As everyone took their respective seats, Ange announced that dinner was served, and the Pokémon immediately cheered and dug in with gusto.
Latias and Latios glanced at the three Eeveelutions, who were devouring their food, and then began to eat as well.
The moment the delicious food entered their stomachs, the exaggerated descriptions Pawmot had given earlier of Ange's culinary skills took on a concrete form in the siblings' minds.
As it turned out, although Pawmot's description of Ange's cooking was exaggerated, it wasn't lying at all! The siblings finally understood.
The shock of Ange's cooking on the siblings came down to three reasons.
First, both siblings were eating food with such intense flavors and aromas for the first time.
Second, Ange's culinary skills were genuinely exceptional.
Third, the food they had just eaten contained Mushroom Freshness powder, which Dragon-type Pokémon adored.
"Paw paw~ Paw paw~" How is it, delicious?
Sitting opposite the siblings, Pawmot held a spoon and continuously shoveled food into its mouth, speaking with muffled cheeks as it chewed.
"Awoo~~" The siblings gave Pawmot an affirmative reply.
"Paw~" Pawmot instantly wore a proud expression, as if it had cooked the entire table of food itself.
Diancie reached out and tapped the table, looking at Pawmot with a stern expression as it said, "Swallow the food in your mouth before you speak."
Upon hearing this, Pawmot instantly shrank its neck.
The big sister had spoken!
Sitting to its left, Baltoy watched its cowardly display and couldn't help snickering.
What are you laughing at! Seeing this, Pawmot gave Baltoy a shove.
Was Baltoy the kind of person to take a loss lying down? It immediately shoved back.
Noticing their little antics, Diancie tapped the table once more. "If you two aren't going to eat, get outside!"
Both Pokémon shrank their necks and immediately behaved.
"Hahaha~~"
"Gar~~"
"Gengar~~~"
For a moment, everyone and the Pokémon at both dining tables burst into loud laughter.
Latios and Latias watched this scene, exchanged glances, and broke into smiles as well.
For some reason, they felt a faint, warm atmosphere permeating the dining table—something they had never experienced before.
At that moment, Passimian pulled out a bottle of wine and asked Ange and Komala,
"Passi~ Passi~" Care for a drink?
Ange was in a good mood today, so he readily nodded and said, "Alright, I'll have a glass!"
Komala was even more direct; it pulled out its cherished drinking set and pushed it across the table toward Passimian.
A smile appeared on Passimian's face as it popped the cork and poured the clear wine into the cups, and a faint alcoholic fragrance immediately began to drift through the air.
Latios and Latias twitched their noses as they sniffed the air, and Latios asked, "Is this wine?"
"That's right!" Passimian nodded, looking at Latias and Latios as it asked, "Would you two like a glass as well?"
Both Latias and Latios knew of the existence of such a special beverage called wine, but they had never tasted it, so out of curiosity they nodded.
"Passi~~" Passimian happily placed a glass of wine in front of each of the siblings.
After pouring drinks for Ange and Komala as well, it fetched fruit juice drinks for the other Pokémon.
Raising its cup, Ange said, "Let's raise a toast to welcome Latias and Latios to our big family."
Diancie: "Cheers~"
Magearna: "Magea magea~" Cheers~
Metagross: "Meta~" Cheers~
...
Everyone raised their cups (or drinks) in unison.
The siblings looked around at everyone, feeling a surge of excitement while mimicking everyone's actions to raise their cups.
Then, amidst everyone's cheers, Latios and Latias downed the fine wine in their cups in one gulp.
"Cough, cough, cough~~" Because she drank it too quickly, Latias immediately began to cough violently.
"S-ha~ S-ha~" So spicy! So spicy!
Latias said with a flushed face.
Seeing this, Ange smiled and said, "It seems Latias isn't used to the taste of wine."
Diancie remarked, "Honestly, I really don't know what's so good about drinking wine."
"Magea magea~~" Exactly, exactly!
"Gar~~" Yep!
Magearna and Gengar nodded in complete agreement.
Latias looked at Diancie with teary eyes, feeling that what she said made total sense—this stuff called wine really wasn't tasty at all.
"Passi~ Passi~" You guys just don't get it! The taste of wine is so wonderful...
Passimian shook its head sagely.
Even so, it thoughtfully replaced Latias's wine with fruit juice.
"Passi~ Passi~" Since you don't like wine, try my fruit juice instead!
