Chapter 487: On How Tauros Reproduce in the Wild

Suppressing his constantly surging emotions, Luo Mu, with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes, took a brief count.

Inside this small hut built to shelter the five Miltank from wind and rain, there were exactly eleven Pokémon Eggs, carefully preserved and clearly tended to for some time.

That's right, not one or two.

It was eleven Pokémon Eggs.

Upon counting the eggs, Luo Mu felt as if the sky were collapsing upon him in an instant.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford to raise them; it was simply too unexpected.

Having Pokémon Eggs appear out of nowhere was one thing, but why were there so many?

Luo Mu turned around to face the five Miltank standing unusually neatly at the doorway, their faces brimming with guilt.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, repeating this three times, he finally spoke in a slightly calmer voice: "Regarding these Pokémon Eggs, identify which ones belong to which of you."

Like children who had done something wrong, the five Miltank filed in one by one, each gathering the Pokémon Eggs that were already spaced apart, their black ears drooping involuntarily.

Luo Mu took one look and nearly laughed in anger.

Beside each of the four Miltank purchased from Xiaoxi's ranch were two Pokémon Eggs.

Meanwhile, beside the Miltank brought back from Hanze's ranch—the rare one with the "Sap Sipper" ability and the farm's first—were three Pokémon Eggs.

Eats more, lays more!? At this moment, Luo Mu's feelings were exceedingly complex.

Without needing to be told, he knew the reason for the appearance of these eggs.

Ash's thirty Tauros were absolutely the culprits.

Just then, two hands rested on his left and right shoulders.

It was Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang.

Judging by their expressions, they were likely about to comfort him.

As expected, they began speaking in perfect harmony.

They claimed that after the farm expanded, it would be even larger, capable of accommodating the thirty Tauros in the ranch area, let alone after the expansion.

They also stated there was no need to worry about food, as they would handle everything personally, capable of making the pasture grass grow taller than trees within a few breaths using Hu Xi De Gong.

"..."

Luo Mu stared silently at Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang, just staring.

He realized he had overlooked several crucial clues.

The fact that Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang seemed fully prepared, along with the subtle timing of waiting until he had seen Ash off and returned to the farm before revealing this.

During this period, he had been busy training Feefish, Ninetales, Varoom, and Vespiquen, rarely visiting the hut for inspection.

Could it be that this had happened long ago!?

"How long... have you two been hiding this from me?"

After staring at Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang for a long while, Luo Mu finally asked in a faint voice.

Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing a helpless expression that said, "I told you we couldn't hide it from him," and then confessed everything in full detail.

Approximately a week ago, Oranguru, who came here daily for scheduled cleaning, discovered the extra Pokémon Eggs, with the number increasing every day until reaching eleven today.

In the meantime, it had agreed with Lei Guan Wang to let Luo Mu focus on Contest training for the sake of Feefish and the Tauros, planning to tell him only after Ash departed.

Luo Mu: "..."

So it was because he personally helped Ash wash those Tauros clean that they gained the capital to seduce the five young cows!?

Luo Mu completely boiled over with rage.

Damn yellow-haired delinquents!

After spending considerable time calming down, Luo Mu grumpily inspected the condition of each egg one by one, complaining to Oranguru about why only dry grass had been provided as bedding.

With the weather growing increasingly cold, he ordered them to immediately bring the cotton fluff shed by the Bai Bai Pengpeng stored in the warehouse to relayer the bedding, ensuring the hut remained warm.

Generally speaking, under such weather conditions, wild Pokémon would consciously cease reproduction until the following spring, as low temperatures posed a significant threat to both newborn Pokémon and Pokémon Eggs.

Fortunately, this was a farm; otherwise, given the naive and sweet nature of the Miltank, this winter would surely be difficult for them.

After bustling about for a while, the hut quickly became much warmer.

The Pokémon Eggs were arranged in a row, nestled within the soft and insulating cotton fluff, causing the five Miltank's eyes to light up as they eagerly tried to curry favor with Luo Mu.

They knew all along that Luo Mu was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted! At this moment, however, Luo Mu was pondering another matter.

Besides the cotton fluff, it would be best to prepare other materials as well, such as feathers from the Talonflame family, which offered excellent insulation; he could ask Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao to exchange for some.

