What Babu the groundhog wanted to learn was "Farmer's Three Fists"—Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Ice Punch.
It already knew Thunder Punch, so it needed to learn Fire Punch and Ice Punch.
Coincidentally, Munchlax knew all three punches, so Babu the groundhog asked it for guidance via video call.
An Jue held the phone for Babu the groundhog, and Babu the groundhog practiced diligently, following Munchlax's instructions in the video.
Babu the groundhog first practiced Fire Punch. Munchlax often came into contact with fire while cooking and was more skilled in this move, teaching it with expertise.
Babu the groundhog listened to Munchlax's experience, waving its fists while calming down to sense the power of fire.
However, skills aren't learned instantly, so Babu the groundhog waved its fists for a long time without sensing any of the fire energy Munchlax mentioned.
Just then, a Pidgeotto with a satchel descended from the sky and transformed into an adorable Pikachu upon landing.
Needless to say, this was Mew, arriving as promised.
"Mew~ Mew~"
Mew jumped onto the bench and stuffed the satchel into An Jue's hands.
"Thank you, Mew," An Jue sincerely thanked it.
An Jue opened the satchel and saw it was filled with lush green leaves.
However, when he used his Eye of Appraisal, the description it gave was:
Seriously? Leaves from the World Tree are graded by quality?
Seeing An Jue's troubled expression, Mew asked curiously, "Mew?" What's wrong?
An Jue had no choice but to tell the truth, "The quality of this leaf isn't good; it's useless to me."
Mew was baffled by An Jue's words. Leaves from the World Tree are graded by quality? I've lived on the World Tree for so many years; how could I not know?
Is this kid trying to trick me? Does he have some ulterior motive?
Mew's gaze was too direct, causing An Jue to look embarrassed, "Really, I'm not lying to you!"
He pointed to his eyes and said, "These eyes of mine are a bit different; they can see things that others can't."
Mew sighed upon hearing this.
"Mew~" Fine, I'll believe you this time.
It took the satchel back from An Jue's arms, quickly transformed into a Fearow, and flew away.
So, An Jue had no choice but to continue waiting for Mew's return while helping Babu the groundhog train.
About an hour later, a panting Delibird flew back and transformed into a Jynx upon landing.
Jynx quickly climbed onto the bench, handed the satchel to An Jue, and sprawled out on the bench.
An Jue said apologetically, "Thank you for your hard work."
Jynx waved its hand.
An Jue opened the satchel and saw that the leaves inside looked very different from before. They were not only greener but also more complete, without even a single tear or wormhole.
However, when An Jue used his Eye of Appraisal, what appeared in his eyes was still:
"Leaf of the World Tree, inferior quality, has no effect."
An Jue was stunned. He looked at Mew, who was exhausted, and hesitated.
Seeing An Jue's expression, Mew instantly realized something. It jumped up.
"Mew?" Still not good enough?
An Jue nodded awkwardly.
Mew was furious and wanted to jump up and stuff those leaves into An Jue's mouth.
But thinking about how it had eaten his food yesterday and promised to bring him leaves, it suppressed its anger for the time being, gritted its teeth, snatched the satchel from An Jue's hand, and then transformed into an Armor Bird and flew away.
An Jue shouted loudly, "Thank you for your hard work! I'll treat you to something delicious later!"
Luo Ke, who was lying nearby, asked, "What quality of leaves do you actually want?"
An Jue shook his head, "I don't know either; I have to see them with my own eyes."
Hearing this, Luo Ke buried her head under her paws and said in a pitying tone, "Mew is so pitiful."
An Jue: . . .
About another hour and a half later, a Dragonite descended from the sky, transformed into a Cleffa upon landing, and angrily threw the satchel at An Jue.
"Mew, thank you for your hard work," An Jue said.
"Mew~" Hmph!
Mew turned its head away, not looking at An Jue.
An Jue looked down at the satchel, opened it, and checked the leaves inside.
"Leaf of the World Tree, inferior quality, has no effect."
{{Д" An Jue was already starting to tremble.
Was Mew going to kill him?
Mew turned its head and happened to see An Jue's strange expression. How could it not understand?
It clenched its fists, gritted its teeth, and finally silently calmed its emotions. Then, it leaped onto the bench, sat down with a thud, and wore an expression of 'do whatever you want'.
