Chapter 73: With Its Own Seasoning...

"Croconaw~"

Having just completed its evolution, Croconaw was still a bit disoriented. It wasn't until it raised its hand and saw its transformed self that it began to bounce around excitedly.

"Croconaw~ naw~" I evolved! I evolved too!

The other Pokémon quickly gathered to offer their congratulations.

Sobble, another Water-type Pokémon, couldn't wait to join the celebration. It circled around Croconaw, occasionally reaching out to touch it, its eyes filled with admiration.

Sobble also wanted to become more impressive.

Compared to Totodile, Croconaw's new, powerful appearance was indeed more striking.

Andrew also came over, curious to examine Croconaw.

Compared to the small Totodile, Croconaw was much larger and more muscular. Andrew estimated it to be at least 1.5 meters tall.

He couldn't resist touching Croconaw, noticing its skin was tougher and rougher than it was during its Totodile stage. Its muscles in the arms, legs, and tail were very solid, giving a strong and reassuring presence.

After evolving, Croconaw had become much more composed. Despite Andrew's curiosity, it remained calm. If it were still Totodile, it might have already jumped up and bitten Andrew's hand out of irritation.

As Andrew admired Croconaw's transformation, another flash of blue and white light suddenly appeared, causing the Pokémon to gasp. Andrew turned to see that the light was enveloping Sobble.

Of course! When Sobble first joined Andrew, it was already near the level required for evolution. Now, after being with Andrew for a while, it was well past the time to evolve.

Within the light, Sobble's small frame quickly grew taller. Its legs and arms elongated, and its tail became stronger and more powerful. In an instant, it surpassed Munchlax in height.

When the light faded, a brand-new Pokémon stood before Andrew and the others. This was Sobble's evolved form—Drizzile.

Compared to Sobble, Drizzile's bright blue skin had been replaced by a darker, deep blue. The big, watery eyes that had once made it look so endearing were gone, replaced by droopy, tired eyes with one eye partially obscured by a sagging head crest.

This look... gave off a very disheveled vibe.

But to Andrew, Drizzile was still cute.

Observing closely, Drizzile's stats were as follows:

Drizzile

- Type: Water

- Ability: Sniper

- Gender: Male

- Level: 24

- Moves: Pound, Growl, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Sucker Punch, Bind, Tearful Look, Water Pledge, Whirlpool, Aqua Ring

Individual Values:

- HP: 20

- Attack: 29

- Defense: 20

- Special Attack: 31

- Special Defense: 24

- Speed: 31

"Drizz?"

Drizzile hadn't expected to evolve so suddenly. It examined its new form, lifting its hands and feet, then excitedly ran out of the circle of Pokémon.

"Drizzile, where are you going?" Andrew called after it.

"Drizz~ Drizzile~" I'm going to check if I look cooler now!

Drizzile's voice echoed from the stairwell.

"What did it say?" Andrew asked Diancie.

Diancie covered her mouth, laughing, "It said it wants to see if it looks cooler now."

Andrew chuckled, "Even after evolving, it's still the same."

But as soon as Andrew finished speaking, a horrifying scream came from upstairs, startling everyone. Moments later, Drizzile came down, looking dejected, holding a small mirror.

It walked up to Andrew, hugged him, and buried its head in his stomach.

Andrew patted Drizzile's head and asked, "What's wrong, Drizzile? Aren't you happy about evolving?"

"Drizzile~ Dri~" This isn't me, it's so ugly!

Drizzile pointed at its reflection in the mirror, crying.

Andrew patted its head and said seriously, "Nonsense, how is it not cool? I think you look just as cool now!"

"Drizzile?" Really?

Tears welled up in Drizzile's eyes.

"Of course. If you don't believe me, ask Munchlax." Andrew said confidently.

Munchlax immediately caught on and gave Drizzile a thumbs up, "Munch~ lax~" Absolutely, you're cool!

