In the afternoon, the Pokémon gathered at Ange's doorstep. Then they set off together to cut down trees. Romeo asked confusedly, "Your Highness, what are they going to do?"
Ange replied, "They are going to cut trees."
"Cut trees?" Romeo looked puzzled.
"Yes. After cutting down the common trees, the cleared land will be used to plant Berry trees. Would you like to go and see?" Ange asked, smiling.
Romeo nodded.
Ange: "Then let's go."
Saying this, he carried Sobble and took Romeo and Slurpuff to the riverbank. As for Munchlax and Diancie, they had already set off earlier with the other Pokémon.
Halfway there, the two saw Gogoat grazing. When they learned that Ange and the others were heading to the riverbank, two of them walked over, offering to give them a ride.
Ange happily said, "Then I'll rely on you." He nimbly climbed onto Gogoat's back and patted its neck.
Romeo, however, tried to climb onto Gogoat's back for a long time but failed. Finally, Slurpuff gave him a boost.
He scratched his head awkwardly. "That was embarrassing."
Ange laughed, "You need to exercise more. A strong body is very important."
The two chatted as they headed toward the riverbank.
When they reached the shore of Nebel Lake, Romeo looked at the rows of Berry trees planted neatly along the way and asked curiously, "Your Highness, did you plant all these?"
Ange nodded. "The Pokémon on the Plateau helped me plant them."
Romeo said, "Your Highness, you really have a great relationship with the Pokémon. That's amazing!"
Ange: "Pokémon are very simple creatures. If you are good to them, they will certainly repay you doubly."
Romeo nodded silently.
Soon, the two arrived at the riverbank. Seeing the Pokémon working enthusiastically, even Romeo felt a burning passion inside.
"We have work to do today, too!" Ange said to Romeo.
Romeo asked, "What kind of work?"
Ange: "Making tables!"
Thus, under Romeo's confused gaze, Ange directed Staraptor and the others to carry the large tree stumps one by one to his doorstep. Then he and Romeo returned home as well.
After arriving home, Ange told Romeo about his idea of using the tree stumps to make tables and stools for the Pokémon. Romeo immediately volunteered to help.
So, the two, along with Sobble and Slurpuff, used tools to strip the bark from the tree stumps and cut off the excess roots.
This was not an easy job.
After the bark was removed, Sobble rinsed the dirty tree stumps with water. Then they were placed in the plaza to dry.
Tree stumps that had just been dug up could not be used directly to make tables and stools. They had to be dried first.
The two people and two Pokémon worked for a long time but did not finish. In the evening, the Royal Guard drove an aircraft to pick Romeo up and take him home.
Romeo reluctantly said goodbye to Ange.
After Romeo left, Ange went to the fish farm and found Politoed. He told it about his idea of arranging accommodation for the Water-type Pokémon.
Politoed fell into contemplation after hearing this. They, the Water-type Pokémon, naturally hoped for a place that could shelter them from the wind and rain. Especially Poliwag, Poliwhirl, and Poliwrath, who were amphibious Pokémon. Although they usually swam in the water, they did not live in the water like Magikarp or Goldeen. So, windy and rainy weather was sometimes a trouble for them.
But they were not used to living in Ange's employee dormitory, either. They liked to live near water.
Just then, Ange had a flash of inspiration. "How about... you live on the fifth floor of the Secret Fortress? The water inlet pipe on the fifth floor is in Nebel Lake. You can travel between Nebel Lake and the fifth floor of the Secret Fortress through the pipe, which is very convenient."
Hearing this, Politoed's eyes lit up.
That's right! Isn't that the perfect place for Water-type Pokémon to live?
"Poli poli, Poli poli~"
Politoed immediately agreed.
Ange then told it the location of the water inlet pipe in Nebel Lake on the fifth floor. So, Politoed led the Water-type Pokémon, who one by one drilled into the pipe entrance and surfed along with the water flow like on a slide.
The Water-type Pokémon had a lot of fun. They shouted and cheered in the pipe.
