Chapter 454: Moving into a Mansion is Just Around the Corner! Little Zhi and Hanako's

Because their flights and destinations differed, Luo Mu and Sarene boarded separate flights, heading to the Sinnoh region and the Paldea region respectively.

As for Sarene, Luo Mu was no fool; having spent some time with her, he judged from her appearance and speech that she was likely a descendant of an organization from ancient Sinnoh, that is, the Hisui region.

Thus, she still possessed Pokémon from the Hisui region that should have been "extinct," and knew many things related to Hisui, just like with Ursaluna.

Coupled with Sarene's distinctive hair color, it made Luo Mu think of an old acquaintance from the Diamond Clan.

He guessed that Sarene was probably a descendant of Adaman's lineage.

Just as Cynthia was a descendant of Volo, the true mastermind behind the Hisui region, and Cyrus was a descendant of Charon, and so on.

Sarene had said that if Luo Mu ever came to visit the Sinnoh region, he should contact her then; she would definitely show him around Sinnoh properly and, incidentally, let him see some little secrets passed down by her clan.

Luo Mu smiled and agreed.

After returning to the farm, through Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang, Luo Mu quickly learned what had happened at the farm during his absence.

Apart from the fact that while he was away, Iron Valiant had popped up again to challenge Cangyan Cangyan Rengui to a spar, left without a word after losing, and was obviously off to hone its skills again.

The biggest event was that among the four Pokémon undergoing special training, the final Combee had completed its evolution, becoming a Vespiquen.

Currently, Vespiquen was considering how to rebuild its hive from scratch and searching for suitable subordinates.

A complete Combee colony consists of a female Queen and a large group of hardworking male Combee.

For Vespiquen to find suitable subordinates, aside from expending great effort to raise its own children, recruiting those male Combee who had no place to call home was the fastest shortcut.

Luo Mu decided to take Vespiquen out into the wild someday to try its luck.

If that didn't work, besides purchasing a batch of Combee Pokémon Eggs, they could try to poach from the colony of Vespiquen's mother; those Combee were quite envious of the farm's environment.

Most importantly, there were no honey-gathering peers like Beedrill or Butterfree migrating to the farm with the seasons, nor were there greedy Beautifly driving them away, and certainly no honey thieves like Dustox or Teddiursa.

Wait, actually, there might be.

After returning to the farm, Luo Mu introduced the four Pokémon he had caught this time to everyone at the farm.

Gyarados and Feebas were assigned to Politoed, that smart fellow, to look after.

Luo Mu felt very assured about Politoed, believing it could quickly help Gyarados and Feebas adapt to the environment of Thunder Cry Lake.

Pecharunt was nervous upon first meeting anyone, but fortunately, the warm atmosphere of the farm helped it adapt quickly; it spent all day laughing and playing with its new friends, which made Luo Mu very gratified.

As for Ursaluna.

Just as mentioned a moment ago, after arriving at the farm, this guy acted like a Slaking all day long.

If it could sit, it would absolutely not stand.

If it could lie down, it would absolutely not sit.

Coupled with its own account that it only went out to forage for food and water on foggy nights when the moon was full, Luo Mu finally understood how this fellow could stay cooped up in the Eternal Forest for so long without anyone ever discovering its den.

It turned out to be a pure homebody bear.

However, even a homebody bear occasionally had moments of madness outside of battles.

Luo Mu remembered that it was on the night of the second day after he returned to the farm.

Although without the help of subordinates, Vespiquen had still relied on its own efforts to build a small hive, collected some nectar, and brewed quite a bit of Combee honey to store inside the hive.

As a result, just once when Vespiquen returned home laden with goods, it discovered Ursaluna squatting right in front of the hive, furtively scooping out honey and eating it in huge mouthfuls.

Occasionally, it would lick its Xiong Zhang covered in honey, its face, which resembled that of a gang boss, filled with a contrasting sense of ecstasy.

Just like an addict who hadn't touched their drug in hundreds of years.

Although such a description seemed somewhat excessively exaggerated, the fact was exactly so.

Ursaluna could no longer remember whether it had been tens or hundreds of years since it last ate honey.

Merely when that sweet taste spread across its tongue and through its mouth, it couldn't help but shed tears.

It suddenly felt that all those previous years had been lived in vain, as if wasted on a dog.

