Pokémon: No Way! The Golden Finger Only Comes When I'm About To Die!?

Magearna had just finished cutting the cake when Diancie and Munchlax came downstairs together. To Angie's surprise, Munchlax was wearing a knitted sweater.

When Munchlax reached Angie's side, he touched the sweater and asked Diancie, "Did you knit this?"

Not only was it knitted, but it was also made from the dyed silk of Spinarak.

Diancie nodded and replied, "Yes, isn't it beautiful?"

"Munchlax~"

Master, do I look good?

Munchlax shyly tugged at his sweater and asked Angie.

Angie patted his head and said gently, "You look great. Munchlax was already adorable, and now you're even more so."

Munchlax beamed at Angie's compliment and then happily scurried over to ask Magearna.

Seizing the moment, Angie pulled Diancie aside and whispered, "Didn't you say your knitting skills weren't great and that you needed to practice? So, knitting for Munchlax didn't require practice?"

Diancie looked at Angie with an amused expression. "Are you jealous that I didn't knit for you first? You're even jealous of your own apprentice?"

Angie immediately straightened his face and said, "Nonsense, I'm not jealous. I was just curious."

Diancie chuckled and teased, "That was just me practicing. Even I didn't expect it to turn out so well."

"Stop bragging!" Angie tapped her on the forehead.

"I'm telling the truth." Diancie rubbed her forehead and then tugged on Angie's sleeve. "The next one will be for you. I promise it'll be even prettier."

Angie's satisfaction was evident. "It's a promise!"

"Guaranteed!" Diancie replied with mock seriousness, then smiled and asked, "By the way, did you bring back my Mareep?"

Angie nodded. "I did, but…"

"But what?" Diancie asked, puzzled.

"It's a bit unusual. You'll see for yourself," Angie said, releasing Mareep from its Poké Ball.

The Mareep lowered its head, quietly staring at the ground, unmoved by the unfamiliar environment or the unfamiliar Pokémon around it.

No, perhaps it did feel uneasy and scared, but it simply couldn't express it.

Diancie immediately noticed that something was off. She looked at Angie in surprise.

Angie explained, "This Mareep has a congenital form of autism and reacts very slowly to its surroundings."

Diancie nodded in understanding. "I see."

Angie continued, "But it's very well-behaved, and since all you need is its wool, its condition shouldn't affect you much."

"I understand," Diancie replied. She knelt and hugged Mareep gently. Feeling the embrace, Mareep stiffened.

It was clear that Mareep did respond to external stimuli.

Sensing the change in Mareep's muscles, Diancie patted its head and then looked up at Angie. "How about letting me take full responsibility for Mareep's care?"

Angie nodded. "Of course, no problem. Mareep came to this house just for you."

Diancie beamed with joy. "I'll make sure to take great care of Mareep."

At that moment, Pawmi returned from playing outside, and Metagross, who had also been out, came back as well.

Magearna called out to Angie and Diancie.

"Magearna~"

Everyone, come and have some cake!

"Coming!"

Angie and Diancie answered in unison.

"Mareep, you come with me too," Diancie said gently, patting Mareep.

Whether Mareep understood or not was unclear, but it obediently followed Diancie.

Soon, everyone had their slice of cake. Since Volcanion, Drizzile, Gengar, and Komala weren't home, Magearna stored their portions in the refrigerator.

Pawmi, still full from overeating earlier in the afternoon, couldn't take another bite. So, while no one was watching, it slyly stashed its cake into the system backpack.

Diancie divided its slice into four portions: one for itself, one each for the two Spinarak, and one for Mareep.

Although Magearna's cake was a decent size, with so many Pokémon and people to share it with, each portion was quite small. With Diancie splitting its share further, it ended up with just a tiny bite left for itself.

Seeing this, Angie halved his portion and gave it to Diancie.

Diancie wanted to decline, but Angie's stern expression made it smile cheerfully and say, "Thank you, Angie."

Beside them, Munchlax looked at its master, then at Diancie, and finally at the cake on its plate. After a moment of thought, it also halved its portion and offered it to Diancie.

Diancie froze, about to say something, when Munchlax tugged at its sweater.

