“Alright, you two don't be anxious, let's think slowly. Could it be that you put the apples somewhere and then forgot about it?” Ange soothed the two clay figures.
“Moche~”
“Moche~”
The two clay figures shook their heads vigorously, indicating it was impossible. Besides the basket, they hadn't put the apples anywhere else.
Just then, Magearna looked at a green apple in the basket and asked:
“du~ ki~ du~” Eh? Why did you pick the green apples too?
“Moche?” The two clay figures were stunned upon hearing this. Impossible, they thought. They leaned in to look at the basket and, sure enough, saw a green apple lying at the bottom.
How could this be? They clearly hadn't picked any green apples.
“Let me see.” Ange also leaned over upon hearing this. Just as he reached out to pick up the green apple, it moved! With a flash, it jumped out of the basket.
Not only that, but two other red apples also jumped out.
At this moment, Ange finally understood where the missing apples had gone.
These three were not apples at all, but Pokémon! And the green one was even a shiny!
The missing apples must have been eaten by them.
Applin, the Apple Core Pokémon, Grass/Dragon type. It looks very much like an apple, but the apple is actually just its shell and dwelling. The tail and eyes protruding from the apple are the only parts of its true body.
They are Applin, but they possess the Dragon type.
Applin live inside apples their entire lives, eating the apple as they grow. They also secrete fluids to strengthen the apple's outer skin, preventing it from rotting. If they lose their apple, they will gradually lose moisture, becoming weaker and weaker, even to the point of death.
Depending on the apple's scent, Applin can evolve in different directions.
When living inside a Sour Apple and eating it for a long time, it will evolve into Appletun.
When living inside a Sweet Apple and eating it for a long time, it will evolve into Flapple.
When living inside a Syrupy Apple and eating it for a long time, it will evolve into Dipplin.
These three Pokémon are all Grass/Dragon type, and they can all produce special honey with different flavors.
Appletun's honey tastes sour and astringent. When the concentration is extremely high, it can even transform into a corrosive acid. However, when diluted, it has a unique flavor whether it is used to make desserts, drinks, or even wine. (Note: This is a personal setting. The original setting is a strong acid that can even melt metal.)
Flapple's honey tastes mellow, and the skin on its back is especially sweet. In the past, people would give its shed skin to children as snacks.
And Dipplin's honey tastes sweet and fragrant, emitting a rich aroma.
Looking at the three Applin in front of him, Ange looked puzzled. How could there be Applin in the Nibel Plateau? This doesn't make sense!
But this is a good thing! The Abilities of all three Applin are Ripen, and Pokémon with this Ability can accelerate the ripening of berries.
Isn't this exactly what he needs now? He was hoping the M幻之 berries could ripen sooner!
The only Pokémon with the Ripen Ability are Applin, Appletun, and Flapple.
Thinking of this, Ange pointed at the Applin and said to Sylveon and Vulpix, “Catch them!”
“Gon~” Upon hearing this, Vulpix unhesitatingly blew an Icy Wind at the Applin.
“Fee ya~” Sylveon also used Hyper Voice.
When one of them ran east, Talonflame blocked its path and attacked it with Flame Charge.
Seeing this, the Applin hurriedly ran southeast. At this moment, Aromatisse suddenly appeared and knocked it to the ground with a Fairy Wind.
Another Applin ran south, but Sableye flashed in front of it, blocking its way with a Shadow Claw and forcing it to run southwest.
At this time, Swablu descended from the sky and opened its mouth to unleash an Attract.
The Applin was impacted by the sound waves and rolled continuously on the grass. Because it was resisted by Fairy-type moves, it immediately fell to the ground.
The third Applin ran west, but Magearna was there.
Magearna was too high a level, and it was afraid that using skills at will would seriously injure the Applin, so it tried to grab it with its bare hands, but accidentally tripped and fell.
“duki~” Fell again…
Magearna said shyly while lying on the ground.
The Applin took the opportunity to escape to the northwest, but Mismagius flashed in front of it and knocked it down with a Shadow Ball.
When the three Applin woke up, they found themselves surrounded by a group of Pokémon. They immediately huddled together, trembling with fear.
“You ate my apples and still wanted to run? You were thinking beautifully!” Ange said to them with a smile.
