Chapter 191: The Growlithe's Final Assessment

After seeing Miss Miss Junsha off, Luo Mu remained somewhat worried about the progress of her investigation.

With limited clues and an opponent who seemed extremely knowledgeable about humans yet managed to leave no traces for a professional officer like Miss Miss Junsha to find, Luo Mu was not optimistic about her ability to solve the case in a short time.

After a moment's thought, he decided it was time for his own barely-existent golden finger to shine and contribute; pondering briefly, Luo Mu spoke within his mind: "Clues, got it?"

【...】

【Hint: Perhaps on the night four days from now, that small black shadow will visit your farm once again.】

"A riddler?"

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow but did not press for further details.

Based on the system's hint, he could roughly deduce a few points.

First, the culprit was likely lying low at the moment; searching for them without decisive clues would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Second, since the system had stated the opponent would reappear in four days, all he needed to do was strengthen his nighttime defenses and wait patiently without startling the snake.

Since rushing would not help, his only option was to wait patiently for the bait to be taken, and then let the truth come to light.

Luo Mu could not understand; at the very least, his farm should not have offended any Poison-type Pokémon, except for that Skuntank which had attacked Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others.

The reason why the opponent would poison the farm's crops baffled him.

The next day, Luo Mu was awakened early in the morning by a wet sensation.

Opening his eyes, unsurprisingly, he found an excited Growlithe licking his face with its slobbery tongue.

Luo Mu did not blame the Growlithe; after all, this child had been looking forward to today for a long time, so such excitement was only natural.

Once the final "graduation assessment" was completed, Luo Mu had confirmed that the Growlithe would fully qualify for evolution; he would have the Moltres he had prepared long ago take them to a certain volcano, allowing the Growlithe to undergo its initial and ultimate evolution through "magma energy" rather than a "Fire Stone," becoming a legendary Pokémon galloping across the earth.

Yawning, Luo Mu picked up the Growlithe, vigorously rubbed its head for a while, and smiled: "It seems you are ready; then let's make our preparations and set off."

"Wang Wang!"

The Growlithe's tail wagged even more happily.

After washing up and finishing breakfast, the neatly dressed Luo Mu recalled the Growlithe, mounted his Dragonite, and flew out of the farm under the gaze of many Pokémon.

"Jialuo?" (Are you very worried?)

The Serperior glanced at the Moltres, whose expression was hard to read, and suddenly spoke.

The Moltres shook its head: "Li." (I have already taught it everything it can learn; from here on, it depends on itself.)

On the other side, riding high in the sky atop the Dragonite with the howling wind in his ears, Luo Mu patted the Dragonite and asked: "Are you sure that Pokémon you discovered yesterday lurking near the Terastal crystal is suitable for the Growlithe to fight?"

"Bo wu~"

The Dragonite did not even turn its head, its tone extremely certain.

It had observed for quite a while; that Pokémon's strength was similar to the Growlithe's, and aside from its type having just a tiny bit of advantage over the Growlithe, there were no problems.

Luo Mu: "..."

What should he do? He was already starting to worry about whether the Growlithe could defeat that wild Terastallized Pokémon.

The Dragonite flew very fast; shortly after, an uninhabited beach appeared in Luo Mu's field of vision, and in the center of the beach stood a Terastal crystal emitting sparkling crystalline light.

Because this was a desolate wilderness, the Terastal crystal, which would usually be cleared away quickly, had been left here untouched; thanks to this, Luo Mu had the opportunity to let the Growlithe undergo a rare real battle.

Fixing his gaze on the Pokémon pacing on the beach, Luo Mi narrowed his eyes slightly.

That Pokémon possessed a massive right claw, its entire body encased in blue carapace, with long yellow antennae growing on both sides of the claw.

Despite having such a huge claw, the Pokémon's main body was very small, looking just like a curled-up little shrimp.

It was a Clauncher, a pure Water-type Pokémon.

The Clauncher's entire body was covered in a crystal-like luster, clearly indicating it had entered a Terastallized state; moreover, judging by the splash-shaped Terastal Wang Guan on its head, its Terastal type was... Terastal Water!

Luo Mu laughed helplessly: "Haha... you really found a strong opponent for the Growlithe."

All Claunchers have only one Ability—Mega Launcher.

This is the same Ability as a Mega-Evolved Blastoise; it strengthens pulse and aura moves by fifty percent, such as Dragon Pulse, Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, or Aura Sphere, making it an extremely powerful offensive Ability.

Coupled with the Clauncher's Terastal Water type, its power would likely increase to an unimaginable degree.

"Bo wu?"

Hovering in the air, the Dragonite looked utterly innocent; anyway, since the Growlithe usually hung out with the Moltres, wouldn't it be no good if it didn't face some challenges?

"You bad fellow, I'll settle the score with you when we get back."

Luo Mu tapped the Dragonite's head neither lightly nor heavily and directed it to land.

Before the Dragonite could even land, the Clauncher on the beach seemed to detect their presence; terrifying water currents immediately gathered on its massive claws, and a huge pillar of water gushed out that was less like a Water Pulse and more like a water torrent.

"Bo wu~" (Giving you face~)

The Dragonite calmly dodged the Clauncher's attack, set Luo Mu down, ignored the Clauncher's warning cries, coated its twin claws in emerald fluorescence, and directly pinned the Clauncher with its massive dragon claws, rendering it immobile.

The Clauncher had been domineering on this beach for quite some time; confident upon detecting enemies entering its territory, it had chosen to attack, but this time it seemed to have kicked an iron plate.

Under the Dragonite's casual suppression, the Clauncher struggled desperately but could not break free from its restraint, falling into momentary despair.

"Cool~"

Luo Mu whistled, feeling that today's Dragonite was exceptionally domineering.

But he did not forget the main task; taking out a Poké Ball, he released the Growlithe and smiled: "Growlithe, this is your opponent; do you have confidence?"

The Growlithe first excitedly stuck its butt up and wagged its tail, very curious about the surrounding environment.

Then, the Growlithe discovered its enemy, that Clauncher being suppressed by the Dragonite.

Instantly, the Growlithe became even braver; after all, it usually had the upper hand when playing with the Dragonite, so dealing with a Clauncher casually suppressed by the Dragonite should be a piece of cake, right?

"Wang Wang!" (Sister Dragonite, quickly let it go and let Master Growlithe deal with it!)

The Growlithe shouted excitedly at the Dragonite, looking as if it intended to roast the Clauncher's blue carapace until it turned red.

Seeing the Growlithe couldn't wait to get beaten up, the Dragonite did not stop it; after releasing the Clauncher, it jumped directly behind Luo Mu, intending to watch the show.

Being outside without a computer to correct errors, please forgive any typos QAQ

(End of Chapter)