Chapter 44: The Farm's Bountiful Harvest

Pawmi was sent flying by Flame Wheel, landing on the ground gasping heavily, unable to get up for a long time, with several patches of its orange fur scorched.

At this moment, Arven seized the opportunity to shout, "That's enough!"

"Lost..." Hearing Hearing Nimo's condensed aura dispersed; her expression went blank for an instant, leaving no time to dwell on the emotions of losing her first battle as she quickly ran to Pawmi, lifted it into her arms, and said softly, "You worked hard."

Although it was a spar stopped before serious injury, Hearing Hearing Nimo knew clearly that if the battle had continued, Pawmi would definitely have lost.

"You did well; we'll add an extra meal when we get back." Luo Mu bent down to pat Growlithe, then strode over to stand before Hearing Hearing Nimo and praised, "It's hard to imagine this is your first Pokémon battle; your commands throughout contained no fatal errors."

"Teacher..." Hearing Hearing Nimo widened her eyes.

"However." Luo Mu changed his tone, inspecting Pawmi's wounds while offering guidance, "There are two issues with you right now that urgently need improvement."

"First, Pawmi's Thunder Shock has too long a wind-up, and during the process, it keeps its eyes closed, failing to aim properly at Growlithe, making it far too easy to dodge."

"Second, Pawmi severely lacks strength, which is why Growlithe could withstand its attack and launch a counterstrike."

"Before my course begins, you can try training in these two aspects."

Luo Mu's words plunged Hearing Hearing Nimo into deep thought; could the teacher really have spotted so many problems after just a few brief exchanges of battle?

Luo Mu smiled and said, "No need to rush to figure everything out at once; take Pawmi to the infirmary for treatment first, then ponder it slowly."

Luo Mu's reminder woke Hearing Hearing Nimo as if from a dream; looking at Pawmi's injuries in her arms, she felt extremely guilty.

After a battle, treating one's partner should be the immediate priority; other matters can wait to be considered later!

Hearing Hearing Nimo bowed slightly in gratitude, then exchanged a greeting with Arven before rushing frantically toward the infirmary.

Walking over, Arven murmured, "Truly a person like the wind..."

"That is simply her nature." Luo Mu picked up Growlithe and walked over with a smile.

"Brother Luo Mu..." Arven guiltily shifted his gaze away.

"At school, you must address me as Teacher!" Luo Mu shoved Arven, causing him to stumble; ignoring his slightly resentful look, he asked, "How did your talk with your parents go?"

"Just... about that." The downward curve of Arven's mouth lifted slightly.

Arven recalled how, after returning home, Sada and Turo had unprecedentedly slept in his room, on the same bed, where the two had gently recounted their dreams to him. They also promised that even if their busy work kept them from returning home often throughout the year, they would still try their best to find time to stay in constant contact with him.

"Oh~?" Luo Mu observed Arven's expression, lost in thought.

It seemed this matter was slowly changing for the better.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under Luo Mu's gaze, Arven changed the subject, saying, "Speaking of which, Teacher Luo Mu's Growlithe... did it hatch from that Pokémon Egg?"

Luo Mu nodded. "Yes, this little fellow took quite a bit of Yi Fan Gong on my part; it hatched just three days ago."

"Three days..."

Arven's eye twitched slightly; could this Growlithe really possess such combat power after hatching only three days ago? Fortunately, Hearing Hearing Nimo didn't know.

Arven tentatively reached out his hand before Growlithe's eyes; seeing it had no intention of attacking him, he gently stroked it, feeling a somewhat strange texture, and murmured, "It's a bit different from the Growlithe in my memory."

Luo Mu smiled, giving no direct response to Arven, and reminded him, "Remember to tell Professor Sada and the others that the Pokémon Egg has hatched, so they don't need to worry about this matter anymore."

Without overthinking it, Arven nodded and said, "Alright, I'll mention it when they call tonight."

As soon as he finished speaking, Arven suddenly realized; seeing Luo Mu looking like someone whose plan had succeeded, how could he not know that Luo Mu was fishing for information from him!

A cunning smile appeared on Luo Mu's face; he freed one hand to poke Arven. "Isn't this making up? Yet you're still hiding it in front of me."

Instantly, Arven's face flushed crimson, and he shouted in exasperation, "You plotted against me!"

After teasing Arven for a while and watching him run off in a huff, Luo Mu borrowed several more books related to planting and breeding from the library.

According to the content of the faculty meeting, his first class was scheduled for three days later; although most teachers would remain at Naranja Academy even without classes, Luo Mu was clearly not that type of person.

Keeping work and life distinctly separate, Luo Mu left Naranja Academy with several books, then took advantage of Growlithe's momentum to have Cangyan Cangyan Rengui train with it in the wild for a while.

Growlithe's training content was very simple: aside from basic physical conditioning, it was dodging the slashing attacks of Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, who was holding back.

Holding the panting, exhausted Growlithe, Luo Mu summoned Dragonite and flew toward Flatbed Town.

The second day after leaving Naranja Academy.

Before the farming district, every member of the farm turned out.

"Heave-ho!"

Luo Mu placed five large baskets, prepared long ago, in front of the test fields one by one, then swept his gaze across the fourteen main members of the day as if reviewing troops.

With a face full of emotion, Luo Mu spread his arms and declared, "Today is the day of our farm's harvest, and at the same time, it marks the day our farm can truly begin to operate!"

Over a dozen Pokémon let out excited cries, turning their gazes toward the test fields.

There, on the five test fields, were strawberries dripping with crimson red, cucumbers of a fresh, deep emerald green, plump heads of cabbage, eggplants, and tomatoes.

Every crop had borne abundant fruit under the care of Serperior, Bai Bai Pengpeng, and the others.

Luo Mu paced over to the strawberry field, where a rich fruity fragrance wafted to his nose; he plucked a strawberry and slowly placed it in his mouth to taste.

The entry brought a perfectly balanced sweet-and-sour sensation; the tender white flesh held some juice, and upon savoring it, a hint of lingering sweetness remained.

Luo Mu's eyes brightened slightly; he immediately bent down and began harvesting the strawberries from this small test field.

The other Pokémon followed suit.

Serperior's vines coiled around cucumbers one by one, gently placing them into the large baskets, while Swampert and Dragonite hugged heads of cabbage that still glistened with moisture.

On every Pokémon's face overflowed the joy of harvest, along with anticipation for the meals Luo Mu had promised to make using these crops.

Working together, in just over an hour, the five large baskets were piled completely full.

Picking the last eggplant, Luo Mu placed it into a basket; seeing that every Pokémon had bits of mud sticking to them here and there, a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Everyone go wash your bodies at Thunder Lake first; leave the cooking to me."

Over a dozen Pokémon let out cheers of joy.