Chapter 428: First Meeting with the Little Blacksmith: Aiming to Become a Mountain King

The so-called power of bonds and friendship is not some uncertain Mega Luxray, nor a Bond Phenomenon-transformed Luxray.

Rather, it is a more mysterious, idealistic power.

Just like Champion Dan Di's Charizard unleashing its Overheat at the moment of victory in the finals of the Pokémon World Coronation Series, or Ash's Pikachu firing its Friendship-powered Thunderbolt.

It is a power born from the bond between Trainer and Pokémon.

Luo Mu felt that his future goals could strive in this direction.

After all, in the world of Pokémon, how could one not engage in a bit of idealism?

Completely unaware that Luo Mu had already mapped out its future in perfect detail, the Luxray walked lightly ahead, taking the initiative to guide Luo Mu.

It had visited the small hill behind the farm a few times occasionally, so it was fairly familiar with the area.

Sometimes it went with the Oranguru to gather mushrooms; other times it sought out unknown wild grasses to nibble on, helping to clear hairballs from its stomach.

Not only Meng Lei Gu, but the Luxray also occasionally groomed Feng Su Gou, the Dalmatian-like Pokémon, and the Vulpix, licking and combing their fur.

After all, the Luxray could not bear to see their fur become knotted.

It is quite normal for a cat to have a slight cleanliness obsession.

Looking at the mud staining its paw pads, the Luxray decided to endure it for now, planning to clean itself after returning.

Water sources in the wild are precious; having once wandered for a long time in human cities, it was unwilling to contaminate clear water.

White Dew had arrived, and the summer heat was gradually fading.

The official harvest season of autumn was approaching fast.

Before even entering the rear mountain range, Luo Mu could hear the dense chorus of cicadas echoing from within the hills.

At this moment, many traces of midsummer still lingered in the world.

Gazing at the small hill covered in lush vegetation, Luo Mu was already pondering how to explore the entire hill once the autumn harvest season arrived.

Here in autumn, it could be called a treasure house hiding many gems; many mountain goods possessed an ultimate freshness!

The Luxray stopped, glanced at Luo Mu who was excitedly talking to himself, let out a cry, and pointed its mud-stained front paw toward the other side, as if reminding Luo Mu of something.

Roughly understanding the Luxray's intent, Luo Mu looked in the direction it indicated, which was the other side of the mountain.

"Are you saying there is some danger there?" Luo Mu asked.

The Luxray shook its head.

It wasn't exactly dangerous; relatively speaking, on the other side of the mountain, there was merely a wild Pokémon group that was slightly troublesome to deal with.

Leaving aside those lizards that spit poisonous flames.

The Pokémon group contending with those lizards was one of the more prominent wild Pokémon factions involved in the siege of the farm triggered by the maturation of the secret seasoning that night.

It was a wild Pokémon family composed of several Houndoom and Houndour.

Although the Luxray could suppress them single-handedly, in Luo Mu's subsequent development plans, as luck would have it, those guys were protected by law; they could not be driven away to disrupt the ecological balance elsewhere.

Either incorporate them, or find them a new suitable habitat.

The same applied to that group of Salandit led by the Salazzle.

However, such matters were not for the Luxray to consider; it would leave that trouble to Luo Mu.

The Luxray, quite carefree, ran to a spot at the foot of the mountain and looked at Luo Mu expectantly, urging him on.

"Meow-ao!"

Go this way and we can climb the mountain!

"."

Looking at the mountain body before him with a slope presenting a ninety-degree angle, Luo Mu fell silent.

There wasn't even a mountain path here!

Probably because almost no one climbed this mountain, most areas of the small hill were covered by dense vegetation, making it impossible to see whether steep cliff walls or barely passable paths lay beneath the leaves.

Perhaps these difficulties meant nothing to agile Pokémon,

but seeing Luo Mu's helpless demeanor, the Luxray sighed helplessly, lowered its body, and signaled for Luo Mu to climb on.

Truly, there is no dealing with you.

As for the path up the mountain, I will carry you.

Because it had rained last night, the small hill, which already received little sunlight, appeared exceptionally damp.

Even professional climbers would proceed with extreme caution at such a time, fearing their next step might land on a part of the mountain that looked solid but was actually hollow inside.

The Luxray was like a mount goat on a sheer cliff, leaping lightly onto protruding rocks hidden by vegetation, its movements steady and fast.

