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

"You're going to live with that human?" Volcanion's eyes widened in disbelief. "I don't agree!"

"Magearna~"

Magearna hugged Volcanion and acted coy.

"You want me to live there too?" Volcanion's eyes grew even wider. "Not a chance!"

"Magearna~"

Magearna continued its coquettish act, making it clear it wouldn't stop until Volcanion agreed.

"Argh!" Volcanion groaned, visibly frustrated. "Even if I wanted to, it wouldn't work! Think about it—what if I accidentally blow up that human's house?"

Magearna paused for a moment, realizing that was indeed a valid concern.

At this moment, Angie appeared in the doorway and shouted to them, "Magearna, are you done yet? Everyone's waiting for you to eat!"

"Magearna~"

I'm coming, I'm coming!

Magearna turned back and responded to Angie cheerfully.

Then it looked at Volcanion.

"Magearna~ Magearna~"

Forget about the living arrangement for now. Come with me to His High—err, Angie's house for dinner.

"This…" Volcanion hesitated.

"Magearna~"

Come on, come on! I won't enjoy eating if you're not there.

Hearing this, Volcanion could no longer resist. "Fine, fine! I'll go. Besides, I want to see what's so special about this human's cooking that everyone's raving about!"

Hearing this, Magearna immediately grabbed Volcanion and dragged it toward Angie's house.

"Slow down, slow down! What's the rush?" Volcanion said helplessly.

"Magearna~"

Faster, faster! Everyone's been waiting forever!

And so, the two Pokémon headed to Angie's house together.

When Angie saw Volcanion enter, a barely perceptible smile crossed his lips. He immediately called out, "Magearna, Volcanion, come on over! The food's getting cold."

"Magearna~"

Magearna unceremoniously sat back in its earlier spot.

Volcanion, however, looked a bit awkward. After all, it had fought Angie earlier in the day, and now it was shamelessly here for dinner.

"Since everyone's here, let's dig in!" Angie announced.

"Munchlax~"

"Pawmi~"

…

The Pokémon cheered and eagerly started eating.

Because of its large size, Volcanion couldn't sit at the table. Angie prepared a separate serving for it and placed it in front of the large Pokémon.

"Volcanion, we all live here on the Nebel Plateau now, so we're neighbors. Let's look out for each other!" Angie said warmly.

Volcanion turned its head away, refusing to meet Angie's gaze. "Hmph! As long as you don't have any bad intentions, I won't hold a grudge against you!" it replied haughtily.

Angie smiled faintly and turned to leave when a barely audible voice came from behind.

"About what happened earlier… I'm sorry."

Angie's smile deepened.

It seemed this new task would be completed in no time!

Returning to his seat, Angie had just sat down when Magearna chimed in.

"Magearna~"

Angie, your cooking is just too delicious!

Angie chuckled. "If it's so good, then eat as much as you like."

"Munchlax~ Munchlax~"

Try this—it's especially tasty.

Munchlax, with food smeared around its mouth, didn't forget to share with Magearna even as it devoured its own meal.

What a sweet little guy! Angie couldn't help but ruffle the back of Munchlax's head.

"Munchlax?"

Munchlax tilted its head, looking at its trainer in confusion, wondering why he had suddenly rubbed its head.

Angie explained with a laugh, "Oh, it's nothing. I just couldn't resist—my Munchlax is just too adorable."

"Munchlax~"

A bright smile lit up Munchlax's face.

"Alright, eat up." Angie patted Munchlax affectionately.

"Munchlax~"

Munchlax nodded and happily continued munching away.

Across the table, Diancie shook her head helplessly as she watched the trainer and Pokémon. Here we go again, this overly attached pair!

Nearby, Volcanion noticed how much Magearna was enjoying its meal. Looking down at the food in front of it, Volcanion hesitated for a moment before taking a bite.

The instant the food entered its mouth, Volcanion froze in shock.

Was human food really this good?

It chewed carefully, savoring each bite, and soon made a surprising discovery.

The food seemed to contain a mysterious energy that soothed the turbulence within its body!

