Aww, I’ve been rejected!

After breakfast, Angie began preparing to host guests. He was excited about what rewards the system would give him after completing the task.

He went to the kitchen and took out the ingredients needed to make steamed buns: warm water, white vinegar, flour, yeast, and so on. Then he started working.

First, he added the appropriate amount of yeast to the water and stirred it well. After letting it sit for a few minutes, he mixed in the flour until it turned into a fluffy texture, and then he added more flour to knead the dough.

During this process, the ratio of water, yeast, and flour was strictly regulated by the system—there could be no excess or deficiency.

He had to pay close attention to the kneading force; it couldn't be too strong or too weak. He had to use a deft touch. In fact, even the direction in which he turned his hands while kneading the dough had undergone strict training by the system.

The one supervising Angie's training was Diancie.

Don't be fooled by Diancie's gentle personality at home, who never raises her voice. Once she transformed into a system coach, her attitude became incredibly strict.

Angie's rapid improvement in cooking skills was largely due to Diancie's rigorous demands. With the system's support, her eyes were like fire, easily spotting any small mistakes Angie made.

Once the kneading was just right, Angie coated the surface of the dough with a layer of vegetable oil, placed it in a bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, and then all he had to do was wait for it to ferment slowly.

Applying vegetable oil helps the dough integrate better with water, making it more elastic and softer while also preventing moisture from evaporating.

After finishing all this, he washed his hands and called out to Diancie, "Diancie, how about we go outside and take a look?"

It was clearly unrealistic to wait at home for guests to arrive; it was more practical to go out and attract customers. Otherwise, who would know that he was running a restaurant?

It was perfect timing to head out while the dough fermented; he could proceed with the next steps upon returning.

"Sure!" Diancie peeked out from behind the door frame.

"Let's go then." Angie left the kitchen, closed the door, and changed into casual clothes.

All the resources Angie used were provided by the system. According to Diancie, this was a new player benefit. Once he passed the beginner phase, he would need to rely on his own efforts to acquire food, clothing, shelter, and even the ingredients for cooking.

Before going out, Angie took away the empty bowl that Komala had finished eating from and placed a cup of warm water beside it. "Komala, please watch the house for me. Diancie and I are going out for a bit."

Komala flipped over while hugging its tree pillow, stretching out its little claws to gently tug at the small blanket covering it, and then continued to sleep soundly, never opening its eyes. Angie wasn't sure if it understood him.

Angie didn't dwell on it either; it was just Komala's nature.

"Diancie, let's go."

"Coming!"

The two of them—one person and one Pokémon—left the house with relaxed hearts. Going out together like this was a joyful experience for them.

They walked on the soft, lush grass, feeling the gentle warmth of the sky above, letting the breeze caress their faces, and appreciating the beautiful scenery of the Nebel Plateau.

Angie stretched out his arms and took a deep breath. "The air here is really nice."

Diancie mimicked Angie, squinting her eyes and tilting her head back. "Yes, it is!"

At that moment, a Vivillon flew by, and Angie cheerfully waved at it, saying, "Hi there, how are you!"

"Eek~~"

Oh! A human! So scary!

However, when Vivillon saw Angie, it reacted as if it had seen a plague, hurriedly flapping its wings and flying away.

Angie stared blankly at Diancie and asked, "Diancie, do I really look that scary?" The Fletchling acted this way, and so did Vivillon.

Diancie gave a thumbs-up and said, "Angie is very handsome! The most handsome man in the world!"

"Is that so? Then why… never mind, let's go look for Pokémon elsewhere." With that, Angie continued searching for Pokémon with Diancie.

Not long after, a small mound of dirt suddenly formed on the grass nearby, and then a Bunnelby poked its head out, clutching a root from an unknown plant in its arms.

Just as Bunnelby took a small bite of the root, it heard a voice.

"Good morning, Bunnelby."

"Uh-oh~"

Bunnelby was startled and immediately shrank back into its hole, dropping its food at the edge of the entrance in fear.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~~"

At the same time, a Flabébé flew by, humming a little tune. As it flew, its body swayed in rhythm with the melody, as if it were dancing on the flowers below. It looked quite cheerful.

