Chapter 284: Return to the Farm: The Super Power Bank Victini's Infinity

At the entrance of the Cutting-Edge Medical Technology Research Institute in Castelia City, Dai Ke, who had rushed over in haste, invited Luo Mu and the other four inside.

After receiving the news, Dai Ke had arranged everything; the path was unobstructed all the way, and no researchers appeared before them as the group proceeded directly to the room at the deepest point.

When the room opened, Luo Mu clearly saw the Volcarona inside the medical pod, filled with a weak aura, looking as if it would scatter with the wind at any moment.

Judging by size alone, this Volcarona was much larger than the one Luo Mu had fought before; one could imagine how eerie and beautiful the flames stirred up by its three pairs of orange-red wings would be when it took flight.

Pipahe didn't know how to describe this special Volcarona; he held no malice, merely expressing his first impression: "It has a kind of... fragile beauty."

Hearing Nimo, Peony, and Hearing Hearing Nimo remained silent; it was not hard to see that their expressions were equally filled with sorrow.

Even though he had seen it countless times, whenever Dai Ke's gaze fell upon the sleeping Volcarona, his eyes still reddened involuntarily, and the tip of his nose began to sting.

After he became a Trainer, the first Pokémon to share a bond with him; he had thought those wonderful times of fighting together and laughing together would last forever, yet accidents always arrived unexpectedly.

Now, he pinned all his hopes on Luo Mu; he knew such a version of himself was pathetic, but if it was to save the Volcarona, what use was face?

Dai Ke looked at Luo Mu, and after Luo Mu nodded, he hesitated not a bit, shouting directly at the surveillance camera installed on the ceiling of the treatment room: "Open it."

As a burst of static sounded from the speaker, a hesitant voice echoed within the room: "Champion... are you certain?"

Dai Ke naturally understood what the owner of the voice meant; stopping the medical pod's operation was equivalent to making the Volcarona's life, already like a candle flame, even more precarious.

The cost of this gamble was too huge, but... since things had come to this, what did he have left to fear?

As the Champion of the Unova League, Dai Ke certainly did not lack resolve in critical moments; he believed Luo Mu definitely had a way to help the Volcarona.

With a solemn expression, Dai Ke shouted again in a deep voice: "Open it."

The other side fell silent for a moment, then the medical pod began to make sounds, and the life-sustaining fluid inside was drained away as a response.

With a click, accompanied by a strange medicinal scent drifting through the room, the medical pod opened, and the Volcarona, soaking wet and lying inside so weakly that even moving was difficult, opened its eyes.

Dai Ke couldn't help but soften his gaze and voice, saying gently: "Someone has come to help us; you must hold on."

The Volcarona looked at Dai Ke, letting out a weak cry, its eyes filled with attachment.

Luo Mu understood that time was critical; now that the Volcarona no longer had the medical pod sustaining its life, every second saw its time rapidly decreasing, leaving no moment for Dai Ke and the Volcarona to exchange sentiments.

At Luo Mu's signal, Hearing Hearing Nimo and Pipahe pulled Dai Ke aside, after which he stepped forward, took out a Poké Ball, and said: "Victini, I'm counting on you this time."

"Vee!"

After popping out of the Poké Ball, Victini immediately looked at the weak Volcarona lying inside the medical pod, unable even to fly.

It could vaguely perceive that the energy within the Volcarona was constantly dissipating...

Luo Mu spoke: "Try using your infinite energy to help the Volcarona replenish some of the origin energy it has lost."

Victini nodded lightly, no longer displaying its innocent smile, but instead tightening its small face, adopting a serious and earnest demeanor.

Victini approached the Volcarona, gently touching its small hand to the antenna on the Volcarona's head; that was the organ the Volcarona used to collect energy, and Victini keenly perceived that energy could be conducted in most efficiently from here.

Under Dai Ke's tense gaze, Victini closed its eyes, its body beginning to be surrounded by a golden energy aura as it started transmitting infinite energy to the Volcarona.

A miracle—occurred.

The Volcarona's antenna began to turn a deep crimson, its dim orange-red wings gradually dyed with a scarlet hue; the surprised Volcarona perceived that the vast black void of depletion within its body was being filled by external energy, gradually transforming into a patch of gold.

At the same time, in the monitoring room, the researchers observing the Volcarona's status via the patches on its body were dumbfounded.

Watching the data for the Volcarona continuously rise on the screen, the glasses on the bridges of their noses nearly fell off.

No way; they didn't know how much effort they had spent or how many masters from the cutting-edge fields of the industry they had gathered, yet they couldn't remedy this depletion of origin energy, but this small, unknown Pokémon managed to do it!?

After a long while, beads of sweat seeped onto Victini's face; it finally stopped transmitting infinite energy, its small body swaying before being smoothly caught by Luo Mu, who had been watching it closely.

Stroking the little guy's head, Luo Mu fell into thought.

