Chapter 500: The Researcher's Path of Young Master Xiaomao

Alliance Year 798, October 18.

Nine o'clock in the evening.

Today, Luo Mu had been busy from morning to night, squeezing tasks in wherever he could.

After preparing some local farm specialties as gifts and asking the siblings Hilton and Yulijia to deliver them to Mr. Limone, he watched them pass through the ticket gate into the waiting hall, waited until the international flight took off, and only then turned to leave.

Rushing straight to the Grape Academy, he gave a lesson to Sinnoh and the others, then contacted Hearing Nimo and the other two who were out searching for treasures, learning they had already settled down in Freezington and were preparing to climb in one go when the weather cleared to challenge the Frostveil Gym.

Piplup also won a bronze medal at the Fighting Grand Tournament, while Pepa successfully caught a Teddiursa in the forest near Big Lake.

It seems my three Peat Blocks must be given away.

After class, Luo Mu returned to Flat Plate Town, followed Young Lady Joy Lin's usual routine to study medicine for two hours, went home to prepare dinner, and busied himself with various miscellaneous matters; time flew and it was now.

"There is a twelve-hour time difference between the Kanto and Johto regions and Paldea; calculating the time, the first round of the Championship Finals should have already begun."

Muttering to himself, Luo Mu returned the Cosmog from his arms to Crowned King Lei Guan Wang, ran barefoot to the third-floor bedroom to fetch his laptop, and prepared to watch the live broadcast.

Just as he was fiddling with the network, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, who had been practicing swordplay outside as a post-meal digest, approached and curiously voiced: "Silo?"

Inteleon happened to be out; Crowned King Lei Guan Wang had gone to lead Cosmog in absorbing the "Essence of Sun and Moon"; Moltres was curled up in its birdhouse; and Serperior had gone to the new orchard to accompany the children to sleep.

For a moment, Luo Mu truly found it hard to understand the meaning behind Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's words.

Fortunately, although Cangyan Cangyan Rengui was usually like a silent jar, when it wanted to express something, it did not merely stand there dryly calling out, but would find other ways to convey its general meaning.

It pointed its sword tip at the laptop computer and called out again.

"Silo."

For an ordinary person, one might think Cangyan Cangyan Rengui wanted to perform a sword-split-the-computer trick to liven things up, but Luo Mu's train of thought was obviously different.

He asked aloud, "Do you want to watch the match too?"

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui nodded, then shook its head.

It did indeed want to watch the match, but that was not what it meant just now.

Luo Mu blinked, not knowing how he had interpreted Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's meaning, and asked again, "Do you want to know how Tan Xiao Shi is doing?"

In Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's pupils, the ghost-fire burning like smoke suddenly flared, and its eyes lit up as it nodded.

Although they had only spent a little over a week together, it was quite concerned about this fellow clan member who shared a similar experience.

Luo Mu stared at Cangyan Cangyan Rengui for quite a while, as if deliberately teasing it, watching until it felt uneasy all over before withdrawing his gaze; his voice inevitably carried a hint of amusement.

"If you want to see Tan Xiao Shi, I can show you its match replay later."

"But tonight, Tan Xiao Shi probably won't have a chance to take the field."

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui showed a puzzled expression; without it needing to ask anything, Luo Mu answered the question in its mind.

"Tonight, over in the Johto region, it is morning; for Xiaozhi, he will face his most important rival, who is also his childhood friend trainer."

"For him, this match is extremely important; I imagine he will treat it with great caution."

For Xiaozhi, the opponent he considered most necessary to defeat in the Silver Conference was Xiaomao; Ye He Yue, whom he did not know because of Luo Mu, didn't even rank.

After Luo Mu finished speaking, the attentive Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's eyes beneath its brow were stained with a certain understanding.

Indeed so.

At least from its observational perspective, that boy who had stayed at the farm for a while was, like Luo Mu's student Hearing Nimo, one of the rare trainers extremely passionate about battles.

Not deploying Tan Xiao Shi, who was currently in its honeymoon period, was not neglect or suppression, but finding the right moment for each of its Pokémon to appear.

This principle, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui vaguely remembered Luo Mu mentioning many times to that boy.

Thinking of this, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui no longer dwelled on the issue of Tan Xiao Shi taking the field.

At Luo Mu's invitation, it sat on a nearby chair, intently gazing at the laptop screen, its back straight as an arrow.

Anyone who didn't know might think it was about to take the field for a match.

On its helmet, a Greavard also struggled to climb up, curiously gazing at the shimmering screen.

"Hmm, connected!"

As the network successfully connected, the image on the laptop screen immediately changed.

Luo Mu waved his hand, summoning the Eevee sisters cuddled beside Scorbunny and Scorbunny itself to come over.

