Chapter 514: Driving Energy

"What's wrong with it?"

Hanze looked worriedly at Iron Valiant, then could only turn to Luo Mu and ask aloud.

This was also Luo Mu's first time seeing such a situation, leaving him somewhat baffled.

Being stared at by both Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Hanze, his pressure was immense.

After racking his brains for a long while, Luo Mu observed that the sounds emitted by Iron Valiant seemed to be growing fainter and fainter, its "audio quality" appearing to degrade from "pristine master recording" to "completely corrupted sound."

Could it... have run out of battery?

Luo Mu blinked, feeling his speculation was somewhat unreliable.

Future Paradox Pokémon were so mysterious; how could they possibly run out of battery?

Even if they did run out, one could simply find an Electric-type Pokémon to recharge them.

Yet Iron Valiant's changes accelerated, until finally, even those glittering color patches on its body flickered a few times before vanishing, never lighting up again.

Well.

It really had run out of battery and shut down.

"Dragonite, please use Thunderbolt to recharge it."

Since Luxray wasn't present this time, Luo Mu could only seek Dragonite's help.

With moves covering Fire, Water, Electric, Ice, Flying, Dragon, and even more types, even without Mega Evolution, the fact remained that Dragonite possessed an incredibly broad move pool.

Unlike Tie Tie Baofu, who was rather weak, Iron Valiant required Dragonite to carefully control its energy output to avoid electrocuting it.

Before long, bright electric light illuminated the mountain peak; Iron Valiant bathed in Thunderbolt of appropriate intensity, appearing to suffer no significant effects.

However—

Dragonite had used Thunderbolt nearly ten times in succession, enough to charge a substantial amount of electricity even within the farm's power generation and storage facility group.

Yet Iron Valiant still showed not the slightest sign of movement.

Only then did Luo Mu realize something was amiss.

That wasn't right; if it were that Tie Tie Baofu which the Paldea League had forcibly returned to the Paldea Crater, this amount of electricity would have been sufficient for it to use its black-technology "basketball" to create an entire snowfield.

And regarding that Iron Treads in the Great Crater of Paldea, he recalled that after the League studied it, they were surprised to discover that although it wasn't an Electric-type Pokémon, it could still operate using electrical power.

His brow furrowed as he looked toward Cangyan Cangyan Rengui.

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, sharing a telepathic understanding with him, shook its head.

During their recent duel, it had hardly used any moves, at most striking Iron Valiant with its great sword coated in blue flames, making it impossible for it to have inflicted any abnormal status condition.

"..."

Seeing Cangyan Cangyan Rengui deny this, Luo Mu fell silent.

His intuition told him there was some clue or key point he had overlooked.

Unable to figure it out, and with both Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Hanze waiting for his answer, Luo Mu simply activated his cheat, posing the question within his mind.

A few seconds later, a line of jubilant, dancing text appeared in his field of vision.

Widening his eyes to examine it carefully several times, he murmured softly, "Driving Energy...?"

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Dragonite, and Hanze all turned to look at Luo Mu, who was talking to himself.

Through the system's prompt, he roughly understood the reason for Iron Valiant's sudden shutdown and such abnormal behavior.

To put it simply.

Iron Valiant lacked energy, but not electrical or type-based energy; rather, it lacked the energy intrinsically linked to Paradox Pokémon.

In the game, this energy appeared as an enhancement item for Paradox Pokémon, named "Driving Energy," capable of triggering the Abilities "Protosynthesis" or "Quark Drive" for Ancient or Future Paradox Pokémon without requiring Harsh Sunshine or Electric Terrain.

In fact, this energy was also the power source for these Paradox Pokémon.

For Ancient Paradox Pokémon, the situation was manageable; they could slowly replenish their energy by eating or basking in sunlight, achieving a balance between income and expenditure.

But Iron Valiant, being a nearly mechanized Pokémon, could not operate like those Ancient Paradox Pokémon.

Their demand for Driving Energy was higher.

To use an analogy, just like that Tie Tie Baofu caught by Luo Mu, it dealt with the issue of Driving Energy consumption by shutting down and entering hibernation.

The other one, Iron Treads in the Great Crater of Paldea, had only escaped from the Paldea Crater in recent years.

As for this Iron Valiant—

Luo Mu looked at Hanze and asked, "When did you start your journey?"

"At age ten."

Hanze answered without hesitation.

Luo Mu asked again, "Then how long ago did you encounter Iron Valiant?"

"Around age eleven, I suppose."

Hanze was clever enough to connect why Luo Mu was asking this question, so he straightforwardly added another sentence.

