Ange did not mind that Sobble had tasted the soup. He took the soup bowl and took a sip. His eyes instantly widened.
This Fish Soup... was too delicious!
The rich soup was both fresh and fragrant. The fish meat was delicate and tender, melting in his mouth. The two complemented each other; it was truly a delicacy.
The Snakehead Fish had almost no bones, so Ange did not have to worry about getting a bone stuck in his throat.
The soup in the bowl was milky white. The snow-white fish meat was soaking in it, with scattered bright green scallions floating on top. It looked very appetizing.
"Sobble, that's fantastic!" Ange praised sincerely and gave Sobble a thumbs-up.
Sobble immediately jumped and bounced happily on the counter when it heard this. After jumping, it immediately struck a cool pose and said,
"Sobb, Sobb~" I'm so handsome!
Munchlax had been drooling for a long time, constantly pulling Ange's clothes.
"Munch, Munch~" Master, let me try, quickly let me try.
Ange quickly and affectionately handed the soup bowl to it. It held the bowl eagerly, then devoutly sniffed it, as if praying to a Buddha.
"Munch~~" It smells so good.
A sparkle flashed at the corner of Munchlax's mouth. The moment it finished speaking, it held the soup bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
Smack, Smack~ Delicious!
After drinking, it looked at Ange longingly, wanting more. It seemed to be asking: Do you have any more?
Ange laughed, "Do you like fish?" When Ange cooked fish before, he noticed that Munchlax had a special fondness for fish. Its teeth were good; it even ate the bones.
"Munch~" I like it!
Munchlax nodded hard.
"When our fish farm is built, we can raise lots and lots of fish. Then, you can eat as much as you want," Ange said, pinching its chubby cheek.
"Munch~~"
Munchlax held the bowl and could not help but begin to fantasize. It wished for that day to come quickly! Getting happier the more it thought about it, it even spun around on its tiptoes.
"Oh, you... you are such a little glutton." Ange took the soup bowl from Munchlax and put it back on the stove. "All right, let's get ready and move the food out. Everyone must be starving."
Dinner was a bit late today because they were busy with the fish farm.
As basins of Mantou were carried out, the Pokémon finally got their long-awaited dinner. Along with the Mantou, bowls of steaming hot Fish Soup were distributed to the Pokémon.
Sure enough, everyone praised the delicious Fish Soup. This made Sobble overjoyed.
It put both hands behind its back and walked with a swagger to Patrat and Watchog. It asked, feigning seriousness, "Sobb, Sobb~" Is the Fish Soup delicious?
Patrat and Watchog nodded, not quite understanding.
Seeing this, Sobble's serious expression could not last three seconds. A look of pride gradually bloomed. "Sobb, Sobb~" It's delicious, right? I cooked it.
Having spent a long time with Sobble, everyone knew its habits well. Patrat and Watchog quickly gave it a thumbs-up.
Patrat: "Pat pat~" Amazing!
Watchog: "Hog hog~" That's right, that's right.
Sobble was satisfied with the answer and left. It continued to walk solemnly to Hippopotas and Hippowdon, but the upturned corners of its mouth could not be suppressed.
"Sobb, Sobb~" Is the Fish Soup delicious?
It asked again, pretending to be casual.
Hippopotas and Hippowdon looked at each other and immediately understood.
Hippopotas nodded. "Hipp Hipp~" Delicious, very delicious.
Hippowdon quickly agreed. "Hipp Hipp~" That's right, that's right.
Sobble immediately lifted its small head. "Sobb, Sobb~" You guys have good taste. I made the Fish Soup!
"Hipp Hipp~" Wow, so amazing! So amazing!
"Hipp Hipp~~" Too amazing! Too amazing!
Hippopotas and Hippowdon immediately started flattering it.
Sobble left satisfied once again.
Ange and Diancie stood on the steps at the door, watching Sobble swaggering through the group of Pokémon with a smug expression. They looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly at the same time.
This fellow was too conceited.
Meanwhile, Munchlax was already sitting on the steps, with a Mantou in its left hand and a bowl of Fish Soup in its right, eating heartily. The look of happiness on its face was truly adorable.
After dinner, the Pokémon rested on the plaza, either lying down or sprawled out. Seeing this scene, Ange thought that he must work hard to develop the Nebel Plateau so that all the Pokémon there would have work and no longer have to worry about food.