Could it be that if I ate this food regularly, I wouldn't have to worry about my body exploding uncontrollably anymore? Maybe I could even interact freely with other Pokémon without fear!

This realization made Volcanion look at Angie with newfound respect.

This human really was something special—no wonder everyone liked him so much!

What Angie himself didn't realize was the full potential of his cooking.

The meals prepared using recipes unlocked by his system could enhance a Pokémon's level, while those he cooked from the heart had a slower but lasting effect, gradually improving a Pokémon's innate abilities (though the system-prepared meals had both effects).

For instance, the Floette and Florges family, with their talent for revitalizing flowers, could see their abilities slowly improve if they consistently ate Angie's food over time.

This effect required years of persistence to lead to significant breakthroughs, and since Angie hadn't been with the Pokémon on the plateau for very long, no one had noticed yet.

However, at Volcanion's level, it could sense the subtle power hidden in the food. Similarly, the Legendary Pokémon encountered by Oinkologne and Charcadet in the forest had also detected it.

This was also why the injured Komala, who had once been saved by Angie, chose to stay by his side.

Initially, Komala had been drawn to the mysterious energy in Angie's cooking. But over time, it grew fond of its new life and formed a deep bond with Angie and the others, deciding to stay for good.

The moment Volcanion ate the food, Angie seemed to hear a system notification.

Dinner ended quickly. The Pokémon outside began to head home one after another, while Angie and the others slumped back in their chairs, rubbing their full bellies.

At this moment, Metagross directed Robert 2.0 to clear the dishes.

After a short rest, Angie brought everyone up to the third-floor living room. It was time for their delightful family entertainment session again.

"Volcanion, want to join us?" Angie asked with a smile.

"I would never—"

Volcanion was about to refuse when Magearna interrupted.

"Magearna~!"

Magearna waved enthusiastically at Volcanion, its face full of expectation. Volcanion's refusal got stuck in its throat.

"Fine, I'll go!"

It grumbled and reluctantly followed Angie and the others upstairs.

Walking ahead, Angie and Magearna exchanged a glance, revealing sly smiles at their successful scheme.

"Hmph!"

Watching their seamless coordination, Volcanion looked visibly annoyed.

"Munchlax~~!"

"Drizzile~~!"

In the living room, Munchlax and Drizzile immediately flopped onto the soft couch, whipped out their phones, and started gaming. The two of them were playing the same game, so they often exchanged strategies. Before long, the duo began whispering about completing tasks, tackling events, and claiming rewards.

Meanwhile, Pawmi tuned into Iono's live stream. Inspired, it decided to follow Iono's fitness advice to train diligently and become a strong Pokémon—just like Komala.

Metagross floated to one corner of the couch, tucked away its four steel claws, and comfortably sank into the cushions.

But don't misunderstand—it wasn't about to doze off early. Instead, it connected to Robert 2.0's network to prepare lesson plans. These days, it taught classes for students regularly and even provided personal training. It was already a competent teacher.

Magearna, seeing everyone busy with their activities, suddenly didn't know what to do.

"Come with me!"

At this moment, Diancie walked over, took Magearna by the hand, and called over Haunter. The three Pokémon headed for the most spacious part of the couch.

Diancie pulled Magearna onto the couch and lay down, placing their heads together while Haunter settled between them. Being a gas Pokémon, Haunter's weight was negligible.

Diancie opened her favorite movie to share with Magearna. On the screen, the image of Kalos Champion Diantha flashed by.

Diantha wasn't just a Champion; she was also a famous actress in Kalos.

For Magearna, it was its first time experiencing something as novel as a movie. It soon began letting out gasps of amazement.

Movies—how magical!

Diancie and Haunter enthusiastically explained the plot to Magearna. As a Pokémon from 500 years ago, Magearna was unfamiliar with much of what appeared in the film.

Truth be told, 500 years ago, Magearna had a closer bond with Diancie than with Angie. Back then, the two Pokémon served as the Pokémon of the princess and prince, respectively, often meeting and interacting.

Reuniting 500 years later, Diancie was even happier than Angie to see Magearna.

