When Angie came out and learned about Patrat's evolution, he also congratulated it.
Standing at the doorway, he looked out at the heavy rain and thought, This rain probably won't stop anytime soon.
He then addressed the Pokémon, "You all shouldn't head back tonight. Stay in the employee dormitory at the secret fortress."
After all, the employee dormitory was originally built for these Pokémon to live in.
Thinking further, he added, "Actually, why not just move in permanently? You won't have to move out later."
The Pokémon hesitated at first. After all, they were currently only considered temporary workers at Angie's place. Moving into the dormitory might feel like taking undue advantage of him.
Seeing their doubtful expressions, Angie said, "I'll definitely arrange work for everyone in the future. For now, you're just moving in ahead of time. The dormitory would otherwise stay empty, so why not use it? Besides, you can repay me later with hard work!"
Hearing this, the Pokémon cheered enthusiastically. Truthfully, they had long envied the Gardevoir family and Meowstic for their living arrangements!
Angie then helped the Pokémon put on raincoats and led them to the second floor using the elevator.
Once they reached the employee dormitory, the Pokémon excitedly began picking their rooms.
The Victreebel family of five opted for a larger room to accommodate everyone.
The Swablu and Fletchinder families, being Flying-type Pokémon, had more trouble entering and exiting compared to others. They each chose a room with a rooftop entrance, allowing them to come and go through the ceiling.
These rooms had simple interiors: in addition to nests for resting, there were horizontal wooden beams for them to perch and play on. Clearly, the design was tailored specifically for bird-type Pokémon.
The Vivillon and its companions also selected rooftop-access rooms, though theirs were smaller and more minimalist.
Inside, vertical racks with leaf- and flower-shaped trays provided spots for them to perch and rest. These rooms seemed specifically designed for butterfly- or bee-type Pokémon.
Honchkrow, despite being single and without any Murkrow underlings, still chose a large room simply because it preferred spacious accommodations.
The two Watchog naturally decided to share a cozy little house together.
Hippowdon and Hippopotas picked a room with a pool. Later, they planned to fill it with soft sand, creating a comfortable spot for them to lounge and sleep.
Aron and Drilbur opted to room together. Considering their larger future evolutions, Angie suggested they choose a big room to ensure enough space.
Buneary, Pachirisu, and Bunnelby decided to live together, keeping each other company so they wouldn't feel lonely.
They even invited Floette to join them, but Floette declined, preferring to live alone to maintain its privacy.
Sawsbuck made a similar choice when its still a Derling, relishing the comfort of having its own private room. Sharing just wasn't appealing to it.
Delphox, Greninja, and Chesnaught decided to remain neighbors, just as they were in their previous residences.
Delphox and Greninja lived alone, while Chesnaught stayed with its child Quilladin.
The Quilladin was the offspring of a Chesnaught and a Gogoat. However, the Gogoat lived with its herd, so the couple was separated and didn't see each other often.
...
Once all the Pokémon had chosen their accommodations, Angie used his Happiness Points to provide them with essential household items and furniture. This completely drained his already limited Happiness Points.
But as he thought to himself, What's taken from the people should be used for the people.
Seeing the joyful, satisfied faces of the Pokémon and their affectionate gazes toward him, he felt that everything was worth it.
Angie knew he couldn't make life better for all the Pokémon in the world, but doing what he could to improve the lives of the Pokémon on Nebel Plateau felt deeply meaningful to him.
After instructing the Pokémon to rest well, Angie left the secret fortress.
Instead of eating dinner outside in the rain, Angie distributed Pokémon food to everyone so they could eat in their rooms and avoid having to run back and forth in the downpour.
As he left the secret fortress, Angie jogged home in his raincoat.
However, as he ran, he suddenly thought he heard a Pokémon's cry.
"Lairon~ Lairon~"
Angie instinctively stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.
But the heavy rain filled the air with a misty vapor, limiting his vision. Even the cry he'd just heard was muffled and indistinct.
A hallucination?
Despite this thought, Angie headed toward the direction of the sound, eventually reaching a nearby wall.
As he approached, the outline of a Pokémon became visible through the rain—it was a Lairon!
Lairon is the evolved form of Aron. But as far as Angie knew, there was only one Aron on Nebel Plateau, and no Lairon.
