Mareep had just used Thunderbolt, and it was clear that it was already highly proficient with the move.
Furthermore, it discharged another current from its body that struck the rock, carving another small pit into its surface.
"What are you doing, Mareep?" Diancie asked curiously.
Mareep stopped its actions upon hearing the question, tilting its head as if the answer were obvious. "Practicing my moves~"
Every time it played for a while, it would always come over to practice its moves.
After answering Diancie's question, it resumed practicing its Thunderbolt technique.
Diancie and the two Spinarak watched silently as Mareep practiced Thunderbolt over and over again without a hint of boredom.
Before long, Diancie felt that Mareep must have practiced at least ten thousand times. Under the continuous assault, the massive rock was battered and broken, looking as though it would shatter at any moment.
Suddenly, a more intense electric light erupted from Mareep's body. The electricity condensed into a thick pillar of lightning that violently slammed into the boulder.
Boom!
Accompanied by a loud crash, the boulder exploded, bursting into fragments that shot out in all directions.
A look of surprise crossed Diancie's face. Was that... Thunderbolt?
Mareep actually unlocked Thunderbolt just by practicing its electric attacks?
At this point, Mareep finally halted its practice.
"Are you done practicing, Mareep?" Diancie asked, puzzled.
"It is playtime~" Mareep stated, once again acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
With that, it bounced forward, calling out to Diancie and the Spinarak in a crisp voice.
"Diancie, Spinarak, come quickly, let's play together~"
Hearing this, Diancie and the Spinarak could only follow.
Trailing behind Mareep, Diancie and the others returned to the courtyard.
After passing through a dense forest, a small house with a red roof appeared before them.
This was Mareep's residence in the Dream World.
Mareep opened the door with practiced familiarity. Once Diancie and the Spinarak walked inside, they saw a row of sofas arranged in the center of the cottage, a fireplace burning on the wall, and a red carpet covering the floor.
A wide variety of toys were scattered across the red carpet, including model cars, toy guns, building blocks, puzzles, and chess sets.
In the center of the carpet stood a small table, which was also piled with things like books, paper, and pens.
Mareep walked over, stood up on its hind legs to lean against the table, and picked up a pen to start sketching and drawing.
Diancie walked over and asked, "What are you doing now, Mareep?"
"I am drawing~" Mareep replied, looking up.
Diancie looked down at the piece of paper in Mareep's hand and saw a brilliant, smiling Diancie sketched upon it.
Wasn't that exactly itself!
"You are amazing, Mareep!" Diancie exclaimed in amazement.
"Really? Am I really that amazing?" Hearing Diancie's praise, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on Mareep's face.
"Of course! Very amazing!" Diancie answered affirmatively. "You can learn moves on your own, you can draw, and you draw so well!"
Mareep was originally very happy listening to Diancie's praise, but it was unknown what memory crossed its mind, as its mood quickly plummeted.
"What is wrong, Mareep?" Diancie asked.
"But nobody likes me, and my parents do not like me either," Mareep murmured in a low voice.
Diancie recalled Mareep's past. Because it was born with autism, Mareep's parents had abandoned it.
Even at the ranch where it used to live, apart from the rancher who took meticulous care of it, the other Pokémon did not like it either.
Diancie gently hugged Mareep. "Who said nobody likes you? I like you very much! Everyone on the Nebel Plateau likes you, and the Spinarak like you too."
Mareep looked up at Diancie and asked, "Really?"
Diancie replied in a certain tone, "Of course, if you do not believe me, just ask Spinarak."
Ito~
Ito~
The two Spinarak climbed onto the table and nodded vigorously at Mareep.
Seeing this, Mareep was overjoyed. It broke free from Diancie's embrace, picked up the paintbrush, and began drawing rapidly on the paper.
After a short while, a picture of Diancie, the two Spinarak, and Mareep riding a toy train through the sky appeared on the paper.
It was lifelike.
"What a wonderful drawing!" Diancie praised.
Ito~ Ito~
The two Spinarak were also not stingy with their praise for Mareep.
Receiving compliments from Diancie and the Spinarak made Mareep incredibly happy, and it went back to drawing on its own.
Seeing this, Diancie did not disturb it, turning its attention to the other books on the table instead.
It casually picked one up and flipped through it, discovering that it was actually a completely hand-drawn comic book.
Comparing it to the art style on the paper just now, Diancie recognized at a glance that this was Mareep's work.
Crucially, the comic actually depicted the daily lives of the Pokémon on the Nebel Plateau.
Even though it was just a glance, Diancie was captivated by the contents of the comic.
Although the comic only drew some trivial matters of the Pokémon's daily lives, it became extremely interesting under Mareep's vivid brushstrokes.
Without realizing it, Diancie finished reading the comic in its hand.
Then it picked up another one.
