"Murdock, how about you help us eat these?" Orla suggested.
Murdock shouted in protest, "That is way too rude! I worked so hard to make these desserts, and you won't even try them? Do you dislike me now? Fine, you can all cook for yourselves from now on!"
Mollie replied helplessly, "Who told you to keep it a secret earlier? We didn't even know you made dessert. The food at Ange's house was so delicious that we didn't leave any room in our stomachs."
"Yeah, exactly!" Orla and the others nodded in agreement. "It's not like we did it on purpose!"
Murdock sighed upon hearing this. "Actually, to tell the truth, I can't eat another bite myself."
At that moment, Friede looked at Jeremy and asked, "How about... Mr. Jeremy, could you help us finish them?"
Jeremy, who was currently tasting a donut, was taken after. "I can't eat anymore either!"
Pika pika~
Captain Pikachu flopped onto the table, rubbing its belly to show it was also stuffed.
Paw paw~
Just then, Pawmi climbed onto the table with a round, bulging belly, huffing and puffing. It looked at everyone with big, watery eyes, seemingly asking:
Isn't anyone going to eat the dessert?
Mollie's eyes lit up at the sight. "Pawmi, do you want to eat these desserts?"
Pawmi believed its attempt at acting cute had succeeded, so it nodded happily.
Mollie quickly pushed her dessert in front of Pawmi. "Here, you can have mine."
Paw paw~
Pawmi picked up the dessert, its face blooming with joy.
Seeing this, Friede and the others hurriedly pushed their desserts toward Pawmi as well.
"You can have mine."
"Mine too."
"And mine."
In a short while, a pile of desserts was stacked in front of Pawmi. It hopped and skipped with excitement before jumping off the table under the surprised gazes of Friede and the rest.
"Where is it going?" Friede asked Jeremy.
Jeremy shook his head. How should I know?
However, Pawmi returned shortly afterward, carrying a box in its arms. Since it was difficult to climb back onto the table while holding the box, Mollie gave it a hand.
The group then watched as Pawmi placed the desserts into the box one by one.
In reality, it was storing them in the System's sub-backpack that Ange had shared with it.
Even Pawmi couldn't eat anymore right now, but it could save them in the backpack to eat slowly later. Furthermore, the items in the backpack would never spoil.
Murdock's desserts were indeed delicious, and Pawmi liked them very much.
After finishing the post-meal treats, everyone began to leave one by one. Jeremy also departed, piloting his aircraft back to the Royal Capital as it was getting late.
Meanwhile, Ange's family sat by the entrance with the members of the Rising Volt Tacklers and their Pokémon. They chatted while admiring the night sky of the Nebel Plateau.
Friede asked Ange about the matter of him living for five hundred years. The members of the Rising Volt Tacklers only just learned about this, and they were all incredibly shocked.
"Ange, you are a prince from the Azoth Kingdom from five hundred years ago?" Orla's jaw dropped.
Ange nodded. "Yes, did I not tell everyone?"
Everyone shook their heads in unison.
You didn't mention it at all, hey!
Ange explained with a smile, "I was physically weak since I was a child. The royal doctors couldn't cure me no matter what they tried, and they even said I wouldn't live to see adulthood. Eliphas used some unknown method to make me fall into a deep sleep for five hundred years.
When I woke up five hundred years later, my body had recovered its health. Diancie is actually my Carbink, which successfully mutated after staying by my side during that five-hundred-year slumber."
Ange continued to use Eliphas as a convenient explanation to mislead everyone.
Everyone found the story fascinating, as if they were listening to a myth.
"As expected of the great scientist Eliphas."
Despite their surprise, everyone believed Ange's explanation.
Afterward, Ange chatted with Friede and the others about the many stories they had encountered during their adventures.
"By the way, Murdock, my Magearna is very interested in making desserts. I wonder if it could ask you for some guidance?" Ange asked Murdock.
Murdock replied readily, "Of course! It would be my honor to exchange ideas with a legendary Mythical Pokémon! Didn't we exchange contact information? Magearna can ask me for advice anytime!"
Magea magea~
At that moment, Magearna took out a phone and walked over to Murdock with a look of joy.
Seeing this, Murdock asked, "Magearna, do you want to exchange contact info with me too?"
Magea magea~
Magearna nodded repeatedly.
