Chapter 460: This Fire-Breathing Dragon Clearly Excels in Special Attack, Yet Insists on Playing

Luo Mu, Ogerpon, and Tinkatuff enjoyed the entire box of delicacies as if they were having a picnic.

Ogerpon ate with great delight.

From the seasoning and presentation of the food, it was not hard to see that Luo Mu had truly put effort into learning this cuisine.

Faintly, it could taste the flavor of its hometown.

Of course.

It was merely the flavor of home that Ogerpon missed, nothing more.

Tinkatuff knew no such thing as subtlety and gave its evaluation directly.

"Kanu kanu—"

Exquisite it was, beautiful it was, but the taste was far too bland—

It felt inferior to the small plate of twice-cooked pork Luo Mu had lazily brought one day!

What Luo Mu did not expect was that Ogerpon actually nodded in agreement with a look of approval.

"Poni!"

Indeed.

Although Ogerpon had only been at the farm for a few days, less than a week's time.

It had eaten no shortage of fine food.

Basically, the atmosphere at the farm was often one where banquets were thrown at the drop of a hat.

What?

Ninetales had learned Blizzard from Lei Ji?

Then let's throw a banquet to celebrate!

What?

The farm has added four new members?

Let's throw a banquet to celebrate!

What?

Ash has come to stay at the farm temporarily?

Banquet, celebrate, got it?

Having grown accustomed to delicious, piping-hot food, even though it felt nostalgia, Ogerpon also felt that the cold, insipid taste of Wa-style cuisine was good for nothing but stirring up memories.

If left to choose, it certainly would not pick that.

"."

Seeing Ogerpon's expression, Luo Mu was rendered speechless for a rare second.

Did all his remote efforts these past few days to contact Master Master Haidai for a reliable Wa-style chef to cram study amount to nothing?

Fortunately, Ogerpon was still a very considerate little padded jacket; after acting cute and coquettish for a while, the matter was dropped.

After watching Ogerpon interact with Tinkatuff for a while longer, Luo Mu checked the sky, felt that it would be time to descend the mountain soon, and looked for an opportunity to interject.

Surprisingly, the relationship between Ogerpon and Tinkatuff had progressed at lightning speed; in just over half an hour, they were already like a pair of close sisters.

Tinkatuff even took Ogerpon on a tour of its blacksmith workshop and brought out its most satisfactory iron hammer to show Ogerpon.

Ogerpon's eyes sparkled as it looked at the hammer in Tinkatuff's hand, as if remembering something, it reached into its bosom and pulled something out—

No one knew how it managed it, but the emerald-green Grassy Mask appeared in Ogerpon's hand as if by magic and was worn on its face.

Watching this scene, Luo Mu silently thought.

Come to think of it, before returning to Paldea, the four masks had been handed directly to Ogerpon; he had no idea how it stored them, as there was absolutely no sign it was carrying four face-sized masks on its person.

Could this be the legendary four-dimensional raincoat?

Under Tinkatuff's curious gaze, Ogerpon condensed energy.

In an instant.

A large club covered in vines and thorns appeared in Ogerpon's hand.

"Poni~"

Ogerpon swung the Thorny Vine Club in its hand with small movements, looking at Tinkatuff as if showing off.

We have one too!

"Kanu."

Tinkatuff's eyes widened like copper bells as it carefully observed the Thorny Vine Club.

It was the first time it had seen a Pokémon capable of condensing energy into a weapon!

After the two Pokémon displayed their abilities to each other, matters quickly proceeded to the second item—

Tinkatuff said it wanted to forge a small hammer as a gift for Ogerpon to witness their friendship, which was comparable to that of sisters!

In front of Ogerpon, Tinkatuff rummaged around, hauled a pile of pitch-black feathers shimmering with metallic luster from a corner, and piled them onto its workbench.

"Kanu kanu~" (Watch me work~)

Tinkatuff raised its hammer and directly demonstrated the entire process of "how to forge a hammer from scratch" in front of Ogerpon.

First came obtaining the materials.

The main material was that pile of feathers.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Holding its hammer, Tinkatuff secured the feathers and began hammering with a rhythm.

If one observed closely, it was not hard to see that with every strike from Tinkatuff, tiny iron filings continuously fell away.

Gathering these together constituted the initial raw material.

Fortunately, the gift Tinkatuff was giving Ogerpon was only about the size of an ordinary ornament, so it did not consume much material, and the extraction was completed very quickly.

Midway through, the Tinkatuff even had Pecharunt try it out personally.

The price, however, was its natural stone table, which split in two under Pecharunt's monstrous strength.

But seeing the helplessness on Pecharunt's face, the Tinkatuff could only grit its teeth and swallow its grievances.

After all, who else had proposed this but itself?

Still, Pecharunt's monstrous strength truly exceeded its expectations.

The Tinkatuff couldn't help but start calculating.

