Leaving the riverbank, Angie, with Munchlax, Drizzile, Diancie, Metagross, and Pawmi, headed towards the fishery. He wanted to check on the situation with the Veluza.
Along the way, Munchlax kept holding Angie's hand, unwilling to let go, fearing that if it did, Angie might run off.
Its hand was dirty from working earlier, but Angie didn't mind and let it hold his hand.
Drizzile excitedly chattered to Angie about what had been happening at home recently, as well as its outstanding performance at Munchlax's Home.
Angie listened quietly, occasionally responding earnestly, which made Drizzile happy like a little bird, hopping and skipping ahead.
Seeing wildflowers blooming along the way, it would dash over to pick one and present it to Angie.
Soon, they reached the fishery.
Since the Poliwag, Poliwhirl, and Poliwrath had gone to help plant trees, the fishery was very quiet at the moment.
As Angie reached the edge of the fishery, he suddenly saw a purple-red blade slice through the calm surface of the lake, followed by a second, third, and fourth blade... they moved quickly, approaching the shore.
Startled, the fish in the fishery jumped out of the water one by one.
As the blades neared the shore, Angie saw the Veluza emerging from the water. They had sensed Angie's arrival and came to greet him.
Angie looked at the Veluza leader and asked, "Are you helping the Poliwrath look after the fishery?"
"Veluza~"
The Veluza leader nodded.
Every time the Poliwrath helped plant trees, the Veluza would take turns watching over the fishery for a while. For the rest of the time, they would roam the vast Nebel Lake, swimming and competing to refine their skills and strengthen their spirits.
"Thank you for your hard work," Angie said, patting the Veluza leader's head.
"Veluza~ Veluza~"
The Veluza leader shook its head, indicating it wasn't hard at all.
Angie's gaze swept over the twenty or so Veluza. After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Have you... gained weight?"
The Veluza froze upon hearing this. They looked at each other, then back at Angie. It seemed... they really had gained a lot of weight!
Realizing this, they panicked.
It shouldn't be! They had been working hard every day, not only honing their spirits but also training their bodies. Just two days ago, they had handed over their excess fat to Diancie, so why were they fat again?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
At this point, Diancie spoke up, "You're eating too much every day! And your exercise routine is still the same as before, which is no longer enough."
The Veluza looked confused. Was that really the reason?
However, since coming to the Nebel Plateau, they had indeed been eating a lot; the food here was just too delicious!
"Of course it's true!" Diancie suddenly said with a serious expression. "Starting tomorrow, I'll create a new training plan for you. You'll increase your exercise!"
At that moment, Angie could almost see the form of Diancie's devilish coach persona, which only appeared in the cooking training room.
"Veluza~ Veluza~"
The Veluza believed Diancie's words completely and agreed to her proposal.
"Good. Now, hand over your excess fat," Diancie added.
As Diancie finished speaking, the Veluza quickly shook their bodies, and the next moment, chunks of white fish flesh dropped onto the shore.
Diancie calmly gathered the fish flesh.
Angie was left dumbfounded.
"Diancie, why do I feel like you're a bit of a capitalist?"
Hearing this, Diancie angrily slapped Angie, saying, "Stop talking nonsense. What have I done that isn't for the good of the Veluza?"
Angie thought for a moment and agreed. Whether it was having the Veluza increase their training or helping them shed excess fat, both were beneficial for them.
But he still felt like something was off.
Not thinking about it too much, Angie's gaze fell on the group of Veluza, and he saw Magikarp, Feebas, Goldeen, and Seaking mixed in among them.
Angie smiled and asked, "How did you end up with the Veluza?"
Magikarp and Feebas just stared blankly and didn't answer, quietly blowing bubbles.
At that moment, Seaking swam forward and answered,
"Seaking~ Seaking~"
Training! Training! We're training together!
Angie instantly understood its meaning and praised, "Not bad, you have the spirit! Keep it up."
Hearing Angie's praise, Goldeen and Seaking happily swam back and forth, and even Magikarp and Feebas seemed to have reacted a little.
The Veluza watched this scene with expressions of disdain.
The Veluza leader spoke.
"Veluza~ Veluza~"
They're too weak!
Angie clasped his hands together and said, "Veluza, please train them together!" It was rare for even Magikarp and Feebas to get motivated, and Angie didn't want to disappoint them.
