Chapitre 23: Oh No, I Don't Have A Single Cent
The Azoth Kingdom is a special country renowned for its arcane science. Five hundred years ago, the enigmatic scientist Nikola took this characteristic of the kingdom to new heights. He invented numerous masterpieces, making the Azoth Kingdom a coveted destination for all scientists worldwide, and the kingdom has always been proud of this.
Nikola was also the teacher of Angie's twin sister, Anna. Had it not been for Angie's frail health back then, Nikola would have been his teacher as well.
On the year of Angie's coming of age, he heard that Nikola had used arcane science to create an artificial Pokémon for his sister Anna—Magearna.
Unfortunately, not long after that, Angie "passed away," so he never got to see that marvelous artificial Pokémon.
Because the Azoth Kingdom has long been famous as a "Super Mechanical City," Azoth City is naturally bustling with prosperity. It is not only an important academic location but also a well-known tourist spot.
After Angie and Diancie entered the city through the towering city gates, they were greeted by towering gears and floating elevators everywhere, truly living up to the name of Mechanical City.
The entire Azoth City resembles a massive machine operating at high speed; the people living here hardly need to walk, as there are mechanisms for them to use at every turn.
It had been a long time since Angie had seen so many people. As he watched the bustling crowd in the street, he suddenly felt a bit bewildered.
"Angie~ Angie~" Seeing Angie standing there in a daze, Diancie gently tugged at his shirt.
"Ah?" Angie snapped back to reality. "What's wrong?"
"Where are we going now?" Diancie asked softly.
Compared to five hundred years ago, Azoth City had indeed changed dramatically. Although the shadows of the past remained, everything was distinctly different.
"I don't know either." At that moment, Angie felt completely lost.
"Why don't we just wander around for a bit?" Diancie suggested.
Angie nodded, "Sure."
With that, the two of them, one human and one Pokémon, set off. They first took an elevator to a bridge, and after crossing the bridge, they boarded a cable car.
Through the cable car's glass, Angie and Diancie could clearly see the cityscape below. The landscape of this city was somewhat different from an ordinary modern city.
Many of the mechanical facilities left behind by Nikola five hundred years ago had been preserved here, giving it a certain retro feel. However, these mechanical facilities were built after Angie had "passed away," so everything felt unfamiliar to him.
At the same time, the city also had a plethora of very modern shops, including cafés, restaurants, clothing stores, and more. The stylishly dressed people, dressed in ways that were completely different from five hundred years ago, gave Angie a strong sense of temporal dislocation.
After getting off the cable car, Angie and Diancie arrived at a bustling commercial street, which was likely one of the liveliest and most prosperous areas of Azoth City. Everywhere they looked, people were strolling with their Pokémon, chatting and laughing, fully enjoying the charm of the city.
As they walked, Angie suddenly realized a serious problem: the system task required him to procure ingredients in the Azoth Kingdom, but he didn't have a single cent!
"Diancie, it seems we don't have any money to buy anything," Angie said, staring blankly at Diancie.
"Why don't I transform a diamond for you to sell?" Diancie joked.
Angie shrugged, "If you can make your diamond last without disappearing, that would actually be a good idea." Pink diamonds are indeed quite rare.
Diancie: ...
"What should we do?" Diancie asked.
"Why don't we ask around for a nearby vegetable market or supermarket?" Angie suggested, treating it as reconnaissance.
Diancie's knowledge was still stuck five hundred years in the past and didn't know what a supermarket was, but she went along with whatever Angie said and didn't ask further.
After some inquiries, Angie and Diancie found a well-reviewed large supermarket that sold everything, including various ingredients.
Once inside the supermarket, one human and one Pokémon were like country bumpkins entering the city, finding everything fresh and exciting.
Although Angie was a time traveler and had been to supermarkets in his previous life, many items sold in the Pokémon world's supermarket simply didn't exist in his past life, making it an eye-opening experience for him.
After wandering for half the day, Angie and Diancie could only leave the supermarket empty-handed, staring in disbelief.
Standing at the entrance of the supermarket, Angie let out a deep sigh. "It seems the top priority is to earn some money first."
Why couldn't the happiness points from the system be exchanged for Pokédollar? Angie was troubled.
