Chapter 464: The Giant Beast in the Thick Fog, The Return of Lei Guan Wang!

The newly hatched little Alolan Sandshrew was incredibly cute.

It possessed a body surface resembling ice, marked with brick-like patterns; its head formed armor that looked just like an igloo, wrapping around its small head, while its ears resembled the entrance to an igloo.

At this moment, the little Sandshrew spontaneously curled its body, looking like a small ice-blue ball, utterly adorable.

Every Alolan Sandshrew performs this action upon hatching.

Doing so serves two purposes: first, to protect its soft belly from excessive cold erosion; although it is an Ice and Steel-type Pokémon, during this period just after hatching, the Sandshrew is undoubtedly fragile and must protect its internal organs, gradually adapting to low temperatures rather than rashly exposing itself directly to the cold.

Normally, an Alolan-form Sandshrew cannot curl its body into a ball like an ordinary Sandshrew.

The reason the little Sandshrew can curl into a ball is simply because it has just hatched, and its ice-like armor, which resembles scales, has not yet fully hardened.

As the little Sandshrews curl their bodies, the outer shell skin exposed to the outside cold air gradually hardens, and they will slowly release themselves from the ball-curling posture, revealing their bellies once again.

At this point, the little Sandshrews not only gain a considerably hard outer shell but also thoroughly adapt to the cold air.

In other words, the hardness of a hatched little Sandshrew's outer shell is also linked to its surrounding environment.

Without sufficient cold air, their outer shells often fail to become as hard as those of their peers; therefore, if they perceive the temperature is insufficient, their parents will release moves to lower the surrounding temperature.

Luo Mu had long planned for this.

For the first new life truly born and hatched on the farm, he attached great importance to it; early on, he consulted a vast amount of relevant data and even asked Kukui, who was currently pursuing his doctoral status over in Alola, to gather information on Alolan Sandshrews, making ample preparations.

He stopped the Sandslash couple from further cooling the surroundings; under their stunned expressions, he directly summoned Regice, who was currently counting flower petals, smiled slightly, pointed at the little Sandshrew, and said, "Blizzard!"

The Sandslash couple:!!?? Had they trusted the wrong person!?

Harsh and extreme natural environments often give birth to stronger creatures.

Of course, Luo Mu would not go so far as to commit such cruel and inhuman acts.

Privately, he and Regice had practiced power control countless times; furthermore, while the little Sandshrew was still in its egg, Lei Guan Wang had bestowed a blessing upon it, making its vitality more than double that of its peers.

This was the basis for Luo Mu and Regice daring to act this way.

By using the Blizzard of the Legendary Pokémon Ice Golem Regice to help harden the little Sandshrew's outer shell, perhaps they could raise the hardness of its already tough shell to another level? Gradually, the Sandslash couple understood Luo Mu's intention and cast looks of gratitude and apology toward him.

Luo Mu merely smiled, his hands never stopping as he continued to find angles to snap photos of the little Sandshrew.

After all, for an Alolan Sandshrew, the only time in its entire life it curls into a ball is during this brief period right now.

He absolutely had to take many photos! A moment later.

Amidst the howling wind and snow, as the little Sandshrew gradually stretched out its body, opened its pair of crystal-bright big eyes, and let out a milky, squeaky cry, Luo Mu pressed the shutter one last time, freezing this moment in time.

Next up was the busy feeding time!

Taking care of a newborn is indeed a rather tedious and time-consuming affair.

It was not until six in the afternoon that Luo Mu finally freed his hands, allowing the two novice parents, who had been flustered the entire time, to quietly spend time with their child.

For the foreseeable future, the Sandslash couple would not leave the little Sandshrew's side for even a step, while Luo Mu would arrange for Pokémon to deliver meals daily, bringing chilled Tapu Tapu Moumou fresh milk and grass sheep milk.

As for the question of whether the little Sandshrew's outer shell hardness had increased under the baptism of Regice's Blizzard.

It would be better to wait until it left the Juvenile Phase before conducting tests.

A moderate sense of anticipation often brings many little surprises to daily life.

At dinner time, a tiny follower appeared beside Cangyan Cangyan Rengui; noticing Ash's gaze constantly drifting that way, Luo Mu lightly but firmly patted his head and said with a mix of helplessness and amusement, "Stop looking!"

Meeting Ash's clear gaze, Luo Mu signaled him to hurry up and eat.

It wasn't that Luo Mu was meddling unnecessarily; he was simply afraid that if this continued, the vinegar jar nearby would explode.

That Bayleef's jealousy might be even stronger than a Serperior's... Luo Mu truly suspected that if Ash kept staring so dreamily, Bayleef might go challenge Tan Xiao Shi to a duel tonight.

