Chapter 465: The Power of Unown, Larvitar's Wall of Heart

"I don't know either."

Ash first shook his head, then lowered it, his face filled with self-reproach.

As for why Larvitar was like this, he indeed had no clue.

Professor Oak wasn't entirely clear either; after all, Larvitar's Pokémon Egg had been rescued, and its parents' whereabouts were unknown, leaving the mystery of why the egg appeared in the human world unsolved.

Lei Guan Wang stared at him for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.

His voice rang out.

"There is no scent of lying; it seems you have not deceived me."

"Thank you for believing in me!"

Ash was overjoyed that Lei Guan Wang trusted him.

Luo Mu asked at the right moment, "Do you have any leads at the moment?"

Lei Guan Wang nodded gently, casting his eyes down at Larvitar, and added, "Those two Unown most likely used their mysterious power to infiltrate Larvitar's sealed inner world."

"As for their purpose, and the reason why Larvitar sealed its heart, that will be difficult to ascertain."

"But one point must be noted: even I cannot rashly force my way into the depths of its sealed mind; doing so would only cause its condition to deteriorate rapidly. This should also be why Slowking did not act rashly."

Lei Guan Wang's tone was exceedingly solemn, causing Ash and Pikachu to nervously swallow hard.

"Next, I need to attempt to intervene in its spiritual world without triggering a violent reaction from Larvitar, to discover the reason it sealed its heart."

"This will take some time; it could be today, or it might take several days."

Lei Guan Wang withdrew his hand from Larvitar's forehead and looked toward Luo Mu and Ash.

Ash was just about to nod—

When Luo Mu suddenly spoke: "Larvitar was stolen from its mother by a Pokémon Hunter while still in its egg, then, due to some accidents, wandered through a strange world for a long time; to protect itself and to avoid the pain of being far from its mother, it gradually sealed its heart."

"!!!"

Ash widened his eyes, looking at Luo Mu in disbelief.

How did Big Brother Luo Mu know everything so clearly!? Meanwhile, Lei Guan Wang met Luo Mu's gaze and nodded lightly, saying, "I understand; in that case, the time required to attempt intervening in the spiritual world will be greatly shortened; perhaps we will have results today."

Lei Guan Wang did not ask how Luo Mu knew such details.

To him, it was unimportant and unnecessary to probe further.

He trusted the only friend he recognized, respected him, and would not pry into the secrets he held.

Until Lei Guan Wang successfully intervened in Larvitar's spiritual world and helped it break down the Wall of Heart that had frozen its mind, Ash was kept by Lei Guan Wang's side.

According to Lei Guan Wang, only Ash, as its caretaker and part-time Trainer, could break the Wall of Heart that had encased Larvitar's mind in ice.

After all, Ash and Pikachu were the first to whom Larvitar had opened its heart to a certain extent without the Wall of Heart being broken.

Not knowing how long this operation would last, Luo Mu did not stay nearby waiting for results but instead wandered around the farm.

After all, he was the one who proposed and invited Ash to the Paldea region for special training, and he still expected Ash to work for the team leader for some time afterward, so he had to offer some benefits.

He didn't want to end up hanging from a lamppost.

Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well check on the training progress of these forty-odd Pokémon.

Luo Mu first arrived at the open ground.

A fierce battle was taking place there.

Charizard circled in the sky, occasionally spewing scorching flames or flapping its wings to unleash a sky-covering barrage of Air Slash at the sprinting Feng Su Gou.

Unfortunately, not only did Charizard face the absolute disadvantage of having its Fire-type moves resisted fourfold and its Flying-type moves resisted twofold, but its strength was also far inferior to that of Feng Su Gou.

This meant that whether it was Flamethrower or Air Slash, even if they hit Feng Su Gou, it was like scratching an itch—completely ineffective.

Conversely, when Charizard finally seized an opportunity, relying on a burst of luck where Air Slash caused Feng Su Gou to flinch for a few seconds, and released its urge for close combat to wrestle with Feng Su Gou...

It often hadn't inflicted much damage before Feng Su Gou, having recovered from the flinch state, headbutted it to the ground, leaving it unable to rise again.

Simply put, the dragon was weak but had a huge addiction.

Seeing this, Luo Mu smiled and said, "Learning Solar Beam won't help; it would be more useful to learn Ground-type moves from Swampert."

However, Luo Mu had no intention of sending Charizard to train with Swampert.

Ultimately, Charizard was the vinegar he desired, and this special training was merely the dumpling wrapped around it.

Although Charizard's close combat looked pitiful against Feng Su Gou, it was actually sufficient against Pokémon of the same level.

Whether it was Blastoise or something like Blaziken, it was enough for Charizard to handle.

