Chapter 285: These Leaves Are Like Leeks, Cut One Crop and Another Grows

Victini's infinite energy versatility is simply outrageous; whether it is Luo Mu's stamina, the charging of the Z-Crystal, or the massive energy consumed by Floragato and Bai Bai Pengpeng when they activate the combined Grassy Terrain Z-Move, Victini can fully replenish it all.

That day, Luo Mu was forced to release the Grass Z-Move five times; if Victini hadn't been too exhausted from charging so much at once, he felt that either his spirit and energy would be drained until he fainted, or the Z-Crystal would perform an explosion right there on the spot.

Fortunately, the results were indeed significant; the growth of the Secret Spice was almost visible to the naked eye, and at this rate, perhaps by the end of the year or next year, the Secret Spice could be fully matured.

Seeing Victini's such active performance, Luo Mu, who was hunching his back and planning to return to rest, instantly had many training plans centered around Victini flash through his mind.

With V-Monkey here, perhaps before long, the Pokémon on the farm would undergo a complete transformation.

The next day, Luo Mu brought Luxray and Raikou, the only two Electric-type Pokémon on the farm, to the power generation and storage facility group that had already been installed and was ready for immediate use.

Accompanying them was the Oranguru butler who had been supervising the construction team in building the facility group.

The appearance of the power generation and storage facility group was very unique; when he saw it, Luo Mu finally felt a sense of reality that he was in a world full of black technology.

The entire power generation module consisted of several towering tower-like structures, their surfaces covered with a certain smooth silver metal coating that reflected the sunlight, making them shine brilliantly.

The towers were connected to each other by thick cables, and in the center of the several towers stood a massive energy storage warehouse; through the largest cables, electricity was input into the storage warehouse, which would store the electrical energy and transport stable power to all parts of the farm through circuits connected to the underground.

Because it was meant to supply power for the entire farm, Luo Mu had aimed for a large scale from the beginning, so the facility group occupied a very wide area.

Even though only the streetlights and the small bungalow needed power now, in the future, the farm would surely install more equipment requiring electricity one after another; this was also a form of saving for a rainy day in a certain sense.

Oranguru's telepathy rang out, and it explained in detail: "Young Master, the charging method is very simple. Let Luxray or Raikou hit the tower body with an Electric-type move, and it will automatically collect the electricity, transmit it through the cables into the storage warehouse, and then diffuse it throughout the entire farm through the circuits buried deep underground."

"However, one point needs attention: Luxray and Raikou are too powerful; even a tower body built with first-class materials might not be able to withstand it, so they need to hold back their strength a bit."

Luo Mu nodded thoughtfully; Oranguru really considered everything thoroughly, and this power generation and storage facility group was indeed very Pokémon-like, very unscientific, pure black technology.

Luxray and Raikou exchanged a glance, electric sparks began to flicker on their bodies, yet they still did not start discharging.

In battles of this level, the speed of releasing moves could determine the course of the fight; naturally, the speed at which Luxray and Raikou released electric currents was extremely fast, and Raikou even had a move called "Quick Attack" that could make them delay discharging; the reason they held back was naturally to control the power of the electricity.

Ensuring they wouldn't create a miracle by using too much force and destroying the power tower was a technical skill; after brewing for about ten seconds, Luxray and Raikou released golden electric currents one after the other.

The electric currents landed on the body of the power tower; in the blink of an eye, the indicator light at the very top of the power tower flickered green, proof that the power tower was absorbing the current and operating steadily.

As time passed, the electricity was transmitted through the cables on the power tower and stored in the storage warehouse; after about ten-plus minutes, Raikou and Luxray stopped their actions and cast curious gazes at the lit digital screen outside the storage warehouse.

A bright red 5%; Luxray and Raikou fell silent.

Is this thing so difficult to charge?

They had been outputting continuously for over ten minutes!

Fortunately, Oranguru quickly stepped out to clarify things for them, and telepathy rang out: "The scale of the storage warehouse installed on the farm is actually sufficient to supply all the electricity needs of an ordinary small town for a month; the storage capacity is huge and not so easy to fill up."

Hearing this, Luxray and Raikou immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while Luo Mu fell into thought.

It seems the Pokédex introductions really cannot be taken entirely at face value; saying that one Electivire alone can supply a big city's electricity for a year is simply as absurd as claiming the surface temperature of Magcargo is ten thousand degrees.

You know, the surface temperature of the sun is only six thousand degrees!

When the farm's electricity demand increases in the later stages, relying solely on Luxray, one Electric-type Pokémon, would indeed be difficult for power supply; fortunately, Raikou has now joined the farm and can help generate power for the farm before returning to his own era.

Not to mention that Zapdos who signed an unequal treaty with Luo Mu; in a few days, he would bring it back to the farm to work, letting it fill the farm with electricity in one go.

