.
Once the rice was fried until the grains were distinct, he poured the previous eggs back into the rice and continued to stir-fry. When it was almost time to take it out of the pan, Ange added chopped green onions.
With a few more tosses, the aroma of the onions was fully released, and it was ready to serve.
"Pawmi, come here and serve the fried rice to everyone," Ange called out while plating the food.
"Paw~"
Pawmi trotted over and raised its hands.
"Go on!" Ange placed a plate full of Egg Fried Rice into Pawmi's hands.
"Paw~~"
Pawmi dashed to the picnic cloth, placed the plate of fried rice in front of Majima, and then quickly ran back to Ange's side, raising its hands again.
Soon, a large plate of Egg Fried Rice was placed in front of every Pokémon.
After turning off the stove, Ange carried the last plate of Egg Fried Rice to the picnic cloth, where everyone had already begun to feast.
Seeing everyone eating happily, a smile appeared on his face.
Setting down the fried rice in his hand, Ange took out a Poké Ball and released Mareep.
After Mareep came out, it stood motionless on the spot, head lowered and staring at the ground, without the slightest reaction to the outside world.
Ange sighed before putting on a smile again. He pushed the plate toward Mareep and said in a gentle voice, "Mareep, are you hungry? Eat something."
Mareep stared at the fried rice for a while, then lowered its head to eat in small, slow bites. It looked very deliberate.
Seeing that Mareep knew how to eat normally, Ange breathed a sigh of relief and then sat quietly by the side, watching the Pokémon eat.
As he watched, he suddenly realized he hadn't checked Mareep's data yet.
With that thought, he opened his Eye of Observation and looked at Mareep.
Mareep
Type: Electric
Ability: Static
Gender: Female
Level: 5
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Thunder Wave, Grass Pledge, Charge Beam, Volt Switch, Rain Dance, Power Gem, Electric Terrain, Electroweb.
Individual Values
HP: 31
Attack: 30
Defense: 31
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 31
Speed: 31
After finishing the reading, Ange was stunned. Was he seeing things?
A Level 5 was understandable; after all, this child suffered from congenital autism. Although it had been born for some time, it usually just stared blankly and had never trained, so its level naturally couldn't increase.
But what was with these moves? Is it even legal for a Level 5 Pokémon to know so many moves?
Or perhaps, while Mareep seemed to be staring blankly, it was actually silently observing the surrounding world and learning moves from other Pokémon?
Because it was exceptionally gifted, it learned the moves just by watching?
And its Individual Values were too exaggerated! Except for Attack, everything else was perfect, and Attack was only off by a single point.
Ange had originally thought Pawmi was a genius, but he didn't expect Mareep to be even more of a genius than Pawmi! Was the saying about geniuses among those with autism actually true?
Closing his Eye of Observation, Ange let out a deep sigh.
What a pity.
Despite having such incredible talent, it couldn't be put to use because of its natural autism. It was truly a pity!