Chapter 423: Three Letters and Bloodmoon

Hearing the place name North Province, Luo Mu blinked.

He remembered that the last time he had heard this name, it was from Shari, a photographer who seemed to be connected to the past Hisui region and had taken a family portrait for him.

Shari had also said that after traveling through the Paldea region, she would go to that place on the other side of the planet called North Province to investigate a Pokémon known as "Bloodmoon."

However, while Shari was traveling through the Paldea region, Luo Mu could still occasionally receive photo postcards sent by her.

The photos were mostly cultural landscapes of Paldea; according to Oranguru's statistics, it seemed Shari had visited all ten scenic spots of Paldea.

Recently, though, he had received fewer photos from Shari; had she encountered something in North Province, or had her photography career fallen into difficulties again? Luo Mu planned to ask her later; if possible, he didn't mind offering some suggestions, after all, Shari had helped him and Delibird choose a very useful camera.

Returning to the present, Luo Mu's gaze fell upon the half-eaten apple in Xiao En's hand, his eyes carrying a thoughtful expression.

Indeed, even from just a small piece, one could tell that the overall quality of the apple was absolutely excellent.

It was not only due to the apple varieties of North Province; presumably, the cultivation methods there also possessed unique techniques of their own.

His nostrils flared slightly; smelling the faint, fresh fruity scent of apples in the air, Luo Mu became even more certain of his guess.

It was ripening.

Perhaps because Luo Mu's gaze was too focused, Xiao En misunderstood, thinking Luo Mu was craving his big North Province apple, and his face immediately twisted into a conflicted expression.

To be fair, he definitely wanted to build a good relationship with this big shot.

But this specialty apple from North Province was so rare that even he had only managed to get one through connections, with the rest all given to the Mayor of Mossui Town.

Half of this single apple had already been given to Primeape.

As for the other half, despite his earlier boastful claims, in reality, he had only carefully split it in two, tasted one bite, and before he could even savor the flavor, he had been startled by Luo Mu.

After a long internal struggle, Xiao En seemed to make up his mind; closing his eyes and steeling his heart, he handed the remaining quarter of the apple to Luo Mu.

"You eat it!!!"

Luo Mu:????

Exchanging a glance with Luxray and Dragonite, Luo Mu felt that Xiao En might have misunderstood something.

However, since the other party had gone this far, he might as well accept his kindness.

At worst, he could give Xiao En and Primeape some return gifts later.

"Then I shall accept your generous offer."

Under Xiao En's heart-wrenching expression, Luo Mu accepted that quarter of an apple, divided it into quarters again, giving portions to Luxray and Dragonite, then to Swampert who had just returned to continue moving trees, and finally, holding a pitifully small piece himself, Luo Mu put it into his mouth and savored it carefully.

A moment later, he became even more certain.

Even if the tree varieties differed due to geographical location and the climate differences near the Sinnoh region, this unique flavor and fruity aroma were indeed characteristics that could only be induced by Pokémon with the "Ripen" ability.

It seemed that North Province likely also raised a batch of Applin, using their Ripen ability to steadily produce apples that were in short supply.

Luo Mu remembered that although not as unique as Eevee, Applin was also one of the few Pokémon possessing two different evolution paths.

One was the flying Flapple.

The other was the somewhat chubby Appletun.

The appearances of both evolved forms were somewhat hard to describe; Luo Mu found it difficult to imagine how broken Serperior's expression would be upon seeing the cute little Applin evolve into such forms.

Yet, recently, after seeing Vulpix evolve into Ninetales, those restless little thoughts suppressed within Applin could not be held back again.

Since North Province had Applin, it meant that evolution items for Applin likely existed there as well.

Compared to searching for a needle in a haystack in the unfamiliar Galar region, if there was an opportunity to visit North Province, Luo Mu felt he could try to acquire Tart Apples or Sweet Apples there.

"Sigh, if only Applin had a third branching evolution that looked a bit more presentable than the first two."

Luo Mu shook his head, driving this unrealistic thought out of his mind.

It wasn't as if, after his transmigration, Game Freak had added a new evolution path for Applin, right?

If Luxray saw such preferential treatment, wouldn't he die of anger?

"Wait here a moment; I'll be right back."

After saying this to the stunned Xiao En and leaving Dragonite to help Swampert, Luo Mu mounted Luxray and sped like the wind toward the warehouse.

