As time passed, the sky grew increasingly gloomy. Not long after Lucas and the others arrived home, a downpour began.
Standing at the doorway, Lucas gazed at the rain-blurred landscape and remarked, "I didn't expect such heavy rain this late into autumn."
Just then, Diancie walked over and said, "Nebel Plateau has a unique terrain, so its weather differs from other places. Moreover, according to other Pokémon, a special Pokémon lives here that keeps Nebel Plateau in perpetual spring most of the time."
As she spoke, Diancie draped a coat over Lucas's shoulders. With the rain, the temperature had dropped, and she worried he might fall ill again.
Although Lucas's body was gradually becoming stronger with the increase in his Constitution points, he only had a few points right now, so precautions remained necessary.
Lucas was indeed feeling chilled. He pulled the coat tighter around himself and asked, "A special Pokémon? What kind of special Pokémon?"
Diancie shook her head. "I don't know. I've only heard everyone say that it's because of that Pokémon's protection that everyone on Nebel Plateau can live without worries."
"I see..." Lucas mused. "I hope I'll have the chance to meet it." After all, he was now a part of Nebel Plateau.
"There should be an opportunity," Diancie said with a smile.
"I hope it won't dislike me."
"It definitely won't."
"Let's go inside; the rain is getting heavier." After standing at the doorway for a while, Lucas noticed raindrops splashing at his feet and the air becoming increasingly humid.
Diancie, being a Rock-type Pokémon, naturally disliked water, so she nodded and went inside with Lucas.
The rain continued relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping even as night fell.
In the evening, Lucas and Munchlax steamed buns, made a cold lotus root salad, and cooked a pot of soup. Then, they sat around the table with Diancie, Komala, and Vivillon for dinner.
The Dugtrio brothers remained underground, each with three bowls in front of them: one filled with steamed buns, one with cold lotus root salad, and one with soup.
Warm lamplight shone down, the aroma of food filled the air, and everyone chatted as they ate, feeling warm both in body and spirit.
"Toto~ Toto~" Help! Emergency!
However, just as everyone was halfway through their meal, a series of urgent cries came from outside the door. Lucas quickly went to investigate, and Munchlax, seeing this, jumped off its chair and hurriedly followed its trainer.
When Lucas reached the door, he saw a large puddle of water with a Totodile standing in it, carrying a Swablu on its back.
"What happened?"
Seeing the Swablu drenched in water, Lucas was alarmed and immediately stepped forward to take the Swablu from Totodile's back.
But Totodile seemed afraid of Lucas. When it saw him approaching, it jumped away as if it had springs on its feet.
Seeing this, Munchlax immediately stepped forward, replacing Lucas in taking the Swablu. This time, Totodile didn't mind Munchlax's approach and obediently handed the Swablu over.
Lucas quickly took the Swablu from Munchlax and hurried inside.
"Diancie, Diancie!" Lucas called anxiously. "Quick, bring a dry towel."
"Okay~ I'm on it," Diancie replied and quickly ran into the bathroom, returning shortly with a bath towel.
"What happened?" Diancie asked as she handed the towel to Lucas.
"I don't know either," Lucas shook his head, quickly using the towel to dry the Swablu's body.
As he wiped, the Swablu slowly regained consciousness. It looked around blankly at first, but when it recognized Lucas and Diancie, it immediately began chirping excitedly.
"Blu~ Blu~~" Please help my parents!
After Diancie translated, Lucas learned that the Swablu wanted him to help its parents.
The rain was too heavy, and the Swablu family's nest had been washed away. Once these Pokémon's feathers got wet, it became extremely difficult for them to fly.
If Totodile hadn't passed by and rescued the Swablu from the ground, who knows what would have happened to it!
"Okay, okay, I'll go right now, don't worry," Lucas replied readily after hearing the Swablu's plea.
But Diancie said with a worried expression, "It's raining so hard. Are you sure you should go? What if you get sick again?"
"I can't worry about that now," Lucas shook his head. "I can't let you go, and I wouldn't feel right letting Munchlax go alone."
"But..." Diancie still felt uneasy.
"Don't worry," Lucas said to her with a smile. "My body is much stronger now; I'm not as fragile as you think."
Seeing that she couldn't dissuade Lucas, Diancie had no choice but to agree. She took the Swablu from Lucas's arms. "Then come back quickly."
