Soon, the beautiful Pokémon were full and satisfied.
The beautiful Pokémon asked, "What brings you to this forest?"
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
We're here to look for ingredients.
The goodboy Charcadet explained their purpose.
"I see," the beautiful Pokémon nodded in understanding. "In that case, as payment for the food I ate, let me take you somewhere."
With that, it picked a direction, leapt forward, and bounded off.
Seeing this, the two Charcadet hurriedly packed up their belongings, climbed onto the backs of the Oinkologne, and chased after the beautiful Pokémon.
"Ursaring~ Ursaring~"
Ursaring also wanted to follow, but suddenly a thick fog spread throughout the forest. In the blink of an eye, the Charcadet and their companions disappeared from sight. Ursaring was left stomping its feet in frustration.
The Charcadet and Oinkologne ran behind the beautiful Pokémon for what seemed like ages until they arrived at a rocky tunnel.
"Follow me," the beautiful Pokémon said, pausing to glance back at them before waiting patiently.
They followed the tunnel, moving steadily forward. Soon, a glimmer of light appeared in the distance. As they approached it, they realized it was the exit on the other side of the tunnel.
Emerging from the tunnel, the group found themselves standing in a valley. The valley was covered with sprawling fields of pods, all ripe and ready for harvest. Some pods had even over-ripened, bursting open and spilling their beans onto the ground, where they had begun to rot into the soil.
The beautiful Pokémon turned around to the two Charcadet and Oinkologne and said, "These are special beans called Plump Beans. They've been growing here for a long time, and you're free to pick them."
"Charcadet~"
Does this place have an owner?
Goodboy Charcadet asked.
Hearing this, the beautiful Pokémon looked at goodboy Charcadet with a warm and gentle gaze. It replied kindly, "Don't worry. This place is hidden and hasn't been discovered by other Pokémon before. I found it by accident."
"Charcadet~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
Relieved by this assurance, the Charcadet and Oinkologne let out cheers of excitement and dashed into the valley to start harvesting the pods.
Because the weather was quite dry and the pods were overly mature, they were tricky to harvest. A slight touch would cause them to burst open. After a while, the four Pokémon began to look frustrated.
At this moment, the beautiful Pokémon spoke softly, "Let me help you."
Its eyes glowed with a purple light, and in an instant, all the beans were enveloped in a mysterious force. They floated into the air and drifted toward the beautiful Pokémon, perfectly shelled and ready to be collected.
"Come here," it beckoned the Charcadet and Oinkologne.
The four Pokémon quickly ran to its side.
"Open your backpacks," it said.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
The goodboy Charcadet stepped forward, took off its backpack, and opened it.
Under the control of the beautiful Pokémon, the beans poured like a torrent into the backpack, flooding it with a rustling sound.
Before long, the backpack was filled to the brim, yet nearly half the beans remained uncollected. The four Pokémon scratched their heads in confusion.
What should they do?
With a hint of amusement in its voice, the beautiful Pokémon said, "I'll leave the beans in the tunnel ahead. You can come back for them next time."
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The four Pokémon jumped up and down in excitement, expressing their gratitude to the beautiful Pokémon.
Once the beans were harvested, the two Charcadet and Oinkologne followed the beautiful Pokémon out of the tunnel.
"This is where we part ways," the beautiful Pokémon said. "I hope I'll get the chance to taste food made with Plump Beans next time."
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The four Pokémon eagerly extended another invitation.
"Alright, I'll be sure to visit if I get the chance," the beautiful Pokémon said, then leapt into the air and disappeared from their sight.
"Charcadet~"
Goodbye!
"Oinkologne~"
Goodbye!
The four Pokémon shouted after it.
After a while, goodboy Charcadet, realizing it was getting late, shifted its gaze back from the distance and said to its three companions.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
Let's go home.
"Charcadet~"
"Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~"
The crybaby Charcadet and the two Oinkologne nodded in agreement.
