Chapter 279: Did My Mimikyu Catch a Victini for Me!?

A city built among the mountains, Eindeoc.

It is said that long ago, this was once a kingdom inhabited by the People of the Earth, and after countless ages of change.

After the seasons turned, the People of the Earth scattered across the world, and the number still residing within this city is now so few they can be counted on one's fingers, existing much like an ethnic minority.

Walking along roads lined with lush green trees, a town decorated with lanterns and festive banners, brimming with liveliness, came into view.

Tourists and residents walked along streets filled with small stalls, many of them families who had specifically come to attend the Eindeoc Harvest Festival.

At this moment, Luo Mu had a Comfey atop his head, a Shuang Nai Xian standing on his right shoulder, a Mimikyu on his left, held a Vulpix in his arms, and was accompanied by a steady Luxray; since they had come to participate in the festival, it was only natural to let his accompanying Pokémon enjoy this lively atmosphere as well.

Their combination attracted the gaze of passersby more than once, with children running past giggling to ask Luo Mu, "Big brother, aren't you tired carrying so many Pokémon?"

Jiang Ta shook her head: "It's fine; that place is the mayor's orchard. No one is there at this hour, only some Pokémon. You can go there to change your clothes and pants before coming back, and I'll mention it to him then."

Because bringing too many Pokémon would block the road, the Pokémon accompanying him switched from Luxray to Swampert, from Swampert to Dragonite, then from Dragonite to Cang Yan Ren Gui and Serperior, and finally back to Luxray; only then did the four of them—Hearing Nimo and the others, who had been scattered throughout the festival gathering intelligence—regroup.

After Jiang Ta departed, Luo Mu changed his clothes beneath a fruit tree; the Luxray lying nearby to guard him twitched its ears, its keen senses detecting the sound of flowing water not far away, which it presumed must be the fountain belonging to the owner of the castle above.

Isn't this... Victini?

"What kind of Pokémon is this?"

After discussing with the few others, they looked toward the stairs leading to that giant castle named Sword of the Earth, planning to go over there to search.

Victini, in its invisible state, watched those foods with shining eyes, drool at the corner of its mouth nearly unstoppable.

If there were some fireflies too, spending a summer night watching them, listening to the cicadas sing, and tasting watermelon together with the farm's Pokémon, that flavor and atmosphere would surely be wonderful.

Shuang Nai Xian's action of drizzling cream paused abruptly, Comfey's vines halted mid-air, and the Poffin held in the mouth of the Vulpix, whose mouth was full of cream, dropped as it opened its mouth in shock; the Poffin and cream fell onto the ground covered in dust and dirt, making Victini look on with a heartbroken expression.

As they ascended the stairs, Luo Mu instructed the Shuang Nai Xian on his right shoulder, which was happily eating a candied hawthorn skewer: "Hold it steady; I have nowhere to change clothes around here."

By the pond not far from the orchard, a small, cream-colored Pokémon sitting atop a windmill, bored and shaking its legs, twitched its nose, smelling the rich, sweet scent in the air, and its large blue eyes lit up!

Its name is Victini, a Pokémon residing in this region.

It was ultimately Hearing Nimo who helped the vendor chase away a Starly attempting to snatch the Berries from the stall, and only then did they learn from the vendor where Jiang Ta might be setting up her stall.

Meanwhile, from the perspective of Vulpix and the others, Victini was simply hovering in mid-air on its own, pretending to struggle, which looked quite abstract.

Arriving at the small stall, Luo Mu's gaze fell upon the merchandise made in the image of those "unknown" Pokémon, and he wore an expression of surprise.

Asking a few passing People of the Earth for directions, and guided by their enthusiasm, Luo Mu looked around left and right before quickly locking his sight onto a stall displaying and hanging numerous pendants and ornaments, beside which stood quietly a large, tall Golett.

As soon as the box was opened, the distinctive aroma of Poffins spread out; under Vulpix's expectant gaze, Shuang Nai Xian aimed directly at the Poffin on Comfey's vine and drizzled it with freshly made sweet cream.

At that moment, a sudden whistling wind sound came from the air, and before Victini could react, it was caught squarely by a ghostly purple Shadow Claw that had appeared out of nowhere!

Eating and drinking all the way, and even playing the goldfish scooping game, Luo Mu didn't know why Shuang Nai Xian, Vulpix, and Comfey enjoyed playing this so much.

"Oh my, this is terrible."

