Chapter 458: Snorlax: Is This True, Godfather?

Hefting the heavy cardboard box and looking at the wholesale quantity of red-and-white Poké Balls inside, Luo Mu pondered that the farm's current production should be sufficient to feed this group of Pokémon.

At this point, Ash was in the late Indigo League era, so the Pokémon he had caught should be the same as in the original story.

Roughly forty-something.

Among them, the thirty Tauros Ash caught in the Safari Zone made up the bulk.

Since he had promised to give Ash special training, Luo Mu naturally wouldn't be unable to afford food for even thirty Tauros.

To be precise, it was already autumn; once winter arrived after a while, the vast pasture's grass would inevitably go to waste in large quantities.

In fact, most of the pasture's grass was currently being harvested by Luo Mu, then made into various dishes just for Mudsdale and Miltank to try something fresh.

Taking on the appetite of thirty more Tauros posed no problem at all; they were already in a state of overproduction, so this would even help avoid some waste.

Seeing the stunned Ash and Pikachu, Luo Mu signaled, and Oranguru directly shoved a set of milking suits into their hands.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go, follow me outside!"

In reality, most of the farm work didn't even fall to Ash to do.

The Miltank and the two Skiddo now had a good sense of self-management; all Oranguru needed to do was start things up in the morning, and they would actively complete the semi-automatic milking on their own.

They could even assign tasks to the Corviknight flock that arrived on schedule.

As for tending the crops, with experienced Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others around, Ash, a complete novice, didn't even need to lend a hand watering, since Politoed and Dragonair arrived punctually to act as Rain Dancers for localized rainfall.

There was very little he could actually do.

In truth, Luo Mu hadn't expected Ash to do much anyway.

What he wanted, besides attitude and to show Ash that he wasn't eagerly offering free rides, was primarily Ash's group of Pokémon.

When handing over matters to Professor Oak, Luo Mu had already confirmed which Pokémon Ash currently possessed.

Aside from the Pidgeot in the forest near Pallet Town, the Butterfree that eloped for love, the Lapras that became a herd leader, and the Mr. Mime that nominally belonged to Ash but was effectively Delia's Pokémon, all of Ash's other Pokémon had been transferred over by Professor Oak.

This included the loaned Primeape, and even the Squirtle from the Squirtle Squad Fire Brigade had been called over.

At Luo Mu's request, Ash, who had just clumsily helped him sow seeds for half the morning, opened all the Poké Balls in the cardboard box, releasing all the Pokémon to roam freely on the farm.

These Pokémon had different tasks to perform, but each group had a few superior bosses to direct them.

Most of Ash's Pokémon would contribute their labor to help ease the workload pressure on Luo Mu's farm Pokémon, earning themselves a period of relaxed time in return.

However, the benefits were something they had to strive for actively.

How much they could learn from the Pokémon on Luo Mu's farm depended entirely on their own abilities.

Since he had already planned everything out, Luo Mu quickly arranged Ash's forty-four Pokémon clearly and thoroughly.

"Bulbasaur and Bayleef, you two will work alongside Bai Bai Pengpeng and Comfey."

"Squirtle, Kingler, and Totodile, you will follow Swampert and Politoed."

"Primeape and Heracross, go to the orchard to help Appletun and Tropius harvest berries; in your spare time, you can find opponents to wrestle with."

"Grimer, all the waste produced by the farm during this period will be left for you to handle, but try to stay away from the farming areas."

"Phanpy, you will be responsible for land-related work together with Mudsdale."

"Noctowl, I hear you're very smart, so you can participate in the morning distribution and allocation of Tapu Moumou's fresh milk and goat milk."

"Charizard and Cyndaquil, you two can go help Cangyan Cangyan Rengui with the grilling for now."

"Pikachu, just stick with Ash; if Luxray and Meng Lei Gu are willing, you can also ask them for guidance."

"You thirty Tauros will live in the pasture area; mind your manners, as there is plenty of space there for you to run."

As Luo Mu's voice rang out, Ash's Pokémon were quickly assigned to their tasks, right up until the last one.

Luo Mu looked at that blue, squinty-eyed big fat guy and, for once, hesitated for a moment.

According to authoritative statistical data, a single Snorlax needs to consume 400 kilograms of food daily to feel full; this fellow was truly a big eater in every sense of the word.

There were also energy cubes made via energy compression technology that could make a Snorlax feel full quickly, but the farm wasn't yet at the point of needing to resort to energy cubes just to feed a Snorlax.

