Magearna had just finished slicing the cake when Diancie and Munchlax came downstairs together. To Ange's surprise, Munchlax was wearing a knitted wool shirt.
When Munchlax walked over to his side, Ange touched the shirt and asked Diancie, "Did you knit this?"
Not only was it finished, but it was made using dyed silk from Spinarak.
"Yes, does it look good?" Diancie replied with a nod.
Munch munch~ Master, do I look good?
Munchlax asked Ange while shyly tugging at its shirt.
Ange rubbed its head and said in a gentle tone, "It looks great. You were already very cute, Munchlax, but now you're even cuter."
Munchlax beamed at the praise and trotted off to ask Magearna as well.
Furthermore, Ange took the opportunity to pull Diancie aside and questioned her in a whisper, "I thought you said your skills weren't good enough and you needed to practice? You didn't need to practice before knitting for Munchlax?"
Diancie looked at Ange with a half-smile. "Are you jealous because I didn't knit for you first? Are you really eating vinegar over your own apprentice?"
Hearing this, Ange immediately pulled a long face. "Don't talk nonsense. I'm not jealous; I was just asking."
"That was my practice piece. I didn't even expect it to turn out that well," Diancie giggled to coax him.
"Stop boasting like a merchant praising his own goods," Ange said, tapping her forehead.
"I'm telling the truth," Diancie replied, covering her forehead. She then tugged at Ange's clothes and added, "I'll knit the next one for you. I promise it will be even more beautiful."
Ange was instantly satisfied. "It's a deal then!"
"I promise!" Diancie said with mock seriousness, before asking cheerfully, "By the way, did you bring back my Mareep?"
Ange nodded. "I brought it back, but..."
"But what?" Diancie looked confused.
"Its situation is a bit special. You'll see when you look at it."
Ange then released Mareep. The Pokémon kept its head down, staring quietly at its feet. It remained unmoved by its surroundings, even when facing a strange environment and unfamiliar Pokémon.
Despite this, perhaps it was actually panicked and uneasy, just unable to express it.
Diancie immediately noticed that something was wrong with Mareep and looked at Ange in surprise.
"This Mareep has congenital autism. Its reaction to the outside world is very slow," Ange explained.
"So that's how it is," Diancie said as she realized the situation.
"However, it is very well-behaved. You only need the wool, so its issues shouldn't affect you much," Ange continued.
"I know," Diancie nodded. She leaned over to hug Mareep. Feeling Diancie's embrace, Mareep's whole body stiffened.
Clearly, Mareep did have reactions to the outside world.
Sensing the change in Mareep's muscles, Diancie rubbed its head and then looked up at Ange. "How about I take full responsibility for looking after Mareep from now on?"
"Of course, no problem. Mareep came to this home for your sake anyway," Ange replied with a nod.
"I'll definitely take good care of it," Diancie said happily.
At that moment, Pawmi returned from playing outside, and Metagross also returned from checking on its students. Magearna called out to Ange and Diancie.
Magea magea~ Everyone, come and eat cake!
"Coming!"
Ange and Diancie replied in unison.
"Mareep, you come with me too," Diancie said in a gentle voice, patting the Pokémon.
It was unclear if Mareep understood, but it followed closely by Diancie's side.
Soon, everyone received their respective portions of cake. Since Volcanion, Drizzile, Gengar, and Komala were not at home, Magearna put their portions in the refrigerator.
Because Pawmi had eaten too much in the afternoon, it truly couldn't eat anymore. Consequently, it waited until no one was looking and secretly hid the cake in the System Backpack.
Diancie divided her cake into four portions: one for herself, one for each of the two Spinarak, and one for Mareep.
Although the cake Magearna made wasn't small, there were too many people and Pokémon to share it with. Naturally, no one received very much. With Diancie splitting hers again, her own portion was reduced to just a single small bite.
Seeing this, Ange gave half of his portion to Diancie.
Diancie wanted to refuse, but when Ange pulled a face, she immediately smiled and said, "Thank you, Ange."
