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

"Murdock, how about you help us finish these?" Orla suggested.

Murdock exclaimed, "That's so rude! I worked so hard on these desserts, and you won't even try them? Are you looking down on me? Fine, make your own meals from now on!"

Mollie sighed, "But it's your fault for being so secretive earlier. We didn't know you made desserts. Angie's cooking was too delicious, so we didn't save any room."

"Exactly, exactly!" Orla and the others nodded in agreement. "We didn't mean to offend you!"

Murdock relented with a sigh, "Honestly, I can't eat anymore myself."

At this, Friede turned to Jeremy and said, "How about... Jeremy, could you help us eat them?"

Jeremy, who was in the middle of savoring a donut, froze. "I can't eat anymore either!"

"Pikachu~ Pikachu~"

Captain Pikachu lay sprawled out on the table, rubbing its belly to indicate it was also too full.

"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"

At that moment, Pawmi waddled up with its round belly, panting heavily as it climbed onto the table. It looked around with its big, watery eyes, as if asking,

Are you all not going to eat the desserts?

Mollie's eyes lit up when she saw this. "Pawmi, do you want these desserts?"

Thinking its adorably pleading expression had worked, Pawmi eagerly nodded.

Mollie quickly pushed her dessert toward Pawmi. "Here, you can have mine."

"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"

Pawmi happily grabbed the dessert, looking ecstatic.

Seeing this, Friede and the others hurriedly pushed their own desserts toward Pawmi.

"Take mine too."

"Here's mine."

"And mine as well."

Before long, a small pile of desserts accumulated in front of Pawmi. Thrilled, it bounced around in joy before jumping off the table in front of everyone's astonished gaze.

"Where's it going?" Friede asked Jeremy.

Jeremy shook his head. "How should I know?"

Soon, Pawmi returned, clutching a box in its stubby arms. But holding the box made it difficult for it to climb back onto the table, so Mollie reached out to help it.

Once on the table, Pawmi began placing the desserts into the box, one by one.

In reality, it was storing them in a sub-space inventory that Angie had shared with it through his system.

By this point, Pawmi was also too full to eat anymore, but it figured it could save the desserts in the inventory for later since nothing stored there would spoil.

Murdock's desserts were indeed delicious, and Pawmi thoroughly enjoyed them.

After finishing the desserts, everyone gradually left. Jeremy, noting the late hour, piloted his aircraft back to the Azoth City.

Meanwhile, Angie's family sat at the doorstep with members of the Rising Volt Tacklers and their Pokémon, chatting while admiring the night sky of the Nebel Plateau.

Friede asked Angie about his five-hundred-year life span, which astonished the others members, as they had no idea about this aspect of Angie's past.

"Angie, you're a prince from the Azoth Kingdom five hundred years ago?" Orla exclaimed, her jaw dropping in shock.

Angie nodded. "Yep. Didn't I ever mention it?"

Everyone shook their heads in unison.

Not at all!

Angie chuckled and explained, "I was frail since childhood, and none of the royal doctors could cure me. They even predicted I wouldn't live to adulthood. At that time, Nikola somehow managed to put me into a deep sleep for five hundred years.

When I woke up five hundred years later, I was healthy again. Diancie—who was just a little Carbink back then—suddenly evolved into Diancie while accompanying me during that long sleep."

Angie kept using Nikola's tale to gloss over the details.

The group listened in wonder, as if hearing a mythical legend.

"As expected from the arcane scientist Nikola."

Although surprised, they accepted Angie's explanation.

Angie then shared many other stories about their adventures with Friede and the rest of the group.

"Oh, right, Murdock, my Magearna is very interested in making desserts. Do you think it could learn from you?" Angie asked.

Murdock replied enthusiastically, "Of course! It would be an honor to exchange ideas with a mythical Pokémon! Didn't we already exchange contact info? Magearna can reach out to me anytime!"

"Magearna~"

At that moment, Magearna pulled out a phone and happily approached Murdock.

Murdock noticed and asked, "Magearna, do you want to exchange contact info with me too?"

"Magearna~"

Magearna nodded repeatedly.