"I will."
With that, Lucas took Munchlax to put on raincoats and rain boots, and then found a flashlight from home. He came to the door and asked Totodile, who was peeking into the house, "Totodile, could you please take me to find Swablu's parents?"
Totodile hesitated for a moment but finally nodded gently, then quickly ran into the rain. As a Water-type Pokémon, it could naturally move freely in the rain.
Seeing this, Lucas put the flashlight inside his raincoat and chased after Totodile with Munchlax. His raincoat was transparent, so the flashlight could still illuminate the path ahead.
The night was pitch black, the rain poured down relentlessly, and a strong wind was blowing, making the empty plateau look particularly foreboding.
Lucas and Munchlax ran across the wet grass, feeling somewhat apprehensive, especially Munchlax. Its short legs were almost spinning like windmills, and it didn't dare distance itself from its trainer at all.
"Munch~ Munch~" Slow down! It's scary out here!
Crossing the grass and bushes, Lucas was led by Totodile to the edge of a cliff. With the flashlight, he saw a large tree lying in a puddle at the bottom of the cliff, with a shattered bird's nest beside it.
Undoubtedly, this must be Swablu's original home.
The Swablu family's nest had a very special structure, woven from branches and dry grass, like a small house. If it were intact, it would certainly have withstood the wind and rain.
But alas...
The tree that supported the nest had originally grown halfway up the cliff, but the rain was too heavy, causing part of the cliff to collapse, bringing the tree down with it.
Lucas searched around but couldn't find Swablu's parents, so he, Munchlax, and Totodile split up and searched further afield.
"Altaria!"
"Altaria!"
Lucas shouted loudly in the rainy night, but his voice was dampened by the rain and couldn't travel far.
"Altaria!"
"Altaria!"
In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed. Lucas still hadn't managed to find any trace of the two Altaria. Even though he was wearing a raincoat and hadn't gotten wet, he couldn't help but feel a slight chill creeping into his bones.
"Toto~ Toto~~" I found them! Over here!
Just then, Totodile came running over, excitedly shouting towards Lucas.
"Totodile, did you find the Altaria?" Lucas asked hopefully.
"Toto~ Toto~" Yes! Follow me!
Totodile nodded repeatedly.
"That's great, let's go."
Lucas followed Totodile and quickly found the Altaria couple.
"Taria~ Taria~" Help us...
A weak sound came from a clump of bushes. Lucas walked closer and saw the couple huddled inside, drenched, with two large leaves covering them.
But no matter how large the leaves were, how could they possibly keep out the fierce wind and rain?
The father Altaria had already fainted. The mother struggled to lift her head and glanced at Lucas, as if asking how their child was doing.
It was she who had asked Totodile to carry Swablu on its back to find Lucas.
"Don't worry, Swablu is safe!" Lucas told the mother Altaria loudly.
Hearing this, the mother Altaria seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, her head drooping weakly to the ground.
Lucas reached out to lift her, but she used her last bit of strength to resist. She didn't want help from humans.
Lucas couldn't take it anymore and firmly said: "Are you still going to be stubborn at a time like this? Your safety is one thing, but what about your mate? Can you bear to see him freeze? And what would happen to Swablu if something happened to both of you? It's still so young—how would it survive?"
Hearing this, the mother Altaria looked at her unconscious mate and finally stopped resisting.
Lucas said to Totodile: "Totodile, could you please help me find Munchlax?" As he spoke, he draped the two extra raincoats he had brought over the Altaria couple.
"Toto~ Toto~" I'll find him right away!
Totodile nodded and quickly disappeared into the rain.
Soon, Totodile successfully found Munchlax and brought it back. As soon as Munchlax saw Lucas, it immediately burst into tears and jumped into his arms.
"Munch~ Munch~~" I was so scared, Lucas!
When searching for the Altaria couple alone, Munchlax had been terrified, but to avoid delaying the rescue, it had forced itself to remain composed.
Now that they had successfully found the Altaria couple, it could finally release its pent-up emotions.
"You've been very brave. Let's go home now." Lucas patted Munchlax's back comfortingly.
"Munch~ Munch~~" Yes, let's hurry!
Munchlax nodded obediently.
Then, Lucas and Munchlax each carried one of the Altaria parents and ran towards home.
