Chapter 478: The Fiery Tauros Has Run Out of Steam!?

October 5th.

Recently, the temperature has been plummeting in a cliff-like rhythm; the heat is gone, and the entire Pingdie Town is enveloped in this cool climate.

To describe it as "crisp autumn air" is perfectly apt.

Several nearby farms and ranches have recently begun to bustle; autumn has arrived, and so has the season of harvest.

Unlike Luo Mu's farm, which possesses extraordinary techniques for accelerating growth, their farms generally look forward to the autumn harvest all year round.

After this grand harvest, winter will arrive.

The temperature will continue to drop until goose-feather snowflakes drift from the sky and all things are wrapped in silver before it finally subsides.

At that time, except for certain cold-resistant crops, most work on the farms will enter a state of "hidden inactivity."

Luo Mu had rummaged through quite a few historical notes of Paldea in the Grape Academy library, discovering that long ago, Paldea's climate was extremely chaotic for unknown reasons.

In early spring, the weather would be abnormally hot, lasting until the end of autumn, when temperatures would plummet, plunging the entire region into a realm of ice and snow.

Fortunately, in recent years, perhaps due to the people of Paldea spontaneously respecting nature and improving the environment, the climate has gradually returned to normal.

Perhaps in a few more years, the cycle of spring growth from January to March, summer growth from April to June, autumn harvest from July to September, and winter storage from October to December will no longer be theory but will become reality.

Luo Mu mentioned this point during a casual chat with Lei Guan Wang, who held the same view.

"Do you remember the war I once told you about that broke out in another region near Galar?"

"Only recently have I gradually recalled the details."

"The humans there seem to have created terribly frightening weapons, driven by the vile method of extracting the life energy of Pokémon."

"When those weapons were activated, the result was extremely tragic; saying it was a scene of devastation would not be an exaggeration. But there were even more far-reaching effects spreading to surrounding regions, and the climate disruption might be one manifestation of that."

"As long as humans today do not recklessly attempt to use those forbidden weapons again, the day you envision will arrive very soon."

Lei Guan Wang smiled, speaking in the tone of friends chatting casually.

Luo Mu set down his cup, now devoid of hot water, momentarily at a loss for words.

Judging by current events, this world line should follow the trajectory of the anime, yet characters from the games also exist, which implies that a certain lion-headed figure in the Kalos region is likely plotting to use the Ultimate Weapon while possibly carrying out a plan to capture Zygarde.

Not to mention the villains in other regions pulling various stunts.

One can only say that humans are creatures who never turn back until they hit a wall; with such a large global population, some ambitious schemers are bound to emerge.

Splash—

The sound of flowing liquid interrupted Luo Mu's thoughts; looking up, sure enough, Zhi Hui Xing had thoughtfully refilled his cup with hot water.

Gazing at Zhi Hui Xing's face amidst the steam, Luo Mu suddenly remembered that Zhi Hui Xing had said it lived in Kalos for quite a long time, and he wondered if it had heard any related stories.

From Luo Mu's perspective, the climate during his last visit to Kalos was quite pleasant; even in the epicenter of the Ultimate Weapon's firing, had the climate slowly recovered over 3,000 years? After pouring the hot water, Zhi Hui Xing smiled and said, "My tablet still has electronic files of relevant fairy tales; would Young Master and Lord Lei Guan Wang like to see them?"

Before Luo Mu could speak, the Egui Peng beside him shot up with a "swish," raising its little hands and crying "Bonie Bonie," looking very interested.

Afternoon, near Thunder Cry Lake.

Xiao Zhi's hands kept moving, but with a bitter expression on his face, he complained endlessly, "Big Brother Luo Mu, how much longer do we have to do this?"

Even though he possessed endless strength like an ox, upon encountering such repetitive, mechanical labor, he grew tired after only a short while.

It wasn't just his body that was tired; his spirit was exhausted too.

"Come, switch sides."

Luo Mu glanced at Xiao Zhi, ignored him, and instead patted the wet-furred Tauros in front of him, reminding it that it was time to flip over.

One look at Xiao Zhi made it clear he had never suffered the torment of a twelve-hour life-draining assembly line; in this regard, he was even inferior to the three great immortals—Wu Zang, Xiao Ci Lang, and Miao Miao—who actually worked on assembly lines.

"Moo~"

The Tauros, usually fiery-tempered and full of energy, now obediently flipped over with great docility.

This was true even though Luo Mu's tone and attitude were just like someone treating a fried egg on a frying pan.

