Diantha said, "Whether you helped, or the Aegislash and Comatose helped, it's all the same to me."
Ange smiled, "Alright then, I'll accept Ms. Diantha's thanks."
Diantha said mysteriously, "My thanks aren't just spoken out loud, you know."
Ange asked in confusion, "Then what else is there?"
Just then, Diantha took out a disc and placed it in front of Ange, "This is for you."
Ange said in surprise, "This is... a TM?"
Diantha nodded, "That's right, it's the TM for Meteor Beam."
Ange was even more surprised, "Something this precious is really being given to me?"
Meteor Beam was a powerful Rock-type move with a base power of 120, though its drawback was that it required charging before it could be unleashed.
Diantha nodded, "Of course, I don't have any use for it anymore, so it should be somewhat useful to you."
Ange thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll accept it without standing on ceremony."
Earlier, Riley had given him a TM for Steel Beam, which he hadn't yet had time to let his Pokémon learn, and now he had received another TM for Meteor Beam.
Diancie could learn Meteor Beam, and it was even a same-type attack bonus move.
Of course, Metagross could learn it too.
However, much like Steel Beam, Meteor Beam was a special attack move, meaning its compatibility with Metagross, which excelled in physical attacks, was not very high.
Diantha said, "Go ahead and accept it."
After putting away the TM, Ange said, "Ms. Diantha, could I ask you for a favor?"
Diantha said, "Go ahead."
Ange said, "Well, I'm looking for someone who might have participated in a League Conference, so I'd like to know the participant lists for the League Conferences across all regions over the past 50 years.
I wonder if you could get your hands on that."
"This..." Diantha fell into deep thought, "I can get it, but information of this sort isn't allowed to be shared publicly."
"Is that so..." Hearing this, Ange showed a disappointed look, "Then it can't be helped."
Seeing this, Diantha let out a chuckle, "I'm just teasing you! It wouldn't work for anyone else, but for you, Ange, I'll make an exception just this once!"
Ange's expression shifted from worry to joy, "Really? That's great, thank you, Ms. Diantha."
Diantha said, "Don't mention it, it's just a small matter. I'll send the information over to you once I get back and organize it."
"Alright." Ange nodded.
"Oh right, how is that Tyrunt doing over on your end?" Diantha suddenly asked.
Ange smiled, "It? It couldn't be more carefree. Every day it runs wild and carefree across the grassland at my place, I'm even jealous of it!"
At this, he suddenly pulled out his phone and said, "I have pictures of it right here, want to see?"
"Yes, please!" Diantha replied happily.
Ange opened his phone photo album and flipped to the pictures of the Tyrunt to show Diantha. He had many photos of his own Pokémon saved on his phone, all neatly sorted and stored in different albums.
After finding the picture of the Tyrunt, Ange handed his phone over to Diantha.
"Look, I took this one while it was eating!"
In that photo, after finishing its own food, the Tyrunt had set its sights on the Bunnelby's food, resulting in it getting a massive smack from the Bunnelby.
When Ange took the picture, it was looking at the camera with tear-filled eyes.
"And this one!"
In photo after photo, the Tyrunt was either sleeping soundly on the grass, chasing and playing with its companions, or earnestly patrolling alongside Lairon and Drilbur...
In every single shot, it looked carefree and completely free-spirited.
As she looked through them, Diantha couldn't help but sigh in admiration, "That's wonderful! It looks like Tyrunt made the right choice following you."
Ange asked, "How is Amour's condition?"
Diantha said, "Let me show you firsthand."
With that, she took out a Poké Ball. Following a flash of red light, Amaura appeared outside.
"Lu~s..." As soon as it came out, Amaura happily bounded over to Diantha's side, gently nuzzling against her with its head.
"Good girl, good dog." Diantha gently stroked Amaura's neck with her hand.
However, Amaura's body was simply too cold. Diantha couldn't touch it for long, so she stopped after just a couple of strokes.
Ange spoke up to greet the Pokémon, "Long time no see, Amaura!"
Only then did Amaura notice there was someone else nearby. It tilted its head, stared at Ange for a good while, and finally recognized him as the person who had helped Diantha rescue it.
"Lu~s!" It cried out cheerfully, then trotted over to Ange's side and gently rubbed its head against his arm.
"Good girl."
Ange copied Diantha's gesture and stroked Amaura's neck, instantly pulling his hand back with a sharp intake of breath from the freezing cold.