The farm's production capacity to feed a Snorlax was still not an issue.

Although Brother Brother Qingmu's team in the game didn't include a Snorlax, Luo Mu remembered that Brother Brother Qingmu actually did raise one.

In fact, more than half of Brother Brother Qingmu's overtime pay went straight into his Snorlax's stomach.

During a certain conversation in the past, Brother Brother Qingmu mentioned that his Snorlax was one he had specifically traded for from another trainer, and he had shared with Luo Mu many of his summarized experiences in raising Snorlax.

To sum it up in one phrase: eat.

Training a Snorlax has always been a headache for all trainers.

This kind of Pokémon loves sleeping and eating, spending very little time awake throughout the day, and even instinctively eats automatically while asleep.

This also results in Snorlax almost never participating in a trainer's training sessions.

If it doesn't participate in training, then how can a Snorlax improve its strength?

Still by eating.

The logic is very simple.

The more food consumed, and the higher the energy content, the stronger the Snorlax becomes; often, those Snorlax with particularly huge appetites possess strength a cut above their peers.

Of course, if some Snorlax possess good self-management awareness and are willing to exercise, that would be even better.

Luo Mu didn't expect to be able to order the Snorlax to do any work; he just treated this as a way to clear out inventory.

Looking at the drowsy Snorlax, Luo Mu said, "For this period, Snorlax, just eat to your heart's content; the farm's crops and fruit berries are all-you-can-eat!"

In an instant.

The drowsy Snorlax woke up.

Its squinty eyes snapped open, looking at Luo Mu as if seeing its provider of food and clothing.

"Snorlax!?"

Is this true, Godfather!? For a moment, Snorlax felt tears welling up in its eyes.

When it was boarded in Professor Oak's backyard, the institute couldn't possibly provide it with sufficient quantities of fresh fruit berries and crops.

That old man Oak was all about convenience; he directly purchased a batch of Pokémon food made through energy compression processing, where eating just a few bags produces an obvious feeling of fullness and replenishes energy.

Old man Oak wasn't exactly mistreating it; it was simply that there was no such feeling, no sense of harvest from eating continuously until full, nor the taste of various different delicacies bursting forth in the mouth.

It only brought an empty feeling of fullness, which was simply too heartbreaking for a beast.

At this moment.

In the eyes of the Snorlax, Luo Mu, who had made a promise, was simply its god!

"Snor!"

The Snorlax stepped forward, intending to give Luo Mu a bear hug.

"No, no, no!" The Snorlax directly scared Luo Mu into immediately retreating.

Since when did repaying kindness with enmity become a thing!?

After noon, near the flower pots on the balcony.

"Yes, just like that; gently and slowly wipe the surface of the Pokémon Egg with a warm towel. This not only makes the Pokémon inside the egg feel happy, but most importantly, it effectively cultivates affection and increases favorability, so that when the Pokémon Egg hatches, the newborn will regard you as its closest person."

Luo Mu patiently taught Ash how to care for the Pokémon Egg.

And the example, naturally, was that Volcarona Pokémon Egg given to him by Alder, one of the only two Pokémon Eggs on the farm.

The Sandslash couple's Pokémon Egg was being cared for by them; if one insisted on bringing it over for Ash to look after, it would likely make them sulk, after all, the Pokémon Egg was already nearing the edge of hatching, and the two Pokémon had been very tense lately.

Even though Moltres often came over to help with incubation, the Volcarona Pokémon Egg still had quite some time before hatching, so having himself watch over it while letting Ash practice was also not bad.

Ash's expression was rarely tense as he followed Luo Mu's instructions to the letter.

It wasn't that he had never possessed a Pokémon Egg; on the contrary, he had previously obtained two.

Like the initial Phanpy Pokémon Egg, and the Larvitar Pokémon Egg; the Togepi Pokémon Egg didn't count since it went to Misty.

It was just that the Phanpy Pokémon Egg was almost entirely cared for by Brock, and the Larvitar Pokémon Egg hadn't had time to be cared for before it hatched directly on a stormy night.

He truly had no experience with this either.

After Ash completed one daily session of caring for the Pokémon Egg, seeing Pikachu beside him looking full of anticipation, Luo Mu generously let it try as well.

Surprisingly, Pikachu did much better than Ash, leaving even Ash dumbstruck, never expecting Pikachu to have such talent.

Consequently, Ash didn't even notice that the afternoon tea cookies he had placed aside were disappearing one after another mysteriously.

By the time Ash reacted, holding that empty plate, he looked at Pikachu, his face full of anger.

