Chapter 325: Scorching Desert: Victini's Flame Charge

As Dragonite flapped its dragon wings, manipulating the air currents to land steadily on a low dune, Luo Mu, who had already donned wide-brimmed dust-proof goggles, a dust mask, a sun hat, sun-protective clothing, and a pair of desert boots, flipped off its back.

Except for some rock walls, most of the desert lay under direct sunlight; without such preparations, Luo Mu would likely return with a layer of skin scorched off.

Luo Mu's luck today was fairly good; he had not encountered the particularly troublesome large sandstorms common in the desert, for upon meeting such weather, he would have been forced to halt in place or find shelter to endure the storm.

Not only was visibility extremely low within a sandstorm, but the sweeping gales also made movement exceedingly difficult.

Once trapped and stationary, he would have to face the extreme weather of scorching days and plummeting nighttime temperatures in the desert.

Fortunately, anticipating that his exploration progress in the Scorching Desert might require him to stay for several days, Luo Mu had long brought along corresponding Pokémon to ensure he would not suffer harm from the temperature and weather extremes.

Recalling Dragonite, Luo Mu released Mudsdale; by now, its back was fitted with a saddle comfortable for riding, as Ground-type Pokémon always fared better in the desert, and as Mudsdale began to walk slowly, moving its front hooves, Luo Mu took a deep breath through his dust mask.

In that instant, he felt the dry, scorching air permeating the atmosphere; his gaze fell upon the endless golden sand grains, where the slanting sunlight made every grain of the Scorching Desert sparkle with dazzling brilliance, as if the entire desert had been plated with a layer of golden radiance.

A gentle breeze swept past, effortlessly lifting a veil of sand mist, while distant dunes shifted their shapes under the wind's caress, as if this land of sand was currently breathing.

Casting his gaze slightly farther, he saw yellow sand filling the sky there; the ground, formed by countless accumulations of dust, trembled slightly, as if something was running toward this side.

However, rather than avoiding them, there were many methods to intercept them, or to force this herd of Tauros to change their direction of travel.

Among the Tauros herd charging forward without hesitation, unrest had already arisen due to the presence of Flame Charge, slowing their sprinting speed somewhat, with some Tauros already showing signs of wanting to stop.

These were Tauros of the Paldea region form.

"Tini Tini!"

At this moment, the herd of Tauros was already very close to Luo Mu and Mudsdale; given their full-speed charge, Mudsdale's clumsy and heavy physique made it absolutely impossible to evade them in advance.

"Flame Charge!"

"Moo~~"

"Moo!"

When encountering Luo Mu and Victini, who were even more domineering than themselves, this herd of seemingly brainless bulls, known only for charging recklessly, would suddenly feel an itch in their heads, regain the brains they had left behind halfway, and directly choose to temporarily avoid the sharp edge.

Apart from a slight expenditure of spiritual energy that caused no real harm, the loss of energy was nothing at all to it, ya!

Not to mention the terrifying energy fluctuations from the explosion of Flame Charge that made the Tauros' hearts tremble; the lead bull, realizing it had bumped into a hard target, glanced fearfully at Victini and Luo Mu through the firelight, then without hesitation turned around and charged away toward the other side!

If V-Create was Victini's physical move of igniting an unextinguishable fire of victory to collide with the enemy with full force,

"Bimi~"

They were a group of Pokémon with robust physiques, covered in ropy muscles, and bearing black fur.

If an ordinary Trainer encountered this herd of hot-tempered bulls head-on, they would likely choose to avoid their sharp edge and not provoke a conflict with them.

"Tini!?"

Patting the Mudsdale beneath him to make it pause momentarily, Luo Mu took a portable telescope from his pocket, squinted one eye, and looked in the direction of the cries.

Not long ago, it had finally mastered its last exclusive move.

Immediately afterward, countless long cries rang out, growing louder as they approached from afar.

The power of Victini's moves was always so exaggerated and full of imposing momentum.

A crisp cry sounded beside Luo Mu's ear as Victini revealed its form, a broad smile on its face; under the reflection of the scorching sun at this moment, the V-shaped ears on its head grew hot and red as if burned by fire.

As Victini soared into the sky, in an instant, the air above was shrouded in scorching firelight; a scorching fireball emitting terrifying heat grew ever larger at Victini's center, fueled by the continuously burning flames, until it transformed into a huge, immense golden-red fireball.

Judging by their tails wrapped in three braids, the red dots on their manes, and their sharp long horns, this herd of Tauros could be identified as the Blaze Breed Tauros.

Even though it had ascended to a height far from Luo Mu, he could still feel the air around him becoming drier, and the scorching heat waves battering the small patches of his exposed skin.

