Chapter 373: Paul's Choice and Nemona's Chat

The Pokémon on the left resembled a light green kitten overall, with dark green patterns on its face like four overlapping leaves, and peach-colored eyes that seemed filled with a mysterious, alluring light.

This was Sprigatito, the Grass-type starter Pokémon of Paldea; upon reaching its final evolution, it would gain the Dark type, acting like a magician who excelled at teasing enemies with agile movements and bizarre attacks.

Its signature move was Flower Trick.

As soon as it left its Poké Ball, Sprigatito yawned, directly found a spot suitable for sunbathing, and lazily lay down.

The Pokémon in the middle resembled a small red cartoon crocodile with a shortened body, featuring white facial and abdominal areas, yellow scales on its belly and back, and a structure on top of its head that looked like an ahoge, which was actually Fire-type energy overflowing from within it.

Fuecoco, the Fire-type, would gain the Ghost type after its final evolution; it was not fast, excelling more in steady tactics, possessing good durability and a wide move pool, and was particularly adept at sound-based attacks.

Its signature move was Torch Song.

Just as its name suggested, Fuecoco stood there dazed, opening its snout and rolling its eyes upward to stare at its own ahoge.

The Pokémon on the right was a small duck that had combed its blue feathers into a pompadour, possessing a flat yellow beak, pure white feathers on its body and face, and blue webbed feet.

Quaxly, the Water-type, would gain the Fighting type upon final evolution; its leg strength was extremely tough, it excelled in kicking techniques, and it particularly loved elegantly incorporating attack rhythms into its exotic dance of shaking its entire body.

Its signature move was Aqua Step.

Quaxly meticulously groomed its slightly damp pompadour, showing it was a Pokémon that placed great importance on its appearance.

Under Luo Mu's introduction, Paul, who was still only half-knowledgeable about Paldean Pokémon, had largely grasped their basic data.

He fell silent for a moment, but ultimately decided not to betray the good intentions of Luo Mu and the academy, casting his gaze upon the three Pokémon and beginning to choose seriously.

On the other side, the four people who noticed the commotion here glanced over with some nostalgia while tending to their own Pokémon.

Nemona's eyes sparkled as she said, "Wow! They're actually choosing starter Pokémon!"

"Whether it's Sprigatito, Quaxly, or Fuecoco, they're all so cute!"

Grusha asked curiously, "Nemona, didn't you receive a starter Pokémon at the academy?"

Nemona's gaze fell upon the Pawmi receiving floral therapy, and she recalled, "Pawmi and Pawmot were Pokémon my family prepared for me, as was Goodra, so I didn't obtain one through the academy's channels."

Penny and Arven also raised their hands, saying, "Same here."

Arven felt that since he had been accompanied by Ao Ao Jiaofu since childhood, he naturally didn't need to claim the starter Pokémon prepared by the academy, so he had waived this qualification from the start.

Penny, on the other hand, only liked Eevee; her family had prepared an Eevee for her since she was young, so naturally, she wouldn't claim the starter Pokémon prepared by the academy.

Grusha looked left and right, suddenly realizing a crucial point.

Could it be that she was the only one who had received a Mankey from the academy?

On the other side.

Facing the three starter Pokémon of the Paldea region before him, Paul fell into silence.

While maintaining his contemplation, Paul's gaze first landed on Sprigatito.

Although feline-type Pokémon were inherently fond of displaying their lazy postures and leisurely basking in the sun, and Sprigatito's appearance was the cutest among the three Pokémon...

... no matter how cute Sprigatito looked, from the moment its type was identified as Grass, it was no longer a target for Paul's consideration.

Even if its final evolution added the Dark type, Paul did not intend to include it in his team-building considerations.

Paul's line of sight then shifted to Quaxly, which was meticulously grooming its pompadour hair.

This fellow wasn't bad; according to what he knew and what Teacher Luo Mu had mentioned, the triple typing of Water, Ice, and Fighting could effectively strike many types, so it could be temporarily listed as a candidate.

Subsequently, Paul's gaze swept past Quaxly and collided squarely with Fuecoco, which was staring at him blankly.

Paul: (▼ヘ▼#)

Fuecoco: (●─●)

After staring at each other like this for a full minute, the expressionless Paul showed a change in expression for the first time.

The corners of Paul's mouth lifted slightly as he pointed at Fuecoco and said respectfully to Luo Mu, "Teacher, I want to choose this fellow."

Luo Mu was not surprised by Paul's choice, as if he had expected Paul to select Fuecoco all along; he took out the prepared Poké Balls and recalled Quaxly and Sprigatito into them.

Then, Luo Mu asked Paul, "Can you tell me why you chose it?"