"No problem at all," Murdock said as he took out his phone and exchanged contacts with Magearna. He said with a look of pride, "I suspect I might be the first person to ever have a Mythical Pokémon's contact information!"
The group burst into laughter upon hearing this.
As they continued talking about the sightings from the exploration team, Ange suddenly thought of his missions. He had a sudden inspiration and asked, "By the way, have you ever heard of Wangwang Grain, Nuonuo Mushrooms, or Jianjian Ore?"
Friede answered, "I've heard of them. Ange, do you need those?"
Ange nodded. "Yes."
Friede fell into thought. "Those aren't exactly easy to obtain!"
Ange suggested, "Didn't you say before that you sometimes take on missions to earn exploration funds? Why not take a commission from me?"
Friede asked, "To look for Wangwang Grain, Nuonuo Mushrooms, and Jianjian Ore?"
Ange nodded. "Exactly. I need Wangwang Grain seeds, Nuonuo Mushroom spores, a certain amount of Jianjian Ore, and I also need a female Combee. If you encounter them during your adventures, please help me collect and catch them."
"This..."
Friede and the others looked at each other, unsure if they should accept the commission, as the difficulty was quite high.
Ange continued, "I don't require you to go looking for them specifically. As long as you come across them during your journey, just bring them to me. Also..."
At this point, Ange paused and looked at them with a smile. "I will give you 100,000p for each of the first three items, and for a female Combee... I'll pay 300,000p."
A female Combee was a precious production-type Pokémon; 300,000p was well worth it!
Hearing this price, the group's hearts skipped a beat.
That much?
Orla suddenly stood up and declared, "I accept this commission on behalf of the Rising Volt Tacklers!"
Friede blinked. "Orla?"
"What? You have an objection?" Orla glared at Friede. "Where else can we find a commission with such a generous reward?"
Friede hesitated. "But..."
"But what? Do you know how much material I have to consume every time I repair the Brave Asagi? You give me so little money each time and still make difficult demands. Have you ever considered my feelings?" Orla complained loudly.
This time was the same; she had tried her best to save on expenses within the budget, but it was still a large sum of money.
You want me to spend less while also guaranteeing performance. If we weren't childhood friends, I would have quit long ago! Orla thought to herelf.
"Furthermore, you mess around every time and cause the ship to get damaged. I'm always the one cleaning up after you..."
Orla became more excited as she spoke.
"Fine, fine, fine!" Friede said guiltily. "I'll take it. We'll take it, okay?"
"Hmph~ that's more like it." Orla sat back down with a stern face.
Ange said with a smile, "Then I'll leave these matters to all of you!"
They chatted for a while longer until it became late, and the group dispersed.
The members of the Rising Volt Tacklers returned to the airship with their Pokémon, while Ange took his Pokémon to the Cooking Training Room.
After returning to the airship, Friede stood by the railing and flipped through the photos he took today, later staring blankly at the night sky of the Nebel Plateau.
The sky over the plateau was very clear, with countless stars dotting the Milky Way, looking beautiful and grand.
Just then, Orla came out carrying a cup of hot tea and leaned against the railing next to Friede. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.
"I was wondering if today's experience was real," Friede replied. "It feels a bit like a dream."
"Now that you mention it, it really does," Orla laughed. "An exploration team's ship has an accident and is forced to land on a mysterious plateau. Then a prince who has lived for five hundred years appears and treats the team with warm hospitality.
The team members see scenery on the plateau that looks like a paradise, eat food they've never tasted before, and even see Pokémon that only exist in legends...
It truly feels like we accidentally wandered into a dream."
Friede was amused by Orla's description.
Murk murk~
Suddenly, black shadows streaked across the sky, accompanied by several harsh cries.
The two looked up and saw something flickering in the night sky as it flew over the airship.
"What is that?" Orla asked in confusion. "Could it be some kind of ghost?"
Friede said speechlessly, "What are you imagining? Those cries just now... they should be Murkrow!"
Sure enough, as his words fell, a large Honchkrow led a group of Murkrow to land on the ship's railing.
They were right next to the two of them.
Friede remarked, "See, told you!"
"Yo, hello there!" Friede greeted the Honchkrow and Murkrow. He remembered seeing them during dinner.
