Chapter 34: Wenxiang Wenxiang Kedou

These Tera Shards sell individually for about 3,000 League Coins, basically on par with items like Hard Stone.

Tera Shards have only one use—in the famously renowned Treasure Eatery of the Paldea region, using fifty Tera Shards of the same attribute allows one to create a special dish capable of changing a Pokémon's Tera Type.

"For those with deep pockets, changing Tera Types offers more tactical options, but normal Tera Types are generally sufficient; let's just exchange these two shards for money."

Luo Mu shook his head; Tera Shards were still quite abundant in the Paldea region, appearing randomly after crystalline formations across the area shattered, and the market offered quite a few scattered Tera Shards of various attributes for sale.

This had even spawned a group of people who made their living specifically by scavenging for Tera Shards.

Luo Mu had not caught the Kingler; the claws dropped by wild Kingler tasted worlds apart from those dropped by domesticated Kingler, making them utterly incomparable, and most restaurants purchasing claws would specifically note their requirement for those dropped by wild Kingler.

Following Luxray, Luo Mu casually found a flat spot in the mountains to pitch a tent, light a bonfire, and set up a small pot to steam the Kingler's claws.

Cracking open the claw revealed about six or seven jin of tender white crab meat; finding a water source and steaming it in a pot would fully bring out the delicacy of the meat.

Luo Mu had once, after challenging the Normal-type Gym, shared a meal with Sai Sai Fuhao and Brother Brother Qingmu at the Treasure Eatery.

At that time, upon hearing that Luo Mu had found a pair of wild Kingler claws and had merely boiled one of them to eat, a chef at the Treasure Eatery couldn't help but clap his hands in regret and sigh.

Such a method of eating was simply a waste of heavenly gifts, and that chef immediately introduced Luo Mu to the best cooking method for Kingler claws.

Unfortunately, Luo Mu hadn't carried any soy sauce, bringing only portable seasonings like salt and chili powder; otherwise, given the exquisite freshness of the crab meat inside the claws, dipping it in soy sauce before eating would have been fresh enough to make one's eyebrows fall off.

White steam drifted upward; Luo Mu wasn't worried that the scent of the bonfire and food would attract wild Pokémon.

Leaving aside which wild Pokémon nearby could last three moves against Luxray, just the loud roar Luxray let out after Terastallizing earlier meant that most wild Pokémon, even if they smelled the aroma, probably wouldn't dare come out to forage at this time.

Keeping track of time, Luo Mu lifted the lid without hesitation the moment the countdown in his mind ended; amidst the swirling white steam, the tender white crab meat lay within the claw shell, and the crab meat together with the clear, fresh broth emitted a sweet, savory fragrance—just one sniff caused saliva to secrete crazily within Luo Mu's mouth at an extremely fast speed.

The finest ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods.

Luo Mu and Luxray exchanged a glance; disregarding the scalding heat of the crab shells, each picked up or hugged a shell, their faces filled with excitement as they tasted the delicious crab meat.

Thick, fat, and tender, the snow-white crab meat, clearly separated into strands, yielded extremely sweet and savory broth when sucked, and paired with its wonderfully thick and soft texture, merely swallowing this single mouthful of crab meat made Luo Mu feel that all his hardships over the past year were worth it.

Over on Luxray's side, its eyes also glowed from eating, its star-shaped tail tip swaying joyfully.

Luo Mu ate a small half of the crab meat, while Luxray ate the large majority.

However, their eating speeds were nearly evenly matched.

Just from being fully satisfied with this top-tier delicacy, Luo Mu felt this trip out had already been worth it.

As for the remaining claw, Luo Mu planned to take it back as a specialty to share with his other Pokémon, after all, it wasn't right for only him and Luxray to enjoy it alone.

The temperature in the early spring night wasn't high, yet Luo Mu now felt that ever since he ate the crab meat, his entire body had become warm, and he no longer felt cold despite the chilly wind.

Luxray's sensation was even clearer than Luo Mu's; not only was the energy within its body in an overflowing state after eating the crab meat, but its physical functions had also improved slightly.

The next day, early morning.

Luo Mu and Luxray finished packing up early and returned down the mountain along their original path; the lake they needed to go to was located a few hundred meters east of the mountain foot.

They moved quickly, reaching their destination in less than ten minutes.

The lake was situated in the center of a small wetland, with quite a few wild Pokémon living in the wetland scattered around its edges.

Although there were no ultra-rare, late-blooming Pokémon juveniles like Goomy, one could see distributions of Wooper and Quagsire, Psyduck and Marill, or even Barboach.

After observing for a moment, Luo Mu noted that the wetland environment would make it much easier for Swampert to build canals and divert water; while he couldn't temporarily determine exactly which Pokémon and fish were inside the lake, the water storage was certainly sufficient, and filling the large pit at his farm wouldn't carry the risk of the water level dropping.

As for the water quality...

Luo Mu paced to a relatively dry edge of the lake, squatted down, and took out a set of water quality test kits from his large backpack.

After dripping the collected lake water onto the test kit and waiting about three minutes, two red lines indicating unclean water did not appear on the kit, proving that this lake water met all conditions.

Luxray came over, nudging Luo Mu with its head, its throat emitting a short, urgent purring sound.

Luo Mu freed one hand to pat its furry head, smiling: "No problem; we can bring Swampert over to divert the water once we get back."

With one worry resolved, before heading back, Luo Mu figured he'd wander around near this wetland to see if there were any suitable Water-type Pokémon to kidnap... ahem, adopt home!

Wooper, Psyduck, and Marill didn't quite fit Luo Mu's expectations.

If most Wooper were too active and rowdy in temperament, then their evolved form Quagsire was the other extreme: slow-witted, good-tempered, and leisurely, simply the Pokémon version of a capybara.

Psyduck was too dull, and Golduck was more suited to following fishermen underwater for catching fish than working on a farm.

As for Marill, this water mouse, and Azumarill, this water rabbit, they were better suited for playing rough and beating up Salamence (for sure).

Luo Mu's gaze wandered across the lake surface, hoping to find a Water-type Pokémon that fit his farm.

After about five minutes, Luo Mu's eyes were about to water from staring so hard when he finally spotted a Pokémon that had just swum ashore not far away.

Slippery blue skin, a round body without hands, a feather-like rounded tadpole tail, and a black spiral pattern on its belly!

The Tadpole Pokémon—Wenxiang Wenxiang Kedou!

Perhaps the initial form of this Pokémon wasn't much different from Psyduck, Marill, or Wooper.

But after completing two stages of evolution, one of the branched evolutions of Poliwag into Poliwhirl, namely Politoed, possessed unique abilities that made it one of the Pokémon most suitable for Luo Mu's farm!