After an unknown amount of time, all the comics on the table had been read by Diancie.
These comics on the table were all from Mareep's hand. They were episodic comics, but they all belonged to a series of short stories. One story per book, the content of each book was not much, but every single one was very entertaining.
Putting down the book in its hand, Diancie looked at Mareep, who was buried in drawing, and said, "Mareep, are you actually a genius?"
"Reep?" Mareep raised its head and looked at Diancie with a blank face.
"Keep drawing, keep drawing," Diancie said hastily.
Hearing this, Mareep lowered its head again and concentrated on drawing.
Following that, Diancie and the two Spinarak just leaned on the table and quietly watched Mareep draw, feeling a sense of peaceful warmth as time slipped by.
Mareep's focus was truly remarkable; it did not get distracted even once during the drawing process, becoming so absorbed that it almost ignored the presence of Diancie and the Spinarak.
After a long time, Mareep finally put down its paintbrush. It climbed down from the table and walked quickly toward the door, shouting back at Diancie and the two Spinarak as it walked.
"Diancie, Spinarak, come quickly~"
Where was it going now?
Diancie could not help but hold the two Spinarak and quickly follow.
As soon as it reached the grass outside the door, Mareep began running rapidly. Diancie watched as Mareep multiplied from one into two, and from two into four.
Is this... Double Team? Diancie was stunned once again.
Mareep kept running back and forth on the grass using Double Team. Because it was a dream, it did not feel tired, so the more it ran, the more proficient it became at utilizing the Double Team move.
After running for an unknown length of time, Mareep finally stopped, looking up at Diancie happily.
"How did you learn Double Team?" Diancie asked.
"I watched Greninja use it~" Mareep answered solemnly.
"You learned it from Greninja?" An expression of astonishment appeared on Diancie's face. "You just watched and learned it?"
"Reep~"
Mareep looked at Diancie with bright, spirited eyes, as if asking: Is there a problem?
Of course there is a problem! Who on earth learns a move just by watching it!
Diancie was shocked by Mareep's talent.
Unwittingly, dawn broke outside. Ange had already gotten out of bed and was leading the Pokémon in outdoor exercises.
Early in the morning, the grass outside the wall was extremely lively.
Because Ange was back, everyone gathered around to exercise with him.
After the workout ended and they returned home, Ange and his apprentice finished washing up. Munchlax was already busy in the kitchen, and Inteleon had also gone to the Azoth Royal Capital.
However, Ange still did not see Diancie come downstairs.
"Strange, why is Diancie sleeping in today?" Ange asked Magearna in confusion.
"Magea magea~" Diancie might be tired!
Magearna thought for a moment and replied.
During the time Ange was away from home, the entire Nebel Plateau was managed by Diancie, so it was only natural for it to feel tired.
"True!" Ange felt that made sense, so he said, "It is rare for Diancie to sleep in, let it sleep a bit longer."
Since Ange did not go to the Royal Capital to work today, he helped take over Diancie's chores for the day.
While Ange was working, Mew had already started playing with the Pokémon on the plains.
It discovered that Ange's home was much more fun than its own.
First, it played soccer with Infernape and the others, then went to the winery to taste Passimian's wine and fruit juice. Next, it toured Greninja's daily necessities shop and Delphox's convenience store, becoming fully absorbed in the wide variety of goods and toys inside...
Furthermore,
From Pachirisu, it got to drink sweet soda and eat crispy, fragrant potato chips; from Honchkrow, it obtained a beautiful crystal necklace; from Cinccino, it received a body wash that could produce a lot of bubbles when bathing...
On the Nebel Plateau, Mew was having so much fun that it forgot about returning home.
After finishing up the business in the shop, Ange walked outside the wall and quickly found Sneasel, who was currently playing a game of chase with Delcatty.
He called out loudly to the two Pokémon, "Sneasel, Delcatty, come here for a moment!"
Hearing this, Sneasel and Delcatty hurriedly sprinted toward Ange.
Ange first spoke to Sneasel. "I will take you to choose a room later."
Sneasel's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and it nodded at Ange with a face full of anticipation.
It was finally going to have its own room.
Next, Ange looked toward Delcatty and asked, "Delcatty, do you want to evolve?"
Delcatty's evolution required a Moon Stone, and it just so happened that with the help of Brock's younger brother Forrest, he had obtained quite a few Moon Stones at Mt. Moon.
"Del~" Evolve?
Hearing Ange's words, Delcatty's squinted eyes could not help but open a slit.
Ange nodded. "Yes, evolving from Skitty into Delcatty."
As he spoke, Ange used his phone to pull up a picture of Delcatty to show Skitty.
Seeing the elegant and beautiful Delcatty, a glimmer of longing flashed through Skitty's eyes.
"Skii skii~ Skii skii~" I want to evolve, I want to evolve! I want to evolve into Delcatty!