Latias picked up the juice cup, took a gentle sip, and her eyes instantly lit up.
"Ooh~~" This is good!
Unsurprisingly, the fruit juice won Latias's favor.
Ange asked Latias, "Latias, how do you find the taste of wine?"
"Ooh~~" Latias went back to Passimian for a refill, smacked her lips, and indicated that the taste wasn't bad after all.
Ange happily said, "Then let's have another toast!" As he spoke, he raised his glass once more.
Komala and Passimian raised their glasses as well.
Latias: "Ooh~~" Cheers!!!
Amidst the clinking of glasses and swapping of cups, Ange, Passimian, and Latios gradually began to feel the effects of the alcohol.
Ange wasn't a heavy drinker, so he told Passimian and Latios, "Let's call it a day on the drinking. We can drink together again sometime."
"Passi~"
"Ooh~"
Passimian and Latios agreed with nods; weren't excessive drinkers either.
Only Komala remained unchanged, continuing to quietly sip its drink on its own.
Noticing the rosy flush on Ange's face, Diancie placed some food in his bowl. "Eat some vegetables to line your stomach."
Seeing this, Latias followed suit and loaded her brother's bowl with plenty of food as well.
"Ooh~~" Brother, eat!
Noticing that Komala kept drinking, Munchlax gave it a nudge.
"Munch munch~" Don't just focus on drinking, eat more food!
With that, it filled Komala's bowl to the brim as well.
Komala paused its drinking motion, fell silent for a moment, and then quietly put down its cup, picking up its chopsticks to eat instead.
Although it loved to drink, it took advice well.
"Munch~" Munchlax smiled and patted Komala's back.
Komala shuffled a bit to the side, dodging Munchlax's touch.
Hey hey~ Kid, which of us is the elder?!
After finishing petting Komala's back, Munchlax smiled brightly and continued eating.
Komala: ...
Passimian looked at Latios, then at Ange and Komala.
(っ╭╮)っ As if I'm the only one with no one to take care of me? Dusknoir, Shuckle, I miss you guys so much!
Right at that moment, Doublade used its ribbons to control a pair of chopsticks and piled a bowl high with food for Passimian.
Passimian looked at Doublade with teary eyes: Blade~ You truly are an angel!
Thus, lunch concluded in a harmonious atmosphere.
After the meal, Ange lazily lay back in the recliner by the doorway, soaking up the sun. Having had a little wine at lunch, he now felt drowsy.
Munchlax and Pawmot rested their heads on his knees, one on each side, and faint snoring sounds could already be heard.
Although they hadn't drunk any alcohol, they felt equally sleepy after eating their fill.
High in the sky, Latias and Latios were playing together.
Mareep sat beside the flower garden, using a paintbrush to sketch the napping Ange, Munchlax, and Pawmot, as well as Latios and Latias playing in the sky, all onto a single sheet of paper.
Early the next morning, Inteleon remained at home to learn from Kyogre, while Ange headed to work at the Royal Capital accompanied by Doublade, Baltoy, Lucario, Kirlia, and two Meowstic.
However, before he set off, Latias and Latios suddenly approached him.
"You want to go to the Royal Capital?" Ange looked at the siblings in surprise.
Latias and Latios nodded in unison.
Lati~as! Can we not?
Latias asked.
"Of course you can!" Ange nodded. "I'm just a little surprised."
Lati~os! We want to go see what the world has become.
Latios said to Ange.
"It's good to go take a look!" Ange said. "Alright, let's head to the Royal Capital together."
With that, Ange led the siblings through the spatial passageway and arrived at the Royal Capital.
The siblings spent quite a while marveling at the spatial passageway before stepping out of it.
Upon arriving on the third floor of Munchlax Home, Ange instructed the siblings, "You can wander around the Royal Capital freely, but make sure not to cause any commotion."
Lati~os! The siblings nodded. They knew their identities were special, so under Ange's surprised gaze, their bodies gradually grew transparent until they vanished entirely from his view.
That way, no one would be able to see them.
Seeing that they possessed such an ability, Ange wore an expression of amazement. As he searched for traces of the siblings, he called out,
"Latios? Latias?"
In reality, as long as he activated his Aura, it was still quite easy for him to pinpoint the siblings' locations.
The reason the siblings were able to turn invisible was actually by utilizing special feathers on their bodies to refract light and deceive human vision, rather than truly disappearing.