In addition to keeping the heating on twenty-four hours a day, it would be best to have Politoed bring its subordinate Wen Xiang Jun with the "Damp" ability here daily to humidify the environment, which was bound to become dry due to the heating.

Currently in the farm, the Sandshrew had successfully hatched; aside from the Volcarona Pokémon Egg gifted by Alder at home, this sudden batch of eggs was all that remained.

Looking at the Miltank with their clear, college-student-like eyes, Luo Mu felt he must take responsibility.

Perhaps, they would be the first new lives born after the farm completed its expansion.

As for the Volcarona Pokémon Egg, although it had received Lei Guan Wang's blessing and a boost of vitality, it was unknown how much longer it would take to hatch.

After all, while Volcarona is a Bug-type Pokémon, its evolution level completely overturns the rule that Bug-type Pokémon grow and evolve quickly.

After busying himself all morning and hastily eating lunch, Luo Mu slumped onto a sofa of moderate softness, smacking his lips as he stared blankly ahead.

Oh no, he was starting to miss the soft, large belly of Ash's Snorlax.

Apart from the slight risk of being flattened into a paper figure if the Snorlax rolled over, there were no other dangers.

Lying on top of it, Luo Mu could fall into a deep sleep within seconds, waking up refreshed; it was truly an excellent tool for afternoon naps.

Cradling the lightweight, cotton-like Cosmog, kneading and rubbing its small face, Luo Mu unknowingly drifted into a deep sleep.

In his dream, a Tauros dressed in a Wangzai milk outfit, standing upright and having dyed its hair yellow, held the handlebars of a ghost-fire motorcycle with its hooves, twisting them slightly as the engine roared loudly.

Then, it pulled out a lit cigarette from who-knows-where, took a deep drag, exhaled the white smoke onto his face, and asked with an unruly expression: "Old geezer, can I park my ghost-fire bike downstairs at your place?"

When awakened by Oranguru later, Luo Mu stared at the ceiling in a daze for quite a while before recovering from his state of boiling rage.

Afternoon.

Luo Mu made a trip to Thunder Roar Lake; besides planning its expansion, he also intended to check on Milotic's current condition.

He also wanted to see whether that guy Gyarados's crashed brain had successfully rebooted. As it turned out.

Just as he arrived at Thunder Roar Pool, he was surprised to discover a figure that rarely appeared here.

Serperior.

It seemed to be communicating something with Milotic, which made Luo Mu curious, so he chose to sneak over quietly.

Unfortunately, Serperior's perception was already exceptionally gifted, not to mention that Luo Mu had once conducted targeted training against it; how could his approach go unnoticed? Catching Luo Mu's sneaky figure in its peripheral vision, Serperior shook its head helplessly.

It directly manipulated tree roots to shoot out from underground like lightning, wrapping around Luo Mu and dragging him before itself.

"Ga-lo?" (What are you doing here?)

Staring at Luo Mu, who wore a "silly grin," Serperior asked aloud.

Luo Mu roughly understood what Serperior meant; turning his gaze toward Milotic, which was returning a look like autumn water, he pointed at it and said, "I came to check on its condition."

"Mi-lo~"

Milotic smiled brightly, floating most of its body above the water surface, using its experience from its Feebas days to demonstrate its control over its body.

Among the lotus leaves Luo Mu had placed to decorate Thunder Roar Pool, it turned its back, its hair-like pale blue fin-like scales floating on the water, while its eyes, like autumn water, shimmered with a tranquil light.

Even Serperior had to admit that Milotic's temperament and beauty had transcended the barriers of species and gender; whoever saw it would involuntarily stop in their tracks and stand still to appreciate its serenity.

Milotic's current state, in a word, was that its body was highly coordinated, obviously having adapted to its new form after the drastic changes of evolution.

Looking at Milotic, Luo Mu sighed with emotion: "Originally, I only intended to lay a foundation for you yesterday, but I didn't expect evolution to be completed directly; it seems the foundation you built previously was already solid enough. Even without this action, you should have been able to complete your evolution through your own efforts in the near future."

"Mi-ru~"

Milotic, however, shook its head, looking at Luo Mu with gratitude.

Even though it had initially "voluntarily taken the bait" just to avoid being separated from Gyarados and with the side intention of getting a free ride, if Luo Mu hadn't led it away from that narrow Crystal Light Pool, it would never have known the vastness of the outside world, let alone so easily built confidence, radiated a beautiful mindset from within, and completed its evolution.