Nearby, Munchlax looked at its master, then at Diancie, and finally at the cake on its own plate. It also gave half of its portion to Diancie.
Diancie was stunned. Just as she was about to say something, Munchlax tugged at its shirt.
Munch munch~ Thank you, Diancie.
Hearing this, Diancie gave up the idea of returning the cake and rubbed its head instead. "Then I won't be polite."
Munch munch~
Munchlax turned its face up and gave Ange and Diancie a brilliant smile.
"Our Munchlax is such a sweet little guy," Ange said, pinching Munchlax's cheek with a laugh.
Munch munch~
Munchlax laughed bashfully.
Withdrawing his gaze from Munchlax, Ange used a fork to cut a small piece of cake and put it in his mouth. The soft sponge paired with the sweet cream felt like biting into a cloud. Furthermore, taking a bite of the Pecha Berry coated in cream sent a fresh flavor dancing across his tongue.
From this cake, Ange tasted the flavor of happiness.
This is probably Magearna's state of mind while making the cake, Ange thought.
Magearna was a truly optimistic and simple Pokémon. Even in the face of adversity, it always lived life actively, diligently, and happily.
Perhaps only it could create a dessert that made people feel this much joy.
Before he knew it, the piece of cake was finished completely. Ange couldn't help but give Magearna a thumbs-up.
"Magearna, this is delicious! I don't think it's any worse than Murdock's handiwork!"
While Magearna might still lack some technical skill, its level of heart and soul was at the absolute limit.
The other Pokémon chimed in to agree with Ange.
Magearna was overjoyed by the praise and gestured excitedly.
Magea magea~ I will definitely keep working hard to make desserts everyone likes even more!
Perhaps because it was too excited, Magearna tripped over its own feet. With a loud thud, it fell to the ground. It quickly scrambled back up and said in a playful tone, Magea~ Goodness, I fell again.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Once the laughter died down, Ange said to Magearna, "Magearna, from now on, the kitchen on the second floor of our house is for your exclusive use. Your dessert shop will also be opened on the second floor."
Ange's house had three floors. The first floor was Diancie's Grand Cafeteria, the third floor was their living quarters, and the second floor had been empty.
Now, it finally had a use.
Magearna looked pleasantly surprised. Magea~ Really?
Ange nodded with a smile. "Of course. Not only that, but the second floor of Munchlax Home will also be used for you to sell desserts!"
Just like Diancie's Grand Cafeteria, the second floor of Munchlax Home had always been empty.
Magearna's desserts wouldn't just be for the Pokémon on the Nebel Plateau, so a shop was also needed in the Azoth Royal Capital.
However, Magearna wouldn't need to go to the shop in the capital personally. She just had to place the finished desserts in the shop and hire a salesperson.
As for who to hire, Ange hadn't decided yet.
Regardless, there was no rush. Magearna needed to practice her skills more before opening. However, the renovations for the shop needed to be prepared.
Ange also decided to build a new staircase on the outside of Munchlax Home leading to the second floor. That way, customers buying desserts wouldn't have to walk through the first floor.
Otherwise, the customers eating breakfast would surely be disturbed by people walking back and forth.
Conversely, the people buying desserts probably wouldn't want to be affected by the breakfast crowd either.
I'll discuss it with Jeremy later, Ange thought.
That night, after Ange and the Pokémon finished their training, they each returned to their rooms to sleep.
Before bed, Ange intended to collect his mission rewards as usual.
There were four rewards today: three for daily missions and one for a temporary mission.
The reward for the first daily mission was a 10-pound bag of rice.
Not bad. The rice rewarded by the System was much tastier than what was sold outside.
The second daily mission reward was a single thick leek.
It was unremarkable. Even though it was a System reward, Ange didn't think it tasted better than the ones his Farfetch'd grew.
Moreover, it was a bit stingy. The System couldn't even spare a bunch, insisting on rewarding just a single stalk.
Next was the third daily mission. Ange hadn't thought much of it, but when the System pop-up appeared, he froze.
