Late at night, after instructing Munchlax and Sobble to guard the house, Angie rode on Honchkrow, descending through the darkness onto the ancient walls of Azoth City.
Standing atop the wall, Angie summoned Diancie.
"This massive structure... it can really be stored in the system's backpack?" Angie asked incredulously.
"It should be possible, right?" Diancie replied uncertainly.
"Let's give it a try," Angie said.
With that, Angie placed his hand on the wall and softly murmured, "Store!"
Angie operated the system's backpack entirely through verbal commands like "store" or "retrieve," unlike other stories where characters rely on spiritual power or soul energy.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the towering wall, dozens of meters high, suddenly vanished. Angie and Diancie, who had been standing on it, were sent plummeting uncontrollably toward the ground.
Thankfully, Honchkrow reacted swiftly. The moment the wall disappeared, it soared into the air and dived down to catch Angie and Diancie just in time.
Relieved, Angie hugged Honchkrow's neck and said, "Thank goodness you were here; otherwise, I'd be a goner for sure."
"Honchkrow~"
Honchkrow cawed and carried Angie and Diancie away into the night.
Returning to their home on the Nebel Plateau, Angie and Diancie dismissed Honchkrow. Then Angie asked, "What should we do with the sky fortress? Should we take it out now or just keep it stored in the system's backpack?"
At that moment, a popup window appeared in front of Diancie.
...
[ Would you like to spend 1,000,000 Happiness Points to fuse Diancie's Grand Dining Hall with the Sky Fortress? ]
[ Yes ] or [ No ]
...
Angie froze. How many Happiness Points? One, two, three… He hadn't miscounted, had he? That was six zeros—one million!
"Diancie, the system must be joking, right?" Angie looked at Diancie in disbelief. He barely had two million Happiness Points total!
"No," Diancie shook her head regretfully. "Actually, you can choose not to fuse them."
Angie considered this for a moment. Finally, gritting his teeth, he said, "Fuse them! What's a million points? It's not like I can't afford it. If I run out, I'll just earn more!"
The system wouldn't suggest a fusion for no reason.
"Impressive!" Diancie said with a smile to Angie.
"How exactly do we fuse it?" Angie asked.
"You just select 'Yes,' then wait. The system should handle the fusion automatically," Diancie replied.
"Alright then."
By this time, Munchlax had already cuddled Sobble and was snoring loudly on the bed. Angie and Diancie exchanged amused glances and carefully carried the two back to their room.
After leaving Munchlax's room, Angie took a deep breath. "Munchlax is getting heavier and heavier!"
Hearing this, Diancie covered her mouth and giggled uncontrollably.
"Alright, let's get some sleep too," Angie said to Diancie.
"Mm, goodnight, Angie."
"Goodnight, Diancie."
The two went to their respective rooms. Angie freshened up before lying down on his bed and opening the system's task menu.
...
[ (Daily Task 1) Train for 1 hour in the Culinary Training Room—Completed, rewards pending. ]
[ (Daily Task 2) Host 10 Pokémon—Completed, rewards pending. ]
[ (Temporary Task) Obtain the Sky Fortress—Completed, rewards pending. ]
...
As was his habit, Angie first claimed the rewards for the two daily tasks to "warm up."
[ Congratulations, you've received the following reward: 4 Honeys. ]
Honey?
Angie retrieved the rewards, revealing four small jars of different colors: crimson red, golden yellow, peach pink, and lavender blue. Each jar was only about the size of a fist and was shaped like a flower.
Could these be the crimson, golden, peach, and lavender honeys that could change Oricorio's forms?
Angie opened one of the jars, and a rich, sweet aroma instantly wafted out. His eyes lit up. This is good stuff!
As he inhaled the honey's fragrance, he instinctively swallowed a little.
"Never mind, I won't eat it now. I'll share it with everyone tomorrow. Besides, it's not a good time for sweets." Saying this, he placed the four small jars on the table by his bed.
Next, Angie claimed the reward for the second daily task.
