Chapter 424: Pokémon World Championships?

Two days had passed since Luo Mu received the three letters.

After concluding the courses at Grape Academy with Tsurugi and Shizuka, Luo Mu naturally returned to Flat Dish Town and went to the Pokémon Center to study medical knowledge under Joy Rin.

At the same time, he had brought along Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Moltres, intending to use his free time to help Peony's Flareon understand how to further control the restless Fire-type energy and flames within its body, and to put this into practice.

By the time he finished all of this, the time was already around three in the afternoon.

Feeling a certain degree of fatigue, Luo Mu, after bidding farewell to Peony and Joy Rin, did not return directly to the farm; instead, he went to a café in town and ordered two cups of coffee.

One was a normal black coffee, while the other had many sugar cubes and milk added—a coffee that wasn't very coffee-like.

Perhaps calling it a full-sugar latte would be more appropriate.

There was no helping it; whether one said he was immature or not, Luo Mu indeed did not favor the taste of coffee. He accepted plain water, tea, or milk just fine; only when he had no choice would he drink coffee.

Stirring the cup before him, he allowed the sugar cubes and milk to blend more smoothly into the latte he had tasted a moment ago—slightly bitter, yet possessing an aroma unique to coffee.

Not long after, Luo Mu saw the person he had been waiting for outside the café walk in.

Just like his avatar on the forum, he was a middle-aged man with a thick beard, wearing what looked like dusty relic excavator attire, as if he had just emerged from the earth.

The slightly conspicuous yellow scarf around his neck was nowhere to be seen.

This was hardly surprising; after all, the outside temperature was approaching forty degrees. Even Grusha wouldn't insist on bundling himself up under such high heat.

The man's gaze wandered around the shop for a circle before finally locking onto Luo Mu's direction. Just as he was about to step through the door, his eyes fell upon his own dusty clothes.

He hesitated for a moment, stepped back a few paces to the outside, and did his best to pat off the dust that wouldn't come off, avoiding letting this so cleanly decorated café become anything less than spotless simply due to his arrival.

At the very least, this way the staff wouldn't have to clean up again, right?

It was only after the man re-entered the café and sat down before him that Luo Mu formed his first impression of him.

Although he looked like the carefree type on the surface, upon closer inspection, one could discover that his mind was very meticulous.

Could one say this was what made him a professional relic excavator?

Luo Mu stood up, extended his hand, and said, "Hello, Leader. I am Mao Mao Xia; my real name is Luo Mu. May I ask your name?"

The Leader, extending his hand to shake back, was stunned by Luo Mu's question. He scratched his head and said somewhat helplessly, "I'm just called Leader. As for you, when I first saw your forum name, I thought you were a young Miss."

"I didn't expect you to be such a young, handsome lad."

"Then please, take a seat."

No one would be unhappy to be praised, and Luo Mu was no exception; he smiled, gestured for the Leader to sit first, and then organized his thoughts.

Indeed, this Leader was the professional relic excavator he had posted a bounty for on the forum some time ago—the one who claimed his track record was verifiable, yet after Luo Mu had sent a private message, there had been no response for nearly half a month.

On the night he received those three letters, under Greavard's expectant gaze, Luo Mu, as usual, logged into the forum to check and discovered that the Leader had finally come online and replied to his private message.

After a brief chat, the two confirmed the time and location, preparing to discuss the details face-to-face.

Luo Mu first took out a stack of bound contracts, placed them on the table, and pushed them toward the Leader.

"If you find anything unsuitable, we can still discuss and revise it."

The contract had been drafted by Oranguru; having encountered many such documents during its time at the Butler Academy, it had experience and handled the task with ease.

Through their private messages, Luo Mu had already roughly understood the Leader's capabilities. It seemed the reason he had been inexplicably out of contact for so long was that he had found a chamber, once inhabited by nobility of the ancient Paldea Empire, now buried deep underground.

No one knew what quirks that noble had possessed, but they had constructed their chamber like a maze. The Leader, who entered to excavate, spent considerable time just to find his way out of the labyrinth.

Fortunately, whenever he entered a relic site, he would prepare at least a month's worth of food in advance, and he also brought along Water-type Pokémon, so there was no risk of running out of water.

He had relied entirely on his own efforts to solve every puzzle and escape that maze.

