After Diancie prepared accommodations for Solrock, Lunatone, and Tyrunt, it brought them to the plaza for a meal.
Lunatone and Solrock chose to stay in the same room, while Tyrunt lived in one by itself.
Once Diancie helped them select their rooms, it also prepared all the necessary daily essentials for them.
While the meal was being prepared, Diancie officially introduced Solrock, Lunatone, and Tyrunt to everyone.
Everyone was, of course, incredibly welcoming to the new partners and stepped forward one after another to greet the three Pokémon.
Because everyone's attitude was friendly and enthusiastic, Solrock and Lunatone were quickly influenced and integrated into this big family in no time.
Since Solrock and Lunatone were Psychic-type Pokémon, they became familiar with Espurr and Gardevoir first.
Tyrunt also had its own social circle, getting acquainted with Drilbur, Lairon, and Sirfetch'd first.
While waiting for dinner, it started a wrestling game with Lairon.
The two Pokémon went head-to-head, testing who had more strength.
Mii lu~ Mii lu~
Roar bi~ Roar bi~
Leez~ Leez~
...
Buneary, Bunnelby, Pachirisu, and Pancham formed a circle, shouting and jumping to cheer for both sides.
When it came to strength, Tyrunt was naturally no match for Lairon. However, Lairon was very considerate of this new junior, so it intentionally pretended to be evenly matched, playing along with the still-immature Tyrunt.
Tyrunt was not playing the wrestling game out of a desire to win, so it found it fun even though Lairon was pretending to be its equal, and it had a blast playing.
Because Ange had returned and everyone was happy, the plaza was exceptionally lively today.
That evening, Yveltal arrived at the plaza to have dinner with everyone upon Xerneas's invitation.
Even so, Yveltal still maintained its cold personality, squatting there quietly and majestically, displaying an "unapproachable" attitude.
Perhaps only Honchkrow and the Murkrow were not afraid of it.
Honchkrow and the Murkrow strutted around Yveltal, looking like guards protecting their monarch.
Dark currents continuously flowed from Yveltal, forming a Dark-type field around it, and wisps of dark energy were absorbed by the Honchkrow and Murkrow jumping around happily within it.
Unlike the cold Yveltal, Xerneas's side was much warmer and more harmonious.
It lay on the ground, surrounded by Floette, Spritzee, Ralts, Swablu, Bellossom, and Vileplume, chatting with them kindly.
Ralts told everyone about its experiences working in the Royal Capital, and when it got to the funny parts, Spritzee and the others laughed heartily.
Even a smile appeared on Xerneas's face.
In the kitchen, Ange and his two apprentices were busy working.
Ange cooked the food, Munchlax steamed mantou, and Inteleon boiled the soup.
Surprisingly, it was Doublade that was helping Ange cut the vegetables.
Its blades flashed rapidly across the cutting board, and a fat, white radish was sliced into uniform shreds.
Ange couldn't help but praise, "Doublade, your knife skills are no worse than mine!"
Yo~ yo~~ Receiving Ange's praise, Doublade spun happily in the air, then began cutting even more diligently.
Doublade had volunteered to help cut vegetables. Ange had only given it a casual tip at the time, but he hadn't expected Doublade to cut the vegetables exactly to his liking, which was a pleasant surprise.
Afterward, Ange offered a few more tips, and Doublade's vegetable-cutting skills improved rapidly, soon rivaling the old master, Ange.
It was practically born with a talent for cutting vegetables!
Ange felt that Doublade being able to cut vegetables so well probably had to do with its dedicated sword practice in the past.
The Aegislash family in the Glittering Cave used to be Pokémon raised by a certain royal family and had their own set of sword-fighting cultivation methods, among which the Sacred Sword was their signature move.
Both Ange's and Aria's Doublade knew this move, and they used it incredibly well—one look told you it had been polished through thousands of trials.
With Doublade's help, Ange's cooking efficiency increased significantly.
Doublade not only helped Ange cut vegetables, but also followed his instructions to prepare ingredients, arrange plates, and so on; it was truly very capable.
Although Doublade had no hands, the ribbons on its hilt were extraordinarily flexible, better to use than anyone else's hands.
Soon the meal was ready. Under Diancie's greeting, the two Espurr, Gardevoir, and Gallade couples entered the kitchen and carried out plates of food and basins of mantou.
They hadn't eaten Ange and Munchlax's food for several days, so everyone devoured it like a whirlwind.
This was the first time Lunatone and Solrock had eaten food made by Ange. They originally thought the food they ate outside was already very good, but they hadn't expected Ange's cooking to be even more delicious.
Forgive them for their lack of culture; they couldn't find words to describe it.
