Chapter 440: The Exclusive and Stubborn Villagers

"Honey-Coated Worm?"

Luo Mu paused slightly, carefully examining the Uli in front of him.

Seeming somewhat shy and timid, Uli subconsciously averted his gaze, face flushing red as he looked elsewhere.

At this moment, Luo Mu suddenly realized the truth.

So the student mentioned in the data given by Dai Ke—the one who brought peculiar apples and Applin to Blueberry Academy, leading the academy to discover Applin's new evolution form—was this Uli standing before him? As if rarely having such an opportunity to show himself off, Uli nodded gently, took out a Poké Ball, held it in his palms, and whispered softly, "Come out, Dipplin."

The next second, the beam shot from the Poké Ball landed on the grass, and the figure of a Pokémon gradually solidified into form.

Judging by appearance, compared to its Applin stage, Dipplin's size had indeed grown much larger.

From the apple, a structure resembling a long blade stretched straight toward the sky; beside it, Dipplin's eyes peeked out, and behind the apple that seemed to be dripping with syrup, a much larger tail extended, looking quite amusing.

Compared to Luo Mu's Applin, Dipplin's personality seemed braver, showing no drastic reaction to the surrounding environment or the appearance of strangers.

As soon as Dipplin appeared, a special fragrance filled the air, sweet and rich like honey, instantly relaxing people's emotions and putting them at ease.

Uli then explained to Luo Mu: "This is Dipplin's Ability, Honeyed Nectar! It's a newly discovered Ability that can use the scent of honey to confuse opponents, making them lower their guard and lose their vigilance, allowing Dipplin's attacks to hit opponents more easily!"

"I see."

Luo Mu nodded; even though he already knew this from the data given by Dai Ke, he still politely responded.

Seizing the moment, Luo Mu directly took out a Poké Ball and released Applin and Serperior.

"I also wish to find an opportunity for Applin to evolve."

He concisely explained to Uli the reason why his first stop had to be Apple Hill.

Setting aside for now Serperior, who made Uli somewhat fearful, upon seeing the Applin held in Luo Mu's hands, Uli's usually dim eyes instantly lit up, revealing an expression of surprise and delight.

Oh my god!

He actually raised Applin, just like his idol! That's right.

Ever since the battle between Luo Mu and Dai Ke at Blueberry Academy, the object of admiration buried deep in Uli's heart had changed.

Originally, he greatly admired Champion Dai Ke, who was carefree and unrestrained, fantasizing that if someday he, who felt useless, could become a powerful Trainer like Dai Ke, he too would have the capital to be carefree and unrestrained.

But after that public exhibition match at Blueberry Academy, his mind was completely conquered by the extreme violence and immense power displayed by Luo Mu and his Mega Swampert, turning them into his idol and goal.

With bottom-tier grades and a timid, sensitive nature, he truly wanted to become someone as brilliant and powerful as Luo Mu.

Applin was placed on the ground by Luo Mu; this little guy, backed by Serperior behind him, actually dared to boldly approach Uli's Dipplin.

It had truly mastered the art of borrowing the snake's power to intimidate as a worm.

Uli's Dipplin, raised very well by him, showed no hostility upon seeing Applin approach, merely staring at it curiously, as if looking at a mirror reflecting its own past.

Uli felt his heart beating fast; he opened his mouth, wanting to gather courage to ask Luo Mu to teach him how to become stronger.

Just then.

Danyu, who had been silent until now, came jogging over carrying a basket filled with apples of excellent quality.

Somehow, she had actually slipped away for a while.

"Mr. Luo Mu, I went to get some apples from people I know; would you like to taste some!"

Danyu waved the fruit basket in her hand, her face full of anticipation.

Suppressed by his sister's voice, Uli could only swallow back the request he was about to make, his face filled with dejection.

After all, he vaguely sensed that his sister also wanted to attract Mr. Luo Mu's attention, and he was no match for her in competing for it.

Uli hugged Dipplin, stepped back a few paces, and made way for Danyu.

Luo Mu did not miss this scene; he pondered thoughtfully for a moment, then accepted Danyu's kindness.

"Thank you."

Luo Mu took three apples from the fruit basket, handed one to Applin, gave another to Serperior, and kept the last one to taste himself.

As the apple entered his mouth, the flesh's perfectly Kappa Kappa Cuicui texture and the sweet-and-sour juice burst forth in his oral cavity; in terms of flavor, it was indeed extremely good.

Compared to the small piece Xiao En had given Luo Mu to taste, these freshly picked Kitakami apples were undoubtedly more delicious; their ability to enjoy a certain level of fame worldwide was not without reason.

