Chapter 459: Charizard and Moltres, Pecharunt and Tinkatink

Charizard's personality was undoubtedly unruly.

But that was only in the past.

After its final evolution, followed by a crushing defeat, then opening its heart to Xiao Zhi, and finally realizing in Charicific Valley that it was merely a malnourished existence, frail and weak compared to its peers.

Charizard's personality gradually shed its former sharp edges; while not becoming entirely smooth, it was no longer so brainless as to provoke anyone it met.

Looking at Charizard's growth curve, its current change could be summed up in one phrase: it had matured, it had grown up.

This was also the reason it set aside its self-esteem and pride to seek out Moltres.

It wanted to lend a hand to Xiao Zhi at the Silver Conference, wanted to prevent Xiao Zhi from falling at the Top Eight again, and wanted to reach the summit of Charicific Valley.

Researchers had once studied the Kanto region's starter Pokémon, the Charmander line.

Skipping the process, let's look only at the conclusion.

Pokémon of the Charmander line all shared a common characteristic—the flame burning at the tip of their tails.

In academic circles, this cluster of flames was known as the "Flame of Life" for Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard; the temperature and intensity of the flame's burn reflected their physical health, strength, and even changes in mood.

When emotions began to fluctuate, becoming agitated and warlike, the flame on Charizard's tail would sway violently, and the orange-red fire would gradually turn blue-white at its tip.

At this moment, Charizard was undoubtedly in precisely such a state—

As a fellow Fire-type Pokémon, and moreover a legendary spirit of the upper echelons among Fire-types, Moltres naturally would not miss Charizard's changes.

However... Moltres raised an eyebrow; it was impossible for it to engage in fierce battle with Charizard.

If it accidentally stirred up that cluster of seven-colored flame within its body, which Luo Mu called "Sacred Fire," things would become difficult.

After all, Lei Guan Wang had gone out these past two days, and it would be bad if its influence accidentally expanded.

However, largely due to reasons beyond just their species, namely their matching types, Moltres did not dislike Charizard's request, and even admired its spirit.

Hearing from its eldest son, Feng Su Gou, that this fellow seemed to have even fought a bout with that fake Entei? That's right!

Moltres's eyes darted, and it immediately hatched a plan.

Although it was inconvenient for itself to act, its eldest son was available!

Since he was loafing around and showing off all day anyway, finding him something to do would be quite nice.

No sooner said than done; Moltres looked at the slightly apprehensive Charizard, raised its avian head, and let out a cry.

"Screech!"

Follow me! Charizard's eyes lit up; like a duckling closely following its mother duck, it trailed behind step by step.

At the same time.

In the farming district.

"Tane!"

Bulbasaur's eyes shone brightly as it listened earnestly to the explanations from Comfey and the Bai Pengpengs, nodding from time to time.

The Grassy Terrain is so amazing! "Beeri..."

Nearby, Bayleef looked somewhat listless; when exactly could it go find Xiao Zhi? In the orchard.

"Kabii..."

This place is heaven! Lying under the shade of a tree, Snorlax squinted its eyes, continuously grabbing fruits and berries piled into a small mountain beside it and tossing them into its mouth.

Every bite burst with delicious juice; some were sweet and sour, some purely sweet, and others carried a hint of unripe flavor.

The Pokémon food provided by Old Man Oak couldn't compare to this at all!

That food was emptiness, this food is satisfaction! Nearby, Primeape and Heracross wore expressions of speechlessness; since being assigned here, they had already been picking fruit for Snorlax all day.

Heracross was fine, as that Applin had promised it that once it finished today's work, it would let Heracross taste the honey secreted on its back.

Just thinking about being able to taste the honey gave Heracross motivation.

Primeape, however, was so angry it was nearly about to faint.

How can this guy eat so much!!!

With its temper already short-tempered, Primeape guaranteed it would immediately drop its tools and quit if it weren't waiting for the chance later to box with that group of Poliwags.

Even so, rage still occupied a corner of its heart.

"I'm going out with Pecharunt; you can either stay and take a nap with Larvitar, or take Pikachu out into the wild to catch Pokémon you like, but remember to come back for mealtime, okay?"

Holding a three-tiered bento box that could be considered "huge" in his left hand and pulling Pecharunt with his right, Luo Mu instructed an excited-looking Xiao Zhi.

"Mm-hmm, I understand!"

Xiao Zhi Chong Chong nodded vigorously, grabbed his hat from the coat rack by the door, and dashed out in a flash.

It was unknown whether he had actually listened to a word.

Luo Mu rubbed the space between his eyebrows, feeling a bit of a headache.

He vaguely remembered that in the anime, Xiao Zhi, and even his travel companions Xiao Gang and Xiao Xia, were directionally challenged in a certain sense.