Thinking this, he was suddenly filled with motivation.
Recalling when he first arrived at the Nebel Plateau, he was thinking of living a retirement-like, leisure life. He did not expect to become increasingly busy now. He had to open the shop in the morning and then work with the Pokémon to develop the Nebel Plateau in the afternoon.
The days were busy and fulfilling.
Whether in his past life or when he first transmigrated as the Prince of the Azoth Kingdom, Ange never thought he would live this kind of life.
"The planting of the Pinap Berry seedlings and Mellon Berry seedlings is over. Tomorrow we will have a new Mission. I need to rely on all of you again!" Ange said to the Pokémon.
"Hula~" No problem!
"Coco~" We guarantee to complete the Mission!
"Houmi~" Let's go!
The Pokémon responded to Ange with great enthusiasm.
After resting for a while, it was really late. The Pokémon returned home one after another.
The next afternoon, Ange took the Pokémon to the easternmost part of Nebel Lake. This was the junction of Nebel Lake and the Nebel River. The banks were flat, fertile riverbanks covered with many trees.
However, these trees were ordinary trees that did not bear fruit and were inedible.
This was the only place on the Nebel Plateau where trees grew in large numbers.
Going further south would be outside the area of the Nebel Plateau.
Also, the magnificent waterfall was in this location.
The Pokémon's mission today was to cut down all these trees. Once the land was cleared, Ange would plant new fruit trees.
"Everyone, let's get to work." Ange instructed the Pokémon.
The Pokémon were already eager to start. Hearing Ange's command, they immediately raced into the woods and chose their targets.
"Vii~~"
Vivillon led its companions, flying and dancing through the woods. Their wings rapidly vibrated, generating streams of wind blades using Air Cutter they sliced the roots of the trees repeatedly. If one cut did not work, they tried a few more times. Soon, a large tree crashed down.
"Aron~"
Aron was much more violent. After a running start, it slammed into the large tree with Iron Head, and the tree instantly snapped in half.
Though its body was small, its strength was immense.
Patrat and Watchog had less strength. They lay on the roots and gnawed at them little by little, using Crunch.
"Bell~~"
Victreebel had great strength. It used Vine Whip to tie up the roots of a large tree, effortlessly pulling the tree out by the roots.
Weepinbell and Bellsprout did not have that much strength. They needed to cooperate to pull up a single tree.
"Bell bell, Bell bell, Bell bell, Bell bell~~"
Bellsprout chanted a rhythm. Weepinbell led them to pull together at the command.
Chesnaught and Quilladin were also strong. Like Victreebel, they could easily pull up a tree using Vine Whip.
Greninja prioritized a single word when cutting trees: cool!
It leaped quickly through the woods and branches. Raising its hand, it shot out streams of Water Shuriken, accurately hitting the root of every tree. The large trees immediately fell one after another.
In contrast, Delphox, as a Psychic-type Pokémon, focused on elegance and ease. It waved the wooden stick in its hand, and its psychic power acted on the large trees. In an instant, it could uproot several trees.
Elegance, truly elegant.
"Fleur~"
"Lop~"
"Bunnel~"
Such an elegant Delphox instantly drew the admiring gazes of Floette, Lopunny, and Bunnelby.
The three little Pokémon clenched their fists, indicating that they also wanted to be that elegant and powerful.
Floette was surrounded by green light. It shot out sharp leaves that sliced at the roots of the large tree.
It was Razor Leaf.
Although its Razor Leaf was swift, its power was too weak. It ultimately failed to cut down the large tree as elegantly as Delphox and only succeeded after a lot of effort.
"Lop lop~"
Lopunny used its excellent jumping ability to leap up, flying into the air, and then fiercely kicked the tree root.
Crack~~
The large tree snapped at the root in response. The small Lopunny was terrifyingly powerful.
Lopunny landed again, striking a cool, gymnastic pose, enjoying the admiring looks thrown its way.
Bunnelby won by surprise. It quickly loosened the soil around the base of the large tree, and the tree fell straight down by itself.
The large trees cut down by the Pokémon were transported back to the plateau by large Flying-type Pokémon like Talonflame, Staraptor, Altaria, and Honchkrow.
These were all good timber and would definitely be useful in the future. They could not be wasted.
The tree stumps left in the soil were dug out by Ground-type Pokémon like Drilbur, Hippopotas, and Hippowdon and piled up on the side.