Drizzile looked at Munchlax and saw it was now slightly taller. It used to have to look up to see Munchlax.

This gave Drizzile a bit of confidence.

Drizzile then looked at the other Pokémon.

Diancie gently said, "You haven't become ugly, really, you're very cool!"

Meowstic added, "Meow~" Very cool!

Gallade nodded seriously and said, "Gallade~ lade~" Cool, very cool!

Gallade's praise finally brought a smile to Drizzile's face. It had always thought Gallade was very cool, and if Gallade said it was cool, then it must be true!

Reflecting on this, Drizzile managed a smile through his tears.

Seeing Drizzile's spirits lifted, Andrew felt relieved.

The following morning, Andrew got up early as usual and, along with his little Munchlax and Drizzile, prepared the day's supplies.

Since Drizzile evolved, the tasks had become much easier. He no longer needed to use water pillars to support himself to reach the stove. Now, just like Munchlax, he could use a small stool, which made him very happy.

As Andrew and the others were preparing to leave, Diancie approached and said, "Andrew, the system has issued a new mission!"

Finally!

Andrew's eyes brightened at the news. It had been a while since the system last gave a mission, and he had been feeling somewhat aimless—no missions meant no rewards!

"Let's see what the mission is," Andrew said eagerly.

Diancie nodded, and a pop-up window appeared in front of Andrew.

[Arrest Mission] Capture the thieves who are destroying the vegetable garden and make them replant the green onions they've uprooted. Will you accept the mission?

Yes

No

Of course, he would accept the mission. He had already planned to catch the little thieves, and once he did, they'd definitely be punished for uprooting so many green onions!

If they had at least eaten them, it might have been acceptable, but they hadn't even done that—they had just thrown them all over the place.

Its infuriating!

After accepting the mission, Andrew decided to inspect the vegetable garden before heading to Azoth RoyalCity.

At that moment, the two Dugtrio brothers were hiding in the shadows of the vegetable patch, carefully watching everything around them. Alongside them were the recently evolved Croconaw and Quilladin, who were also hidden nearby.

They were the helpers Andrew had recruited for the Dugtrio brothers.

Andrew approached and said to the four Pokémon, "I'm leaving the task of catching the thieves to you. Make sure you get them!"

"Dugg-trio~"

"Dugg-trio~"

"Cro-co~"

"Quilladin~"

The four Pokémon confidently promised to catch the thieves.

After giving a few more instructions, Andrew went to work while the four Pokémon continued to hide quietly among the vegetables.

As time went by, the sun rose high in the sky, but the so-called vegetable thieves still hadn't appeared. Croconaw's eyes began to dry from the long vigil, and it rubbed them in discomfort.

Rustle, rustle~~

Suddenly, Quilladin seemed to hear something. It discreetly signaled to the others, and the four Pokémon quietly parted the vegetable leaves. Sure enough, something appeared near the wall.

"Farrr~"

"Farrr~"

Two Farfetch'd sneakily climbed over the wall and darted into the vegetable patch, heading straight for the green onions.

Once inside the patch, they each grabbed a green onion and started swinging it around. After a few swings, they seemed unsatisfied and threw the green onions to the ground, grabbing new ones to wave instead.

Seeing this, the Dugtrio brothers were furious. Those green onions were planted with so much effort, and now they were being destroyed!

The four hidden Pokémon exchanged determined glances and began moving quietly under the cover of the vegetables, eventually surrounding the green onion plot from all directions.

"Dugtrio~" Stop, thieves!

"Dugg-dug-trio~" Let's see how you like this!

When the timing was right, the four Pokémon suddenly jumped out, surrounding the two Farfetch'd.

Startled, the two Farfetch'd flapped their wings, holding onto their green onions, and flew over the wall in an instant.

How annoying! They can fly!

The Dugtrio brothers couldn't let the vegetable thieves escape, so they quickly burrowed underground to give chase.