After eating and drinking his fill, Luo Mu, with nothing else to do, sought out Ash's group of Pokémon.

There were many Pokémon among them he had long wanted to interact with and try things out on, but simply hadn't had the opportunity.

For instance, Squirtle's bald head, which felt very nice to the touch, Luo Mu petted to his heart's content.

Could one actually squeeze anything out of Bulbasaur's bulb?

Luo Mu egged Heracross to try, resulting in Heracross miserably receiving several lashes from the finally exasperated Bulbasaur.

He also organized a small-scale Boxing King Championship.

The contestants were only Primeape and three Wen Xiang Jun; the current Primeape had apparently been borrowed previously for professional boxing training, winning numerous championship belts, and possessed impressive Quan Fa.

At the very least, they were not opponents that three Wen Xiang Jun, who had barely experienced battle and only possessed good physical constitution, could defeat.

Seeing his underlings defeated one after another, Politoed became so angry that it dragged them away directly, seemingly intending to put them through hellish special training.

Luo Mu could only offer silent condolences to the Wen Xiang Jun.

After all, although Politoed was smart, it was still slightly too competitive.

However—

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon Primeape, who was raising both fists and roaring at the sky, revealing a look of confusion.

Was it his illusion?

Why did he feel like Primeape's forehead was turning black?

Over the next two days.

Life passed smoothly without any waves; Ash spent his entire days either running over to Tan Xiao Shi's side to brush up his presence or darting all over the farm, energetically conducting special training alongside his Pokémon.

Then there was the daily scheduled event in the afternoon; worried that this person might get lost, Luo Mu simply had Dragonite carry Ash to Grape Academy every day, letting him spar with Peony, Paul, and Joy Jingxiang.

Battling against trainers of the same age is indeed an indispensable part of training, capable of effectively enhancing their practical combat abilities.

With more battles, as the Pokémon's strength improved and their daily nutrition remained ample, evolution would naturally follow.

In Ash's team, aside from Bulbasaur and Pikachu, who held the obsession of "not wanting to evolve," this group of "baby" Pokémon successively welcomed the timing of their evolution.

Just like Donphan and Marshtomp, who evolved while exploring the underground ruins, served as the opening shot for this timing.

Under the exploitation of Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, after serving as a heat source for a few days and nearly being drained dry, Cyndaquil evolved into Quilava.

Currently still serving in the fire brigade and hoping to obtain even greater power to extinguish more fierce flames, Squirtle, under the tutelage of Swampert, evolved into Wartortle beside a huge, wet rock.

This left Ash overjoyed.

This even increased the force with which he struck Shinji.

Shinji could guarantee that this period was absolutely the most frustrating time of his life, truly his Waterloo.

Ash of Pallet Town, that intuition monster, relied on having started his journey earlier than him; his Pokémon's proficiency and strength surpassed Shinji's, allowing him to constantly bulldoze through Shinji's meticulously crafted battle strategies with sheer perseverance and tenacity, which was infuriating.

Fortunately, Shinji's mind remained calm enough, especially when he saw Ash carrying a Larvitar weighing approximately 72kg on his shoulders while running laps around the training ground; his hot-blooded impulse to challenge Ash to a real-life duel immediately cooled down. It was better to defeat him in a Pokémon battle.

Thus thought Shinji.

Time flew by, and October arrived quietly.

The scorching heat of summer was gone, and cool winds chased each other playfully across the skies of Paldea.

The harvest season of autumn was about to reach its climax.

October 1st.

Luo Mu received a phone call.

On the other end of the line, Hearing Hearing Nimo's voice remained full of energy.

She excitedly stated that she had seen something incredible.

Currently, the travel progress of Hearing Hearing Nimo, Arven, and Penny had already reached the second-to-last Gym, the Cortondo Gym located in Cortondo Town.

Before challenging the Cortondo Gym, the three of them, as always, were undergoing special training in the wild to ensure they could pass the Gym test presided over by Young Lady Lulu without any mishaps.

Their training location was outside Cortondo Town, near the South Paldea Sea.

But just yesterday morning, upon waking from their tents, the three suddenly discovered that fog had surrounded them.

The fog was so thick that one could not see one's own fingers when extending a hand; encountering such a situation for the first time, they were initially somewhat panicked.

However, in the next second, all three froze in shock.

From within the fog, a roar as deafening as thunder suddenly rang out, a cry that seemed to come from some unknown creature, echoing continuously for a long time.

Then, to their surprise, amidst the overwhelming thick fog, an extremely massive black shadow, likely dozens of meters tall, appeared.