Not to mention that in his private messages, the Leader had listed many famous relic sites his team had conquered. Without much hesitation, Luo Mu made his decision and formally extended an invitation to him.

And so, time had brought them to this moment of signing the contract.

The Leader did not act carelessly either; he carefully began reading through the contract Luo Mu had handed him.

In the quiet café, the rhythmic sound of pages turning rang out.

The more carefully he read, the more astonished the Leader became.

It could be said that the conditions this new boss had offered him were already extraordinarily generous; the Leader was utterly baffled.

Most of the treasures found during excavation could count as the Leader's own spoils, but the Paldea Ancient Gold Coins had to remain. Furthermore, those treasures had to be shown to Luo Mu first; if he found anything he liked, Luo Mu would pay a certain amount of money to purchase it.

Moreover, before excavating any relic site, a complete set of guides would be delivered directly into the Leader's hands—

Leaving aside for a moment how absurd it was to produce a complete set of guides before even excavating a relic site.

Just considering that Luo Mu, who clearly possessed complete guides, could have gone to excavate himself, yet he still spent money to hire the Leader, allowing the Leader to take a share of the spoils...

Was his money burning a hole in his pocket?

Did he just have to take it out and scatter it around?

The Leader lifted his head and met Luo Mu's calm gaze for an instant. He was just about to speak when he felt his throat go dry, clearly sensing the physical reaction known as thirst.

Without much thought, the Leader's eyes landed on the cup of black coffee before him. He grabbed it in one motion and gulped it down in great swallows like an ox drinking water.

This maneuver left Luo Mu utterly astonished.

Didn't he find it bitter?

Seeing the Leader finish the black coffee in one go, Luo Mu considerately asked, "Would you like another cup? I can ask the staff to bring another; I'll cover the cost."

"Eh, is that allowed?"

The Leader's face was filled with surprise.

Luo Mu nodded. "Of course it is. Consider it a demonstration of my financial strength... although, a single cup of coffee doesn't really prove much."

"You truly are a generous and good boss."

The Leader, who was already very satisfied with the contract, now had no remaining resistance.

However, there was one matter he still had to ask about. "Um... regarding what you said about the guides, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that it indeed seems a bit inconsistent with common sense."

Taking a delicate sip of the latte, which blended the aroma of coffee with the smoothness of milk without being overly bitter, Luo Mu tapped his fingertips on the table and said, "Regarding this issue, wouldn't actual verification make you more convinced?"

"Just pick any relic site where you can ensure a safe retreat. As long as you take my guide and go in to take a look, won't the question be answered?"

"Just as the contract states: you search for relic locations where Paldea Ancient Gold Coins might appear, and I provide you with the detailed guide for that specific relic site. This is something that cannot be faked."

Luo Mu had already spoken very plainly, and naturally, the Guild Master was convinced.

"You are right."

After a brief moment of thought, he signed his name on the contract.

With one copy for each party, he returned the other copy to Luo Mu, then put away his own copy of the contract, took a small box out of his spatial backpack, and pushed it in front of Luo Mu.

"In that dungeon ruin, I found twenty Paldean Ancient Gold Coins."

Opening the small box and confirming that there were indeed twenty glittering gold Paldean Ancient Gold Coins inside, and since this was not yet part of the contract's scope, Luo Mu smiled and said, "I will transfer the money to your account number shortly."

"Then, contact me again after you have found a suitable target."

With those words, Luo Mu called over the waiter who had just brought freshly brewed black coffee, paid the bill, nodded to the Guild Master, and left the coffee shop.

Walking on the way back to the farm, he spoke a sentence seriously in his mind.

"Next, it's up to you, oh noble Number 1000 Gholdengo; whether you can successfully evolve depends on the precision of your hints."

As for why Luo Mu, despite having a walkthrough, still specially spent money to hire someone and even shared a portion of the treasure, the reason was actually very simple.

Purely, he just didn't want to spend several days staying in a dark and damp underground place.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Luo Mu received a phone call from Geeta.

Right at the start, Geeta got straight to the point and asked, "Alder, the Champion of the Unova League, is coming to Paldea, and the registered reason for his visit is to visit your farm; surely you know about this?"

Luo Mu nodded innocently: "I know."

On the other end of the phone, Geeta fell silent for quite a while, seemingly engaged in a mental storm.

