Chapter 38: From the Past

For some creatures, the first meal after hatching from an egg is often the shattered shell surrounding them.

The Pokémon standing before him in a small nest wrapped in a blanket, gulping down eggshells in large mouthfuls, was no exception.

This Pokémon possessed soft yet thick fur, walked on all fours, and looked somewhat like the standard partner of Young Lady Miss Junsha, a Growlithe.

However, compared to the black-orange fur of a Growlithe, its fur was longer and more vivid, appearing overall red with black stripes.

The greatest differences between this Pokémon and a Growlithe were its nearly milky-white tail, its milky-white mane that even covered its eyes, and the small yet extremely sharp horn atop its head.

Unlike the many Pokémon beside him who wore expressions of delight, Luo Mu blinked, and a look of shock instantly floated onto his face.

This was a Growlithe (Hisui) that had activity records in the ancient Sinnoh region, also known as the Hisui region; it could be considered the ancestor of modern Growlithes and should now be extinct.

Logically speaking, this kind of Pokémon should have long been extinct; how did it appear before Grandma Kiku's explorer son?

Luo Mu could not figure it out; could it be the power of Dialga that caused this? Or perhaps, in some place unknown to him, a small number of Hisui Growlithes and Hisui Arcanines were still active?

Since he could not figure it out, he would not think about it further; Luo Mu was very open-minded about it—a Hisui form was just a Hisui form, and it did not hinder him from raising it.

Luo Mu quickly had his Serperior and Dragonite fetch warm water and some warmed Tapu Tapu Moumou milk; when the Growlithe finished eating yet still felt hungry, he approached lightly and carefully.

The Growlithe seemed as though its eyes had not yet opened; it pressed its nose against the blanket, sniffing here and there, seemingly searching for food to satisfy its hunger.

The sound of Luo Mu's footsteps startled the Growlithe, yet after its sensitive nose caught Luo Mu's scent, it quickly calmed down, sitting obediently in place and waiting for Luo Mu to feed it.

Luo Mu only felt that a Growlithe like this was just as cute as his Dragonite had been in childhood; he bent down, lifted the Growlithe onto his lap, accepted the towel passed by Serperior using vines—which had been wrung dry, retaining only a hint of moisture and warmth—and gently wiped the Growlithe's body.

Originally, his plan had been to give the newly hatched Pokémon, which still had some sticky fluid on its body, a bath with warm water; he had not expected it to hatch into a Fire/Rock-type Growlithe, which had a four-times weakness to Water, making it more suitable to bathe in cleaning sand like some Ground-type Pokémon rather than taking a warm water bath.

This was a point he had not considered.

Because Moltres was here, the towel did not hold much moisture, so even though the Growlithe's fur was slightly long, it dried very quickly.

Next, Luo Mu took the baby bottle filled with warm Tapu Tapu Moumou milk, held the Growlithe in his arms, and fed it with movements that were skilled and gentle.

Not far away, Dragonite looked at that familiar blue baby bottle from its memories, and a drop of crystal-clear liquid seeped from the corner of its mouth.

It remembered the memory of Luo Mu holding and feeding it milk when it was young; back then, it only felt that the warm Tapu Tapu Moumou milk smelled incredibly fragrant.

Now, watching the Growlithe enjoy Luo Mu's meticulous care just as it once had, it felt a different sensation altogether.

Perhaps because it had been stifled inside the Pokémon Egg for too long, the Growlithe directly guzzled two full bottles of Tapu Tapu Moumou milk, only stopping its feeding with a milky burp after its little belly was eaten round and smooth.

A Pokémon's adaptability was far stronger than that of ordinary animals; during the feeding, Luo Mu noticed a pair of eyes hidden beneath the Growlithe's fur, staring at him with focused yet innocent attention.

A process that would take ordinary animals several days required less than half an hour for this Growlithe.

"Wang Wang~~"

After eating its fill, the Growlithe was obviously much more active; everything in the outside world seemed full of attraction to it.

It looked left, then right, and soon noticed the group of Pokémon gathered in the room.

Luo Mu had expected the Growlithe to show fear or vigilance, but unexpectedly, acting like someone with social anxiety, it moved on limbs that were still somewhat unsteady as it walked, running to each Pokémon's side to sniff their scents one by one with its small black nose.

Bai Bai Pengpeng, along with the Cottonee, greeted the Growlithe in a friendly manner, and the Growlithe responded cheerfully.

But Luo Mu's five main Pokémon were somewhat unable to let go; they stood stiffly in place, allowing the Growlithe to sniff them without daring to make the slightest move, as if fearing that an inadvertent action on their part might harm this small life.

Seeing their expressions that already showed slight doting, Luo Mu felt that in the future, the farm would likely give birth to a little tyrant who feared neither heaven nor earth, backed by a crowd of aunts and uncles.

The Growlithe moved with cheerful steps; its adaptability was simply terrifying, and after just sniffing around for scents, its walking had become steady enough to allow it to hop and jump.

Hopping and skipping, it came to the side of Moltres, whose body was equally stiff and somewhat at a loss; it sniffed with its small nose, and the eyes hidden beneath the Growlithe's fur lit up as it cried out: "Wang Wang!" (Mom!)

Moltres was startled by this cry; completely disregarding its dignity and face as a Legendary Pokémon, it plopped down on the ground, its pupils vibrating frantically as if during an earthquake.

The Growlithe paid no attention to Moltres's reaction; after rubbing its head against the Legendary, it turned to look at Luo Mu.

Serperior, who had originally been somewhat gleeful, suddenly felt a bad premonition arise.

"Wang Wang!" (Dad!)

Boom—!

With a loud crash, the tip of Serperior's tail, which had been swaying happily, momentarily failed to control its force and directly poked a large hole in the wooden floor.

At this moment, Serperior was so angry that its whole body trembled; the entire Pokémon had entered a state of overheating rage.

It had never expected that despite guarding against everything, an anomaly would appear in the home!

This Moltres had descended from the sky less than half a month ago, yet it possessed such scheming intentions!!

Considering that the little Growlithe surely understood nothing and that Moltres must be behind this manipulation, Serperior glared with furious eyes at Moltres, which had been shocked into place by the Growlithe's single sentence.

Luo Mu did not understand the Growlithe's meaning, thinking it was merely acting spoiled; under the strange gazes of the various Pokémon, he smiled, squatted down, and skillfully rubbed its fluffy head.

Serperior—sunk!

It was night; no matter how lively the Growlithe's hatching had been, once it played until tired and showed obvious signs of sleepiness, Luo Mu arranged for the other Pokémon to return to their respective nests to rest, for if they did not sleep soon, it would be past twelve o'clock.

According to his observations, besides himself, the Growlithe seemed exceptionally close to Moltres; could this be the influence caused during those few days of hatching?

Luo Mu did not hesitate too much; he directly moved Moltres's dwelling temporarily into the house, and considering the Growlithe had just been born, he also temporarily slept in the living room.

That night, lying in an empty quilt, Serperior ground its teeth in anger.