[ Congratulations, you've received the following reward: 1 packet of Flower Seeds (can be used to grow flowers for Cutiefly and Ribombee to produce crimson, golden, peach, and lavender honey). ]
Seeing this reward, Angie's eyes lit up. But then he remembered something—neither his home nor the Nebel Plateau had any Cutiefly or Ribombee!
"Oh well, I'll plant them for decoration. I wonder if the flowers will look nice."
Finally, only the reward for the [Temporary Task] remained. Feeling a rush of excitement, Angie clicked to claim it.
A pop-up window immediately appeared.
[ Congratulations on completing the (Temporary Task) and obtaining the Sky Fortress. You have received the following reward: Max out one individual value (IV) for a Pokémon of your choice. ]
"What the heck!"
Angie nearly jumped out of bed. Was the reward really this generous? It was comparable to the achievement reward he got when he obtained the Nebel Plateau!
With trembling hands, Angie opened the individual values for Munchlax and Sobble. After some thought, he decided to use the reward on Munchlax.
For one thing, it was the most cost-effective choice. Munchlax's Special Attack IV was a pitiful 6, and the lower the IV, the more worthwhile it was to max out.
Although Special Attack isn't particularly useful for Munchlax, Angie was determined to max out all of Munchlax's individual values.
To be fair, in the games, not all Pokémon benefit from having maxed-out individual values; it depends on the situation.
For example, for a Pokémon like Munchlax, which naturally has an extremely low base Speed, there's no need to max out its Speed IV. Even if you did, it wouldn't get significantly faster, and it might actually become a disadvantage in Trick Room (where slower Pokémon move first).
Another example would be Gardevoir, a Pokémon that relies on Special Attack. For it, having a low Attack IV is preferable. Not only is physical Attack useless for Gardevoir, but it can also be harmful. If it gets confused, a high Attack stat would mean it hurts itself much more, possibly knocking itself out.
But games are games, and reality is reality.
According to Diancie, the system hinted that if an ordinary Pokémon wants a chance to grow as powerful as a legendary Pokémon, the prerequisite is having all its individual values maxed out.
( Author's note: This is a personal setting, or you could say a creative liberty taken by the author. The author has obsessive-compulsive tendencies and feels uncomfortable if the protagonist's Pokémon don't have perfect IVs.)
Angie suspected that his Carbink transforming into Diancie might be connected to having perfect IVs.
When Angie used the reward on Munchlax, its stats changed instantly. Its previously single-digit Special Attack IV was suddenly maxed out.
...
[ Munchlax ]
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Gender: Male
Level: 34
Moves: Tackle, Lick, Defense Curl, Recycle, Covet, Bite, Stockpile, Swallow, Body Slam, Fling, Take Down, Charm, Seed Bomb, Brick Break, Counter.
...
[ Individual Values ( IVs) ]
HP: 29
Attack: 25
Defense: 20
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 10
Speed: 31
...
Now Munchlax had maxed out its Speed and Special Attack IVs—admittedly two of the less important stats—but it was still significant progress.
Its Special Defense IV, however, still looked a bit lackluster.
Recently, Munchlax's level had increased quite a bit. Angie noticed that the Exp. Amulet he equipped was indeed effective; both Munchlax and Diancie were leveling up faster.
Satisfied, Angie closed the system and fell asleep happily.
...
The next morning, Angie was sleeping soundly when he was awakened by knocking at the door.
"Angie, wake up! Wake up!"
"Angie, something big has happened!"
Half-asleep, Angie stumbled to open the door, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "What's going on?" he mumbled.
Without saying a word, Diancie grabbed Angie's arm and dragged him outside. Angie hadn't even put on shoes yet as Diancie pulled him straight to the doorway.
The sun had just begun to rise, and its first golden rays illuminated the Nebel Plateau. Angie blinked at the scene before him, his drowsiness vanishing instantly.
"This… What is this?"
The lush green lawn in front of Angie's house had transformed into a wide plaza made of massive stone slabs. Green moss filled the cracks between the stones, making the plaza look exactly like the old city walls of the ancient Azoth Kingdom!
A waist-high wall surrounded the plaza. Though not very tall, the wall was thick and sturdy enough that someone could sleep on it without worrying about rolling off.
