Chapter 400: Dead Duck!!!

Afternoon.

In a daze, Luo Mu felt something gently nudge his arm, but the sleepiness was too overwhelming; he merely rolled over and continued sleeping.

Already awake, Eevee puffed out her cheeks, seemingly dissatisfied with Luo Mu's laziness.

Didn't he say to wake him up when the time was about right? "Vui." (Isn't this a bit inappropriate?)

A worried cry came from behind; Eevee turned to look at her younger sister and cast a soothing glance her way.

This was something Luo Mu had personally requested; she was simply acting according to his instructions, so what was there to fear?

Eevee's large, jet-black eyes spun around, and she decided to adopt a more direct approach.

Eevee lightly leaped onto the bed, then slowly and carefully extended her warm, moist tongue.

In one word: lick!

Having often groomed her younger sister by licking, Eevee didn't think there was anything wrong with this; since she couldn't scream loudly enough to wake Luo Mu, this was the only method left.

In his sleep, Luo Mu felt a continuous wet, slippery, warm sensation on his cheek; his consciousness slowly awakened, and he gradually opened his eyes, just in time to meet the gaze of the busy Eevee.

Eevee: (〃'▽'〃) Luo Mu: "."

"Vui!" (Time to get up, you big lazybones!) Eevee very naturally stopped her licking, raised a front paw to lick it clean, rubbed her small head against Luo Mu's face, then hopped off the bed with a wagging tail, busying herself with grooming her younger sister.

She's so good at this.

Charmed by her cuteness, Luo Mu silently got up, slipped on his slippers, and went to wash up.

A moment later.

Putting on a T-shirt with a simple pattern and dark shorts, pairing them with sneakers, and donning a baseball cap with dubious sun-shielding capabilities, Luo Mu, now ready, struck several poses in front of the mirror, feeling quite good about himself.

Although Grape Academy did not require teachers to wear uniforms as strictly as students, it did request that teachers choose attire befitting their status and temperament.

Luo Mu felt this outfit suited his age very well.

Before leaving, Luo Mu specifically instructed the Eevee sisters, who were currently grooming each other in the room: "I'll be back tonight; if anything happens or you need anything, just go find Oranguru; he is the farm's steward."

"Vui~"

Responding with a cry, Eevee watched Luo Mu depart, a lively light flashing in her eyes.

Since she had decided to join this farm for her younger sister's sake, she couldn't just eat, drink, and take without contributing; Eevee was an Eevee with a moral bottom line.

Providing emotional value to the farm's owner was her first step in repaying his kindness; once she gained Luo Mu's affection, she could provide the most superior life for her younger sister!

The Shiny Eevee looked at her older sister with some worry, her mindset somewhat pessimistic.

As twin sisters with a telepathic bond, she naturally knew what her older sister was thinking.

But would things really go as smoothly as her older sister imagined?

Just considering that powerful Serperior, the Shiny Eevee felt her older sister was no match for it.

Whether in terms of strength or rank.

Grape Academy, Battle Hall.

Looking at the four students before him, as if in a scene from an anime where a transfer student arrives, Luo Mu clapped his hands, signaling for the person outside the door to enter.

Whoosh—

The large door was pulled open.

Hearing Hearing Nimo and the other three immediately turned their gazes that way, curious about the true identity of the new student who had joined the academy and been directly promoted into Luo Mu's battle class.

Accompanied by clear footsteps, a woman with shoulder-length pink hair, fair skin, and beautiful features, wearing a gentle smile on her face, walked in.

She was wearing the adult version of Grape Academy's summer uniform; for some reason, Hearing Hearing Nimo always felt the other party's aura of femininity was terrifyingly strong, incredibly dazzling.

Hearing Hearing Nimo widened her eyes; this classmate even looked more mature than Classmate Pipa, feeling like an older sister who had already entered society and started working, a proper adult!

Shinji frowned slightly, feeling as though he had seen this classmate somewhere before.

Pipa and Peper turned their inquisitive gazes toward Luo Mu.

Luo Mu didn't beat around the bush; once Joy had walked to his side, he smiled and introduced her: "She is Joy Shizuka; not long ago, she was still working at the Pokémon Center in Mesagoza, so it's only natural that everyone finds her familiar."

As soon as Luo Mu finished speaking, a slight murmur immediately arose from the four of them.

Miss Joy!? The four of them widened their eyes in near-perfect synchronization, never expecting that the new classmate would actually be a Miss Joy from the Pokémon Center.

Especially for Hearing Hearing Nimo and Shinji, who trained and battled frequently, aside from the school infirmary, the Pokémon Center was the place they visited most often.

The reason why she felt familiar was found in an instant!

The only downside was that, because every Miss Joy looked exactly alike, they really couldn't distinguish whether they had ever met this particular Classmate Joy before.

