Chapter 7: Discovered!

Running up to Diancie, Andrew suddenly lifted a nearby table with ease and asked, showing off:

"Diancie, have you noticed anything different about me?"

Diancie tilted its head in confusion and asked, "Different? What's changed?"

Andrew, still carrying the table, took a few more steps and said, "Guess, take another guess!"

Diancie burst out laughing and nudged Andrew to put the table back in place. "Alright, I get it now. You've gotten stronger, right?"

"You figured it out already? Really? Then why tease me?" Andrew grumbled.

It turns out that Andrew's task reward was a +1 to his physical constitution.

When the system notified him that the task was complete, Andrew immediately chose to claim the reward. Then, a new notification popped up in the task bar:

Congratulations, your physical constitution has increased by 1.

Shortly after this notification disappeared, another one appeared:

Congratulations on achieving the goal of hosting 10 guests, you've earned an achievement reward: Intelligence +1.

Andrew's personal information screen now looked like this:

**Andrew**

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 16 (+500)

Physical Constitution: 2

Intelligence: 2

Culinary Rating: Rookie Chef

Andrew didn't notice any change in his intelligence; he didn't feel smarter. However, the increase in his physical constitution was very noticeable.

For the first sixteen years, Andrew had been quite weak. Even though he was now healthy thanks to sharing life with Diancie and could run and jump, he still felt weaker compared to most people.

But with the added point in physical constitution, he could feel a huge difference. He could now easily move tables, something he couldn't do before.

The tables and chairs in Andrew's shop, while they might look ordinary, were actually quite heavy. This was because the shop's main customers were Pokémon, who were generally stronger than humans. If the furniture was too light, they could easily knock it over.

Seeing Andrew so happy, Diancie couldn't help but smile brightly.

With Andrew's health improving, Diancie was naturally delighted.

"If I complete a few more tasks, will I become a superhero?" Andrew wondered.

Diancie quickly dashed his hopes, "Do you think physical and intelligence points are that easy to come by? Right now, it's the beginner phase, so tasks offer physical points. Once that phase ends, you probably won't see such rare rewards in ordinary tasks."

"Really?" Andrew asked, looking disappointed. "That's a shame!"

Diancie shook its head in resignation.

With the task complete, Diancie didn't go out to attract customers. Instead, they both relaxed at home, and the day passed in a laid-back manner.

"Yay~ Yay~"

The next morning, Andrew woke up to the cheerful chirping of a Fletchling. The warm sunlight streaming through the window made him feel cozy, and he had no desire to get out of bed.

"This is the best!"

He kicked off part of the blanket, stretched out, and enjoyed a good stretch. These relaxed days were truly wonderful.

Click~

At that moment, the sound of the door lock turning was heard, and Diancie's head popped in, asking, "The sun's already up, and you're still not awake?"

Reluctantly, Andrew turned over, pulled the blanket back around himself, and grumbled, "Are you my mom? There's nothing urgent, so why the rush to get me up?"

"Hmph!" Diancie pouted, "You wish! I'm not your mom! There's a new task available. Do you want to accept it?"

Andrew's sleepiness vanished instantly. He sat up in bed and asked, "A new task already?"

"Yep, it's quick. Besides, there's no penalty for failing," Diancie said.

"Then let's do it! Hurry up!" Andrew waved for Diancie to come closer and sat on the edge of the bed.

Diancie entered Andrew's room, and a popup appeared in front of it, showing:

**[Task]** Host 50 Pokémon, deadline 10 days. Do you want to accept?

Yes

No

So it turned out to be an advanced task from the previous one! Andrew realized with a start.

Without hesitation, he chose "Yes," and a new line appeared on his task bar:

Host 50 Pokémon, deadline 10 days. (0/50)

The previous task was no longer visible on the task bar since it was completed.

After accepting the task, Andrew got out of bed, put on his slippers, stretched his arms, and sighed, "Here we go again!"

After freshening up, Andrew headed downstairs. Diancie reminded him, "The Munchlax is here; it's waiting for you to cook downstairs!"

Andrew was surprised, "So early?"

Diancie replied, "Early? If you sleep any longer, it'll be noon."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Andrew scratched his head.

After changing into his chef's uniform and quietly entering the kitchen, Andrew peeked outside and saw Munchlax sitting in the lobby. It had apparently been waiting for a while and had fallen asleep on the table.

So cute.

Seeing Munchlax's peaceful sleeping face, Andrew smiled and began preparing the ingredients for breakfast. Soon, the kitchen was filled with delicious aromas.

Even before Munchlax fully woke up, its nose began to twitch uncontrollably. Following the scent, it hopped down from its chair and slowly moved toward the kitchen.

Just as it was about to enter, Diancie appeared, patting Munchlax's cheek and calling out, "Munchlax? Munchlax?"

Munchlax jolted awake, instantly alert, but its nose continued to twitch.

"Just~ just~" It smelled so good!

Diancie asked, "Are you hungry? You'll be able to eat soon. Go back and sit down for now."

Munchlax nodded and walked back to its seat, though it couldn't help but stretch its neck toward the kitchen.

At that moment, Scatterbug, Espurr, and Swirlix arrived. They didn't come empty-handed but brought gifts.

Scatterbug had woven a small pouch from its silk, filled with flower seeds.

Espurr carried a nut, a cherished treat it had been saving for a long time and wanted to give to Diancie.

Swirlix brought a fresh peach.

"Are these all for me?" Diancie asked, surprised.

The three Pokémon nodded eagerly, each trying to give their gift to Diancie.

Diancie was delighted, "Then I'll accept them! You all sit down; we'll eat soon." It placed the gifts on the table.

