Chapter 59: Major Change

In the dead of night, after instructing Munchlax and Sobble to keep an eye on the house, Andrew arrived on the ancient city wall of Azoth Royal City, riding on Honchkrow. Upon reaching the wall, Andrew summoned Diancie.

"Can such a massive structure really be stored in the system's bag?" Andrew asked, a bit incredulous.

"Should be possible, right?" Diancie replied, not entirely sure.

"Let's give it a try," Andrew said.

With that, Andrew placed his hand on the wall and softly commanded, "Collect!"

Andrew used verbal commands like "collect" or "retrieve" to operate the system's bag, rather than relying on psychic or spiritual powers as seen in other stories.

As soon as he spoke, the towering wall suddenly vanished, and Andrew and Diancie, who were standing on it, began to fall uncontrollably.

Fortunately, Honchkrow was quick to act. As the wall disappeared, it soared upward and dived down to catch Andrew and Diancie in time.

After they regained their balance, Andrew hugged Honchkrow's neck and said, "I'm really grateful you were here; otherwise, I'd have fallen to my doom."

"Krow!" Honchkrow squawked, then flew off into the night with Andrew and Diancie.

Back at their home on the Nebel Plateau, Andrew and Diancie said goodbye to Honchkrow. Andrew then asked, "How should we handle the Flying Fortress? Should we retrieve it directly, or keep it in the system's bag?"

At that moment, a pop-up appeared in front of Diancie.

"Spend 1,000,000 Happiness Points to merge Diancie's Canteen with the Flying Fortress?

Yes

No"

Andrew was stunned. How many Happiness Points? 1, 2, 3… Did he count wrong? It was indeed 6 zeros—1,000,000?

"Diancie, is the system messing with me?" Andrew asked, looking at Diancie. He only had just under 2 million Happiness Points in total!

"No," Diancie shook her head regretfully. "You could choose not to merge if you want."

Andrew thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Merge! It's only 1,000,000; I can afford it. If I run out, I'll just earn more."

The system wouldn't ask him to merge for no reason.

"Generous!" Diancie smiled at Andrew.

"How does the merging process work?" Andrew asked.

"You just need to select 'Yes,' and then wait. The system should handle the merging automatically," Diancie explained.

"Alright then."

By this time, Munchlax and Sobble had fallen asleep in their bed, and Andrew and Diancie shared a smile before taking them back to their room.

Leaving Munchlax's room, Andrew took a deep breath. "Munchlax is getting bigger and bigger!"

Diancie giggled at his comment.

"Okay, let's go to bed too," Andrew said to Diancie.

"Yes, good night, Andrew."

"Good night, Diancie."

They each went to their rooms. After freshening up, Andrew lay down in bed and opened the system's task bar, which displayed:

[Daily Task 1] Train in the Culinary Training Room for 1 hour — Completed, rewards available.

[Daily Task 2] Entertain 10 Pokémon — Completed, rewards available.

[Temporary Task] Obtain the Flying Fortress — Completed, rewards available.

As usual, Andrew first claimed the rewards for the two daily tasks.

Congratulations, Host, you have received: 4 Nectar.

Nectar?

Andrew retrieved the reward to find four small jars of different colors: red, yellow, pink, and purple. Each jar was about the size of a fist and shaped like a flower.

Could these be the Red Nectar, Yellow Nectar, Pink Nectar, and Purple Nectar that can change Oricorio's form?

He opened one jar, and a rich, sweet aroma filled the air. His eyes lit up: This is excellent!

He inhaled the fragrant Nectar and instinctively swallowed.

"Never mind, I'll save it for tomorrow when everyone is around. Plus, it's not the best time for sweets," he said, placing the jars on the bedside table.

Then Andrew claimed the reward for the second daily task.

Congratulations, Host, you have received: 1 pack of Meadowflower Seeds (Cutiefly and Ribombee's can gather pollen to make Red Nectar, Yellow Nectar, Pink Nectar, and Purple Nectar).

Seeing this reward, Andrew's eyes lit up. However, he realized that neither Cutieflys nor Ribombees were present at his home or on the Nebel Plateau!

Well, he thought he'd plant them as ornamental flowers and see if they're nice.

Finally, only the reward for the [Temporary Task] remained. Andrew clicked to claim it with excitement.

A pop-up immediately appeared.

Congratulations, Host, you have completed the [Temporary Task] and obtained the Flying Fortress. Reward: Max out one Pokémon's individual value.

"Wow!"

Seeing this, Andrew almost jumped out of bed. Such a generous reward was comparable to the achievement reward he received when acquiring the Nebel Plateau!

With trembling hands, Andrew checked Munchlax and Sobble's individual values. Ultimately, he decided to use the reward on Munchlax.

It was the most cost-effective choice, as Munchlax's Special Attack was only a pitiful 6, making it more efficient to max out its individual value.

Though Special Attack wasn't very useful for Munchlax, Andrew was determined to max out all of Munchlax's individual values.

Indeed, in games, not all Pokémon benefit from higher individual values; it depends on the situation.

For instance, a Pokémon like Munchlax with a slow Speed stat doesn't need to have a high Speed individual value, as it won't become faster and might suffer in Trick Room (where slower Pokémon act first).

Conversely, for Pokémon like Gardevoir that rely on Special Attack, a low Physical Attack individual value is better since high Physical Attack is harmful and could cause self-damage if it becomes confused.

But games are games, and reality is reality.

According to Diancie, the system hinted that if an ordinary Pokémon wanted to reach the strength of Legendary Pokémon, having all individual values maxed out was a prerequisite.