Feeling truly uneasy, after a brief thought, Luo Mu shouted toward his own shadow: "Mimikyu, trouble you to follow over there; you don't need to intervene, just give them a hint if they get lost."

"Also, don't play pranks on Pikachu."

Mimikyu jumped out of Luo Mu's shadow, nodded to him, and quickly followed the departing figures of Xiao Zhi and Pikachu.

After quietly hiding in Pikachu's shadow, Mimikyu silently thought to itself.

Before the day it was bought by Luo Mu as a discounted item sitting next to a pile of brand-new dolls, it might have felt jealousy and anger toward the bright, shiny, and beloved Pikachu, darkly wishing to retaliate against it.

But now it was different.

Mimikyu knew that it too was loved; it didn't need many people, just this one person was enough, and with just that, it was extremely satisfied.

As for Pikachu, hmph, it wasn't important at all! Rather than playing pranks on Pikachu, Mimikyu was more looking forward to the handmade new doll and new clothes Luo Mu had prepared for it, which were said to be "very, very cute"! Just thinking about this point made Mimikyu so happy it was about to bubble over with bliss.

On the other side.

Seeing that Mimikyu had followed Xiao Zhi and Pikachu, Luo Mu also set off with Pecharunt toward the direction of the small hill behind the farm.

Walking along the road, Pecharunt happily hummed a little tune, its gaze resting from time to time on the three-tiered large bento box Luo Mu was carrying, its starry eyes full of anticipation.

Ogerpon's thoughts were truly too easy to guess; everything was written on her face, exceptionally simple.

To draw an analogy, she was like Victini, whom Luo Mu had just met in Eindeoc.

Pity that, having witnessed the world's splendor, Victini, that blank sheet of paper, ultimately got smeared and grew crooked; Luo Mu sincerely hoped Ogerpon could always remain this simple little village girl she was now.

"In a moment, another friend will join us to share the bento; don't rush."

Smiling at Ogerpon, Luo Mu looked at the road ahead, estimating how long it would take to climb the mountain.

Today, as always, he had come to visit the Little Tinker; however, compared to his previous pure visits, Luo Mu today had an additional purpose—

to try asking the Little Tinker whether she wanted to join the farm.

Lei Guan Wang had gone to the vicinity of Xuezha Town to investigate the environment and mineral deposits.

Barring any accidents, once it returned with the results, Luo Mu would need to consider contracting the mines in Xuezha Town thereafter.

According to Lei Guan Wang, reforging the Rusted Sword and the Rusted Shield required not only the steel produced by the "One-Eyed Giant" Melmetal but also ordinary ore and metals, and the demand was enormous.

This was precisely the reason Lei Guan Wang had personally traveled to Xuezha Town to conduct the survey.

Once the operation to prepare materials commenced, the craftsmen should also be in place around that time.

The process of training craftsmen was exceedingly long; according to Lei Guan Wang, even with talent, it would take a considerable amount of time.

The only piece of good news was that there was still a very long time before Eternatus awakened.

Ash's current journey progress had just reached before the Silver Conference in the Johto region; judging by his travel speed of roughly half a year per region, and considering the worst-case scenario, there was still at least two or three years of buffer time before the "Dark Night" awakened.

Pondering future plans, Luo Mu hurried toward the Little Tinker's dwelling with Ogerpon.

Occasionally, some wild Pokémon would leap from the bushes along the way to attack people, but Ogerpon was more than capable of handling them.

Through his observations over the past few days, Luo Mu had discovered that Ogerpon was truly a very peculiar Pokémon.

When holding a mask, she was as if she had gained a source of power, completely overturning Luo Mu's perception of her as "frail."

Not only had she soloed Tao Dai Lang and finished off the Three Treasures Companions, but in Luo Mu's tests, Ogerpon's strength was quite absurd, easily capable of smashing a huge rock.

Moreover, those four masks were rather mystical.

When wearing the green "Hearthflame Mask," Ogerpon remained her original single Grass type, and after testing, her Ability was confirmed to be "Defiant," which greatly boosted her Attack when her stats were lowered.

But when switching to the "Wellspring Mask," not only did Ogerpon's cloak change color, but her own type and Ability also underwent changes.

Her type became "Grass/Fire," and her Ability changed to "Mold Breaker."

There was also the "Wellspring Mask" with "Grass/Water" typing and the Ability named "Water Absorb," and the "Cornerstone Mask" with "Grass/Rock" typing and the Ability named "Sturdy."

It was hard to imagine that a single Pokémon could switch among so many types and Abilities.

Only heaven knew how astonished Luo Mu had been when he completed the tests and obtained these results.

At the same time, he had also discovered an incredible phenomenon.

Originally, Luo Mu had intended to test whether, if Ogerpon changed masks and switched types,

her Terastal type would remain Grass or switch according to the mask's type; but when the Terastal radiance fell upon Ogerpon, an unprecedented anomaly occurred.