In its plan to conquer the small mountain, Pecharunt would be of great use!

After obtaining the raw materials, the Tinkatuff resumed its work.

The originally cramped cave seemed to have been expanded bit by bit by it, now many times larger than when it first met Luo Mu.

All that extra space had been converted into storage for tools hand-crafted by the Tinkatuff.

Luo Mu watched in silence as the Tinkatuff first placed the collected iron filings into a certain container, then put it into a makeshift forge fueled by flames collected from who-knows-where to melt them, before pouring the molten metal into prepared molds to set, followed by water cooling and demolding.

Then, on the anvil, it heated the iron with fire to soften it while hammering it with a distinct rhythm.

Terrifyingly professional.

Yet beneath this shock, Luo Mu noticed something.

The raw material the Tinkatuff used to forge the hammer was undoubtedly some kind of feather containing steel.

Skarmory were nearly nonexistent in Paldea; if any existed, there were only a handful, and besides, their feathers didn't look like this.

That could only mean one thing: this pile of feathers belonged to Corviknight.

Given the Tinkatuff's current strength, it was lucky not to be bullied by Corviknight, let alone cause one to crash and steal its feathers.

There was only one possibility.

These feathers were picked up by the Tinkatuff!

"No wonder."

Luo Mu murmured subconsciously, in a voice only he could hear.

Recently, Oranguru had reported that the Corviknight weren't molting much anymore, so it no longer needed to carry bags into the wild to collect these things for cleaning.

Judging by the current situation... could it be that before Oranguru went to collect feathers, the lying-in-wait Tinkatuff had gathered them first!?

Having discovered this new intelligence, Luo Mu's expression toward the Tinkatuff changed.

He had been considering how to invite the Tinkatuff, but now he had a new idea!

Seeing that the Tinkatuff clearly lacked materials yet loved forging so much, he could use a different method to make it voluntarily join the farm!

Just then.

The Tinkatuff finished the final touches and handed a small hammer to Pecharunt.

"Kanu!" (A gift for you!)

Pecharunt took the small, delicate hammer, its eyes filled with surprise and delight.

"Boni!" (Thank you!)

It had received another gift!

Just as Pecharunt was immersed in happiness, Luo Mu suddenly spoke.

"Tinkatuff, would you like to come play at my home?"

"Kanu?"

The Tinkatuff froze, then looked at Luo Mu, as if it hadn't expected him to suddenly extend an invitation.

Before the Tinkatuff could even react, Luo Mu's words immediately sparked a reaction from Pecharunt.

Happily, it took hold of the Tinkatuff's hands, which were quite small compared to its own, expressing its joy through action.

"Boni——!" (Come play, Luo Mu's home is huge!)

Huge?

Holding hands, the Tinkatuff silently chewed over these words.

How big could it possibly be?

It couldn't possibly be bigger than that massive farm near the foot of the mountain, could it?

Thinking this, the Tinkatuff was still very happy about the invitation from Luo Mu and Pecharunt.

Besides, it was also curious about where those incredibly strong Pokémon, capable of fighting that giant black flying bug, lived.

"Kanu!"

The Tinkatuff nodded gently, agreeing to the offer.

Not long ago.

Inside the farm.

Under Charizard's somewhat strange expression, Moltres led the way with its chest puffed out.

However, Moltres wasn't flying; it was walking on the ground.

In Charizard's heart, the aura of a powerhouse surrounding Moltres developed a slight crack.

Moltres led Charizard all the way to the open ground.

As expected, Feng Su Gou and Mawile were there, with Victini watching the spectacle nearby.

As a member of the security team, Feng Su Gou cared greatly about Mawile's strength and, whenever free, personally trained it.

This was one of the few glorious moments for Feng Su Gou on the farm; it enjoyed this time greatly, since at other times, it was usually the one being abused.

Abused by Luxray, abused by Moltres... life was bitter.

Mawile was a single-attribute Fairy-type Pokémon; the only Fire-type moves it could learn were Fire Fang and Sunny Day. The former was acceptable for expanding its coverage, but the latter was basically unnecessary to learn.

Therefore, Feng Su Gou's training of Mawile focused mainly on two aspects—

Physical fitness and actual combat.

In terms of body size, Feng Su Gou almost completely crushes the Biscuit Hound; often, by the end, it relies on its size advantage to pounce and pin down the Biscuit Hound, showing not a shred of big-brother demeanor, looking more like a delinquent bully picking on a good student.

By the time Moltres and Charizard arrived, Feng Su Gou had, as usual, tackled the Biscuit Hound to the ground, its nostrils flaring as it carefully sniffed the Biscuit Hound's body, revealing a slightly perverted smile.

Brother, you smell so good.

Moltres & Charizard: "."

Glancing at the expressionless Moltres, Charizard took a few steps back, wearing a look of complete detachment.

This wasn't Feng Su Gou's fault.