So, the two Charcadet rode on the backs of the Oinkologne, heading home under the setting sun.
But as they walked, they suddenly realized they seemed to be lost.
The four Pokémon stood bewildered in the vast forest, unsure of which direction to take. The forest was far too expansive.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
The crybaby Charcadet, feeling scared, began to pout as if about to shed tears like little pearls.
"Whoosh~"
Suddenly, a shadow flitted across the sky above them.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
It's a Komala!
The crybaby Charcadet swallowed its tears and shouted loudly.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
Komala must be heading home. Let's follow it!
The goodboy Charcadet said cleverly.
"Oinkologne~"
"Oinkologne~"
The two Oinkologne's eyes lit up.
Although the Komala had been carried by something and flashed past in an instant, leaving no trace, the two Oinkologne had their proud noses!
Sure enough, after a good sniff, the two Oinkologne easily caught the scent left by the Komala. Following the trail, they dashed forward and quickly reached the edge of the forest, where they caught sight of the lush grasslands of the Nebel Plateau in the distance.
By the time they returned home, the sky had dimmed, and the other Pokémon were already having dinner.
From afar, the goodboy Charcadet, with its excellent vision, noticed Angie standing on the fence, anxiously scanning the surroundings. When he saw them, Angie's face lit up with relief and joy.
He jumped down from the fence, quickly approaching the four Pokémon with a worried expression and said, "Why are you coming back so late today? I was so worried about you!"
Although his words carried a hint of reproach, they somehow filled the four Pokémon with a warm sense of comfort, as if something had gently filled their hearts.
"Come on, let's get home for dinner. Are you hungry?"
Angie lifted the two Charcadet off the backs of the Oinkologne.
"Charcadet~ Charcadet~"
"Oinkologne~ Oinkologne~"
The four Pokémon chattered excitedly, describing their adventures to Angie as they walked.
"Really? You even invited a Sawsbuck to dinner? Of course, that's fine. If Deerling hears about this, it will surely be thrilled!"
From the vague descriptions of the four Pokémon, Angie concluded that the mysterious Pokémon they encountered must have been a Sawsbuck.
The four Pokémon, having never seen a Sawsbuck, agreed that it did resemble the beautiful Pokémon they had met. So, if Angie said it was a Sawsbuck, they simply believed it.
And so, a misunderstanding was born.
After dinner, the four exhausted Pokémon yawned their way to the staff quarters to sleep, leaving the backpack full of Plump Beans with Angie.
Initially, Angie hadn't expected them to bring back anything remarkable. But when he opened the backpack and saw it brimming with beans, he was utterly stunned.
"These are Plump Beans?"
He grabbed a handful of beans and examined them in his palm. Each bean was a vibrant green, plump, and glossy—a rare sight indeed. They were unmistakably Plump Beans.
Plump Beans happened to be a crucial ingredient in a chili bean paste recipe that Angie had received as a system reward.
The chili bean paste was a special recipe, and ordinary beans couldn't be used to make it. Only the unique Plump Beans would work.
However, Plump Beans weren't sold on the market. It was said they only grew in the wild and were incredibly rare. If you heard of Plump Beans being sold in a market, there was a 99.9% chance they were counterfeit.
Angie had been fretting over where to find Plump Beans to make the chili bean paste, and now they had fallen into his lap effortlessly!
With so many Plump Beans, he could make plenty of chili bean paste.
Angie had once considered growing Plump Beans himself, but just like with Waterside Herb by the water, the system shop didn't sell seeds for Plump Beans. All it offered was a planting guide.
After purchasing and reading through it, Angie discovered that Plump Beans couldn't be cultivated artificially because they required Pokémon to use Grassy Terrain to nurture them.
But Pokémon capable of learning Grassy Terrain were extremely rare, and using them to farm beans seemed impractical.
Now that he had the seeds, Angie was inspired to plant them. However, the issue of Grassy Terrain remained a headache.
