"Alright, I'll take five eggs."
The staff member took out five eggs, carefully packed them into a shock-proof box, and handed it to Angie. The box's design prevented the eggs from breaking during transport.
"Thank you," Angie said, taking the box with a delighted smile. He held it in his hand cheerfully.
Pawmi jumped off Angie's shoulder and started circling around the box.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~~"
Is this something tasty too?
"Of course! It's so delicious you'll want to swallow your tongue!" Angie replied.
"Pawmi~~"
Hearing this, Pawmi immediately began daydreaming, drooling unconsciously.
Angie pushed the shopping cart and headed out. "It's time to go!"
Pawmi quickly wiped its mouth and followed.
At the checkout counter, the cashier gave Angie a very peculiar look. Could this guy be some kind of reseller? Who else would buy so much in one go?
After paying, Angie left awkwardly, feeling self-conscious under the cashier's piercing gaze, which practically screamed, "Are you a black market dealer?"
Thankfully, with his remarkable physical strength, carrying all these items out of the supermarket wasn't too difficult.
Finding a secluded corner, Angie stowed everything into his backpack. Hugging Pawmi close, he headed to the airport and boarded a flight back to the Kalos region.
In the Pokémon world, large Pokémon were not permitted on aircraft, but smaller ones like Pawmi could travel freely—even without a ticket.
However, slightly larger humanoid Pokémon like Gardevoir, Hatterene, or Machamp required an additional ticket if they were to board. Most trainers opted to buy the extra ticket rather than return their Pokémon to their Poké Balls. It wasn't that staying in a Poké Ball was uncomfortable—it was simply that trainers cherished the companionship of having their Pokémon by their side.
Carrying Pawmi, Angie found his seat and settled down. Feeling bored, he pulled out his phone to scroll through the news.
In the Pokémon world, all flights offered in-flight wireless services, so passengers could use their phones online during the journey.
As Angie browsed his phone intently, Pawmi, nestled in his arms, reached out and tugged on his arm.
"Do you want to play too?" Angie asked.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~~"
Pawmi nodded eagerly.
"Here you go." Angie wasn't particularly interested in his phone anyway, so he handed it over to Pawmi without hesitation.
"Pawmi~~ Pawmi~~"
Pawmi happily accepted the phone. It didn't really understand what was so fun about it, but since Angie had been so engrossed, it wanted to try for itself.
"Here, let me show you."
Seated comfortably on Angie's lap, Pawmi watched attentively as Angie positioned the phone in front of it and began explaining how to use it.
The technology in the Pokémon world had advanced to the point where smartphones were extremely user-friendly, even for Pokémon. It didn't take long before Pawmi was happily playing on its own.
Seeing Pawmi thoroughly enjoying itself, Angie turned his attention away and opened his system interface. He still had two task rewards waiting to be claimed!
Looking at the two completed tasks in the task panel, Angie decided to claim the reward for the first task.
...
[ Congratulations to the host for completing the (Aura Training Task): Interact with 1,000 Pokémon and sense their inner aura (1,059/1,000). ]
[ Rewards: Intelligence +1, Constitution +1, and Aura Culinary Training Manual. ]
...
The first two rewards were standard, but the last one was a delightful surprise! Angie had been struggling with understanding how to use aura effectively despite having awakened it, but it seemed the system had prepared for this.
Using the spatial backpack for concealment, Angie retrieved the Aura Culinary Training Manual. However, the moment he held it in his hands, he froze.
You're calling this 35 cm long, 20 cm wide, and 10 cm thick thing a "manual"?
Holding it felt heavy and cumbersome.
He opened the book to glance at the table of contents and discovered it was divided into two parts: the first focused on training and enhancing aura, while the second was about using aura to process ingredients.
The content was highly detailed. Flipping through a few pages, Angie was already overwhelmed by the densely packed text, feeling a headache creeping in.
Temporarily setting the book back into the system backpack, Angie moved on to claim the second task reward. He had deliberately waited to complete both tasks before collecting the rewards.
The system immediately displayed a notification.
...
[ Congratulations to the host for completing the [Temporary Task]: Request Professor Sada and Professor Turo to modify Robert No. 1. ]
[ Reward: Individual Values +3. ]
...
The reward for the second task was… mediocre at best.
Angie then checked his personal information.