Skitty strongly expressed its desire to evolve.
"Alright, catch!" With that, Ange pulled out a Moon Stone and tossed it toward Skitty.
"Skii~" Skitty leaped into the air and caught the Moon Stone in its mouth.
The moment Skitty touched the Moon Stone, the stone erupted with a bright light. The radiance spread all the way across Skitty's body until it completely enveloped the Pokémon.
Within the light, Skitty began to grow taller inch by inch, its round body becoming slender, and its round head turning petite.
When the light dissipated, a brand new feline Pokémon appeared before Ange and Sneasel.
This Pokémon had a cream-colored body, a purple tail, ruff, and ears. Its eyes were sharp and its posture elegant, completely different from the previous dopey Skitty.
This was the evolved form of Skitty, the Prim Pokémon—Delcatty.
"Congratulations, Delcatty!" Ange smiled and offered his congratulations to Delcatty.
Delcatty, who still had a dignified expression just a second ago, immediately leaped forward upon hearing Ange's congratulations, landing nimbly by Ange's feet, and then rubbed its head against Ange's shin.
This attitude retained none of its previous aloofness.
Sneasel looked at Delcatty with envy in its eyes. It wanted to evolve too, and after becoming stronger, go give that electric rat a thorough thrashing.
It had already heard that there were training courses taught by Metagross here, so it planned to participate starting tonight.
Get stronger! Get stronger! Get stronger!
Sneasel swore secretly in its heart!
After playing with Delcatty for a while, Ange patted its head and said, "Alright, go play by yourself, I am going to take Sneasel to pick a room."
"Del~" Delcatty nodded slightly, then raised its head slightly and walked away with elegant cat steps.
Only then did Ange look down and say to Sneasel, "Let's go."
"Snea snea~" Sneasel nodded and followed Ange toward the Secret Fortress.
Just as the two walked to the elevator entrance, they saw the ceiling of the Secret Fortress slowly open. The next second, Yveltal roared out from within, surrounded by Honchkrow and a flock of Murkrow.
Ange thought to himself: Yveltal has basically become a mob boss!
"Snea snea~ Snea snea~"
Watching Yveltal vanish into the horizon, Sneasel tugged at Ange's pant leg, asking what kind of Pokémon that was, a question it had wanted to ask last night.
Ange smiled and introduced it. "That is Yveltal, it lives in the Secret Fortress just like you."
"Snea!!!" Hearing this, Sneasel looked terrified. Was it going to live together with such a terrifying Pokémon?
Ange said, "No need to fear, Yveltal looks scary, but it will not hurt you, rest assured!"
Sneasel nodded suspiciously.
Taking the elevator all the way down, Ange and Sneasel quickly arrived at the staff dormitory.
When they arrived, Litleo, Linoone, Pancham, Stunky, and Cinccino were playing hide-and-seek.
Seeing Ange approach, the little fellows immediately ran over to his side.
"Leo leo~"
"Pan pan~"
"Min min~"
...
The little ones swirled around Ange, expressing how much they had missed him during this period.
Ange introduced them. "This is the newly arrived Sneasel, take good care of it in the future."
Hearing this, the little fellows stopped one after another and came up to Sneasel to welcome it.
Pancham puffed out its chest, patted Sneasel on the back, and said:
"Pan pan~ Pan pan~" If you need anything in the future, just come to me, I have got your back!
Ange tapped its forehead and said, "You are going to cover someone else? Look at your own weight first."
"Pan pan~" Pancham covered its forehead with a face full of defiance.
Litleo and the others burst into laughter upon seeing this.
Following that, several Pokémon accompanied Ange to help Sneasel pick a room. They chimed in with suggestions all at once, making Sneasel's head spin.
Of course, it was also because there were too many rooms here and every single one was excellent, so Sneasel could not make a decision for a moment.
Ultimately, it was Litwick, who popped out from nowhere, that gave Sneasel practical advice, allowing Sneasel to finally make up its mind.
With Litwick helping, Pancham and the others went back to playing hide-and-seek.
Sneasel chose a small single room, and following Litwick's suggestion, requested a small refrigerator from Greninja.
Usually, Sneasel could use the refrigerator to make ice cubes and place them in its room, ensuring it could live very comfortably.
With the Holy Diamond supplying power, the Nebel Plateau lacked electricity least of all, so Sneasel could use it freely.
Aside from the refrigerator, Litwick drew from its own experience to gradually pick out some basic daily necessities for Sneasel from Greninja's shop, and carefully taught Sneasel how to use them.
Seeing this scene, Ange said in gratification, "Litwick is truly great, it is always reliable in doing things."
"Lit lit~ Lit lit~" Litwick smiled bashfully.
"Snea snea~" Sneasel also sincerely expressed its gratitude to Litwick.
