Chapter 355: Lei Guan Wang, but in Parenting Mode

Cosmog, the Nebula Pokémon, a pure Psychic-type with the Ability "Unaware," had, in Luo Mu's impression, a base stat total of only 200.

Even the moves it could learn and use were limited to "Splash," originally translated as "Water Splash" but identical to Magikarp's move, and "Teleport," a move rarely learned even among Psychic-type Pokémon.

It was said that its gaseous body, prone to dissipating, was so light that even a gentle breeze could blow it away.

Unable to learn even a single attacking move, did it not appear very weak?

But Cosmog was a Pokémon with a two-stage evolution line; in its second stage, Cosmog evolves into Cosmoem, doubling its base stat total to 400, while its 0.2-meter-sized body weighs a full ton.

Seemingly exaggerated, yet once Cosmoem completes its final evolution, it will undergo a transformation perhaps even more remarkable than Magikarp evolving into Gyarados.

The final evolved forms of Cosmoem, which possesses two branching evolutions, are Solgaleo, the legendary beast that devours the sun of the Alola region, or Lunala, the beast that invites the moon.

Their status was akin to that of Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza; they were the cover legendaries of their generation.

At this stage, while their base stat total soared to 680, symbolizing legendary Pokémon, their types changed to "Psychic/Steel" for Solgaleo and "Psychic/Ghost" for Lunala.

But why would Cosmog appear within this Crown Tundra?

Judging by Lei Guan Wang's demeanor, it seemed he had found Cosmog and was now caring for it.

This time, seemingly due to shock, Luo Mu failed to lower his voice, causing Lei Guan Wang to hear his muttering clearly.

Lei Guan Wang glanced curiously at Luo Mu and asked via telepathy, "Cosmog? Is that its name? Do you know it?"

Luo Mu hugged Victini tighter, urging it desperately not to wake Cosmog.

Otherwise, the ear-piercing wails seen in the anime might echo through this Wangguanshendian.

Facing the three consecutive questions thrown by Lei Guan Wang, Luo Mu nodded gently: "Its name is indeed Cosmog; more accurately, this is its species name, just as you collectively refer to us as humans."

"But... can you tell me, where exactly did you encounter it?"

"Logically speaking, it is a Pokémon from another world, that is, from a different world."

"From another world, no wonder." Lei Guan Wang's eyes widened slightly, as if reflecting that day's scene in Emperor Yan Di's gaze, "I shall not hide it from you; in truth, on the day I found it, the sky seemed to shatter, and a hole appeared."

"That void seemed to collapse, constantly sinking toward some unknown place; colorful halos enveloped the area like an aura, while mysterious blue-white threads wove together like a spiderweb to form a passage, emitting an aura that was unknown, unfamiliar, and completely foreign to this world."

"Subsequently, amidst the wind and snow, I saved the... Cosmog that emerged from that hole."

From Lei Guan Wang's description, and considering Cosmog's identity,

almost instantly, Luo Mu determined that the hole Lei Guan Wang saw must be the spacetime tunnel known as an "Ultra Wormhole."

The destination on the other side should be the different world named "Ultra Space."

Logically, Ultra Wormholes should only appear in the Alola region... that is, where Necrozma's light shines.

The appearance of an Ultra Wormhole in the Crown Tundra also seemed to have traces to follow.

At least in Luo Mu's impression, in the anime, Lillie's father, Lusamine's husband Mo En, was brought to the Crown Tundra by a Nihilego through an Ultra Wormhole.

According to the timeline, Mo En might now be living a solitary life somewhere within the Crown Tundra.

As for the games, aside from the Ultra Wormholes set to open in Max Dens, Luo Mu clearly remembered that a Cosmog nicknamed "Little Floaty" also appeared in Freezington in the game, adopted by an old woman.

Could that "Little Floaty" be the very Cosmog saved by Lei Guan Wang right before his eyes?

And was the "Little Floaty" adopted by the old woman in the game somehow connected to Lei Guan Wang?

For a moment, Luo Mu felt that everything made sense.