Hearing Luo Mu's praise, Danyu became even more proud.

Uli and Dipplin silently shared an apple, saying nothing.

Serperior elegantly finished tasting the apple, leaving behind an evaluation of "acceptable."

The unique planting techniques here might give the apples more distinctive characteristics, but for Serperior, the apples produced on the farm were still the most delicious.

Especially those ripened by its godson.

Applin's reaction, however, was even more thought-provoking.

With lightning speed, it burrowed into the apple brought by Danyu; after gnawing through the flesh, Danyu originally thought Applin would definitely choose this Kitakami-produced apple as its new home.

After all, Kitakami's apples were the best apples in the world.

But the facts left Danyu confused.

After wriggling around inside the Kitakami-produced apple and eating until only half-full, Applin showed not a shred of hesitation, returning immediately to its own apple without even a moment's doubt.

It was as if the Kitakami apple was not even comparable to the apple it was already inhabiting.

Even Uli widened his eyes in shock.

There was actually an Applin that wouldn't choose a Kitakami-produced apple to settle down in? Amidst this confusion, sister Danyu led Luo Mu and brother Uli to the center of Apple Hill.

Here stood a towering tree, its height likely exceeding several stories; it was hard to imagine an apple tree could grow so tall, which was simply unscientific.

A large group of Applin had gathered on the tree; although the moves mastered by Applin were certainly more numerous than those of Magikarp, they weren't many by much.

The power of the moves they mastered was generally not very great, and many Applin hadn't even mastered Egg Moves, causing their battles to tend toward physical collisions; whoever had greater strength could stay on this tree.

This also resulted in this place often resembling dumplings being boiled, with many defeated Applin falling from the tree.

Fortunately, the apple shells of Applin had been reinforced by themselves; after falling from a height, they would at most feel dizzy for a moment and would not suffer injury.

At this moment, quite a few residents of Verdant Town had gathered in the area beside the great tree; whenever an Applin moved one step closer to the treetop, they would all clap and cheer.

The arrival of Luo Mu and the other two caught their attention; however, they only glanced at Uli and Danyu once, before fixing scrutinizing gazes upon Luo Mu for a long time.

Then he turned his head back to continue watching the battles among the Applin above.

Noticing this, Danyu whispered an explanation to Luo Mu: "I'm sorry, Mr. Luo Mu. Everyone in town is a bit stubborn and exclusionary; they stared at you for so long just because they suddenly saw a strange face."

"Exclusionary?"

Luo Mu tilted his head.

Wasn't this Verdant Town always selling agricultural products to the outside world and even running a tourism business? Yet they were exclusionary? What contradictory literature.

Danyu looked left and right, nodded gently, and lowered her voice: "But Mr. Luo Mu, you are our guest; as long as you don't do anything that triggers their nerves, there won't be any problems."

"."

Luo Mu felt somewhat speechless listening to this.

What era was this? How could there still be such exclusionary practices?

Without asking what constituted "behavior that triggers nerves," Luo Mu couldn't be bothered to think too much about it; anyway, he would only stay here for a few days before leaving, so he might as well focus on watching the battles among the Applin above.

As the number of Applin on the tree decreased, those that climbed quickly already had the chance to touch a special apple that looked very conspicuous compared to ordinary apples.

It was an apple that appeared mostly green, looking as if it were half-raw.

Danyu said nothing, instead looking toward Wuli.

Wuli's eyes brightened slightly as he whispered with effort: "That is a Tart Apple; it can cause Applin to evolve into Flapple."

As soon as Wuli finished speaking, a dazzling light bloomed on the large tree above.

It was the light of evolution.

Everyone's gaze concentrated there, and after the light dissipated, a Pokémon flying in the air appeared in their field of vision.

Its appearance resembled a reptile that had just hatched, except that what enveloped it was not an eggshell, but apple peel.

Some peel adhered to its hands, transforming into wings; some peel adhered to its tail, transforming into a tail fin; and some peel sat atop its head like a helmet.

One of Applin's evolutionary branches, Flapple!

Next, another Applin touched an item named Sweet Apple, according to Wuli's introduction.

Light bloomed and vanished again, and a Pokémon that at first glance one might mistake for a turtle descended from the sky, landing on the ground.

Most of the apple skin had disappeared, the Applin's body had bulged, looking slightly plump.

On its highly raised back was covered something resembling woven pie lattice, while the parts that looked like ears were actually its eyes.

Still one of Applin's evolutionary branches, Appletun!

Afterwards, the number of Applin on the tree continued to decrease until, after one more Flapple and one more Appletun had evolved, the Applin seemed to realize the opportunities for evolution were exhausted; they climbed down one after another, returning to their own "homes" on Apple Hill.