Its eyes were as bright as lightbulbs; its racial innate ability allowed the Luxray to remain unaffected by the vegetation, accurately locating footholds.

Nor did it need to worry about stepping on "landmines"; whether those rocks were solid or merely strong on the outside but weak within became crystal clear with a deeper level of visual penetration.

It was not until they reached the mid-section of the small hill that Luo Mu saw a place where one could barely set foot.

Since he had already put on anti-slip boots, he was not overly afraid of the muddy mountain path.

Gazing at the winding trail disappearing into the dense vegetation, Luo Mu murmured thoughtfully, "It seems we will still need to clear a path later; otherwise, continuing to use this method to ascend the mountain remains somewhat inconvenient."

Fortunately, a road did exist; it was merely covered by vegetation that had grown wildly due to lack of maintenance.

When formally developing this small hill, which who knows how many "treasures" it hides later, clearing a convenient mountain path for walking would suffice.

This small trail was littered with fallen leaves; these leaves would, with the passage of time, turn into nutrients for the earth, giving birth once again to even more lush and leafy trees, cycling endlessly.

Due to the density of the vegetation, the sky was obscured by large canopies, but fortunately, some sunlight could still filter through the gaps in the leaves, forming mottled tree shadows that swayed slowly with the breeze.

As he walked, with each breath, the fresh air of the post-rain mountains entered his lungs through his nasal passages; breathing in this vast expanse of fresh air, Luo Mu observed the surroundings for any traces of wild Pokémon.

The wild Pokémon on the small hill were far fewer than Luo Mu had imagined.

Apart from bird-type Pokémon occasionally located by the sound and air currents generated by their flapping wings, one could only see slight bulges in the soil, obvious traces left by Diglett or Dugtrio having "passed through," or the figures of insect-type Pokémon such as Scatterbug, Vivillon, and Dustox.

"Hmm, this is somewhat strange."

Uttering a puzzled exclamation, Luo Mu, at some unknown moment, produced a back-basket containing a layer of mushrooms of various kinds.

Carrying a backpack, Luo Mu set off up the winding mountain path with Luxray, occasionally picking various types of mushrooms and tossing them into the pack on his back, planning to cook a pot of mushroom soup upon his return.

The mushrooms growing near the path were sometimes petite and exquisite, scattered on the ground like tiny stars, while others had large caps that looked quite "plump and fleshy."

The colors of these mushrooms were even more varied.

Some were as white and flawless as snow, others were as red as flames; they were multicolored and looked as if they might be poisonous.

Not wanting to end up flat on his back, Luo Mu decisively avoided those mushrooms, choosing instead to pick only those that looked low-key, even somewhat ugly to the eye, and unlike anything one would eat.

Generally speaking, the more high-profile and flamboyant the color, the more likely it is to be poisonous; bright colors are used to attract the attention of creatures.

Of course, nothing is absolute; at least in this Pokémon world, there are still quite a few mushrooms with slightly bright colors that are actually delicious and non-toxic.

But among them, the existence before Luo Mu's eyes was certainly not included.

"."

Luo Mu and Luxray paused their steps, looking at the "mushroom" growing by the grass, their expressions somewhat strange.

The cap of that mushroom looked just like a Poké Ball, with a white stalk inserted into the damp soil; it really did look the part.

Provided one ignored the pair of small hands growing on the "stalk."

Neither Luo Mu nor Luxray rashly approached the "mushroom," which was about 20 centimeters tall; instead, they chose to keep a certain distance, intending to see how long it could keep up the act.

They could both recognize that this so-called "mushroom" was actually a living Pokémon.

Luo Mu relied on experience, while Luxray relied on its perception of aura.

That mushroom was a living Pokémon.

After probably several minutes, seeing that Luo Mu and Luxray were not falling for it, Foongus opened its eyes in frustration, glanced at Luo Mu and Luxray, then directly jumped into the nearby grass; with the sound of rustling, it completely vanished from sight.

If these two won't take the bait, then find others!

Seeing that Foongus had already gone far away, Luo Mu explained to Luxray beside him.

"That is Foongus. I didn't expect this kind of Pokémon to exist on this small mountain. Since it is a Grass-type and Poison-type Pokémon, rashly approaching it might cause poisoning from its toxic spores. When developing this small mountain in the future, we must remind everyone at the farm to avoid accidents."

