Chapter 60: The First Snow of Azoth

The main area of this level was filled with water, centered around a massive pool. High on the walls, several large pipes, each more than two or three meters in diameter, were pouring water into the pool, creating a waterfall effect.

Andrew and Diancie walked along the path beside the pool and saw a massive black oval object floating in the air.

"What's that?" Andrew asked.

Diancie explained, "That's the power core of the entire flying fortress. With Magearna's Soul Heart as the key, this power core could turn the whole fortress into a formidable weapon."

"I see," Andrew said, understanding. "That's definitely dangerous."

"Eh~ where does this lead?" Andrew noticed a gigantic semicircular pipe ahead, much larger than the pipes on the walls.

The pipes on the walls were filling the pool with water, and this large pipe was responsible for draining the water to maintain the pool's activity.

Diancie explained, "The water here comes from Lake Nebel and needs to return to Lake Nebel eventually!"

"Let's go check it out."

Andrew stepped into the pipe.

Inside, the pipe contained a water channel, with two pathways on either side similar to the edge of the pool.

The water flow was slow, gently trickling forward, with a soft sound echoing through the pipe.

As they walked, Andrew said to Diancie, "Let's rename the flying fortress. Calling it that doesn't quite fit anymore."

"Sure!" Diancie agreed enthusiastically. "But what should we name it?"

They both thought deeply.

"How about calling it the Secret Fortress?" After a moment's thought, Diancie suggested.

"Great idea, let's use that name!" Andrew agreed.

"You're so easygoing about it?" Diancie said, amused.

"I think it's a good name. What's wrong with it?" Andrew asked.

"Nothing, I just suggested it offhand. Since you like it, let's go with it," Diancie said with a shrug.

The water channel was quite long, and it took Andrew and Diancie nearly half an hour to reach the end. As they approached the exit, Andrew heard the roar of crashing water from a distance.

The end of the channel was located at the point where Lake Nebel met the Nebel River, behind a massive waterfall.

The exit of the channel was hidden behind the waterfall, making it difficult to detect.

Standing at the outlet and looking at the cascading water curtain, with the thunderous roar of the water, Andrew felt like he was in a water curtain cave.

"Wow, this is spectacular!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Yes!" Diancie agreed.

The closer they got, the more Andrew appreciated the sheer grandeur of the waterfall. It was impressive that Magikarp could swim upstream; normal people would likely be crushed by the force of the water.

Brave Magikarp! Andrew admired them in his heart. Even though they were at the bottom of the Pokémon world, they still exhibited vibrant vitality.

After enjoying the view of the waterfall for a while, Andrew and Diancie returned to the ground.

Checking the time, Andrew said, "It's getting late. I need to head out or I won't have time to open the shop today."

Diancie wondered, "Strange, why hasn't Meowstic shown up yet?"

Just then, as if answering Diancie's question, Meowstic appeared outside the wall and waved at them.

It wasn't that Meowstic was late; rather, the changes to Andrew's place were so significant that Meowstic was too intimidated to come in and had been pacing outside. Fortunately, it had just spotted Andrew and Diancie; otherwise, it might have kept wandering.

"Meowstic, come in!" Andrew called out happily.

Meowstic entered through the gate and looked around curiously at the transformed environment.

"Meow~ Meow~"

Meowstic asked Diancie what had happened.

Diancie explained, "Nothing much, just made a little remodeling."

Meowstic: ...

Its reaction was the same as that of the Dugtrio brothers, Barboach, and Whiscash.

"Alright, let's get going. We're running out of time," Andrew said.

Upon hearing this, Meowstic stopped asking questions and hurried with Andrew and Komala to Azoth's Royal City.

Before leaving, Andrew told Diancie, "Diancie, please welcome everyone outside the fence today. Otherwise, people might be hesitant to enter, just like Meowstic."

"Got it. I'll take care of it. You go ahead," Diancie waved.