"Of course, no problem." Murdock pulled out his phone and exchanged contact information with Magearna. Beaming with pride, he said, "I might be the first person in history to have a mythical Pokémon's contact info!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

As the conversation continued, they started discussing the sights and experiences of the expedition. Suddenly, Angie remembered his mission. Seizing the moment, he asked, "By the way, have you ever heard of Hearty Grains, Springy Mushroom, and Crunchy Salt?"

Friede replied, "I've heard of them. Do you need them, Angie?"

Angie nodded. "Yes."

Friede furrowed his brow. "Those things aren't easy to acquire."

Angie suggested, "Didn't you mention earlier that you sometimes take on quests to fund your expeditions? How about taking up a commission from me?"

Friede asked, "To find Hearty Grains, Springy Mushroom, and Crunchy Salt?"

Angie nodded again. "Exactly. I need Hearty Grains seeds, Springy Mushroom spores, a certain amount of Crunchy Salt, and also a female Combee. If you come across these during your adventures, please collect or capture them for me."

"This..."

Friede and the others exchanged glances, unsure whether to accept the commission, as the tasks seemed quite challenging.

Angie continued, "I don't expect you to search deliberately. Just bring them back if you come across them during your adventures. Also..."

Here, Angie paused briefly, smiling as he looked at them. "For the first three items, I'll pay 100,000 Poké Dollar each. As for a female Combee... I'll offer 300,000."

Female Combee, being a rare production-type Pokémon, was well worth 300,000!

Hearing this offer, the group was momentarily stunned.

So much?

At that moment, Orla suddenly stood up and declared, "I'll take this commission on behalf of the Rising Volt Tacklers!"

Friede: "Orla?"

"What? Got a problem?" Orla glared at Friede. "Where else could we find such a lucrative commission?"

Friede hesitated, "But..."

"But what? Do you have any idea how many materials I go through every time I repair the Brave Olivine? You only ever give me so little funding, and you're always making things harder for me. Have you ever considered how I feel?" Orla vented loudly.

Even this time, she had done everything possible to save costs within the budget, yet it still amounted to a huge sum.

You want me to spend less but still ensure top performance? If we weren't childhood friends, I'd have quit already! Orla thought bitterly.

"Also, you always act recklessly, causing the ship to get damaged. And who's always left cleaning up your mess? Me!"

Orla grew increasingly agitated as she spoke.

"Alright, alright!" Friede replied sheepishly, "I'll take it, okay?"

"Hmph. That's more like it." Orla sat back down, her face stern.

Angie smiled and said, "Then I'll leave it to you all!"

After chatting a bit longer, everyone dispersed as it grew late.

The Rising Volt Tacklers and their Pokémon returned to the ship, while Angie and his Pokémon headed to the culinary training room.

Back on the ship, Friede stood by the railing, flipping through the photos he had taken that day. He then stared out at the Nebel Plateau's night sky in a daze.

The night sky over the plateau was incredibly clear, with countless stars adorning the Milky Way. It was both beautiful and majestic.

Orla came out holding a cup of hot tea, leaning against the railing beside Friede. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"I'm wondering if today's experience was real," Friede answered. "It feels like a dream."

"Now that you mention it, it does feel a bit dreamlike," Orla chuckled. "A team of adventurers has their ship malfunction and make a forced landing on a mysterious plateau.

Then, a prince who has lived for 500 years appears and warmly hosts the team.

The adventurers witness a utopia-like landscape on the plateau, taste foods they've never had, and see Pokémon they've only ever heard about in legends...

It really does feel like stumbling into a dream."

Friede was amused by Orla's description.

"Murkrow~ Murkrow~"

A harsh screech broke the tranquility as shadows flitted across the sky above the ship.

The two looked up to see something flickering as it flew over the ship.

"What is that?" Orla asked in confusion. "Could it be... a ghost?"

Friede rolled his eyes. "Stop imagining things. Judging by the sound... it should be a Murkrow!"

Sure enough, as soon as Friede finished speaking, a flock of Murkrow, led by a large Honchkrow, landed on the ship's railing nearby.

"See? Told you," Friede said.

"Yo, hello there!" Friede greeted the Honchkrow and Murkrow, recalling seeing them during dinner.

However, neither the Honchkrow nor the Murkrow paid him any attention.

"Hey, what's that around their necks?" Orla asked. "It's glowing and looks quite pretty."