【Because the mayor is also one of the People of the Earth, their stall locations are arranged on high terraces with fewer crowds and beautiful scenery; the items they sell are basically mostly ornaments representing Eindeoc, where wealthy young couples often go.】

Only now did Victini realize that the empty spot it had thought was there was actually occupied by a Pokémon resembling a ragdoll!

Before the other party moved to grab it, it had completely failed to notice; this was an invisible entity even more skilled than Victini itself!

Drawing such a conclusion, Victini exerted all its strength to struggle, but those Shadow Claws were like an immovable Dashan, without even a slight tremor.

While the Shuang Nai Xian on his shoulder was eating the candied hawthorn skewer, one of the skewers, half-bitten by it, wobbled, and the semi-melted sugar coating directly drew an extremely long streak across Luo Mu's shirt and pants.

"Mafu... Mafu."

Jiang Ta sized up Hearing Nimo and the others, and especially when her gaze lingered on Luo Mu, Jiang Ta even felt as though she had seen him just a few days ago, which was very strange.

Behind the Golett, a slightly kind explanatory voice rang out.

"You are Ms. Jiang Ta, correct? Old Mr. Tron, the Warden of Freezer Town, asked us to bring this letter to you."

A deathly silence—

It was not until Peppa, with his big mouth, mentioned that the few of them had just left Blueberry Academy that Jiang Ta suddenly realized, pointing at Luo Mu in surprise: "Good heavens, could you be the person who defeated Champion Alder!?"

"My daughter even said that if she ever got the chance, she must have a Pokémon battle with you!"

She hadn't expected Old Mr. Tron to actually know her; the world truly is small.

Under Jiang Ta's guidance, Luo Mu brought Luxray and the others to an orchard filled with fruit trees; a few Berries still hung on the branches, huge watermelons grew on the ground, and some timid Petilil hid behind the watermelons to peek at Luo Mu and Luxray.

Oh right, they had come with a mission; they had almost forgotten!

"I see, so you come from the Paldea region? After such a long and tiring journey, you must be exhausted." Jiang Ta carefully put the letter away, evidently not planning to read it just yet; facing the gossiping expressions of Hearing Nimo and the others, she smiled gently, "This is no secret; it's just that back when I was young, Mr. Tron, who was undertaking a cross-region mission, once saved me."

Shuang Nai Xian hadn't heard clearly what Luo Mu was saying at all but nodded vigorously like a pestle pounding garlic; at this moment, its entire focus was on the candied hawthorn skewer before it; this sour-sweet and very crispy texture truly made the fairy unable to stop!

Soon, it saw the source of the scent: three Pokémon were gathered around a box, tasting some unknown round objects drizzled with cream.

Beside them, Luo Mu looked deeply at the middle-aged woman; if his memory served correctly, this woman should be that important supporting character among the People of the Earth from the movie.

"An orchard? Then I shall accept your kind offer."

Peppa leaned forward, curiously examining the wooden ornaments carved on the stall.

What are they doing, performing a mime act?

"What are you all doing?"

Looking at those watermelons, Luo Mu had already begun pondering whether he could plant some watermelons when returning to the farm; if one were to ask what pairs best with summer, besides shaved ice and ice cream, it must be watermelon.

Such a tiny Pokémon, yet it has two faces.

It being summer, his thin pants and shirt had become sticky from the syrup; Luo Mu wanted to change clothes, but the vicinity offered an extremely open view, without even a few large trees capable of blocking a person.

One could completely reference these delicacies that only appear during festivals to create new cakes!

After Shuang Nai Xian responded, Luo Mu then handed the candied hawthorn skewer he was holding, which was already half-eaten, to Vulpix's mouth; the little one began eating in small bites, its movements embodying the elegance of the Ninetales lineage, showing no trace of the wolf-like gulping it had displayed in the cave.

Facing Hearing Nimo and the others, whose ages were clearly not great, the middle-aged woman kindly did not flatly state that the probability of seeing Victini was zero, even though in the nearly thousand-year history of this town, the number of people who had seen Victini could be counted on one's fingers.

"This is the Victory Pokémon, Victini; it is said that it has resided in this town since long ago."

"Mafu~~"

Luo Mu found Jiang Ta's praise somewhat hard to bear and could only laugh it off with vague remarks; before he could say anything else, the thing he had been worrying about finally happened.

Shuang Nai Xian looked guilty and wanted to make amends, but its short little hands could do nothing; at this moment, it actually missed the time before it had evolved, when it could still fly.

When he saw the six-tailed fox and the Shuang Nai Xian stealing food, the accomplice Florges, and the cream-colored Pokémon inexplicably grabbed by Mimikyu, Luo Mu admitted his brain's CPU was about to burn out.

