Chapter 337: The Fatigued Eevee

By the time Luo Mu arrived at the Pokémon Center in Mesagoza Town, the rain was at its heaviest.

Fortunately, he had timed his departure perfectly.

After leaving the stone-paved path of the farm, a long stretch of dirt road lay ahead.

On a rainy day, a dirt road could be called the very embodiment of a nightmare.

A dirt road soaked and turned muddy would easily ruin a pair of clean, neat shoes with yellow mud, and the puddles formed by the road's unique unevenness were the nightmare within the nightmare.

But today, by the time Luo Mu reached the normal concrete pavement of the town, the downpour had only just begun.

Now, only his pant cuffs and shoe tips were stained by the dirty water on the ground, which was far better than dealing with that mud.

Before the Pokémon Center's entrance, Luo Mu shook his umbrella, then hung it on a rack that was obviously specially prepared for this purpose, before walking toward the main door of the Pokémon Center.

As he stepped forward, Luo Mu glanced at the pouring rain outside, thinking that once the rain stopped and the sun first came out, the Mudsdale should be very happy.

After all, by then, there would be fresh mud puddles everywhere for it to play in.

As the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center slowly slid open to both sides, a soothing and pleasant melody entered Luo Mu's ears.

Probably because it was raining at the moment, the Pokémon Center in Mesagoza Town had not gathered too many people; the number of trainers was pitifully small, and most people had simply been forced to take shelter in the Pokémon Center halfway through their journey due to the rain.

Among the many cities of Paldea, Mesagoza Town was not a town that attracted trainers; compared to the bustling cities of Artazon and Levincia, Young Lady Joy, who was several times more relaxed, was also gazing at the only ceiling-mounted television in the entire lobby along with the people taking shelter, listening to the morning Paldea news.

At the edge of the lobby, several people whose shoulders and hair were dampened by rain were using the fixed telephones of the Pokémon Center, speaking with a worried expression to someone on the other end of the line.

Judging by their attire, Luo Mu did not need to think to know they were office workers who had gone out without umbrellas and were trapped in the Pokémon Center; the content of their calls was probably asking their bosses for leave.

Luo Mu felt that the technological development of this world was too strange.

Clearly, there were Poké Balls capable of storing Pokémon, and spatial backpacks capable of even storing items filling an entire room, yet people nowadays frequently used fixed telephones or phone booths to contact others, were accustomed to watching programs on television, and the ownership rate of mobile phones among ordinary residents was terrifyingly low.

Even the number of live-stream viewers for Dondozo, which in Luo Mu's impression should have been popular throughout the Paldea region, was far from reaching the level he remembered.

Although the Rotom Phone had not yet been born, and Rotom Dex, as its predecessor, was currently only in the idea stage of development for Citron, the fact that ordinary people in the Pokémon world were unwilling to use mobile phones, and that even computers were used by only a small group of people, with work still being the prevailing reality in most cases, was indeed somewhat strange; trainers, on the other hand, used these things more often.

Perhaps things would improve a bit in a few more years.

With his thoughts ending there, Luo Mu naturally walked over to Young Lady Joy's side and asked if there were any books related to basic pharmacology knowledge here.

Because Luo Mu had previously undergone a psychological test for a Pidgey here with Young Lady Joy and had borrowed related books, Young Lady Joy had a very good impression of him.

However, as the most skilled healer in the Pokémon Center, Young Lady Joy also knew that pharmacy was a very complex discipline, and she couldn't help but ask with concern: "Do you plan to make medicine yourself?"

"I do have such a plan."

Luo Mu nodded slightly, took out a wooden box kept close to his body that had not been touched by a single raindrop, opened the box, and displayed the secret seasoning inside: Sour Seasoning, to Young Lady Joy.

"Actually, I recently acquired a few of these very precious plants and plan to mix them with some mild medicinal herbs, place them inside a Tinkaton's body, and brew them into a potion."

"May I take a look?"

Young Lady Joy did not answer rashly, but politely asked if she could observe the medicinal herbs in Luo Mu's hand.

"Of course."

Luo Mu generously handed the wooden box to Young Lady Joy; since he had already sought her out, this level of trust was necessary.

Young Lady Joy took the wooden box and carefully examined the "precious medicinal herbs" Luo Mu had spoken of.

Looking at its appearance, rather than judging it as a medicinal herb, it looked more like a branch of a tea tree that had grown yellow leaves?

Sniffing from a distance that would not contaminate the medicine, a scent that could be determined as "sour" spread through the nasal cavity; just the smell made the mouth involuntarily accelerate saliva secretion.

"This..."

Rather than a medicinal herb, it was more like something with the appearance of a tea branch that could be directly crushed and used as a seasoning.

Does this thing really have the efficacy of a medicinal herb?

A moment of doubt flashed in Young Lady Joy's eyes, but she considered that Luo Mu should not be the type to make such a low-level mistake, nor someone coming to make fun of her.

Young Lady Joy put on an awkward yet polite smile and said tactfully: "Your medicinal herb might be more suitable for making medicinal cuisine."

