Next, Ange let out the unconscious Darkrai.
He watched as Xerneas cast a Heal Pulse on it, and before long, it stirred and woke up.
Seeing Ange and the Pokémon surrounding it, Darkrai opened its mouth and asked: Dark~ Dark~ Where is my Komala?
Upon hearing this, Ange reminded it: "It is not your Komala; rather, you are the Darkrai that belongs to Komala. Have you forgotten the agreement we made before the battle?"
Darkrai's expression turned sour at the mention of the agreement.
Ange warned it: "Don't think about reneging. You can try to leave my side and see if you succeed."
Darkrai immediately tried to lurk into the darkness.
Darkrai possessed the ability to sink into shadows and move freely within them. However, not long after it entered the darkness, it was forced to float back out.
It was exactly as Ange had said; it was unable to move too far away from him.
"How is it? I wasn't wrong, was I?" Ange looked at it with a smirk.
Poké Balls from the ancient era of the Pokémon world did indeed have the effect of binding Pokémon, such as the one that bound Lokke to the old family mansion for two hundred years.
As the relationship between modern humans and Pokémon changed, Poké Balls lost the ability to bind Pokémon, with the exception of Master Balls and certain balls developed by those with ulterior motives.
Darkrai could not leave because it was bound by the Master Ball.
Realizing it could not escape, Darkrai used a face-saving excuse: Dark~ Dark~ I am a Pokémon that keeps its word, I wasn't trying to leave at all!
It suddenly felt that staying by Ange's side wasn't so bad. As long as it was with Komala, then Komala would still be its own!
At this moment, Ange asked: "Tell me, what exactly is going on between you and Komala?"
Darkrai felt there was nothing to hide. Komala had been raised by it, and it had been the one to train it to become stronger, so what was wrong with collecting a little reward from Komala?
However, after listening to Darkrai's account, Ange and his Pokémon were filled with righteous indignation. It was hard to imagine how painful it must have been for Komala to be eroded by Dream Eater every single day for the past hundred years.
"No wonder... no wonder..." No wonder even the System had to punish Darkrai.
Like Cresselia, Darkrai had the ability to enter the dreams of others. If it wanted dreams as food, it could simply slip into someone's dreams and consume their nightmares.
Not only would it get food, but it would also spare others from being troubled by nightmares—a win-win situation.
There were plenty of people in this world who had nightmares every day; Darkrai was never short on food!
Yet, because of its pickiness, it had deliberately used its ability to create nightmares for Komala and then fed on them using Dream Eater.
This... was simply too heinous!
It seemed punishment was indeed necessary; he had to make Darkrai fully realize its mistakes.
He would have to think carefully about it when they got back.
"Let's go home," Ange said.
With that, he recalled Darkrai into the Master Ball.
Gong~
Paw~
Upon hearing this, Munchlax and Pawmot walked happily to Ange's side, grabbed his hands on either side, and skipped their way home.
The other Pokémon followed closely behind.
Small was found, and Komala's grievances of many years were resolved; everyone was in a good mood.
Returning to the Nebel Plateau, Honchkrow, carrying the Murkrow, Small, and Qiang, flew back to the Secret Fortress behind Yveltal.
Xerneas, Volcanion, and the others also went about their own business.
Ange handed the Komala in his arms to Passimian and said: "You guys go play too."
Passi~ Passimian held Komala and happily headed to the winery.
At this time, Bruno walked over and asked: "Did you find the Murkrow?"
"Found it, it ran outside the Nebel Plateau," Ange said to Bruno with a smile, not mentioning the situation with Darkrai.
"That's good to hear. Fortunately, nothing happened," Bruno said with a sigh of relief.
Ange knew Bruno had been helping to look for it, so he said gratefully: "Bruno, thank you."
Bruno patted Ange on the shoulder and laughed: "Don't be so polite, we are friends, aren't we?"
A smile appeared on Ange's face, "Right, we are friends."
Since the Murkrow was fine, Bruno continued his training, while Ange headed to Munchlax Home.
However, it was nearly 10 o'clock by the time he arrived, so Inteleon didn't let him into the kitchen.
Watching Inteleon working methodically in the kitchen, Ange felt a sense of relief.
"You guys keep busy. I happen to need to go out and buy some things. Let's head home together once I get back."
Intele~
Inteleon gave Ange an 'OK' sign.
"Then I'm heading out." With that, Ange walked out of the kitchen.
The items he needed to buy were Sitrus Berries, one of the ingredients for the "Honey Citron Tea" he had obtained last night.
The supply of Sitrus Berries at home was almost gone, and if he didn't buy more, he feared they would run out soon.
When passing through the lobby, the customers were surprised to see Ange, and they greeted him enthusiastically.
"Oh, little boss, you're here? You didn't make breakfast today, so I thought something had happened."
Ange responded with a smile: "Nothing major, just a small problem at home that needed temporary handling."
"That's good, as long as it's nothing serious."
"I was a little disappointed not to have the breakfast made by the little boss today," another customer said.
Ange laughed: "Then come again tomorrow. I'll definitely be there tomorrow. Besides, isn't the breakfast made by my Inteleon delicious?"
