Chapter 265: New Mother Serperior, Pipa and Mudan Come to Challenge

Luo Mu wanted to let out a cry of surprise but feared the sound might scare them, so he could only lower his voice and call out, "Applin, Tropius!"

Applin truly looked like a slightly larger apple, while Tropius, compared to its kin capable of carrying people, stood at a mere estimated height of about one meter.

Yet, compared to the Applin beside it, this height of Tropius could still be considered gigantic.

However, now that these two newborn Pokémon with such vastly different sizes had hatched, their reactions were surprisingly synchronized.

"Waaah!"

Two wails that seemed capable of piercing eardrums rang out, making Luo Mu and the Pokémon present feel as though they had entered hell.

The sound waves brought by the baby Pokémon's cries could simply be called demonic noise piercing the ears, and it was a duet at that.

Fortunately, judging from the loudness of their cries, both newborn Pokémon were healthy children with no congenital diseases or weakness.

This also meant they urgently needed to replenish their energy and could only call for their caretakers through crying, just like human infants.

Serperior quickly extended vine whips from its collar to grab the baby bottle that Oranguru the butler had prepared long ago; filled with warm Moomoo Milk, it should be a fine meal for the newborn Pokémon.

Catching Moltres peeking through the window out of the corner of its eye, Serperior felt a bit nervous deep down but still mimicked the method of caring for newborn Pokémon, placing the nipple in front of the two.

Under the tense gazes of the Pokémon present, the little Tropius's crying paused; it sniffed the bottle with its nose, its already-open eyes lit up, and showing no fear despite being the focus of many gazes, it happily began drinking the Moomoo Milk.

Everyone simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

On the other side, Applin became the focus of attention once again.

Applin's tiny eyes looked at the bottle emitting a sweet scent; its crying paused for just an instant before resuming, even louder than before.

Serperior was immediately at a loss for what to do.

Luo Mu was stunned, as if remembering something, and his gaze fell upon Applin's apple shell, which was clearly something Applin had brought with it upon hatching.

In a certain sense, Applin was just like a hermit crab, living inside an apple!

He had specifically looked up information on Applin before, remembering that their food was generally the flesh of the apple they inhabited, but the apple shell it currently possessed clearly contained no flesh and was empty, which made it extremely uneasy.

Because, an apple shell in this state was very likely to shatter at the slightest touch!

Luo Mu looked around, his gaze landing on the fruit basket placed by Oranguru on the living room table in the distance, where several fresh apples rested.

Luo Mu looked at Oranguru, and under the effect of telepathy, no words were needed; Oranguru waved its leaf-fan, a beam of psychic power accurately descended upon the fruit plate, and an apple, no smaller than the shell Applin currently inhabited, flew over and gently landed beside Applin.

Under the bewildered gazes of Serperior and the other Pokémon, Applin's crying stopped instantly.

It first cautiously poked two eyes out from the apple to glance at the surrounding environment, and the tail behind the apple retracted as well.

Just as the Pokémon thought Applin was hiding and unwilling to show itself, a green afterimage suddenly darted out from the apple; accompanied by dense gnawing sounds, in the blink of an eye, Applin had changed its "house"!

Wrapped by plump flesh, Applin seemed to finally have a sense of security; when Serperior inserted the nipple and aligned it with the hole in the apple, the Applin inside began to suckle.

Unfortunately, Applin's size was relatively small, or perhaps because it had eaten some apple flesh earlier, it was full after drinking less than one-fifth of the Moomoo Milk.

Meanwhile, the one-meter-tall baby Tropius nearby drank directly three bottles of Moomoo Milk, their appetites presenting a stark contrast.

Just like with Growlithe back then, after eating and drinking their fill, the two newborn Pokémon, having expended considerable energy during hatching, fell into a deep sleep, and Serperior took the opportunity to plan a slight cleaning of their bodies.

Wetting a Mao Jin in warm water and wringing it dry, the vines acted just like Serperior's arms, obeying commands perfectly, capable of performing all sorts of actions that usually required fingers.

Originally, Luo Mu had planned to bathe them himself, but Serperior directly took over these tasks; it had been the same when the Pokémon Eggs hatched earlier, and Luo Mu noticed something unusual.

But he dared not ask, so he could only attribute it to Serperior's competitiveness at play, intending to challenge being a mother just like Moltres.

Sigh... a tsundere snake becoming a mother; Luo Mu always had a premonition of something ominous.

On the other side, Feng Su Gou watched Serperior caring for the newborn Pokémon with a novel expression; memories of its childhood surfaced, and it suddenly felt a bit like going to act spoiled towards Moltres...

The birth of two new lives injected brand-new vitality into the farm, also leading Luo Mu to consider how to create environments suitable for their living.

As for the little Tropius, as long as there was a warm environment with grasslands and forests, it could live very well; the farm already satisfied its habitat conditions.

However, once winter arrived, Tropius, being a Pokémon with a four-times weakness to Ice, would fall ill due to being unaccustomed to the environment, at which point one would have to consider building a warm Pokémon house, or even establishing a greenhouse.