Sneasel liked its room very much, moving the basket and quilt Ange had prepared for it last night into the room; this would be its sleeping place from now on.
After finishing arranging the room, Ange intended to take Sneasel to meet Passimian, since it would likely be a partner working with Passimian in the future.
However, just as they stepped out of the room, they heard a fierce argument coming from outside.
Ange ran over to take a look and found that Pancham and Cinccino were actually fighting.
Pancham looked very angry, throwing a punch toward Cinccino.
However, Cinccino was a fully evolved Pokémon, utterly overwhelming Pancham in terms of level and other aspects. Pancham could not hit it at all, and it instead stuck out its tongue and made faces at Pancham.
"Pan pan~ Pan pan~"
Pancham grew even angrier, condensing a burst of dark energy in its hands and sweeping it out.
It was Dark Pulse.
Litleo, Linoone, and Stunky were originally trying to break up the fight, but seeing this scene, they hurriedly dodged out of the way.
The smug Cinccino was caught off guard, hit squarely by the Dark Pulse, and fell to the ground, its pristine fur covered in dust.
Cinccino was enraged, shooting a rapid succession of green seeds from its mouth at Pancham without hesitation.
It was Bullet Seed.
Just as Ange wanted to call out to stop them, Litwick, acting as the guardian, had already made a move. A pillar of fire erupted from the flame on its head, burning Cinccino's Bullet Seed to ashes.
Seeing Litwick, Pancham aggrievedly complained to it, but Cinccino, whose fur had been dirtied, refused to back down, wanting to continue unleashing Bullet Seed.
Now it was Litwick's turn to be angry. A purple light flashed in its eyes, and Cinccino, who was channeling its move, was instantly frozen in place, unable to move.
Litwick used Psychic!
Most Ghost-type Pokémon had a strong comprehension of Psychic-type moves.
Gengar knew this move, and Litwick knew it as well, both learning it without a teacher!
The angry Litwick floated to Cinccino's side and scolded it loudly. Only then did Cinccino suddenly snap out of its rage.
Seeing the furious Litwick, its original arrogant demeanor vanished instantly, and it listened to Litwick's lecture submissively like a child.
Soon, Ange learned the reason behind the fight between Pancham and Cinccino.
It turned out that during hide-and-seek just now, it was Cinccino's turn to be the seeker. Originally, it should have covered its eyes and waited for everyone to hide, but it secretly cheated, peeking through its fingers, and thus won several rounds in a row.
In the final round, when it wanted to cheat again, it was accidentally discovered by Pancham. Pancham refused to accept it and argued with it on the spot.
Unexpectedly, Cinccino not only refused to admit its mistake but also felt that cheating without being caught was a skill of its own.
Ultimately, the two Pokémon started fighting like this.
Understanding the sequence of events, Litwick became even angrier, its gaze toward Cinccino full of fury.
Cinccino finally knew fear, casting its gaze toward Ange in an attempt to seek help, but Ange shook his head and said, "If you do wrong, you must be punished. Cheating in games and refusing to admit it is truly uncalled for!"
Hearing this, Cinccino hung its head in regret.
As the leader of the family, Litwick could least tolerate family members being bullied, so its voice scolding Cinccino grew louder and louder, and the fury on its body surged higher and higher.
Although Litwick was usually very steady and calm, it was a Fire-type Pokémon after all, and its short temper flared up at this moment.
In a daze, Ange seemed to see the flame on its head expanding, with raging fires gradually rising.
"Litwick! Litwick!" Ange hurriedly called out to Litwick.
Hearing Ange's voice, Litwick's anger subsided slightly, and it turned to look at Ange. At this time, the flame on its head had already spread across its entire body, while a blue-white light lit up from its frame.
Seeing that light, Ange understood instantly that Litwick was actually about to evolve!
Beholding this scene, the other Pokémon widened their eyes in surprise one after another.
Their boss was about to evolve!
The light of evolution soon completely enveloped Litwick, and its body shape also underwent a drastic change within the light.
For Litwick to evolve into Lampent required being above level 41, so all this time, even though Linoone had evolved, Cinccino had evolved, and Heliolisk had evolved, it had remained unevolved.
Now, Litwick's evolution conditions were finally met.
When the light of evolution dissipated, a brand new Pokémon appeared before Ange and the others.
This Pokémon had a black, hat-like head with a pointed top, looking like a lampshade.
Its only facial features were two bright yellow eyes, and a deep blue flame flickered inside its glass head.
This was exactly Litwick's evolved form—Lampent.
After the successful evolution, Lampent floated into the air, spinning around continuously to adjust to its new body.
Litleo, Pancham, and Stunky jumped and danced as they cheered, celebrating Lampent's successful evolution.
Only the newly errant Cinccino shrank back timidly.
Ange also smiled and offered his blessings. "Congratulations, Lampent!"