Kalos Region, Nebel Plateau.
The Nebel Plateau is a place of remarkable natural beauty. To the northwest lie endless mountain ranges, to the northeast stretches a dense and deep forest, and to the south, a rushing river flows toward the distance.
If you follow the river far enough, you'll see a bustling city situated there, the Azoth Kingdom, renowned for its mysterious sciences.
Although the world is now governed by the Pokémon League, some regions still have kingdoms from the old era, preserving the unique existence of royal families and nobility.
Azoth Kingdom is one of those remnants of the old kingdoms.
Returning to the Nebel Plateau, the air here is fresh, the sky clear, and fluffy white clouds float in the blue expanse as if within reach. From time to time, a few Fletchlings or Fletchinders streak across the sky, their melodious chirps echoing through the air.
At the center of the Nebel Plateau, two towering trees stand side by side, rising from the flat grassland like two mighty arms supporting the sky. Numerous different species of Pokémon make their homes among the branches of these colossal trees.
In front of these two great trees lies a lake with a surface as smooth as a mirror. A gentle breeze causes ripples to spread across the water, and a curious Goldeen pokes its head out of the water, blowing a bubble.
In a place like this, one would expect it to be uninhabited. Yet, between the trees and the lake, there stands a three-story building with a red roof, quite eye-catching.
Zooming in closer, the door on the ground floor of the building is tightly shut, and hanging by the door is a small, antique bronze bell. Next to the bell is a wooden platform covered with a soft blanket, where a tiny and adorable Komala is sound asleep, hugging a wooden log with a light blanket draped over its belly.
"Yah-lor~ Yah-lor~~"
At this moment, a Fletchling flapped its wings and lightly landed on the building's eaves, curiously observing the structure that had recently appeared.
The Fletchling hopped around cautiously, peering down at the sleeping Komala. Just as it was about to fly in for a closer look, there was a creak, and the wooden door on the ground floor suddenly opened. A handsome young man in a white chef's uniform stepped out.
The young man looked about sixteen or seventeen, standing at about 1.8 meters tall, with short golden hair that gleamed under the sun. His determined features were like those of the ancient sun god Apollo incarnate.
This young man was the owner of the small building and the protagonist of our story—Angie.
Startled by Angie's sudden appearance, the Fletchling let out a frightened cry and quickly flew away.
"Hmm? Am I really that scary?" Angie instinctively touched his face and muttered to himself.
What Angie didn't know was that the Nebel Plateau is a special place. Many of the Pokémon here have been abandoned or hurt by humans. Over time, word spread among them, and gradually, the other Pokémon also became fearful and resentful of humans.
Shaking his head and giving it no more thought, Angie placed a bowl of steamed buns beside the Komala and said, "Komala, it's time to eat!"
Upon hearing the words "time to eat," Komala's large ears twitched slightly. It gently tossed aside the blanket and placed the wooden log it had been hugging next to it. Then, it rolled over to the food bowl, grabbed a steamed bun larger than its head, and began munching contentedly. Although its eyes remained closed, its face was full of satisfaction.
Komala has the ability known as "Comatose," which keeps it in a state of perpetual sleep from birth. Even while eating, moving, or battling, it remains asleep. No one has ever witnessed a Komala in a state of wakefulness.
The wooden log it holds is called a "Wooden Pillow," and it's said that Komala clutches it from birth, never parting from it easily.
The way Angie and Komala met was quite dramatic.
At the time, Angie had just awakened from the royal tomb and, still dazed, wandered to the Nebel Plateau. Out of nowhere, Komala fell from the sky and landed right at his feet.
Komala was covered in scars, though Angie had no idea what it had been through. Seeing how pitiful and yet adorable it was, Angie couldn't resist picking it up and holding it close.
From that moment, Komala stuck with him, and not long after, the two moved into the small building together.
As for why Komala was injured, Angie had asked it before, but Komala, ever asleep, never answered any of his questions. Angie had no choice but to give up asking.