Seeing Mew like this, An Jue looked at the time and said, "Let's have lunch first, and then we'll talk."
Hearing the word "lunch," Mew's ears twitched.
An Jue had already taken out the table and chairs from his backpack and set them up one by one. Then, he took out dish after dish of delicious food.
Mouthwatering chicken, preserved vegetable with braised pork, stir-fried pork, stir-fried shredded pork with broad beans, steamed egg with shrimp, braised meatballs, hand-shredded cabbage, stir-fried lettuce, savory eggplant… A large table was filled to the brim.
These dishes were all made by An Jue early in the morning. Each was packed in a box and placed in his system backpack. When taken out and opened, they were still steaming hot.
Smelling the fragrance filling the air, Mew couldn't care less about sulking. It jumped off the bench, transformed from Cleffa into Clefairy, and sat down at the table with a serious expression.
An Jue sat down next to it, filled a large bowl of rice for it, and said, "Eat quickly."
Mew immediately couldn't wait to eat with the spoon An Jue handed over.
"Mew~ Mew~" Delicious! Delicious!
Just as delicious as the barbecue last night.
Seeing this, An Jue smiled. Then, he turned to Luo Ke, Metagross, Babu the groundhog, and Komala and said:
"Let's eat quickly too."
Hearing this, Babu the groundhog and the others immediately gathered around the table.
Babu the groundhog had trained all morning and was already so hungry that its stomach was sticking to its back. It was eating like a wolf.
Seeing this, An Jue said to Babu the groundhog and Mew, "Eat slowly, you two. No one's going to snatch it from you."
"Babu~ Babu~"
Babu the groundhog grinned at An Jue with its cheeks bulging with food. Mew was eating so much that it didn't have time to pay attention to An Jue.
At this time, Sneasel was out foraging for food. Attracted by the fragrance filling the air, it groped its way to the place where An Jue and the others were eating.
When it saw An Jue, it looked surprised.
It's that human again!
However, it didn't dare to approach rashly. It just watched from afar. The injuries it suffered from the beating last night hadn't fully healed yet.
Looking at the table full of delicious food, Sneasel couldn't help but swallow its saliva.
It looks so delicious!
No, it must be delicious! Because it's so fragrant. It can smell the aroma of the food even from so far away.
After sniffing for a while, Sneasel suddenly turned and left. A few minutes later, it returned to the corner where it had been hiding, now holding half a moldy piece of bread.
It had just found this half-eaten piece of bread in a trash can.
What good luck today, finding food as soon as I left!
City life is great. You can always find food in the trash cans. Most of the time, I don't have to go hungry, unlike back in the snowy mountains, where I toiled for half a day and couldn't even find a single berry.
But why… does it miss that life a little?
Sneasel gnawed on the bread while greedily inhaling the fragrance in the air, imagining itself sitting at that table, enjoying the delicious food.
Because there were hardly any passersby near the bench, Angier and the others had a leisurely and peaceful lunch.
After lunch, Bidoof and the Clefairy transformed by Mew sat sprawled on the bench, looking content, gently stroking their 'six-month pregnant' bellies with one hand.
So comfortable!
Angier, on the other hand, brewed a pot of hot water with a small stove and made a cup of tea for each of the Pokémon.
This tea aids digestion. Seeing how much Bidoof ate yesterday, he specifically bought this tea from the system store today.
After resting for a while, Bidoof resumed his 'Farmer's Fury' training.
Angier said to Mew, "How about… Mew, you just take me to the Tree of Beginning, and I'll pick the leaves myself."
He really felt bad making Mew run back and forth like this.
Upon hearing this, Mew's face showed hesitation.
Seeing this, Angier quickly assured, "I promise not to mess around!"
Mew stared at Angier with unblinking eyes, hesitated for a moment, and silently held out one finger to Angier.
"Mew~" One meal.
Angier happily said, "No problem."
Realizing that it had asked for too little, Mew quickly changed its mind, "Mew~ Mew~" Two meals… no, three meals!
As it spoke, it changed one finger to three fingers.
Angier readily agreed, "Okay, no problem."
Upon hearing this, a happy smile appeared on Mew's face. Then, it leaped into the air, transformed into an Altaria, and flew away, flapping its wings.