Joy Shizuka smiled slightly; her work at the Pokémon Center had honed her social skills to perfection, and she greeted everyone gracefully: "Hello everyone, we're all classmates now, so just call me Shizuka."

Shizuka knew very well that, having left her job at the Pokémon Center, she could not yet refer to herself externally as a Joy.

"Miss Joy" was an exclusive title for medical workers of the Joy family; if one was no longer a medical worker, one needed sufficient achievements to rightfully announce one's Joy name to the outside world.

Currently, Shizuka wasn't even maintaining the uniform hairstyle common to all Miss Joys.

Unfortunately, it seemed Shizuka had perfectly missed crossing paths with Hearing Hearing Nimo and the others during her time working at the Pokémon Center, so she didn't know them.

Luo Mu didn't intervene in the students' interactions and mutual introductions; he waited a while until Shizuka had gotten to know Hearing Hearing Nimo and the other three before speaking again.

"As for Mudar, due to the issue with Flareon's Yan Dai Yan, she will likely remain in Artazon for the next few days to accompany Flareon; the treatment plan has mostly been finalized, so everyone doesn't need to worry. They will recover and return after some time, so you should all focus on preparing for the extracurricular Treasure Hunt in a few days."

Hearing Hearing Nimo, Peper, and Pipa exchanged glances, obvious joy flowing from their eyes.

Even the corner of cold Xu Xu Bingbing's mouth curved into a faint, not-so-obvious smile.

In contrast to the four of them, who were enveloped in an atmosphere of joy, Shizuka was completely stunned.

Yan Dai Yan? Was it the Yan Dai Yan she was thinking of? What did it mean to say "recover" when there were various sequelae caused by the removal of the Yan Dai? How could that be called recovery? This was far too unrigorous.

She wanted to ask, but since she wasn't very familiar with everyone yet, she worried about leaving a first impression of being gossipy.

Shizuka felt somewhat contemptuous of herself; after entering society, her personality had really changed a lot; in the past, she would have definitely found a way to ask.

Fortunately, Luo Mu noticed Shizuka's confusion and added an explanation: "It's not surgery to remove the Yan Dai; it's a treatment plan that offers a real chance of full recovery. I won't go into the specifics now, as we still have class."

"First, Classmate Shizuka, could you introduce your partner Pokémon to everyone?"

Joey froze.

Before he could digest the information-packed explanation from just moments ago, he subconsciously took out two Poké Balls. "Huh?"

Beside him, Luo Mu, with a faint smile hanging on his face, tilted his head slightly and blinked.

Why were there two Poké Balls?

Unaware of Luo Mu's doubt, Shizuka pressed the switch on the Poké Balls; red light flashed, and the figures of two Pokémon appeared before everyone.

One was Chansey, Joey's standard partner, wearing an Everstone on a necklace around her chest, her smile innocent and pure.

The Everstone hanging on the necklace was exactly the one Luo Mu had won from the lottery that day; although it had originally been returned, Citrine, seeing that Chansey seemed to truly match this item, simply decided to give it to Chansey and Shizuka.

As for Shizuka's other Pokémon, Nemo and the other two stared wide-eyed at the angular duck floating in the air, seemingly built from red and blue blocks; alongside their confusion, a clear stupidity of understanding nothing lingered in the depths of their eyes.

After glancing at that Pokémon a few times, it was Shinji who stated with certainty, "That is a Porygon."

Regarding Shinji's solid foundational knowledge, Luo Mu nodded in appreciation, "Correct, this is a Pokémon named Porygon, of the Normal type. Wait, no!"

Luo Mu's gaze drifted back and forth between Nemo and Shizuka, filled with shock.

No, he remembered Nemo's family ran a phone company, and in the future, they would even develop the Rotom Phone using Citron's Rotom Dex technology.

With such a family background, how could they not recognize Porygon, a Pokémon born from the internet? Furthermore, hadn't Shizuka only had Chansey as her partner not long ago? Where did this Porygon come from? Before Luo Mu could ask, Shizuka hurriedly explained, "This child was entrusted to me by someone my cousin in Sinnoh knows, after hearing I was going to become a Trainer!"

Seemingly afraid Luo Mu wouldn't believe her, Shizuka even intended to pull up the chat logs to show him.

"No need."

Luo Mu rubbed his brow, raising a hand to refuse Shizuka's attempt to leak her and her cousin's private information.

"How about this, you all release your Pokémon to get to know each other first; I have some matters I need to think over."

The others also failed to notice the abnormality in Luo Mu's expression; led by Nemo, they gathered around Shizuka and began giving more detailed self-introductions.

When they learned from Shizuka that this Chansey was the very one Luo Mu had commanded to defeat Kikuna and Bellibolt earlier, they were incredibly surprised.

Even the cold expression on Shinji's face developed cracks.