"Pikachu, did you steal and eat my little cookies!"

"Pika-pi, Pika Pika!?"

Pikachu was instantly shocked.

Unbelievable!

Were the bond and friendship between itself and Ash really something that could be shaken by a plate of little cookies!? Pikachu was not without temper; seeing Ash truly wearing an expression of suspicion towards itself, Pikachu instantly became furious.

It puffed up its cheeks, and its electric sacs began to flash with dangerous currents.

But Ash, true to being a stubborn creature, did not detect the approaching danger in the slightest, still looking at Pikachu with an expression of condemnation.

Luo Mu, standing to the side, could not bear to watch any longer.

He had no objection if Ash received a round of electric therapy from Pikachu; he even wanted to hold a camera to capture this precious scene.

But since they were currently on a rather narrow balcony, Pikachu's electric therapy would, generally speaking, mostly implicate the innocent; Luo Mu had no preference for being electrocuted, and furthermore, this was also very dangerous for the Volcarona Pokémon Egg.

Pinpointing a spot, Luo Mu's right hand shot out like a spirit snake leaving its hole, swift as lightning, and directly grabbed that fateful scruff of the neck.

And Victini, who had maintained its invisibility and was still wearing an expression of successful mischief while snickering, was directly lifted up looking completely bewildered.

Grabbing Victini and glancing at the cookie crumbs at the corner of its mouth, Luo Mu said with a serious and cold expression: "Apologize, otherwise your snacks will be completely cancelled for the next few days."

This single sentence directly caused Victini, who originally still wanted to pretend innocence, to instantly break down; it looked at Luo Mu with a pitiful expression, attempting to muddle through by acting cute.

"Victi—"

You know, I left my mother since I was small—

Luo Mu didn't buy it at all, appearing completely impervious to persuasion, and merely emphasized: "Apologize."

"Victi."

Knowing it couldn't muddle its way through, Victini could only hang its head in dejection and apologize to Ash and Pikachu; it could still distinguish between one full meal and every meal being full.

If it continued to be stubborn, it would truly be bad if it made Luo Mu angry.

Ash and Pikachu were also very easy to talk to; they quickly cleared up the misunderstanding and focused their attention entirely on Victini.

Pikachu greeted Victini, while Ash, his eyes sparkling, asked: "Big Brother Luo Mu, it is—"

"Victini; you could consider it a Mythical Pokémon."

Looking into Ash's eyes, Luo Mu felt a tiny bit guilty.

Come to think of it, he had essentially intercepted Ash; originally, in the original timeline, Victini was supposed to become friends with Ash and his group.

"Wow! So amazing!"

Ash gave face by praising it aloud.

To him, whether it was a Legendary Pokémon or a Mythical Pokémon, they were all very powerful, very rare, and very difficult-to-encounter Pokémon.

Not only was there that Moltres that often dozed on the roof, but he had even captured a Mythical Pokémon; Big Brother Luo Mu was indeed a very powerful Trainer!

Originally feeling a little aggrieved, Victini, upon seeing Ash so admiring of itself, instantly felt capable again and even thought Ash was quite sensible.

In that case, it would give this prospective underling a little benefit—

Victini placed its hand on Ash, and an imperceptible Jin Guang flashed past; even Luo Mu didn't have time to stop it.

In an instant.

"Oh oh oh oh—"

Ash only felt himself filled with power.

His body subconsciously wanted to release that power, leaping straight up from the open-air balcony!

With this leap, he soared more than ten meters.

In this moment, Xiaozhi suddenly felt as though he had grown a pair of wings, soaring freely in the air over twenty meters high.

The price for this, however, was the balcony, which Xiaozhi had directly stomped into a large hole.

Victini immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Oh no, trouble again! Behind him, a terrifying pressure surged forth; suddenly, he dared not face Luo Mu's kind smile.

At the same time.

Outside the farming district.

The Charizard, whom Cang Yan Ren Gui had arranged to learn Sunny Day, blocked the path of Moltres, who had finished today's work and intended to return to its room to stay indoors.

It knew that this farm, hiding tigers and dragons, contained many Pokémon even stronger than Moltres, just like that Cang Yan Ren Gui.

But Charizard understood that strength was not the key; suitability was what mattered most.

The Moltres before him was undoubtedly the most suitable teacher for him.

Meeting Moltres's majestic gaze, Charizard could not help but straighten its spine.

"Roar—!"

Fight me! I want to become stronger, to become the strongest Charizard in the world—! (End of Chapter)