Chapter 379: Is Your Lucky Egg's Little Hand a Bit Unclean?

Seeing Luo Mu's figure walk away, an expression of confusion flashed in Emperor Yan Di's eyes: "Why did the teacher say he would only teach once?"

Mudan nodded in agreement: "Clearly this is an 8-versus-8 match; if things go smoothly, it should go the full four rounds."

As if recalling something, Shinji wore a thoughtful expression, while Hearing Hearing Nimo, regardless of the consequences, simply concluded that Teacher Luo Mu was the strongest and that was all that mattered.

Only Paipa, standing aside, perfectly clear-headed and knowing Luo Mu best, displayed an expression that was hard to describe.

"Saying he'd only teach once... he's probably afraid that if we keep battling consecutively, he'll get ganged up on after the matches end."

"Harming us isn't enough for him; he's even set his sights on the Gym Leaders and our fellow teachers."

The preparation area.

Luo Mu saw his opponents for the day; everyone was quite familiar with each other, so there was no need for formalities as they gathered in groups to chat casually.

There was little to say about the eight Gym Leaders, and the lineup of teachers stepping forward was exactly as Luo Mu had expected; since neither side would use their main forces, their strengths were ambiguous, making it impossible to determine who was stronger.

The Naranja Academy teacher side: Math Teacher Tyme, History Teacher Seeing Lei He, Home Economics Teacher Saguaro, Biology Teacher Jacq, Linguistics Teacher Salvatore, Battle Studies Teacher Professor Professor Huangbo, Art Teacher Ryme, and Luo Mu.

The Gym Leader side: Bug-type Gym Leader Katy, Grass-type Gym Leader Kofu, Electric-type Gym Leader Iono, Water-type Gym Leader Master Master Haidai, Normal-type Gym Leader Brother Brother Qingmu, Ghost-type Gym Leader Ryme, Psychic-type Gym Leader Grusha, and Ice-type Gym Leader Grusha.

Soon, Clavell began announcing the battle pairings.

Compared to Ryme, who had finally found a chance to avenge her "one-arrow defeat" from the Elite Four match and once again settle scores with Luo Mu...

Most of the Gym Leaders also cast eager glances toward Luo Mu.

This included Gym Leader Brother Brother Qingmu, who had been dragged along to perform for free.

Silently pulling back his own soul that had nearly escaped his mouth, Brother Brother Qingmu thought expressionlessly that if he ran into Luo Mu in the first round, he could probably clock off work then.

Middle-aged office worker praying ing

"First up is Zone A!"

Amid the students' cheers, Clavell, holding eight freshly drawn slips of paper in his hand, read out the names written on them one by one.

"Teacher Ryme versus Gym Leader Kofu, Teacher Saguaro versus Gym Leader Master Master Haidai, Teacher Jacq versus Gym Leader Brother Brother Qingmu, Teacher Salvatore versus Gym Leader Ryme."

As Clavell's voice fell, the students' cheers grew even more enthusiastic.

Even Luo Mu felt surprised by this grouping brought about by chance and accident.

Not only was there the artist showdown between Ryme and Kofu; if things went smoothly, one could also witness a battle between Elite Four members: Brother Brother Qingmu, who was ostensibly a Gym Leader but actually an office worker and League employee, and Ryme!

"Awesome!"

Suddenly, Luo Mu heard Iono cheering softly with delight nearby.

Looking at Iono, whose height was only about 1.5 to 1.6 meters, making her nearly the shortest among all contestants except for the elderly Teacher Tyme, Luo Mu didn't need to guess what she was excited about.

She definitely wanted to avenge that "one-arrow defeat" from last time.

With a strange expression, Luo Mu met Iono's gaze as she shot him a challenging look, remaining silent.

Iono thought Luo Mu was afraid, so excited that her nose was practically pointing to the sky.

Heh heh! Even if she had to fight a few more rounds, Miss Iono would be able to carry out a perfect revenge battle now~!

Keeping her volume low enough not to disturb her colleagues nearby, Iono happily made bold claims to the livestream room, where the online viewer count was growing by the minute.

Today, she, Iono, would wipe Luo Mu out completely!

"What if she loses again?"

Catching a comment that quickly scrolled by, Iono puffed up her cheeks angrily: "What do you mean 'what if she loses again'!?"

"Today, Iono's luck is extraordinary; she will absolutely win!"

"If she loses, Iono will livestream herself eating a keyboard!"

Hearing Iono's words, the viewers watching the livestream commented one after another: "Screenshot taken."