"Munchlax~"

Thank you, Diancie.

Hearing this, Diancie gave up on returning the cake and patted Munchlax's head, saying, "Then I won't hold back."

"Munchlax~"

Munchlax beamed, flashing a bright smile at both Angie and Diancie.

Angie pinched Munchlax's cheek playfully and said, "Our Munchlax is such a sweet little guy."

"Munchlax~"

Hehe~

Munchlax laughed shyly.

Angie shifted his attention back to his own plate, cutting off a small piece of cake with a fork and taking a bite. The soft sponge paired with the sweet cream felt like biting into a cloud. Topping it off with a slice of cream-covered Pecha Berry, the refreshing flavor danced on his tongue.

From that cake, Angie tasted happiness.

He thought to himself: Perhaps this reflects Magearna's state of mind while making the cake.

Magearna truly was a cheerful and pure Pokémon. Even in adversity, it lived life with optimism, diligence, and joy.

Maybe only Magearna could create a dessert capable of bringing such happiness.

Before he realized it, Angie had finished his slice, leaving not a crumb behind. He couldn't help but give Magearna a thumbs-up.

"Magearna, that was delicious! I think your skills rival those of Murdock!"

Magearna's technique might still have room for improvement, but the heart it put into the cake was unmatched.

The other Pokémon chimed in to echo Angie's praise.

Hearing everyone's compliments, Magearna was overjoyed. It danced around, exclaiming.

"Magearna~"

I'll keep working hard to make desserts everyone loves even more!

Magearna was so excited that it tripped over its own feet, tumbling to the ground with a loud crash. It quickly scrambled back up and, in its usual playful tone.

"Magearna~"

Oh no, I fell again.

Everyone burst into laughter at its comment.

After the laughter subsided, Angie said to Magearna, "Magearna, from now on, the kitchen on the second floor of our house will be dedicated to you, and your dessert shop will also be set up on the second floor."

Angie's house had three floors. The first floor was Diancie's Grand Dining Hall, the third floor was their family's living quarters, and the second floor had always been empty.

Now, it finally had a purpose.

Hearing Angie's words, Magearna's face lit up with surprise.

"Magearna~"

Really?

Angie smiled and nodded. "Of course! Not only that, but the second floor of the Munchlax's Home will also be for your dessert shop!"

Like Diancie's Grand Dining Hall, the second floor of Munchlax's Home had also been vacant.

Magearna's desserts weren't just for the Pokémon of Nebel Plateau, so a shop in Azoth Kingdom would be necessary as well.

However, Magearna didn't need to be physically present in the Azoth Kingdom's dessert shop. All it had to do was prepare the desserts and hire a salesperson to handle sales.

As for who to hire as a salesperson, Angie hadn't decided yet.

But there was no rush for that—Magearna's skills still needed more polishing before the shop could officially open. However, preparations for the shop's renovation needed to begin soon.

Angie also decided to have a new staircase built outside Munchlax's Home leading directly to the second floor. This way, dessert customers wouldn't have to go through the first floor.

It would be inconvenient for the diners on the first floor to have dessert customers walking back and forth, and dessert buyers likely wouldn't want to be disturbed by the people dining downstairs either.

Better discuss this with Jeremy later, Angie thought.

That evening, after Angie and the Pokémon finished their training, they each retired to their rooms for the night.

Before going to bed, as usual, Angie planned to claim the rewards from the day's completed tasks.

There were four rewards today: three from daily tasks and one from a temporary task.

The first daily task reward was a bag of 10 pounds of premium rice.

Not bad. The rice from the system was much tastier than store-bought varieties.

The second daily task reward was a single leek.

Plain and unremarkable. Even though it was system-issued, Angie didn't find it any better than the ones grown by their own Farfetch'd.

And one leek? Seriously? The system couldn't even be generous enough to give a bunch—it had to be a single stalk.

Then came the third daily task reward. Angie wasn't expecting much but froze in shock when the system displayed the reward on the screen.

[ Congratulations, Host! You've received: 1 Golden Razz Berry, 1 Golden Nanab Berry, and 1 Golden Pinap Berry (valuable items—please handle with care). ]

A daily task yielded gold-tier rewards? And not just any gold—literal gold!