"Hahaha~ It's delicious, delicious! Inteleon's craft is also top-tier," the customer replied with a loud laugh.
Ange said: "Then please take care of our Inteleon."
"Certainly, certainly!" the customers replied one after another with smiles.
At this moment, another customer asked: "Little boss, when will your shop have a delivery service? Sometimes I really don't want to go out, but I crave your breakfast, and it's killing me.
And Gengar's noodles—sometimes I want to eat them, but I don't want to go out late at night. It's such a struggle."
"Exactly, I've been meaning to say that too."
"Right, Munchlax Home is perfect in every way, except for the lack of a delivery service."
"I really want to experience the feeling of eating Munchlax Home's breakfast and noodles at home."
...
As soon as the customer mentioned delivery, many others began to agree.
Delivery... Ange fell into thought. This was definitely something he could do!
If there were a delivery service, the shop might not have to be packed so tightly every day.
As for the possibility that business might become even more booming, Ange didn't pay too much mind. His business was already good enough; any better and he wouldn't be able to keep up.
"I will consider the delivery service," Ange said to everyone.
Hearing this, the customers were very happy and began to discuss the topic of delivery animatedly.
After chatting with the customers for a while, Ange went out.
Soon, Ange arrived at the Berry Market.
The Berry Market was a place in the Azoth Royal Capital specifically for selling berries, where most berry vendors gathered.
Because his own berries had not yet reached maturity, Ange often came here to purchase them.
Seeing Ange, a middle-aged woman at one of the stalls greeted him warmly:
"Oh my, isn't this Prince Ange? Here to buy berries again?"
"Yes, Sister Moria." Ange nodded at her.
"Oh my~~~ our Prince is still as sweet-talking as ever." Moria was thrilled by being called 'sister' by Ange. "What berries do you want to buy, Prince? My Oran Berries have been growing very well lately, would you like some?"
Moria's family specialized in growing Oran Berries.
Ange waved his hand: "The ones I bought from you last time are not yet used up."
Moria was surprised: "Still not used up after so long?"
Ange said helplessly: "Our consumption of Oran Berries isn't very high."
Moria suddenly realized something and beckoned to Ange, "Prince, come here for a second."
Ange walked over in confusion, only to see Moria stuffing a bag into his arms.
Under Ange's puzzled gaze, Moria winked and said: "Take these home to try, Prince."
Ange opened the bag and saw that it was filled with Pomeg Berries.
Moria leaned into Ange's ear and whispered: "My family planted some Pomeg Berry trees, and they finally bore fruit. I'm planning to test the market, don't tell that guy Long Shi~"
Ange understood immediately, as Long Shi, who had a stall on the other side of the market, was a dealer in Pomeg Berries.
"I understand." Ange nodded. He would not participate in this kind of "commercial war."
Moria's face lit up with a smile, and she asked: "Prince, what berries are you looking to buy?"
Ange replied: "Sitrus Berries."
"Sitrus Berries!" Moria mused for a moment, then said, "Then go to old man Aike's stall. Don't go to Otto's—that guy is too cunning."
There were two families in the Berry Market that sold Sitrus Berries: Aike's family, who had been in business for decades, and Otto's family, which had only emerged a few years ago.
Moria had grown up in the Berry Market and knew the situation of every stall like the back of her hand.
Ange looked surprised, "Is there something wrong with Otto's Sitrus Berries?"
All the Sitrus Berries he had bought previously had been from Otto's.
Moria explained: "It's not that there's anything wrong, it's just that that kid Otto has a lot of business schemes. Rather than improving the quality of the berries, he'd rather spend his time on advertising and packaging.
Aike's family is different. They've been growing berries for decades, and the quality has always been top-notch.
However, because that kid Otto is so good at squeezing them out, Aike's business hasn't been very good lately. It's really worrying."
Ange suddenly realized. He had previously chosen Otto's stall because he saw the advertisements they ran in the market. As for Aike's stall, he hadn't paid any attention to it at all.
He hadn't been in the Berry Market for long, so naturally, he didn't know about these underlying complexities.
Ange silently kept Moria's words in mind.
"By the way, Sister Moria, do you know where I can buy Sweet Honey?" Ange asked.
Another main ingredient for the Honey Citron Tea was Sweet Honey. Although Ange's home now had Combee, it would be a bit difficult to ask them to produce Sweet Honey immediately.
Therefore, Ange planned to buy some to use for now.
However, Sweet Honey, like Chansey's eggs, was a high-grade, rare ingredient and was not easily purchased.
"Sweet Honey?" Moria looked at Ange in surprise, "That's hard to buy. I don't know either."
Ange looked disappointed.
However, Moria continued: "When you go to buy the Sitrus Berries, you can ask old man Aike while you're at it; he might know."
Ange: "Thank you for the reminder, Sister Moria."
Moria smiled and waved her hand, "You're welcome. I'm glad I could help you, Prince."
After chatting a bit more with Moria, Ange headed towards Aike's stall.
Aike's stall was quite a distance from Moria's, so Ange had to walk from the east side of the market all the way to the far west.