After a moment, she slowly opened her mouth: "If it's convenient, could you tell me the reason he is coming to find you?"

When a Champion of one League suddenly travels to another League, especially one so far away, whether to maintain Paldea's diplomatic image or considering various other aspects, Geeta, as the Chairwoman of the Paldea League, needed to understand the detailed situation.

"It's just a friendly visit between friends," Luo Mu said without blushing or his heart racing.

Geeta: "... Do you think I believe that?"

"Alright, actually, besides visiting the farm as my friend, Alder also intends to cure his Volcarona while at the farm."

Luo Mu didn't feel this was an issue that needed to be kept secret; Geeta should have also heard about the situation with Alder's Volcarona, so he stated it directly.

This time, Geeta remained silent for an even longer period.

After a good while, as if she had finally digested the information, she said softly, "I will have Brother Brother Qingmu handle the airport pickup, so you don't need to worry about it; after all, we must show an appropriate attitude."

"Also, putting aside how you managed to cure that Volcarona which the medical community had already given a suspended death sentence to, I just want to say one thing: do you know what a powerful opponent you have created for yourself?"

Luo Mu: "?"

What did she mean? Geeta on the other end of the phone was still chattering on.

"Recently, Rose, the Chairwoman of the Galar League and President of the Macro Cosmos Group, contacted me and proposed a project."

"The name of the project is—the Pokémon World Championships."

"In Chairwoman Rose's vision, the Pokémon World Championships will completely push the profession of Trainer to its peak."

"Furthermore, just as the project's name suggests, his goal is to build the Pokémon World Championships into a world-class authoritative tournament; if successful, it will become a feast concerning the glory of all the major Leagues."

"According to Chairwoman Rose, he has already reached a preliminary cooperation agreement with Chairman Lance of the Kanto and Johto Leagues; from my perspective, the success rate of this project is very high."

"I am currently still thinking about whether to accept the invitation... however, this does not hinder me from considering who we in the Paldea League could send if the Pokémon World Championships are truly held."

"Putting aside the Elite Four and Gym Leaders, there is not much significance in me participating as Chairwoman, so in my expectation, you will need to battle against the Elite Four and Champions of other Leagues, and Alder will inevitably become the leader representing the Unova League in the competition."

"His original ace, that Volcarona... to describe it simply, even when it was still at its peak, sinister organizations like Team Plasma, which run rampant in the Unova region today, would not dare to act too recklessly."

"Therefore, I am sighing at just how powerful an opponent you have created for yourself."

In Geeta's view, Alder, with his original ace fully revived, was absolutely not the weakest Champion; based on known intelligence, he was instead terrifyingly strong! Even, after the Volcarona's "revival," the matter of Alder originally planning to find a new Champion to replace his position could be temporarily shelved.

Because there was no need for it.

Listening to Geeta speak for quite a while, Luo Mu fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth: "As for this tournament, I currently do not plan to participate."

If one had to fight matches endlessly just to maintain a ranking, then what was the point of his retirement?

Compared to becoming the Monarch, his goal was set on that black Rayquaza.

"I know, so the words I just spoke were merely my personal consideration of the optimal solution." Geeta nodded, her expression on the other end of the phone showing she had expected this, "However, that student of yours named Hearing Hearing Nimo, given her personality, will surely be excited to participate upon hearing about such a world-class tournament."

"That child has been recently assessed by the League as having the possibility of passing the Champion Exam; perhaps she will be the next Champion-level Trainer, and at that time, she might represent the Paldea League in the competition... what I just told you applies equally to her."

"Of course, this does not mean I want you to stop helping Alder and his Volcarona; this is just ordinary complaining between friends who have discovered a troublesome matter."

Geeta's tone became lighter; one could tell she was very relaxed now, just as she said in those final lines, this was merely casual chatting between friends.

After chatting for a few more sentences, seeing that Luo Mu's attitude showed no sign of softening, Geeta asked her final question.

"If, and I mean if, the Paldea League and the Galar League intended to hold a friendly match, letting you battle against the undefeated Champion Dai Ke in an opening exhibition match, would you be interested?"

Luo Mu's motion of putting on his shoes paused, and he asked a question in return from the bottom of his heart.

"... Can I have Lei Guan Wang substitute for me?"

(End of Chapter)