Peony found it difficult even to strike up conversations with strangers, and it wasn't feasible to open her portable microcomputer here to hack into the city's surveillance system; Penny and Momo had also asked many people but couldn't find out in which direction Ms. Jiang Ta of the Ground People was located within this city.

Hearing Hearing Nimo's eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "What a cute Pokémon; I really wish to see it with my own eyes!"

The middle-aged woman walked up to the stall, smiled, and said, "Few people get to see it with their own eyes, but these are the lively days of the Harvest Festival, so perhaps you might spot it somewhere?"

Glancing left and right, Victini pinpointed the obvious gap among the three Pokémon and, without a second thought, excitedly darted toward it, intending to use its most proficient skill—stealing food!

But, accompanied by a crisp "Bang!" sound, Victini sat dazed on the ground, unaware of what it had bumped into.

Thinking of this, Luo Mu supported the six-tailed fox with one hand; fortunately, the candied haws were already finished. He took a letter from his small carry-on bag and handed it to the woman under her surprised expression.

As for the Mimikyu holding up its Shadow Claw, it was directly overlooked by them unintentionally.

Covering her mouth, Jiang Ta quickly took several wet wipes from her stall and handed them to Luo Mu; Luo Mu tried wiping his shirt and pants but found it utterly useless.

They said that the stall accompanied by a Golurk was Jiang Ta's stall.

Helplessly, Luo Mu could only ask Penny and the others to wait at Jiang Ta's stall first to help watch over it while, under Jiang Ta's guidance, he continued walking toward the Sword of the Earth castle located at higher ground.

"Nemi! Nemi!"

The steps of Andoak were no less demanding than the long staircase from Mesagoza to the entrance of Grandma Ju Zi Academy; by the time they reached the top, Hearing Hearing Nimo looked as if she were completely burned out, able to advance only step by step with Momo's support.

"Come to think of it, I feel like you all look somewhat familiar... is it my imagination?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Victini immediately concealed its form and flew toward the source of the scent.

It is best for children to have dreams.

In a moment of carelessness, Victini even forgot to maintain its invisible state, directly revealing itself before the bewildered six-tailed fox, Florges, Shuang Nai Xian, and the unlucky Mimikyu—which, aside from being ignored, had also taken a headbutt from Victini.

After lightly reprimanding Shuang Nai Xian a few times, Luo Mu, still wearing an expression of "I was wrong" along with the other Pokémon, apologized to Jiang Ta, who was leading the way: "Sorry about that; we still have to trouble you to guide us."

Luo Mu nodded thoughtfully.

Urged by the Luxray, which had noticed the commotion outside, Luo Mu, who had finally finished changing clothes, arrived late.

It was not until Victini noticed that the gazes of the three Pokémon were staring straight at it that it finally realized something was wrong: its invisibility... seemed to have been dispelled?

Timi~ (<ゝω) ★

Attempting to muddle through with cuteness, Victini blinked and acted adorable, only to find the three Pokémon still looking completely unmoved; awkwardly, it flew up, intending to make a run for it.

As soon as Luo Mu finished speaking, the four of them nearby, whose attention had been entirely focused on Victini's accessory, finally reacted.

For instance, doing an otaku dance or something similar.

Upon reaching the terrace, not only did the view become much more expansive, but Luo Mu and the others finally saw the person running a small stall while wearing distinct ethnic attire.

Unable to withstand the persistent pleading of the two Pokémon, Mimikyu and Florges, thinking that eating a few Poffins wouldn't hurt, extended their vines and Shadow Claw to rummage through the satchel Luo Mu had left behind, finding the box containing the Poffins.

In an instant, the fragrance from Shuang Nai Xian, along with its rising sense of happiness, spread as an increasingly rich cream scent, directly enticing the gluttonous instincts of the Pokémon hiding all around.

On the other side, Shuang Nai Xian and the six-tailed fox, two cunning little fellows, conferred: having just eaten snacks, their stomachs were already feeling hungry again; taking advantage of Luo Mu's absence, they decided to quickly try the hidden menu item the six-tailed fox had been craving—the exquisite combination of freshly made cream by Shuang Nai Xian and Poffins!

On the contrary, Peony, who should have been an otaku girl specializing in technology and games, possessed remarkably good stamina; could it be that she was doing something physically exhausting while usually cooped up indoors?

Penny looked up to see an intellectual middle-aged woman wearing a red-striped knitted hat step out from behind the Golurk.

What situation is this?

My Mimikyu helped me catch a Victini!?

(End of Chapter)