Looking at Cosmog, then at Lei Guan Wang, Luo Mu stated with conviction: "So the reason you frequently entered Freezington attempting to possess people was..."

Lei Guan Wang looked deeply at Luo Mu, seemingly satisfied with his intelligence, and nodded: "I wished to find someone worthy for me to entrust this child to."

"Uh..."

Luo Mu's eyes widened slightly; he had guessed that Lei Guan Wang was possessing villagers, but he had never guessed that the reason for Lei Guan Wang's frequent possessions was to find someone worthy to entrust Cosmog to.

No wonder he had asked right from the start if he would take care of a child.

Thinking of this, Luo Mu couldn't help but ask, "Is it really okay to entrust it to me?"

Lei Guan Wang gave Luo Mu a strange look, his gaze falling upon Cosmog, a trace of tenderness flashing in Emperor Yan Di as he recalled the bits and pieces of time spent with this little one over this short period, then steeled his heart and spoke.

"It is not my subject; protecting it for several months in this treacherous, extremely climatic tundra was already an act of mercy; doing this is what is best for it."

As soon as Lei Guan Wang finished speaking, before Luo Mu could organize his words to respond, Cosmog, as if having slept enough, first twitched its tightly closed eyes, then, after a tender little hum, slowly opened its eyes.

The first thing that entered its line of sight was the figure of Lei Guan Wang.

After spending this period of time together, Lei Guan Wang had clearly become the closest and most reliable figure for Cosmog.

"Mo Gu~!"

Cosmog's petite body, as if ignoring the existence of gravity, slowly floated up under Victini's surprised expression and happily lunged toward Lei Guan Wang's embrace.

Judging by Cosmog's skilled manner, it was evident that Lei Guan Wang had held it often in usual times.

A trace of embarrassment flashed in Emperor Yan Di of Lei Guan Wang; psychic power subconsciously surged, freezing Cosmog's lunge in mid-air and directly altering its trajectory.

This change was extremely subtle; while demonstrating Lei Guan Wang's excellent psychic control skills, it did not attract Luo Mu's attention, only causing Victini, also a Psychic-type Pokémon, to feel a slight ripple.

But Victini itself had a carefree nature and didn't mind this disturbance at all, which was comparable to a sewing needle dropping in a noisy vegetable market.

With this alteration by Lei Guan Wang, Cosmog, lunging with its eyes closed, didn't notice either and plunged directly into Luo Mu's arms, squeezing Victini to the other side.

As for Luo Mu, who discovered Cosmog throwing itself into his embrace, his head was full of question marks.

How did he not know his charm was now so great?

A juvenile form of a legendary Pokémon throws itself into his arms immediately upon meeting?

Luo Mu felt Cosmog first rub against him within his arms; that cotton-like texture was quite rare, and its weight was so light it was almost nonexistent, making him feel somewhat surprised and intrigued.

Knowing the settings was one thing; only upon actual experience did one realize just how miraculous it truly was.

But after rubbing, Cosmog seemed to realize something was wrong; opening its eyes, the first thing it saw was Victini, who was greeting it friendly and wanting to make friends with it.

"Bi Mi~~"

Facing Victini's show of goodwill, Cosmog froze for an instant, then, under Luo Mu's terrified expression, a terrifying wail echoed through the Wangguanshendian.

"Mu—Mu—!"

While emitting a terrifying cry comparable to ultrasonic waves, Cosmog looked around panickily, as if trying to find that familiar figure.

Victini was so frightened it forgot how to fly, landing hard on its bottom on the dust-covered floor of the Wangguanshendian, staring blankly at Cosmog's loud wails, feeling as though terrifying sonic attacks were constantly echoing within its V-shaped ears.

Luo Mu didn't know where he had found the perseverance to endure it; half-opening his eyes, he looked toward the Lei Guan Wang beside him, intending to have it soothe Cosmog.

Yet, apart from the immaculate, damaged Wang Zuo, within the solemn temple filled with dust and untouched by cleaning for years, the figure of the Lei Guan Wang had completely vanished.