Hearing her, the Honchkrow and Murkrow puffed out their chests proudly. The Honchkrow even shot Orla a look of approval.

This girl has good taste!

The Murkrow and Honchkrow were proudly wearing the glowing pendants they had purchased from Delphox. They loved them so much that, as soon as night fell, they would hang them around their necks.

With the glowing pendants on, they considered themselves the brightest stars of the Nebel Plateau at night, outshining even the stars in the sky!

Meanwhile, Angie was stepping out of the culinary training room when Diancie suddenly informed him of a newly added system mission.

Angie was taken aback. "A mission? At this time?"

Diancie explained, "Actually, it came in during dinner, but you were busy, so I didn't bring it up then."

After letting Diancie accept the task on his behalf, Angie opened the system interface and saw two missions displayed.

..

[ (Temporary Mission 1) Help Magearna improve its dessert-making skills to reach a pastry chef's level — Incomplete ]

[ (Temporary Mission 2) Assist Magearna in opening a dessert shop — Incomplete ]

...

Both tasks were about Magearna, and both revolved around desserts. The system sure knew how to assign missions.

These seemed to be sequential missions—first requiring Magearna to qualify in dessert-making, then progressing to opening the dessert shop.

Knowing these wouldn't be completed in a short time, Angie closed the system and went to his room to sleep along with the Pokémon.

...

The next morning, Friede and the others were awakened by the chirping of Fletchinder.

After washing up, they gathered in the living room, only to find that Marduck hadn't prepared breakfast today.

"Marduck, where's breakfast?" Orla asked.

"I didn't make any!" Marduck responded matter-of-factly.

"So, are we supposed to starve this morning?" Mollie asked, clutching her growling stomach. "Oh~~ I'm going to get low blood sugar!"

"Hahaha~~" Marduck burst into laughter. "Actually, Angie invited us to his place for breakfast. Haven't you noticed your Pokémon are missing? They've already gone ahead."

Orla sighed. "You could've told us earlier! I thought we were going to starve this morning."

Friede added, "It does feel like we're imposing on Angie a bit."

Marduck laughed. "I tried to decline, but Angie was insistent. He said they were already making food for a big group, so a few more wouldn't matter."

The group then set off for Angie's home.

When they arrived, they found their Pokémon had already finished breakfast and were now playing with the Pokémon of the Nebel Plateau.

Diancie emerged from the house and greeted them with a smile. "You're here! Come on in!"

Friede looked around inside but didn't see Angie. "Where's Angie?" he asked.

While serving breakfast, Diancie explained, "Angie went to work at the shop in the Azoth City this morning. He'll be back by noon."

Friede was surprised. "Isn't Angie part of the Azoth royal family? Why does he need to work?"

Diancie replied, "If he were alone, he wouldn't need to. But he has a big family to take care of."

Friede nodded in understanding. "That makes sense."

Angie was truly an extraordinary person. He could have lived a carefree life as part of the royal family, yet he chose to work hard to support the Pokémon under his care.

What a peculiar man.

But then again, wasn't Friede the same? Despite being a Pokémon Professor, he had formed an exploration team, embarking on arduous journeys to uncover the unknown.

Perhaps this was what they called pursuit.

Marduck stared at the unfamiliar food on the table and asked curiously, "What are these?"

Diancie began introducing the dishes to the Rising Volt Tacklers.

"This is steamed bun, this is a bun, this is salted duck egg, and this is a side dish... You eat them like this... then like this... and finally like this..."

Diancie explained while demonstrating how to eat each dish. The group was amazed once again.

"These are foods I've never seen before," Marduck said excitedly.

Diancie blinked playfully and said to him, "If you teach Magearna how to make desserts, Magearna and Angie will teach you how to make these foods too."

"Really?" Marduck asked, thrilled.

"Of course! Why would I lie to you?" Diancie replied.

Marduck patted his chest confidently. "Leave Magearna's dessert-making to me."

Hearing this, Diancie turned toward Magearna, who was peeking out from the kitchen, and gave her an "OK" gesture. Magearna smiled sweetly in return.

By noon, Angie returned home and invited the Rising Volt Tacklers to stay for lunch again.

After lunch, Friede informed Angie of their plans to depart.