"Wait here; I'll get your food," Diancie said, heading into the kitchen.

As soon as it entered, Diancie showed Andrew the gifts from the Pokémon.

Andrew, feeling a bit envious, said, "They're all for you, not for me."

Seeing Andrew's pouty expression, Diancie laughed and handed him the nut and peach, "Oh, they just didn't see you. Otherwise, these gifts would definitely be for you too! You're the backbone of our team, after all!"

"Hmph!"

Andrew washed the peach in the sink and took a big bite.

To be honest, wild berries, not having been cultivated, taste quite plain—low in sweetness and very sour and astringent. Yet, Andrew still ate them bite by bite.

After placing the nut on the kitchen shelf, Andrew took the steamed buns out of the steamer and handed them to Diancie. "Go ahead and distribute these."

With a smile, Diancie began carrying the buns to the hall, distributing them to the Pokémon. The store quickly became lively.

Andrew opened his system interface and saw that his happiness points were indeed increasing.

+100

+100

+100

...

After the four Pokémon finished eating and were about to leave, Diancie escorted them to the door, reminding them loudly, "Come back tomorrow! If you have any friends who are hungry, bring them along too!"

"Munchlax ~~"

"Swirlix~~"

The four Pokémon replied cheerfully and left.

After the three Pokémon had left, Andrew's happiness points increased by another 800, with Munchlax contributing the most, adding 500 points on its own.

Andrew was very fond of Munchlax.

It would be even better if he could pet and hug it.

Andrew checked the task bar again and saw that the text had changed.

Serve 50 Pokémon, deadline 10 days. (4/50)

It seemed that once the market was open, this task wouldn't be too difficult! Andrew felt a bit smug.

Since the task had a ten-day deadline, Andrew wasn't in a hurry for Diancie to continue attracting customers today. Instead, he said to Diancie:

"Didn't Scatterbug just give us some flower seeds? Let's plant them at the entrance."

"Sure thing!"

Diancie said happily, feeling that the empty space at the entrance had been quite dull for a while.

"Let's go."

They went outside the building and chose an empty space on the right side.

However, even though they had chosen the location, the problem was how to clear the land. While the system provided various living tools, it didn't include shovels or hoes!

Would they have to buy them at the store?

Andrew checked the system shop and found that shovels and hoes were available for purchase, but he was reluctant to spend his precious happiness points on these tools.

At this moment, Diancie gave a playful smile, "Leave this to me!"

It then extended its hands, and with a flash of pink light, a diamond shovel and hoe appeared.

"Wow!" Andrew exclaimed, "Diancie, you're amazing!"

Holding the diamond shovel, Andrew said, "This must be worth a lot, right? If I sold it, I wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing anymore! I could avoid doing system tasks!"

Diancie saw through Andrew's thoughts and said, slightly annoyed, "What are you imagining? These won't last long and will disappear soon. If you try to sell them, people might think you're a fraud."

"Alright." Andrew was a bit disappointed, then said to Diancie, "These tools are hard to use as they are. The diamond handles are too smooth, making them difficult to hold and use."

"What should we do then?" Diancie asked, confused.

Andrew demonstrated, "Remove the handles, and leave holes in the shovel and hoe for inserting wooden sticks. We'll find two sticks to use as handles."

"Oh, I see!" Diancie understood and tapped the handles of the diamond shovel and hoe, causing them to turn into pink stardust and disappear.

"Impressive!" Andrew praised Diancie with a thumbs up.

"Of course." Diancie lifted its head proudly.

"Let's go find some wood!"

Placing the shovel and hoe heads on the steps, Andrew said to Diancie, then turned to Komala on the platform, "Komala, keep an eye on things!"

"Zzz~~"

A faint snoring sound was heard.

Andrew: ...

"Let's go."

Ignoring whether Komala heard or not, Andrew took Diancie's hand and left.

"Let's go over there!" Diancie pointed to two large trees not far from the building.

On the Nebel Plateau, apart from grass, the vegetation mainly consists of low shrubs, with few large plants. Those two giant trees were the most prominent on the plateau.

"Alright, let's go there." Andrew nodded.

However, just as they walked a short distance, they encountered a group of Pokémon: Gulpin, Pancham, Scraggy, and Helioptile.

These Pokémon were carrying colorful bouquets, intending to thank Diancie for the food. They didn't expect to run into a human.

"Yikes~~" It's a human! Run!

Pancham immediately scattered the flowers and ran off, with the other Pokémon following suit.

Only Gulpin stood there, looking at Andrew and then at the retreating backs of its friends, unsure of what to do.

After hesitating for a moment, it turned and chased after its friends.

"Ah~~" Andrew sighed deeply and said, "Let's find some branches!" There was no other choice now that they had been seen.

Pancham and the others quickly ran home, and soon all the members of their home learned about Andrew, the human.

Everyone looked at Gulpin, and eventually, Gulpin had to explain that Diancie had a trainer and had brought food on the trainer's orders.

After hearing Gulpin's explanation, everyone fell into silence.

Gulpin lowered its head, tears welling up in its eyes. It had thought everyone would blame it but heard the Litwick say:

"Mmm~ Mmm~" It's not your fault. You did it for everyone's benefit.

The other Pokémon also gathered around to comfort Gulpin.

Meanwhile, when Andrew and Diancie arrived under the big trees, they were indeed met with fear and hostility from the Pokémon living there. Reluctantly, they quickly chopped two branches and carried them back home.

Once back, Andrew trimmed the branches and attached them to the diamond shovel and hoe heads, completing the tools.

"Let's get to work!"

"Let's get to work!" Diancie echoed.

(End of chapter)