Although Luo Mu was very interested in the cool Volcarona larva, the immediate priority was how to deal with this herd of Tauros clearly charging rapidly in his and Mudsdale's direction.

The surface of the fireball rotated continuously, making the surrounding air increasingly dry.

Luo Mu looked at his right shoulder, which appeared empty; a voice, somewhat muffled by the dust mask, spoke up.

Yet under the leadership of the lead bull, this herd of Tauros still followed the will of the group, continuing to muster their courage to charge toward this side, with no intention of changing their route whatsoever.

In an instant, firelight shot into the sky; the yellow sand, heated to an incredibly "scalding" temperature by Flame Charge, scattered in all directions, landing on many Tauros; even with their Fire-type Pokémon bodies, they were scalded enough to let out a painful roar.

Then Flame Charge was a long-range, high-mass attack, fueled by dense waves of victory and Victini's infinite energy, burning fiercely with a high probability of burning the enemy.

After following Luo Mu away from Undella Town and experiencing several of Luo Mu's battles, absorbing many high-quality waves of victory to enrich itself, Victini's strength was now worlds apart from what it once was.

Victini puffed out its chest, its face full of pride.

Watching the sky-full of sand dust kicked up behind the charging Tauros, Luo Mu smiled easily, beckoned for Victini in the sky to return to his shoulder, and asked with concern, "How do you feel?"

This also aligned with their habits; once they started running, unless they were exhausted or collided with something, they would never stop, and coupled with this stubborn lead bull having no intention of turning, it created this notorious herd of Tauros within the Scorching Desert.

Larvesta was the pre-evolved form of Volcarona; this Pokémon was considered among those with the highest talent potential within the majority of "frail" Bug-type Pokémon, and combined with its rare numbers, some even compared Larvesta to late-blooming Pokémon young.

No matter how wild and irritable their temper, or how recklessly they acted,

He and Mudsdale were probably blocking their inevitable path.

Stroking Victini's head, Luo Mu said, "That's good, but after we return, you must continue to meditate with Oranguru to train your spiritual energy; only then can you perfectly utilize your talent."

Seeing that the Tauros herd still had no intention of turning, and without needing Luo Mu's reminder, Victini aimed at the sandy ground a few meters ahead of them, manipulating the golden-red fireball with its continuously rotating flames, resembling the swirling air currents around a falling comet, and caused it to crash down with a boom!

The desert was an area directly illuminated by the sun's rays, so it was not strange for Fire-type Pokémon to inhabit it; Luo Mu remembered that in the game, somewhere in this Scorching Desert, there were Pokémon called Larvesta living there.

"Victini, trouble you for this."

Upon hearing the word "meditate," Victini drooped its head like an eggplant struck by frost, its face filled with despair.

Sitting idly in one place for several hours; how could it possibly endure that!

Victini puffed up its cheeks, instantly turned invisible, and this time chose to lie directly on top of Luo Mu's head to express its dissatisfaction.

". Sigh."

Letting out a slight sigh, feeling Victini resting on top of his head, Luo Mu rode Mudsdale, which remained unmoved even if Taishan collapsed before it, and continued advancing into the interior of the Scorching Desert.

In fact, just now, besides having Victini use Flame Charge to stop the Tauros herd, Mudsdale also had the capability to halt them.

However, if Mudsdale were to stop them, it might cause some undesirable changes; ultimately, Luo Mu chose to let Victini solve the problem with a slightly flashier method.

As one of the veteran members of the farm, Mudsdale had also received teachings from Tapu Tapu Moumou; although Tapu Tapu Moumou was not a Ground-type Pokémon, as a Land God, it was still exceedingly proficient in knowledge regarding the Ground type.

Mudsdale was just like that nameless sweeping monk who quietly developed its strength; nowadays, it had even mastered the Ground-type ultimate move, Earthquake.

Just now, if Mudsdale had used Earthquake with Victini's assistance, it could have easily created a localized sinkhole to forcibly block the running Tauros.

Generally speaking, the area beneath the desert is quite empty; once such terrain changes occur, after a series of evolutions, they are very likely to trigger a massive sandstorm, which is something Luo Mu did not wish to see.

He could not control the changes caused by fights between other wild Pokémon, but when capable and not in a life-or-death situation, Luo Mu still wanted to avoid triggering extreme weather as much as possible.

After all, many Pokémon still lived within this scorching desert, and many humans entered here to explore.

Not long after Luo Mu and Mudsdale left this area, a dark green off-road vehicle that traversed the desert as if it were flat ground stopped here, from which stepped a young woman with lead-gray long hair and brownish-red skin.

She wore gold-rimmed half-frame glasses; although situated in the desert, she was dressed in a blue short-sleeved top, and her desert boots stepped onto the still-scorching yellow sand, her attire filled with many peculiar elements.