Andrew, Meowstic, and Komala went through the space portal and appeared on the third floor of Munchlax's House. Looking out the window, Andrew was surprised to see snow falling outside.

"It's snowing?"

He opened the balcony door and stepped outside. The entire Azoth Royal City was covered in a blanket of white. He opened the window and extended his hand outside; the large snowflakes quickly melted in his palm.

A sudden cold wind blew through the window, causing Komala to curl up tightly in Andrew's arms, and Andrew shivered as well.

He thought for a moment and bought two scarves from the system shop, wrapping one around Komala.

"Here, stay warm."

After wrapping the scarf around Komala, he crouched down and wrapped the other one around Meowstic. "Meowstic too."

Feeling the soft scarf, Meowstic looked up at Andrew with a smile and then buried half of its face in the scarf.

So warm! Meowstic thought, enjoying the warmth both physically and emotionally.

"Let's go back inside; it's too cold out here," Andrew said, closing the window.

Meowstic nodded and followed Andrew back downstairs.

Not long after, Sobble rushed into the kitchen, flustered.

"Sobble~~ Am I late?"

Andrew smiled and said, "A bit." He knelt down to straighten the Sobble's crooked chef's uniform and backwards chef hat.

"Sobble~~ Ble~ Being late isn't cool."

Sobble quickly began cooking porridge.

"Should I wake you up tomorrow morning?" Andrew asked as he worked.

"Sobble~ Sobb~ I'll wake up on my own. I won't be late tomorrow. It's not cool to be woken up."

Sobble shook its head decisively.

Andrew shook his head, amused. "You little narcissist."

"Sobble~"

Sobble grinned and gave Andrew a thumbs-up.

"Good morning, Meowstic."

Soon, customers began arriving at the shop. Even the heavy snowfall didn't dampen their enthusiasm for dining.

"Meow~" Good morning, sir.

Meowstic also greeted the customers warmly.

Customers brushed off the snow from their clothes while chatting with Meowstic.

"Oh, Meowstic, is that a new scarf you're wearing today? It looks great! It suits you perfectly!"

"Meowpa~" It's a gift from the boss.

Meowstic smiled, a bit embarrassed by the compliment.

Of course, the customers couldn't understand Meowstic's words. Seeing the customer covered in snow, Meowstic quickly stepped forward and used its psychic power to flick away the snow on the customer's body, making it vanish instantly.

"Thank you so much, Meowstic."

Once the customer was settled, Meowstic hurriedly brought him steaming porridge and buns.

Today at the Munchlax House, they were serving red date porridge and black rice porridge.

The customer took big bites of the buns and sipped the hot black rice porridge, instantly feeling warm and content.

"This feels wonderful," he said with a sigh of relief.

As time went on, more customers entered the shop. However, compared to usual, the heavy snow did impact the shop's business.

Observing Meowstic bustling between the kitchen and the dining area, Andrew asked, "Meowstic, are you managing alright?"

With Raleigh and Slurpuff not around, Andrew and Meowstic had a significantly increased workload.

"Meow~" I'm fine!

Meowstic shook its head and made a fist, showing it was handling it.

"Thanks for your hard work," Andrew said.

Meowstic shook its head and went back to work with renewed energy.

Just as Meowstic left the kitchen, Andrew noticed a small mushroom-headed Pokémon peeking through the door.

"Ralts? What are you doing here?" Andrew asked in surprise.

"Ralts~ Ralts~" Mom asked me to come help the boss.

Ralts replied.

Andrew couldn't help but chuckle, "Can you handle it? You've just been born!"

Ralts looked slightly offended and said, "Ralts~ Ralts~ I've watched Mom and Dad work, I can do it!" It then withdrew its head in a huff.

Instead of jumping right in to help Meowstic, Ralts climbed up to the counter where Komala was, observing Meowstic's work.

After getting a clear view of how Meowstic worked, Ralts finally went down to assist.