Afterwards, Luo Mu took the table given by the construction team from Oranguru, compared it slightly, and was surprised to find that if it were the electricity currently used by the farm, just 5% was enough to keep the farm's lights on for a whole day, with all electrical facilities in the small bungalow turned on, squandering for a month.

Suddenly not having to pay electricity bills, Luo Mu was somewhat surprised.

In the afternoon, Luo Mu ran to the pasture area and found the two Deerling.

Da Nai Guan and the two riding lambs were leisurely eating grass on the lawn at this moment, while the two Deerling stepped forward to Luo Mu.

At this time, they had clearly changed their appearance completely; the tuft of hair that grew on their chests in spring had disappeared entirely, green spots had grown on their bodies, their tails were slightly raised, and the biggest change was their antlers.

On those two pairs of long antlers resembling trees, the pale pink flowers had disappeared, replaced by sprouting tender green new leaves.

Deerling are Pokémon whose appearance changes with the seasons; this form was undoubtedly their summer look.

But, the most important thing is—

After Deerling change into their summer form, their leaves can be picked to make special black tea with a rich aroma!

This black tea is popular among the public because of its rich aroma, mellow taste, and layered feel; to be honest, Luo Mu had been craving this for a long time.

Besides making the leaves into black tea, there are many other ways to drink it, such as adding flower petals to enhance the flavor of flower tea, adding honey and other seasonings to make different beverages, or mixing it with Tapu Tapu Moumou's milk and sheep's milk to make milk tea, and so on.

Impatient, Luo Mu, after receiving the Deerling's consent, picked up a basket and began picking the leaves.

Fortunately, because Luo Mu had been eyeing the summer leaves of the Deerling for a long time, he had consulted many relevant professional tea-making books at Grandma Ju Zi's Academy; regarding theoretical knowledge alone, he was confident he was not inferior to anyone.

Picking is the most basic, yet most important and most indispensable step.

One must choose the new bud leaves growing on the Deerling's antlers; the color must be tender green enough and possess a certain amount of tea hairs; if they are a bit older, it won't work.

Soon, the tea leaves filled the basket in Luo Mu's hand; due to the Deerling's height, Luo Mu, who was just over 1.8 meters tall, had to raise his hands very high to pick tea leaves from the long antlers on top of the Deerling's heads.

Recently, the temperature has been getting higher and higher; not to mention the pasture area, which has almost no shading objects.

Luo Mu wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking that perhaps he should plant a few trees in the pasture area or build a sunshade so that Mudsdale, Deerling, and others could take shelter from the sun and heat when needed.

At this moment, he noticed that on the antlers of the two Deerling, some tender green color seemed ready to pop out at any time.

Indeed, just like the previous pale red flowers, as long as there is enough nutrition, they can grow out at an unreasonable speed.

It was simply like leeks; cut one crop, and another grows.

But these plants, after all, still grow by absorbing the nutrition within the Deerling's bodies.

Although they can grow infinitely, one must still keep a limit, trying not to burden the Deerling; in the wild, there are even Deerling whose growth speed slows down because flowers steal their nutrition.

After being affectionate with the two Deerling for a while, Luo Mu hurriedly left with the basket full of tea leaves; because he was in a rush, he subconsciously ignored the two Deerling's difference from before, a strangeness showing a closer relationship.

To ensure the effective components of the fresh leaves, after picking the tea leaves, one must proceed to the second step of processing as soon as possible—withering.

Letting the picked tea leaves naturally lose moisture over time under appropriate temperature and humidity to soften them; this step directly affects the subsequent steps.

After arranging for the tea leaves to wither, Luo Mu dug out the dried flowers he had already processed from the warehouse.

These were the products after processing the pale pink flowers on the Deerling's heads; Luo Mu wanted to try brewing flower tea with them.

Calling Oranguru into the living room and boiling a pot of boiling water, Luo Mu put the dried flowers and some tea leaves into a cup, added some Honedge honey, and finally poured in the boiling water to brew.

With the scalding hot tea water, Luo Mu and Oranguru tasted the flower tea made from the flowers on the Deerling's heads.

Oranguru lifted the teacup, gently sniffed, and his eyes immediately lit up.

A rich yet sweet fragrance, seemingly carrying the breath of spring, greeted it, making it feel as though it were in a garden, sensing the freshness and vitality of flowers.

Taking a light sip, the clear scent of tea leaves spread through its mouth; this delicate and lasting aroma blended with the rich fragrance of flowers and the sweetness of honey, making the texture even softer and smoother.

It tasted even better than that jar of flower tea the principal treasured like his life, which it had telekinetically swiped from the principal's office back at the Pokémon Steward Academy!

Luo Mu also wore an expression of deep intoxication; this was simply the best flower tea he had ever drunk in his life.