"Mew~ Mew~" I'll be waiting for you at the Tree of Beginning!
Mew's cry came from afar.
Angier: Can't you just take me there directly?
Mew: No, this is a test for you!
Watching Mew disappear into the horizon, Angier said to Locket and the others, "In that case, let's set off!"
The Pokémon nodded in agreement.
After packing up and putting everything into their backpacks, Angier led the Pokémon towards the Tree of Beginning.
From the higher points of Rota, Angier and the others could faintly see the canopy of the Tree of Beginning.
Moreover, there was a kind of crystal everywhere in Rota: by the roadside, in the corners of walls, by the river, in the grass… everywhere. This crystal was a derivative product of the Tree of Beginning.
Hiding in the corner, Sneasel hesitated for a moment after seeing Angier and the others leave, and silently followed them.
Soon, Angier and the others left Rota and entered the endless mountains.
The reason why Rota and Ould Lang aren't as prosperous as other cities in the Kanto region is because of their remote location. If you don't pay special attention, many people probably wouldn't know there was such a place.
Moreover, Queen Eileen didn't seem to have any intention of deliberately expanding the reputation of Rota and Ould Lang. Angier guessed that this might be related to the Tree of Beginning.
After an unknown amount of time, Angier and the others found that the surrounding area was gradually becoming foggy, and the closer they got to the Tree of Beginning, the thicker the surrounding fog became.
If it weren't for sensing with the power of Aura, they would have lost their way long ago.
Sure enough, not just anyone can go to the Tree of Beginning.
As they walked, a roar suddenly came from the fog. Before Angier could tell which Pokémon's cry it was, a jet-black Pokémon, shaped like a hellhound, leaped out of the fog.
It was Houndoom.
Houndoom spewed flames, and without explanation, controlled a pillar of fire, sweeping towards Angier and the others.
Bidoof immediately jumped forward, lightning flashing on its fist, shattering the pillar of fire with a single punch.
In fact, originally, there were only layers of fog on the way to the Tree of Beginning, and no Pokémon guarding it.
But when Ash and his friends came to the Tree of Beginning that time, they caused a huge crisis for the Tree of Beginning, and the Tree of Beginning almost perished because of it.
In the end, Aaron's Pokémon, Lucario, sacrificed itself, contributing its Aura to the Tree of Beginning, which prevented things from developing to an irreversible point.
Regardless of any living being, once they lose their own Aura, they will directly disappear.
This was the case with Lucario, and it was also the case with the Aura Hero Aaron back then.
When the Aura Hero Aaron went to the Tree of Beginning to quell the war, he sealed his partner Lucario into the Staff of the Hero.
Aaron didn't want Lucario to sacrifice itself with him.
Lucario admired Aaron the most. If it knew that Aaron was going to sacrifice himself, it would never sit idly by.
Aaron, who understood it, sealed it away.
Lucario was sealed for hundreds of years, until Ash obtained the Staff of the Hero, and his Aura reacted with the Staff of the Hero, which released Lucario.
After Ash and his friends' incident, Mew realized that it could no longer let people approach the Tree of Beginning casually, so it selected some powerful individuals from the Pokémon living in the Tree of Beginning to act as guards in the fog.
The reason why Mew was unwilling to take Angier to the Tree of Beginning before was because it was worried about triggering another uncontrollable crisis.
It wasn't until it observed Angier for a while, and roughly confirmed his character, that it decided to give Angier a chance.
It's definitely not because Angier cooks delicious food! Absolutely not!
Seeing that its attack failed, Houndoom immediately launched another attack, directly targeting Bidoof, who had shattered its attack.
"Awoo~"
As a roar sounded, Houndoom once again used Flamethrower, spewing out a red pillar of fire towards Bidoof.
Bidoof used Dig, disappearing in the blink of an eye, quickly approaching Houndoom from underground, and then suddenly burst out, punching Houndoom in the stomach.
Dig is a Ground-type move, doubly effective against Houndoom. Houndoom immediately wailed and was knocked down.
After falling to the ground,
Houndoom opened its mouth and spat out a large amount of black smoke.
This was Smog, which didn't do much damage, but could poison the opponent.
Just as the Smog was about to engulf Bidoof, a burst of cold wind appeared out of nowhere, freezing all the Smog into ice beads.