Soon, they reached the end of the pipe. The Pokémon and the water flow fell into the pool on the fifth floor.
Splash Splash Splash~~
The sounds of splashing continued, accompanied by the joyful shouts and laughter of the Pokémon. This scared the fish raised in the pool considerably, and they desperately swam toward the center of the pool.
Ange took the elevator to the fifth floor and saw the scene of the Pokémon continuously falling into the pool.
Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Azurill, Marill, Goldeen, Seaking, Magikarp, Feebas, and Totodile all came.
Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Marill, and Azurill quickly climbed onto the shore after landing in the water and sat neatly on the edge. Goldeen, Seaking, and Totodile happily chased the fish in the pool.
As for Magikarp and Feebas...
Forget it, he couldn't rely on them. It was enough that they proved they were alive; he couldn't ask for too much.
Finally, Politoed also slid into the fifth floor via the pipe.
When it came ashore, Ange walked to its side and asked, "How is it? Is this place alright for you to live?"
"Poli poli, Poli poli~"
Politoed clapped continuously, indicating that it and everyone else were very satisfied with the place.
Tomorrow, they could slide back through the pipe to Nebel Lake to go to work.
The water inlet pipes on the fifth-floor walls varied in height. Although the lower ones were not close to the ground, the Pokémon could jump onto them easily. Even the weak Feebas was no exception.
Then, everyone could surf back with the water flow.
Although swimming upstream would require some effort, it could serve as a kind of training.
Ange thought for a moment and bought some large and small floating logs from the System Store to put into the pool.
Sure enough, Poliwag and the others loved the floating logs. One by one, they jumped into the water with a splash, climbed onto the logs, and floated around.
Ange was inspired to put floating logs in the pool by the Lotus Leaves in Nebel Lake. The Poliwag also liked to lie on the Lotus Leaves to sunbathe.
Politoed gave Ange an admiring look for his ingenious idea.
Since Diancie was not there, Ange could not communicate smoothly with the Pokémon. So, he only stayed on the fifth floor for a little while before leaving.
After returning to the ground floor, Ange went to the pond behind the house and told Barboach and Whiscash that they could also move to the fifth floor of the Secret Fortress.
However, the two Pokémon refused.
Unlike the Poliwag group, Barboach and Whiscash were bottom-dwelling Pokémon who liked to burrow into the silt. Therefore, they felt the environment on the fifth floor of the Secret Fortress was worse than the pond. Here, there was silt for them to drill around in freely.
However, the two Wooper agreed to move over.
Wooper were also amphibious Pokémon.
They could use the channel between the pond and Nebel Lake to go to Nebel Lake, and then use the water inlet pipe to go to the fifth floor of the Secret Fortress.
The next afternoon, Ange was still processing the tree stumps, but he did not expect Romeo to show up today.
"Prince Ange, look what I brought you!"
Romeo excitedly got out of the aircraft. A Royal Guard brought him today, and a strange-looking... robot came down with him.
Ange looked at the robot and asked, "Romeo, this is..."
Romeo explained, "I made it to help you work! Yesterday, I thought our work efficiency was too low, so I went back and created this Robert 1!"
Ange suddenly remembered that Romeo was also a mysterious inventor. He could not make an artificial Pokémon like Magearna, but he could certainly manage a robot.
"Is this robot named Robert 1?" Ange asked, scrutinizing the dull, iron lump in front of him.
Robert 1's head was round, its body was also round, and it had no legs. Instead, it had two wheels equipped with two tracks.
However, its two arms were very long and could be freely extended and retracted.
"Yes, Robert 1," Romeo said excitedly.
"Are there Robert 2 and 3?" Ange asked.
"No," Romeo shook his head. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said, "I'm used to adding numbers after my inventions, so it's easier to distinguish versions after subsequent improvements."
"Alright," Ange nodded. He did not understand the ways of inventors.
Romeo: "Your Highness, let me show you how amazing Robert 1 is!"
Ange said full of anticipation, "Go ahead!"
Romeo immediately gave the command, "Robert 1, peel the bark off that tree stump over there, and cut off the excess tree roots!"