Looking at that string of uniform comments, Iono actually didn't back down, because she understood just how ridiculously good her luck was today.

Compared to other contestants who didn't know whether they had drawn good or bad cards, Iono had directly drawn Bellibolt, an Electric-type Pokémon from Paldea that, while not her ace, was still very familiar to her.

She had even drawn a matching held item, a Magnet that boosts the power of Electric-type moves.

Compared to Miss Katy, whom Iono had gone through great trouble to trick information out of regarding her "Burmy," this was undoubtedly a heavenly opening hand; one couldn't even imagine how she could lose!

With any luck, she might even march straight to victory, trampling both the Elite Four and her own colleagues underfoot!

What interrupted Iono's excited fantasies was Clavell announcing the Zone B pairings.

"Teacher Seeing Lei He versus Gym Leader Katy, Teacher Tyme versus Gym Leader Ryme, Teacher Professor Professor Huangbo versus Gym Leader Grusha, Director Luo Mu versus Gym Leader Iono!"

As soon as Clavell finished speaking, whoosh! The students instantly erupted in cheers and enthusiasm even stronger than before.

Clavell looked at the eight slips of paper in his hand with a bitter smile.

He could guarantee there was no foul play today; everything was random, so why did the drawn pairings turn out so coincidental?

Whether it was the sister battle between Teacher Tyme and Gym Leader Ryme, or the highly discussed second match between Luo Mu and Iono that had recently stirred up heated debate online, both were extremely eye-catching, so it was no wonder the students were so excited.

Clavell remembered that even Koga, the Poison-type master and Elite Four member from the Johto region, had praised Luo Mu's combination of Toxic, Substitute, and Protect to no end.

He had stated outright that while this tactic had many flaws, and even though not everything could proceed step-by-step according to the tactic's permissions, with many methods to counter it...

SubTox was by no means invincible and even had numerous loopholes.

But this could not hide the fact that "SubTox," as one of the interspersed tactics, was suitable for everyone from Elite Four members and Champions down to novice trainers to choose and use.

It was said that many trainers specializing in Poison-types, besides researching how to make their Pokémon's toxins harder to cure and more potent, had silently begun practicing the timing intervals between the moves "Substitute" and "Protect," integrating them into their own tactics to find suitable moments for interspersion.

No one knew what new, eye-opening maneuvers Luo Mu, who had drawn a random Pokémon, would perform today.

At this moment, Iono even ignored the comments filling her field of vision; she glanced delightedly at Luo Mu, who wore a "guilty conscience" expression, and another thought rose in her heart.

Miss Iono today was truly... riding a wave of great fortune!

Amid the cheers of the students, the first battle was presented by Ryme and Kofu from Zone A, two trainers who were both extremely powerful.

Ryme had drawn an Azumarill, a Water/Fairy-type with the ability "Huge Power," and her held item was the very ordinary "Sitrus Berry."

Even though he specialized in Dragon-types, Ryme's smile remained extremely confident.

As the young master of a dragon-tamer family, he had been forcibly fed a heap of Dragon-type related knowledge by his family since childhood.

Especially the natural predators of Dragon-type Pokémon: Fairy-type Pokémon.

Hassel confidently claimed that some trainers specializing in Fairy-types might not even understand Fairy-type Pokémon as well as he did.

Korchu drew a Poison and Fire-type Salazzle; its ability, Corrosion, could poison even Steel-type Pokémon with the Steel Body ability, making it the perfect counter to his own specialty, Grass-type Pokémon.

Its held item was the "Hard Stone," which was basically useless.

Poison beats Fairy, Water beats Fire, and since both sides were strong trainers, this battle was destined to be spectacular.

And indeed it was; amidst the fierce exchange of blows, Korchu, wielding a spiked whip, seemed perfectly synchronized with Salazzle, whose toxin-laced flame whips forced Marill into a steady retreat.

But Hassel was no pushover either; methodically directing Marill to dodge the flame whips while seeking openings to attack, he ultimately secured victory by a narrow margin thanks to the stamina recovery provided by the Sitrus Berry.

The second battle featured Lei He from Block B against Mochi.

To be honest, Lei He didn't really want to battle; she would much rather be immersed in the library of the Academy, searching for ancient texts perhaps hidden in its corners to witness stories of the past with her own eyes.

Her Pokémon was a Psychic-type Wobbuffet with the ability Shadow Tag.

Originally, Wobbuffet were not distributed in the Paldea region, but since the Academy accepted students from all over the world, there were naturally students from Kanto among them, and this Wobbuffet was the offspring of a Wobbuffet left behind by those students at the Academy.