He recalled that Gogoat could learn Grassy Terrain, so he decided to ask them tomorrow to see if any of them knew the move.
With so many Gogoat on the plateau, surely one of them had to know it, right?
Thinking of using the Plump Beans to make the special chili bean paste recipe, Angie was reminded of another advanced recipe—Green Dumplings.
The ingredients for making the green dumpling include something called Verdant Grass. However, Angie searched through all the available resources and still couldn't figure out what kind of grass this was.
How frustrating.
At that moment, Diancie walked over.
"Angie, there's a new mission. Want to take it?"
"Of course!" Angie replied without hesitation.
"Got it!"
As Diancie's words fell, Angie received a system notification. He opened the task list and saw that several new tasks had appeared.
...
[ (Ingredient Collection Task 1) Collect Plump Beans Seeds — Completed, reward pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Collection Task 2) Capture a Female Combee — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Collection Task 3) Collect Hearty Grains Seeds — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Collection Task 4) Collect Spores from Springy Mushroom — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Collection Task 5) Gather a certain amount of Crunchy Salt — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Cultivation Task 1) Successfully Grow Plump Beans — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Cultivation Task 2) Evolve a Female Combee into Vespiquen — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Cultivation Task 3) Successfully Grow Hearty Grains — Pending. ]
[ (Ingredient Cultivation Task 4) Successfully Grow Springy Mushroom — Pending. ]
...
Seeing this string of tasks, Angie was stunned. So many all at once?
This was clearly a series of missions.
Moreover, whether it was Hearty Grains or Springy Mushroom, they were like Plump Beans—not common ingredients and unavailable on the market. The only way to obtain them was through gathering in the wild.
Everyone knew that if something only grew in the wild, its yield would naturally be low. Whether it was Plump Beans, Hearty Grains, or Springy Mushroom, they could only be collected by adventurers in the wild. However, finding them was purely a matter of luck. Even if adventurers managed to gather some, they would either use their own private channels to sell them secretly or keep them for personal use. It was almost impossible to see them on the market.
So, Angie was distressed. Where could he possibly find Hearty Grains seeds and Springy Mushroom spores?
And then there was the Combee problem.
Combee was a very peculiar Pokémon. The majority of their population was male, and only the queen was female. In other words, female Combee were extremely rare.
Where on earth was he supposed to find one?
This system really knew how to make things difficult for him all of a sudden.
And that Crunchy Salt… seriously? It was also part of the ingredient collection tasks!
Although most Rock-type Pokémon indeed consume Chunchy Salt as food…
At least the system hadn't gone off the rails and included a cultivation task for Crunchy Salt.
Since the system tasks didn't have a time limit, he could take his time with them. No rush.
Aside from the Plump Beans, Angie also found Miracle Seeds and a Sun Stone in the bag that Charcadet and Oinkologne brought back from the forest.
The Miracle Seeds could be given to Pokémon to hold.
As for the Sun Stone, it could evolve a Gloom into a Bellossom, but none of his employees had evolved into a Gloom yet.
However, he could let Helioptile use it first. The Sun Stone could evolve it into a Heliolisk.
Angie decided to consult Helioptile later. With that thought, he put away both items.
When the time came, he took his apprentices to the training room for an intensive session on cooking skills and Aura training, while Metagross headed alone to the staff dormitory.
In the classroom where it had previously taught Croconaw, Buneary, and the others about cultivation, many Pokémon had gathered. Croconaw, Lairon, Drilbur, two Farfetch'd, two Charcadet, and an Espathra were all present.
As soon as Metagross entered, all the Pokémon stood up and greeted it in unison: "Good morning, Teacher!"
They had learned this from watching TV—clearly, their time spent in front of the screen wasn't wasted.
Metagross signaled for everyone to sit down and began teaching according to its prepared lesson plan.
By the time Angie and his group finished their own training, Metagross's class had also ended, and the Pokémon all returned to their respective quarters for the night.