Although his eardrums throbbed with pain, Luo Mu could no longer concern himself with that; frowning, he carefully scanned the surroundings with his eyes, but ultimately found nothing.

In his heart, he still found it somewhat unbelievable.

Had the Lei Guan Wang... just left directly?

At this moment, Victini seemed unable to bear Cosmog's crying any longer; reaching its limit, it pulled out a privately stored orange-flavored Poffin from its body, flew up directly, and stuffed it into Cosmog's wide-open mouth.

In an instant, the unique sweet fragrance belonging to the orange-flavored Poffin burst forth within Cosmog's mouth.

Cosmog's wailing gradually subsided.

Its eyes widened slightly; feeling the unprecedented texture in its mouth, it momentarily lost itself in a daze, even forgetting that it had been about to cry, though it did not forget to chew the Poffin.

Luo Mu: "..."

Another foodie!

After consuming the Poffin, Cosmog's emotions seemed to alleviate, gradually stabilizing.

"Mo~"

It curiously floated before Victini, somewhat foolishly leaning close to Victini's body, sniffing with a nose that appeared non-existent, seemingly searching for the same scent as the Poffin from earlier.

"Tini!"

Because its only Poffin had gone into Cosmog's mouth, Victini was currently sorrowful; puckering its lips to prevent Cosmog from sniffing it, it chose to fly away directly.

But Cosmog acted like a little tagalong, following tightly behind it, until the situation eventually evolved into two Pokémon, incredibly rare in the outside world, circling around Luo Mu.

After quite a while, seemingly tired from spinning, both Victini and Cosmog stopped their movements.

Although exhausted and panting heavily, after glancing at each other, the two Pokémon simultaneously let out happy, giggling laughter.

"Bi-mimi~" "Mo-mo-gu~"

Joyful laughter and atmosphere rippled throughout the Wangguanshendian; in just a short while, Victini and Cosmog appeared to have already become friends.

This was also the reason Luo Mu felt many Pokémon were like children; their joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness did not linger long, as they lived more capriciously and straightforwardly.

A moment later, this time Victini agreed to let its new friend Cosmog sniff it.

Having said that, upon seeing Cosmog cry in vain without results, Victini's eyes rolled around cleverly, and a good idea immediately surged into its little head.

Taking hold of the part of Cosmog that could be considered a hand, Victini flew with it to Luo Mu's front, demanding food with righteous indignation.

"Tini!"

This time, when demanding food, Victini held its back straight as an arrow!

Cosmog blinked its eyes, imitating Victini's posture by extending its hand and straightening its seemingly non-existent waist, presenting an air of complete righteousness.

"Mo-gu!"

Luo Mu: "..."

Seeing through its little scheme at a glance, Luo Mu shot Victini a warning glare.

Only after seeing Victini restrain itself somewhat did Luo Mu lower the backpack on his shoulder, take out a box of newly made, sealed, and unopened Poffins, and hand them to Victini, letting it share them with Cosmog itself.

As for Luo Mu himself, he still had some things he wanted to confirm; the Lei Guan Wang's sudden departure without farewell seemed full of suspicious points to him, especially regarding its attitude toward Cosmog...

"Mo-gu~ Mo-gu~ Mo-gu~"

Enjoying Poffins of different flavors made by Luo Mu together with its new little companion Victini, Cosmog listened ignorantly as Victini complained about how Luo Mu had previously lured it in by claiming delicious food was unlimited, yet now claimed he had to control its three meals due to so-called nutritional intake.

Unfortunately, Cosmog did not take in any of Victini's complaints.

It only grasped one key point.

"The Poffins were made by Luo Mu, and Luo Mu can also make more things as delicious as Poffins."

Listening to Victini chatter, Cosmog frequently cast its gaze toward Luo Mu, who was walking around the Wangguanshendian; filled with curiosity, and due to its childish nature, it actually temporarily pushed the Lei Guan Wang to the back of its mind.

