Chapter 476: The Little Tinkerer Joins the Group!

For the first stop of the tour, Luo Mu brought the little tinkerer to the farming district.

Looking at those abundant crops, and seeing Lei Guan Wang casually raise a hand to grow an entire field of radishes for the gluttonous Snowy Horse and Spirit Ghost Horse, the little tinkerer admitted that, accustomed to surviving on fruits up in the mountains every day, it was green with envy.

Upon reaching the orchard, E Gui Pen nimbly stepped onto Feng Mi Long's back, leaped up into the Tao Tao fruit tree, plucked a fruit, and let the little tinkerer taste the delicious Tao Tao fruit.

Pasture district, lake district, ice cellar, glass greenhouse, milking room—the further it looked, the more shocked the little tinkerer became.

In its view, the entire farm had practically formed a self-sufficient little world of its own.

Added to that was Lei Guan Wang's power of abundance to ripen plants, which surprised it even more than its combat strength.

It was hundreds or even thousands of times superior to the human living environment its elders had described to it.

This made the little tinkerer's eyes burn with desire, and it even subconsciously began to fantasize about how wonderful it would be if it lived here.

In that case, it could devote itself wholeheartedly to forging weapons and honing its smithing techniques, instead of wasting time on finding daily sustenance.

But the moment this thought arose, the little tinkerer ruthlessly severed it.

What a joke! It, the little tinkerer, was destined to become the Mountain King among Pokémon!

Moreover, merely complaining about hardship and fatigue over searching for food was wrong; its elders had said that only by enduring hardships others cannot endure and weathering wind and rain could one temper the mind and become an outstanding craftsman.

Unaware of what the little tinkerer was thinking, Luo Mu took it, along with Lei Guan Wang and E Gui Pen, to an open space on the farm.

Under the little tinkerer's puzzled gaze, Luo Mu took out an object that looked like a whistle.

The next second.

Luo Mu blew the whistle.

That piercingly penetrating whistle sound instantly echoed across the entire farm.

Immediately after, the little tinkerer, covering its ears, witnessed a scene it would never forget in its life.

Several Corviknight circling above the farm landed under the guidance of the whistle sound, obeying docilely as Luo Mu stroked them.

And in the distance, more Corviknight and Rookidee were continuously flying toward this side.

The little tinkerer looked at Luo Mu in shock; although it had fantasized about raising and taming a few Corviknight itself to live a life of free materials.

But witnessing firsthand this scene of the flock of Corviknight swarming over at Luo Mu's whistle, it still felt its worldview had been struck.

That self-persistence it had just established suddenly began to waver.

Seeing the little tinkerer frozen in place, unresponsive even when E Gui Pen waved a hand before its eyes, Luo Mu immediately revealed a smile of a plan successfully executed.

There's still more to make you crave later.

During this short time, through his contact with the little tinkerer, taking various Pokémon over in different ways was not done in vain.

He had long figured out exactly what the little tinkerer cared about.

Setting the little tinkerer aside for now, Luo Mu looked at the Corviknight and Rookidee landed on the ground, looking like a flock of free-range chickens gazing eagerly at him, and a smile appeared on his face.

"I've arranged for Oranguru to provide everyone with an extra meal; it will deliver it shortly, and as usual, you can just trade your naturally shed feathers for it."

"One feather works, ten feathers are fine, a hundred feathers are no problem either; what matters is the sentiment."

The Corviknight and Rookidee exchanged glances, spread their steel-like wings, and cheered noisily with hoarse cries.

Although that sound was as ear-piercing and teeth-gritting as nails scraping a blackboard, watching the feathers gather in increasing numbers, the little tinkerer felt that describing its heart with just the word 'sour' was insufficient.

It lurked in the bushes outside the farm every day, exhausting itself to collect merely a small handful, yet Luo Mu just waved his hand and immediately piled up a heap! So sour, it felt completely surrounded by lemons!

Luo Mu smiled and put away the whistle.

This whistle was basically only blown when notifying them of mealtime, so these Corviknight and Rookidee, obsessed with eating, naturally responded intensely.

But the effect was indeed excellent.

Lei Guan Wang's telepathy transmitted solely to him stated that the longing in the little tinkerer's eyes was almost overflowing.

Seeing this.

Luo Mu struck while the iron was hot and initiated the final project—

Letting the little tinkerer watch a fiery Fire-type Pokémon battle! Still an open space, but one farther from the new house, the ground usually used by Luxray and the others for sparring.

Walking a bit further ahead was the small hill where Meng Lei Gu usually practiced Electric-type moves.

Straining to look, one could even see its long neck.

In the entire farm, there were a total of four Fire-type Pokémon; adding Ash's Charizard and Quilava, plus Tan Xiao Shi whom he wanted to build a good relationship with, made seven in total.

The Volcarona not yet hatched from its egg was not counted, and generally, E Gui Pen wearing the Hearthflame Mask, which rarely used fire, was also excluded.

Although they could also invite the flock of Talonflame near their territory through the Corviknight Skarmory Sanmao, Luo Mu thought about it and decided it was unnecessary.

Quality over quantity; having enough is sufficient.

Just as he brought the little tinkerer to that vicinity, a scorching wave of heat came rushing toward them.

