Chapter 426: The Pokémon Egg and the Blueprint: The Little Tinker Will Eventually Reach Its Dream

Dance of Fire.

Volcarona's exclusive move.

Even after arriving in the ninth generation belonging to Zhu Zi, where Iron Moth and Slither Wing appeared with a certain degree of similarity to Volcarona, only Volcarona and Iron Moth can learn this move, Dance of Fire.

The Volcarona dancing gracefully amidst a sea of fire is none other than the undisputed second sun.

Volcarona's dance continued for nearly ten minutes before slowly coming to a halt.

After all, it was the ace of a League Champion; after experiencing initial awkwardness, its original instincts quickly took over, and those chaotically surging energies became as docile and harmless as tamed household dogs, revealing their sharpness only when Volcarona willed it.

Originally, less than two minutes after the energy eruption, Volcarona could have controlled its energy to stop leaking, but since Lei Guan Wang was there to catch any fallout, it chose not to suppress itself, instead dancing to its heart's content to vent years of frustration and soothe its spirit.

Seeing Volcarona stop dancing, Lei Guan Wang also withdrew the all-encompassing net constructed from psychic power, allowing Dai Ke, whose eyes were brimming with tears, to rush quickly toward Volcarona, while it itself drifted to Luo Mu's side and asked, "How was it? Did you get any satisfactory photos?"

"I should have." Luo Mu chuckled, holding up his camera with a look of pure satisfaction, "I snapped roughly a thousand photos; once I sort them out tonight, there should be some excellent results."

On the other side.

Dai Ke said not a word, taking several large strides forward to firmly embrace Volcarona, as if fearing the existence before him was merely a bubble-like dream.

Dai Ke's hands holding Volcarona trembled slightly; the towering man who stood tall in the Unova region now seemed as though he might shatter at the slightest touch.

Sensing that Dai Ke had subconsciously avoided the location of his old injuries while hugging it, Volcarona felt a warmth in its heart, emitting happy bug-like cries, and gently hugged Dai Ke back with its four small front legs, carefully restraining its Fire-type energy to avoid scalding him.

Human and Pokémon embraced just like that, as if holding a treasure lost and found again.

Witnessing this heartwarming scene, Luo Mu naturally knew better than to ruin the mood by going over to disturb them; instead, he hugged the truly oblivious Victini, covered its small mouth, and together with Lei Guan Wang, quietly retreated a few steps to wait patiently for them to compose themselves.

At the same time, Luo Mu subtly glanced at the fluffy white fur circling Volcarona's body, pondering in his heart—

It can regulate body temperature and emit heat, plus it's fluffy and great to hug; aside from those sparkling scale powders, isn't this the perfect winter body pillow!?

Just imagine: on a windy winter day, hiding from the snowstorm in a room with a roaring fireplace, hugging a warm and fluffy Feng Su Gou on the left, and a Volcarona on the right.

How carefree, how decadent.

Once this thought started, it couldn't be reined in, immediately going astray.

Oh no, suddenly I also want to catch a Larvesta or a Volcarona to raise at home.

Luo Mu thought sincerely.

Shortly after, on the living room sofa.

Dai Ke, feeling slightly embarrassed, accepted a tissue from Luo Mu's hand, wiped the tear tracks beside his reddened eyes, and apologized, "Sorry, I made a fool of myself in front of you."

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon Volcarona (in the form of Slither Wing) playing with Victini on the carpet over there; he smiled gently and said, "It's fine; having the privilege of photographing the moment Volcarona was reborn from fire—just that alone makes me extremely satisfied."

"That won't do!"

Dai Ke waved his hand, displaying an expression of deep unease.

"Your help to me and Volcarona can be described as a debt of rebirth. As for photos, you can take as many as you want, and Volcarona will cooperate by striking various poses, but this completely fails to express my gratitude!"

"To be honest, even though I have been rushing around searching for a way to cure Volcarona, not long ago I still accepted my family's suggestion: if it wasn't needed, so much the better, but if it was needed, I must at least prepare a resting place for Volcarona."

"... Heavenly Tower?" Luo Mu fell silent for a second, as if understanding something, and uttered these four words.

An image of a tall tower filled with stories floated up in Luo Mu's mind, diluting some of his joyful emotions.

This topic was simply too heavy.

Dai Ke nodded gently, recounting in an extremely gentle tone.

"Just as nothing powerful remains unchanged forever, a Pokémon's life is not eternally undecaying. I know this; when my old partner was plagued by hidden injuries, many people felt I no longer deserved the position of Unova League Champion, and I once felt pain and confusion because of this."

"But now, having experienced so much and luckily feeling the joy of losing something and finding it again, I can finally extend the time I spend with Volcarona, rather than having our time living together exist only as memories that suddenly surface during midnight dreams; for me, this is already an unchanging happiness."