...
[ Angie ]
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 16 (+500)
Constitution: 43
Intelligence: 22
Culinary Skill Rating: A beginner who's barely qualified.
...
His Constitution and Intelligence had indeed increased.
As for the newly gained 3 Individual Value points, technically, they were earned through Metagross and should be allocated to it. However, since he couldn't currently see Metagross's stats, it wasn't wise to allocate them blindly.
If any of Metagross's Individual Values were already maxed out, adding points there would be a waste.
So, he decided to allocate the points to his Munchlax for now, planning to compensate Metagross later.
Angie added 2 points Munchlax's HP and 1 point to its Attack.
Munchlax's updated stats were as follows.
...
[ Munchlax (Eviolite) ]
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Gender: Male
Level: 43
Moves: Tackle, Lick, Defense Curl, Recycle, Covet, Bite, Stockpile, Swallow, Heavy Slam, Fling, Amnesia, Take Down, Charm, Seed Bomb, Brick Break, Counter, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch.
...
[ Individual Values (IVs) ]
HP: 31
Attack: 27
Defense: 20
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 10
Speed: 31
...
Now Munchlax had three Individual Values maxed out.
However, as Angie looked at Munchlax's move set, he froze slightly. Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, and Fire Punch—when did it learn this Farmer's Trio of Punches? These moves weren't there before!
Could it have learned them from other Pokémon on the plateau?
Indeed, there were Pokémon on the Nebel Plateau capable of using these skills. Poliwrath could use Ice Punch, Pachirisu could use Thunder Punch, and Scrafty could use Fire Punch.
It seemed Munchlax had been working hard in silence! Angie's face lit up with a satisfied smile.
After claiming the rewards for both tasks, Angie took out the Aura Culinary Training Manual again and began studying it carefully. After all, there wasn't much else to do at the moment.
As he read, Angie found himself involuntarily following the manual's instructions to train.
He closed his eyes, channeling the aura within him and allowing it to flow throughout his body. In that moment, everyone on the plane disappeared from his perception, transforming into pure streams of aura.
Some of these auras were strong, some weak, some active, and others dormant—each one unique.
Sitting in the seat next to Angie was a girl who had pulled her jacket over her face and was sound asleep. Beside her sat a Lucario.
What Angie didn't realize was that as he trained, the Lucario next to the girl instinctively turned its head toward him.
Sensing the extraordinary aura emanating from Angie, a look of curiosity appeared on Lucario's face.
Time slipped by, and soon it was evening. Angie opened his eyes and stopped training.
"Still playing with your phone?" Angie patted Pawmi's head.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Phones are fun!
Pawmi waved the phone around excitedly.
"What are you playing?" Angie asked.
"Pawmi~~ Pawmi~~"
Pawmi turned the phone screen toward Angie. On the screen, a flamboyantly dressed girl was passionately speaking.
"Good morning, afternoon, and evening, hello!"
"I'm using my electric net to capture your attention!"
Isn't that Iono? Angie instantly recognized the girl.
Iono wasn't just the Gym Leader of Levincia in the Paldea region; she was also a popular streamer.
"You like this, huh?" Angie asked, surprised.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~~"
Pawmi flailed its arms enthusiastically, explaining what made Iono's streams so entertaining.
As an Electric-type Gym Leader, Iono not only streamed interesting events from her gym but also shared valuable tips on raising Electric-type Pokémon—a segment Pawmi especially loved.
Pawmi watched for a while longer before Angie took the phone away. Pawmi was about to protest when Angie said, "It's time for dinner."
Pawmi instantly gave up without resistance. Food was more important.
Angie soon requested two meals from the flight attendants. He was curious to try the in-flight meals of the Pokémon world, as he hadn't had the chance before.
Since Angie was in business class, the meal was quite elaborate: appetizers, a main course, desserts, wine, and various drinks.
After taking a few bites, Angie found the food to be just average.
Having grown more skilled in cooking himself, Angie had become accustomed to the flavors of his own cooking. Eating this kind of food now left him unimpressed.
If the meal were as good as the dishes at Poké Bistro, he might have been willing to eat more.
Pawmi, on the other hand, being less experienced with such things, ate with gusto. Not only did it finish its portion but also polished off what Angie hadn't eaten.