E Gui Pen silently took out and put on the Hearthflame Mask; otherwise, it really did not want to approach this area of open burning flames.

Disregarding the weakness of its own type, the little tinkerer stepped forward, staring blankly at the sky-covering flames.

Among them.

The flames of Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Feng Su Gou, Moltres, and Victini were the most intense, each possessing its own unique characteristics.

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's eerie flame of resentment, that great sword of fire that made the little tinkerer sigh in admiration... Feng Su Gou's lava fire combined with rock, burning like patterns... Moltres's pure scorching flame, within which seemed to be intertwined strands of colorful light... Victini's even more special V-Create flame emitting waves of victory... and serving a decorative role, the flames of Charizard, Quilava, and Tan Xiao Shi who followed closely behind Cangyan Cangyan Rengui.

At this moment.

The little tinkerer's inner defenses completely collapsed. For a forging craftsman, the most important things are nothing more than three elements.

First, raw materials.

Second, a workshop where one can pour their whole heart and will.

Third, the indispensable flame.

The flames the little tinkerer usually used were fire seeds it had obtained through various means with great effort.

Just melting the materials alone required who knows how much energy and time.

Even though its craftsmanship was quite good, it often failed in forging simply because the flame temperature was insufficient.

All sorts of problems were tormenting it beyond measure.

But now.

The firelight appearing before the Little Tinkerer, in its heart, was comparable to the first cluster of fire stolen by Prometheus, illuminating its inner world.

Merely seeing these fierce flames made the Little Tinkerer feel a certain impulse rising within its heart.

Gwa! Right now I must immediately forge wildly, kucha! Time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, it was dusk once again.

At the farm entrance.

Seeing the pile of gifts stacked before it, nearly forming a small mountain, the Little Tinkerer momentarily found itself in a dilemma.

Luo Mu's farm Pokémon were simply too enthusiastic.

How was it supposed to take all these things back? Seeing the troubled expression on the Little Tinkerer's face, Luo Mu smiled and said, "Don't worry; when the time comes, Lei Guan Wang will use its psychic powers to teleport these items directly outside your cave home."

"Kanuu."

The Little Tinkerer nodded blankly, unsure if it had actually listened carefully.

At this moment.

Luo Mu seemed to have "just now" remembered something and "casually" revealed, "Oh right, in a little while, I plan to expand the farm."

The Little Tinkerer tilted its head, its face a mask of question marks.

"Currently, based on the area allocated to me by the League, that small hill where you live is included within it—"

Luo Mu's voice paused briefly, and with a smile on his face, he said:

"In the future, I will probably select a manager from the Pokémon there, for example, from that group of Houndoom, to be responsible for managing and defending the small hill, just like those Skarmory."

"Please look favorably upon me—"

Thump! The moment Luo Mu finished speaking, the Little Tinkerer struck a pose similar to that of a retainer, practically prostrating itself with all five limbs to the ground.

Then, it raised its head to look at Luo Mu, its face filled with an expression of volunteering for a difficult task.

"Kanuu—!" (Please let me join the farm as a retainer—!)

The Little Tinkerer admitted that its previous notions of perseverance and bottom lines were all empty talk.

Along the way, it had interacted with quite a few Pokémon on the farm and had also learned about the super-perfect treatment within the farm that made wild Pokémon envious and jealous.

What did this mean?

No worries about food or drink!

Not to mention, there were many fierce flames within the farm that the Little Tinkerer coveted immensely.

Once it saved the time spent foraging and had the assistance of so many flames, the Little Tinkerer was confident it would grow into a forging craftsman even more powerful than the elders in its own tribe! Moreover, it did not mind crafting various items for Luo Mu.

On the contrary, it was now hoping that Luo Mu would accept its request to join.

The Little Tinkerer just looked at Luo Mu with eager eyes, awaiting his response.

Beside them, the Pecharunt, who had come to bid farewell to the Little Tinkerer, gently tugged at the corner of Luo Mu's clothes, seemingly wanting to "plead" on the Little Tinkerer's behalf.

Luo Mu first squatted down, smiling as he patted Pecharunt on the head, then turned to look at the nervous Little Tinkerer.

He did not put on airs, nor did he make things difficult for the Little Tinkerer because of its behavior only to then grant it entry to the farm as if bestowing charity with "great mercy."

Every Pokémon on the farm was a partner, a friend.

The Little Tinkerer, wishing to join the farm, was no exception.

Maintaining his squatting posture, Luo Mu turned his body, took the Little Tinkerer's hand, pulled it up, and tried to meet its gaze at eye level.

"Originally, I intended to invite you, but I didn't expect you to propose it first."

"It is not just that you need us; we also need you."

"This time, let me be the one to ask."

"Our big family happens to be lacking an excellent forging craftsman with a boundless future; Little Tinkerer, are you willing to join us?"

Luo Mu first released the hand he was holding, then extended his palm in an inviting gesture before the Little Tinkerer, revealing a warm smile.

The Little Tinkerer paused slightly, and then a brilliant smile bloomed on its small face.

It grasped the hand Luo Mu had extended, and then also grasped the hand Pecharunt had eagerly reached out.

"Kanuu!"

(End of Chapter)