"How do we earn money?" Diancie asked, confused.
"Why don't we set up a stall to sell steamed buns?" Angie suddenly came up with an idea.
Diancie's eyes brightened at his suggestion. "Right! Angie cooks so deliciously that there must be people willing to visit our stall!"
That was the only way Angie could think of to make money. "Alright, let's try setting up a breakfast stall."
At that moment, Diancie suddenly froze, then whispered to Angie, "Angie, a system task has arrived!"
"Huh? At this time?" Angie was surprised.
Diancie gently nodded.
"What's the task?" Angie asked.
Diancie took Angie to a corner where there was no one around and then displayed the task acceptance pop-up for him.
[ (Temporary Task) Set up a stall in Azoth City to earn your first bucket of gold. Would you like to accept? ]
[ Yes ]
[ No ]
Since the decision was already made, of course he chose "Yes."
Soon, a new task appeared in Angie's task list.
[ (Temporary Task) Set up a stall in Azoth City to earn your first bucket of gold—In progress. ]
After accepting the new task, Angie and his Pokémon decided to scout around to see where would be a suitable place to set up their stall.
As time passed, it quickly became sunset. After some exploration, they chose a park as their stall location for tomorrow, as it was said that many people came here every morning to exercise, so there would surely be plenty of customers looking to buy breakfast.
In the end, Angie and Diancie paid a visit to the royal palace.
Standing outside the palace gates and looking at the serious-faced guards not far away, Angie suddenly felt a bit dazed.
Compared to five hundred years ago, the palace hadn't changed much, but the people inside were no longer the same as they were five hundred years ago.
Angie's parents and younger sister had all passed away.
While Angie was lost in thought, he suddenly felt his hand being held.
It was Diancie.
Diancie's hand was small, only able to hold four of Angie's fingers, but it felt warm.
Seeing Angie looking over, Diancie broke into a sweet smile, causing a warm current to flow through Angie's heart.
"Let's go home," Angie said with a smile.
This place was no longer his home; he now had his own home.
"Mm." Diancie nodded heavily.
As one human and one Pokémon turned to leave, the large iron gates of the palace suddenly swung open, and a girl with black hair, wearing a uniform and black-framed glasses, walked out.
"Miss Flamel, off duty?"
Seeing the girl, the guards greeted her warmly.
"Yes, thank you for your hard work," Flamel replied kindly to the guards.
"Not hard at all, not hard at all," the guards waved their hands in response.
Flamel looked at Angie's departing figure and curiously asked the guards, "Who is that gentleman? Is he here for something?"
The guards shook their heads. "I don't know him; he's probably a tourist, maybe here to see the palace."
Flamel nodded, but her gaze remained puzzled. That person's hair… was exactly like that of royal family members.
Though there were many people with blonde hair, there were differences among them. The royal family members of the Azoth Kingdom had very pure golden hair that sparkled in the sunlight.
Could there still be members of the royal family living outside? Wait, could he possibly be the king's illegitimate child? Flamel thought whimsically.
No, no, no! Flamel quickly shook off her unrealistic conjecture. There were only three members left in the royal family: King Azoth, Princess Kimia, and Prince Raleigh. If the king really had an illegitimate child, he would have probably brought him into the palace long ago.
With the royal family dwindled to this extent, how could they care about whether someone was an illegitimate child or not?
It was probably just a coincidence.
Thinking this, Flamel turned around and walked home.
"Miss Flamel, see you tomorrow," the guards bid her farewell.
"See you tomorrow."
Meanwhile, after sending Diancie back home, Angie returned to the banks of the Nebel River.
"Lapras!" Angie shouted at the surface of the lake.
"Splash~~"
With a splash, Lapras's sleek head emerged from the water, letting out a gentle cry as it swam toward the shore.
"Are you hungry?" Angie asked as he patted Lapras's neck.
"Woo~~"
Lapras nodded obediently.
"Good job," Angie said as he took out a few steamed buns, feeding them to Lapras one by one. Only after Lapras was full did he jump onto its back.
"Let's go home."
"Woo~~~"
Lapras accelerated, swimming swiftly towards the Nebel Plateau.