As for Applin, they liked living in trees; the farm had a small orchard composed of fifty fruit trees, and Applin should really like the environment there.

Even so, Luo Mu still planned to purchase a batch of high-quality apple trees or saplings; in the future, Applin would definitely consume quite a few apples, and growing them oneself would be more reassuring than buying them from outside.

After helping the flustered Serperior finish handling all matters regarding the care of the two newborn Pokémon, Luo Mu, seen off by Oranguru, mounted Dragonite and flew towards Grandma Ju Zi Academy.

This trip was for nothing else, purely for work.

With only twenty-some days left until the end of May, he had to quickly pull together a team capable of engaging in double battles against the students of Blueberry Academy.

Geeta's bonus money, he was determined to get it!

By the time Luo Mu arrived at Grandma Ju Zi Academy, two girls had already been waiting for him on the playground for quite some time.

"Fee~"

A cute-looking Sylveon with a sweet cry called out in Luo Mu's direction; the two girls, keeping a certain distance from each other with slightly awkward expressions, turned their heads together, looking at Luo Mu as if they had seen a savior.

"Teacher Luo Mu!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Pipa and Mudan."

Looking at the two girls before him, Luo Mu felt quite emotional deep down; in the original timeline, Mudan, the true boss of Team Star, and Pipa, the boss of the Fighting Crew, would have been strangers to each other's existence at this time.

Pipa's personality was inherently good, one could even say gentle in a way that didn't match her tall stature, so this awkward atmosphere was likely caused by Mudan, who had social anxiety, wanting to keep her distance.

This barrier couldn't be changed merely by his words; it would depend on how the two got along subsequently.

That's right, Luo Mu planned to form Pipa and Mudan into a double battle team; although Pipa specialized in Fighting-type and Mudan in Eevee-type, ensuring good coordination was enough given their current strength, and focusing too much on types and lineup composition would instead be rather rigid.

Though the atmosphere between the two, who would become "comrades-in-arms" in the future, was currently awkward, Luo Mu felt they might perhaps become partners with great tacit understanding.

Without saying any nonsense or feeding them any chicken soup for the soul, Luo Mu stated directly, "You two should know what needs to be done today, right?"

Pipa glanced at Mudan, but Mudan dared not meet her gaze; Pipa sighed lightly, knowing this classmate seemed a bit afraid of strangers, so she answered on behalf of both herself and Mudan, "We are to engage in a double battle with you, Teacher, to determine if we are worthy of your personal instruction."

Pipa was among the earliest batch of students to know Luo Mu's strength, but ever since that Meng Lei Gu's active performance, many students at Grandma Ju Zi Academy wanted to receive Luo Mu's guidance, and she also understood how rare this opportunity was.

Luo Mu nodded slightly: "That's correct, however, it won't be a double battle between me and you, but rather a double battle between me and the two of you!"

"Pipa, you and Mudan must form a team, become teammates, and then engage in a double battle with me."

Pipa: (⊙x⊙;)

Mudan: =( )

Both exclaimed in unison: "Huh!?"

Are we supposed to fight against Teacher Luo Mu?

Isn't this difficulty level somewhat beyond the standard?

Luo Mu chuckled: "Rest assured, I won't deploy my main forces; the ones fighting you are merely ordinary Pokémon raised on my farm."

Hearing this, Mu Dan patted her chest as if breathing a sigh of relief; fortunately, it was only against ordinary farm Pokémon, so they probably wouldn't be crushed too badly, and there might even be a chance of victory.

"Then, introduce yourselves to each other and work on your coordination first; in ten minutes, we will proceed with a double battle. I don't require you to win; just give me a performance that catches my eye."

Luo Mu waved his hand at the two, then sat smiling on a nearby bench with his eyes closed to rest, completely unconcerned about what the two would discuss.

The atmosphere fell silent once again.

Mu Dan had intended to make an effort to break this awkward atmosphere, but at that moment, Pi Pa revealed a gentle smile and said softly, "Classmate Mu Dan, if you aren't accustomed to it, you can listen to me speak first, okay?"

Mu Dan hesitated for an instant, then nodded gently.

Pi Pa asked again: "I am Pi Pa, a trainer specializing in Fighting-type Pokémon; my main Pokémon is Annihilape. What about you?"

Mu Dan took several deep breaths, suppressing her heartbeat that felt as though it were about to leap out of her chest, and said haltingly, "I am Mu Dan; I have no specialization, I like Eevee, and Sylveon is my partner."

"Fee~"

The Sylveon, wrapping its ribbons around Mu Dan's wrist, greeted Pi Pa on her behalf.

"Hello there, Sylveon~"

To avoid frightening the Sylveon with her height, Pi Pa squatted down and curled her body up as much as possible, kindly shaking hands with another ribbon extended by the Sylveon.

Watching Pi Pa interact with the Sylveon, a thought floated through Mu Dan's mind.