The appearance of the little Ralts surprised the customers.

"Wow, the little boss has hired a new employee!"

"It's Ralts, how adorable!"

"Ralts, can I give you a hug and lift you up?"

...

Unlike the initially awkward Meowstic with humans, Ralts was calm and collected in the shop full of customers, as no one had ever instilled any fear of humans in it.

With its eyes glowing blue, Ralts imitated Meowstic's actions to assist the customers. Surprisingly, it did a pretty good job.

After a few initial mistakes, Ralts quickly got the hang of things.

The customers were very accommodating towards little Ralts, not minding its early mistakes and constantly offering encouragement.

"Good job, Ralts!"

"Thanks for the big help, Ralts."

"You're doing great, Ralts."

"Ralts, can I give you a hug?"

...

Before long, Ralts had mingled with the shop's customers and the room was filled with laughter and cheer.

Hearing the commotion, Andrew emerged from the kitchen, peeking into the dining area to see Ralts interacting and laughing with the customers.

Andrew: …

So this is what they mean by social butterfly?

Shaking his head with a smile, Andrew went back to the kitchen to continue his work.

With Ralts joining, Meowstic's workload was indeed lighter.

At 10:00 a.m., as usual, Andrew closed the shop. After the customers left, he put on warm clothes, carried Komala, and took Ralts and Meowstic to the shop's entrance.

He wanted to enjoy the snow scene.

Since arriving in the Pokémon world, it was his first encounter with snow. Five hundred years ago, despite snowing in the royal city, he never had the chance to experience it due to his poor health.

Andrew dressed Ralts and Meowstic in little jackets, and Ralts also wore a small scarf, looking very cozy.

Watching the ongoing heavy snow and the people walking by, Andrew felt a sense of tranquility.

Azoth Royal City had few vehicles, and the absence of honking made the snow-covered city exceptionally peaceful.

He held an umbrella, walking with his three Pokémon through the streets of Azoth Royal City, all the way to the city gates, where he could see the site of the old city walls.

Having removed the old city walls, no one in Azoth Royal City noticed anything out of place, especially under the snow-covered surroundings.

At this moment, Kimia called. Her surprised voice came through the phone, "Your Highness, did you really move the flying fortress?"

"Yes!" Andrew replied, "We had already discussed it, right?"

"That's true," Kimia said, "But I'm still surprised that you moved such a massive object so silently overnight."

Andrew chuckled and replied, "Don't worry, I'm keeping watch over the flying fortress, and no one can interfere with it."

If anything happened, he could always store the flying fortress in the system's backpack.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Your Highness," Kimia said.

"By the way, how is Raleigh?" Andrew suddenly asked.

Kimia smiled, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Although Alva's situation has made him quite upset, I believe he will recover soon."

"That's good to hear," Andrew said, "Try to spend some time with him too, even if it's just sharing a meal every day."

Kimia was silent for a moment before replying, "Understood, Your Highness. Thank you for your consideration."

After a brief conversation, Andrew ended the call and returned home.

Back at Nebel Plateau, Andrew saw many Pokémon gathered on the thick wall in front of his house.

Fletchinder, Swablu, and Spritzee were hopping around on it.

Pancham and Skitty were cuddling and rolling about on the fence.

Stunky and Helioptile were chasing each other.

Staraptor and Swablu's mother sat on the wall, watching the playful scene with warm smiles.

...

Everyone was having a great time.

In contrast to the cold Azoth Royal City, Nebel Plateau remained pleasantly warm, though slightly cooler due to the winter outside.

Seeing this, Ralts and Sobble immediately ran over, climbing up the wall along Bellsprout's tendrils, and soon joined in the fun.

"Master, you're back!"

Munchlax saw Andrew, jumped down from the wall, and leaped into Andrew's arms.

"Munchlax~~!" Wow, so many changes at home!

(The End of This Chapter)