Mochi's Pokémon, like Lei He's Wobbuffet, was also the offspring of a Pokémon left behind by a student from Kanto—a cocoon Pokémon nearly one meter tall, Kakuna.

The battle situation could less be described as a stalemate and more as utterly uneventful.

Miss Mochi, with an innocent expression, shouted "Harden," while Lei He, with dead-fish eyes, watched the Wobbuffet that absolutely would not move a single step before the opponent's attack, leaving both sides directly locked in a deadlock.

Coincidentally, the Kakuna Miss Mochi had drawn had not learned the only attack move it could learn, "Electroweb," and the Wobbuffet didn't know a single attack move either.

Since things were like this, a winner might not be decided even by dawn; looking at the drowsy students around him, a headache-stricken Clavell could only have Lei He and Mochi play rock-paper-scissors to decide the one who would advance.

Luo Mu personally felt that the only thing more abstract than this battle would likely be a finger-wagging contest.

The third match pitted Geeta against Brother Brother Qingmu; originally planning to slack off and subtly throw the match, Brother Brother Qingmu, feeling as if thorns were on his back after Geeta suddenly arrived on-site, had no choice but to use the move "Endure" to forcibly secure victory in the battle.

Time flew by swiftly; the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh matches concluded smoothly one after another, the winners decided, until finally, the much-anticipated eighth match arrived.

Luo Mu versus Iono, a second-playthrough showdown!

Seeing Luo Mu and Iono take their positions on opposite sides of the battlefield in the schoolyard, Peony and the others perked up, immediately sitting up straight.

Hearing Hearing Nimo cheered loudly for Luo Mu, while Shinji, silent and unmoving, stared unblinkingly at Luo Mu's figure, pondering what Pokémon he would send out and what tactics, worthy of being taught only once and demanding close observation and learning, he would reveal.

"A revenge battle! Soar through the sky as my wings, Iono, with Kilowattrel!"

Striking several poses for the livestream phone held up by her assistant, Iono, with high spirits, tossed the Poké Ball in her hand.

Hearing Hearing Nimo's gaze temporarily lingered on Iono, observing the phone that still required someone else to hold it for the livestream, lost in thought.

A red laser condensed in the sky into a Pokémon resembling a frigatebird, with feathers distributed in black, yellow, and light gray, possessing a massive throat pouch.

The Electric and Flying-type Kilowattrel was very common along the coasts of the Paldea region, but due to the low oil content in its feathers, it was not very good at swimming.

Having already entered battle mode, the arrow-shaped pattern on Kilowattrel's chest, its throat pouch, was puffed up, and dazzling electric sparks flickered around it, looking every bit full of electrical power.

Before tossing the Poké Ball in his hand, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, thinking no wonder Iono was so bold today.

It turned out she had drawn the Electric-type Pokémon she was best at and understood most thoroughly.

He wondered what held item Kilowattrel had; if it was Leftovers, he could look for an opportunity to snatch it away with the move "Covet."

Thinking this, Luo Mu decisively threw the Poké Ball in his hand.

"I'm counting on you, Chansey."

The red light solidified, and Chansey's harmless figure instantly appeared before everyone's eyes.

Shinji's serious expression instantly turned to shock, Geeta showed an expression of interest, and Iono was almost ready to pop the champagne.

Among the students on-site, a wave of noisy chatter erupted.

The comments in Iono's livestream room paused for an instant before scrolling rapidly, filling the entire screen.

"Isn't Chansey the assistant to Nurse Joy?"

"Can this Chansey even battle?"

"Oh no, don't let Iono actually win!"

As everyone knows, in this Pokémon world, the Chansey line is almost monopolized by the Joy family spread across the entire globe, just as Feng Su Gou is to Miss Miss Junsha.

Of course, there are trainers who own members of the Chansey line or the Feng Su Gou line, and there are also cases where a Miss Miss Junsha's partner is Comfey, or a Miss Miss Junsha's partner is Herdier.

But these are ultimately the minority.

In the subconscious of most people, Happiny, Chansey, and Blissey have been equated with logistical support.

The saying that no one lets support units or doctors go to the battlefield perfectly illustrates the impression and positioning of the Chansey line in everyone's minds.

On one side was Kilowattrel, shrouded in dazzling electric sparks, exuding high morale.

On the other side was the nurse of the Pokémon world, a Chansey whose number of known moves was anyone's guess.

The gap was simply too large!