"I am twenty-one now, so it has been approximately ten years."

Luo Mu: "..."

If, and he meant if.

If Iron Valiant had remained active continuously from ten years ago until today, then naturally the Driving Energy within its body would have been consumed faster than that of Tie Tie Baofu or Iron Treads; could it be understood this way? Indeed, it might not just be ten years; Iron Valiant might have left the Paldea Crater and arrived on the lands of the Paldea region even longer ago.

Luo Mu felt the truth had been completely pieced together.

He used his own language to explain the reasoning behind his "speculation" to Hanze and Cangyan Cangyan Rengui in a simple, easy-to-understand manner.

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui naturally held one hundred percent trust in Luo Mu, harboring no doubts whatsoever.

Hanze, however, due to his lack of understanding regarding Paradox Pokémon and many things within the Paldea Crater, simply crashed mentally when Luo Mu threw out a bunch of specialized terms.

He could only understand that Iron Valiant lacked energy, and therefore had shut down.

"Then this energy..."

Hanze whispered to Luo Mu, hoping he had a solution.

He hadn't even expressed his gratitude to the Iron Valiant yet; how could it have just powered down? Luo Mu shook his head and said, "As for how to obtain Drive Energy, I'm not entirely sure myself at the moment; we can only try to find a way."

This could be considered a white lie.

Luo Mu knew that Drive Energy was likely a device specially developed by Professors Orin and Turo to match the characteristics of Paradox Pokémon.

It probably utilized time machine technology, or involved a time machine, combined with certain principles he himself didn't understand.

Nowadays, the two professors were still waiting in the Great Crater of Paldea for him to arrive at Area Zero Research Station on the agreed-upon day.

Drive Energy was likely nowhere to be found.

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's mood was quite complex; at this moment, it also understood why Iron Valiant had changed so drastically compared to last time.

So it realized it was nearing its operational limit, which was why it did this? "Boo..." Dragonite gently bit its own palm, letting out a worried cry.

Compared to Iron Valiant, it was actually more worried about Meng Lei Gu on the farm; would it also lack that so-called Drive Energy? Fortunately, according to Luo Mu, Meng Lei Gu could achieve an energy balance through sunbathing and eating; thinking this, a trace of heartache surfaced in Dragonite's eyes.

From now on, half of its daily afternoon tea dessert would go to Mother, and half to Meng Lei Gu.

After some thought, Luo Mu felt he couldn't just leave Iron Valiant's powered-down body lying on the mountaintop.

It was better to bring it back to the farm first.

Fortunately, Iron Valiant had only powered down due to a lack of energy; the effects of a Poké Ball still worked on it, which made Luo Mu breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Being catchable meant that as long as they obtained Drive Energy, Iron Valiant would wake up.

Once back at the farm, until they got their hands on Drive Energy, the powered-down Iron Valiant would just have to serve as a life-sized figurine for a while.

Riding Dragonite all the way back to Hanze's ranch, and considering it was already late at night, Luo Mu simply stayed overnight at Hanze's house, visiting Joy Joy Yumi in the morning before leaving Azukino Town.

Before bed, at Hanze's request, Luo Mu released the powered-down Iron Valiant from its Poké Ball, and Hanze carefully stroked its arm.

When Luo Mu asked him how it felt, Hanze smiled and replied without hesitation, "Although it feels very cold to the touch, my heart is warm; thank you for letting me see it again, and for letting me witness its Sword Dance once more."

"Once we find Drive Energy, you can come see it again."

"Good, I will look forward to that day."

"Now that you've seen Iron Valiant and fulfilled your wish, are you going back to the Johto region?"

"No, Azukino Town is quite nice here."

Morning of October 28th.

After visiting Nurse Joy of Azukino Town, Joy Joy Yumi, who had given Luo Mu considerable help during his travels, Luo Mu mounted Dragonite and returned to the farm just in time for lunch.

Returning with him were the newly evolved Tinkaton, whose hammer was crafted from General Pu Dao's armor, a total of fourteen Applin, and the Iron Valiant "figurine."

Luo Mu arranged for the Applin to live in the new orchard, dispatching Flapple, Tropius, and the Shuckle siblings to oversee them; he figured it wouldn't take long for these Pokémon, originally from the wild, to adapt to the environment.

Luo Mu specifically instructed Flapple and the others to first instill in the Applin the important note that the Skarmory and Rookidee in the sky were allies, so there was no need to be afraid.

After all, before evolving, Applin-type Pokémon feared Bird Pokémon the most; they had only chosen the small grove in the bamboo forest as their habitat because Bird Pokémon were rare there.