Perhaps because the Poffins were too delicious, by the time Luo Mu finished exploring the main hall of the Wangguanshendian and returned near the Wang Zuo, Cosmog showed no fear toward him, but instead expressed gestures of affection.

"The Lei Guan Wang seems to have temporarily entrusted you to me; if we stay here, it probably won't appear. Do you want to go back with me temporarily?"

"Rest assured, I will let you meet again."

Stroking Cosmog's body, which was as soft as cotton, Luo Mu promised gently.

Hearing the name Lei Guan Wang, although Cosmog had no impression of it, perhaps due to the intuition of a Psychic-type Pokémon, it directly equated "Lei Guan Wang" with that figure in its memory.

Cosmog felt somewhat bewildered, not understanding why the Lei Guan Wang had disappeared.

But Cosmog still nodded strongly; after seeing Victini lie on Luo Mu's shoulder, it nudged its way into Luo Mu's embrace, as if doing so could bring it more sense of security.

Luo Mu took one last deep look at the dust-filled environment of the Wangguanshendian, went to the entrance, summoned Dragonite with a Poké Ball, flew into the sky, and headed toward Dongning Village down the mountain.

Only after they had been gone for quite a while did the petite figure of the Lei Guan Wang reappear within the dilapidated temple.

Arriving before the damaged Wang Zuo, the Lei Guan Wang slowly sat down, yet its gaze remained fixed on the direction where Luo Mu had just departed.

"..."

On the empty Wang Zuo, the forgotten king sighed imperceptibly.

On the return journey, probably due to rather bad luck, Luo Mu still encountered a significant blizzard.

Although he and Dragonite could barely withstand it, and there was the firelight emitted by Victini to warm their bodies.

But in his embrace was the extremely frail Cosmog.

After deliberation, Luo Mu and Dragonite found an abandoned cave on the mountainside, stayed there until morning, and chose to continue flying toward Dongning Village only when the blizzard gradually subsided, their bodies warm from roasting by the fire all night.

That night, Luo Mu hardly slept at all, instead thinking about the relationship between the Lei Guan Wang and Cosmog, the obvious loopholes in its words, and the Lei Guan Wang's true intentions.

The Lei Guan Wang said Cosmog was picked up by it beneath the Ultra Wormhole, which meant Cosmog had at least no relation to "Little Nebula," and there was a high probability it was that "Little Floaty" from the games.

The reason the Lei Guan Wang frequently possessed people in Dongning Village, breaking its years-long obsession and wanting to communicate with humans, was likely because it felt unable to take care of Cosmog properly; with its current broken body, incapable of even telepathy, it fundamentally could not watch over Cosmog's growth.

As for the reason Cosmog pounced on him, although it felt somewhat like a shattered fantasy, Luo Mu guessed that was probably the Lei Guan Wang's doing.

The cause was simply that he had asked Victini to restore some of Calyrex's power, enabling it to silently alter Cosmog's pouncing angle.

Then, based on Cosmog's attitude toward Calyrex, and Calyrex's words which seemed "indifferent" but actually hid its true thoughts very deeply...

Luo Mu could infer that Calyrex was certainly reluctant to part with Cosmog.

But because Calyrex was currently powerless, it chose to swallow that reluctance and find a good shelter for Cosmog, ultimately selecting Luo Mu, who was very skilled at caring for young Pokémon.

Viewed this way, Calyrex's image in Luo Mu's eyes transformed from the betrayed, empty Legendary King into a tragic old father who, in order to secure a bright future (a shelter) for his child (Cosmog), willingly endured this bitterness himself.

Although Legendary Pokémon have no gender, Calyrex is a King, so logically it should be an old father, right?

Dragonite flew steadily through the air; Luo Mu looked at Cosmog, who was sleeping soundly in his arms, and a thoughtful expression appeared in his eyes.

If previously Luo Mu hadn't known how to reasonably lure Calyrex back to the farm, now he roughly had a clue.

Calyrex, you wouldn't want Cosmog...

*Cough, cough*, Calyrex simply felt that its current state made it utterly incapable of raising Cosmog.

Then what Luo Mu needed to do next was very simple.