With Angie's request, the Veluza leader reluctantly agreed.
"Veluza~"
Fine!
After chatting a little longer about their life updates, Angie said, "Alright, you can continue training now!"
Upon hearing this, the Veluza nodded, and one by one, they dove into the water, followed closely by Magikarp, Feebas, Goldeen, and Seaking.
Watching the Veluza disappear beneath the water's surface, Angie turned to Diancie and the others and said, "Let's go home. Let's prepare for a big meal tonight."
"Munchlax~"
"Drizzile~"
"Pawmi~"
Upon hearing this, Munchlax, Drizzile, and Pawmi hurriedly ran toward home.
Angie, on the other hand, walked slowly toward home with Diancie and Metagross.
As the sun set, with the vibrant twilight painting the sky, Angie and Diancie strolled across the grass, the glow of the sunset reflecting on their faces, softening their expressions. Angie and Diancie couldn't help but immerse themselves in this peaceful, tranquil moment.
Halfway home, Angie and Diancie saw two Charcadet riding on a pair of Oinkologne. They were chasing each other, playing some kind of game, and their intertwined laughter echoed across the grassland.
"Charcadet! Oinkologne!" Angie waved at the four Pokémon from a distance.
Upon hearing Angie's call, the two Oinkologne excitedly ran toward Angie with the Charcadet riding on their backs.
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
As the four Pokémon approached, Angie noticed that the two Charcadet had large bundles on their backs, each bigger than their bodies.
Not only that, the four Pokémon were covered in dirt, as if they had been rolling around in a pile of garbage.
"Where did you go?" Angie asked in confusion. "I heard from Diancie that you've been going out early and coming back late every day. What have you been doing?"
Upon hearing Angie's question, the two Oinkologne proudly puffed out their chests, their faces full of pride.
However, when the female Oinkologne puffed her chest, the crybaby Charcadet that was sitting on her back fell off, causing the bundle on its back to fall apart.
The crybaby Charcadet pouted, and tears began to well up in its eyes.
The goodboy Charcadet quickly jumped off the male Oinkologne and ran to the crybaby Charcadet's side.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
The goodboy Charcadet hugged the crybaby Charcadet and gently patted its back, and the crybaby Charcadet finally managed to hold back its tears.
Angie, on the other hand, was stunned by the bundle that fell from the crybaby Charcadet. Inside, it was filled with all kinds of mushrooms.
"Did you pick these?" Angie squatted down and picked up a mushroom.
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The two Oinkologne nodded repeatedly.
The Oinkologne have a keen sense of smell that allows them to easily distinguish between edible and non-edible ingredients. Therefore, the mushrooms they gather are safe to eat, so there's no need to worry about them being bad.
"Could it be that you've been out so early and coming back so late just to do this?" Angie asked in surprise.
"Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~"
"Charcadet~"
"Charcadet~"
The four Pokémon nodded in unison.
After arriving at the Nebel Plateau, the four Pokémon realized that everyone here had their own tasks and could help Angie with various things. However, they felt that they didn't know how to contribute.
Back in Area Zero, the Charcadet helped Angie with cooking, but here on the Nebel Plateau, there were all sorts of cooking utensils at Angie's house, so they were no longer needed.
After some discussion, the four Pokémon decided to go out and gather ingredients for Angie.
Since Angie was a chef, he would definitely need all sorts of special ingredients.
Through the various descriptions from the four Pokémon, Angie learned that they had visited the mountains in the northwest and the forest to the east.
Not long ago, they were just casually exploring the environment of those two places, but today was the first time they had officially started gathering ingredients.
Gathering ingredients in the wild was no easy task.
While exploring the northwest mountains, they had been chased by a swarm of Beedrills and ambushed by a flock of Spearow... In the forest to the east, they had accidentally provoked an Ursaring, who chased them for two miles; they also mistakenly picked berry from a tree that already had an owner and were beaten up by Seedot and Shiftry.
In short, every day was full of exciting adventures.
After hearing the Pokémon's stories, Diancie finally understood why they had been covered in injuries for a while. She had asked them what had happened, but they had been secretive and refused to say.
Angie said, touched, "You really don't have to go through all this trouble. I can find you some easier jobs."