Holding the large self-heating plush pillow Scorbunny, with two adorable Eevees lying on his thighs, and ice-cold cola and popcorn on the table—life was truly colorful.

On the laptop screen, the hometown battle between Xiaozhi from Pallet Town and Xiaomao, also from Pallet Town, had already begun.

Luo Mu's attention immediately focused on the screen.

At this moment, both sides had already lost one Pokémon.

Xiaozhi's Tauros had withdrawn, and Xiaomao's Nidoqueen had also withdrawn.

It looked like a mutual knockout, or one side had defeated the other, only to be taken out by the second Pokémon sent out by the opponent.

The true answer could only be known when watching the replay.

At this time, the Pokémon Xiaozhi sent out was Heracross, known as the "Bug King," while Xiaomao's Pokémon was Magmar.

Seeing this, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui issued a soul-searching question.

"Silo?"

Why use a Bug-type Pokémon to fight against our Fire-type Pokémon?

Luo Mu: "..."

Why is this kid playing reverse-type battles again! However, this Heracross did indeed have some substance.

When battling Magmar, Heracross performed very aggressively; the force of its wing flaps was even enough to extinguish the Flamethrower wrapping around it. Especially besides Megahorn, Heracross had also mastered a new move.

A Ground-type physical attack move: 10,000,000 Volt Power!

Recalling Swampert, which often wrestled with Heracross, Luo Mu roughly knew who had taught it this move.

Unfortunately, after Heracross's glorious display, facing Xiaomao's ace Blastoise, it was directly swept away by a full-power Hydro Pump that broke through the rocks used for evasion, plus the accumulated damage from Magmar, and was immediately carried off.

Luo Mu did not find this result surprising.

All in all, Xiao Zhi stayed at the farm for only about ten days; most of what I taught him concerned the duties of a Trainer, not battle tactics.

The strength of most of Xiao Zhi's Pokémon may have improved, with a few undergoing qualitative changes thanks to evolution—that is the result.

Heracross was not among those that underwent a qualitative change, so it won one match and then lost.

After all, Xiao Mao is Professor Oak's own grandson; at least at the stage of the Conference, he would not be weak.

At this moment.

The black sphere, previously placed aside as an ornament, activated again, flattening out while transmitting a stack of photographs.

Struggling to lift his hand from Volcarona's furry body, Luo Mu picked up the photos and flipped through them quickly. A few seconds later, his eyebrow twitched, his expression showing some surprise.

"Is this live stream also delayed?"

On the laptop screen, Xiao Zhi sent out Annihilape, shocking the entire venue, before proceeding to punch and kick Blastoise.

As expected, Delibird was also watching the Silver Conference; in the photos it sent back, both Annihilape and Blastoise had been recalled into their Poké Balls by Xiao Zhi and Xiao Mao, neither having fainted.

The current battle was between Arcanine and Snorlax.

Another photo captured the family and friends' seating area beside the battlefield; besides Misty and Brock, there were Pikachu, Larvitar, and Charcadet cheering.

They were likely unable to enter the field.

Luo Mu handed the photos to Ceruledge, smiling as he said, "Charcadet is in here."

Although the black sphere was continuously transmitting photos taken by Delibird, Luo Mu did not want to be spoiled, so he set the photos aside and focused intently on watching the match together with his Pokémon.

After taking a direct Hydro Pump that had single-handedly defeated Heracross, Annihilape's Rage Fist nearly shattered Blastoise's shell; both sides recalled their Pokémon, returning the matchup to Arcanine versus Snorlax.

This battle matched Luo Mu's memory: basically, Snorlax relied on its bulk to tank Arcanine's attacks, then finished it off with a Hyper Beam.

Perhaps due to the commotion here, Mimikyu, Ogerpon, Victini, Alcremie, and Comfey, who had originally been in the room, gradually came into the living room, consciously bringing their own small chairs to sit obediently and watch the match.

In a moment of distraction, the living room became crowded with Pokémon.

After Arcanine left the field, Xiao Mao sent out Scizor; that Scizor likely had the Light Metal Ability, its speed completely overwhelming Xiao Zhi's Snorlax, which had maxed out its Agility. Even after taking a not-very-effective Surf, its condition remained at its peak.

If Snorlax hadn't eaten many Berries and fruits at the farm, making its fat layer thicker, it probably wouldn't have had time to use Surf at all.

Xiao Zhi sent out Annihilape again; with its four-fold resistance to Bug-type moves, it held a slight advantage.

After a fierce battle ended in victory, Annihilape faced Xiao Mao's fifth Pokémon, Skarmory.

Then came the humorous part.

One didn't know what Xiao Mao was thinking; perhaps he assumed that although Pikachu was cheering, it could still enter the battle.