"Hahaha~~" Diantha was amused by Ange's reaction, "Didn't expect Amaura to be so freezing, did you?"
"Lu~s~ Lu~s~" Caught up in the warmth of Diantha's laughter, Amaura joined in and let out a happy cry.
Ange put on a mock-angry expression and said, "You didn't even warn me, and you're making fun of me."
In reality, although Amaura's body was extremely cold, they were naturally very fragile Pokémon.
Once the ambient temperature around them became too high, their body temperatures would become unbalanced, putting their lives in danger.
Only after evolving into Aurorus could they properly control the temperature around them.
In ancient times, Amaura and Aurorus were Pokémon that lived in freezing lands and would never naturally appear in temperate or hot climates.
The reason Diantha's was fine was simply because it wore a Never-Melt Ice, protecting it from the effects of the surrounding environment.
From its glistening scales, its frame being a size larger than when Ange first met it, and its high-spirited demeanor, it was clear that it was being well-cared for by Diantha.
Diantha was a very busy person. After chatting with Ange for a while, she bid him farewell and left.
After parting ways with Diantha, Ange planned to head back to the hospital room.
Before he had even taken two steps, however, he saw Nurse Joy walking over with a worried expression.
"Nurse Joy, what's wrong?" Ange asked in confusion.
"Oh~" Nurse Joy let out a deep sigh, "When I went to the storage room just now, I discovered that a batch of Mental Herbs had been eaten by bugs. They can't be used now, but I hate to just throw them away..."
With that, Nurse Joy let out another heavy sigh.
Mental Herbs were great materials used in medicine to make sedatives. The Anistar City Pokémon Center had just received a fresh shipment not long ago, but unfortunately, they had been damaged by bugs due to improper storage.
Mental Herbs weren't cheap, which was why Nurse Joy was so distressed.
Hearing this, Ange fell into deep thought. Weren't Mental Herbs precisely one of the materials needed to make Three-Flavor Tea?
Although the System had rewarded him with the recipe along with seeds for Mental Herbs, White Herbs, and Power Herbs, things like that couldn't be grown overnight.
So if Ange wanted to make Three-Flavor Tea right away, he would need to purchase the materials himself first.
Brewing tea was technical work, and Ange had never touched it before, so he figured he would definitely need to practice quite a bit.
Why not just buy Nurse Joy's batch of damaged Mental Herbs to use for practice? That way, he could also help Nurse Joy out.
With that thought in mind, Ange said, "Nurse Joy, could you take me to see that batch of Mental Herbs?"
"Huh?" Nurse Joy was startled upon hearing this, "Do you have an idea?"
Ange said, "If possible, I'd like to buy them to roast and brew into tea. Making medicine requires high quality from Mental Herbs, but we food preparers don't have quite as many strict requirements."
Nurse Joy said in surprise, "Mental Herbs can be used to brew tea?"
Ange smiled, "That's right, my own exclusive secret recipe."
Nurse Joy was amused by Ange, "Alright then! If you can really make use of them, you'll be doing me a huge favor!"
With that, Nurse Joy led Ange to the Pokémon Center's specialized storage room for medicinal ingredients.
Entering the storage room, Ange saw rows upon rows of shelves inside, holding all sorts of medicinal ingredients stored in boxes or cases.
For example, Arbok's shed skin, Parasect's spores, fallen leaves from Chikorita's head, and so on... Every single item was properly preserved.
As Nurse Joy led Ange further inside, she spoke with a heartbroken expression:
"Every single ingredient here is very difficult to collect. I went through a lot of trouble to preserve them, but I never expected the Mental Herbs to get eaten by bugs anyway."
Ange said, "Mental Herbs are naturally prone to attracting bugs, it's just one of those things."
Arriving at the inner room of the warehouse, Ange saw several wooden crates neatly stacked with layers of blue and white leaves.
They were indeed Mental Herbs.
Because of the Mental Herbs, the air in the warehouse was filled with a faint, refreshing fragrance that was soothing and exceptionally pleasant.
Nurse Joy pointed to two of the crates and said, "Those are the damaged Mental Herbs."
Ange walked over and took a look, indeed seeing quite a few round holes on the palm-sized leaves.
Even though these Mental Herbs had been infested by bugs, they had still been stacked neatly by Nurse Joy.