The reason was simple: taking a bath was truly comfortable.

"Come, Bubble Beam."

Seeing the Tauros obediently flip over, Luo Mu didn't rush to scrub it immediately with the two stiff brushes in his hands; instead, he looked behind him and issued a command.

Hearing this,

the Politoed clapped its hands lightly, and together with its three Poliwag subordinates, spat out a Bubble Beam whose power was suppressed to a negligible level, retaining only its powerful cleaning effect.

【43】 In the blink of an eye, the Tauros's body, which had been running wildly, was covered in bubbles.

In the blink of an eye, Ken Tailuo's body, due to his wild and frantic running, became covered in bubbles.

Luo Mu immediately began scrubbing with practiced skill.

For him, such things were merely part of the daily routine.

Even though most Pokémon on the farm could clean themselves, there were still some sloppy ones that he had to catch and drag to bathe every time.

Like the Feng Su Gou rolling in mud pits, the Feng Su Gou rubbing against nooks and crannies until covered in dust, or the Feng Su Gou that ambushed Shuang Nai Xian and Oliva and got smeared all over with cream and olive oil.

After only a few scrubs, the Tauros let out a sound of pure comfort, turned its head to stare at Luo Mu, its eyes full of approval.

It really takes a young person; this is much more satisfying than that old man Oak's scrubbing! While bathing the Tauros, Luo Mu turned his head to look at Xiao Zhi, who seemed completely drained, and said with a mix of amusement and helplessness, "You haven't even finished washing half of your thirty Tauros, and you're already tired?"

"Professor Oak has to take care of all the Pokémon in the entire backyard."

"That's exactly why I can't become a professor."

Xiao Zhi's gaze drifted away as he muttered softly.

Luo Mu reminded him in a flat tone, "Less talking, more working; I've already washed ten Tauros, and you haven't even finished your third one."

"Okay~"

Xiao Zhi responded weakly, meeting the gaze of the Tauros in front of him that was looking at him with anticipation, and whispered:

"Are you... the Tauros that competed in the Victory Cup?"

"Moo~"

The Tauros happily rubbed its head against Xiao Zhi, seemingly delighted that the other could recognize it.

Xiao Zhi accepted the Tauros's affection with a complex expression, suddenly realizing that he couldn't even recognize every single one of his Tauros.

After consecutively capturing thirty Tauros in the hunting zone, he immediately sent them back to Professor Oak's Laboratory, recalling them only occasionally for battles; most of the time, Professor Oak helped raise them. Just like now, he had no idea how difficult and complicated it was to bathe thirty Tauros.

Even so, whenever the Tauros saw him, they remained extremely happy and excited, greeting him with their own "etiquette."

Ash suddenly recalled the process Luo Mu had mentioned before the bathing began: that washing Pokémon was, in essence, interacting with them to build affection.

Through day-after-day accumulation, Pokémon would surely respond to their Trainer's intentions.

"Regularly rotate your carried Pokémon without favoring some over others; this way, every journey will boost your overall strength, bringing you one step closer to your dream."

Echoing in his mind were Luo Mu's intentional or unintentional admonitions; Ash also thought of his partners who had consecutively completed their evolutions, and he began to seriously consider whether to adopt this method when starting his next journey after concluding the Silver Conference.

"Squirtle, Kingler, please use Bubble Beam; Totodile, wait a moment before using Water Gun to rinse the Tauros' bodies."

Ash issued commands one by one to the three Water-type Pokémon behind him, then started washing the Tauros' bodies alongside Pikachu, who was eager to begin.

Only this time, his movements were more attentive, and he no longer complained about hardship or fatigue.

Pikachu glanced at him curiously, surprise flashing in its eyes.

Ash is actually thinking? How rare!

Midway through, Ash suddenly spoke: "Pikachu, after the Silver Conference ends, let's go pick up Pidgeot."

Pikachu froze for a moment, then nodded happily.

"Pika Pika!"

Nearby, Luo Mu, who had already finished washing fifteen Tauros, smiled lightly, left the remaining work to Ash, and approached another large fellow who disliked being clean.

After having Swampert pin down the Heracross that was attempting to flee, Luo Mu, under the insect's terrified expression, unexpectedly produced a large bag of sand.

"What do you think you're doing? First, take a sand bath; getting used to washing with water can come slowly."

Afternoon.

The items Lillie mentioned arrived at the farm.