Before long, the three—Diancie, Haunter, and Magearna—were deep in a lively discussion.

In fact, Angie had bought phones for every Pokémon in the household, including Haunter. However, Diancie found watching shows and movies alone boring, so she often dragged Haunter along.

Now, it seemed their movie-watching group was about to expand from two to three.

Seeing Magearna quickly integrate into its new family, Volcanion lowered its gaze, a hint of melancholy flickering in its eyes.

Angie, who had been keeping an eye on Volcanion, immediately noticed the shift in its mood. With a smile, he walked over to Volcanion and patted its leg.

"Volcanion, you've been on Nebel Plateau all this time and must not know much about the outside world. Here, let me show you." With that, he pulled out his phone.

Volcanion, unused to being so close to a human, flinched instinctively.

Angie chuckled. "Am I really that scary?"

"Hmm? Don't talk nonsense," Volcanion huffed, refusing to admit it had been startled.

Hugging the drowsy Komala, Angie sat down on the carpet right in front of Volcanion, pulled out his phone, and started talking to it, seemingly to himself.

At first, Volcanion didn't want to engage, shutting its eyes and resting its head on the carpet, pretending to sleep.

But as time passed, it was gradually drawn in by what Angie was saying, sneaking a peek at the screen with one eye.

From the corner of her eye, Magearna noticed this while watching the movie and stifled a laugh, quickly turning back to her discussion with Diancie about the plot.

Volcanion, increasingly intrigued by Angie's phone content, shifted from one-eye peeking to opening both eyes, eventually edging closer without realizing it.

Closer and closer, until its chin accidentally bumped into Angie's forehead.

Angie: …

Volcanion: …

Awkwardly, Volcanion tried to change the subject by pointing at the phone screen. "What's this?"

Angie grinned. "Interested? This is something called Poké Soccer. It's a sport where Pokémon and humans work together, with two teams trying to kick the ball into each other's goals…"

Angie launched into an enthusiastic explanation of Poké Soccer. Volcanion listened intently, eventually leaning so close that its head pressed against Angie's.

Before long, family entertainment time came to an end. Angie put away his phone and announced to everyone, "Alright, training time!"

Hearing this, Munchlax, Drizzile, Diancie, and Pawmi all put their phones down, and Haunter floated over to Angie's side. Only Magearna and Volcanion looked puzzled.

"Training time?"

Seeing their confusion, Angie explained, "To make consistently delicious food, we've got to stay in top shape by training every day!"

Realization dawned on Volcanion and Magearna: it was cooking training!

"Metagross~"

At that moment, Metagross floated up from the sofa, ready to head out for its lessons with the students.

And so, Angie and Diancie led Munchlax and the others to the training room, while Metagross took Robert 2.0 to the secret fortress.

Volcanion and Magearna followed Angie and the others into the culinary training room.

As Angie and the others focused on their cooking drills, Magearna and Volcanion curiously inspected their surroundings. When they learned that one hour outside equaled ten hours in the training room, both Pokémon were stunned.

After watching for a while, Magearna suddenly approached Angie.

"Magearna~!"

I want to learn cooking with everyone, too!

Angie froze for a moment. "Are you serious?"

"Magearna~!"

Magearna nodded earnestly.

After a brief hesitation, Angie agreed, saying, "Alright, but learning to cook is hard work and requires dedication. Are you sure you can stick with it?"

"Magearna~!"

I can do it!

And so, Magearna joined the culinary training team.

Initially, Angie wondered how Magearna would handle it, but he soon discovered that the cylindrical ends of her arms could retract and transform into hands! They worked similarly to Robert 2.0's, showcasing her incredible design as an artificial Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Volcanion appeared completely uninterested, lounging on the sidelines. Angie noticed and placed his phone in front of it.

"Volcanion, if you're bored, why not watch something on the phone?"

Recalling Volcanion's earlier interest in Poké Soccer, Angie had preloaded some match videos. Even without internet access in the training room, the videos could still play.

Volcanion hesitated briefly before quietly pulling the phone closer. As it started watching, it quickly became engrossed in the game.