Classmate Pi Pa seems to be a very gentle person; indeed, one cannot judge a person by their appearance.

Ten minutes passed quickly; when Luo Mu opened his eyes, the relationship between Mu Dan and Pi Pa was no longer as stiff as it had been initially. Although some distance remained, they were clearly able to communicate now, at least ensuring they wouldn't interfere with each other during double battle coordination.

Arriving at a battle field, Luo Mu looked at Pi Pa and asked, "Classmate Pi Pa, if I recall correctly, your Mankey evolved into Annihilape within the last half-month, correct?"

Pi Pa nodded: "Yes, Teacher."

Luo Mu's gaze then fell upon the Sylveon beside Mu Dan; considering he still didn't know how much power the Sylveon could exert, he had already formed an idea regarding which Pokémon to send out.

"Go, Meng Ya Lu!"

Two Poké Balls in Luo Mu's hand opened simultaneously, and two Meng Ya Lu appeared in the field of vision of Mu Dan and the others.

"Grass and Normal-type Pokémon... Although Annihilape's Ghost-type moves are ineffective against them, their proficient Normal-type moves also have no effect, plus they are weak to Fighting-types."

Mu Dan lowered her head and murmured her assessment softly.

Pi Pa glanced at her in surprise; Mu Dan's knowledge reserve seemed quite impressive.

Immediately afterward, the two also sent out their battling Pokémon.

"Annihilape!" "Sylveon!"

Annihilape is the evolved form of Mankey; its appearance hasn't changed much, except it has grown a head of unruly Bai Mao, its eyes have turned completely red, and the skin color of its limbs has become iron-gray.

Pi Pa always believed in an offense-as-defense fighting style; she turned her right hand into a blade and chopped downward, shouting with full vigor, "Brick Break!"

The Annihilape leaped high, turning its hand into a blade, and targeted the female Meng Ya Lu, whose build was smaller compared to the male Meng Ya Lu, launching an attack!

At this moment, Mu Dan also temporarily entered the battle state; she quickly analyzed Pi Pa's fighting style and pondered in her heart what she should do now...

Right now, she should provide cover!

Mu Dan pushed up her glasses and shouted, "Disarming Voice, hinder the male Meng Ya Lu's movements!"

The Sylveon responded with extreme speed; musical notes and hearts manifested from Fairy energy immediately surged toward the male Meng Ya Lu, hindering its attempt to step forward and shield the female Meng Ya Lu.

Seeing that their first coordinated double battle already demonstrated a method of not interfering with each other while providing mutual assistance, Luo Mu's eyes brightened slightly.

His guess might be correct; these two truly could become excellent partners!

However, he would not sit idly by and await defeat.

Luo Mu lowered his eyelids and chuckled softly: "Zen Headbutt."

At the very instant the Annihilape utilized its falling momentum to execute Brick Break, the long horns of the female Meng Ya Lu emitted a faint pink glow; without the slightest fear of the Annihilape's ferocious aura, it charged directly forward for a head-on collision!

A shockwave rippled outward; the female Meng Ya Lu, feeling slightly dazed in the head, took a step back; it was indeed somewhat unaccustomed to battling power-type opponents like the Annihilape.

Having gained the upper hand with one strike, both the Annihilape and Pi Pa intended to press their advantage and began preparing for a second attack.

This time, it was a high-power Fighting-type move—Cross Chop!

The Annihilape crossed its hands, dense Fighting-type energy covering them; just as it intended to chop down at the female Meng Ya Lu, the flow of energy suddenly interrupted, and the Annihilape's movement froze in place.

Pi Pa's smile stiffened; she didn't understand what exactly had happened.

Meanwhile, the male Meng Ya Lu also broke free from the Sylveon's Disarming Voice; ignoring the battle on the female Meng Ya Lu's side, it lowered its head and charged directly at the Sylveon.

Luo Mu's voice sounded accordingly: "Zen Headbutt."

Boom—!

Boom—!

Under the stunned expressions of Mu Dan and Pi Pa, both the Sylveon and the Annihilape were fiercely knocked to the ground by the two Meng Ya Lu using Zen Headbutt, completely unable to resist; they tried to get up, but due to bodily stiffness, they could not move at all.

In the blink of an eye, the Annihilape and Sylveon had suffered multiple attacks from the two Meng Ya Lu, possessing no power to fight back.

Luo Mu had not forgotten his duties as a teacher; he chuckled once and spoke: "The Ability 'Serene Grace'; this is the Ability of these two Meng Ya Lu."

"Hmm... you can understand it as them having received heaven's grace, meaning their luck is very, very good; thanks to this, when Meng Ya Lu use certain moves, unexpected effects occur."

"For instance, with the current 'Zen Headbutt,' a move that gathers thoughts on the head or horns to attack, there is a certain probability of causing the 'flinch' status."

"Earlier, I was worried that the Annihilape's Ability might be 'Inner Focus' and the Sylveon's Ability might be 'Cute Charm'; now it seems luck is indeed on our side."

(End of Chapter)