Besides imparting certain theoretical knowledge to them, Luo Mu's teaching method placed even greater emphasis on cultivating practical combat skills.

This meant... in the future, they would definitely spar with Chansey!? Recalling Kikuna's indescribable expression of having eaten something foul at the end of the battle, even Shinji couldn't help but shudder.

Looking at Nemo and Pipa, who were smiling brightly, and at Peper, who showed no sense of crisis, Shinji felt nothing but worry for the future, his gaze falling upon the Porygon floating beside Shizuka.

If they really had to battle, he would rather fight the Porygon!

Off to the side, Luo Mu, having mentally prepared himself, also looked at the Porygon at the same time.

His face was full of an expression wanting to speak but holding back.

It was one thing that Chansey had learned so many dirty tricks, but why did the second Pokémon have to be that damn duck (no derogatory intent)!!! Porygon, first appearing in the first generation of Pokémon, is essentially a virtual Pokémon constructed from programs, possessing the ability to freely enter the internet.

It can transform its body into digital data to enter cyberspace, and then move freely within that electronic space.

As a Normal-type Pokémon, Porygon's base stat total is an unremarkable 395, and its stat distribution is nothing special, neither outstanding nor extraordinary.

However, all these issues are completely resolved once Porygon evolves, or after being equipped with an Up-Grade or a Dubious Disc.

Porygon has two stages of evolution, namely Porygon2 and Porygon-Z; what made Luo Mu most uncomfortable was Porygon's first-stage evolution, Porygon2.

Compared to the final evolution Porygon-Z, which can be called a glass cannon, Porygon2, like the Chansey beside Shizuka, becomes both tanky and nauseating when equipped with an Everstone, making fighting it feel sickening.

Moreover, compared to Chansey's huge weakness in physical defense, Porygon2 can handle situations much more flexibly, after all, its dual defenses are both excellent.

Porygon's move pool is also particularly vicious.

Moves like Curse, Toxic, Protect, Thunder Wave, and Recover come easily to it; it can even set up Trick Room and use Ally Switch, and even change its type through its exclusive moves Conversion and Conversion 2.

Even under the framework of a four-move limit, it was already so lawless.

Now, in this reality with no limits, where it can keep learning as long as it is capable, Luo Mu felt nauseous just thinking about it.

Joey Shizuka might not realize it herself, but she is currently speeding down a road of no return.

And ironically, Luo Mu would be the one stepping on the accelerator.

Just the current two Pokémon were absurd enough; once she completed her full team, Luo Mu dared not even imagine it.

"Given that Botan is not here, making it difficult to form a double battle lineup, we won't have you team up for double battles today."

Seeing that Shizuka had become fairly familiar with everyone, Luo Mu began today's lesson.

"Today's lesson is relatively simple; find a way to defeat it, and you all pass."

Saying this, Luo Mu took out a Poké Ball and pressed the button.

"Nyururu!"

The Pokémon that appeared before everyone was a Politoed.

Several of them immediately sucked in a sharp breath, especially Peper, whose eyes overflowed with terror.

Shizuka was somewhat confused; thinking briefly, she intended to ask Shinji, the most steady among the children, "Shinji classmate, do you know..."

Shinji raised a hand to interrupt Joey's inquiry, speaking as if he had predicted it all along, "Since I also arrived not long ago, many things are still in a state of half-understanding for me."

"Regarding this Politoed, if I put it this way, Joey... Shizuka classmate, you will understand."

"It is a member of the teacher's reserved second team, likely captured when the teacher first became an instructor. Its strength is unfathomable; it has learned numerous moves, possesses extremely high battle IQ, and has memorized the type effectiveness chart by heart."

"It is said that when Senior Peper commanded his starter Pokémon, Ao Ao Jiaofu, to battle it, he was toyed with effortlessly, completely lacking any power to resist!"

Shizuka first froze, then cast a gaze at the Politoed mixed with admiration, surprise, and lack of confidence.

It was actually a second-team member of a Champion-level Trainer; did she really have a chance to defeat it? Peper and Ao Ao Jiaofu, looking at the seemingly harmless Politoed, were nearly suffering from PTSD.

No way, why are we fighting Politoed again!

At this moment, looking at everyone, Luo Mu added meaningfully, "Today, your Comfey teacher is on holiday; if you need healing, you must apply medicine yourselves, or seek help from Shizuka classmate."

"Of course, having her appear in battle is also an option; make the correct judgment."

"I will not command the Politoed; if you have questions, you may come ask me, but do not ask about the Politoed's weaknesses; on that point, I have nothing to say, you must discover it yourselves."

"I won't command the Politoed; if you have questions, you can ask me, but do not come asking about the Politoed's weaknesses—on that point, I have nothing to say. You must discover them yourselves."

(End of Chapter)