Who? Who Did It?!

After breakfast, Litwick and the others didn't leave immediately. Instead, they stayed behind to help Angie clean up. Angie knew this was their way of showing concern for him, so he didn't refuse.

Once the cleaning was done, he, along with Diancie and Munchlax, saw everyone off.

While Angie was leisurely enjoying his days on Nebel Plateau, the King of the Azoth Kingdom was bringing his daughter and son to the royal mausoleum to pay their respects to their ancestors.

The royal family of Azoth Kingdom held an annual ceremony at the royal mausoleum, treating the ritual with great importance.

Standing at the front was the King of Azoth Kingdom, with his son and daughter, the kingdom's only prince and princess, positioned on either side of him.

After completing the rituals in front of the royal tombs, a guard suddenly approached the King and whispered something in his ear. Upon hearing the message, the King's expression changed dramatically.

"Let's go and take a look."

He immediately ordered someone to lead the way.

"Sister, what's going on?" Prince Raleigh asked his sister in a low voice.

"I'm not sure. Let's go see," replied Princess Ki mia, shaking her head. "It must be something serious." With that, she strode forward, following her father.

"Sister, wait for me!" Raleigh hurried to catch up.

The King of Azoth, led by a guard, arrived in front of a tomb, where the wall had a large hole broken through it.

"What is this…" the King frowned deeply.

A guard stepped forward and reported, "Your Majesty, it's Prince Angie's tomb."

"Prince Angie?"

"He was Queen Anna's brother," the guard reminded.

"What!!" The King shouted in disbelief, glaring at the hole in the tomb wall. "Who did this!!"

The guard replied helplessly, "It might have been grave robbers."

"Which grave robber would be bold enough to dare rob the royal tombs of the Azoth Kingdom? Have they eaten Exploud guts? Investigate! If I catch the culprit, I'll make sure they regret it!"

Seeing their father in such a rage, Prince Raleigh asked his sister, "Sister, was Queen Anna the one who single-handedly saved the kingdom and secured its place in the League?"

Princess Jimiya nodded. "Yes, that's her."

Queen Anna is remembered in Azoth Kingdom's history as the Queen who bridged the old and new eras. She was also the last true monarch of the kingdom.

Why was she considered the last true monarch?

Because, while the current King still bears the title of King, the power he holds is only comparable to that of a mayor in the League.

Although the Azoth Kingdom still exists in the form of a kingdom, it essentially operates as a city under the jurisdiction of the League. Its land area is nowhere near what it was five hundred years ago, during Queen Anna's reign.

Of course, compared to other regions in the League, the royal family enjoys more privileges in Azoth, and all the land in Azoth completely belongs to the royal family.

Five hundred years ago, when the League became the new ruler of the Pokémon world, kingdoms like Azoth, remnants of the old era, should have disappeared from history.

But Queen Anna single-handedly saved the Azoth Kingdom from the League. Although she had to sacrifice many interests, she ensured that the royal family of Azoth Kingdom did not vanish like other nobles of the old era.

The current ruler of the Azoth Kingdom is a descendant of Queen Anna.

"So, Queen Anna had a brother?" Prince Raleigh exclaimed in surprise.

Princess Kimia shot him a look. "Even if you love inventing and research, you can't just stay holed up in your room all day without paying attention to anything. You should at least read the short biographies of the kingdom's figures sometimes. Queen Anna and her brother, Prince Angie, were twins. However, Prince Angie had poor health from a young age and passed away early. Otherwise, the throne would never have gone to his younger sister, Queen Anna."

"I see!" Prince Raleigh scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

The King was furious about the tomb being robbed, and he immediately led people into the crypt to inspect it. Sure enough, they found that Angie's coffin had been opened.

Princess Kimia and Prince Raleigh, who entered the crypt and saw the scene, were equally puzzled.

"Strange, wasn't it supposed to be a robbery? Why are the burial treasures untouched, and only the body is missing?" Princess Kimia wondered aloud.

Back when Angie "died," their father and mother were incredibly fond of him, so they had prepared an exceptionally lavish burial. While the treasures might not have been priceless, they were enough to ensure a common person could live comfortably for life.