With the system's special annotation, Angie knew these items were extraordinary.

Angie carefully retrieved the three Berry from the system inventory. Compared to ordinary Berry, they looked similar except for their colors.

Ordinary Razz Berry were orange, Nanab Berry were pink, and Pinap Berry were yellow. However, the ones Angie received from the system were, as their names suggested, entirely golden.

Their brilliant golden hue made them stand out.

Not only that, but under Angie's aura perception, these Berry emanated a unique Aura that was completely different from that of regular Berry.

So, what are these Berry for? Angie's face was filled with confusion.

After pondering for a while without any answers, Angie decided to follow the system's instructions and store the Berry safely in the system's inventory.

After all, these were marked as particularly valuable by the system.

Angie claimed the rewards for the three daily tasks. Finally, it was time to claim the reward for the temporary task.

Without hesitation, Angie tapped the "Claim Reward" button, and a system notification immediately popped up.

[ Congratulations, you have completed (Temporary Task 3): Help a Carbink Overcome Its Difficulty. You have received the reward: Recipe (Noodles). ]

Seeing the reward, Angie was so excited he nearly jumped out of bed. Wasn't this the perfect timing?

He had been planning for Gengar to open a ramen shop in Munchlax's Home, and now the system provided the [Noodles] Recipe as a reward. How thoughtful!

Angie quickly opened the recipe interface and checked out the [Noodles] section. Sure enough, it contained instructions for making all kinds of noodles—ramen, hand-pulled noodles, cold noodles… Everything one could think of.

Now Gengar could earn both Happiness Points and Poké Dollar simultaneously. A win-win!

After claiming all his rewards, Angie closed the system interface and went to sleep with a contented smile.

The next evening, Gengar began a special noodle-making training session in the culinary practice room. That was when Angie discovered something particularly amusing: Gengar had a unique fascination with tossing noodles.

Using its psychic powers, Gengar controlled the noodles mid-air, tossing and spinning them in a dazzling display. Surprisingly, this method produced noodles that were both springy and perfectly uniform in thickness. Each strand was identical.

Time flew by, and half a month passed. One morning, Angie set up a signboard at the entrance of Munchlax's Home. On it, bold letters announced.

[ One week from now, Munchlax's Home will begin offering noodle dishes during evening hours. Noodle lovers, come and give it a try—we promise you won't regret it! ]

The sign quickly caught the attention of breakfast patrons. While Meowstic and the others served dishes, customers eagerly inquired about the new development.

"Meowstic, is it true that your shop will open at night too? That's great! I can't wait to try it!"

"If breakfast here is already this amazing and unique, dinner must be just as good!"

"That's wonderful! I've always struggled to find a place for dinner. But a whole week? I can't wait that long; I'm already impatient!"

…

The customers expressed overwhelming excitement about Munchlax's Home's upcoming noodle service during evening hours.

Meanwhile, four young Trainers arrived in the Azoth Kingdom. After exploring for a bit, the eldest girl in the group held up a tourist guide and announced.

"The first place we have to visit in the Azoth Kingdom is, of course, it was Munchlax's Home! They make a unique food here called buns and stuffed buns, which you can't find anywhere else!"

The four were none other than the main characters of the Pokémon anime—Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie.

Although they hadn't originally passed through the Azoth Kingdom in the anime, perhaps Angie's butterfly effect had altered the course of their journey.

Hearing Serena's suggestion, Clemont let out a sigh. "What? Shouldn't we explore more on arcane science first?"

As a scientist, the scientifically renowned Azoth Kingdom was like paradise to Clemont.

Serena immediately refuted his objection, "The Azoth Kingdom isn't going anywhere. We can visit it anytime, but Munchlax's Home is different—it stops serving breakfast at 10 a.m.!"

Upon hearing this, Bonnie enthusiastically exclaimed, "Then I want to go to Munchlax's Home!"

Ash, clutching his rumbling stomach, said, "I want to eat first too!"

"Well, okay!"

The majority ruled, and Clemont reluctantly agreed.