It's so great to be able to come back with Ange! The two Pokémon thought involuntarily.
It wasn't Tyrunt's first time eating Ange's food, but Ange had only made it beef bones before. Today was the first time it truly tasted Ange's craft, and it ate voraciously.
Everyone cleaned their plates, and even the vegetable broth was wiped up with mantou until not a single drop remained.
Because they hadn't seen Ange for a few days, nobody was in a hurry to leave after dinner. Instead, they sat together in groups of three or five, gathering in the plaza to chat with Ange.
Even Xerneas and Yveltal did not leave.
Everyone chatted and laughed, taking turns sharing interesting things that had happened around them.
The orange light from the doorway cast onto everyone's faces, plating all the people and Pokémon in a soft glow. The scene was incredibly warm.
As they chatted, someone suddenly suggested that everyone should perform some talents to welcome the new members, so the atmosphere in the plaza became even more enthusiastic.
The first to take the stage was the Altaria family.
Ria~ ria~
Ria~ ria~
The Altaria couple entered with graceful movements and waved their wings, bowing to everyone in unison like gentlemen.
Ria lu~~
Finally, Swablu made a cute entrance, landing beside its parents.
It mimicked its parents' gentlemanly bow, though its movements lacked some elegance, adding a touch of endearing clumsiness.
The program the Altaria family performed was singing.
Lu lu lu~~
Lu lu lu~~
Ria~ ria~ ria~
With the Altaria couple's beautiful singing voice accompanied by Swablu's childish yet cute vocals, everyone listened, enthralled.
Next up was the Gardevoir family.
Gardevoir~~ Gardevoir appeared in the center of the stage using Teleport and lifted its dress to perform a lady's bow.
Then, Gallade leaped to Gardevoir's side and waved its arms handsomely. Trails of powerful wind appeared under its Leaf Blade skill, gently brushing against everyone's faces.
Seeing this, everyone clapped enthusiastically.
Finally, Ralts walked slowly between its parents, its clumsy appearance ruining the atmosphere that Gardevoir and Gallade had built.
Everyone burst into laughter upon seeing this.
Ralts looked at everyone, confused.
Ralts? I haven't even performed yet, why is everyone laughing?
Consequently, everyone laughed even harder.
The Gardevoir family performed a dance.
Gardevoir performed an elegant ballet, while Gallade performed cool street dance.
As for Ralts, the content of its performance was negligible; other than being cute, it didn't do anything else.
Next to take the stage was Dusknoir, which performed a magic trick for everyone. Recently, it had become obsessed with magic-themed television programs.
Dusk~ dusk~~
It waved its large hands, and an eerie light radiated from the single eye on its head.
In a place where no one saw, a black vortex appeared behind Capsakid.
Suddenly, everyone saw the yellow striped mouth on Dusknoir's belly open, and it reached into its own pitch-black belly, fumbling around.
Suddenly, a Capsakid was pulled out of its belly.
The Capsakid was so scared that it shrieked.
Then came the second, the third.
By the time the Scovillain couple realized what was happening, their three Capsakid were all gone.
After being frightened, the three Capsakid were furious and opened their mouths, firing Bullet Seed at Dusknoir.
However, with their limited strength, how could they hurt Dusknoir?
Dusknoir extended its hands and precisely caught all the seeds the Capsakid spat out.
Paw paw~ paw paw~ At this moment, Pawmot trotted forward, holding a glass jar.
Dusknoir understood and placed all the seeds in its palm into the glass jar in Pawmot's hand.
Before the three Capsakid learned Bullet Seed, they mainly produced spicy seasonings by shedding teeth; the efficiency of this method was very low.
However, after they learned Bullet Seed, they produced spicy seasonings by spitting out seeds.
This method was both stable and efficient.
Dusknoir's behavior made the Capsakid even angrier, but they couldn't beat Dusknoir, so they could only run to their parents to complain.
As a result, Dusknoir faced a stern reprimand from the two Scovillain and returned dejectedly.
Performing magic is so hard!
In reality, Dusknoir was quite creative. Its performance just now used its innate ability combined with the move Phantom Force to achieve the effect.
Pawmot, meanwhile, trotted to Ange's side, holding the glass jar with an expression asking for praise.
Paw paw~ paw paw~ Look, Ange, lots of seeds!
The glass jar for the spicy seeds was one emptied after it finished its candy.
Ange poked its forehead and said helplessly, "Yes, yes, you're the smartest."
Paw paw~ paw paw~ Pawmot sat next to Ange, hugging the glass jar happily, and continued to watch everyone's performance.
After Dusknoir, Tropius and the Dolliv sisters took the stage.