There was quite a lot of stuff; it took a medium-sized box truck to haul it all over.

Most of it consisted of props for training Feefee's coordination, even including a complete set of aquatic equipment—

The kind similar to those used in aquatic circuses.

There were also the reference samples Lillie had promised, along with some fine fabrics that could be made into accessories to decorate stuffed dolls.

According to the thick stack of manuals Lillie provided, if Feefee were to participate in Contests and could not rely on appearance to attract attention, effort had to be exerted in other areas.

Such as bodily coordination, the control and precision of moves and energy, as well as elegance.

More importantly, either Luo Mu or Feefee needed to possess the ability to design a performance that would refresh people's eyes and ears.

The combination of moves, the light effects produced by skills, and even how to complement the Pokémon itself were all difficult tasks.

Luo Mu personally knew nothing about Contests, but having watched plenty of them in the anime, he possessed no shortage of creative ideas.

There was still a full week until the Campus Contest jointly hosted by the Grape Academy and the Contest Association.

How much could be achieved depended entirely on the efforts of Luo Mu and Feefee.

Luo Mu first thoroughly checked the moves Feefee had mastered.

"Splash," "Tackle," "Flail," "Water Pulse," "Mist," and "Mirror Coat."

Its Ability was the same as the Poliwag of the past: "Swift Swim," which doubled its speed on rainy days.

It seemed somewhat incompatible with Ninetales' Snow Warning.

He would need to think it over, learn some new moves, and have Serperior teach Feefee a plan for controlling energy.

If he were to participate in the Campus Contest, Luo Mu planned to field a lineup of Ninetales and Feefee.

To be honest, once this combination was chosen, it was almost visibly certain that Ninetales would become the focal point in the future, while Feefee would be relegated to a supporting role.

This was precisely the source of Luo Mu's hesitation.

Fortunately, there was still a week before the competition began; while maintaining the intensity of special training, he still had time to ponder how to construct a performance arrangement that could achieve his goals.

Ash had been staying temporarily at the farm for some time now.

Without needing Luo Mu to mention it, he could now actively join his Pokémon in experiencing farm life to deepen their bonds.

Likely driven by jealousy, after seeing Ash hover around Charcadet every day, Bayleef finally couldn't hold back; it approached Charcadet and issued a one-on-one duel challenge.

The result was naturally a victory for Bayleef, which had more battle experience and had completed its evolution; even with a type disadvantage, the current Charcadet ultimately could not pose too great a threat to Bayleef.

Bayleef felt satisfied, but Ash suffered miserably.

He had finally made some progress; at least Charcadet no longer ran away the moment it saw him. But after Bayleef's outburst, their relationship plummeted to freezing point, becoming a situation where wherever Ash was, Charcadet would stay far away.

Yet Ash couldn't use the excuse of helping Charcadet with special training to successfully revenge against Bayleef as a reason to approach it; after all, both were dear to him, so how could he do such a thing? Ash's usual methods for capturing Pokémon also made no progress with Charcadet, and the situation immediately reached a stalemate.

Finding Ash's constant sighing and lamenting like a resentful woman annoying, and with the new map now drawn, Luo Mu simply contacted the Captain, packaged Ash and Charcadet together, and sent them off to him; Dragonite and Cangyan Cangyan Rengui would accompany them, just to enjoy some peace and quiet.

As for how much affection Ash could build with Charcadet within the underground ruins, that was up to him.

With Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Dragonite accompanying them, he wasn't very worried, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to conducting special training for Feefee at the farm.

Through the equipment from the "aquatic circus," although there was a suspicion of "animal performance," Luo Mu neither abused Feefee nor whipped it with a whip; furthermore, Feefee itself possessed considerable ambition, so after a period of training, the results were quite good.

Three days later, time swiftly passed to October 8th.

There were only four days remaining until the start of the Campus Contest.

Luo Mu, estimating that the two should have finished their underground exploration, was instead stunned by sudden news.

On the morning of October 8th, Dragonite anxiously flapped its wings, descending upon the farm enveloped in a gale.

Meanwhile, Ash, holding his Primeape, followed by Charcadet whose face seemed to bear an expression of guilt, anxiously approached Luo Mu.

"Big Brother Luo Mu, please save Primeape!"

Luo Mu, who was eating breakfast, hurriedly put down his slice of bread, stepped forward to take the unresponsive Primeape, and upon examining it with his basic medical knowledge, was instantly stunned.

Primeape was—

Out of breath!? (End of Chapter)