Ange picked up a Mental Herb to examine it and found that the bug damage was lighter than he had imagined.
He flipped through further down and discovered that the ones most heavily damaged by bugs had all been placed right at the top by Nurse Joy, while the condition further down wasn't actually very serious.
"How is it?" Nurse Joy asked, "Can they be used?"
Ange nodded, "They can be used. Nurse Joy, sell these Mental Herbs to me!"
Nurse Joy said happily, "That's great, as long as they're usable! What are you talking about buying them, I'll just give them all to you!"
Ange quickly said, "That won't do!"
Nurse Joy put on a stern face and said, "What do you mean it won't do? If it weren't for you, who knows what state the Pokémon Center would be in right now. Just take these Mental Herbs as my token of gratitude!"
Ange shook "That's two different things, and besides, these Mental Herbs are public assets, right? If you give them to me for free, you'll have to pay out of pocket to make up for the loss."
Although the owners of each Pokémon Center were Nurse Joys, they were ultimately public facilities of the League, and the assets within them belonged to the League as well.
Nurse Joy said, "This loss was caused by my own mistake to begin with. Even if I didn't give them to you, they'd have to be disposed of. I was only hesitating out of heartache before.
If you don't accept them, I'm going to get mad."
Ange hesitated, "But Mental Herbs are very expensive. If I just take them for nothing..."
Nurse Joy glared at Ange with wide, round eyes and said, "I'm giving them to you, so just take them. Why are you acting all fussy?"
Seeing how persistent Nurse Joy was, Ange said helplessly, "Alright, alright, then I'll accept them shamelessly."
"That's more like it!" A smile finally bloomed on Nurse Joy's face.
After putting the two crates of Mental Herbs into his backpack, Ange asked again, "Nurse Joy, do you know where I can buy Power Herbs and White Herbs? I'd like to get some."
Since he needed them in large quantities, buying them from a general Pokémon shop wasn't quite ideal; it was better to purchase them directly from the source.
Since the Pokémon Center regularly bought Mental Herbs in bulk, they naturally knew the source.
Places that sold Mental Herbs were also much more likely to sell Power Herbs and White Herbs.
"Of course I know that!" Nurse Joy replied playfully, "I certainly wouldn't tell just anyone, but since the one asking is Ange, I'll tell you everything I know without holding anything back."
"Then many thanks to the beautiful and kind-hearted Nurse Joy!" Ange played along with her words.
Nurse Joy giggled brightly at Ange's remark.
"West of our Anistar City, there's a place called Herb Village. Generation after generation there has made a living cultivating herbs, and the quality of the herbs they grow is extremely high. That's where we source our Mental Herbs from."
With that, Nurse Joy sent the location of Herb Village to Ange.
Looking at it, Ange thought to himself: Isn't this right on his way back to Azoth? Perfect, he could drop by and take a look on the return trip.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy, you've been a huge help!"
"It's nothing, as long as it helps you," Nurse Joy said.
After learning a bit more about Herb Village from Nurse Joy, Ange returned to the hospital room.
By this time, Salamence had eaten its fill and was lazily sprawled out on the floor.
Seeing Ange walk in, the Pokémon in the room all turned their gazes toward him simultaneously.
Ange smiled and said, "Glaceon's injuries have fully recovered, and Salamence is awake too. It's time for us to head back to Azoth."
"Woo~"
"Woo~"
Latias and Latios were the first to fly over to Ange's side in agreement.
Though their stay on the Nebel Plateau hadn't been long, even this brief period away had already made them miss everything back there.
Although they had been curious about the outside world previously, after experiencing it firsthand, they still felt that staying on the Nebel Plateau was much more comfortable.
Gardevoir and Gallade likewise expressed that they greatly missed everyone at home and wondered if everyone had been eating properly.
Salamence and Glaceon expressed their anticipation for going to Ange's place.
Even Floette and Flabébé felt a quiet sense of anticipation in their hearts for this new "adventure land."
Having stayed in the Allearth Forest since birth without ever witnessing the outside world, curiosity naturally arose within them.
Only Lilligant showed no particular reaction; it had come to the human world to search for Xiao Chen, and right now its mind was completely occupied with that, leaving it with zero heart to consider anything else.
With the decision to return made, Ange set off with his Pokémon that very afternoon.
Before leaving, he also went to the Anistar Gym to say goodbye to Ms. Olympia.