The stall owners along the way all recognized Ange and greeted him warmly; many of them, like Moria, insisted on giving Ange some berries to try.
By the time he reached Aike's stall, his hands were already full of bags.
Just as Moria had said, Aike's stall was rather desolate; he hadn't seen a customer there for a long time.
As the proprietor, Aike was curled up in his chair taking a nap, with a lazy Meowth curled up in his lap.
The Meowth's eyes were open, clearly helping its master keep an eye on the stall.
Aike was a man in his seventies, with graying hair and a completely bald top that looked oily and shiny.
He was very thin, not very tall, and wore a simple apron, holding a cattail fan in his hand.
"Boss!" Ange called out to Aike.
Hearing the voice, Aike lifted his eyelids, and when he saw it was Ange, his face showed surprise.
"Prince Ange?" He clearly recognized Ange.
"It's me," Ange said with a smile.
Aike hurriedly stood up from his chair, and the Meowth in his lap jumped off, landing lightly beside the berries on the stall.
The Meowth sat there, tilted its head, and stared at Ange with curious eyes.
"Why is the Prince here?" Aike asked.
Ange laughed and replied: "I came here to buy Sitrus Berries, of course!"
Aike was surprised, as his business had been almost entirely snatched away by Otto's recently; aside from some long-time customers, almost no new ones had visited.
"May I take a look at the berries?" Ange asked again.
"Of course, of course, please, Prince," Aike said quickly.
Ange nodded and picked up a Sitrus Berry from the stall.
Compared to Otto's, Aike's Sitrus Berries were indeed not as aesthetically pleasing, and they weren't as large.
But as Ange sniffed them, a rich, fragrant aroma greeted him.
This was something that Otto's Sitrus Berries lacked.
Then he asked Aike: "May I taste one?"
"Yes, yes, please feel free," Aike said, feeling a bit restrained in front of a royal family member like Ange.
Ange nodded, wiped the peel, and took a small bite.
In an instant, the rich fruity aroma and abundant juice flowed in his mouth. Moreover, Ange could perceive that the energy contained within it was definitely incomparable to Otto's.
At this moment, Ange finally understood that he had been buying his Sitrus Berries at a loss!
Good-looking exteriors don't necessarily mean good quality.
Large size doesn't necessarily mean high quality.
Having experienced the benefits of these berries, Ange said: "I'll take all the Sitrus Berries here!"
Anyway, he could store them in his System Backpack to use gradually.
"All... all of them?" Aike opened his mouth in disbelief.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Ange asked.
"No... no problem at all," Aike shook his head hurriedly.
Rather, Ange was doing him a huge favor; if Ange hadn't bought them today, Aike would have had to haul them back.
"Prince, would you like me to have them delivered to you?" Aike asked.
"No need, I'll find someone to transport them," Ange shook his head.
His home wasn't in the Royal Capital, so having Aike deliver them would be less convenient than transporting them himself.
With that, Ange dialed Jeremy's number.
While waiting for Jeremy to arrive, Aike expressed his gratitude for Ange buying all his berries at once.
Even the Meowth mimicked Aike and bowed to Ange.
Seeing how cute the Meowth was, Ange couldn't help but pat it on the head and said: "Why thank me? Your berries are of high quality; isn't it only natural that I buy more?"
Hearing this, Aike was quite moved; aside from a few old friends, no one had spoken such words to him for a long time.
In fact, his wife had been urging him to change his orchard management model. Even if he didn't advertise as hard as Otto, he should at least adopt some technological means to make the berries look better.
But Aike had been insisting—if he followed Otto's methods, the quality of the berries would certainly be affected, which was something he absolutely could not tolerate.
However, the recent sluggishness in business had made him doubt whether his methods were correct.
Now, Ange's words were like a shot of adrenaline, making him more convinced than ever that he was doing the right thing!
Ange then remembered he hadn't asked about the Sweet Honey, so he asked: "Boss, do you know where I can buy Sweet Honey?"
Aike said: "Prince wants to buy Sweet Honey?"
"Yes!" Ange nodded.
Aike actually did know where to find some.
"My old friend Hadali raises a few Combee; she should have Sweet Honey. However, she has never sold it, so I don't know if she would be willing to sell it to the Prince."
Ange said: "Just tell me Ms. Hadali's address, and I'll go see for myself."
Aike nodded, tore a page from his ledger, and wrote down Hadali's address for Ange.
"Thank you, Boss." Ange thanked Aike after receiving the address.
Aike: "I hope the Prince can successfully buy the Sweet Honey."
Ange smiled: "I'll take your word for it."
During their chat, Jeremy finally arrived in a small truck.
"Prince!" He waved at Ange with a bright smile as soon as he got out of the car. Running over, he asked, "Are these the berries that need to be transported?"
Ange nodded: "That's right."
Jeremy asked again: "Prince, are you sure you only need them delivered to Munchlax Home? Why don't I just send them directly to the Nebel Plateau for you!"
Ange shook his head, "No need, just deliver them to Munchlax Home."
"Alright." Without the chance to perform, Jeremy looked slightly disappointed.