Chapter 286: Anticipations for the Amber City? Let's Build a Glass Greenhouse!

Understanding how urgent the situation was, Luo Mu quickly made his preparations; before leaving, he casually grabbed an empty red-and-white ball, didn't waste time looking for Dragonite, and directly mounted Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao, heading toward the forest where the Vespiquen resided.

Corviknight's back was very broad; seating an adult, or even carrying a child along, was more than sufficient.

Luo Mu remembered that in "Breaking Dawn," a special promotional short anime for the games *Pokémon Sword/Shield*, Leon, the undefeated Champion of the Galar region known as Champion Dan Di, had ridden a Corviknight, carrying a sickly blond boy who greatly admired him to the stadium to face Raihan.

That scene left a very deep impression on Luo Mu, and the final clash between the Gigantamax Charizard and the Gigantamax Copperajah was absolutely explosive.

But when he actually sat on the Corviknight's back, Luo Mu discovered its back was truly unsuitable for riding.

The main problem was that the Corviknight's armor was extremely smooth, making it hard to grip firmly, plus the cold, hard armor felt very uncomfortable to sit on.

This was the Corviknight's first time carrying a person; it completely forgot to gather flying energy to shield Luo Mu from the wind, or perhaps it simply hadn't yet learned "Fly," the former HM move.

Overall, although the Corviknight's appearance was truly handsome and riding it was indeed stylish.

The Corviknight's riding experience couldn't compare to Dragonite's in the slightest; after only ten or twenty minutes of flight, Luo Mu felt his buttocks were no longer his own, and his face and hairstyle were blown into complete disarray by the morning wind.

When he finally saw the familiar silhouette of the forest, Luo Mu let out a sigh of relief, feeling those ten or twenty minutes had been like undergoing torture.

Vespiquen pointed toward the edge of the distant hive, where a sphere composed of male Combee bodies was located; even though the male Combee blocked the female Combee's figure, the pheromones unconsciously emitted by the latter still caused a constant sense of irritation to rise in Vespiquen's heart.

Female Combee and male Combee are basically identical in appearance, making distinguishing them very simple.

Without any nonsense, Luo Mu got straight to the point and spoke to Vespiquen: "I'm here."

Vespiquen, who had its eyes tightly closed, opened its magnificent ruby-like eyes, nodded gently, and let out a cry that faintly contained a trace of weariness: "Beep beep beep."

Given that the other party was already quite frightened, it was better to be cautious.

Luo Mu first went to see Vespiquen; protected by many Combee guards, Vespiquen's mood was clearly somewhat low, and Luo Mu knew very well that it was struggling against its own instincts, rather than ordering its subordinate male Combee, who were loyal to it, to swarm forward and drive away the newly born female Combee.

Arriving before the sphere of Combee, Luo Mu hadn't yet spoken to order the Combee to leave when Vespiquen behind him issued another command.

Walking through the path the Combee parted, looking at the Combee on both sides quietly vibrating their wings, Luo Mu somewhat absurdly thought that this looked quite like the Combee lining the streets to welcome him.

Led by the Corviknight, Luo Mu walked into the forest.

The patrolling Combee all recognized Luo Mu; one could say it was green lights all the way, and Luo Mu quickly reached Vespiquen's core territory, the location of the giant hive.

The Combee's three small faces simultaneously opened their eyes, staring blankly at Luo Mu for quite a while; as if accepting kindness from the outside world for the first time, the Combee did not hesitate and almost instantly agreed to Luo Mu's invitation.

Luo Mu turned and patted the Corviknight's wings, telling it to stay here and not move around; although the Corviknight's appearance was very handsome to Luo Mu, it would be somewhat terrifying to this newly born female Combee.

As long as it leaves this place, Mother probably won't be angry, right?

"Honey."

Looking at the slightly trembling Combee, Luo Mu sighed lightly, squatted down, and spoke in as gentle a tone as possible: "Don't be afraid anymore; from now on, you will build your own hive in my farm."

It was a Combee of quite small size; one could tell its hatching time couldn't have been long, and at this moment it was closing its eyes, not flapping its wings, its three small faces, which should have been showing smiles, instead filled with fear.

After receiving the Combee, it would be better to walk back.

As soon as he arrived, Luo Mu sensed that the atmosphere in the air was somewhat off; the few Murkrow that were usually chirping noisily also seemed to know something was wrong and huddled to one side, daring not to make a sound.

One mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, let alone two Vespiquen who can both control male bees.

A red pattern will grow on the lower face of a female Combee; after the female Combee completes its evolution, this pattern will become the ruby-like structure atop a Vespiquen's head.

The Combee slowly separated, revealing the appearance of the sphere's interior.