Seeing how heartbroken Xiao En looked made Luo Mu, who was accustomed to eating fruits ripened by Applin on a regular basis, feel somewhat embarrassed.

He really just wanted to taste a bit, yet Xiao En was guarding it as if it were his life.

As compensation, he would let Xiao En taste some fruits from the farm, carefully ripened by Applin after being grown on alternating composite Grassy Terrain fields, never sold externally, and reserved exclusively for their own people.

A moment later.

Luo Mu and Luxray returned to the farm entrance with a basket of fruits, handing it to Xiao En and to Primeape, whose pig-like nose had already sniffed out the fruity aroma and whose face was filled with greed.

Xiao En had just said thanks and taken the fruit basket when Primeape impatiently snatched several bananas from it and began to gorge himself.

Seeing this, Xiao En panicked.

Disregarding his dignity, he directly started snatching food from Primeape.

The chaotic scene left Dragonite and Swampert, who were moving trees, stunned for quite a while.

Do people outside live this miserably?

Isn't this just the after-meal fruit that Luo Mu provides every day? "So tasty!"

Xiao En's cheeks puffed out, his speech becoming slurred.

Perhaps because of Primeape as a competitor, while tasting these fruits, especially the apples inside, Xiao En always felt he was experiencing an illusion.

Why did these apples seem not inferior to those from North Province at all, and even surpass them in certain aspects?

After quite a while, the chaotic scene barely calmed down.

With a flushed face, Xiao En thanked Luo Mu again; seeing that all the trees had been moved, he packed up with extreme speed and drove away as if fleeing.

Luo Mu, who had eaten a mouthful of exhaust fumes, wore a strange expression.

A burly man blushing was indeed quite strange.

Shaking his head to dispel stray thoughts, Luo Mu followed the original plan and approached the mailbox to check for any new letters.

Due to the explosive popularity of the milk delivery service, it was now in a state of short supply.

After securing the share for the farm Pokémon and the hired Skarmory Sky Patrol, all remaining stock was booked solid, so Luo Mu had already notified the post office to close the milk subscription service here; no further subscription-related letters should be sent to this address.

Thus, there was no need to worry about opening the mailbox only to find it stuffed to the brim, leaving one unsure where to begin; inside the opened mailbox, three letters lay quietly, and judging by the color and style of their envelopes, they likely came from different people and places.

Taking out the three letters and scanning the text on each envelope one by one, the ripples in Luo Mu's surprised expression deepened further.

The first letter was jointly sent by the trio of students currently on a treasure-hunting journey.

Besides a sheet of letter paper with elegant handwriting that was clearly written by Pipa, there were also several photographs.

Luo Mu looked at the photos first; judging by the architectural style, the trio had likely traveled to Cascarrafa City.

Reading the content of the letter, aside from some interesting anecdotes about the journey and the three students' sighs of emotion, it also mentioned the news that Hearing Nimo was about to challenge the Cascarrafa Gym.

If the information Luo Mu received was correct, starting from this gym, the trials Hearing Nimo faced would become significantly stricter.

As the progress advanced, she would face Gym Leaders unleashing their full power without any restrictions.

This also indicated that Hearing Nimo's strength and potential as a Trainer had already caught the attention of the Paldea League's high command.

Luo Mu recalled that he himself had probably first encountered a Gym Leader going all out at the fifth gym, the Mesagoza Gym where Brother Brother Qingmu served as the Gym Leader.

Even though Brother Brother Qingmu hadn't deployed his ace, he had indeed sent out his main force; later, while chatting with Geeta, she mentioned that the League's high command had decided to test the limits of Luo Mu's strength at that time.

They never expected that Luo Mu would prove superior, directly overturning Brother Qingmu, who intended to use Facade, along with his Staraptor, together with his Luxray.

From that point on, every Gym Leader Luo Mu faced fought with full power, without holding back even a little.

Unfortunately, they still couldn't defeat him.

Hearing Nimo encountering Gym Leader Master Haidai, who was fighting with full effort, was undoubtedly a signal—

Once she broke through, the Paldea League's breeding program targeted at her would truly open the doors to the Champion Assessment.

Silently cheering for Hearing Nimo in his heart, Luo Mu tucked the letter back into its envelope; since the letter also mentioned the group's next travel destination, Luo Mu decided to write a letter shortly and mail it ahead to the next city where Hearing Nimo and the others would be traveling.

The second letter came from Unova.