Geeta glanced at the Joy beside her, who wore sunglasses and a baseball cap to completely cover her signature pink hair in disguise, and stated with certainty, "Even you didn't expect Chansey to be drawn, did you?"

She was the most junior among the several Joys working at the Mesagoza Pokémon Center.

Per the Academy's requirements, the Pokémon Center had also provided quite a few Pokémon boarded with them.

Of course, the trainers of those Pokémon had agreed.

This included Joy's partner, Chansey.

Joy watched the Chansey in the arena with worry, muttering to herself, "Besides doing its nurse duties well, this child usually likes to learn moves from various Pokémon that come in for treatment; I don't know if it can adapt to Pokémon battles."

Joy suddenly felt some regret for agreeing to Chansey's request to temporarily store its Poké Ball at the Academy as well.

Luo Mu didn't feel he was particularly skilled at tactics; if one had to describe his battle style, it was probably similar to Ash's, however, thanks to the knowledge in his mind and his calm personality, he was able to construct decent tactics while maintaining his bond with his Pokémon.

Chansey was not adapted to combat; in fact, this might even be its first battle.

Luo Mu had already clearly realized this point during their previous coordination training.

So, for a beginner, what could best boost their morale?

"Hahaha, Iono already knows Chansey can learn Toxic too, so don't think you can make Iono look foolish again!" Iono, opposite Luo Mu, let out a three-stage laugh, then spun around and issued a command to the Kilowattrel in the sky, "Kilowattrel, Thunderbolt!"

That's right, the method Hearing Hearing Nimo devised to deal with the deadly poison was to have the Kilowattrel stay away from the slow-moving Chansey and strike directly from long range!

Although this is slightly cheating and not entirely honorable, it's still much better than that "Substitute + Poison" tactic, ya know!

"Screech!"

Electric light flashed violently across the Kilowattrel's body; the irritable current transformed into a golden serpent, slashing straight toward the Chansey!

The Thunderbolt moved with extreme speed, arriving before the Chansey before it could even react.

Before the Chansey had time to panic, Luo Mu's voice, seemingly imbued with some magic that soothed a Chansey's heart, rang out beside its ear.

"Minimize!"

Recalling Luo Mu's earlier instruction that "there's no need to overthink during battle, just follow my commands," the Chansey felt greatly reassured; it mobilized Normal-type energy, and while it appeared to be curling up to shrink, its body actually suddenly became the size of a basketball!

Because the Kilowattrel had aimed at the Chansey's round, target-like body, once the Chansey suddenly shrank, the Thunderbolt roared past it, scorching the ground that suffered an unprovoked disaster black, missing completely.

Hearing Hearing Nimo:????

You can play like this?

"Kilowattrel, use Discharge this time!"

Hearing Hearing Nimo refused to believe it; since Thunderbolt was dodged, she switched to Discharge, which had a larger area of effect and might even hurt allies with its indiscriminate lightning, certain that the Chansey couldn't dodge this!

The Kilowattrel cried out loudly once more; as Lei Guang flashed again, serpents of lightning far more numerous than those from the Thunderbolt slashed toward the Chansey!

Even if it used Minimize, the Chansey indeed could not dodge such a Discharge, however—

Luo Mu whispered: "Believe in yourself, next!"

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, forcibly suppressing its desire to flee, the Chansey stood right there, watching helplessly as the Discharge rushed toward it and exploded across its surface!

Some timid girls and boys had already closed their eyes, as if unable to bear watching any further.

The Nurse Joy beside Geeta was so worried she nearly rushed forward to make the Chansey forfeit the battle.

Standing together for their upcoming match were Grusha and Brother Brother Qingmu; Grusha crossed her arms, pondering what Luo Mu was thinking, while Brother Brother Qingmu, who could barely be considered a Normal-type specialist, wore a thoughtful expression.

He remembered that the Chansey's special defense resistance seemed quite good.

The terrifying Discharge raged for a full ten-plus seconds; Hearing Hearing Nimo, clenching her fists, stared intently at the Chansey enveloped in electric light within the arena, and since her starter Pokémon was a Pawmi, she could more clearly understand just how terrifying the power of such a long-duration, high-output Discharge was.

Once the electric light dissipated, the noisy environment instantly fell silent; even the bullet comments in Hearing Hearing Nimo's livestream room quieted down for a moment.

It could be seen that apart from a few slight scorch marks, the Chansey's body had suffered almost no significant damage.

Hearing Hearing Nimo displayed an even more astonished expression; this was a Discharge from the Kilowattrel with absolutely no water content, boosted by the "Magnet," so how could this Chansey be so tanky?