"So, please allow me to repay you, who brought me this luck; even if I can never fully repay this favor in my lifetime, I at least want to do my best to make myself feel slightly better."

Since Dai Ke had spoken to this extent, Luo Mu found it difficult to say anything more.

Seeing this, Dai Ke happily placed his slightly worn backpack on his lap.

Before he could pull out the gift he had prepared long ago, Lei Guan Wang slowly floated over again.

It said to Dai Ke, "I have checked Volcarona's condition; the hidden injuries have vanished without a trace, and energy is no longer leaking. Originally, it would need to gradually replenish some vitality through eating, but that is too troublesome and recovery is very slow; I have already sealed several clumps of life energy into its body, and once digested, it will be completely cured."

Dai Ke was stunned.

Recalling that Lei Guan Wang seemed to have condensed a few drops of water and sprinkled them on Volcarona just now, he hadn't paid attention, never expecting that those drops actually contained the exceedingly rare life energy.

Dai Ke felt even more grateful and hurriedly opened his backpack, reaching inside.

Lei Guan Wang, sitting beside Luo Mu, saw Dai Ke's action, blinked, and suddenly realized: could the owner of that life fluctuation inside the backpack be the gift Dai Ke was giving to Luo Mu?

Dai Ke took out the two "humble gifts" he had prepared from his backpack one by one.

A Pokémon Egg stored in an incubator filled with solution, its surface covered in orange-red and black dotted patterns, and a very large rectangular external hard drive.

It looked just as if it had been pulled straight out of some computer tower.

Luo Mu said nothing; regarding the Pokémon Egg, he had already vaguely suspected it, but as for that external hard drive, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't guess what was inside.

It couldn't possibly be confidential information from the Unova League, could it?

Dai Ke first pushed the incubator containing the Pokémon Egg in Luo Mu's direction.

"This child is the offspring of the Volcarona your Mega Swampert battled earlier, meaning it is its grandchild, either grandson or granddaughter."

Looking at the Volcarona playing with Victini over there, Dai Ke explained softly to Luo Mu.

Perhaps noticing Dai Ke's gaze, Volcarona flapped its wings and flew up, approaching with slight curiosity, its blue compound eyes observing the Pokémon Egg inside the incubator with complex emotions.

It could vaguely sense the bloodline connection between itself and the small life within the egg.

"Timi~"

Victini also flew over, circling the incubator in flight, its eyes sparkling brightly.

Great, another new companion is about to join the farm!

If it still retained a shred of rationality, Victini would have directly hugged the incubator and flown to the birdhouse to find Moltres to hatch the egg.

Luo Mu asked, knowing the answer, "So, this is a Larvesta's Pokémon Egg?"

Dai Ke nodded.

"In truth, regarding talent, my old friend's son is by no means far inferior to it; it is merely a matter of time—his own foundation is simply not yet sufficient."

Dai Ke stroked Volcarona's downy fur, listening to its buzzing that signaled comfort, a smile playing on his lips.

"I wish to entrust this child to you as a testament to our friendship and as an expression of my gratitude."

Just like other League Champions, Dai Ke was keen on mentoring the younger generation; even though Luo Mu was a powerhouse on his own level, he surely would not refuse a Pokémon with such extraordinary potential as Volcarona.

In fact, Luo Mu was indeed tempted, but before that, his gaze fell once more upon that portable hard drive.

Instinct told Luo Mu that this portable hard drive was the true gift Dai Ke had prepared; even the Larvesta Egg could only be considered an appetizer in comparison.

Noticing Luo Mu's gaze, Dai Ke did not beat around the bush and stated plainly, "The data inside contains the blueprints for the Blueberry Academy Ecological Giant Dome."

"These are not those vague conceptual proposals, but complete technology encompassing everything from every single component to the entire model of the Ecological Giant Dome, including feasible plans for artificially maintaining different climates."

Boom!

To Luo Mu, Dai Ke's words were no less than a nuclear bomb detonating inside his brain.

What had he just heard?

The complete technology for the Ecological Giant Dome at Blueberry Academy, which stood unmatched worldwide, was condensed inside that portable hard drive?

This news was so explosive that Luo Mu felt his brain had crashed for several seconds.

Lei Guan Wang beside him did not know what the Ecological Giant Dome was, but it could perceive Luo Mu's shock and momentarily became curious about what exactly this Ecological Giant Dome was.

Luo Mu vaguely remembered browsing intelligence on news sites in the Unova region, where he had seen some reports.

For instance, many famous tycoons had offered astronomical sums to purchase Blueberry Academy's Ecological Giant Dome technology, but Principal Xi Lan, the eccentric genius who developed the complete technology for the Ecological Giant Dome, had refused to sell no matter what.