(Unaware of the burial treasures, Angie mumbled: Is it too late to come back and take them now?)

But now, all the burial treasures lay undisturbed in the tomb.

"Could the grave robber be some kind of pervert who has a thing for dead bodies?" Prince Raleigh asked.

Princess Kimia promptly knocked him on the head. "Don't talk nonsense."

It wasn't just Kimia and Raleigh who were puzzled; the King was equally confused.

"Investigate! I want to know what's going on here!" the King ordered his guards.

After the ceremony, the King of Azoth led his entourage back to the kingdom in grand fashion. (Note: In a broad sense, the Azoth Kingdom refers to all land under the royal family's jurisdiction, including uninhabited areas like Nebel Plateau. In a narrow sense, it only refers to the city where the people of Azoth now reside, the capital of the Azoth Kingdom.)

Upon returning to the palace, Prince Raleigh went straight to his lab to immerse himself in his research, while Princess Kimia stood before a painting on one of the palace walls, lost in thought.

The painting depicted a young Queen Anna and her brother, Prince Angie. The siblings looked very much alike, both possessing the golden hair that is the hallmark of the Azoth royal family.

"Princess." At that moment, Kimia's personal secretary, Flamel, approached her and asked, "Your Highness, what are you looking at?"

Kimia shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's go."

...

That evening, Angie, along with Munchlax, continued practicing his culinary skills in the training room for an hour (real-world time), then happily returned to his room to sleep.

The next day, Angie, as usual, slept until the sun was high in the sky, then got up and cooked for the Pokémon with Munchlax.

Due to yesterday's incident, only Litwick and a few others came to the shop today.

Since he had already been exposed, Angie no longer needed to hide in the kitchen. After making breakfast for Litwick and the others, he brought Diancie, Komala, and Munchlax into the hall to enjoy breakfast together with everyone.

Litwick and the others noticed that Angie didn't seem to be affected by what had happened the day before. Slowly, the cheerful atmosphere returned, and everyone chatted and laughed, the mood becoming very lighthearted.

"Chiloo~ Chiloo~~"

Suddenly, a soft chirping sound came from the door. Everyone turned around to look and saw that a Swablu had appeared there at some point, hesitantly poking its head into the shop.

When it realized everyone was looking at it, Swablu quickly pulled its head back in a panic.

Seeing this, Angie walked over to the door and, as expected, found Swablu crouching by the wall with its head tucked down.

"Swablu, since you're here, why don't you come inside?"

Upon hearing Angie's voice, Swablu's body trembled slightly.

"What's wrong? Are you still afraid of me?" Angie asked with a gentle smile.

"Chiloo~ Chiloo~"

Swablu shook its head lightly.

"Then what is it?" Angie asked in confusion. He wanted to reach out and pet Swablu, but worried he might scare it, he quietly withdrew his hand.

"Chiloo~ Chiloo~~"

Swablu chirped twice in Angie's direction, but its face quickly fell, as if it remembered something sad.

At that moment, Diancie came out as well, and it translated for Angie: "Swablu is apologizing to you for what happened yesterday."

Swablu immediately nodded in agreement.

After returning home with its mother yesterday, Swablu had spent a long time thinking. Though it had always been told that humans were bad, and when it first learned that the food it had eaten came from a human, it had felt scared and confused. However, the happy times it had spent with Angie weren't fake, and neither was the delicious food it had enjoyed.

No matter what others said, Swablu couldn't believe that someone who could make such wonderful food like Angie could be a bad person. It liked the gentle Diancie, it liked sharing meals, laughter, and fun times with the others in the shop, and it didn't want to lose all of that.

Thinking about the smile on Angie's face yesterday, Swablu felt terrible. It had eaten so much of Angie's food, only to turn around and hurt him with its mother.

So today, after its mother had left the house, Swablu had sneaked back to Angie's shop to apologize.

"Ah, so you're here to apologize." A smile spread across Angie's face. "Alright then, I forgive you. I know that what Swablu did yesterday wasn't really from your heart, right?"

"Chiloo~ Chiloo~"

Swablu nodded vigorously.