(Note: This is a deviation from the original setting, as the author is quite obsessive about perfect Pokémon stats. If the main character's Pokémon don't have maxed-out Individual Values, the author will feel uncomfortable.)

Andrew had doubts that his Munchlax might transform into a legendary powerhouse, but it might become a possibility due to the Individual Values being maxed out.

As Andrew invested the reward in Munchlax, its stats changed remarkably. The previously low Special Attack Individual Value was instantly maxed out.

Munchlax

- Type: Normal

- Ability: Thick Fat

- Gender: Male

- Level: 34

- Moves: Tackle, Lick, Rollout, Recycle, Covet, Bite, Stockpile, Swallow, Body Slam, Seismic Toss, Flail, Baby-Doll Eyes, Seed Bomb, Crunch, Recycle.

*Individual Values:*

- HP: 29

- Attack: 25

- Defense: 20

- Special Attack: 31

- Special Defense: 10

- Speed: 31

With maxed-out Individual Values for Speed and Special Attack, Munchlax had improved significantly, even though these stats weren't the most crucial.

The Special Defense Individual Value, however, was less impressive.

During this period, Munchlax's level had also increased noticeably. Andrew realized that the experience mulet was indeed effective, as the level-up rate for both Munchlax and Diancie had improved.

Turning off the system, Andrew fell asleep contentedly.

The next morning, Andrew was woken up by a knock on the door.

"Andrew, wake up! Wake up!"

"Andrew, something big has happened!"

…

Groggy, Andrew opened the door, rubbing his sleepy eyes and asking, "What's going on?"

Without a word, Diancie dragged Andrew outside. Barefoot, Andrew was pulled to the entrance.

The sun was just beginning to rise, casting the first golden rays over the Nebel Plateau. The view immediately cleared Andrew's sleepiness.

"What… what is this?"

Andrew saw that the green lawn in front of his house had transformed into a wide plaza, made up of large stone slabs covered in green moss, identical to the old city walls of Azoth Royal City!

The plaza was surrounded by a waist-high thick wall, solid enough to prevent anyone from falling off if they slept on it.

The wall was also covered in moss, and Andrew's house was situated in the center of the plaza.

The style had an unusual but distinct charm.

The flower bed with Gracidea flowers was still in front of the house but had been moved to the left, with a matching empty flower bed on the right.

Ignoring that he was barefoot, Andrew ran outside and circled around to the back of the house.

Fortunately, the vegetable garden and pond were still there.

However, Barboach, Whiscash, and the Dugtrio brothers were all curiously inspecting the changes, puzzled by the overnight transformation.

Andrew reassured his Pokémon, "Don't worry; everything's fine. I just made some changes to the house last night."

Barboach, Whiscash, and the Dugtrio brothers looked confused: Is this what you call a renovation? Isn't this a miracle?

Andrew checked his system bag and saw that the Flying Fortress was indeed missing.

"Andrew, come quickly!"

From the right side of the plaza came Diancie's call. Andrew hurried over and found a huge circular cover on the ground, matching the color of the plaza's stone slabs and also covered in moss.

The cover was at least ten meters in diameter.

Next to it was a statue of Andrew and Diancie.

"Look, Andrew!" Diancie exclaimed, holding Andrew's statue's hand.

The massive circular cover began to part in the middle, slowly moving to either side, revealing an underground space with a long spiral staircase.

"Let's go check it out," Andrew suggested to Diancie.

They descended the spiral staircase and soon reached the first floor, where the heavy doors automatically opened upon their arrival.

"Quite advanced," Andrew remarked with a smile.

Entering the space, Andrew and Diancie found a brightly colored area with many sofas and tables, and a bar with rows of cabinets behind it.

A bar?

Andrew was astonished. Was the system really setting up a bar on the Nebel Plateau? Was this a joke? Who comes to the Nebel Plateau to drink?

Not many Pokémon liked alcohol either!

As Andrew explored the bar, he found it spacious and comfortably arranged, with sofas that could be used for both resting and sleeping.

The colorful lights were a bit glaring, so Andrew found the switch and turned them off, instantly feeling more comfortable.

After touring the bar, Andrew and Diancie moved on to the next level. To their surprise, it was filled with numerous rooms, somewhat resembling a… dormitory? The rooms varied in size, totaling several hundred.

It resembled a factory's staff dormitory.

Moreover, the area above the dormitories was very spacious, allowing even large Flying-type Pokémon like Talonflame and Honchkrow to fly around without issue.

The walls were equipped with ventilation and lighting facilities to ensure the underground space remained bright and dry.

After exploring this level, Andrew and Diancie discovered a large elevator leading to the surface.

They tried it out and took the elevator back up to the ground.

Andrew realized there were several white stone houses near the circular cover, serving as the elevator's exits. The elevator allowed access to any level, including the dormitories and bar, without needing to use the long spiral staircase.

The circular cover's main function was to ensure proper ventilation and sunlight for the entire underground space.

Continuing their exploration, Andrew and Diancie reached the third level, a vast warehouse with low temperatures, ideal for storing food and vegetables.

Andrew liked the warehouse. Although he had the system's bag, he couldn't fit everything inside. The warehouse was just right!

Although the warehouse didn't have the same preservation capabilities as the system's bag or the fridge, its storage capacity was impressive.

Next, Andrew and Diancie took the elevator to the fourth level, which turned out to be a large brewery.

This was where Andrew's expensive brewing equipment finally had a place.

Since Andrew wasn't knowledgeable about brewing, he and Diancie simply explored it before heading to the fifth and final underground level.

(To be continued)