At Ange's call, Latios and Latias reappeared.
Seeing this, Ange said, "Since you have this ability, then I can rest easy."
With that, under his watchful gaze, the siblings once again faded from sight, flying out of the window one after the other.
Once outside Munchlax Home, the siblings first flew up high into the sky to overlook the Royal Capital.
Although it was early in the morning, the office workers of the Royal Capital had already started heading out to work, so figures filled the streets below.
Even though the Azoth Royal Capital maintained a heavily retro style, it still differed vastly from the era in which Latios and Latias had lived.
In the era they came from, humans lived in extreme poverty and hardship, which was completely different from the affluent human world of the present day.
After watching for a while, the siblings swooped down from the sky until they landed on the surface of the Royal Capital's artificial river.
They flew rapidly, skimming just above the surface of the water, and the shockwaves they generated stirred ripples across the river.
After passing under a large bridge, they drew closer and closer to the riverbank, then began flying along the edge of the shore.
Vast stretches of grassland were planted along the banks of the artificial river, and people came here for walks every morning.
When Latias saw a mother holding her daughter's hand and strolling leisurely along the riverbank, she quietly drifted closer.
At that moment, the mother was teasing her daughter and pinched the little girl's cheek, making the child burst into giggles.
Latias extended a paw and, imitating the mother's action, playfully poked the girl's cheek.
"Hm?" The girl stopped smiling and looked around in confusion.
The mother asked, "What's wrong?"
"Mom, something poked my face!" said the daughter, who was only five or six years old.
The mother shook her head helplessly and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, child? Aside from you and me, there's nobody else here!"
The daughter puffed out her cheeks and said, "There really was!"
"Fine, fine, yes there was, happy now? The one who poked you just now was actually Mom!"
"Bad mom, you don't believe me!" The mother's perfunctory reply failed to fool the girl.
Thus, the mother and daughter gradually drifted away amid their bickering.
Seeing that her prank had succeeded, Latias couldn't help snickering.
At that moment, Latios flew over to her side and sternly scolded her. Latias shrank her neck and followed her brother away with a wronged expression.
The siblings continued flying forward until they arrived in front of a tall building, where a large billboard in front was broadcasting an advertisement.
Latias leaned in closer and asked her brother, Lati~as! What is this? Why are there people inside?
Lati~os! Latios didn't recognize it either, so he could only shake his head.
However, at that moment, the content playing on the big screen abruptly changed from an advertisement to a Pokémon battle, and a Charizard spat a torrent of flames that roared past right in front of Latias's face.
Lati~as! Latias was startled out of her wits, screaming as she flew back to her brother's side.
Down below, a pedestrian asked a companion in confusion, "Did you hear some strange cry just now?"
His friend replied, "Did I?"
The pedestrian looked left and right, finding nothing out of the ordinary, and then muttered to himself, "Was it just my imagination?"
Up in the air, Latios held his sister in a comforting embrace. Realizing that the scenes playing on the big screen couldn't actually harm them, Latias plucked up her courage and approached it once more.
Before long, Latios began to shake his head and sigh helplessly.
Although Latias had been frightened out of her wits just a moment ago, she was already cheering loudly for both sides of the match.
What a fickle sister!
Leaving the big screen behind, the siblings continued weaving through the Royal Capital, witnessing countless novel sights.
They certainly had their eyes opened.
After flying for who knows how long, the siblings drifted into a residential area.
Playing as they followed a flight of stairs downward, Latias entered a small alley, with Latios close behind her.
At that moment, they saw a little boy standing in a daze under an eaves overhang.
It turned out his balloon had gotten caught on the roof edge, and no matter how he tried, he couldn't reach it.
Latias watched in confusion as the little boy jumped up and down beneath the eaves. Fortunately, Latios smartly guessed that the boy was trying to reach his balloon, so it flew over, retrieved the balloon, and brought it right in front of the boy.
When the balloon suddenly drifted toward him, the little boy wasn't scared; instead, he looked at it with wide-eyed curiosity.
Seeing that the little boy was slow to take the balloon, Latios let out a questioning cry.
Lati~os! "Who? Who's there?" Hearing the sound, the little boy cried out.
Without a second thought, Latios shoved the balloon string directly into the boy's hand and then flew away at high speed.
Having done a good deed without leaving a name, the siblings exchanged smiles, darted quickly through the alley, and vanished into the residential area in the blink of an eye.