The Combee dancing beneath the hive automatically made way for a path leading straight to the location of the Combee sphere, waiting only for Luo Mu to walk over.

After secretly glancing at the distant Vespiquen, the Combee directly entered the red-and-white ball Luo Mu took out; its first impression of Luo Mu was very good, and since it had to leave anyway, naturally accepting Luo Mu's invitation was the better choice.

As the red-and-white Poké Ball shook slowly three times, followed by a crisp "Ding-dong" sound, this signified that this female Combee had become Luo Mu's Pokémon and had been captured by him.

The moment the Combee left this space, Vespiquen finally let out a sigh of relief, the restlessness in its heart alleviated somewhat, which also allowed Vespiquen to think more rationally.

Vespiquen looked at the Poké Ball in Luo Mu's hand, its expression somewhat complex; in its not-so-clear memories, it seemed it had also been treated this way by its own mother, a Vespiquen.

But unlike this child, it had not encountered a Trainer who could accept it, and could only struggle forward step by step to reach its current position.

When it had suffered hardships in the past, it had thought that in the future it must never repeat the same mistake and treat its own children this way, yet now it was unable to resist its own instincts; truly tragic.

Without the influence of pheromones, with reason returned, Vespiquen could only silently cheer for the Combee in its heart.

After communicating with Vespiquen for a while longer, when leaving, Luo Mu held a glass jar filled with honey in his arms; his expression was somewhat strange, wondering if it was his illusion, why did it feel like Vespiquen resembled a worrying old mother adding dowry when marrying off her daughter.

This time choosing not to ride the Corviknight, under the farewell of Vespiquen and the Combee, Luo Mu walked directly back to the farm.

Returning to the farm, promising to add an extra meal for the Corviknight at noon today, and sending it off to patrol the skies, Luo Mu began to think about how to arrange accommodation for the Combee.

Combee naturally love collecting honey and also enjoy engaging in group activities.

He remembered reading in books that when a female Combee lives alone after leaving the group, it will begin to hone itself to reach the conditions for evolution as quickly as possible, successfully evolving into a Vespiquen, starting to construct its own hive and independently laying offspring capable of working.

Then the place most suitable for the Combee to live is indeed over by the flower field.

Thinking of this, Luo Mu immediately took steps toward the flower field.

At this moment, not only was Comfey tending to the blooming flowers in the flower field, but Victini, Vulpix, and Shuang Nai Xian also happened to be playing and frolicking in the flower field.

Currently, the most childish and playful Pokémon on the farm were undoubtedly these three; fortunately, while playing hide-and-seek in the flower field, they knew to be careful and did not break any of the flowers carefully cultivated by Comfey.

Seeing Luo Mu walking toward the flower field, Comfey, the first to notice him, floated to Luo Mu's side and directly placed a flower ring it had just made onto Luo Mu's head.

Luo Mu took down the flower ring, whose color coordination was very harmonious and whose flowers remained blooming in their most beautiful state, examined it carefully, gave a thumbs-up, and smiled as he praised Comfey: "Your skills are getting better and better; I like it very much, thank you for your flower ring."

"Fey-fey~"

Comfey's eyes curved into crescents, very pleased with Luo Mu's praise.

The three playing Pokémon also gradually noticed Luo Mu's arrival and surrounded him one after another; for a moment, Luo Mu's ears were filled with the noisy chirping sounds of these three "childish" Pokémon.

Vulpix clung to Luo Mu's pant leg, Shuang Nai Xian directly used both hands and feet to start climbing, and Victini, the only one among the three Pokémon that could fly, sat directly on Luo Mu's shoulder.

Enduring it all, Luo Mu could only smile helplessly; perhaps this was the trouble of having too many Pokémon close to him.

Waiting until the three little ones finally quieted down, Luo Mu, having arranged for them to sit in a row together with Comfey, slowly said: "I announce something... from now on, there is another new member in the farm; it was just entrusted to me by its mother and is now very lonely, so you must all get along well together, okay?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Mu's gaze fell upon the three Pokémon sitting obediently on the ground with innocent expressions; waiting until they all nodded, only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

He wasn't worried about Comfey's attitude; mainly, he needed to explain things to Shuang Nai Xian and the others to avoid them accidentally touching the Combee's currently very sensitive heart.

Just as Luo Mu's line of sight shifted toward Comfey, intending to have Comfey hastily make a new flower ring to welcome the Combee, the three mischievous little ones gathered together and began discussing.

Sitting with dignified posture, Vulpix let out a soft cry: "Vul-vul~?" (Is the new companion like me, entrusted to Luo Mu by its mother~?)

