"Swish poof~ swish poof~"
Angie, are you alright?"
Spritzee looked at Angie, whose face was somewhat pale, with tears welling up in its eyes.
Angie rubbed its head, "Don't worry, I just have a little sickness; a good sleep will fix it."
"Chiru~ chiru~"
Really?
The Swablu flapped its wings and flew onto Angie's chest, gently brushing Angie's cheek with its wings.
Just as Angie had imagined, the wings of Swablu were indeed softer than cotton, making it incredibly comfortable to touch. He thought how nice it would be to pillow on it and fall asleep.
"Really, really, I'm not lying to you." Angie nodded repeatedly.
Although Angie couldn't understand Pokémon language, he could easily grasp the meaning of the three Pokémon at this moment and clearly feel their concern for him.
Fearing that they might disturb Angie's rest, the three Pokémon only chatted with him for a short while before flapping their wings and flying out to the balcony.
"Swish poof~ swish poof~"
Angie, you need to take care of yourself!
Spritzee flew back, waving its wings at Angie.
"I know, I know. Don't worry." Angie smiled and waved back at the three little ones.
After Spritzee and the others left, Angie placed the flower and the herb into the empty vase on his bedside and set the berry on the table beside the bed.
As the day passed, the next day Angie opened his eyes to the chirping of Fletchling. He stretched and energetically jumped out of bed.
"Fully revived!"
After resting for a day, Angie now felt a surge of strength throughout his body.
At this moment, Diancie pushed the door open with a beaming smile. "Since you're awake, hurry and wash up. Everyone is waiting for you outside."
"Coming, coming!" Angie dashed into the bathroom.
After washing up, Angie headed straight down to the kitchen and found Munchlax already busy inside.
"Munchlax, you're up really early today!" Angie teased it.
"Munch!"
Munchlax held a knife in its hand, looking very serious, indicating that it was determined to work hard and strive to become independent so that its master could enjoy life.
It turned out that Angie's illness had frightened Munchlax quite a bit. Diancie had also told Munchlax about Angie's history of being sickly, which made Munchlax feel heartbroken.
When Diancie relayed Munchlax's aspirations to Angie, Angie happily hugged Munchlax. "Good kid, it's truly worth it for me to care for you."
"Munch~~"
Being hugged by its master, Munchlax returned the gesture and smiled foolishly.
After the two exchanged heartfelt feelings, Angie started to work alongside Munchlax.
However, when he opened the fridge, he was surprised to find it packed with lotus roots. After inquiring with Diancie, he learned that during his illness, Diancie had personally visited Barboach and Whiscash, asking them to help dig up all the lotus roots to prevent him from overexerting himself.
Of course, Diancie only dug up part of the lotus roots, since Angie only opened his shop once a day and couldn't leave all the food for Barboach and Whiscash.
After bringing back the lotus roots, Diancie organized the Pokémon to wash them clean and then stored them in the fridge for preservation.
Angie gave Diancie a thumbs-up. "Great job! Our home really can't do without you!"
"Hmph!" Diancie proudly turned her head, ignoring Angie.
Before long, the cheerful breakfast time began. The Pokémon were all thrilled to see that Angie had recovered and rushed to express their congratulations.
After breakfast, Angie sent each Pokémon out the door one by one, then opened the system interface to check his happiness points. However, when he glanced at his personal information interface, he was surprised to find that there was a slight change in the data.
...
[ Angie ]
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 16 (+500)
Physique: 5
Intelligence: 3
Cooking Skill Evaluation: Edible rookie.
...
He distinctly remembered that his physique was only 4 points before! How did it become 5 points?
"Diancie! Diancie!" he called loudly for his guiding fairy.
"What's up?!" Diancie asked, poking her head out while wiping the table.
Angie strode over to Diancie and showed her his personal information interface. "Look at this! You've got to see what's going on!"
"What's the problem?" Diancie asked, glancing at it.
"Look! My physique increased out of nowhere." Angie pointed to the physique section.
"Oh~~~" Diancie seemed to realize something. "Didn't I tell you? If you consistently practice in the culinary training room every day, it can increase your physique."
Angie exclaimed, "Why didn't you say such an important thing earlier?!"