Because the return journey was upstream, Angie didn't arrive home until it was dark. Munchlax had already prepared dinner and was waiting for him with Diancie and Komala.
During dinner, the family of four gathered around a table when Angie suddenly sniffed the air. "Why do I smell alcohol?"
Diancie silently pointed at Komala.
Angie leaned closer to Komala and sniffed. Sure enough, he caught a strong scent of alcohol, which also had a fragrant aroma.
"Komala, you have this hobby too? Did you just buy alcohol with your first paycheck?" Angie exclaimed in surprise.
Although the system shop didn't sell food, it did sell alcohol.
Komala ignored Angie's question and continued to stuff its face with dinner.
Angie didn't say much more. After all, it was a grown Pokémon, and a little drinking wasn't a big deal. Who didn't have some little hobbies?
After dinner, Angie started preparing the materials needed for tomorrow's stall with Munchlax. He even used his happiness points to buy a mobile food cart from the system shop, which nearly wiped out all his happiness points.
[ Happiness Points: 505 ]
Looking at the remaining number in the happiness points balance, Angie felt like crying; he worked hard to earn them, but they were spent so quickly.
Oh well, there's no point in just earning them without using them.
Once everything was nearly ready, Angie trained with Munchlax in the culinary training room for an hour, completing his daily tasks before washing up and going to bed.
Before sleeping, Angie casually claimed two rewards for the daily tasks.
[ Congratulations, Host! You have received a reward: 1 bag of high-quality salt. ]
[ Congratulations, Host! You have received a reward: Individual Value +2. ]
???
Seeing the second reward, Angie suddenly sat up straight. Did he just get a golden items? It turned out that Diancie was right; daily task rewards really could yield good things!
Without a moment's hesitation, Angie allocated the 2 individual values to Munchlax, putting them all into Attack.
...
[ Munchlax ]
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Gender: Male
Level: 23
Move: Tackle, Lick, Defense Curl, Recycle, Covet, Bite, Stockpile, Swallow, Body Slam, Charm, Seed Bomb, Brick Break, Double-Edge.
[ Individual Values (IVs) ]
HP: 29
Attack: 19
Defense: 20
Special Attack: 6
Special Defense: 10
Speed: 31
...
During this time, Munchlax had leveled up several times, a result of both his daily training in the training room and the delicious food that Angie prepared for him.
As for Angie himself, there wasn't any noticeable change in his physique. According to Diancie, Angie's growth in physical points was much slower than Munchlax's leveling up, so there was no need to rush.
At this moment, Munchlax had already fallen asleep, completely unaware that he had become stronger again.
The next day, Angie woke up earlier than ever before; it was still not fully light outside, and he had to pull Munchlax out of bed.
"Munchlax, you're in charge of the shop today, alright?"
"Munch~~"
I Got it.
Munchlax looked half-asleep, yawning as he responded to Angie.
"Diancie, please keep an eye on him," Angie said helplessly as he turned to Diancie.
"Don't worry," Diancie replied. "With me here, it'll be fine."
Angie nodded; he was completely at ease with Diancie.
"Chirp~ Chirp~~"
Just then, the call of Swablu's Dad echoed outside. It was this bird that would take Angie to Azoth City today.
"Well, I'm off now," Angie said as he cradled Komala in his arms. Komala would accompany Angie to Azoth City to set up the stall.
"Go early and come back early; be safe," Diancie advised Angie.
"I know."
Angie quickly jogged outside and skillfully climbed onto Swablu's Dad's back, patting its neck and saying, "I'm counting on you today!"
"Chirp~~"
Swablu's Dad nodded, giving a gentle coo before flapping its wings and soaring into the sky, flying toward Azoth City against the rising sun.
Feeling the cool morning breeze brush against his cheeks, Angie sighed, "Survival isn't easy!" He glanced at Komala, who was sleeping soundly in his arms, and added, "You're the lucky one!"
As he passed by a waterfall on the way, Angie noticed that even now, there were still Magikarp climbing the waterfall.
Seeing how hard the Magikarp were working motivated Angie; he suddenly felt a surge of determination.
Walking on solid ground was indeed much faster than traveling by water, and it wasn't long before Angie arrived outside the city gate.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone