Chapter 346: The Tournament Concludes: Booming Business and Tapu Tapu Moumou Academy

The commentator's astonished voice finally rang out after a long pause: "Oh my! Contestant Number 6's Rapidash and the defending champion, Contestant Number 1's Tauros, have been knocked out in a single strike!"

"Could this be the gap between levels?"

Using High Horsepower, which looked like an earthquake, to instantly defeat two Pokémon weak to Ground-type moves in one blow, Mudsdale moved its four legs, maintaining top speed without showing the slightest fatigue as it continued charging forward.

Luo Mu was not worried about those two contestants and their Pokémon, because...

The rumbling sound of a car engine woke Miss Miss Junsha and her Feng Su Gou from their daze.

Miss Miss Junsha glanced at the paramedics disembarking from the ambulance, then looked at the Rapidash and Tauros lying sprawled on the ground, and finally turned her gaze toward Luo Mu and Mudsdale, whose figures were gradually disappearing from view.

Miss Miss Junsha gritted her teeth, patted the Feng Su Gou beneath her, and said, "Feng Su Gou, let's go!"

Even though the contestants riding Rapidash and Tauros had lost due to an absolute difference in levels, she could not remain stagnant here.

"Woof!"

The Feng Su Gou responded with a cry, its streamlined muscles bulging slightly; its broad paw pads hit the ground as it immediately sprinted forward.

Because Mudsdale had dug many holes while running seriously, to avoid the risk of stumbling or even falling into a void and breaking a bone, the Feng Su Gou had to choose ground that remained largely intact for its footing.

This undoubtedly greatly reduced the Feng Su Gou's speed, consumed its stamina, and invisibly increased Mudsdale's speed advantage.

After all, the mud guards on Mudsdale's feet, resembling thick-soled boots, were no mere decoration; no matter what obstacles lay ahead, Mudsdale would not lose its balance due to potholes.

This held true even if the pothole was one it had created itself.

Approaching the final twenty kilometers to the finish line, they had now returned to the city's asphalt roads.

As Mudsdale trod upon the road it had previously dug deep pits into, every time its four legs landed, causing the pavement to tremble, Mayor Aisha of Pingdie Town and the municipal workers felt their hearts skip a beat, their faces filled with heartache.

Although there was funding approved by the League, the cost of repairs would be enormous...

Gradually, Luo Mu, riding on Mudsdale's back, could hear faint cheers.

He knew the finish line was close at hand.

Looking down at Mudsdale, whose breathing was even and who seemed no more tired after running nearly five hundred kilometers than if it were taking a stroll, Luo Mu said softly, "Only the final stretch remains, Mudsdale."

Hearing this, the usually steady Mudsdale could not help but feel excited by the impending victory; it let out an exceptionally loud neigh in response to Luo Mu, and the alternating motion of its four legs subtly quickened.

After running for a few more minutes, the commentator's voice echoed through the venue's speakers, reaching the ears of Luo Mu and Mudsdale.

"Contestant Number 26, Luo Mu, and Mudsdale are less than one kilometer away from the finish line."

"Eh!?"

"That figure... could it be Contestant Number 25, Miss Miss Junsha, and her Feng Su Gou? Despite falling behind, they have caught up by traversing a stretch of rugged terrain!"

The commentator's voice carried an inescapable sense of shock, as if completely unable to imagine that the Feng Su Gou could forcibly catch up through such difficult roads.

Upon hearing the commentator's voice, Luo Mi glanced slightly backward.

He saw the Feng Su Gou wreathed in flowing fire, sprinting at full speed toward him.

Miss Miss Junsha, riding on the Feng Su Gou's back, wore a face full of seriousness and focus; her gaze could accommodate nothing but the finish line ahead.

However, even though the Feng Su Gou was now in an explosive state, running so fast it left trails of afterimages...

... under the combined influence of the distance gap, Mudsdale's full-speed momentum, and the condition of the ground, Miss Miss Junsha ultimately missed grasping that crimson ribbon by a hair's breadth.

Amidst cheers that swept through the entire venue and the commentator's excited shouting, Mudsdale's heavy body broke through the ribbon, declaring to whom the victory belonged.

Several seconds later, riding the Feng Su Gou, she crossed the finish line which could no longer determine the winner.

Miss Miss Junsha remained silent for quite some time; under the Feng Su Gou's gaze of self-blame and worry, she gently stroked its head, then looked at the backs of Luo Mu and Mudsdale, who were touring the field accepting cheers. Her eyes fell upon the bracelet on his wrist, and she smiled with relief.

"We have already displayed everything we had in this Marathon Tournament."