Meanwhile, the townspeople, their faces full of the joy of harvest, scattered with smiles, chatting about something.

But when passing by Luo Mu, Danyu, and Wuli, these people all closed their mouths, walked past in silence, and only began discussing again once they had put some distance between themselves and the group.

"I'm sorry; they don't want outsiders to know the secrets of Verdant Town's apple cultivation..."

Danyu apologized softly to Luo Mu once more.

Luo Mu didn't mind; it was merely the ripening characteristic of Applin supplemented by some other conditions; even if they didn't say it, he already knew.

He simply asked curiously: "After watching for so long, it seems the evolution into Hydrapple hasn't appeared."

Hearing this, both Danyu and Wuli fell silent.

After a long while, Wuli spoke up, whispering: "Because... they don't want these Applin to evolve into Hydrapple; before the Applin gather, specialized people will pick the Syrupy Apples first and then destroy them."

"Because... after evolving into Hydrapple, they can no longer make the apples taste more delicious."

"Ah-Li... you child!"

Danyu felt somewhat helpless; she hadn't expected Wuli to blurt out both the townspeople's dirty secrets and the secret behind why the apples tasted so good.

Holding the Applin, Luo Mu calmly replied, "It's the ripening characteristic, right? I don't consider that a secret."

"Because I also run a farm, and the apples where the Applin currently reside are their ripened apples; the taste is no different from the apples of Kitakami."

The two were slightly stunned.

They never expected that Luo Mu already knew, and moreover, that Luo Mu also operated a farm.

Wasn't he a teacher at Naranja Academy? But Wuli felt somewhat excited in his heart, thinking that as expected of the person he admired, he was a teacher, a Trainer, and a farm owner, achieving so much in all three directions!

It took Danyu a while to accept reality; she sighed helplessly and said, "I also learned it from my grandparents."

"This practice probably started shortly after Verdant Town introduced Applin several decades ago; once the townspeople who discovered this secret found it, they have been repeating such actions ever since."

"As for Ah-Li's Hydrapple... you tell Mr. Luo Mu yourself."

Danyu took a step back, pulling Wuli in front of Luo Mu.

Hugging the Hydrapple, Wuli whispered: "It was probably just my good luck; one day while walking with an Applin, I happened to pick up a Syrupy Apple that had fallen from a tree, so I brought it back to Blueberry Academy as food for the Applin."

"But after the Applin ate the apple and burrowed inside it, evolution occurred; with the help of the teachers, we confirmed the name Hydrapple and the information that it is Applin's third evolutionary branch."

"Only after having a research direction did the teachers find other Syrupy Apples, breed Hydrapple, and even enable Hydrapple to evolve again... they are far more impressive than me."

Listening to Wuli's explanation, Luo Mu remained silent for quite a while.

At this moment, he didn't know what to say.

Due to the selfish desires of these Verdant Town residents, the Hydrapple evolutionary line, which perhaps should have appeared long ago, was hidden for so long, only to be brought to light by Wuli through a fortunate coincidence.

No wonder both Danyu and Wuli sounded somewhat guilty when speaking.

As rare students from this Verdant Town who had entered Blueberry Academy, obviously they also knew that this matter was wrong.

Yet they had no intention of stopping it, and instead, it was discovered by Luo Mu.

Seeing that it was almost time for lunch, Luo Mu helplessly shook his head and gave the two a way out.

"We arrived a bit late today; let's talk about Applin's evolution tomorrow. For now, everyone should return to Mr. Xue Zhong's house for lunch."

After speaking, Luo Mu looked at the Applin in his arms and the Serperior beside him, asking for their opinions.

The Serperior didn't care, while the Applin, having personally witnessed its three evolved forms, felt somewhat conflicted and had not yet made a decision.

Wuli and Danyu also felt hungry; following the way out Luo Mu provided, they planned to return to their grandparents' home for a meal.

Afternoon.

Having eaten their fill and drinking tea that was sweet with a hint of bitterness, Xue Zhong asked with a smile, "Where do you plan to go this afternoon?"

Wuli and Danyu said nothing, looking toward Luo Mu.

Obviously.

Wherever Luo Mu wanted to go, they would take him there.

"Mm, first I want to see the Treasure Companion Plaza built for the Three Treasure Companions," Luo Mu said, stroking his chin in thought. Suddenly, the scene he had witnessed while riding the Spirit Nether Horse surfaced in his mind, and he straightforwardly asked, "By the way, before entering the village, I seemed to see a mountain peak glowing; do you know anything about that?"

(End of Chapter)