The wall was also covered in moss, and Angie's small house now stood right in the center of the plaza.
Surprisingly, the style of the transformation had its own unique charm.
In front of Angie's house, the flowerbed of Gracidea flowers was still intact, but it had been moved to the left. On the right, there was a symmetrical but empty flowerbed.
Without bothering about being barefoot, Angie dashed out of the house and ran to the back.
Fortunately, the vegetable garden and the pond were still there.
However, the Barboach and Whiscash brothers in the pond, along with the Dugtrio trio in the garden, were all curiously observing the changes around them, puzzled about how everything had transformed overnight.
Angie's vegetable garden and pond were now encircled by weathered stone slabs.
Angie reassured his four Pokémon, "Don't worry, nothing's wrong. I just casually remodeled the place last night."
The Barboach, Whiscash, and two Dugtrio looked bewildered: You call this a remodel? Isn't this more like a divine miracle?
Angie opened his system inventory and confirmed that the sky fortress was indeed gone.
"Angie, come here quickly!"
Diancie's voice called from the plaza to the right, and Angie immediately ran over. When he arrived, he saw a massive circular cover on the ground in front of Diancie. The cover was the same color as the stone slabs of the plaza, with green moss growing on it.
The diameter of the cover was at least ten meters.
Beside the cover stood a statue. Upon closer inspection, Angie realized it was a statue of himself and Diancie.
"Angie, look!"
Diancie grabbed the hand of Angie's statue, and suddenly, the massive circular cover split open in the middle and slowly moved to both sides, revealing a long spiral staircase leading downward.
"Let's go down and take a look," Angie suggested to Diancie.
Descending the spiral staircase, they soon reached the first floor. Sensing their arrival, a heavy door on the first level opened automatically.
"Pretty advanced," Angie commented with a smile.
Upon entering, they found themselves in a space illuminated by colorful lights. The room was furnished with large sofas and tables, and there was a bar at the front with rows of shelves behind it.
A bar?
Angie was dumbfounded. Was the system expecting him to open a bar on the Nebel Plateau? That had to be a joke. Who would come all the way to the Nebel Plateau for a drink? Pokémon that liked to drink weren't exactly common either.
Angie explored the bar. The space was enormous and comfortably arranged. The sofas weren't just for sitting; they were spacious enough to sleep on.
However, the colorful lights were dazzling. Angie immediately found the switch and turned them off.
Instantly, his eyes felt more comfortable.
Behind the bar, they found a fully equipped kitchen and storage room.
After exploring the bar, Angie and Diancie proceeded to the next floor. To their surprise, this level consisted of numerous rooms, resembling dormitories. The rooms varied in size, and there were hundreds of them.
This was more like employee housing for a shady factory.
The space above the dormitory area was wide open, allowing large flying Pokémon like Talonflame or Honchkrow to fly around freely.
The walls were equipped with ventilation and lighting systems, ensuring the area remained well-lit and free from dampness despite being underground.
To their amazement, there was an elevator leading to the surface. They tried it and rode back to the ground level.
Only then did Angie notice several white stone houses built nearby, which served as elevator entrances and exits. These elevators provided access to all underground floors, including the dormitory and bar, so the long spiral staircase wasn't always necessary.
The round cover that could open at will primarily functioned to allow ventilation and sunlight into the underground space.
Next, they explored the third floor. It was a vast warehouse with a cooler temperature, suitable for storing large quantities of grains, vegetables, and other supplies.
Angie was particularly fond of this warehouse. Although he had his system inventory, he couldn't carry everything around with him all the time. The warehouse was just what he needed!
Though the warehouse didn't have the permanent preservation capabilities of Angie's system inventory or the kitchen refrigerator, its ability to keep items fresh was sufficient. Most importantly, it had a massive storage capacity.
They then took the elevator to the fourth floor, which turned out to be a huge brewery!
Now Angie had a proper place for the expensive brewing equipment he had acquired earlier.
Since Angie didn't know much about brewing, he and Diancie merely glanced around before heading to the fifth and final floor of the underground space.