After successful evolution, just as it had expected, its body hid a vitality far more vigorous than during its Feebas period; the surrounding Water-type energy obeyed its commands like an extension of its arms, and tasks it once found difficult were now as easy as turning over its hand.

It truly lived up to the evolution instinctively pursued by its kind.

Milotic sincerely thanked Luo Mu for the time and effort he had devoted to its evolution.

Therefore, it was also willing to fight for Luo Mu.

Milotic looked at Serperior, met its gaze, and nodded gently.

It accepted Serperior's invitation, agreeing to go to Small Hill together with Serperior and contribute all it could.

To one side.

For some reason, Serperior and Milotic suddenly reached an agreement on a certain issue; Luo Mu could only look completely baffled, went to see Gyarados, who had inexplicably become shy, and drew his conclusion.

It was over.

Friendship had turned sour.

Evening.

Luo Mu faced a brand-new problem.

Consequently, he had no choice but to dispatch Dragonite to make a trip to Grape Academy to retrieve the books he had asked Peony to borrow for him from the library.

In front of all the Pokémon, Luo Mu did not hide anything, but directly voiced his doubts.

"Among those eleven Pokémon Eggs, will they hatch exclusively into little Miltank, or is there a small probability they might hatch into Tauros?"

"—Or perhaps."

"If Pokémon Eggs can hatch Tauros, will those Tauros appear as the ordinary, normal species, or, like the Tauros of this Paldea region, be divided into 'Combat Breed,' 'Aqua Breed,' and 'Blaze Breed'?"

This question left the whole group silent.

Luxray yawned, slowly licking its large paw pads; it had long grown accustomed to Luo Mu's train of thought, which occasionally conjured up such tricky angles.

Pokémon with little knowledge, such as the Eevee sisters, Victini, Shuang Nai Xian, and Greavard, offered all sorts of varied answers, but unfortunately, most were merely their speculations, lacking any basis.

Lei Guan Wang sat on the sofa, holding Cosmog, its slender long legs swaying slightly back and forth, listening to everyone's discussion with great interest.

It must be said that although it was the being present that had lived the longest, it had never seriously contemplated or explored the answers to related questions, or even those with some connection.

That was indeed slightly shameful.

Meanwhile, Oranguru thought for a few seconds before giving a rather professional answer.

"In academia, we consider Pokémon reproduction to be the crystal of love produced after a whim."

"To put it in simple, easy-to-understand terms, that means the species' appearance follows the mother, and there is a probability of inheriting talents from both parents; we can tentatively assume this."

Flipping through the books, Luo Mu listened to Oranguru speaking quite seriously about Pokémon reproduction, his expression becoming somewhat strange.

To be honest, this gave him a strange feeling; what was it called again?

The Fear... Happy Valley Effect? Or the Daliyuan Effect? That kind of weird sensation.

Then.

Through everyone's efforts (specifically referring to Oranguru and Lei Guan Wang helping to flip pages), Luo Mu finally gained some clarity on the problem troubling him.

He had always harbored a doubt.

Miltank was a Pokémon that existed only as females.

Tauros was a Pokémon that existed only as males.

Yet, they corresponded to each other as male and female.

Miltank was understandable enough, but how did Tauros, which had no female counterpart and consisted entirely of bachelors, manage to reproduce and multiply?

Or was it that Ditto were everywhere in the wild covering the hills and plains, or that Tauros engaged in homosexual relations with each other, miraculously producing Pokémon Eggs? Neither scenario seemed very likely upon reflection.

However, the books provided a corresponding explanation.

It described a wondrous phenomenon that might occur after hatching eggs, specifically only in mutually corresponding Pokémon like "Tauros" and "Miltank."

As long as a Pokémon Egg was born between a Tauros (male) and a Miltank (female), that egg would, under conditions and probabilities not yet clarified, randomly hatch into either a Tauros (male) or a Miltank (female).

This statement completely overturned the usual laws of Pokémon Egg hatching, but in a certain sense, it was actually more reasonable.

As for Pokémon eggs born in Paldea from a Kanto Tauros and a Da Nai Guan, there is no reliable data to reference whether the hatched Tauros would be the Paldean regional form or the original prototype.

(End of Chapter)