The Biscuit Hound's Ability is "Aromatic Body," which grants immunity to Fire-type attacks and significantly boosts Defense.

The aspect of Fire immunity also relates to the Pokémon's own strength, but there is no need to elaborate further on that.

One point worth noting is that a Pokémon's own constitution, along with many other aspects of its performance, can also be influenced by specific Abilities.

Just like the Biscuit Hound.

When burned with moderate flames, the Biscuit Hound's body emits an extremely enchanting aroma, smelling just like freshly baked bread straight from the oven; that perfect wheat fragrance is utterly intoxicating.

It was very miraculous.

Having experienced countless such incidents, Moltres had long since grown accustomed to it.

Letting out a slight sigh, it spread its flame-stained wings and took flight.

In front of its good son, it still had to maintain the dignity of an elder.

Seeing Moltres take off, Charizard looked somewhat surprised.

So you can fly after all.

Then why were you walking around just like that group of sub-adult chickens in that certain chicken coop we passed earlier?

A moment later.

Moltres explained the situation to Feng Su Gou.

You, go fight Charizard; I want to see what it's made of!

Feng Su Gou glanced at the intense-eyed Charizard; it remembered this guy seemed to be the Pokémon of that somewhat dull male who was temporarily staying at the farm.

Feng Su Gou immediately became eager to try.

It just so happened that it also wanted to have a good, hearty fight!

The battle began quickly.

The focused Charizard faced off against the eager Feng Su Gou.

There was no referee, and no Trainer.

With just a glance, both sides clashed.

Feng Su Gou immediately unleashed its signature move, "Double-Edge," a trick it often used to sneak-attack Moltres; every time, watching Moltres bend over in pain yet stubbornly hold up its dignity for the sake of face was quite amusing.

Even though a severe beating inevitably followed afterward, Feng Su Gou never grew tired of it.

It had spotted Charizard's type at a glance!

Probably Fire and Dragon, so Rock-type attacks would definitely be effective!

Seeing Feng Su Gou charging toward itself, Charizard subconsciously struck a pose, holding its slightly longer-than-a-Tyrannosaurus claws horizontally in front of itself, looking as if it intended to clash directly with Feng Su Gou in a test of strength!

Not only had Feng Su Gou already figured out how to hit and then fly away to dodge Charizard's counterattack, but...

... Moltres also froze for a second.

You big dumb dragon, what are you doing!

The reality was also extremely cruel.

Facing Feng Su Gou's "Double-Edge" that held back absolutely nothing, being four-times weak to it and far inferior in strength, Charizard demonstrated exactly what it meant to drop dead on the spot.

With a "Bang," Charizard bent its waist like a shrimp, clutching its round, beer-belly-like stomach like a middle-aged uncle, its face a mask of agony.

Finally, it fainted directly.

Quite a while later.

Charizard was awakened by a scent of flowers.

It opened its weary eyes.

The first thing to meet its gaze was a Pokémon resembling a flower wreath; Charizard knew that the pleasant floral scent and the healing of its injuries were most likely the work of this Pokémon.

Next.

As memories returned, Charizard locked eyes with Moltres, whose face was filled with words left unsaid.

"."

For a moment, an awkward atmosphere spread out.

In the end, it was Comfey that livened up the mood, acting as the lubricant for communication.

Moltres changed its approach.

It asked Charizard to first demonstrate the moves it had learned.

This basically wouldn't cause any problems.

Charizard smoothly demonstrated all the moves it knew.

"Tackle," "Leer," "Rage," "Headbutt," "Ember," "Fire Spin," "Flamethrower," "Abyssal Roll," "Seismic Toss," "Mega Punch," "Dragon Rage," "Take Down," and "Fly."

A total of thirteen moves; it had learned quite a few.

It's just that...

Looking at the innocent-faced Charizard, Moltres's eyes widened like copper bells, its face full of disbelief.

You rascal!

Who taught you to build your moveset like this!!!

After arranging a time with the Little Tinker and informing it that he would come to fetch it then,

seeing that the day was growing late, Luo Mu and the Pecharunt bid farewell to the Little Tinker and headed directly down the mountain.

Upon returning to the farm, just as expected, Ash had not yet returned.

Thinking that having Mimikyu around meant there would be no trouble, Luo Mu began preparing dinner.

Cang Yan Ren Gui seemed intent on treating some of the farm's "temporary worker" Pokémon; he summoned Ash's Cyndaquil and prepared to carry out a barbecue operation.

By the time Luo Mu had nearly finished plating the dinner he had prepared, Ash, Pikachu, and Mimikyu finally arrived, tardy and slow.

However.

Ash's expression was exceedingly anxious; in his arms, he cradled a Pokémon covered in wounds, having returned almost at a run.

He nearly shouted in desperation, "Big Brother Luo Mu, please save it quickly!"

(End of Chapter)