Had Luo Mu been present, he would certainly have recognized that many of these elements represented legendary Pokémon.

Articuno, Marshadow, Seeing Seeing Kapu, Lunala, Great Tusk.

The woman's name was Seeing Lei He; her eyes, hidden behind the lenses, flickered with an aura of wisdom, and as if pondering something, she propped her chin with one hand while looking left and right.

Looking at the series of heavy footprints on the ground, Seeing Lei He revealed a thoughtful smile; using Mudsdale to advance through the desert suggested the other party was likely an experienced desert explorer as well.

A moment later, Seeing Lei He adjusted her glasses, a decision already formed in her heart.

"Let's go find that Trainer who caused such a huge commotion!"

"Perhaps they can help me successfully enter..."

Advancing through the desert was a rather boring affair, much like being on a vast, boundless sea, where the surroundings were nothing but identical scenery without a shred of novelty.

In a certain sense, the desert was also an ocean, an ocean composed of sand and dust.

The only things adorning the desert to make it not so boring were the occasionally appearing, inexplicably protruding massive rock mountains, and the various Pokémon living in this scorching desert.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over this scorching desert; after a whole day of travel, Luo Mu had encountered nothing worthy of note, but observing the "myriad forms of life" within this scorching desert was quite interesting.

A group of large-sized Boldore gathered together, arranged in a circle with equal spacing facing west, gazing at the setting sun alongside Luo Mu.

A group of Hippopotas and Sandile were fighting over a certain sand dune; the quality and quantity of sand here were very suitable, enough for them to dig holes capable of accommodating themselves and their companions to escape the sharp drop in temperature during the desert night.

Because Sandile needed this sand dune more than Hippopotas, as Pokémon modeled after crocodiles, they found it difficult to adapt to sudden temperature drops, and thus Sandile always feared Ice-type moves that countered them even more.

The Sandile fought fiercely and desperately, and within a short while, they drove away the Hippopotas, for whom this sand dune was dispensable.

The victorious Sandile collectively let out joyful roars, then crouched on the sand dune, working together to dig vigorously with their short forelimbs and hind limbs until they completely buried themselves, happily entering dreamland ahead of schedule.

A group of Cacnea and Cacturne, disguised as cacti and motionless, gradually began to move, shifting from daytime stillness to activity, preparing to wait for the nighttime temperature drop to start hunting those prey exhausted by the daytime desert heat.

Humans in the desert were the favorite prey of Cacturne; the Cacturne would follow those reckless youths and their Pokémon who were exhausted by the daytime heat, trailing far behind them until the opponents were completely worn out, then swarm forward to seize their luggage and food.

As night fell, the desert wind blew across the desolate sands, and a group of Gossifleur rolled along with the wind, not knowing where they were rolling to, nor caring where they would end up.

Riding atop the steady-footed Mudsdale, which never stepped into sand pits, Luo Mu's body swayed slightly with its movements.

At this moment, Luo Mu made eye contact with a Cacturne whose eyeballs were spinning round and round.

In the instant their eyes met, Luo Mu understood everything from the slightly greedy look in the Cacturne's gaze.

He had been targeted by this Cacturne.

As expected, not long after Luo Mu and Mudsdale leisurely passed by it, this Cacturne began trailing far behind them.

Even quite a few other Cacturne directly chose to imitate it, forming groups to tightly follow behind Luo Mu and Mudsdale.

"Are they... treating us as soft persimmons to squeeze?"

Luo Mu's eyebrows raised slightly, wondering where this group of Cacturne had gotten such courage.

Having ridden Mudsdale for an entire day, he was indeed somewhat mentally and physically exhausted.

However, Mudsdale currently maintained stamina nearly identical to when they had set out.

Mudsdale's Ability: "Stamina."

In the game, its effect was to raise Defense by one stage every turn, but in reality, besides this effect, it manifested more in enhancing the Pokémon's endurance.

Just like the camel, the partner of desert travelers, a Mudsdale with the "Stamina" Ability was like a perpetual motion machine in the desert; as long as sufficient food and water were provided, it could forcibly walk for a week.

"To target a Mudsdale whose stamina is still quite sufficient, is it indeed because grouping together boosted their confidence?"

After pondering for a moment, Luo Mu decided to ignore this group of Cacturne for now.

Anyway, later on, once they realized his side possessed combat power capable of easily crushing them, these fellows would naturally retreat upon recognizing the difficulty.

After all, Dark-type Pokémon were famous for their cunning.

The most urgent task now was to find a suitable campsite to set up camp and prepare for rest.

First, the camping location could not be in an area with many exposed, easily falling rocks and sparse vegetation, to avoid having a rolling stone suddenly crash down on one's head while sleeping soundly, which could easily result in an accidental trip to the underworld.