“Moche~”
“Moche~”
The two clay figures were furious, glaring at the three Applin with angry faces.
Ange continued, “You've been in the Nibel Plateau for more than a day or two, right? That means you've eaten more than just today's two baskets of apples.
Tell me, how do you plan to compensate?”
Ange's family had a bumper harvest of apples, so even if some were stolen, it would be difficult to notice.
“Apu~”
“Apu~”
“Apu~”
The three Applin shook their heads non-stop. They were penniless, so they had nothing to compensate with.
Seeing this, Ange threatened them, “Then there's only one way. I'll pry open the apple shells on your bodies and put you under the sun to bake. That's how thieves should be punished!”
The three Applin looked terrified. This… this is too brutal? Help, someone save us!
“Are you scared?” Ange chuckled, “Then are you still dare to steal other people's things?”
“Apu~” The three Applin shook their heads immediately.
Ange then said, “Considering that this is your first offense, I'll give you a second option now, which is to stay and work for me.”
The three Applin hesitated upon hearing this.
Ange continued, “If you work for me, you can eat my apples as much as you want~ You can eat until you're full, until you're stuffed.”
“Apu~ Apu~” Hearing this, the eyes of the three Applin lit up, and they nodded vigorously, agreeing to Ange's proposal.
Seeing this, Ange took out three Poké Balls and placed them in front of them, “Let me introduce myself, my name is Ange, and I am the owner of this plateau. Well then, I look forward to working with you in the future!”
“Apu~ Apu~” The three Applin bumped into the buttons on the Poké Balls and were immediately turned into red light and sucked inside.
Then Ange released them again.
At the same time, the Swellow couple, who had been harvesting a lot outside, returned to the Nibel Plateau with Ceruledge and Armarouge.
As soon as they returned, they went straight to the cafeteria and handed over the collected ingredients to Snorlax.
Snorlax was very satisfied with their harvest and treated them each to a grilled fish.
There were too many fish at home, so Snorlax thought of making the excess into smoked fish for storage.
Halfway through, it suddenly got hungry and decided to grill a few fish to taste, with the Aroma Puffs tagging along.
After finishing the grilled fish, the Aroma Puffs happily walked out of the cafeteria.
But as soon as they stepped out the door, the two Aroma Puffs began to sniff the air.
"Ah ma ~ Ah ma ~" What's wrong?
The Scarlet Armor asked, puzzled.
"Kou kou ~" Sweet smell.
The male Aroma Puff replied.
"Kou kou ~" Such a familiar smell.
The female Aroma Puff chimed in.
"Kou kou ~" It's our apple!
The two Aroma Puffs seemed to realize something and said in unison.
Aroma Puffs have an exceptionally sensitive sense of smell, able to detect scents from a great distance.
With that, the two Aroma Puffs dashed off in one direction.
"Blaze ~" Where are you going?
The Azure Blade roared.
Unfortunately, the Aroma Puffs didn't respond, leaving it with only their receding backs.
The Scarlet Armor said, "Ah ma ~ Ah ma ~" Never mind them, let's go home.
Anyway, there's no danger in the Nibel Plateau, so who cares where they go!
Then the two of them went home shoulder to shoulder.
Meanwhile, the two Aroma Puffs raced all the way to Ange's location.
Ange had originally planned to take the three Applin to see the orchard, after all, that would be their workplace in the future.
Just then, the two Aroma Puffs suddenly rushed over and began frantically licking the three Applin.
"Kou kou ~" Apple!
"Kou kou ~" It's our apple!
The three Applin were sent jumping and scrambling by the couple's licking, hiding behind Ange.
Seeing this, Ange quickly stopped them, saying, "Alright, Aroma Puffs, what are you doing!"
The female Aroma Puff said with a wronged expression, "Kou kou ~" Apple, ours!
Ange was taken aback, while the three Applin averted their gazes.
"What's going on?" Ange asked, puzzled.
"Kou kou ~"
"Kou kou ~"
So, the Aroma Puff couple began to explain. It turned out that the three Applin were the ones they had brought back.
About two weeks ago, the Aroma Puffs, as usual, went to explore the forest in the southwest of the Nibel Plateau.
After the Great Disaster, the southwestern forest has gradually recovered its vitality.