Shuang Nai Xian's eyes spun around in a circle, a mysterious smile playing on its lips as it drew the curious gazes of Victini and Vulpix, before placing its hands on its hips and slowly speaking: "Mawf~ Mawf~ Mawf!"

(In my opinion, Luo Mu has taken food out to the wild again to lure in ignorant Pokémon~ How can Pokémon used to eating berries withstand the temptation of finely processed food~ They get so bewitched they can't find north with just a little effort!)

Beside them, Victini blinked its eyes, feeling that Shuang Nai Xian seemed to be hinting at something specific.

However, the optimistic and cheerful V-never minded such trivial details; it had lived very happily on the farm these past two days, with delicious food and many friends to play with, so adding a new friend was exactly what it wanted.

After Luo Mu and Comfey prepared the welcome wreath for Combee, they turned around to find the three little ones waiting with inexplicably eager expressions.

Surprised that they had actually stayed quietly waiting for so long, Luo Mu didn't beat around the bush, taking out a red-and-white Poké Ball and saying softly, "Come out, Combee."

Red light flashed, and Combee, looking somewhat timid, appeared in the vision of the several Pokémon.

Combee cautiously surveyed its surroundings; the air was filled with a rich floral scent that wasn't overpowering, and as far as the eye could see was a beautiful sea of flowers, with blooms of various colors swaying in the gentle breeze.

Instinct told Combee that if given the chance, after evolving it must build its own hive here!

Just as Combee was zoning out, Comfey tilted a flower wreath over its body; snapping back to reality, Combee froze for a moment, and the next instant found itself surrounded by four enthusiastic Pokémon.

Seeing Combee's bewildered expression alongside Victini and the others eagerly interacting with it, Luo Mu smiled slightly, turned, and quietly slipped away.

Let the Pokémon handle socializing among themselves; what he needed to do now was return to the warehouse to fetch milking tools and prepare some fresh Tapu Tapu Moumou milk and goat milk, for judging by Combee's appearance, Luo Mu knew it clearly hadn't eaten much and was likely in a state of hunger.

After finishing lunch and feeding Combee until it was full, Luo Mu, for the first time ever, did not take his afternoon nap on the recliner at his doorstep, but instead came to the flower field, using the sky as his blanket and the earth as his mat.

Floral fragrance drifted past his nose on the gentle breeze; in a daze, Luo Mu hugged the sweetly sleeping, full Combee, enjoying this tranquil time.

After a while, snapping back to his senses, Luo Mu first looked at Combee, then at the flower field behind him, beginning to ponder the farm's next steps for development.

It was not only about expanding the farm's production scale, but also about constructing many facilities beneficial to the Pokémon, allowing them to live happily.

It was already June, and recently rainfall in the Paldea region had become frequent; with the rainy season approaching, if it were only the light rain of this period, it would be fine, not causing any trouble but actually helping to irrigate the plants.

Not far from Pingdie Town lay the Paldea Sea; just like the typhoon several months ago, Luo Mu could foresee that in the future not only would continuous heavy rains fall and fierce winds blow, but typhoons might even visit several times.

Other crops planted on the farm were fine, possessing a certain resistance to wind and rain, but these delicate flowers could not withstand even the slightest torment.

This flower field would be Combee's home in the future, and Comfey also liked living here, so it absolutely had to be protected.

So, what should be done?

After thinking it over, Luo Mu arrived at an answer.

Implement human intervention; using this flower field as a foundation, install a structure capable of protecting the flower field and the blooms.

When this idea surfaced in Luo Mu's mind, the first thing he thought of was the image he often saw in idol dramas: the male and female leads pretending to be cool while reading books in a fully transparent solar greenhouse.

Perhaps he could install a greenhouse surrounded by glass on all four sides, and if conditions allowed, equip it with temperature and humidity control systems to ensure the flowers could bloom even in winter.

Furthermore, he could install some rattan chairs, swings, and other items inside the glass greenhouse, constructing a place for enjoying flowers, drinking tea, and receiving guests at any time, where many Combee, Butterfree, Beautifly, Vivillon, and Diejie Diejie Mengmeng would dance gracefully.

That would surely be beautiful.

In this way, Combee could collect nectar throughout all four seasons, build a hive belonging solely to itself, and settle down completely on the farm.

Even, Combee might, like the Amber Castle that Ash and his companions encountered in Eterna Forest in the Sinnoh region in the anime, construct a dream kingdom that could be called a wonder of the world.

However, that was obviously still somewhat distant.

Thinking of this, Luo Mu lowered his eyes to look at Combee's peaceful sleeping face, the corners of his mouth rising slightly.

Before establishing the Amber Castle, it was better to be practical first: eat more food, drink more milk, grow strong, successfully complete evolution, and then build its own hive.

(End of Chapter)