Regarding faith, it was unclear whether Calyrex would continue down that path after suffering a setback, but Luo Mu only needed to follow the game's procedure: let Calyrex tame Glastrier and Spectrier to regain its power.

As for what Calyrex would use to tame Glastrier and Spectrier?

Wasn't there Victini, the nuclear power station power bank, right here!

However, first, he had to make Calyrex clearly recognize the fact that it now completely lacked believers.

Otherwise, it would not make up its mind.

It would just be like in the countless years of the past, day after day enduring the pain of its body weakening and power disappearing, waiting for the audience of believers who no longer existed.

"Boo-wuu~"

Dragonite's cry brought Luo Mu, who had already formulated a plan in his mind, back to his senses.

Looking down, he discovered that the clear outline of Freezington Village was already visible below.

Luo Mu patted Dragonite's back, signaling it to descend slowly.

After all, even from the aerial perspective, there were already traces of human figures moving within Freezington Village at this time.

The commotion caused by Dragonite's landing was very conspicuous in a remote small village like Freezington.

Apart from the villagers gathering to watch, who appeared to be in even better spirits than Hearing Nimo and the others Luo Mu had seen when he first arrived at the Crown Tundra...

Hearing Nimo, Arven, Mela, Atticus, Peony, and Sada, having heard the news, came directly to escort Luo Mu back into the house.

Hearing Nimo clasped her hands together and said excitedly, "Teacher must have completely resolved the incident!"

Arven widened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief: "That's great, great!"

Atticus looked at his fist, his expression seeming somewhat unwilling to accept the outcome.

Had the incident been resolved one step earlier, before he could finally learn the moves "Detect" and "Odor Sleuth"?

Although Mela was overjoyed in her heart, her expression remained slightly restrained; she cleared her throat lightly and said, "I can book flight tickets back to Paldea right now..."

She seemed unable to wait to leave this place, or rather, to stay far away from her father who was always making a fuss over nothing.

Ringing in her ears were Peony's painful cries upon hearing his daughter was leaving, along with Sada's voice scolding him.

Luo Mu tapped the corner of the table; only after concentrating everyone's gaze on himself did he speak: "Let's first talk about the intelligence I gathered overnight."

"Regarding this haunting incident, it actually has nothing to do with Ghost-type Pokémon."

"I don't know, have any of you heard... the legend of the King of Bountiful Harvests?"

Peony, having regained his seriousness, rubbed his chin thoughtfully: "... One of the reasons I came to the Crown Tundra was to investigate whether the legend of the King of Bountiful Harvests is real, or merely a fairy tale fabricated by the adults here in Freezington."

"In previous investigations, I learned from an old grandmother that when she was young, her own grandmother told stories claiming that if children were naughty in the fields, the King would take away their bodies and souls, and they could never return home—a story used to scare children."

"This made me doubt whether the 'King of Bountiful Harvests' actually exists; unfortunately, when the investigation was halfway done, progress was made at the ruins in the Snowslide Slope area, so I temporarily put it out of my mind."

Peony's words caused Hearing Nimo and the others to fall into deep thought.

At this moment, Sada, sitting directly on the table with her legs crossed, spoke up again: "Last time I went to the village chief to pay the rent, I accidentally heard him say something like, 'We can only rely on the King of Bountiful Harvests to attract tourists.'"

"Let me tell you, stupid Dad, were you deceived by them?"

"..."

Because there was no true and powerful evidence, Peony did not know how to refute Sada at this moment.

At this time, Luo Mu suddenly spoke up: "The King of Bountiful Harvests... Calyrex exists, and I already met it last night."

"It even entrusted a Pokémon to me."

The moment Luo Mu's voice fell, Hearing Nimo and the others immediately let out cries of surprise.

"Ah—!?"

Whether it was to coordinate with this perfect timing, or simply awakened by the noise...

Cosmog, who had been burying its head deep in Luo Mu's clothes sleeping soundly, yawned, opened its eyes, and poked its head out from Luo Mu's collar.

(End of Chapter)