[Congratulations, Master, you have obtained: 1 Golden Razz Berry, 1 Golden Nanab Berry, and 1 Golden Pinap Berry (Precious items, please keep them safe).]
Did I just hit the jackpot on a daily? And a literal gold one at that!
A reward with a specific note meant it was far from simple.
With a puzzled mind, Ange took out the three berries. Compared to ordinary berries, there wasn't much difference in appearance other than the color.
Normal Razz Berries were orange, Nanab Berries were pink, and Pinap Berries were yellow. The three berries rewarded by the System were, as the names suggested, entirely golden.
They were bright and very eye-catching.
Furthermore, under Ange's perception, the three berries radiated a strange Aura, completely different from that of regular berries.
So what are these for? Ange wondered.
After thinking for a long time without understanding, he followed the System's instructions and stored them safely in the System Backpack.
After all, the System had specifically labeled them as precious items.
With the three daily mission rewards collected, finally, there was the reward for the temporary mission.
Ange didn't hesitate and clicked the collect button. The System pop-up appeared immediately.
[Congratulations, Master, for completing [Temporary Mission 3] Help Carbink through the crisis. Reward obtained: Recipe "Noodles".]
Seeing this reward, Ange was so excited he almost jumped out of bed. Wasn't this exactly what he needed?
He was just planning to have Gengar open a ramen shop at Munchlax Home, and the System unlocked the "Noodles" recipe as a reward. It couldn't have been more perfect!
Ange quickly opened the "Noodles" section of the recipe interface. Sure enough, it contained various ways to make noodles: ramen, sliced noodles, cold noodles... everything was there.
This way, Gengar could earn both Happiness Points and League coins. It was killing two birds with one stone!
With the rewards collected, Ange closed the System and drifted into a pleasant sleep.
The next night, Gengar began its special training in noodle making in the Cooking Training Room. Subsequently, Ange discovered something very interesting: Gengar had a particular fondness for pulling ramen.
It used Psychic to control the noodles, making them fly through the air. Truth be told, the ramen pulled this way was exceptionally springy and uniform. Every strand was pulled to the exact same thickness.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. One morning, Ange set up a sign in front of Munchlax Home. It read:
"One week from now, Munchlax Home will begin operating a noodle shop in the evenings. Customers who like noodles are welcome to come and try. Satisfaction guaranteed."
This sign quickly caught the attention of the customers coming in for breakfast. Consequently, when Meowstic and the others served the meals, the customers would ask about it.
"Meowstic, your place is going to be open in the evenings too? That's great, I'll definitely come and try it!"
"The breakfast here is so good and unique; dinner definitely won't be bad!"
"Wonderful, finally I don't have to worry about where to eat dinner. But we have to wait a week? That's too long, I can't wait already!"
...
The customers expressed immense anticipation for the fact that Munchlax Home would be running a noodle shop at night.
Meanwhile, four teenagers arrived in the Azoth Royal Capital. After walking around for a bit, the older girl among them held up a travel guide and spoke.
"Coming to the Azoth Royal Capital, the first place to go is definitely this Munchlax Home. It's said they make a special kind of food called Mantou and buns that you absolutely can't eat anywhere else!"
These four were, of course, the main protagonists of the Pokémon animation: Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie.
In the animation, they wouldn't have passed through the Azoth Royal Capital at this time. However, perhaps Ange, this butterfly wing, had an effect, and their journey led them here.
Hearing Serena's words, Clemont sighed. "Eh? Shouldn't we first see more of this city filled with a mysterious scientific atmosphere?"
As a scientist, the Azoth Kingdom, known for its mysterious science, was essentially paradise for Clemont.
Serena immediately countered Clemont. "The Azoth Royal Capital isn't going anywhere; we can visit it anytime. But Munchlax Home is different—it stops serving at 10 AM!"
"Then I want to go to Munchlax Home!" Bonnie shouted immediately.
Ash held his growling stomach and said, "I want to go eat first too!"
"Alright then!"
Since the minority had to submit to the majority, Clemont could only agree.