He stubbornly chose to take a Rage Fist from Annihilape just to lay Spikes against the Electric-type Pikachu.

If not for Skarmory's absurd defense, it would have been carried off long ago.

Even though Rage Fist connected, Annihilape still lost in an indescribable manner due to its inability to fly and various other comprehensive factors.

Xiao Zhi's fifth Pokémon was Noctowl, which fought the weakened Skarmory to a mutual draw, both fainting.

It was already clear that Xiao Mao's last Pokémon was Blastoise; conversely, although Xiao Zhi knew Blastoise was Xiao Mao's ace, he did not choose Pikachu but instead sent out Charizard.

Ground-type Spikes were utterly useless.

This was precisely why Luo Mu later evaluated the use of Spikes as extremely humorous.

Successful prediction: God-tier!

Failed prediction: Humorous! Regarding the battle between Blastoise and Charizard, Luo Mu remembered that in the original animation, Xiao Zhi constantly wanted Charizard to break through Blastoise's firepower net to engage in close combat.

The reason was that, at that time, the only ranged attacks Charizard mastered were Flamethrower and Dragon Rage; the rest were abstract move sets like Seismic Toss, Fly, Headbutt, and Mega Punch.

With such a love for close combat, Xiao Zhi's Charizard seemed very suited for Mega Charizard X.

Facing firepower of Blastoise's caliber, Charizard would surely have strength but no way to exert it.

But nowadays, things were different.

Not only had Charizard learned many flying techniques from Moltres, but it had also acquired numerous Flying-type ranged moves.

Relying on these moves, Charizard could trade beams with Blastoise and gain more advantages, yet until the very end of the match, Xiao Zhi still pulled off the maneuver of having Charizard engage in close combat, ending the battle with Seismic Toss.

How to put it? Very much like Xiao Zhi.

After successfully and honorably defeating his rival Xiao Mao, Xiao Zhi advanced to the second round of the Victory Tournament.

However, perhaps Butterfree had flapped its wings.

Xiao Zhi's opponent in the second round was not Harrison, but another Trainer.

In Luo Mu's memory, this person seemed to be the runner-up of the Silver Conference in the original plot.

Furthermore, Xiao Zhi's semi-final opponent was also not Harrison, but the champion from the original plot.

According to the Victory Tournament bracket, the showdown between Xiao Zhi and Harrison, the Trainer from the Hoenn region, had been postponed to the finals.

This was something Luo Mu accidentally discovered after watching the rival battle, while browsing the Silver Conference official website to find battle replays of Charcadet for Ceruledge.

October 19th.

The temperature plummeted again; a cold wind swept across the land, seemingly symbolizing the imminent arrival of winter.

"Miss Miss Junsha, I leave Houndoom and Houndour in your care."

Looking at the Miss Miss Junsha before him, whose teal hair was streaked with some silver strands and who appeared to be around fifty years old, Luo Mu extended his hand.

"Of course, we guarantee they will be treated well."

Miss Miss Junsha smiled gently and reached out to shake his hand.

In fact, when Luo Mu, this former Champion-class Trainer, had approached her, she had been somewhat surprised.

There had always been rumors within the police force.

Although he actually held no formal power, the Chairman, who had single-handedly founded the League in the Paldea region, greatly admired him; his overt and covert actions all indicated that, even without an official title, he remained a Champion-class Trainer of the League.

Miss Miss Junsha had always been curious about him.

Now seeing him in person, he truly lived up to his reputation.

The shortage of partner police dogs had always been a trouble for the Miss Junsha family; these Houndoom and Houndour possessed excellent obedience, and after rigorous training at the Police Dog Training Camp, they could begin working as officers' partners.

It can be said that Luo Mu completely broadened their thinking.

Besides canine Pokémon like Feng Su Gou and Rapidash, even among the notorious, fierce Houndoom and Houndour, there were many promising prospects.

With a little cultivation, they would not be inferior to Feng Su Gou and Rapidash.

Moreover, due to the presence of the Dark type, they were even more effective against criminals and poaching gangs who favored using the Dark type, and could also counter criminals who exploited rare types such as Psychic and Ghost.

After formally entrusting the Houndoom and others to Miss Miss Junsha,

Luo Mu, along with the Houndoom leader who had already taken his position and formally joined the farm, watched as the Houndour, followed by Houndoom Houndoom Sangbiao, a junior, and the junior's childhood friend, boarded the police truck one by one.

Noticing the Houndoom leader beside him—no, now he could just be called Houndoom.

He noticed the complex emotions on Houndoom's face.

Luo Mu tentatively tried to liven up the atmosphere.

"Now half of your clan goes to expand territory, while the other half takes up public service. How wonderful."

(End of this chapter)