Precisely because Ursaluna had a special obsession with honey, even while being chased and beaten by the furious Vespiquen, it did not forget to continue licking its Xiong Zhang.

And because Ursaluna was truly thick-skinned and tough, Vespiquen couldn't break through its defense at all, which made Vespiquen incredibly angry at the time.

In the end, only under Luo Mu's mediation did Ursaluna guarantee not to unauthorizedly destroy Vespiquen's nest, but in exchange, Ursaluna humbly hoped that there would frequently be a supply of different kinds of honey in the future.

After Luo Mu readily agreed, Ursaluna, who craved nothing but this taste, sincerely apologized to Vespiquen.

It even said that if help was needed in the future, it, Big Bear, would definitely be the first to step up to make up for Vespiquen's losses.

League Calendar Year 798, September 24th.

After finishing lessons at the Grape Academy and then receiving private tutoring from Nurse Joy in Flat Disk Town, Luo Mu, who had been busy for most of the day, finally returned to the farm.

But judging from the current situation where he hadn't even had time to wash his face before being dragged by Lei Guan Wang and Oranguru into the living room for a small meeting, he probably couldn't rest yet.

The only thing that could be considered a consolation was the two cute Eevees on his thighs, allowing him to pet, hug, and kiss them.

Originally, Luo Mu had worried that after Vulpix evolved into Ninetales, he would rarely be able to touch something small, soft, and fluffy again.

Although the Eevee sisters had urgently taken over the role, Ninetales had become slightly more aloof, which still left one's heart feeling a mix of emotions.

Stroking the smooth brown fur of the older Eevee sister, Luo Mu's gaze naturally fell upon a map that Oranguru handed over using psychic power.

After glancing through the map once, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, "Investigated so thoroughly?"

Oranguru nodded modestly and looked toward Lei Guan Wang beside it, "This is mostly thanks to His Excellency Lei Guan Wang exerting its power to help me scan all Pokémon populations within the farm's expansion range."

"You've worked hard."

Luo Mu nodded to them both and began browsing more carefully.

According to the map drawn by Oranguru, the expanded farm not only gained more land for planting additional crops but also encompassed the small hill behind it, as well as a stream leading to a nearby lake and then merging into the sea.

Luo Mu remembered that he used to often go to that stream to fish, usually coming back empty-handed, and it seemed he had even seen a shiny Magikarp there once.

Setting aside for now how to utilize the stream, what he was mainly concerned about currently was the locations of a bunch of wild Pokémon marked on the map.

Every wild Pokémon, even if of different species, would not have their activity territories squeezed tightly together.

This also meant that Luo Mu's pressure would be considerably reduced.

It was just a few large wild Pokémon groups, plus a handful of solitary wild Pokémon, adding up to only about two or three hundred individuals in total.

Picking up a red pen, Luo Mu drew circles around several areas.

"This group of Sunflora can be relocated to Deep Bowl Town; that place is very suitable for them to live, and both the residents and administrators are very friendly toward this kind of Pokémon."

"The Sneasel and Salazzle from the back mountain can be introduced to a reliable perfume company; I imagine the other party would be very willing to take over raising them."

"As for the packs of Houndour and Houndoom, that's even simpler; Fire-type Pokémon integrate into every aspect of human life, not to mention they are wolf-dog type Pokémon, so guarding homes and even entering the police force's roster are no problem at all."

"Of course, it ultimately depends on the choices of those wild Pokémon themselves; this matter cannot be rushed, so let's arrange it bit by bit."

Luo Mu's voice paused for a moment, and he drew circles around several more areas.

"As for these wild Pokémon that come in small groups of two or three, like the few Diglett dwelling in the back mountain, we can completely hire them to enter the farm to help Mudsdale bear part of the pressure of plowing and tilling the soil."

"And then there are things like Flabébé evolving into Florges to manage the flower fields, while Amoonguss can also..."

Adding in the occasional suggestions put forward by Lei Guan Wang and Oranguru, Luo Mu discussed with them for nearly an hour before finally settling on the concrete plan.

Next would be visiting those wild Pokémon while simultaneously contacting some connections to push the plan forward.

With the matter of the wild Pokémon concluded, the next item was the construction planning for the farm.

After so many days, the construction progress of the large house Luo Mu requested was already over halfway done; the main structure had long been erected, and now it was nearly time to proceed to the renovation step.