What's more, this Lairon was carrying an unconscious, soaking wet person in its mouth.
As soon as it saw Angie, the Lairon gently laid the person on the ground and anxiously cried out for help.
"Lairon~ Lairon~"
Angie quickly scaled the wall, efficiently hoisted the person onto his shoulders, and said to Lairon, "Lairon, follow me!"
"Lairon~ Lairon~"
Lairon nodded repeatedly and trudged along behind Angie.
When they arrived home, Angie called into the house, "Munchlax! Munchlax!"
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~!"
Munchlax came running from the kitchen on its tiny legs. It had been preparing dinner, with Diancie helping to pluck vegetables and Sobble washing them.
Angie said, "Please take care of Lairon! Grab a towel to dry it off and prepare some bathing sand for it."
Like Diancie, Lairon needed sand for bathing. Its rocky body, now soaked, must have been extremely uncomfortable.
Though Munchlax was puzzled by the unfamiliar Lairon, it obediently went about its tasks as instructed.
Angie turned to the anxious Lairon and reassured it, "Don't worry, your Trainer will be okay."
With that, he carried the unconscious person to the second floor, placed them in the guest room, and filled the bathtub with hot water before gently placing them inside.
Soaking in the hot water, the cold gradually left his body, and the man slowly regained consciousness. His short blue hair, drenched from the rain, clung tightly to his face, obscuring his features.
"Where am I…?" he asked, confused.
Angie smiled and replied, "This is my home. Your Lairon brought you to my doorstep for help, so I carried you in."
Realization dawned on the man. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me," Angie said, pointing to the clothes left near the bathroom door. "Those are mine—brand new. After you've finished bathing, you can put them on. We'll talk more once you're done. I'll head out now."
The man nodded and watched as Angie exited, closing the bathroom door behind him.
Downstairs, Angie found Munchlax helping Lairon bathe. It had prepared a large basin filled with bathing sand, enough to submerge half of Lairon's body.
"Lairon~ Lairon~"
Seeing Angie, Lairon immediately called out twice.
"Don't worry," Angie reassured it with a smile. "Your Trainer is awake. He'll be down after his bath."
Hearing this, Lairon visibly relaxed, letting out a relieved breath.
Before long, Lairon's Trainer came downstairs after his bath. Now clean and refreshed, he took Angie by surprise—he was incredibly handsome, second only to Angie himself.
The man's height and build were similar to Angie's, so the clothes fit him fairly well. However... there was something oddly familiar about him.
The man approached Angie and offered a heartfelt thanks. "Thank you for taking me in. If it weren't for you, I might've frozen to death out there!"
He explained that he had wandered out from the mountain range in the northwest of Nebel Plateau. After losing his way and running out of supplies, he had ended up in his current sorry state.
The freezing conditions outside were life-threatening, especially without provisions. While Nebel Plateau offered some respite from the harsh cold, the unexpected rain made things worse.
"And to make matters worse, it got dark," he added. "If not for you living here, things could have been much worse for us."
"No need to thank me," Angie replied with a smile. "When traveling, everyone faces trouble now and then. I'm glad I could help."
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Steven. May I ask for yours?" the man said, formally introducing himself.
Hearing the name "Steven," Angie froze for a moment. No wonder he looked so familiar! This was none other than the Champion of the Hoenn League!
Blue hair, dashing looks, and a Lairon? It all added up.
Angie responded, "I'm Angie Azoth. Just call me Angie."
"Azoth?" Steven was briefly taken aback. "That's the royal family name of the Azoth Kingdom."
Angie chuckled. "I'm more or less a member of the Azoth royal family."
Steven's expression turned skeptical. As far as he knew, the Azoth royal family consisted of the king, a princess, and a prince—none of whom matched Angie's description.
Then, Steven recalled a recent news story about the Azoth royal family welcoming back a member from 500 years ago—Queen Anna's brother. Could it be this man standing before him?
Though curious, Steven refrained from prying further. After all, he had just met Angie, and asking too many personal questions would be impolite.
At that moment, Steven's stomach let out a loud growl. Instead of feeling embarrassed, he laughed and said, "I haven't eaten all day."
"If you don't mind, you're welcome to join me for dinner," Angie offered.
"Of course, I don't mind! Thank you—I'll happily take you up on that!" Steven replied enthusiastically.