Although the Pokémon that once lived there had fled, many new Pokémon have migrated there, including the three Applin.
They had been carried across the sea by bird Pokémon as food to the Kalos region.
Applin often disguise themselves as apples hanging on trees, and because their camouflage is so strong, almost no Pokémon can identify their true forms.
As a result, they are often picked up by bird Pokémon as food.
The Aroma Puffs found the Applin because they were attracted by the sweet scent emanating from them.
Afterwards, the Aroma Puffs brought the Applin back home.
Because they only thought of them as apples, the two Aroma Puffs put them at home, licking them a couple of times when they were feeling peckish.
Because they were so sweet, the Aroma Puff couple couldn't bear to eat the three "apples."
Moreover, they discovered something interesting, that the three apples became sweeter the more they licked them.
Who knew that only two days had passed, and on the morning of the third day, they woke up to find the three apples gone.
At first, they thought someone had sneaked into their room and eaten them, so for the next few days, they secretly observed their companions to see if anyone was acting suspiciously.
But after observing for several days, they didn't find anyone suspicious, so the matter was dropped.
After listening to the couple's explanation, Ange said, between laughter and tears, "Aroma Puffs, they are not apples at all, but Pokémon Applin! Of course they couldn't stand being licked by you every day, so they had to run away!"
"Ah pu ~ Ah pu ~" That's right, that's right!
The three Applin nodded repeatedly, they had run away because they couldn't stand the Aroma Puffs' saliva.
When they were first brought back to the Nibel Plateau, they were in an unfamiliar environment, with so many unfamiliar Pokémon around them, each of whom looked stronger than them, and they were very, very scared, not daring to run around, and could only stay obediently in the Aroma Puffs' room.
Who knew that the Aroma Puffs liked to lick them so much, licking them every now and then, licking them every now and then, all the honey they secreted was licked clean, and the apple peel was almost unable to hold up and was about to rot.
They had no choice but to escape.
To their surprise, there was an apple orchard on the Nibel Plateau, bearing the sour apples, sweet apples, and honeyed apples that they loved the most.
So, they disguised themselves as apples and hid in the apple orchard, stealing a little apple when they were hungry, until today when they were picked into a basket as apples by two Mudbray.
After listening to the Applin's explanation, Ange smiled, "Okay, it's good that the misunderstanding is resolved. From now on, everyone is partners. Aroma Puffs, don't lick the Applin casually anymore. Aren't there enough apples at home for you to eat?"
"Kou kou ~" The taste is different, though…
The female Aroma Puff muttered quietly.
Afterwards, the Talonflame, Spritzee, and Swablu flapped their wings and flew away, the Sableye and Misdreavus also went to play together, Magearna carried the basket home, and the Aroma Puff couple went home muttering.
Ange then took Sylveon, Vulpix, and the three Applin to the orchard.
At this time, in the orchard, Vivillon were flying in groups in the sky.
Pangoro and the five-member Victreebel family were using Vine Whip to weed, while Florges was using Grassy Terrain to add nutrients to the fruit trees.
On the fruit trees, bright fruits were hidden among the leaves, looking like they were about to enter the ripening stage, which was very pleasing.
Seeing that there were tree fruits everywhere, the three Applin were dazzled. It was the first time they had seen so many tree fruits, and each one was in such good condition.
At this time, Vivillon, Pangoro, the five Victreebel, Florges, Floette, and Flabébé saw Ange's arrival and gathered around him, greeting him one after another.
After greeting the Pokémon one by one, Ange pointed to the Applin at his feet and introduced to everyone, "They are Applin, and they will be partners who will work with you in the future. Please take care of them."
"Lee ~"
"Ah ~"
"Floette ~"
…
Everyone expressed their welcome to the addition of the three Applin.
"Lee ~ Lee ~" Three Vivillon took the initiative to land next to the Applin, carrying the Applin into the sky and taking them around the orchard.
"Ah pu ~"
"Ah pu ~"
"Ah pu ~"
Before long, the happy laughter of the Applin echoed in the orchard.
Seeing that the Applin were getting along well with everyone, Ange had a gratified smile on his face.
Afterwards, he went to check the growth of the Mago Berry and then left the orchard with Sylveon and Vulpix.