Seeing Komala happily eating, a sense of pride welled up in Angie's heart. All the effort he had put into training his cooking skills for a month hadn't gone to waste.
He patted Komala's furry head and said, "You keep eating," before turning back into the house.
The ground floor of the building was a spacious restaurant, with neatly arranged tables and chairs, all polished to a bright sheen, clearly having been meticulously cleaned.
The restaurant's décor was very cozy, giving anyone who entered a feeling of being home.
Inside the room, a Diancie was diligently dusting with a feather duster. This Diancie was Angie's first Pokémon.
The moment Angie saw Diancie, a display of its stats appeared in his field of vision.
...
[ Diancie ]
Type: Rock, Fairy
Ability: Clear Body
Gender: Genderless
Level: 50
Moves: Tackle, Harden, Diamond Storm, Guard Split, Smack Down, Flail, Ancient Power, Rock Polish, Light Screen, Rock Slide
[ IVs ]:
HP: 31
Attack: 31
Defense: 31
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 31
Speed: 31
...
Angie's ability to see a Pokémon's stats was part of the "New Player Starter Pack" gifted to him by a cheat system. Both Diancie's perfect individual values and the small building they lived in were also part of the cheat system's rewards.
In fact, Angie's first Pokémon had originally been a Carbink. After sleeping alongside him for 500 years, it had mutated into the rare Diancie upon his awakening.
Angie suspected that Carbink's mutation had something to do with the cheat system.
As he thought about this, his mind began to drift back to 500 years ago.
Angie was a transmigrator, reborn 500 years ago into the royal family of the Azoth Kingdom, becoming the only prince of the royal family at the time.
He was born alongside a twin sister.
However, unlike his healthy sister, Angie was frail and sickly from birth. He couldn't lift heavy things, couldn't carry burdens, and even walking was a challenge for him.
As he grew older, his health continued to deteriorate. The royal physicians had long predicted that he wouldn't live to adulthood.
Because of this, Angie's parents, the King and Queen of Azoth Kingdom, showered him with love and indulgence, fulfilling almost any wish he had.
Thanks to his parents' meticulous care, Angie defied the doctors' predictions and managed to live to the age of sixteen.
Unfortunately, right after his sixteenth birthday, his condition rapidly worsened, and he fell into a coma from which he never woke up.
After the physicians declared him dead, Angie's parents held a funeral for him and laid him to rest in the royal tomb.
His Pokémon companion of many years, Carbink, unwilling to part from him, entered the royal tomb with him and fell into a deep sleep beside his coffin.
But in truth, Angie hadn't died back then—he was still clinging to life by a thread. And at that critical moment, his cheat system activated.
It was the system.
The system issued him a New Player Starter Pack just as he was on the brink of death.
1. Starter Pokémon with perfect IVs.
2. Shared life force between the host and the starter Pokémon.
3. A base of operations (Click to Summon).
4. The Eye of Observation.
Thanks to the second benefit, Angie regained his health, allowing him to be as lively as he is now.
It was likely due to the system's intervention that, when Angie and Carbink shared life forces, Carbink fell into a deep slumber and began to mutate, which caused Angie to fall into a deep sleep as well.
That sleep lasted for 500 years.
When Angie finally awoke, he and Diancie (the evolved Carbink) groggily wandered out of the royal tomb, eventually arriving at the Nebel Plateau where they encountered the injured Komala.
After waking, Angie began to study the long-awaited cheat system.
Originally, he thought his golden finger would be something like a Super Trainer's Assistant System, helping him become the greatest trainer. But to his surprise, the system was called the "Master Chef System," with an alternative name, "Pokémon Feeding System."
Fine, if he wasn't meant to be a trainer, so be it. After all, it was a trend for protagonists in the transmigration novel not to become trainers nowadays. Besides, while he loved Pokémon, he wasn't obsessed with becoming a trainer—as long as he could play with Pokémon every day, that was enough.