Before going to bed, Angie claimed the reward for [Ingredient Collection Task 1], and to his surprise, the rewards for completed tasks were indeed valid.
[ Congratulations, Hsot, on completing (Ingredient Collection Task 1): Collect Plump Beans Seeds. ]
[ Reward: Individual Values +2 ]
Without overthinking, Angie allocated the points to Munchlax's Attack stat. Munchlax's current stats were as follows.
...
[ Munchlax (Eviolite) ]
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Gender: Male
Level: 44
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: 29
Defense: 20
Special Attack: 31
Special Defense: 10
Speed: 31
...
As for the rewards for the three daily tasks, they were nothing special and not worth mentioning.
The next morning, when Angie went out to train with Munchlax, Drizzile, and Pawmi, he spotted Croconaw, Lairon, and the others training in pairs, practicing battle techniques.
On the grassy field, wooden stakes had been set up, and a Pokémon was jumping rapidly on them using only one leg, honing its speed and balance.
Who else could it be but Espathra?
Angie silently observed for a while before continuing his morning jog with Munchlax and the others.
Later, Angie headed to work at the Munchlaxs' Home, while the two Charcadet, riding Oinkologne, went out again to retrieve the rest of the Plump Beans.
At noon, Angie returned from the Munchlax's Home. He planned to help out in the kitchen to prepare lunch, but Munchlax, Drizzile, and Haunter, his three apprentices, pushed him out instead. They insisted on being responsible for lunch today.
Fine, Angie was happy to relax. The "old father" deserved to enjoy a bit of downtime.
With nothing to do, Angie decided to check on the Gogoat herd.
The Gogoats were leisurely grazing along with their Skiddo offspring. Now that the berry trees had been planted and there was no work to do, they were having an extremely peaceful time.
When they saw Angie approaching, the Gogoats joyfully surrounded him.
Angie patted each of them in turn and then asked, "Does any of you know Grassy Terrain?"
The Gogoats looked at each other in confusion and then shook their heads one after another.
"None of you?" Angie looked disappointed.
Again, the Gogoats and Skiddos shook their heads.
Angie sighed. "That's such a pity."
"Skiddo~ Skiddo~"
Just then, a Skiddo let out two bleats.
"You know someone who can?" Angie asked, his excitement rekindled.
"Skiddo~ Skiddo~"
The Skiddo nodded.
"Good little one, come tell me!" Angie urged eagerly.
"Skiddo~ Skiddo~"
The Skiddo bleated again, and Angie smacked his forehead in realization. Of course! How could he have forgotten about Dolliv? Among the two Dolliv, one of them likely knew Grassy Terrain!
It had been such a long time that he would have completely forgotten if not for Skiddo's reminder.
Skiddo went on to tell Angie that in addition to Dolliv, Floette also knew the move.
Angie hadn't really paid much attention to Floette before. Mainly, if he didn't need them for anything, he wouldn't use the Eye of Observation to check everyone's abilities. After all, he didn't need them for battles.
He had considered using it to check Komala and Metagross's stats, but unfortunately, it didn't work on them.
Just as Angie was about to say goodbye to the Gogoats and Skiddos, he remembered something. He turned back to them and asked, "If Dolliv and Floette are willing to teach you, would you want to learn Grassy Terrain?"
It was a great skill, after all!
The Gogoats and Skiddos exchanged glances. Finally, the Gogoat leader stepped forward and nodded at Angie, indicating that they were willing to learn.
Since they were idle anyway, if Angie wanted them to learn, they didn't mind. It could help pass the time.
Seeing this, Angie smiled happily.
"Good kids, I'll go talk to Dolliv and Floette about it right away."
Angie then found Dolliv and Floette. Using the Eye of Observation, he confirmed that one of the Dolliv and Floette did indeed know Grassy Terrain.
Angie explained his idea of using Grassy Terrain to help cultivate Plump Beans and also shared his plan to have them teach the move to the Gogoats and Skiddos.
Both Pokémon readily agreed.