On the contrary, there was much room for improvement in ranged attacks, where progress was most evident.

Having Moltres teach it a few Flying-type moves and some aerial combat techniques would be enough to deal with that so-called Blaziken.

After voicing his praise for Moltres and Feng Su Gou, Luo Mu walked toward the other side.

In the orchard, Ash's Snorlax was rarely awake.

However, at this moment, it was fighting Grimer.

Originally, Luo Mu had said to leave all the kitchen waste produced on the farm recently, as well as the construction debris from building the new house, to Grimer to handle; this included fruit pits and some no-longer-fresh crops, fruits, and vegetables.

But every time Grimer came happily to collect these things, it was shocked to discover that Snorlax accepted everything indiscriminately; regardless of freshness, it swallowed it all, not even leaving a single fruit pit behind, making sure to eat everything cleanly without a trace.

This infuriated Grimer.

After enduring it for a few days, it finally exploded.

Bulbasaur nearby wanted to mediate but found it difficult to intervene, so it could only seek help from Noctowl, which was closing its eyes and feigning sleep nearby.

As for what Applin, Tropius, and the Shuckle siblings were doing? They were just like Luo Mu, watching the show! Their attitude was: as long as you don't damage the fruit trees, fight all you want; watching this is quite interesting.

Both Pokémon possessed the trait of absorbing nearly half the impact; Snorlax's belly and Grimer's slime-like soft body were exactly like that.

Fortunately, they also knew this wasn't Professor Oak's backyard, and causing major destruction would be bad, so they tacitly avoided using Poison-type moves that could corrode the land or wide-range destructive moves like Hyper Beam.

After fighting for a while until tired, they would each lie down to rest, replenish some energy, and then continue fighting; it was truly interesting.

After finishing watching the show here, Luo Mu, like a street loiterer, wandered around the farm for most of the day.

Surrounded by onlookers, the Incineroar's forehead turned black then red; using the key to Ash's room, he traded with Bayleef for numerous flower buds that could be ground into spices, tasted the flames of the Quilava, enjoyed barbecue grilled by the craftsmanship of Cang Yan Ren Gui, and then rode that herd of Tauros rampaging through the ranch area—

The child had a wonderful time.

When Luo Mu returned home, however, he discovered Larvitar, Ash, and Pikachu lying neatly in a row, eyes tightly shut, breathing faintly; it was unclear whether they were asleep or dead.

Meanwhile, Lei Guan Wang floated silently nearby, looking exactly like the primary scene of a murder case.

Seeing Luo Mu return, Lei Guan Wang glanced at him and explained, "I sent Ash and Pikachu into Larvitar's spirit world."

"So quickly?"

Luo Mu sat down on the sofa of his own accord, poured himself a cup of hot tea that Oranguru always kept ready, and raised an eyebrow.

"Mm, the intelligence you provided was of great help to me."

Lei Guan Wang expressed Ji De Xiang Fa without any stinginess.

"That's good." Luo Mu's mouth corners lifted slightly; this feeling of being able to confidently provide key intelligence without being pestered by someone who cannot read the room asking how he knew was the best.

"By the way—"

As if suddenly remembering something, Lei Guan Wang raised a hand and beckoned; a suit of rusted armor appeared before Luo Mu as space distorted.

Lei Guan Wang manipulated telekinesis to suspend the armor before Luo Mu, a hint of barely detectable amusement contained within the voice.

"This seems to be what, in your human society, one brings back as a souvenir for friends or family after traveling far."

"There are slight mental fluctuations upon it; it should be some kind of tool, or possess other effects."

Lei Guan Wang recounted every detail of the intelligence known to him to Luo Mu.

"This is—"

Luo Mu displayed an expression of surprise, raising a hand to stroke the golden armor with red patterns, feeling its icy cold texture.

The system, unwilling to remain lonely, suddenly popped up, presenting a prompt.

【Celebration Armor: A miraculous armor capable of evolving certain specific Pokémon (Charcadet) into Ceruledge, imbued with feelings of celebration】

As expected! Luo Mu had previously obtained another suit of armor corresponding to this one, named "Cursed Armor"; through that armor, he had successfully evolved the Charcadet of that time into Cang Yan Ren Gui.

And this suit of "Celebration Armor" was naturally also an item for evolving Charcadet, however, it would not evolve into Cang Yan Ren Gui, but rather into another evolutionary branch of Charcadet, a Fire and Psychic-type Pokémon, Armarouge! Luo Mu directly informed Lei Guan Wang of the relevant information.

A flash of understanding passed through Emperor Yan Di's eyes, and regretfully he said, "Is that so? It seems I have brought back a souvenir that, for you at present, serves no useful purpose."