With an air of taking it for granted, Paul said, "Sprigatito will surely slack off in training, and Quaxly pays too much attention to its styling, neither seeming like the type capable of enduring training; but if you just give this dazed fellow an apple, it will probably complete the tasks I assign with full motivation."

Luo Mu: "."

He had imagined Paul listing a whole array of reasons and tactical requirements for choosing Fuecoco over Sprigatito and Quaxly.

He hadn't expected his answer to be so simple and unadorned.

Thinking of this, Luo Mu wore an awkward yet polite smile and reminded him, "Fuecoco's future evolution, Skeledirge, is like your Turtwig—a Pokémon not very good at moving—however, Skeledirge is better at using special attacks."

A look of understanding appeared on Paul's face as he nodded seriously to Luo Mu, saying, "I understand, thank you for the reminder, Teacher!"

A moment later.

Rigorously following Luo Mu's requirements, Paul held Fuecoco and fed it an apple that Luo Mu had specially brought from the farm, while Nemona and the others gathered around them.

Watching the simple and honest Fuecoco happily gnawing on an apple held in its small hands, Nemona cupped her cheeks and said enviously, "So nice, Fuecoco is so cute, it makes me want to catch one too!"

Luo Mu, who was watching Floragato restore the health of Nacli, Garganacl, and Shuckle, turned his head and called out, "If you're willing, you can claim one too; after all, I haven't returned the Poké Balls for Sprigatito and Quaxly to the academy yet."

Nemona's smile stiffened; she scratched her head, took out a Poké Ball, and released a Pokémon that looked like an owl, rarely declining by saying, "Forget it, forget it, Decidueye and I are still in the adjustment period... the choice of a sixth Pokémon still needs to be made carefully."

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow and said nothing more.

Currently, Nemona's Pokémon were Pawmot, Ursaring, Goodra, the Aquabreed Tauros, and Decidueye, which evolved from Rowlet caught at the Indigo Academy.

Although it was a pity not to see the Hisuian Rowlet, Luo Mu was already looking forward to seeing who would become the sixth member of Nemona's initial team, the one with which she would win the championship.

During the period of healing Shuckle and the Naclis, the five students engaged in a series of exchanges; with Nemona, a social terror whose ability was "Own Tempo," even Paul sometimes found himself inadvertently being led by the nose by her.

As if to deepen their relationships, everyone introduced their Pokémon lineups to Paul.

Grusha's Annihilape, Toxicroak, Breloom, and Combusken, which evolved from Torchic caught at the Indigo Academy.

Arven's Ao Ao Jiaofu, Greedent, Cloyster, and Arboliva caught at the Indigo Academy.

And Penny's Eevee team.

Luo Mu did not insert himself into the students' conversation; waiting until the five had mostly gotten to know each other, he recalled Shuckle and the Naclis, continued with today's teaching tasks, and summarized Shuckle's "Substitute-Toxic" strategy and Garganacl's tactics revolving around "Salt Cure."

Although the "Substitute-Toxic" and "Salt Cure tactics" could catch enemies off guard, one should not overly rely on such strategies.

After all, this is at most just one type of tactic; there are enemies who can break through by sheer strength, and enemies who can find ways to break through that tactics cannot counter—it is absolutely not a formula that grants invincibility once learned.

At exactly eleven in the morning, Luo Mu ended today's teaching on schedule and issued a notice.

"The extracurricular Treasure Hunt activity the school plans to launch this semester—you should all know about it, right?"

The five of them responded in unison: "We know!"

"Very good."

Luo Mu nodded with satisfaction.

The so-called Treasure Hunt activity was an extremely educational event proposed by Clavell, the current principal of Naranja Academy.

To summarize simply.

The curriculum at Naranja Academy is not burdensome, so students have ample time to pursue things they are interested in.

The extracurricular Treasure Hunt activity urges students to make use of this time, freely traveling to destinations of their own choosing to encounter many Pokémon and find the "treasure" that belongs only to them.

Although called a Treasure Hunt, this treasure is not a "treasure" of monetary value, but rather allows students to experience various things through free adventure in the Paldea region.

They can challenge Gyms, help people in difficulty, or truly search for treasures; through these various actions, they learn things unavailable within the school.

"If anyone wishes to participate in the Treasure Hunt activity, you can tell me; that way, your usual entry and exit from the school gates, or even situations where you cannot return to school for coursework due to urgent matters, will not be treated as absenteeism."

The moment Luo Mu's voice fell, Hearing Hearing Nimo quickly raised her hand.

"Teacher, I want to challenge the Gyms!"