Because the opponent's size was so overwhelmingly huge, the three of them were likely not even as big as its fingernail, making it impossible to clearly discern the appearance of that unknown colossal beast.

They could only passively listen to its thunder-like roars, watching as it paused by the beach for several tens of seconds before slowly departing, diving deep into the sea.

"Teacher Luo Mu, that was definitely an unknown giant Pokémon!"

Hearing Hearing Nimo said excitedly.

This time, even Arven and Penny could not refute her viewpoint.

After all, they had witnessed that scene with their own eyes.

That huge unknown creature was absolutely not something that could be explained as a machine or a mirage.

Following this, Hearing Hearing Nimo further revealed her intention: "Tomorrow morning, we plan to find a high place to try and encounter that huge mysterious creature again; Cortondo Town is not far from Artazon Town, would Teacher Luo Mu like to come and take a look?"

Thick fog, an unknown creature dozens of meters tall, the sea... Luo Mu, having organized this information, frowned slightly.

These keywords seemed somewhat familiar? But for the moment, he truly could not recall anything; after a brief thought, he replied, "Let me consider it; I will give you an answer tonight."

Having said this, Luo Mu hung up the phone.

Right now, he still had something relatively important to do.

Luo Mu brought Lei Guan Wang, who had just returned to the farm, to the cradle bed placed in the living room; looking at the deeply sleeping Larvitar, he said to Lei Guan Wang, "This is the one."

"Understood."

Lei Guan Wang nodded slightly; due to its height, it raised its floating altitude a bit and lowered its gaze to look at the Larvitar.

Nearby, Ash nervously swallowed.

Big Brother Luo Mu had said that this Regigigas was a genuine Legendary Pokémon; if it was involved, perhaps it could locate the two Unown that had burrowed into the Larvitar's body a few days ago and extract them.

Lei Guan Wang focused its gaze on the sleeping Larvitar.

It roughly understood the situation.

According to Luo Mu's summary, in short, those two wooden tablets had suddenly transformed into rather special Question Mark Unown and Exclamation Mark Unown, and without any warning, had burst into this Larvitar's body... no, it should be its spiritual world.

Being a Psychic-type Pokémon itself, and having a certain understanding of Unown, Lei Guan Wang made its judgment.

According to Luo Mu, during this period, the Larvitar had basically shown no abnormal reactions; it ate when it should, slept when it should, and played when it should, completely fitting the characteristics of a baby Pokémon less than one month old.

It was just a bit timid.

Except for Ash, Pikachu, Luo Mu, and Oranguru, if any other creature approached it, it would immediately become stiff, cease reacting to anything in the outside world, and stop all interaction.

Intuition told Lei Guan Wang that the appearance of the Unown likely had an intricate connection with the Larvitar's abnormality.

After a brief thought, Lei Guan Wang looked at Luo Mu, then at Ash, and said, "I need to examine its spiritual world."

Luo Mu nodded gently, while Ash nervously hugged Pikachu tighter.

For him, hearing about examining a spiritual world was a first.

A moment later.

Lei Guan Wang lightly touched the Larvitar's forehead, and a azure halo slowly brightened.

Intangible psychic power was carefully input by Lei Guan Wang into the Larvitar's brain.

Lei Guan Wang's mastery and precision regarding psychic power were extraordinary; it could be said that apart from a few other Psychic-type Pokémon in the world, such as Mewtwo, very few could manipulate psychic abilities with such finesse.

This was also the confidence behind its willingness to examine the Larvitar's sea of spirit; after all, the brain and spirit were delicate matters where a slight carelessness could easily lead to errors, causing permanent damage.

After a careful investigation, Lei Guan Wang's brows furrowed deeply.

A moment later.

It raised its head, looked at the nervous Ash and Pikachu, and spoke: "It has sealed its own heart."

Ash and Pikachu were instantly dumbfounded.

Luo Mu did not find this examination result surprising; after all, this was merely a formality.

Lei Guan Wang asked again: "Sealing one's heart is a self-protection mechanism that only appears after the spirit has suffered severe trauma."

"Yet it has likely not even been born for a month; regarding this point, I hope you can provide an answer."

Lei Guan Wang gazed intently at Xiao Zhi and Pikachu, its telepathic voice brimming with majesty.

This youth must be someone with a sincere heart for Pokémon; no matter how one looked at it, he had nothing in common with the scum who abused them.

Moreover, Lei Guan Wang had long ago heard from Luo Mu about how Xiao Zhi had saved Tan Xiao Shi, who had been abandoned and abused by others.

Now, it needed only one answer.

(End of Chapter)