Tropius carried the two sisters flying in the air. The sisters gathered energy balls and threw them into midair, and then Tropius used Air Cutter to split the energy balls.
The energy balls were hit by the impact and suddenly exploded in the air like fireworks, with dots of green light drifting down from the sky, looking like a rain of light that was very beautiful to watch at night.
Everyone couldn't help but let out bursts of gasps and gave enthusiastic applause and cheers for the performance of the three Grass-type Pokémon.
Following that, Watchog, Vivillon, Wooper, and Espathra took turns performing, winning one cheer after another from everyone.
Gengar had returned halfway through, and later it joined the performance group with Poliwrath and Poliwhirl.
Poliwhirl and Poliwrath sprayed streams of water, which Gengar controlled with its psychic power to continuously change forms in the air. One moment it was the clumsy Munchlax, the next it was the powerful Yveltal...
The precise control Gengar had practiced by spinning ramen drew bursts of exclamation from everyone.
Finally, closing out the performance were the Fire-type Pokémon: Delphox, Infernape, Ceruledge, Armarouge, Chandelure, and the Scovillain couple.
Infernape, Ceruledge, the Scovillain couple, and Chandelure spewed jets of fire, which were then jointly controlled by the Psychic-type Delphox and Armarouge using their mental power.
Under the control of their psychic powers, the flames danced across the sky, illuminating the entire night sky.
The few Fire-type Pokémon performed a beautiful and grand fireworks show for everyone, winning the best performance of the night.
Ange sat on the steps at the entrance, holding Komala in his arms. Munchlax sat on his left, Pawmot on his right, Diancie and Magearna sat in front, and Doublade hovered above his head.
The red firelight flickered on his face, mirroring the corners of his mouth turned upward.
Gong~~ Munchlax looked up, saw the smile on its master's face, and couldn't help but reach out and hook the master's arm.
Ange glanced at Munchlax and reached out to rub its head, asking:
"Munchlax, are you happy?"
Gong~~ Munchlax nodded vigorously. As long as it could be with its master, it was very happy every day.
Ange smiled: "I'm very happy, too."
He hoped this calm and happy life would continue forever.
After the performance ended, everyone left one after another.
Ange also took Munchlax, Inteleon, Gengar, Diancie, Magearna, Komala, Volcanion, Metagross, Pawmot, Passimian, and Doublade to the third floor.
When they reached the third floor, Gengar floated to Ange's side, full of anticipation.
Geng~ geng~ Master, what about the gift you mentioned?
Ange laughed: "Don't be in such a hurry, I'll get it for you right now!"
Saying this, he took the crown embedded with Gengar's Mega Stone out of his System Backpack.
Looking at the beautiful crown, Gengar was full of surprise.
Geng~ geng~~ Master, is this for me? It's so pretty.
The crown, embedded with various gemstones, was indeed impeccable in appearance.
"Of course!" Ange nodded and handed the crown to Gengar.
Gengar carefully took the crown, placed it on top of its head, and asked Ange shyly.
Geng~~ Master, do I look good?
Ange was very supportive and said: "Good, it suits you very well. I feel like you are like a queen now."
Wearing the shining crown, Gengar was indeed cute.
Of course, Gengar itself was already cute enough.
The other Pokémon also chimed in to praise Gengar.
Gengar was even shier from everyone's praise, covering its face and flying around in the air.
Ange said to Gengar mysteriously: "Gengar, this isn't just a crown, you know. That largest gemstone embedded on it is actually a Mega Stone."
Hearing this, Gengar was incredulous. It reached up to take the crown off its head, examined the Mega Stone in the center with curious eyes, and touched it gently with its chubby little hand.
Geng~ Master, is this my Mega Stone?
Ange nodded and replied: "Of course, otherwise why would I give it to you?"
Geng~~ Hearing this, Gengar hugged Ange's neck and stuck its tongue out to lick him on the face.
Geng~ geng~~ I love master the most!
Ange felt tingling and numb all over from its licking.
Help me, it's the Lick move!
"I... I also like Gen... Gengar..." he said with a trembling voice.
After recovering from the paralysis, Ange took out the Key Stone he had snatched from the Team Flare members and said: "Gengar, let's try to see if we can Mega Evolve!"
Geng~ geng~~ Gengar nodded, full of anticipation.
Ange hung the pendant around his neck, pinched the Key Stone on it, and imitated Alain with a chuunibyou tone:
"Key Stone, respond to my voice, unleash Gengar's true power!"
Diancie and Magearna were both amused by Ange's chuunibyou tone; they put their heads together and covered their mouths to giggle.
Munchlax and Pawmot were much more direct, lying flat on the sofa, laughing and rolling around while clutching their bellies.