"That's settled then," Angie said. "Have you had breakfast yet? Would you like to come in and eat with us?"

Swablu hesitated at this, feeling that after hurting Angie, it no longer had the right to eat his food.

But Angie could tell what Swablu was thinking just by looking at it. He gave Diancie a quick glance, and Diancie immediately understood, stepping forward to pick up Swablu.

"Come on, join us," Angie said. "It's not the same here without you."

Just as Diancie was about to carry Swablu inside, something suddenly fell from the roof and landed on the ground with a thud.

Angie and Diancie focused their attention and saw that it was none other than a Fletchling. It was sprawled out on the ground, looking awkwardly at Angie and Diancie.

"Why are you here too?" Angie asked with a smile.

Fletchling quickly rolled over and jumped up, bouncing away to hide under the steps, peeking its little head up shyly, clearly too embarrassed to face Angie.

Angie found it amusing and couldn't help but chuckle. "If you don't come out soon, we're going to leave!"

Only then did Fletchling peek its head out from under the steps.

"Yaylo~ Yaylo~~"

It chirped softly with its head down.

After Diancie's translation, Angie learned that Fletchling was also here to apologize.

Just like Swablu, Fletchling was very young and had formed its understanding of many things based on what its parents and friends had told it. Since its parents told it that humans were scary, it naturally believed that humans were to be feared.

However, it also had its own independent perceptions and a strong curiosity, which fueled its desire to explore and understand the outside world, forming a perspective distinct from that of its parents.

And so, at this moment, instead of acting on what its parents advised, it chose to follow its own heart.

"Alright, I forgive you too. Let's all go inside and eat," Angie said as he stepped forward to pick up Fletchling. Fletchling's body shook slightly, but it soon relaxed.

Holding Fletchling, Angie could clearly sense the changes in its body, and a more genuine smile appeared on his face.

Just then, a rustling noise came from the nearby bushes, and a Bellsprout hurriedly ran out.

"Bell~ Bell~"

Don't leave me behind!

It turned out that Bellsprout had arrived earlier but had been too shy to show itself while hiding in the bushes. Now that it saw Swablu and Fletchling had been forgiven, it rushed out in a panic.

Thud~~

In its hurry, Bellsprout tripped over its own feet and fell, bursting into tears.

"Hahaha~~~"

Angie and Diancie couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After placing Fletchling on his shoulder, Angie walked over and picked up Bellsprout, and then everyone went inside the shop to eat.

Time flew by, and several days passed.

During these days, some Pokémon who had left due to Angie's human identity being exposed gradually started to return.

Most of these Pokémon were younger and native to the Nebel Plateau. Those who had personally experienced harm from humans would likely still find it hard to accept Angie in the short term.

With the return of these Pokémon, the shop became lively once again. Every morning, laughter and joy could be heard, and everyone looked genuinely happy. This naturally made some Pokémon who disliked humans and were secretly observing Angie feel puzzled.

Was the food made by that human really that delicious?

Swablu, Fletchling, and Bellsprout's sneaky visits to Angie didn't escape their parents' notice, however.

That morning, while everyone was having breakfast in the shop, Angie and Diancie took the opportunity to go outside and water the seedlings in the flowerbed. But when he looked up, he saw a large Pokémon perched on the roof, staring sharply at him. It was none other than Fletchling's parent, Talonflame.

"Uh... hello!" Angie waved to Talonflame in greeting.

"Yalo~~"

Talonflame let out a low call and turned away from Angie.

"Talonflame, what brings you here? If you're worried about Fletchling, please don't. I promise I won't harm it," Angie tried to strike up a conversation.

"Yalo~ Yalo~~"

I'm here to supervise you, everyone sent me.

Talonflame turned back to face Angie, and Diancie translated for him.

All the Pokémon coming to eat at Angie's were young ones. Their parents couldn't stop them, so they simply sent a representative to watch over Angie.

Talonflame was that representative.

"I see, well then, I look forward to your supervision," Angie said thoughtfully. He figured it was a good thing to have Talonflame watching over him. One day, everyone would come to believe that he meant no harm.