Luo Mu's heart was as clear as a mirror.

With the bonus from the Evolution Stone, this Discharge from the Kilowattrel, against a Chansey with such outstanding special defense, might not be merely a tickle, but it certainly couldn't deal much damage.

That's just how Chansey are; clearly, Hearing Hearing Nimo only needed to let the Kilowattrel get badly poisoned obediently, but now Luo Mu had to consider many more things, having to combine Minimize, Egg Bomb, and Rock Slide... it was so mentally taxing and exhausting.

Sighing helplessly, Luo Mu issued the second command to the Chansey, which was already prepared amidst the Discharge.

"Rock Slide!"

Suddenly feeling that the Discharge wasn't so painful after all, the Chansey opened its eyes, a glint of sharpness flashing in its small eyes.

"Lucky~"

As the Chansey raised its small hands, Rock-type energy that had long gathered coalesced above the Kilowattrel's head, spontaneously forming several rocks roughly the size of a basketball, which fell straight onto the Kilowattrel that had just finished using Discharge and hadn't had time to flap its wings to evade!

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The Chansey's physical attack was trash, possessing almost no potential for training; thus, the "Rock Slide" it released wasn't even comparable to the "Rock Throw" of many Rock-type Pokémon, let alone the damage, which was worlds apart.

Even though the move was super effective, the damage caused by this Rock Slide was still not high, but the humiliation was extremely strong.

The surrounding area erupted in an uproar.

Good heavens, I've learned something new today.

If someone caused trouble at a Pokémon Center and the Chansey waved its hand to summon a Rock Slide onto their head, just imagining it made one feel like their worldview was collapsing.

Just as the angry Kilowattrel puffed up its throat sac, intending to follow Hearing Hearing Nimo's command to use Discharge again, its eyes suddenly widened, and its body, like a kite with its string cut, plummeted straight toward the ground!

This commotion immediately caused everyone to display shocked expressions.

But among those present were many elites from the professional trainer ranks, who almost instantly arrived at the answer.

This Chansey's luck was quite good; it directly triggered Rock Slide's additional effect, causing the Kilowattrel to flinch!

There were also knowledgeable people in the bullet comments who began explaining it to the livestream audience.

Suddenly feeling unable to muster any strength in its entire body, the Kilowattrel flopped onto the arena floor with a "pata," its expression pained.

To be honest, the damage caused by the Chansey's Rock Slide wasn't even as painful as this single fall.

"Careful, Kilowattrel!"

Hearing Hearing Nimo's anxious voice rang out from behind; the Kilowattrel froze, and the next moment, alarm bells rang loudly in its heart.

It turned out that under Luo Mu's command, the Chansey had somehow approached right in front of it without anyone noticing!

Just as Hearing Hearing Nimo and everyone else thought Luo Mu was going to resort to his old trade and have the Chansey use Toxic on the Kilowattrel, Luo Mu's new command surpassed their expectations.

"Covet!"

"Lucky~"

Unable to move, the Kilowattrel stared blankly as the Chansey approached, gave it a slight smile, then directly slapped it, while simultaneously patting it down and snatching away the Magnet that it had carefully hidden within its feathers!

When the viewers in Hearing Hearing Nimo's livestream room saw clearly what the Chansey had done, the bullet comments instantly exploded.

Holy crap, aren't this Chansey's little hands a bit unclean!?

After obtaining the Magnet, the Chansey looked at this little item that made its palm go numb, a look of disgust flashing in its Emperor Yan Di; right in front of the Kilowattrel, it directly threw the Magnet out of the arena.

Kilowattrel & Hearing Hearing Nimo:????

The skin beneath the mask of the Young Lady Nurse Joy beside Geeta, which was originally Bai Xi, flushed red with embarrassment.

She suddenly felt that the Chansey on the battlefield, with whom she spent day and night, was so unfamiliar.

After the Chansey retreated a few steps, the Kilowattrel, filled with shame and rage, finally regained its ability to move.

The first thing the Great Electromagnetic Swallow did after regaining its mobility was to soar back into the sky, beating its wings furiously to unleash a wind laced with electricity that swept toward the Chansey!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Seeing that the Chansey seemed somewhat distressed by the gale, Luo Mu pondered briefly and decided it was about time; since shrinking couldn't dodge this kind of area attack, he called out, "Lay an Egg!"

Stabilize first!

It's the end of the month; reclaiming unwanted monthly tickets!

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(End of Chapter)