Fortunately, most renovation materials in this world had no pollution or side effects, and even if they did, they basically had no effect in the face of the Pokémon's miraculous power.

Some families even finished renovating in the morning and moved into their new homes by afternoon; the speed was extremely fast.

Luo Mu could foresee that before long, he would be able to move into the large house he had been longing for!

But before the large house, Luo Mu calmly recounted the things he had encountered in Kitakami, and expressed Ji De Xiang Fa to Oranguru, and especially to Lei Guan Wang.

"Aside from expanding Thunder Cry Lake, increasing the area for farming, and developing more dimensions of farm and ranch business..."

"I plan to open up a sufficiently large apple orchard within the farm recently and break into the market."

Luo Mu looked at Lei Guan Wang with burning eyes.

"To achieve this goal quickly, I will need your help."

Lei Guan Wang did not hesitate much over this, but instead nodded lightly, indicating its stance.

It would definitely lend this help.

Having heard about the faces of that group of xenophobic people in Kitakami from the story, even the usually emotionally stable Lei Guan Wang could not help but feel a wisp or two of anger, feeling that these people were truly beyond saving.

Lei Guan Wang knew that the reason Luo Mu was building an apple orchard was most likely to target Kitakami.

If it were merely simple planting, even with Comfey and the others there, it would probably take half a month to a month before this large batch of apple trees could bear any fruit.

Not to mention leaving time for Dragonair to perform the ripening process.

Luo Mu probably hoped to immediately start on this matter once the farm's expansion was completed.

Moreover, Luo Mu was already a friend it had acknowledged; as a friend, helping was something it was willing to do with all its heart.

The small meeting concluded.

After eating a piece of cake handed over by Shuang Nai Xian and playing a game of "guess heads or tails" with Greavard using Paldea Coins for a while, Luo Mu left home with Oranguru and headed straight for Thunder Cry Lake.

Aside from going to see how Gyarados and Feebas were doing and whether they had integrated into the environment...

Luo Mu also wanted to know whether that story was merely hearsay from Sandy, something substantial, or perhaps something completely beyond human expectation.

Arriving at Thunder Cry Lake.

The first thing that met the eyes was the lake surface sparkling under the sunlight.

Whether it was due to the blessing of that Damp Rock brought back, Luo Mu discovered that the water quality of Thunder Cry Lake was getting better and better.

It did not even require frequent cleaning work; this place remained clean and tidy at all times.

Even in the area separated by isolation nets nearby, the growth momentum of the ordinary fish inside had quickened considerably; perhaps they would welcome the first harvest before winter arrived.

Just as he arrived, he saw Politoed leading its underlings, the Poliwag, in boxing exercises to train their bodies.

After informing Politoed of his purpose, it asked Luo Mu and Oranguru to wait by the lakeside for a moment, then agilely jumped into the lake, and before long, called out the Gyarados and Feebas staying at the lake bottom.

Luo Mu did not avoid them; instead, directly with the help of Oranguru, the gold-medal translator, he asked what exactly the relationship between Gyarados and Feebas was.

Why did it look as though Feebas was actually occupying the dominant position?

Presumably because the farm's superior environment made Gyarados and Feebas very satisfied, they gave a very straightforward answer to Luo Mu's question—

The story Sandy told was basically correct, except that currently, Feebas and Gyarados were merely very good friends.

This remained true even though Feebas was indeed female and Gyarados was male.

Their answer greatly disappointed Luo Mu, who had hoped to hear a bit of gossip; he could only ask the two Pokémon to stay in Thunder Cry Lake for now, telling them they could seek him out anytime if needed.

Incidentally, Luo Mu also painted a big picture for them about expanding Thunder Cry Lake.

After Feebas and Gyarados disappeared beneath the water, Luo Mu went to check on the other side of the lake, where Dragonite, the Dragonite leader, and Dragonair were leisurely basking in the sun with their families.

Still paying attention to the Dragonite leader's mental state, and receiving positive feedback, Luo Mu was already contemplating that, adding in the matter of Purified Water, he should find a time to take the Dragonite leader to the Alola region.

Once the mental state tended toward stability, the probability of seeing departed ones within Tapu Fini's mist would become greater.

Time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, it was September 26th.

On this day, the farm welcomed three slightly special guests.

Ash from Pallet Town and Pikachu, along with his mother, Lady Hanako.

(End of Chapter)