These tree stumps were quite massive. Ange did not know what they could be used for immediately, so he just left them aside for now.
Seeing the Pokémon working in an orderly and enthusiastic manner, Ange felt relieved.
"Munchlax, we are going to the fish farm. Do you want to come?" Ange shouted to Munchlax from far away.
"Munch Munch Munch~~~" Look at my invincible Thunderbolt Bear Paw!
Munchlax was fiercely hitting a large tree, releasing its excess energy. Perhaps it had watched too many shows recently, as it had given many bizarre names to its Brick Break. The so-called Thunderbolt Bear Paw was actually just Brick Break.
Hearing Ange call it, it quickly looked back and waved to Ange.
"Munch, Munch~" I'm not going. I want to chop down trees!
It shouted loudly.
The bear does not want to protect the forest. The bear wants to be a lumberjack.
Fine, if you don't want to go, then don't go!
Ange said to Sobble, "The two of us will go!"
Sobble was perched on Ange's shoulder. It blinked at Ange and gave a thumbs-up. "Sobb~" No problem!
Diancie was also helping to cut down trees. It condensed a long Diamond Storm blade and swept it out, instantly felling a whole line of trees.
Knowing that Diancie did not like water, Ange did not call it.
As for Komala... don't even mention it. It had run off somewhere already. It probably went to meet its drinking buddy again.
Even now, Ange did not know the identity of Komala's mysterious drinking buddy. It seemed not to be a resident of Nebel Plateau but a Pokémon from the forest to the east.
It was hard on Komala to travel that far every few days to meet a friend over drinks.
When Ange brought Sobble to the fish farm, Politoed was already busy with the Water-type Pokémon. The Water-type Pokémon were all at the fish farm today and did not help with cutting down trees.
Seeing Ange arrive, they all surfaced to greet him.
Ange saw a net bag on the shore, which was full of fish caught by the Water-type Pokémon. Every fish was very large.
The fish swam back and forth in the net bag. Some even tried to break through the net bag and escape, but this net bag was bought by Ange from the System Store. It was very strong, and they could not break through it.
The fish farm needed to be cleared of not only wild fish but also larger wild shrimp and crabs, as well as aquatic plants.
Any fish that were a threat to the fish fry, shrimp fry, and crab fry but were too small to eat were released by the Water-type Pokémon outside the fish farm.
Ange navigated the Fishing Boat around the fish farm. The aquatic plants the Water-type Pokémon pulled up were placed on the Fishing Boat, and Ange navigated the Fishing Boat to take the aquatic plants to the shore.
Ange cleaning out the aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake did not mean there would be no plants in the lake bottom in the future. He planned to buy new aquatic plants from the System Store to plant in the lake.
The aquatic plants purchased from the System could serve as fish feed and also purify the water quality, which was much better than the wild aquatic plants.
Ange also planned to plant Asire Seaweed.
Asire Seaweed seedlings were also sold in the System Store. Furthermore, the Asire Seaweed provided by the System would not become too old to eat in late autumn and winter, unlike the wild varieties in Nebel Lake.
As long as the water temperature was suitable, they could constantly grow new shoots.
Asire Seaweed had great nutritional value for fish and Water-type Pokémon. Ange himself also liked to eat it. With Poliwag and its evolutionary line helping to cultivate it, he was not worried about them failing to grow.
Ange was laboriously transporting the aquatic plants when Sobble suddenly scrambled onto the boat, crying out.
"Sobb, Sobb~" Help, help! I got bitten!
It held up its finger and cried to Ange. Ange looked down and saw a creature entirely covered in a red shell clamped to its finger.
This... wasn't this a Crawfish?
Ange's eyes widened. So there were Crawfish in Nebel Lake!
Thinking of the various delicacies that could be made from Crawfish, Ange could not help with swallowing.
"Sobble, hold on. I'll get it off for you right now."
Ange knelt down and forcefully crushed the pincer of the Crawfish that was clamping Sobble's finger. Sobble was instantly freed.
"Sobb~" It hurts!
Sobble was about to cry a river of tears, so Ange immediately picked it up and put it in the lake. Its tears falling into the lake couldn't possibly affect anyone, right?
Sobble was stunned by Ange's sudden action and even forgot to cry.
"Hehe, Sobble, I was afraid of being smoked by your tears," Ange said, laughing.
Sobble: You heartless Master!