Looking at the orange-red envelope in his hand, the corners of Luo Mu's mouth lifted slightly.

This was more like Dai Ke's style; the one who had sent him the text message before was probably his grandson, Benga.

Opening the envelope, a sun-like aura rushed toward his face; looking at the letter paper sparkling under the sunlight, Luo Mu's smile vanished instantly, and his expression immediately turned strange.

Could this sparkling substance on the letter paper be Volcarona's scales?

Luo Mu remembered that stuff was extremely flammable, contributing significantly as part of Volcarona's immense firepower.

Dai Ke actually dared to sprinkle that thing on the letter paper; what exactly was he thinking? Suppressing his overwhelming urge to complain, Luo Mu scanned the content written in the slightly sloppy handwriting on the letter.

A moment later, he exhaled a mouthful of stale air.

As he expected, it was indeed a reply confirming that Dai Ke had accepted the invitation and planned to visit Paldea in the near future.

With Volcarona's recovery lacking only one secret seasoning ingredient, Luo Mu intended to witness the scene of Volcarona being reborn from the flames with his own eyes and see whether the legendary Mythical Pokémon—the fully recovered Volcarona—was as anticipated, which was why he had chosen to invite Dai Ke to visit the farm as a guest.

"However, there should be no need to notify Geeta, right?"

Luo Mu murmured to himself.

In any case, Dai Ke wasn't visiting as the current Champion of the Unova League; Luo Mu was inviting him as a friend.

Carefully putting away the letter sent by Dai Ke, and to prevent the letter from suddenly catching fire, Luo Mu had Dragonite use Ice Beam to cool down the surrounding area.

Next, he opened the final letter.

The envelope was blue, bearing somewhat unrestrained and uninhibited handwriting that clearly left the two characters "Carmen."

It was actually Carmen, who hadn't sent a letter for quite some time; amidst the surprise, Luo Mu also felt that the timing was indeed about right.

Tearing open the envelope, the first things to catch his eye were several photographs.

This was also a convention for letters sent by Carmen; for her, a professional photographer, her carefully selected, self-taken photographs were the best souvenirs.

Through the photos, Luo Mu got a glimpse of a corner of Kitakami.

The entire Kitakami region, just like the fragmented information he had searched for online, could be considered a secluded countryside possessing quite wonderful pastoral charm.

At the foot of the towering mountains lay the places where people lived and went about their daily lives.

Apple Hills, Wistful Fields, Wistful Pond, Timeless Woods, Oni Mountain—many named landforms had been captured by Carmen's lens.

Many foods characteristic of Kitakami had also been photographed by Carmen.

There were dishes and desserts made from Kitakami's most famous apples, such as apple pie, apple candy, apple tart, and apple stew, as well as specialty dishes like mochi, udon noodles, and sushi.

Given Carmen's photography skills, she had indeed captured these foods in a way that could stir up anyone's appetite.

"This is..."

But when flipping to the last photograph, Luo Mu's gaze fixed directly upon it, unable to shift away for a long time.

It was a rather absurd, or even eerie, photograph.

Night had fallen, all sounds were hushed, and the vast, boundless forest was covered by thick fog; this mist blurred the outlines of the trees and obscured one's sense of distance.

Amidst this quiet, misty haze, a blood moon hung abruptly in the sky; that moon looked nothing like the usual pristine and flawless moon, but rather seemed dyed in fresh blood, emitting an ominous and eerie glow that made the atmosphere of the photograph feel eerie and oppressive.

Frankly speaking, this photograph alone would be sufficient to create a terrifying atmosphere in a horror movie or game; Luo Mu found it hard to imagine that this photo was taken in the tranquil Kitakami.

The difference in atmosphere between the earlier photos and this one was truly too great.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Mu temporarily set the photo aside and shifted his gaze to the main text on the letter paper.

As expected.

Besides some observations and interesting anecdotes from Kitakami, as well as some amusing legends circulating in the village, such as the "Loyal Three" and the "Mountain Ogre," Carmen emphasized the existence she was currently following.

That existence, crowned with the name "Crimson Moon," was extremely mysterious, simply like a legendary Pokémon.

Carmen invited Luo Mu to visit Kitakami if he had the time, stating that both the agricultural development here and the existence of the Crimson Moon should be sufficient to arouse his interest.

A moment later.

Taking out that photograph again and comparing it with the content of the letter, Luo Mu frowned slightly.

"The Crimson Moon, huh?"

(End of Chapter)