Ultimately, under the system's guidance, Luo Mu chose a spot beneath a smooth rock wall; this place could not only block the nighttime desert wind, but the unobstructed area above had no exposed stones prone to falling.

Moreover, having one's back against a wall always brought a person a certain degree of security.

Luo Mu had pitched tents many times before; during his previous life-risking training in the wild, he often couldn't be bothered to return to the city, only going back for supplies when medicine and food were exhausted.

Under such circumstances, Luo Mu had mastered a solo tent-pitching technique, allowing one person to set up a large tent that was windproof, sandproof, and even sunproof and rainproof within a few minutes.

It had to be said that although the black technology of the Pokémon world was a bit skewed, the emergence of spatial items was truly very useful for travelers.

If he had carried heavy luggage all day today, not only would Luo Mu's stamina be consumed faster, but Mudsdale's stamina would also deplete more quickly than it currently had.

Although the improvement for Luo Mu and Mudsdale was not great, at most it just saved some effort.

But for ordinary Trainers and explorers, the emergence of the spatial backpack was equivalent to the appearance of a divine artifact, greatly increasing their exploration speed and exploration time.

After the tent was pitched and covered with a moisture-proof mat and sleeping bag, Luo Mu took some dry firewood from his backpack and stacked it neatly.

"Victini, lend me a—"

Luo Mu turned his head to look at his right shoulder, which was empty to the eye but definitely had something lying on it; as if remembering something, he stopped halfway through his sentence, leaving Victini, who had been about to appear, full of confusion and unable to make heads or tails of it.

After a suspicious moment of silence, recalling Victini's terrible control over move output, Luo Mu silently dispelled the idea of letting Victini start the fire.

Luo Mu feared that if he asked Victini to use Ember to ignite the bonfire, Victini might fail to control the output of its infinite energy and directly create a giant fireball that ignited the campsite, which would be a huge mess.

"Dragonite, lend me some fire."

In the end, Luo Mu still called out Dragonite.

Just as Pikachu's Thunderbolt could become 0.0001 ten-thousand volts, Dragonite's Flamethrower could also become a flame spout.

Pokémon can control the output power of their moves, rather than being stuck using moves with fixed power.

Dragonite exhaled a perfect spray of sparks from its mouth, instantly igniting the bonfire; beneath this boundless night sky, it kindled the flame representing the dawn of human civilization, bringing warmth and dispelling darkness, cold, and beasts.

Lying on Dragonite's soft belly, Luo Mu munched on a sandwich he had made before departure and stored in his space backpack, gazing into the distance.

"Eh?"

Gulping down the last bite of the sandwich, Luo Mu stood up under Dragonite's puzzled, blank stare and looked in the direction from which he had come.

At some unknown point, the figures of that group of Cacturne had completely vanished.

Had they given up?

Luo Mu pondered for a moment; the vicinity offered an open view, and those creatures could not dig holes like Ground-type Pokémon to launch an ambush against him.

They must have given up, yet the fact that they had abandoned their pursuit even before he released Dragonite still left Luo Mu somewhat puzzled.

Since they were gone, let it be; even if they were lying in wait afar, Luo Mu would have his Pokémon take turns standing guard through the night, leaving the Cacturne no opportunity for a surprise attack.

Thinking thus, Luo Mu took a sip of water to moisten his lips, pulled a stiff-bristled brush from his backpack once more, approached Mudsdale, and began brushing the coat of the beast that had run all day.

Compared to a soft brush, Mudsdale clearly preferred the stiff-bristled one; while Luo Mu brushed its fur, it slightly narrowed its eyes, emitting a contented hum, its ears—about as long as a rabbit's—twitching gently, looking utterly at ease.

In this peril-laden Honghong Desert, such a leisurely combination was truly bizarre.

Those unaware might even think Luo Mu had come out for a picnic.

Just as this moment of tranquil years unfolded, the heavy rumble of an engine starting shattered the silence; already somewhat drowsy, Luo Mu lifted his head to look toward the source of the sound, his expression one of surprise.

Was it another Trainer or an explorer?

Luo Mu forced himself to perk up, his gaze locking onto that massive dark green off-road vehicle; judging by its trajectory, it was clearly heading straight for his campsite.

Were they seeking food and supplies, or looking for companions?

Or perhaps...

Many possibilities flashed through Luo Mu's mind, but after the off-road vehicle's four massive tires came to a halt and the driver along with an upright Pokémon featuring gray fur and a deep crimson mane atop its head stepped down from the driver's seat and passenger seat respectively, the answer became clear.

"Teacher Lei He?"

"Oh, isn't this the great hero who saved the Ju Zi Islands, Director Luo Mu?"

"... Don't call me Director!"

(End of Chapter)