After figuring out how the system worked, Angie noticed the starter pack that came with it.
The first, second, and fourth benefits he'd already enjoyed. As for the third one…
A base of operations…
Having just woken up from a 500-year slumber, he really needed a place to settle down. Though he had once been the prince of the Azoth Kingdom, five centuries had passed—whether Azoth Kingdom still existed, Angie couldn't be sure.
And even if it did, would the current royal family recognize a prince from 500 years ago?
So Angie decided to wait until he had fully settled down before returning to check on the Azoth Kingdom.
In the end, when he saw the words "Click to Summon" next to the base option, Angie didn't hesitate and chose to summon it.
Originally, Angie thought he could choose the location for the base. To his surprise, that wasn't the case. After summoning it, he followed the system's instructions with Diancie and Komala, eventually arriving at the small building they now lived in.
Overall, Angie was quite satisfied with the building. The only downside was that it was in a remote location, with no other people around. Would he be living in seclusion for the rest of his life?
At the time, Angie didn't think too much about it—having just left the tomb, he was grateful to have a place to call home.
Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Angie smiled and walked over to Diancie. "Diancie, you can stop now. The house is clean enough already. Let's hurry and eat breakfast!"
Diancie stopped what it was doing, covering it flat little belly as it said, "Sure, I'm starving! My stomach's been growling for ages!" With that, it put down the duster and quickly dashed into the kitchen.
Angie's Diancie could communicate through telepathy, so they could do conversation without any barriers.
When Diancie came out of the kitchen, it was holding a metal basin filled with plump, white steamed buns.
These were all made by Angie earlier that morning.
Given that Angie's cheat system was called the "Master Chef System," it was naturally related to cooking—even the first floor of his house was designed like a restaurant.
For the past month since waking up, he had been following the system's instructions to hone his cooking skills.
However, to Angie's dismay, he had spent the entire month kneading dough and steaming buns. Fortunately, by following the system's training methods, his culinary skills had improved rapidly. Even though he was just making steamed buns, he felt that his current skills were miles ahead of where he started.
If someone had told him in the past that he would eat steamed buns for an entire month, he would've thought they were crazy. Eating buns for a whole month? Wouldn't that make him sick?
Yet the reality was that he had been eating his own buns for a month straight and still hadn't gotten tired of them.
It wasn't just him. Diancie and Komala felt the same way. Judging by how Komala devoured them earlier, it was clear how much they enjoyed the buns.
Angie's "Eye of Observation" could not only see the stats of Pokémon but also his own stats.
...
[ Angie ]
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 16 (+500)
Constitution: 1
Intelligence: 1
Culinary Rating: Barely edible novice.
...
Compared to the detailed Pokémon stats, Angie's own data was much simpler.
The system's evaluation of Angie's culinary skills was brutally honest. Even though both Komala and Diancie loved his steamed buns, in the system's eyes, he was still just a novice.
It was worth noting that a month ago, the system's culinary evaluation of him was "food unfit for consumption—utter trash!"
In his previous life, Angie had been a chef, though his restaurant eventually went out of business.
His parents passed away when he was young, so he had always lived with his grandfather, who owned a restaurant. But Angie hadn't learned to cook from his grandfather during his childhood.
After his grandfather passed away, Angie quit his job, returned to his hometown, and took over the restaurant. He started learning to cook from his grandfather's old recipes.
Unfortunately, he never managed to grasp the essence of his grandfather's culinary skills, which eventually led to the restaurant's closure due to poor management.
Despite that, Angie's cooking was already quite good compared to the average person, but even then, the system still labeled him as "trash."
The current "novice" rating was already a lenient improvement by the system's standards.
"Hurry up, I can't wait any longer," Diancie said eagerly, placing the buns on the table and quickly sitting down.
"Yes, yes," Angie responded with a helpless expression. "Why are you in such a hurry? Breakfast isn't going anywhere." He sat across from Diancie and casually picked up a bun.