However, as soon as it looked down, it spotted Angie.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~~"

The Flabébé's face instantly turned to one of terror, and it almost tumbled off its flower in fright. It began to scream and flee.

Angie: ...

Diancie: ...

After a while, Angie saw a small paw emerge from Bunnelby's hole. It groped around at the edge of the hole until it grabbed the discarded root and quickly pulled its paw back, as if there were something scalding outside.

Angie cried out in despair, "What on earth is going on?!"

Clap~ Clap~~~

Affected by his exclamation, a few passing Fletchling and Fletchinder quickly flapped their wings to get away, their frantic appearance making Angie doubt they might fall from the sky due to their panic.

Seeing this, Angie, filled with anger, said, "I refuse to believe that I really have a face that looks like I would eat Pokémon! Come on, Diancie, let's look somewhere else!"

Diancie, feeling conflicted, pinched her small hands and said, "Could it be that they're scared because of me?" After all, she looked different from before.

Angie immediately replied without hesitation, "No way! My Diancie is just so, so, so cute! Who wouldn't like you? I like Diancie the most!"

Angie's expression was exaggerated and certain, which instantly made Diancie laugh. She felt both happy and shy and said, "Since Angie said so…" then I'll believe it.

"We'll go look somewhere else," Angie said as he strode out with big steps.

"Okay~"

Diancie hurried to catch up.

This time, Angie arrived at the large lake not far from the small building. The surface of the lake near the direction of the small building was covered with many pink lotus flowers, and round lily pads floated on the water. A few Poliwag and Poliwhirl were lounging on them, basking in the sun.

Now and then, a few Yanma and Yanmega would fly across the lake, gently creating ripples on the surface before finally landing on the budding lotus flowers to rest.

Just then, a voice broke the tranquility.

"Hello everyone, would anyone like to be friends?"

When the Pokémon saw Angie's appearance, Yanma and Yanmega immediately flapped their wings and flew away, their wings almost leaving afterimages. Poliwag and Poliwhirl panicked and hurriedly dove into the water one after another.

Splash~ Splash~~ Splash~~~

A naive little Poliwag, not knowing the world, didn't escape immediately. It blinked its big, round eyes and tilted its head, curiously observing Angie.

Angie felt a surge of joy at this sight and was just about to step forward for a deeper conversation with Poliwag when a Poliwhirl emerged from the water, tugging Poliwag's tail and pulling it under, making it disappear from view.

Angie looked at the ripples swirling between the lily pads, and for a moment, he was filled with sorrow.

He now seriously suspected that he was carrying some kind of aura that frightened Pokémon.

His greatest wish in life was to pet Pokémon to his heart's content. Did the heavens let him transmigrated into the Pokémon world but not allow him to fulfill this wish? Wasn't this bullying an honest person?

Angie cast his gaze over the lake and noticed that, at some point, a few Wooper heads had popped up, cautiously surveying him. When they realized Angie was looking at them, they hurriedly dived back into the water.

Angie: ...

"Forget it, let's head home."

At that moment, the dough's fermentation time was almost up, so Angie could only return home dejectedly with Diancie.

On the way home, Diancie comforted Angie, saying, "Angie, don't be discouraged. They probably just aren't used to seeing you as a human yet. Once you get familiar with everyone, it'll be fine."

In the past, when Angie was weak and sickly, he would often secretly envy others who were lively and full of energy. During those times, Diancie would always come to comfort him.

Although they couldn't communicate directly in words back then, their feelings were mutual. Every time Diancie comforted him, it could calm his agitated heart.

This time was no different.

Angie hugged Diancie tightly and said, "I'm so glad to have you by my side."

Diancie hugged Angie back, gently patting his back and saying, "Of course, I will always be by your side, Angie! Let's head home. There's no need to rush with the tasks; we can take our time."

Once they got home, Komala was still sound asleep. However, when it heard the sounds of Angie returning, its large ears twitched slightly.

Angie noticed that the warm water he had prepared for Komala had already been drunk, so he gently pinched Komala's ear and said, "Komala, thank you for keeping an eye on the house!"