However, the Honchkrow and Murkrow ignored Friede completely.
Then Orla asked, "What is that hanging around their necks? It seems to be glowing and is quite pretty."
Upon hearing this, the Honchkrow and Murkrow immediately puffed out their chests with pride. The Honchkrow even gave Orla an appreciative glance.
Little girl, you have quite good taste!
The items hanging around their necks were the glowing pendants they had bought from Delphox. They loved them so much that they would put them on as soon as night fell.
With the glowing pendants, they were the coolest ones on the Nebel Plateau at night. Even the stars in the sky couldn't compare!
Back with Ange, after leaving the training room, Diancie suddenly told him that the system had added new missions.
Ange was startled. "What missions? At this time?"
Diancie said, "Actually, they arrived during dinner. You were busy then, so I didn't say anything."
After asking Diancie to accept them for him, Ange opened the system interface. Two missions appeared immediately.
[Temporary Mission 1] Help Magearna refine its dessert making to reach the level of a pastry chef — Pending.
[Temporary Mission 2] Help Magearna open a dessert shop — Pending.
They are both about Magearna, and both related to desserts. The system really knows how to issue missions.
These two seemed to be progressive missions: first, Magearna's dessert training had to be qualified, and only then could the shop be opened.
It was another mission that wouldn't be finished in a short time. After closing the system, Ange and his Pokémon went to their rooms to sleep.
The next day, Friede and the others woke up to the chirping of Fletchling.
When everyone finished washing up and came to the living room, they found that Murdock didn't seem to have made breakfast today.
"Murdock, where is our breakfast?" Orla asked.
"I didn't make it!" Murdock replied with a natural expression.
"Are we supposed to go hungry this morning?" Mollie said, clutching her growling stomach. "Oh~~ I'm going to get low blood sugar!"
"Hahaha~~" Murdock laughed loudly. "Actually, Ange invited us to his place for breakfast. Haven't you noticed your Pokémon aren't around? They already went ahead."
Orla grumbled, "Honestly, you should have said so earlier. I thought we were going to starve this morning!"
Friede said, "It's just that we're troubling Ange a bit too much."
Murdock said with a smile, "I tried to refuse, but Ange was very insistent. He said they already have to cook for a large family, so a few more of us doesn't make a difference."
The group then headed over to Ange's house together.
When they arrived, they found that their Pokémon had already finished breakfast and were playing with the Pokémon of the Nebel Plateau.
Diancie walked out of the house and said with a smile, "You're here! Come on in!"
Friede walked into the shop and looked around. Not seeing Ange, he asked in confusion, "Where is Ange?"
As she served them breakfast, Diancie explained, "Ange has to go to his shop in the Royal Capital this morning. He'll be back at noon."
Friede was surprised. "Isn't Ange part of the Azoth royalty? He still has to work?"
Diancie said, "If he were alone, of course he wouldn't need to work. But he has a big family to support."
Friede realized, "That makes sense."
Ange was truly a person who constantly surprised him. Clearly, he could live a carefree life just by being royalty, yet he chose to work for the sake of his Pokémon.
He was truly... an eccentric person.
But then again, wasn't he the same? He was a Pokémon Professor, yet he formed an exploration team that had to travel and work hard all over the world just to explore the unknown.
This... was likely what people called a "pursuit."
Murdock looked at the novel food placed before him and asked curiously, "What are all these?"
Diancie introduced them one by one to the members of the Rising Volt Tacklers.
"This is Mantou, this is a bun, this is a salted duck egg, and these are side dishes... You eat it like this... then like this..."
As Diancie introduced the items, she also showed them how to eat. The group was once again impressed.
"Another set of foods I've never eaten before," Murdock said excitedly.
Diancie winked and said playfully, "As long as you teach Magearna how to make desserts, Magearna and Ange will also tell you how to make these foods."
"Really?" Murdock said in surprise.
Diancie replied, "Of course. Why would I lie to you?"
Murdock immediately patted his chest and said, "Leave Magearna's matter to me!"
Hearing this, Diancie turned back and gave an "OK" sign to Magearna, who was peeking from the kitchen. Magearna smiled sweetly at Diancie.
After Ange returned at noon, he invited everyone from the Rising Volt Tacklers to have lunch at his home again.
After lunch, Friede bid farewell to Ange.