The moment he touched the bun, Angie felt as if he was touching soft cotton. It was light and fluffy, almost like a cloud from the sky—white, pure, and delightful.
Each bun in the basin was about the size of a fist, and they were all identical in shape and size, as if they had been produced by a machine. However, they were all handmade by Angie himself.
Diancie was already eagerly munching on a bun. The moment it took a bite, its mouth filled with the sweet, rich flavor—a pure and earthy taste of freshly milled wheat flour, the scent of a bountiful autumn harvest.
With its eyes closed, Diancie felt as though its soul had been ascended into the sky, soaring freely among the clouds, basking in a feeling of absolute bliss.
After a long while, Diancie reopened its eyes, its face full of satisfaction. "No matter how many times I eat them, Angie's buns are always this delicious," its sighed in contentment.
Diancie couldn't help but feel proud of Angie.
"If you like them, eat as much as you want," Angie said with a smile.
"Mhm, mhm!" Diancie nodded enthusiastically, taking small, delicate bites. Though Diancie ate quickly, it savored each mouthful, chewing carefully to appreciate the unique flavor hidden within the buns.
Seeing Diancie enjoying the meal so much made Angie's own appetite grow.
Before long, the entire basin of buns was devoured by the pair. Of course, Diancie had eaten most of them. Despite it small size, it appetite was astonishing. Even after finishing the buns, its belly showed no sign of change. It was a mystery where all that food had gone.
After breakfast, Diancie gracefully dabbed its mouth with a napkin and then said to Angie, "Angie, the system has issued its first mission."
Why did Diancie know about the system? Because after she and Angie began sharing their life force, the system had appointed Diancie as Angie's system guide spirit.
From then on, every task the system assigned would be delivered to Angie through Diancie.
The system itself wasn't intelligent. Without a guide spirit, it would function awkwardly, which was why Diancie had been assigned this role to better assist Angie.
Of course, as the owner of the system, Angie had the authority to revoke Diancie's guide spirit role. And when the system had appointed Diancie, it had done so with Angie's approval.
Angie was happy to have Diancie involved in his life, so he had no intention of removing it from the position of guide spirit.
Hearing Diancie's words, Angie was taken aback for a moment, but then he thought: It's finally here, huh?
"What's the mission?" he asked.
Diancie replied, "You have to serve ten Pokémon in the restaurant and earn their positive reviews."
Angie thought: As expected, the system's nickname is fitting. It really is the 'Pokémon Feeding System.' The customers aren't even humans—they're Pokémon! No wonder the base is set here on the Nebel Plateau.
"How do we know if a Pokémon gives a good review?" Angie asked.
"The system will automatically determine that," Diancie explained.
"Is there a time limit?" Angie nodded thoughtfully and then asked another question.
Diancie shook its head. "Yes, there is. You need to complete it within three days. If you go over the time limit, the task will be considered a failure."
"Is there a penalty for failing the mission?" Angie was worried his golden finger might turn out to be an oppressive system.
"Of course not! If you fail, you just won't get the mission reward. There's no punishment," Diancie replied with a cheerful smile.
"That's a relief," Angie said, letting out a sigh of relief. He then asked, his excitement growing, "So, what's the reward for completing the mission?"
Diancie pouted and answered, "I don't know. I'll only find out after you finish the mission, Angie."
"Alright, fair enough," Angie shrugged. "Serving ten Pokémon in three days doesn't sound too difficult."
There were many wild Pokémon living on the Nebel Plateau. Over the past month, Angie had often seen Pokémon lurking near his house, though they would quickly scurry away whenever he got close.
These Pokémon seemed quite shy.
At this point, Angie still hadn't realized that the Pokémon weren't just avoiding him out of shyness.
"Let's do our best!" Diancie pumped its tiny fists in encouragement.
"Yeah, let's give it our all!" Angie lightly bumped his fist against Diancie's.