Komala's short little tail twitched awkwardly.

Despite its petite size and adorable appearance, Angie suspected that it might be a powerful Pokémon.

He had previously attempted to use his Eye of Observation to check Komala's data but was unsuccessful.

According to Diancie, Angie's Eye of Observation couldn't check Pokémon whose levels were higher than his first Pokémon, meaning Komala's level was higher than Diancie's.

Diancie's level was 50, which was already quite high, far exceeding that of most wild Pokémon.

Having been by Angie's side since childhood, Diancie had steadily grown in level over the years, even though Angie's poor health had led to a lack of training. Nonetheless, thanks to the nurturing environment in the Royal Family of the Azoth Kingdom, Diancie had continued to develop steadily.

So, it was impressive that Komala had a level higher than Diancie's.

However, since Angie was now a chef, he didn't expect Komala to fight for him, so levels didn't matter much.

After taking away the empty cup, Angie returned to the kitchen to continue his work.

He squeezed the dough and found that it had fully risen, so he lit a fire and boiled a pot of hot water, placing the dough in the pot to continue fermenting with the hot water.

About thirty to forty minutes later, the dough was finished rising. Angie took it out, and at that point, it was covered in small bubbles and had roughly doubled in size.

He continued to knead the dough until all the small bubbles were worked out, then shaped it into a long strip and cut it into equal portions.

Finally, it was time to steam them.

Before long, the kitchen was filled with the rich aroma of steamed buns.

At that moment, Diancie poked its head in, looking expectantly and asking, "Are the buns ready yet?"

Seeing that it was almost drooling, Angie laughed and asked, "What's wrong? Are you hungry again? Didn't you just have breakfast?"

Diancie giggled, "It smells too good!"

Angie couldn't help but marvel at how a legendary Pokémon had such strong digestive abilities!

Don't think that what Angie was steaming was just ordinary buns; in reality, the energy contained within them was not inferior to the specially sold Pokémon food outside. Eating these would be highly beneficial for Pokémon, and yet Diancie could shine after just one serving.

Every time Angie joked about Diancie's big appetite, Diancie would chase after him and give him a good whack.

Diancie: Nonsense! A lady's appetite can't possibly be that big! (Note: Diancie has no gender.)

Once the buns were steamed, Angie turned off the heat, lifted the steamer lid, and handed one to Diancie, saying, "Here, try it and see how it tastes."

Diancie eagerly took the bun, not even bothering to let it cool before taking a big bite.

"Hmm~~~" It instinctively closed its eyes in sheer enjoyment. "It's delicious, so delicious!" It was the taste of happiness! "Angie, I feel like the buns you steamed are even better than before."

"Really?" Angie felt very happy to hear that.

After Diancie finished eating, Angie noticed it still wanted more, so he took out another bun and handed it to Diancie, saying, "Let's go outside and try to attract some customers!"

They couldn't let a little setback discourage them; this was just the beginning!

"Okay!" Diancie took the bun and pumped its fist with enthusiasm. "With Angie around, we can definitely do it!"

So, the two of them—one human and one Pokémon—left home once again.

As the day passed quickly, when the sun began to set, Angie and Diancie returned home feeling dejected, their spirits low under the fading sunlight.

Clearly, they had still come up empty-handed. All the Pokémon on the Nebel Plateau saw Angie and ran away as if they had seen a plague, completely unwilling to interact with him, let alone come to the shop for a meal.

In the end, all the buns Angie had steamed went straight into Diancie and Komala's bellies.

"Ah~ Ah~~~"

After dinner, Angie sat at the entrance of his home, letting the cool night breeze wash over him while sighing heavily.

Diancie walked over, linked its arm with Angie's, and comforted him, saying, "It's no big deal; we'll keep trying tomorrow!"

"I guess that's all we can do." Angie said helplessly.

After a long day of walking around, Angie was utterly exhausted, his body aching all over. "Forget it; I'll just take a hot bath and go to sleep. We'll deal with everything tomorrow."

"Exactly!" Diancie agreed.

"Let's go, Komala can join us too!" Angie stood up and picked the Komala off its little bed. It was time for Komala to have a good bath as well.