"Isn't it the same to say it now?" Diancie shrugged. Then she suddenly added, "Oh, by the way, it's not just you; Munchlax's data has changed too."
Upon hearing this, Angie immediately used his observation eye to look at Munchlax.
...
[ Munchlax ]
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Gender: Male
Level: 20
Move: Tackle, Lick, Defense Curl, Recycle, Covet, Bite, Stockpile, Swallow, Body Slam, Charm, Seed Bomb, Brick Break, Double-Edge.
[ Individual Values (IVs) ]
HP: 29
Attack: 17
Defense: 20
Special Attack: 6
Special Defense: 10
Speed: 31
...
Sure enough, Munchlax's level had also increased by 2.
"Munch?" Seeing Angie staring at him, Munchlax, who was diligently mopping the floor, tilted its head in confusion.
Diancie explained to Angie, "You and Munchlax have been kneading dough and chopping vegetables in the training room every day, which is also a form of exercise."
"Alright, you make a good point!"
Angie accepted Diancie's explanation.
After breakfast, Angie went to inspect his vegetable garden. Seeing the vibrant, green plants, he felt very pleased.
The vegetables in the garden were growing well; quick-growing ones like scallions and garlic were ready to eat, but Angie didn't rush to pick them.
After all, his novice period hadn't ended yet. The ingredients provided by the system could be used freely, so he should take advantage of it while he could. Once the novice period was over, he wouldn't have the opportunity anymore.
"Why pass up a good deal?!"
Unfortunately, the ingredients provided by the system could only be taken as needed; otherwise, he could have stockpiled a bit more.
After finishing his inspection of the garden, Angie was about to head back when he saw Swablu flapping its wings and hurriedly flying over his head.
"Swablu, what's going on? Why the rush?" he greeted Swablu.
"Chiru~ chiru~"
Swablu chirped while gesturing towards the sky.
Angie guessed, "Are you saying it's going to rain?"
"Chiru~ chiru~"
Swablu quickly nodded.
Due to its fluffy wings, Swablu and Altaria is very sensitive to changes in air humidity and can easily predict changes in the weather.
"I see… Then you should hurry home; getting caught in the rain wouldn't be good," Angie said to Swablu, whose wings were not suitable for getting wet.
"Chiru~~"
Swablu nodded, quickly flapping its wings and flying away.
After Swablu left, Angie fell into deep thought as he looked at his vegetable garden. This garden was cultivated from the grassland, and its drainage wasn't great; if it rained, the garden would likely get waterlogged.
While contemplating this issue, Angie walked toward his house. At that moment, Vivillon hurriedly flew past him, evidently sensing that rain was on the way.
"Hey, Vivillon, can I ask you for a favor?" Angie inquired.
"Li~ li~"
Vivillon readily nodded in agreement.
"I have something I'd like to ask the Diglett brothers to help with. Do you know where they are?" Angie asked.
"Li~ li~~"
Vivillon gestured with its hands, indicating that it could help find them.
"Thank you so much!" Angie expressed his gratitude.
Before long, Vivillon indeed found the Diglett brothers and brought them over. Angie shared his idea with them.
He wanted to dig a pond next to the vegetable garden, connecting it with a ditch so that the garden could drain water into the pond at any time.
Moreover, once the pond was filled with water, the issue of watering the garden on sunny days would also be resolved, and he wouldn't have to trouble Castform, all the time.
The Diglett brothers immediately indicated that it was no problem at all; digging holes and pits was their specialty.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Angie selected a lower-lying spot, and the Diglett brothers began to work diligently.
Every day, they enjoyed free food at Angie's place, and aside from occasionally helping with weeding and loosening the soil in Angie's flower beds and vegetable garden, they couldn't offer much assistance. So, they were very happy to be able to help Angie today.
As expected of the mole Pokémon, the Diglett brothers dug at an incredible speed. In just two hours, they successfully excavated a pond over four meters deep and a dozen meters in diameter.
No, it would be more accurate to call it a small pond.
The pond was positioned at just the right distance—not too far and not too close—from the vegetable garden.
After digging the ditch to connect the garden and pond, the Diglett brothers offered Angie a suggestion, and it took Angie a while to understand what they meant.