"Luo Mu and Mudsdale seem as though they haven't even used their full strength yet; in this regard, I even feel somewhat sorry for him."

"In any case, although their method of victory was somewhat beyond my imagination, regarding this defeat... I am convinced and accept it wholeheartedly."

While Miss Miss Junsha was conversing with her Feng Su Gou, Number 7, Saki, and her Rhyhorn, who had arrived late, successfully reached the finish line.

Gazing at that figure who was the center of everyone's attention, she removed her helmet, rummaged for the instant camera she carried, and took a selfie with her Rhyhorn at the finish line with a 'click' sound, then smiled as she wrote elegant characters on the back of the photo.

"Five-hundred-kilometer Pokémon Marathon full-course riding achievement, accomplished!"

The new edition of the Pingdie Town Pokémon Marathon Tournament concluded successfully (?), and amidst the cheers of the surrounding audience, Luo Mu and Mudsdale were the first to step onto the award podium.

The essence of this tournament was an event to boost the happiness index of Pingdie Town's residents; aside from the gold-plated trophy, which held more symbolic significance than actual value, the remaining prize money was of little consequence to Luo Mu.

As mentioned earlier, the central square of Pingdie Town had gathered almost the entire population of the town, along with quite a few travelers who had come just to join the excitement and watch.

Accepting the trophy and medal representing endurance, handed over with both hands by Mayor Aisha, Luo Mu placed them directly atop Mudsdale's head amidst a chorus of gasps.

True to its nature, as steady and heavy as the earth itself, Mudsdale naturally did not disappoint Luo Mu's expectations; it steadily balanced the trophy while wearing the medal, standing upright beside Luo Mu, posing for a photo with Mayor Aisha, who maintained a smile though her expression was subtly strange.

With a 'click' from the camera, time instantly froze.

After the photo was taken, Luo Mu made some exaggerated facial expressions toward Mudsdale, conveying his meaning through his eyes.

Luo Mu: "Hey, I told you we'd be taking photos today. Washing that mud-caked braid of yours in advance was definitely the right move."

Mudsdale: "..."

After the award ceremony came a brief interview session, requiring only cooperative answers to some non-sharp questions.

Luo Mu was very skilled at this.

It was not until after dealing with the interviews and arriving at the customary champion's statement time that...

Luo Mu put on a shy smile, pulled out several stacks of flyers and a few bottles of Tapu Tapu Moumou milk samples from who-knows-where, and, acting just like someone with social anxiety, gave a speech promoting his farm's newly launched milk subscription service, warmly inviting all friends to order the freshest Tapu Tapu Moumou milk.

While giving his speech, he coordinated with the Oranguru outside the venue to distribute the flyers accurately into everyone's hands, without a single one falling to the ground to pollute the town's appearance.

Miss Miss Junsha, who was preparing to immediately ascend the stage to accept the runner-up award below, was completely stunned.

You were supposed to talk about the bond between yourself and your Pokémon, yet you're running an advertisement right in front of the entire town?

What is this about Mudsdale growing so strong specifically because it drinks Tapu Tapu Moumou milk?

Miss Miss Junsha fell silent, looking at her Feng Su Gou beside her, which appeared slightly slimmer compared to the Feng Su Gou owned by other Miss Junshas; after a moment of hesitation, she silently took a flyer.

It seems fresh Tapu Tapu Moumou milk has several times the nutrition of refrigerated milk...

As Luo Mu spoke above, Zheng Xing, as a true customer who had already subscribed to the milk, directly revealed that he had been continuously ordering Tapu Tapu Moumou milk from Luo Mu for a month.

Especially when it was mentioned that Corviknight and Dragonite were actually delivering the Tapu Moumou fresh milk, the surrounding crowd let out wave after wave of gasps; those who had originally planned to wait and see immediately made up their minds or began to waver.

As for Mayor Aisha beside Luo Mu, whose face had frozen from smiling so much, she was now completely dumbfounded.

Wait, how is someone still openly advertising here?

July 25th, that night.

Late into the night, the lights of the small Western-style house remained bright, illuminating the surrounding area.

In the living room, the Pokémon split into several groups, processing letters that were piled up almost like a small mountain.

Victini, Shuang Nai Xian, Vulpix, and other Pokémon picked up the letters and handed them to Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Mimikyu, and Serperior nearby, letting them use moves or sword blades to slice open the stickers on the envelopes.

Swampcarefully picked up a letter, as if afraid its strength was too great and it might accidentally tear the letter into shreds.

It handed the letter to Luxray beside it; Luxray raised its forepaw, the sharp claws above its paw pads appearing even keener under the lamplight, exuding a cold glow as if intending to cut through the light itself.