By the time the Applin adapted to their environment, the apple trees would be bearing fruit under the care of Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others—

In fact, with November approaching, this batch of apple trees had already bloomed with beautiful flowers.

If he hadn't chosen to manage the farm, Luo Mu might never have known in his entire life that apple blossoms could be so beautiful.

The flowers had five petals, arranged in a plum-blossom pattern resembling white trumpets; their color was white with a faint flush, beautiful and graceful, looking like the pink blush on the Bai Xi cheeks of a shy young girl.

The flowers also carried a unique, fresh fragrance.

Vespiquen had long since claimed the territory there, driving away those wild Bug-type Pokémon, and was now leading her three Combee subordinates, preparing to work hard.

This time, she planned to collect nectar from the apple blossoms to brew a special Combee Honey—Apple Honey; Luo Mu was very much looking forward to this.

In the living room of the new house.

"Hmm, just place it here."

Looking left and right to confirm this was a good spot, Luo Mu revealed a satisfied smile, then spoke.

"Yare Yuta."

Oranguru chanted the Forest Sage's "magic," and with a wave of its fan, Iron Valiant's body landed steadily.

Luo Mu had specifically posed Iron Valiant in a cross-legged meditative stance; this way, it didn't look powered down, but rather as if it were cultivating through meditation.

At least, judging by Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's expression nearby, Luo Mu knew it was fairly satisfied.

As for the location for placing the Iron Valiant "life-sized figurine."

Originally, Oranguru had suggested Luo Mu store Iron Valiant in the ice cellar to freeze it, but after much consideration, Luo Mu chose a corner of the living room where Pokémon frequently moved about.

This way, even if Iron Valiant woke up prematurely without Drive Energy, Luo Mu would know immediately.

The only danger was that if Iron Valiant suddenly woke up, given its personality, the living room of the new house would probably need redecorating.

However, before that—

The corner of his eye accurately captured Feng Su Gou stirring restlessly nearby.

Just as it quietly crept closer, about to sink its teeth into Iron Valiant.

Faster said than done.

Luo Mu's eyes widened, and he shouted loudly, "Hey! How dare you!"

His right hand shot out like lightning, seizing Feng Su Gou's snout; no matter how it struggled, Luo Mu held it firmly.

He knew it!

Luo Mu had seen through it the moment Feng Su Gou tried to approach.

This ancient husky dog definitely wanted to tentatively take a bite out of Iron Valiant; in its own words, to "taste the saltiness." Luo Mu didn't know how many slippers had fallen victim to its vicious mouth.

Fortunately, Luo Mu was quick-eyed and fast-handed; this guy's movements couldn't hide from him at all!

With its snout firmly seized by Luo Mu, and not daring to struggle too hard, Feng Su Gou could only let out whimpering sounds of "wu wu wu," conveying to Luo Mu that it was wrong and begging for mercy.

Glancing at it, Luo Mu directly let go, chuckling lightly, "Little rascal."

Feng Su Gou retreated a few steps with its big butt sticking out, its eyeballs rolling around, and didn't make another sound.

How could Luo Mu not know it?

In this regard, Feng Su Gou was the very example of "I know I'm wrong, but I just won't change," having long grown accustomed to it.

By simply grabbing its snout like this, it would at least stay quiet for a few hours.

Luo Mu hummed a tune, left Cang Yan Ren Gui here to watch over the Iron Warrior's body, and walked toward the gate.

Next, he still needed to test the Tinkatuff's new hammer; unlike the hammers of other Tinkatuff that attacked the Bisharp, his own Tinkatuff's hammer casing was made from General Pu Dao's armor, so both its sturdiness and power should be quite excellent.

He absolutely had to test the effect.

If the improvement was significant, Luo Mu felt he could consider collecting some shed armor from other Steel-type Pokémon.

Pokémon like Aggron, Metagross, and Steelix, for instance.

Or even more extremely, metals from special Legendary Pokémon or Mythical Pokémon like Registeel, Dialga, Heatran, Solgaleo, Magearna, and Melmetal could also be used to forge hammers.

At that time, just how powerful would the new hammer be after evolving into Tinkaton?

But Luo Mu did not know.

Outside the new room, a passing Houndoom happened to look through the window and saw the scene of him capturing Feng Su Gou's snout bare-handed, with Feng Su Gou completely helpless.

At this moment, Houndoom's pupils were trembling in shock.

Could it have misjudged? For Pokémon like them, Luo Mu, who looked rather weak, could actually make that Feng Su Gou beg for mercy with his bare hands (End of Chapter)