"Affirmative."
Robert 1's eyes flashed blue twice, and it made a mechanical sound. Then it quickly moved to the pile of tree stumps.
To Ange's surprise, its palms retracted into its wrists, and two strange tools emerged from its wrists.
With the sound of the machine working, Robert 1 started its job. The tool in its hand peeled the bark off at an extremely fast speed and swiftly cut off the excess roots. Its efficiency left Ange dumbfounded.
Ange could not help but exclaim, "Romeo, Robert 1 is too incredible!"
Romeo said, blushing, "It's just a simple work robot. It's not difficult to build."
Not difficult? Ange did not think so.
The tree stumps that Ange and Romeo struggled with yesterday were all processed by Robert 1 in just a few hours.
"Your Highness, let Robert 1 stay here to help. It can also do some simple housework. When I become better in the future, I will help you improve it," Romeo said.
Ange happily said, "Then I won't be shy about it. Romeo is already very impressive now." He praised him sincerely. "You will definitely become even more amazing in the future!"
Romeo was embarrassed by the praise.
Ange kept Romeo for dinner that evening. It was Romeo's first time seeing the scene of many Pokémon eating together at Ange's house.
He felt very shocked.
Was this the true meaning of harmonious coexistence between humans and Pokémon?
What Ange did not know was that the scene Romeo witnessed here planted a wonderful seed in his young mind.
Before it got dark, the Royal Guard drove the aircraft to pick Romeo up. Ange's home now had a new member.
Robert 1.
Munchlax and Sobble were very interested in this hard, iron lump. After dinner, they kept circling it, occasionally reaching out to touch it.
Robert 1 was not particularly intelligent. When Munchlax and Sobble touched it, it just stood there motionless.
About ten days passed in a flash. The tree stumps were mostly dry, so Ange planned to start making them into tables and stools.
In addition, the lumber had also been dried by Ange and stored in the warehouse. He could retrieve it anytime he needed it in the future.
This day, Ange returned from the Azoth Royal Capital and found the sky over the Nebel Plateau overcast. He could not help but frown. "Is it going to rain?"
Diancie walked beside him, also looking up at the sky. "It looks like it is."
"It will probably be difficult to work today," Ange muttered to himself.
He quickly retrieved some tarpaulin and, along with Diancie and Munchlax, covered the tree stumps. Otherwise, all those days of drying would be wasted.
Sure enough, around three or four in the afternoon, heavy rain suddenly poured down. Fortunately, there was no wind.
Raindrops smashed against the calm surface of Nebel Lake, creating splashes. A few Poliwhirl were still faithfully guarding the fish farm. Most of the other Water-type Pokémon returned to the Secret Fortress through the pipe.
The Pokémon who were cutting trees outside also ran back in a hurry, taking shelter from the rain under Ange's eaves.
In a short time, the area under Ange's eaves was filled with Pokémon. They chattered, discussing the sudden heavy rain.
Since they could not work due to the heavy rain, the Pokémon stayed under Ange's eaves and chatted. Seeing this, Ange and Sobble went back to the kitchen to boil a pot of fish soup. They intentionally added extra ginger to the soup.
Robert 1, under Ange's command, retrieved towels one by one, allowing the soaked Pokémon to dry themselves, especially Swablu and the two Altaria.
They looked quite miserable after getting wet.
Soon, Ange and Munchlax brought out the hot fish soup. After one bowl of fish soup, the Pokémon immediately felt warm all over.
Halfway through the fish soup, the Pokémon suddenly cried out in surprise. A blue and white light shone within the crowd of Pokémon.
It was Patrat. It was evolving.
Within the light, Patrat's body grew continuously. Its figure became more slender. Before long, it became about the same height as Watchog.
When the light dissipated, another Watchog appeared before everyone.
The newly evolved Watchog looked at its hands, then at its feet. Then it excitedly hugged the other Watchog. The two Watchog jumped and bounced, celebrating the evolution.
Everyone cheered and congratulated it.