Luxray nodded seriously, deciding that after returning to the farm, it would specifically emphasize this to its partners.

Continuing to pick mushrooms while walking toward the mountain peak, Luo Mu, with his movements uninterrupted, revealed a thoughtful expression.

He perhaps could guess one or two reasons why wild Pokémon were scarce on this small mountain.

The place where he and Luxray ascended the mountain not only lacked any conspicuous path and was difficult to climb, but it was also close to the outskirts of human settlements; most wild Pokémon would not choose to ascend from this side.

And on the other side of the mountain, according to Luxray, it seemed to be occupied by two somewhat fierce wild Pokémon tribes.

Except for Bug-type Pokémon native to the mountain and Pokémon like Foongus, as well as Ground-type Pokémon like Diglett and Dugtrio that could dig tunnels from underground to reach the mountain surface, and those Flying-type Pokémon capable of flight, it would be a difficult task for ordinary Pokémon to break through them to ascend the mountain.

Luo Mu was also quite interested in that Foongus just now.

Although Foongus's evolution, Amoonguss, is jokingly called by fans "the Pokémon that feels full of safety when facing away from you," it is itself a very versatile and quite "nasty" interference shield due to its move pool, types, and ability.

With the "Regenerator" ability in one hand, and moves like "Spore," "Synthesis," "Stun Spore," "Synthesis," "Protect," and "Pollenkiss," it has disgusted countless sunny boys and girls.

But what Luo Mu valued was not Foongus's talent in combat, but the innate talent inherent to its species itself; of course, its combat talent was indeed very attractive.

Luo Mu remembered seeing a method for using Foongus's spores in one of the many medical books given to him by Joy Lin.

Broadly speaking, by collecting the spores sprayed from its hands, drying them thoroughly in the sun, one could produce medicine for treating the stomach.

Paired with sweeteners, it might make a good medicinal liquid.

While thinking, he continued to collect various mushrooms, without worrying about attacks from wild Pokémon; after all, Luxray's detection ability would not diminish at all in such complex terrain.

Unknowingly, the backpack on Luo Mu's back was already filled with mushrooms of various styles; taking just a few more steps forward would lead to the mountain peak.

Seeing that it was already dusk, Luo Mu decided to go to the peak to take a look, then sit on Luxray's back to descend the mountain quickly.

Gazing at the fork in the road before him—one path leading to the peak, the other to an unknown place—Luo Mu was just about to move when Luxray suddenly let out a low growl, as if reminding Luo Mu.

"Meow-ao!"

"Hmm? Did you discover something?"

Luo Mu's vigilance also rose; he carefully looked at the small path on the right leading to an unknown destination and pricked up his ears to listen closely—

Clang! Clang! Clang!

It seemed to be a quite crisp striking sound, as if someone was hammering iron.

On such a small mountain, who would come up here to forge iron?

Luo Mu frowned slightly, and an image immediately floated into his mind, but since he had not yet seen the identity of the ironworker, he could not be certain.

After a moment of thought, Luo Mu decided to go take a look; he mounted Luxray's back and said in a low voice, "Move lightly; let's go take a look."

If it really was that Pokémon, then it would be too coincidental.

This morning, Luo Mu was still discussing with Lei Guan Wang about finding a suitable Forretress!

A moment later.

Luxray arrived lightly at the vicinity of a cave with some vines hanging down.

Inside the cave, the rhythmic striking sound never ceased; Luo Mu looked into the cave and, as expected, saw a smaller pink figure holding a hammer, continuously striking some feathers containing metal components, causing iron filings to fall!

That was the Hammer Pokémon, Forretress!

Not noticing the arrival of Luo Mu and Luxray, Forretress focused its eyes on the two hammers it had forged from the Honchkrow feathers it had collected during this time.

"Kanu..."

Examining the details of the two hammers closely, Forretress was somewhat dissatisfied.

Using only Honchkrow feathers, while lacking many metal ores, the quality of the hammers was worlds apart.

If the hammers were only of this level, let alone knocking down those detestable creatures flying in the sky, like that black dragon, even dominating this small mountain and becoming the mountain king would be difficult!

If one cannot even become the mountain king, then how can one talk about using the small mountain as a base to continuously collect those Honchkrow feathers that fall?

Taking a deep breath, Forretress raised the two hammers and continued to strike forcefully with unyielding persistence.

No matter what, it must first make a weapon that fits the hand!

(End of this chapter)