It seemed the consumption of infinite energy to fill the depletion of origin energy was extraordinarily high; although Victini itself was said to possess infinite energy, the energy it released within the range of ensuring its own safety was limited.

This was also the reason why, in the movie, when it was forcibly drained of infinite energy by the villains, its expression was filled with pain.

On the other side, under Dai Ke's hopeful gaze, a flash of red light passed over the Volcarona's three pairs of wings, and the surrounding temperature began to rise.

Just as the Volcarona's wings were nearly about to transform into three pairs of flame wings, beginning to flap and lift it into the air, the Volcarona's expression changed; its active Fire-type energy rapidly declined, and the Volcarona once again collapsed back inside the medical pod.

This sudden turn of events startled everyone, and Dai Ke nearly suffered a heart stoppage.

Fortunately, a trembling voice from the monitoring side soon rang out: "The depletion of the Volcarona's origin energy has been filled, but the lingering incurable injuries it sustained have not yet healed; it tried to mobilize energy to fly, which is why..."

"However, thanks to the replenishment of origin energy, the Volcarona can now retain energy within its body, allowing some treatment plans capable of preventing its injuries from worsening to be put into use."

Finally, that voice was clearly tinged with a hint of joy.

"Congratulations, Champion Dai Ke; from now on, the Volcarona has more time to wait for the day when medical technology capable of curing its injuries is developed."

Under the control from the other side, the medical pod slowly closed, and new life-sustaining fluid was injected once more.

However, unlike before, the Volcarona could now remain conscious and interact with Dai Ke.

Holding Victini, Luo Mu looked at Dai Ke, whose eyes sparkled with tears yet who smiled like a child, appearing no matter how you looked at it rather strange; the corner of Luo Mu's mouth lifted as he exchanged a smile with Victini, Hearing Nimo, and the others.

It seemed the Volcarona would be able to wait until the day the secret seasoning matured at the farm.

After chatting with Dai Ke for a while longer, in order to catch tonight's flight from Nimbasa City back to the Paldea region, Luo Mu and the others proposed their farewell.

Although Dai Ke felt regret about this, he also knew that Luo Mu and the others had already been away from the Paldea region for nearly a week and were now eager to return home.

Although he very much wanted to treat them well again to express his gratitude, Dai Ke was not so oblivious as to misread the atmosphere.

Dai Ke promised that in the future, if Luo Mu needed any help, he would rush over without a second word!

In fact, when leaving the Cutting-Edge Medical Technology Research Institute, Luo Mu and the others had nearly been stopped by that group of researchers, the reason being that they were simply too curious about Victini.

The matter ultimately ended with Dai Ke becoming angry and driving the researchers away; this incident also improved Luo Mu's impression of Dai Ke somewhat.

Although in the game he had completely become a background character for Team Plasma, this person was indeed a good man who loved Pokémon and treated people kindly.

In the end, Dai Ke drove the five of them all the way to Nimbasa City at high speed; seeing there was still some time before boarding, Dai Ke even accepted Hearing Nimo's challenge and played a training match with her.

Hearing Nimo lost the battle, which was not unexpected, but Dai Ke saw in her the unfathomable potential of the younger generation.

Unknown to Luo Mu and the others, Dai Ke had completely made up his mind, both regarding treating the Volcarona and cultivating the young generation of the Unova region.

He would do both!

Finally, under the brilliant illumination of Nimbasa City's lights, the roar of the engines resounded in their ears; watching the ground gradually recede outside the window, Luo Mu and the others, eager to return home, could hardly wait to arrive.

June 9th, Paldea Region, Cortondo Town.

Lying on a lounge chair under a sun umbrella, Luo Mu held a glass of freshly squeezed berry juice with ice cubes, his movements exuding utmost comfort.

Beside him, Victini imitated the pose, wearing oversized sunglasses dug out from some nook or cranny of the farm—larger than its own face—and hugging a glass cup, enjoying its iced freshly squeezed berry juice with a look of pure bliss.

It had been a day since returning to the Paldea Region; after safely bringing Hearing Nimo and the other three back to the school, Luo Mu, unsurprisingly, received a bonus from Geeta, which not only covered the full payment for the power generation and storage facility set but also left quite a bit remaining.

At the very least, building another power generation and storage facility set would be no problem at all.

On the very day he returned to the farm, Luo Mu introduced Victini, Vulpix, and the Sandslash couple to the Pokémon living on the farm.

With his pockets now bulging, Luo Mu held a grand welcome party, fully committing to the philosophy of enjoying life.

Shaking the glass cup, he noticed the ice cubes inside had nearly melted due to the scorching summer heat; Luo Mu did a carp leap to his feet and shouted to Victini, who was "enjoying" itself nearby: "Let's go find Vulpix and the others to add more ice."

Victini shot up abruptly, its sunglasses unsurprisingly sliding straight off; it paid no mind to this, floated up lazily, and draped itself comfortably atop Luo Mu's head, basking in the summer sun with great contentment.