As for those rampant gossip rumors speculating that Principal Xi Lan had exhausted his intellect developing this world-shocking Ecological Giant Dome system, thus turning into his current forgetful, senile state, let us set those aside for now.

The technology for the Ecological Giant Dome was indeed something no one could acquire, yet it was something countless people coveted.

And now, this very thing was being given to him as a gift by Dai Ke?

After remaining silent for several seconds, finally feeling his brain restart, Luo Mu asked, "... Acquiring this technology must have come at a very high cost, right?"

Dai Ke smiled and shook his head, "Principal Xi Lan did not accept any money from me; upon hearing that I intended to give this technology to you, he made only one request."

"As long as I go to Blueberry Academy to become a teacher and instruct its students, he would hand over this technology to me, leaving its disposal entirely to my discretion."

Luo Mu: "..."

It feels a bit familiar; is that just my illusion?

Taking a deep breath, Luo Mu did not decline but directly accepted both the Larvesta Egg and that portable hard drive, whose value had become so precious it was nearly priceless.

Handing the portable hard drive to Oranguru and instructing it to keep it safe, Luo Mu stroked the incubator and solemnly said to Dai Ke, "Your gift will be of great help to me."

Hearing this, Dai Ke smiled gently.

"Is that so? Then that is wonderful!"

Noon.

Luo Mu took out the ingredients Oranguru had prepared long ago and treated Dai Ke and Volcarona to a fine meal, serving as a celebration for them finally breaking free from the shadows of the past and stepping toward an unknown yet brand-new future that stirred the heart.

After a hearty meal, in the open space, Luo Mu engaged Dai Ke in another battle, with Lei Guan Wang serving as the referee.

The Pokémon Luo Mu sent out was Luxray, while Dai Ke naturally used Volcarona, which had recovered enough to sustain high-intensity battles.

The sounds of thunder clashing with flames could be heard across the entire farm, and even several kilometers beyond.

As for who won or lost, it no longer mattered.

After a fierce fight, Luo Mu could clearly perceive that the weathered feeling about Dai Ke had been swept away completely; his entire being was now filled with boldness and domineering spirit.

His state of mind had become very close to what it was before Volcarona's incident.

Looking at the Dai Ke before him, who was now a true and complete version of himself, Luo Mu could not quite contain his smile.

Before N formed a contract with the Black and White Dragons, Team Plasma would likely face somewhat difficult times.

After all, the Champion they had tried to eliminate by any means necessary had been reborn from the ashes.

Dai Ke had no intention of staying overnight in Paldea; compared to sightseeing, he now wished to return to the Unova region to share this tremendous good news with his family... his grandson, who had been eagerly awaiting him.

Within the small hills.

Tinkatink continued to lurk gloomily in the bushes found everywhere on the mountain, crawling forward in the shadows.

Compared to the group of Salazzle, Sneasler, Houndoom, and Houndour below, the danger on the mountain was slightly lower, but not by much.

At least, that was how it seemed to Tinkatink.

At this moment, Tinkatink was no longer clutching its precious Corviknight feather; this was not because Tinkatink had lost the feather, but because the clever creature had woven a simple sack from some broad leaves, packed the feathers inside, and carried it on its back.

Several days had passed since it entered this small hill; after experiencing battles of wits and courage with many wild Pokémon, and following that thunderous roar echoing from afar just now, which felt like a bolt from the blue, it was finally about to see the dawn.

Because of the sound just now, Tinkatink had huddled in the bushes for quite a while before daring to continue; as it crawled forward, the trees gradually became sparse, sunlight poured down, and the gloomy environment capable of growing many mushrooms was swept away entirely as Tinkatink finally reached the summit—

The view suddenly opened up; gazing at the boundless blue sky, even though its heart surged with emotion, Tinkatink, knowing clearly what it had to do, still looked ahead.

In the sky a short distance away, sure enough, many Corviknight were circling and dancing, as if guarding something.

Tinkatink knew that it had finally found the nest of those Corviknight that frequently shed feathers!

Next came the future it had dreamed of: freelancing for feathers, reforging its hammer, and the return of the great heroine for revenge!

Yahiko: "Our ideal is for people to understand one another; you are too extreme, Qinghe, you will regret this!"

Zhi Bo Qinghe: "Yahiko, I am now the leader of the Akatsuki Organization!"

Subsequently, the door slammed shut with a bang.

At that moment, Zhi Bo Qinghe suddenly felt his thoughts become clear and unobstructed, as if somewhere in the unseen realms someone had finally stamped and certified him, confirming he was a pure-blooded native of the Ninja World.

Calling for mutual understanding between people? Hah! Believing in that is less reliable than believing I could become the First Emperor.

What? Saying I am extreme? Blaming me for being ruthless? Ridiculous! I did not start this Ninja World War.

Besides, as long as I have not lost, who dares to call me a war criminal?





(End of Chapter)