Angie would never casually say something like "I'll take care of you." He could afford to, but he preferred that each Pokémon by his side find a job that suited them and made them happy.
However, both the two Oinkologne and the two Charcadet shook their heads in unison.
Although going on adventures and gathering ingredients was hard and even dangerous at times, they loved it and felt fulfilled every day.
After an exciting day of adventure, there was always a place waiting for them where delicious food would be prepared for them. There was nothing more blissful than that.
Even the crybaby Charcadet looked at Angie with determination, expressing its resolve.
Seeing the Pokémon's firm attitude, Angie had no choice but to agree.
"However, from now on, make sure to be careful when you go out. Don't provoke powerful Pokémon, and don't touch things that already belong to someone."
"Oinkologne~~"
"Charcadet~~"
The four Pokémon squinted and nodded.
Angie reached down and lifted the bags of mushrooms from the two Charcadet's backs, then waved his hand, "Let's go, we're heading home. Since you've gathered so many mushrooms, we'll have a hot pot with mushroom broth tonight."
The Oinkologne and the Charcadet couldn't wait to run home.
Once they got home, Angie first helped the dirty Munchlax and Drizzile take a bath, then started preparing dinner. Since this wasn't the first time they were making hot pot, they were much quicker this time. Soon, a rich aroma wafted from the kitchen.
The Oinkologne and the Charcadet were lying at the door, drooling, while Diancie was arranging accommodations with Metagross and Pawmi.
The third floor of Angie's house had many rooms, so there was no worry about running out of space. Diancie arranged for Pawmi to stay next to Drizzile, while Metagross was placed next to Angie's room.
Now, Angie's room was surrounded: Munchlax was on the right, Metagross was on the left, Drizzile was across from him, and Diancie and Pawmi were diagonally across.
By the time the ingredients were almost ready and the food was nearly prepared, the Pokémon returned in groups, some in twos and others in threes. They gathered around the table in the courtyard, their faces full of anticipation as they waited for the delicious food Angie had promised.
When Diancie came downstairs with Pawmi and Metagross, Angie said to her, "Diancie, start bringing the food out, it's time to eat!"
"Okay!" Diancie replied, taking the ingredients from Munchlax's hands and carefully bringing them out, one by one.
Metagross, seeing this, used Robert No. 2 to help. Since Metagross was too large, it didn't try to squeeze into the kitchen.
"Pawmi~"
Pawmi excitedly tried to sneak into the kitchen, but Drizzile grabbed it by the back of its neck and tossed it out.
"Drizzile~ Drizzle~"
Just wait patiently for the food, don't come in and cause trouble.
Pawmi: (`^)
After Diancie returned to the kitchen, Gardevoir, Gallade, Ralts, Meowstic, and Espurr followed her inside to help.
Today, Angie had prepared a lot of ingredients for the hot pot. Not only did he have freshly collected lightweight cod meat, but there were also many ingredients he had bought from the local market.
In addition, he had picked fresh vegetables from his own garden, making tonight's dinner an especially rich feast. Even Angie was looking forward to it.
While preparing the ingredients, Angie followed the instructions from the "Aura Culinary Training Manual" and used Aura to treat the ingredients.
He wasn't sure what the effect would be.
With the help of Gardevoir and the others, soon all the tables outside were filled with various ingredients, and in the center, the hot pot was bubbling away, releasing a rich aroma that made the Pokémon drool.
However, they didn't know how to eat it—wasn't it all raw?
At this moment, experienced Pawmi began to jump around, trying to explain how to eat. Unfortunately, it was speaking so incoherently that no one could understand.
Thankfully, the goodboy Charcadet and Metagross, along with Diancie, Munchlax, and Drizzile's explanations, made it easy for everyone to quickly start eating.
The moment the food touched their tongues, all the Pokémon immediately realized that tonight's dinner was different. It was a feeling that was hard to describe.
The flavors of the ingredients blended together, and they could taste the harmony in the combination of ingredients and the balance in texture. This was something they had never experienced before.
Angie himself also noticed the difference.
The ingredients were the same, the method hadn't changed, but the taste was simply different.
Was this the effect of using Aura to treat the ingredients?
Angie could hardly believe that the food came from his own hands.
It was so delicious!
Angie was certain that his culinary skills had surpassed his grandfather's (in his previous life)!