Luxray could guarantee that its serious state during the battle against Geeta was probably only at this level.

Focusing its entire attention on the letter before it, Luxray brought its forepaw down, and its sharp tips instantly split the cute Teddiursa sticker in half.

After accomplishing this, looking at the intact letter, Luxray and Swampcare exchanged a glance and slowly let out a long sigh of relief.

They simultaneously thought that this time, they had finally succeeded.

On the other side, since returning to the farm, Luo Mu had hardly left his bench for several hours.

The landline telephone, specially installed to facilitate the farm's milk delivery business, had been ringing nonstop since the grand meeting ended.

If it were just the phone calls, that would be one thing, but the letters on the other side were also nearly overflowing.

Just as mentioned before, in this world, many residents were still accustomed to using more primitive methods for long-distance communication compared to mobile phones, just like those senders who had stuffed the farm's mailbox with order letters.

In a certain sense, elderly people like Professor Oak who would leave messages online were actually rare individuals.

Because Oranguru was so busy registering information that its fan was nearly smoking from waving it, its originally vast psychic power had been exhausted several times and even required Victini to recharge it.

The only person on the entire farm who could speak without relying on telepathy was Luo Mu himself, so he could only painfully yet happily take on the job of a switchboard operator.

Time always passed quickly when busy with work; along the way, when Luo Mu was exhausted, he even asked Victini to recharge him once.

Late at night, finally having sorted out all the registration information, Luo Mu and the various Pokémon all let out a sigh of relief.

Even Victini, this power bank, was worn out from recharging so many times; it shamelessly collapsed on top of Luo Mu's head, refusing to move even if beaten to death.

Fortunately, the rewards of their hard work were visible to the naked eye.

These orders, which had nearly booked out an entire day's worth of Tapu Moumou fresh milk, were proof enough.

Although quite a few of them were trial orders for just one or two bottles, Luo Mu believed that after tasting the Tapu Moumou fresh milk produced by Da Nai Guan and Skiddo, there would certainly be many returning customers.

After sleeping briefly for a few hours, he worked until the Corviknight flew away from the farm carrying full loads of Tapu Moumou fresh milk; watching as Dragonite and the Dragonite leader, who were there to supervise, flew off along with the Corviknight, Luo Mu's face was filled with the brilliant smile only an old farmer would show upon harvesting their fields.

The last few days of the summer vacation felt exceptionally long.

The advertisement personally delivered after winning the Pokémon Marathon Tournament had an extremely prominent effect.

Facing countless orders flying in out of nowhere, fortunately, Luo Mu had long made preparations for this.

The training results of the Corviknight were very significant; without a single error or omission, they accurately delivered every bottle of Tapu Moumou fresh milk to the customers' doorsteps.

The next day, the mailbox was stuffed full again, and phone calls kept arriving.

Just as Luo Mu had expected, quite a few customers chose to continue ordering; according to Oranguru's statistics, fully eighty percent of people had chosen to continue ordering for half a month or a month, while a small minority of customers even ordered directly for half a year or a year.

Among the several largest orders, besides the one from the Mayor's residence, there was also an order from the Pingdie Town Police Station.

It could be said that merely one promotion at the Marathon Tournament caused the farm's milk delivery business to blossom everywhere within Pingdie Town.

During this period, following Nurse Joy's suggestion, Luo Mu also made a trip to Mesagoza City.

He went not to the Orange Academy, but to the library which had now completed its final renovation and would be renamed the Grape Academy for the next half year, borrowing some professional books to serve as teaching materials while studying pharmaceutical knowledge.

According to the prescription given by Nurse Joy, Luo Mu purchased several corresponding types of mild medicinal herbs, stuffing one portion of medicinal herbs and one portion of secret seasoning: Sour Mix into the shell of Shuckle Brother.

The other two portions of medicinal ingredients and secret seasoning: Sour Mix were stuffed into the shell of Shuckle Sister.

According to the estimated time given by Nurse Joy, in Azalea Town of the Johto region, Shuckle medicine production generally required a fermentation time of half a month to a month.

It seemed quite long.

But judging by how Shuckle Sister had nearly doubled the speed when fermenting fruit juice, this timeframe was completely within Luo Mu's tolerance.

As for whether Shuckle Brother would develop any feelings of inferiority because he was inferior to his sister in every aspect, Luo Mu also had a plan.

He decided to start letting Shuckle Brother engage in Pokémon battles.

As long as Shuckle Brother understood that he was not inferior to his sister on other tracks, Nurse Joy's concerns would be readily resolved.

And the source of Luo Mu's confidence was Shuckle Brother's move pool, which was even richer than his sister's, as well as his control over moves!

(End of Chapter)