Luo Mu could understand Young Lady Joy's reaction.

After all, the function of secret seasonings in the game was to crush them and sprinkle them on food, which would allow the dying Ao Ao Jiaofu to revive with full health, and allow Koraidon/Miraidon to unlock their various forms that had been sealed due to losing to their own kind.

Suddenly saying he wanted to turn a seasoning into medicine was indeed something Young Lady Joy might not be able to understand.

However, all of this was merely based on the premise that Young Lady Joy was unaware of the effects of secret seasonings.

As long as she realized and witnessed the effects of secret seasonings with her own eyes, she would understand why he so desperately wanted to turn secret seasonings into medicine.

Thinking of this, under Young Lady Joy's surprised gaze, Luo Mu plucked a leaf from the secret seasoning: Sour Seasoning, and asked aloud: "Is there a Pokémon in the Pokémon Center that is extremely fatigued and currently recovering its stamina?"

"I want to demonstrate the true effect of this plant to you."

Young Lady Joy led Luo Mu to the treatment area deep within the Pokémon Center.

Just like in the anime, every Pokémon receiving treatment had its own separate room; inside the rooms were many medical devices that Luo Mu did not recognize but which looked incredibly impressive.

Arriving at a room with the door number 018, Young Lady Joy pushed the door open, stepped aside, and allowed Luo Mu to clearly see everything inside.

On the bed in the room, a small brown fox with many white patches connected to pure white circuit patches was lying there, sleeping deeply.

The small fox's body was almost entirely covered in brown fur, with only the fur on its neck and the fluffy fur at the tip of its tail being cream-colored.

The small fox's long ears, which were close to rabbit ears, hung weakly on the soft bed, its four limbs slightly curled up, making it impossible to see its pink paw pads.

Its breathing was slightly rapid; even its small black nose was not enough, and its small mouth was slightly open, constantly exhaling rapid breaths.

The name of this Pokémon was Eevee, a Pokémon with many possible elemental evolution directions; judging by the heart-shaped pattern of cream-colored fluff at the tip of its tail, the gender of this Eevee should be female.

"This child seems to have been injured in a fight with some wild Pokémon; it was found by a resident of Mesagoza Town this morning and sent directly to me."

"Although the injuries have been roughly treated, it is in a state of dehydration and exhaustion due to the fierce battle; although I have replenished its water with saline, the loss of stamina cannot be recovered so quickly even after I fed it a Sitrus Berry while it was unconscious."

Young Lady Joy quietly informed Luo Mu of Eevee's situation, with some lingering worry on her face.

However, what she worried about was not Eevee's condition; Eevee's current state of exhaustion would be fine as long as it normally consumed food and then rested for a day or two.

What Young Lady Joy worried about was whether the "medicinal herb" in Luo Mu's hand was truly useful, and whether eating it would produce irreversible adverse effects on Eevee's condition.

But since Young Lady Joy chose to bring Luo Mu to the ward, it meant that because of Luo Mu's identity, she chose to trust him and had called her partner nurse Pokémon Chansey, ready to take over the scene at any moment.

Holding the bowl containing the already crushed leaves of the secret seasoning: Sour Seasoning, and after listening carefully to Young Lady Joy's description, Luo Mu nodded slightly, approached the bedside, put down the small bowl, gently lifted the head of the sleeping Eevee, and then took up a spoon to feed the Sour Seasoning to Eevee bite by bite.

Because Eevee was still in a deep sleep, Luo Mu, thinking it would have difficulty chewing and swallowing, added a tiny bit of clear water to the bowl, making it easier for Eevee to swallow the water mixed with seasonings while unconscious.

Eevee's body was very petite; Luo Mu could easily cup its small head in his large hand, then use a spoon of suitable size specially made by the Pokémon Center to feed the "potion" to Eevee spoonful by spoonful.

Since only the amount of one leaf had been added, the clear water had merely filled the bottom of the bowl; after just a few spoonfuls, the water mixed with the sour seasoning was already gone.

Seemingly due to the inherent sourness of the sour seasoning, Eevee's little face, which had remained unchanged during its deep sleep, scrunched up, its entire face nearly contracting from the sour taste.

Eevee's little paws danced unconsciously, as if trying to escape this hellish sourness, yet because its whole body was soft and powerless, the movement looked more like acting spoiled.

As Eevee's soft, limp paw pads landed on his arm, Luo Mu not only felt no anger but wore an expression of being utterly charmed, laughing happily.

Meanwhile, Nurse Joy, with a tense expression, began using the Pokémon Center's medical equipment to observe Eevee's condition based on the patch attached to Eevee's body.

During the first three minutes, the values showed no change whatsoever, yet Joy did not dare to relax in the slightest.

After all, the effects of many food-based medicinal ingredients often require a certain amount of time to manifest.

By the tenth minute, the situation finally changed.

"This is..."

Looking at the values on the screen, Joy immediately revealed a look of surprise.

(End of Chapter)