Ogerpon herself did not Terastallize from the Terastal energy released by the Terastal Orb.

Her mask Terastallized!

Only heaven knew what a fright Luo Mu had received when he saw Ogerpon's mask Terastallize.

This was no less than the horror one would feel walking a night road after the founding of the nation and suddenly encountering a yellow weasel demanding a title.

After Luo Mu's rigorous testing, combined with the data monitoring provided by Geeta's research lab and the assistance given by Lei Guan Wang, they finally determined the changes that occurred after Ogerpon's mask Terastallized.

First, after Ogerpon Terastallized, her Ability changed once again.

Lei Guan Wang named the Ability that changed after Ogerpon's Terastallization "Masked Mirror," quite an artistic name; Lei Guan Wang was quite skilled at naming things.

It was just that when it came to Cosmog, Lei Guan Wang would only call her "little one," "little star," and so on.

Depending on the mask worn, after Terastallizing, Ogerpon's own stats would receive a certain degree of enhancement: Speed for the Hearthflame Mask, Special Defense for the Wellspring Mask, Attack for the Hearthflame Mask, and Defense for the Cornerstone Mask.

A rather special form of Terastallization; Luo Mu sometimes wondered if this seemed somewhat similar to Gigantamaxing and exclusive Z-Moves, and he didn't know whether there were other Terastal Pokémon with such unique traits.

Ogerpon equipped with a mask possessed considerable strength, especially with the Attack-boosting Hearthflame Mask, where the club wrapped in flames was quite terrifying.

With Ogerpon present, there was no need to worry about any wild Pokémon attacking them.

Around four in the afternoon, Luo Mu and Ogerpon successfully arrived before the cave where the Little Tinker resided.

Today, Luo Mu was lucky; the Little Tinker had not gone out and was inside the cave continuing to hone her forging skills.

Luo Mu's desire to invite her was also due to his appreciation for the Little Tinker's diligence.

Noticing Luo Mu's arrival, the Little Tinker immediately set down her work and warmly greeted him.

With a "Clang," the hammer landed on the stone table; before sitting down on the ground, Luo Mu noticed the object beneath the hammer serving as material and froze for an instant.

Black feathers... they seemed somewhat familiar.

Feathers capable of serving as forging material for a hammer—thinking about it, they could only belong to Skarmory or Corviknight.

Aside from a few individuals arriving for various reasons, Skarmory were almost never seen in Paldea, let alone that the black feathers had already locked down their owner, killing the competition.

It was just that Luo Mu couldn't figure out where the Little Tinker had obtained Corviknight feathers; she shouldn't have the capability to trouble wild Corviknight at present, or could it be that—

Just as Luo Mu felt he was about to find the answer, two puzzled cries interrupted his thoughts.

"Kanu?"

"Boni?"

It was Ogerpon, looking worried, and the Little Tinker, using a leaf as a "plate" to wrap several Berries to offer him.

"... It's nothing; let's have our picnic first."

Luo Mu shook his head, temporarily driving stray thoughts from his mind, and smiled at the two Pokémon.

The Little Tinker had already grown accustomed to Luo Mu frequently bringing different Pokémon bodyguards to visit her, and Ogerpon was originally a very well-behaved child aside from being somewhat socially anxious, so the two got along harmoniously.

Luo Mu opened the three-tiered bento box one by one, placing quite exquisite food before the two Pokémon.

"Boni!"

Ogerpon let out a joyful cry.

Tinkatink was also somewhat amazed; the food Luo Mu brought today seemed to be of a completely different style than before.

The first tier featured colorful appetizers and side dishes: tender sashimi of fish and shrimp brimming with the temptation of fat, pickled cherry blossoms marinated to perfection with a sweet and sour taste, and several exquisite small dishes.

The second tier held various staple foods, including hand-pressed sushi of all kinds, grilled eel cooked to perfection and drizzled with soul sauce—its skin slightly charred while the inside remained tender and juicy—along with tamagoyaki, fried chicken, and other dishes.

The third tier consisted of fruits and desserts that Shuang Nai Xian had made together with Luo Mu; each was exquisite and petite, looking utterly appetizing.

Compared to the bewildered Tinkatink, Ogerpon was already so moved that its eyes were turning red.

It knew this was a Japanese-style bento that Luo Mu had specially learned to make for its sake! Whether in the place where Ogerpon had once lived or in Kitakami Village after moving, this dietary style had always been maintained.

It had thought it would likely be very difficult to eat such food again in the future, yet now Ogerpon felt fortunate to have accepted Luo Mu's proposal and followed him to Paldea to begin a new life.

Here there was no discrimination against it, only many companions, delicious food, and a family that loved it! (End of Chapter)