Croconaw and Quilladin also didn't want to be left behind and swiftly climbed over the wall to follow.

The two Farfetch'd were fast and could glide short distances by flapping their wings. As they distanced themselves, the Dugtrio brothers began to panic.

At this moment, two vine whips shot out, quickly wrapping around one Farfetch'd's leg and pulling it down from mid-air.

Seeing its companion fall, the other Farfetch'd looked worried, but before it could react, it was hit by a Water Gun attack and knocked down from the sky.

The Dugtrio brothers, along with Croconaw and Quilladin, quickly surrounded them.

Realizing they couldn't escape, the two Farfetch'd exchanged glances, brandishing their green onions and preparing to fight.

The first to attack was Croconaw. It leaped towards one of the Farfetch'd and used its Bite move.

However, the Farfetch'd was quicker than Croconaw had anticipated. It dodged the attack with agility and retaliated with a glowing Leaf Blade, slashing Croconaw multiple times and sending it flying.

The other Farfetch'd wasn't idle either. It suddenly vanished, reappearing to strike Quilladin with Rock Smash.

Quilladin wasn't going to just stand there. With a shout, it extended two vine whips to bind the Farfetch'd's green onion, stopping it from landing a hit.

The Dugtrio brothers were furious. How dare these thieves fight back!

The two Dugtrio brothers quickly burrowed underground, reappearing at the feet of the two Farfetch'd.

The Farfetch'd were too focused on Croconaw and Quilladin to notice what was happening below.

Red, yellow, and blue lights shone from the three heads of each Dugtrio, shooting towards the Farfetch'd.

"Farrr~"

"Farrr~"

Caught off guard, the two Pokémon were sent flying.

The Dugtrio brothers were lucky—each Tri Attack triggered an additional effect: one burning, the other freezing.

The burned Farfetch'd was clearly in pain.

The other Farfetch'd, whose feet were frozen, tried to cut through the ice with its green onion to free itself, but it had swung so hard that it numbed its own legs.

The two Farfetch'd exchanged glances and rushed towards the Dugtrio brothers, swinging their green onions with Leaf Blade aimed at the Dugtrio's heads.

But the Dugtrio were too fast. They quickly burrowed underground again, disappearing from sight.

Boom!

Boom!

The Leaf Blades hit the ground with loud thuds, leaving deep grooves in the grass.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Croconaw and Quilladin launched their attacks—Ice Fang and Seed Bomb. This time, the two Farfetch'd finally lost their ability to fight.

Seeing the two unconscious Farfetch'd, the four Pokémon all breathed a sigh of relief. They had managed to catch these tricky thieves.

Quilladin and Croconaw picked up the unconscious Farfetch'd and began carrying them back to Andrew's house.

At noon, when Andrew returned from Azoth RoyalCity, he found the Dugtrio brothers, Croconaw, and Quilladin surrounding two tied-up Farfetch'd, all staring at each other.

"These two are the vegetable thieves?" Andrew asked.

The Dugtrio brothers, Croconaw, and Quilladin nodded in unison. The Dugtrio brothers were especially furious, angrily describing the Farfetch'd's crimes to Andrew.

Even though Andrew couldn't understand their words, he realized why the system's mission was to have the thieves help replant the green onions.

He remembered that when he first got the green onions, the system had mentioned they would taste better if planted with the help of Farfetch'd!

Andrew circled the two Farfetch'd and noticed they weren't ordinary Farfetch'd. Regular Farfetch'd had yellowish-brown feathers, but these two had dark brown feathers.

Moreover, their eyes were noticeably sharper, giving off a cool vibe.

So these are Galarian Farfetch'd?

With transportation and communication between regions becoming more common, it was not unusual to see Pokémon from one region in another.

"Why did you destroy my vegetable garden?"

As Andrew asked, he used his Observation Eye to check the data of the two Pokémon.

(End of chapter)