Buuurp~~
After finishing, Pawmi lay on Angie's lap with its now-round belly, letting out a satisfied burp.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Not as good as your cooking.
It gave its critique of the meal in between hiccups.
"Then why'd you eat so much?" Angie teased, giving Pawmi's belly a playful squeeze.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Can't waste food.
Since Angie hadn't eaten much, he pulled out a cup of fresh Gogoat milk from his system backpack.
This milk was produced by the Gogoats of the Nebel Plateau, and Angie had added some Pecha Berry juice to it, making it exceptionally delicious.
Seeing Angie drinking goat milk in big gulps, Pawmi immediately sat up and reached out to him.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
I want some too! I want some too!
"Alright, alright!" Angie agreed while taking out another bottle and handing it to Pawmi.
Gulp, gulp, gulp—
Pawmi grabbed the milk bottle and chugged it down in one go, not leaving a single drop. Afterward, it eagerly licked the bottle clean.
"Pawmi~"
So tasty.
It shoved the empty bottle back into Angie's hands and stretched its hand out toward him again.
"Pawmi~"
More.
Angie gave its palm a light slap. "That's enough! You'll have more next time!"
Pawmi didn't argue. Pouting, it turned away and resumed playing with the phone. Since Iono's live broadcast had already ended, it started watching some of her past content.
Angie stowed away the empty bottle. When he turned around, he noticed a Lucario staring at him. Surprised, Angie took out a bottle of milk and asked, "Would you like some?"
The Lucario blinked, clearly caught off guard by the question. After a moment of hesitation, it nodded.
"Lucario~"
Thank you.
Angie smiled and handed over the bottle of goat milk.
Lucario opened the bottle, and the sweet, fragrant aroma wafted out. Taking a big gulp, it instantly fell in love with the creamy, sweet taste of the milk.
At that moment, the sleeping girl stirred. She sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose before opening her eyes.
"What's that smell?"
Still half-asleep, she leaned toward Lucario, her head nearing the milk bottle as she slowly regained awareness.
"Lucario, where did you get that?"
Catching the sweet scent of milk, the girl instinctively swallowed.
"Lucario~"
Lucario gestured toward Angie.
Realizing what had happened, the girl quickly turned to Angie to apologize.
"Um… I'm sorry! I hope my Lucario hasn't caused you any trouble?"
Angie shook his head. "Not at all. It's very well-behaved. I just gave it a bottle of Gogoat milk."
The girl let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."
Angie studied the girl before him. Earlier, she had her head covered with clothing, so he hadn't seen her face clearly. Now that he could see her properly, she looked very familiar!
She seemed to be… Korrina, the Gym Leader of Shalour City.
The Shalour City Gym specialized in Fighting-type Pokémon and was said to hold the secrets of Mega Evolution.
Sure enough, the girl introduced herself shortly afterward.
"I'm Korrina, and this is my partner, Lucario. We just got back from a trip to the Paldea region."
"Lucario~" Lucario waved its hand, greeting Angie.
"Hello, Korrina." Angie introduced himself in return. "I'm Angie, and this is my partner, Pawmi." He gave Pawmi a light tap, saying, "Pawmi, greet Korrina and Lucario properly. Don't be so rude!"
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Pawmi finally looked up from the phone, smiling brightly as it waved at Korrina and Lucario.
"How cute," Korrina praised.
Angie and Korrina then began chatting casually, making the journey much less boring.
At one point, Angie noticed Korrina sneaking glances at Lucario's milk bottle, swallowing hard. Amused, he generously handed her a bottle as well.
Two days later, the aircraft landed in Lumiose City, the central hub of the Kalos region. Angie and Korrina parted ways there.
During their two-day journey together, they had gotten along quite well. Angie even invited Korrina and Lucario to visit the Azoth Kingdom sometime.
After saying goodbye, Angie and Pawmi boarded a light rail train back to the Azoth Kingdom.
Lumiose City, as the center of the Kalos region, boasted a highly developed transportation system. As a result, it took only half a day for Angie and Pawmi to return to the Azoth Kingdom.
"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"
Standing on the city's cableway, Pawmi curiously observed the unique scenery of the Azoth Kingdom, so different from other cities.
Angie smiled and said to Pawmi, "Welcome to the Azoth Kingdom, Pawmi. This is my hometown and the place where you'll be living from now on."