It seemed that after only one day on the farm, Victini had already been assimilated by the leisurely farm life.

Wearing cool slippers, Luo Mu walked all the way to the Ice Spirit Cottage beside the newly built warehouse; opening the door, a refreshing chill rushed straight at his face.

Inside the Ice Spirit Cottage, everything had become a world of snow white; thick layers of accumulated snowflakes covered the ground, while a snow cloud gathered on the ceiling, continuously shedding snowflakes even now.

Undoubtedly, this was thanks to Vulpix's ability "Snow Warning," and the Sandslash couple had also contributed considerable effort toward their future living environment.

However, the Sandslash couple preferred the underground environment of the ice cellar below and did not live in the upper-level Ice Spirit Cottage; in a sense, the upper level had become a home for Vulpix alone.

At this moment, Vulpix was entertaining its newly made friends inside the Ice Spirit Cottage; participants included the Politoed and Poliwag group, Miltank, Skiddo, Bai Bai Pengpeng, Feng Su Gou, and Growlithe.

Of course, Vulpix had not forgotten Shuang Nai Xian, Morelull, and the others; as for Victini, since it had been taking an afternoon nap with Luo Mu, Vulpix had not called it over.

Luo Mu looked around but saw no sign of the Sandslash; moreover, he truly could not be bothered to descend into the low-temperature environment of the ice cellar to find them.

After a moment's thought, Luo Mu found Vulpix, who was frolicking and running across the snow; he placed the two glasses of berry juice belonging to himself and Victini before Vulpix and commanded aloud: "Powder Snow."

Helplessly halting its play, Vulpix gathered energy in its mouth; the Powder Snow it expelled possessed power far inferior to what it had used to instantly defeat the Dark Trio earlier, barely forming a thin layer of ice on the glass cups that would shatter at the slightest touch.

Eagerly taking a sip, they discovered the berry juice had been chilled to perfection; Luo Mu and Victini couldn't help but give Vulpix a thumbs-up before swaggering out of the Ice Spirit Cottage.

They still had to hurry back for their afternoon nap.

At five in the afternoon, having consumed iced drinks and slept through the entire afternoon, Luo Mu rose from the lounge chair with a slight headache, blinking drowsily as he glanced at the sky.

Hmm, he had woken up at just the right time; at this hour, Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others should be grouping up to provide extra meals for the Herba Mystica.

Exchanging a glance with Victini, who was also rising with a yawn, Luo Mu stood up and murmured, "It's about time."

Arriving at the Herba Mystica farmland, which was surrounded tightly, sure enough, Morelull had already brought three Bai Bai Pengpeng to take their positions here.

The four Pokémon gathered together; just as Morelull was about to lead them in covering the farmland with Grassy Terrain, Luo Mu hastily stopped them.

Under the strange expressions of the four Pokémon, Luo Mu smiled slightly and raised his wrist, revealing the equipped Z-Ring and Grass-type Z-Crystal: "Today, let's try something different."

As if Victini had known all along what Luo Mu intended to do, it grinned and touched each of their bodies in turn; as energy from a golden aura flowed into Morelull and the others, their expressions instantly changed.

This surging power was...

Seeing Seeing Kapu Mokmok's Grassy Terrain Z once again bloom within the farmland; under the astonished gazes of the four Pokémon, countless emerald light points rushed vying with one another into the lush plants within the fields, an efficiency and speed completely on a different level from before!

Even through the fence, Luo Mu could feel a vigorous breath of life emanating from the Herba Mystica; if this continued every day, the Herba Mystica might mature at a terrifying speed that no one could anticipate!

Even though more than half of his physical strength had already been depleted, this could not stop Luo Mu from breaking into a smile.

Victini's infinite energy was simply too useful!

At this moment, Victini, still possessing surplus energy, flew behind Luo Mu and, just as it had transmitted energy to Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others, began transmitting energy to Luo Mu in the same manner.

"Vi-ti~ Vi-ti!" ("Again~ Again!")

In an instant, Luo Mu felt that the physical strength he had just consumed was not only fully restored but that endless stamina was continuously overflowing; he felt he could even punch a Paldean Tauros flat head-on...

Urged on by Victini, Luo Mu, feeling stifled, raised his wrist to display the Grass-type Z-Crystal, whose color had dimmed considerably, and said helplessly: "This thing needs to collect light to recover; before it regains its luster, Z-Moves cannot be used."

Before Luo Mu could finish speaking, Victini's cheerful little hand directly landed on the dimmed Grass Z; as the golden aura rose once again, watching the Grass Z gradually brighten, Luo Mu was completely stunned.

Wait, you can even recharge this thing!?

Although releasing a Z-Move consumes natural energy, the energy that drives the Z-Crystal is the light of Ultra Necrozma, the Blinding One!

(End of Chapter)