Setting down his teacup, Oranguru, face filled with rapture, asked about the main matter via telepathy: "Young Master, regarding that affair with the Dragon Clan in the Johto region, when do you plan to depart?"

Luo Mu pondered for a moment before replying, "Doesn't that only begin in the latter half of this month? Flying to the Johto region on Dragonite a day or two early will suffice."

Hearing this, Oranguru nodded slightly; now it could continue arranging some trivial matters on the farm.

Tasting the flower tea again, Luo Mu began to ponder.

Once he reached the Dragon Clan in the Johto region, he would most likely meet that Lance, whose nickname was the Invincible Dragon Master; he wondered what his odds were against Lance now?

The withering of the tea leaves was completed in a few hours; next came the three steps of rolling, fermentation, and drying, each requiring considerable time and effort.

Luo Mu could only hope to drink this cup of black tea before departing for the Johto region, then use it to treat visiting guests and hear their impressions after tasting it.

However, before that, Luo Mu was entangled by another matter.

On the morning of June 10th, as a pair of large, jet-black steel wings flapped continuously, a giant bird that seemed clad in armor capable of reflecting even sunlight landed on the platform beside Luo Mu's window.

Not far away on the platform was Moltres's nest, but Moltres, sleeping soundly, merely lifted its eyes to glance at Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao before turning over to continue its deep slumber.

Anyway, now that Skarmory Sanmao and the others had learned their lesson and no longer disturbed the peace early in the morning, and since they were acting like subordinates obeying his commands, he could let them be.

Skarmory Sanmao's crimson pupils gazed through the window at Luo Mu, who was lying in bed sleeping just as sweetly; carefully using its beak, sharp enough to pierce even steel, it pecked at the window like a woodpecker, trying to wake Luo Mu up.

But how could Luo Mu, sleeping so soundly, possibly react?

Fortunately, at that moment, Oranguru, who was using telekinesis to carry four or five feather dusters while sweeping away dust, happened to open the door and enter the room; with Oranguru's help, Luo Mu was successfully awakened.

After dressing and washing up, Luo Mu, still slightly bleary-eyed, looked at the somewhat anxious Skarmory, feeling a bit dazed.

Then, he was startled fully awake by Skarmory's raucous, gong-like voice.

"Gah-gah-gah—!"

Skarmory waved its limbs wildly, trying to convey something to Luo Mu, but alas, Luo Mu understood not a word; fortunately, the gold-medal translator, Steward Oranguru, was right beside him.

Listening to the simultaneous interpretation, Luo Mu finally understood what Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao was so anxious about.

Ever since that time they saved Skarmory Sanmao's entire flock, as well as the Talonflame flock, from beneath the basketball of Iron Treads—ahem, from beneath the spherical device of Iron Bundle—the Corvisquires had become noticeably more diligent in patrolling the farm's skies, driving away many wild Flying-type Pokémon that tried to steal crops.

There had been a false alarm previously when some of Queen Vespiquen's subordinate Combees, who regularly delivered Combee honey and collected nectar from the flower fields, were intercepted by the Corvisquires, nearly leading to a fierce fight.

Fortunately, a Ringo that was near the flower fields rushed over at the time, dispelling the misunderstanding; only then did the Corvisquires learn that the Combees had established a cooperative relationship with this farm and were not targets that needed to be driven away.

They even received some gifts of honey from the Combees, and this delicious honey, which instantly replenished energy and stamina, immediately captured the hearts of the Corvisquires.

Through this back-and-forth, the Corvisquires established some connections with the Combees, helping them drive away wild Pokémon that attacked while they were collecting nectar, in exchange for some honey.

Luo Mu felt that if this continued, one day they might even be able to establish a Skarmory bodyguard company.

In short, after learning a piece of news from Queen Vespiquen, the Skarmory and Corvisquires, who were on good terms with Queen Vespiquen and the Combees, immediately flew non-stop to the farm to notify Luo Mu to visit Queen Vespiquen as soon as possible.

This was because a rare female Combee had been born within Queen Vespiquen's flock!

Male Combees are born loyal to the Queen; they are responsible for working hard, transporting nectar, and protecting the Queen.

Male Combees cannot evolve; only female Combees can evolve. Once a female Combee evolves into a Queen Vespiquen, it will begin to develop its own swarm and occupy a territory.

Therefore, for Queen Vespiquen, even its own offspring, from the moment a female Combee is born, will become its future competitor.

More than a few Queen Vespiquens, after hatching a female Combee, have directly chosen to expel it from the flock as an unstable factor.

The reason Skarmory was so anxious was that Queen Vespiquen clearly remembered its agreement with Luo Mu and was currently enduring the instinct to expel its future competitor from the flock, waiting for Luo Mu to come and take away that female Combee.

(End of Chapter)