Ange: =(*)
However, as his words fell, the Key Stone bloomed with brilliant light, and at the same time, the Mega Stone in Gengar's hand also emitted a dazzling, eye-catching radiance.
The two beams of light intertwined and gradually surrounded Gengar.
In the light, Gengar's appearance underwent a huge change.
After Mega Evolving, Gengar's originally round body became even cooler and more dashing, and its size became even larger, though it looked shorter than before because nearly half of its body was hidden in a dimensional space.
Besides that, its back was full of spikes, and a golden eye grew on its forehead.
Because Ange's Gengar was Shiny, its appearance after Mega Evolving was very different from other Mega Gengar.
The body of a normal Mega Gengar was dark purple, and its lower half radiated a red glow.
Ange's Mega Gengar was entirely white, and its lower half radiated a pale pink glow.
Geng~ geng~~
After Mega Evolving, Gengar could clearly feel the soaring power in its body.
It excitedly drilled into the dimensional space and disappeared one moment, and suddenly drilled out the next, appearing on the ground, on the wall, on the ceiling, or even staying in midair with the help of the dimensional space. Its speed was so fast it was dazzling.
Ange took the opportunity to open the Eye of Observation to check on Gengar's situation.
Mega Gengar (King's Rock) [Type]Ghost, Poison [Ability]Shadow Tag [Gender]Female [Level]50 [Moves]Perish Song, Shadow Punch, Hypnosis, Lick, Mean Look, Curse, Hex, Sucker Punch, Night Shade, Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Psychic, Phantom Force, Sludge Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Mirror Coat, Dazzling Gleam, Skill Swap, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Thunderbolt, Gunk Shot. [Individual Values] HP: 31 Attack: 25 Defense: 26 Special Attack: 31 Special Defense: 29 Speed: 31
After reading this, he was stunned. How did Gengar's moves become so many?
Because Gengar almost never participated in battles, Ange rarely thought to use the Eye of Observation on it. He didn't expect that taking a look would scare him to death.
And Gengar inexplicably had an extra held item. How come he didn't remember giving Gengar something like a King's Rock?
Right! He suddenly remembered, it was that crown!
Could it be that the crown is actually also a King's Rock?
Ange had never heard of embedding a Mega Stone into a King's Rock.
Is it some kind of ancient technology? It really is a whimsical idea.
Unable to figure it out, Ange pushed the question aside. He beckoned to Gengar, who was excitedly demonstrating its abilities.
Geng~~ Gengar immediately flashed to its master's side.
"Gengar, have you been learning moves from everyone?" Ange asked.
Geng~~ Mm-mm...
Gengar nodded shyly.
In order to become the master's most outstanding apprentice, not just in culinary arts but also in strength, Gengar had been quietly working hard. Whenever it had time, it would ask other Pokémon for advice on moves.
For example, Dazzling Gleam was learned from Xerneas, Thunderbolt was learned from a Dragonite that came to play on the Nebel Plateau, Skill Swap was learned from Mew, and Sludge Wave and Sludge Bomb were learned from Swalot...
It discovered that the Cooking Training Room could not only be used to train cooking skills, but also to utilize time differences to learn moves, so it often snuck in to practice moves.
Without realizing it, it had learned so many moves.
Hearing this, Ange rubbed Gengar's head, gratified. "You... you really are a good child."
Although he did not force his Pokémon to become very strong, he supported and encouraged them if they were willing to.
Becoming stronger was not a bad thing.
Geng~ geng~~ The master's praise made it even shier, and it couldn't help but hold its master in its arms and lick him.
I... I'm... numb... again...
As the novelty wore off, Gengar deactivated its Mega Evolution form and then carefully stuffed the crown into its belly.
Its belly was a dimensional space where anything could be stored, so compared to storing items in the System Backpack, Gengar preferred putting them in its belly.
After testing Gengar's Mega Evolution, the Pokémon curled up on the sofa and started playing leisurely, playing games, watching shows, scrolling through videos...
Because Doublade was new and didn't understand anything yet, it was pulled to the side by Munchlax to mutter together at a smartphone.
Soon, Doublade became fond of the modern technology product known as a smartphone.
Ange told it: "I'll buy you one tomorrow, too."
Yo~ yo~ Upon hearing this, Doublade floated around happily in the air.
Seeing the Pokémon playing happily, Ange smiled in relief, then took out the Kangaskhanite.
What should I do with this thing? Should I also raise a Kangaskhan?
Raising a Pokémon for the sake of a Mega Stone didn't seem necessary to him; he preferred to raise Pokémon according to his own wishes, rather than for some other reason.
He wasn't a Trainer, after all!
After thinking it over, Ange put the Kangaskhanite back into the System Backpack.
I'll think about it later!