"No, it is very useful."

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon the face of Ash, who lay sleeping nearby yet with a tightly furrowed brow, seemingly undergoing some kind of difficulty.

Following his line of sight, Lei Guan Wang looked over, and as if recalling something, asked in surprise, "Do you intend to give this to him?"

Upon returning to the farm, Lei Guan Wang had also learned from Luo Mu and Oranguru about the various large and small matters that had occurred on the farm over the past few days.

It seemed this youth named Ash had recently still been striving to melt the defenses of that Charcadet following Cang Yan Ren Gui.

Under Lei Guan Wang's surprised expression, Luo Mu shook his head.

"No, at least not for now."

Luo Mu did not intend to directly give the Celebration Armor to Ash.

It was not that he was reluctant to part with it, but rather that he would not give this tool away for nothing.

He was not some kind of treasure-distributing child.

Ash must pay a certain price.

Of course, this was not Luo Mu intentionally intending to extort a sum from Ash; he had other plans.

Just like the pies he had drawn previously for Hearing Hearing Nimo, Arven, and Grusha.

Ash must fulfill Luo Mu's requirements before he could obtain this suit of armor.

And the goal Luo Mu had set for Ash, he had already thought out.

Since he was receiving special training here, at the very least, he must win the championship at the Silver Conference before Luo Mu would hand over the Celebration Armor to him!

After hearing Mu De Xiang Fa, Lei Guan Wang revealed a barely perceptible smile, thinking quietly in his heart—

In this way, he is simply like a teacher leaving homework for a student.

Time flashed by, arriving at late night.

Luo Mu had already given Hearing Hearing Nimo and the other two his reply.

If on his side, Ash woke up and successfully passed through Larvitar's wall of the heart, then he would ride Dragonite to come to Artazon Town and stake out that so-called giant Pokémon together with the three of them.

But after finishing dinner and passing midnight, Ash and Pikachu still showed not the slightest sign of waking.

Just as Luo Mu intended to go to sleep first and wait no longer, in the next second—

The tightly furrowed brows of Ash, Pikachu, and Larvitar suddenly relaxed.

As if detecting something, Lei Guan Wang quickly looked toward the space above the three of them, a place that appeared to contain nothing.

Two figures suddenly manifested.

They were extremely thin black Pokémon possessing a single eye that was half-open and half-closed.

Unown!

And they were Unown representing an exclamation mark and a question mark! Just as Lei Guan Wang intended to raise a hand to capture the two Unown with telekinesis, they glanced at each other and emitted cries that seemed joyful.

"Meow~~ Qi nuo qi nuo!"

Strange power rippled outward as waves, and Luo Mu and Lei Guan Wang discovered with surprise that a slightly blurred image suddenly appeared in the void.

"What is this!?"

Within the image, Pikachu was exerting all its strength to release Thunderbolt and strike with Iron Tail against Larvitar, who was encased in an "ice block."

Meanwhile, Ash clenched his fists, continuously punching the ice block while shouting Larvitar's name.

It was unknown how Ash managed it, but that ice block, which looked as if it could compare to the unmeltable ice of Regice, was actually smashed into pieces by his bare fist!

Watching this made Luo Mu repeatedly inhale cold air in shock.

In the spirit world, is Super Rookie also this fierce!? At this moment, as if discovering something, Lei Guan Wang exclaimed in surprise, "That ice block encasing Larvitar is the wall of the heart it constructed to protect itself!"

"This also means that the boy and Pikachu have successfully released the frozen heart of Larvitar!"

As if to echo Lei Guan Wang's words, the scene, which should have been projected by the Unown, gradually filled with Bai Guang before fading away.

Meanwhile, Ash, Pikachu, and Larvitar, who were lying side by side, opened their eyes and regained consciousness.

Ash and Pikachu sprang up in an instant, shouting immediately: "Larvitar!" "Pika-pi!"

Larvitar, rising slowly, also opened its eyes; the confusion and fear within them vanished, replaced by vivid emotion.

"Yo-ji~"

Squinting its eyes, it lively responded to Ash and Pikachu's calls.

"Its personality has become cheerful and brave."

Luo Mu remarked with a sigh.

He remembered that this scene was originally supposed to happen while Ash and his companions were on their way to Mount Silver.

"Chi-no~ Chi-no~"

Watching the harmonious scene over there with a smile, Luo Mu suddenly heard two cries sound beside his ears.

He saw two Unown happily circling around him, showing no intention of leaving or reverting to their stone tablet forms.

"You two are—"

Lei Guan Wang, wearing a smile, translated at the right moment, explaining: "They seem to want to settle down on this farm and are seeking your permission."

(End of Chapter)