"Oh, right!" Angie suddenly remembered something. He got up and went to the table, soon returning with a glass of warm water and a few pills. "Take these first," he said. "You were out in the cold and got drenched in the rain. If you don't take some medicine, you'll end up sick."
Steven gratefully accepted the pills and water, swallowing them in one gulp. "Thank you so much. You're incredibly considerate," he said sincerely.
Angie waved him off. "It's nothing. Just a small matter."
The two began to chat casually, with Steven eventually taking over the task of bathing Lairon. Meanwhile, the Munchlax headed back to the kitchen to help with dinner.
As Steven carefully scrubbed Lairon, he exclaimed, "The quality of this bath sand is incredible! Where did you get it?"
"It's a proprietary product," Angie replied with a smile. "You won't find it anywhere else."
"That's such a shame," Steven lamented. "I was hoping to buy some for my own use."
"If you like it that much, I'll give you some later," Angie offered.
Steven's eyes lit up. "Really? I won't say no, then!"
At that moment, Diancie emerged from the kitchen, carrying a platter of dishes.
"Dinner's ready!" she announced.
The moment Steven saw Diancie, he froze, his eyes widening in awe as they sparkled with amazement.
He was utterly captivated by the radiant diamonds adorning Diancie, particularly the brilliant pink gem at her core. It shone like the lone star in a dark night sky, dazzling and irresistible.
How could such a stunning Pokémon exist in this world?!
"Is this… the legendary Pokémon, Diancie?" he stammered.
While others might not recognize this mythical Pokémon, Steven, a fervent stone enthusiast, had long since read about her in ancient texts.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable under Steven's intense gaze, Diancie thought to herself: What's with this guy? How rude!
Angie nodded. "That's right. She's Diancie."
"They say Diancie is an evolved form of Carbink. Is that true?" Steven asked, his curiosity piqued.
Angie nodded again. "Yes. My Diancie used to be a Carbink."
Hearing this, Steven's eyes gleamed with excitement. He suddenly grabbed Angie's hand, his voice brimming with fervor.
"Angie, you must tell me how to evolve a Carbink into Diancie! I'm willing to do anything in exchange for that information."
Angie: …
"The first step is to sleep alongside a Carbink for five hundred years," Angie replied with a perfectly straight face.
Steven blinked. "Are you serious?"
"As serious as can be," Angie affirmed with a nod.
Steven's face fell, and he let out a long sigh. "I should've known it wouldn't be that simple."
From their brief conversation, however, Steven was now certain: Angie was indeed the five-hundred-year-old prince of the Azoth Kingdom.
After all, who else could claim to have slept with a Pokémon for five centuries?
"Alright, let's eat," Angie said, steering the topic back to dinner.
As dish after dish was brought to the table, Steven was utterly entranced. "These dishes… I've never seen anything like them," he marveled.
The aroma alone was intoxicating, so much so that he found himself involuntarily swallowing his own saliva.
Angie introduced the chefs. "These were made by my Munchlax and Sobble."
"Munchlax~"
The Munchlax waved cheerfully at Steven.
"Sobble~"
The Sobble, on the other hand, proudly puffed out its chest.
Steven stared at the two Pokémon in astonishment. He never imagined they'd have such talent. Judging by the scent and appearance of the dishes, he could tell the meal would be exceptional.
Indeed, when he took his first bite of the braised fish, he was so overwhelmed by its flavor that tears welled up in his eyes.
It was divine! What would he do if he couldn't eat this again?
"Can I take your Munchlax and Sobble home with me?" Steven joked, dabbing at the corners of his eyes.
Of course, it was just a lighthearted compliment about the Pokémon's extraordinary culinary skills.
But the Munchlax took it seriously, clutching Angie's arm tightly in alarm.
"Munchlax! Munchlax!"
No! Never! I'll stay with my master forever!
It glared at Steven with a trace of hostility: How dare you? After all that delicious food, you want to steal me away from my master?!
Angie couldn't help but laugh. He patted the Munchlax on the back reassuringly. "Relax. He's just praising you. No one can take you away from me."
The Munchlax finally calmed down and began shoveling rice into its mouth to soothe its nerves.
Meanwhile, Sobble was basking in the compliment, puffing out its chest even higher and grinning ear to ear.
I'm amazing! The most amazing!