Before leaving, Lucas had wanted to call for Totodile, but when he turned his head, he found that Totodile had already disappeared.
When Lucas and Munchlax brought the Altaria couple home, Diancie was pacing anxiously at the door while holding Swablu.
Seeing the figures of trainer and Pokémon in the rain, Swablu was the first to call out.
"Blu~ Blu~~" They're back! They found my parents!
Diancie quickly handed the towels she had prepared in advance to Lucas and Munchlax.
"Let's go inside first," Lucas said, and used the towels with Munchlax to wrap up the couple.
"Blu~~ Blu~~~" Will they be okay?
Swablu looked worriedly at its unconscious parents. Seeing this, Lucas comforted it, "Don't worry, your mom and dad will be fine."
After Lucas and Munchlax set down the Altaria, Diancie helped them remove their raincoats while saying: "Leave the Altaria to me. You two go take a hot shower first to avoid getting sick."
Hearing this, Vivillon on the side also quickly came over to help Diancie. As for the Dugtrio brothers, since they didn't have hands, they could only watch.
Lucas didn't stand on ceremony and handed the Altaria couple over to Diancie and Vivillon, then immediately took Munchlax to shower.
When trainer and Pokémon finished their shower and came downstairs, they saw that the Altaria couple had already regained consciousness. Diancie had helped them dry their feathers with a hairdryer. Their wet plumage had become white and fluffy again.
Now the family of three was huddled together, warming each other while eating the food that Diancie had prepared for them.
After enduring such a harrowing night, even the stubborn mother Altaria could no longer refuse the food offered by Lucas.
Besides, she reasoned that since she already owed Lucas one debt of gratitude, what was one more?
+200
+200
+200
At this moment, being able to eat warm food was truly an explosion of happiness for the Altaria family, so Lucas's Happiness Points directly increased by 600.
Seeing Lucas come downstairs, Swablu immediately flew happily from between its parents, plunged into Lucas's arms, and thanked him while nestling affectionately.
Lucas gently stroked its feathers and asked: "How do you feel? Does anything hurt?"
"Blu~ Blu~" I'm fine now, thanks to you!
Swablu shook its head. After having its feathers dried and eating warm food, it had completely recovered its strength.
"I'm glad you're okay," Lucas said with a smile.
The father Altaria also stood up at this time and frankly thanked Lucas. Although the mother Altaria's expression remained somewhat stern, she finally showed no further rejection toward Lucas.
She still possessed a grateful heart.
"Taria~ Taria~~" I will definitely repay this kindness.
Diancie translated the mother Altaria's words to Lucas.
Lucas didn't say much, only nodded and agreed with a smile: "Okay, then I'll look forward to it."
Hearing this, the burden visible on the mother Altaria's face immediately lightened considerably.
"Please continue eating. Stay here tonight and don't worry about anything else," Lucas added.
The father Altaria and Swablu nodded in unison.
After dinner, Diancie prepared rooms for the Altaria family, as well as Vivillon and the Dugtrio brothers, allowing them to rest. As for Lucas and Munchlax, they still went to the training room for their usual one-hour session before going to sleep.
Lucas crawled into his warm bed, just about to turn off the lights and drift off when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it? Come in."
"Munch~~ Munch~~~" Lucas, can I sleep with you tonight?
Creak~~ The door opened gently, and Munchlax, wearing a sleeping cap, poked its head in and asked plaintively.
"You want to sleep with me?" Lucas asked.
"Munch~~ Munch~~" Please? I'm still a little scared.
Munchlax nodded repeatedly.
"Okay then, come over quickly."
Lucas agreed readily, patting the spot next to him on the bed.
"Munch~~~" Thank you!
Munchlax cheered, grabbed its pillow, and ran to Lucas's bed in a flash, nimbly crawling under the covers.
Seeing Munchlax's happy expression, Lucas shook his head with a smile. "Good night, Munchlax."
"Munch~~" Good night, Lucas.
Click
The light was turned off. Lucas had just laid down when he noticed Munchlax moving closer to him, so he silently extended an arm and placed it on its soft belly. Munchlax took the opportunity to hug it.
"Munch~~ Munch~~~" Snore... snore...
Before long, the darkened room was filled with Munchlax's reassuring snores.