Hearing Hearing Nimo currently possesses three plus one Gym Badges from the Paldea region: the badges from the Cortondo, Artazon, and Levincia Gyms, as well as the badge from the Glaseado Gym, the sixth Gym, which she challenged per Luo Mu's request.

Now she still lacks the fourth badge from Cascarrafa, the fifth from Medali, the seventh from Alfornada, and the eighth from Montenevera.

She wants to take this opportunity of the Treasure Hunt to collect all four of these Mei Hui Zhang in one go!

Seeing Hearing Hearing Nimo's display, Shinji also raised his hand unwilling to be outdone, saying: "I also want to take this opportunity to try challenging the Gyms here!"

Luo Mu nodded, unsurprised, and noted the requests of these two battle maniacs, then looked toward Hassel, Arven, and Penny.

Arven stated he hadn't yet decided what to do for the Treasure Hunt, while Hassel was torn between establishing a Fighting Club within the academy or going out to challenge strong opponents.

As for Penny, she listlessly stated she only wanted to stay in her dorm room cuddling Eevee and playing video games.

Since Naranja Academy had already cleaned house early, and Team Star had been fundamentally butterfly-ed away, Penny naturally had no interest in other activities.

For her, being able to play video games and pet Eevee in her dorm every day, spending a little effort dealing with the clingy Hearing Hearing Nimo and Hassel, and continuing to live such a hand-to-mouth life was her treasure.

Regarding Penny's salted-fish attitude, Luo Mu momentarily didn't know from which angle to correct her.

He could only silently pray in his heart that she wouldn't get caught by Geeta while hacking systems everywhere, otherwise she would become an overworked corporate slave under Geeta's thumb.

After notifying everyone about the extracurricular Treasure Hunt activity, Luo Mu did not remain in the Battle Studio.

Before leaving, he gave one key to the Battle Studio to Penny, who would definitely stay in the academy dorms, and another to the battle maniac Hearing Hearing Nimo, telling them they could practice inside during non-class hours instead of squeezing onto the academy's sports field with other students.

After leaving the Battle Studio, Luo Mu did not immediately rush back to the farm for lunch, but instead walked toward the faculty office building.

After all, Geeta was waiting in his private office.

A moment later.

As Luo Mu pushed open the door to the office, which remained spotless despite his long absence, Geeta, who had been sitting on the guest sofa, having brewed tea for herself and waited for a long time, lifted her head.

She smiled and said: "It has been a while, Luo Mu."

Luo Mu nodded lightly: "Chairman."

Following his gaze to the small table in front of the sofa, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow slightly: "You even brewed black tea?"

Geeta, who paid no heed to so-called superior-subordinate relationships, directly poured hot tea into the teacup on the other side.

"It was sitting on your desk; thinking you should be returning soon, I brewed it directly—you don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not." Luo Mu sat down opposite Geeta, picked up the teacup, and sniffed it. "This tea was stir-fried using leaves picked from the antlers of Meng Ya Lu on my farm; how does it taste?"

"Excellent; it is even more fragrant and mellow than those expensive, prestigious black teas."

Geeta savored the sweet aftertaste on her tongue carefully, her face displaying a look of Tao Zui.

This was not her flattery, but a sincere and honest truth.

"It seems sending you off to establish a farm might not have been a mistake; regarding the Tapu Tapu Moumou milk and series of dairy products sold by your farm, I have heard whispers about them recently, even in Mesagoza."

Geeta teased with a smile.

"Mesagoza?" Luo Mu's expression showed some confusion. "I should have only launched related business in Los Platos."

As the woman currently holding power over the entire Paldea League, Geeta naturally possessed her own unique intelligence channels.

She slightly wiggled her gloved fingers: "Someone took the Tapu Tapu Moumou milk and butter raw materials ordered from your farm, ran to Mesagoza, opened a breakfast shop, and stirred up quite a trend."

"Things like 'although it's just ordinary milk-butter toast and milk pudding, the taste is surprisingly stunning' and so on."

"... Haha, that is truly unexpected."

A hint of astonishment flashed in Luo Mu's Emperor Yan Di; he hadn't expected someone to start a business using the Tapu Tapu Moumou milk and butter produced by his farm so quickly.

However, this was harmless; Luo Mu was not idle enough to meddle in such matters or make strenuous and unrewarding regulations like allowing purchasers to consume the products themselves only.

"Alright, the small talk is over; let's discuss the reason you specifically asked me to come."

Geeta interlaced her hands and looked at Luo Mu with curious eyes.

Judging by her intuition, Luo Mu must have done something extraordinary again during his time away from Paldea.

Luo Mu nodded slightly and stated plainly: "I kidnapped a legend from the Galar region and brought it back."

Geeta: "????"

(End of Chapter)