They proposed to help Angie dig an underground passage connecting the pond to Nibel Lake, so he wouldn't have to worry about the pond overflowing when it filled up and wouldn't have to fret about the pond drying out.
"Can I ask you to handle this too?" Angie inquired.
"Dig~"
Of course!
"Diglett~"
Leave it to us!
The Diglett brothers confidently assured him.
"Then I'll leave it to you," Angie said gratefully.
The Diglett brothers jumped back into the pond, which was still dry, and soon a deep tunnel was excavated in the wall facing west.
This tunnel ran horizontally and would connect to Nebel Lake, not far from Angie's house. Once the pond and Nebel Lake were linked, the water from Nebel Lake would immediately flow into the pond.
This also has the benefit that the water in the pond will become flowing water, preventing the water quality from deteriorating and becoming foul due to stagnation.
About an hour later, the Diglett brothers hurriedly scrambled out of the tunnel, and the next moment, a torrent of water rushed out from the passage, quickly filling the pond.
Angie was amazed at how efficient the Pokémon were; if it had been done manually, he couldn't even imagine how long it would take.
"Thanks for your hard work; stay for dinner tonight." Angie crouched down and patted the heads of the two Diglett.
Despite spending their days burrowing underground, the Diglett were surprisingly spotless, and their bodies felt cool and smooth to the touch, making it very pleasant.
"Dig~"
"Dig~"
Upon hearing Angie's words, the Diglett brothers' eyes instantly squinted into crescent shapes. To repay Angie, they offered him even more practical suggestions.
One suggestion was to plant a few trees next to the pond, which would help prevent silt from accumulating at the bottom and would also reduce soil loss around the area.
As expected of agricultural experts! Angie thought this made perfect sense. "You're truly little farming geniuses," he praised them candidly.
"Dig~"
Not really~
"Diglett~"
Just experience talking.
The two Diglett felt a bit bashful at Angie's compliment.
However, at that moment, bright light suddenly erupted from their bodies.
"What is this…" Evolving? Angie's eyes widened in astonishment; this was his first time witnessing a Pokémon evolve.
Previously, when Scatterbug evolved into Spewpa, he had hidden in the kitchen, and because Scatterbug was surrounded by everyone, he had only seen a faint glimmer of light and nothing else.
The Diglett brothers, enveloped in light, were rapidly changing in size, their solitary heads visibly splitting into three.
When the light dissipated, two Dugtrio appeared before Angie; it was truly incredible.
(Note: The evolution of Diglett in this book follows the game's rules. They evolve upon reaching the required level without needing multiple individuals to combine, including Magnemite, Dreepy and its family, and Beldum and its family, with exceptions like Shellder and Slowpoke, which involve combination evolution.)
"Diglett~"
"Diglett~"
The brothers stared at their unfamiliar brother (or perhaps, their new self) and momentarily felt bewildered. Then they glanced at the two new heads that had just sprouted from their bodies, becoming even more flustered.
Angie quickly reassured the brothers, "Don't be afraid; you've just evolved."
After Angie's calming words, the two Dugtrio soon settled down and began to adapt to their new bodies.
Next, Angie bought six peach fruit tree saplings from the system store and planted them in a circle along the western edge of the pond.
Since he was going to plant trees, he figured it would be better to plant fruit trees rather than regular ones. They would not only help stabilize the soil and retain water but also provide fruit to eat later, so it was a win-win situation.
After planting the fruit tree saplings, Angie looked up at the sky and noticed it had indeed become overcast. He then said to the two Dugtrio, "Let's head home."
"Diglett~"
"Diglett~"
The Dugtrio nodded simultaneously.
"Let's take Vivillon along, too." Angie turned to look at Vivillon.
Vivillon was different from the other Pokémon; it didn't build nests and thus had no home. On sunny days, it flitted about among the flowers, while during the rain, it would find a nearby bush or tree to shelter under.
Its wings were covered with special scales, allowing it to fly normally even when wet.
"Li~~~"
Vivillon nodded and quickly flapped its wings, following Angie back home. Although it wasn't afraid of getting wet, that didn't mean it enjoyed the rain. Having a place to shield itself from the wind and rain was something it certainly desired.