Chapter 525: Hibernation and Pallet Town

Luo Mu had almost thought he'd slipped some unspeakable drug into the apple, given Chairman Zhi Mi's extreme reaction.

Fortunately, Chairman Zhi Mi quickly came to his senses, forcibly pulling himself out of his state of Tao Zui, and explained to Luo Mu, "My sincere apologies; I seem to have lost my composure."

"It's nothing."

Luo Mu waved his hand, indicating that Chairman Zhi Mi need not worry about it, before finally asking,

"So, are you satisfied with the taste?"

Though he asked this, based on Chairman Zhi Mi's earlier reaction, Luo Mu already had a vague estimate in his mind.

This matter would likely succeed.

Chairman Zhi Mi's reply was exactly as Luo Mu had anticipated.

He excitedly grasped Luo Mu's hand again, his eyes shining as he said, "This is the most delicious apple I have ever tasted."

"The moment the fruit's juice burst within my mouth, it was as if my mind was flooded with an endless stream of inspiration, bringing forth countless methods to properly prepare it."

"My friend, I dare guarantee that even the world-renowned 'North Province Select Apples' cannot compare to this gem in terms of flavor!"

Chairman Zhi Mi's tone was quite exaggerated; even someone as thick-skinned as Luo Mu felt somewhat embarrassed.

However, when Chairman Zhi Mi compared it to the North Province's select apples, Luo Mu did indeed feel a secret thrill, a point he admitted.

Watching Chairman Zhi Mi, face full of excitement, remove his thermal gloves and, as if handling a rare treasure, carefully stroke the half-eaten apple with his fingertips despite the freezing weather,

for a moment, even Luo Mu was at a loss for words and didn't know how to retort.

It took roughly ten-plus minutes for Chairman Zhi Mi to calm down.

"Ahem—"

Conscious of his loss of composure, Chairman Zhi Mi cleared his throat lightly, hugged the apple tightly in his arms, and asked tentatively,

"Are these apples also available for private purchase?"

"If possible, I wish to develop a dish featuring this as its base and star, to serve as the signature dish of my restaurant."

To be honest, Luo Mu had expected things to go smoothly and achieve his desired result, but he hadn't anticipated they would proceed this smoothly.

Nevertheless, the bulk of the credit belonged to Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others, the Dracozolt and Applin, along with the efforts of many Pokémon on the farm, which allowed them to cultivate such excellent crops.

Regarding Chairman Zhi Mi's inquiry, his answer was naturally no problem.

His goal was to make the farm's apples, and indeed the other fruits and berries in the orchard, famous worldwide; how could he possibly refuse a procurement order of such immense influence that came knocking on its own, like Chairman Zhi Mi's restaurant? After all, every menu at Chairman Zhi Mi's restaurant marked the origin of all ingredients!

Unless Chairman Zhi Mi cooked the dish to be terribly unpalatable, there was absolutely no risk of failure.

But would Chairman Zhi Mi make food taste bad?

Impossible; Luo Mu still remembered that creative dish Chairman Zhi Mi had made using Octillery ink.

The reputation generated among diners who came upon hearing the news alone was already sufficient for Luo Mu to supply Chairman Zhi Mi for free.

The cost of transplanting the saplings could be earned back in a single day by Tapu Tapu Moumou's fresh milk business in Flat Dish Town.

Upon receiving Luo Mu's answer, Chairman Zhi Mi's eyes lit up, and he said eagerly, "Then let's go back immediately to sign the contract!"

Besides the apples, he had far too many other ingredients he wanted to procure; although he hadn't seen any competitors, what if Luo Mu changed his mind?

He had to secure this as soon as possible!

But Luo Mu's next sentence struck Chairman Zhi Mi like a bolt of lightning, leaving him completely stunned.

"... Could we wait a bit longer before signing the contract?"

Chairman Zhi Mi felt his surging excitement plummet instantly to the bottom.

Forcing a strained smile, he asked in a voice tinged with pity, "Is there some concern? I can personally arrange the cross-regional cold-chain transportation."

Luo Mu gave him a peculiar look; he had no such concerns.

But come to think of it, he indeed hadn't considered the transportation chain; since Chairman Zhi Mi said he could handle it, that was even better.

Thinking thus, he pointed to the frozen stream outside the orchard, separated by a wooden fence, and explained, "A Pokémon from the farm ran over there; I want to call it back, and then we can return to the farm to sign the contract."

So that's what it was.

Chairman Zhi Mi visibly relaxed, followed Luo Mu out of the orchard, regained his usual elegance, and suggested in a relaxed tone, "Which Pokémon are you looking for? If needed, my Clodsire has eight eyes and can help you search faster."

"... That won't be necessary."

The image of Clodsire flashed instantly through his mind; though wrapped up tightly and feeling not the least bit cold, Luo Mu shivered.

That Pokémon looked slightly too abstract; unless absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to see it.

Fortunately, the Gyarados hadn't run far; just after crossing the orchard and walking a short distance along the fence marking the farm's boundary, Luo Mu spotted the Gyarados lying on the ice, intently staring at what lay beneath.

Pointing at the Gyarados's massive blue body, Luo Mu said to Chairman Zhi Mi, "Look, it's right there."

Chairman Zhi Mi was somewhat surprised.

It was actually a Gyarados?

Did a farm really need to raise a Gyarados? Chairman Zhi Mi, who also raised a Gyarados and was simultaneously a Water-type Ace, expressed his confusion.

However, judging by his eye, this Gyarados was raised very well, though it still fell slightly short compared to the Swampert and the shiny Milotic that had amazed him earlier.

As if knowing what Chairman Zhi Mi was thinking, Luo Mu explained, "It was a wild Pokémon before; it had a good relationship with the Milotic when she was still a Feebas, so I caught it and brought it back to the farm."

Chairman Zhi Mi suddenly understood.

Luo Mu then walked straight up, stood on the ice, and patted the Gyarados, which was so intently focused on what lay below that its guard was down and it hadn't even noticed his approach.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The Gyarados was nearly startled out of its skin and instinctively prepared to use Hyper Beam in anger, just as it would have in the wild.

But the moment it saw Luo Mu, it stopped its action and let out a slightly aggrieved roar.

"Roar—"

Why did you scare me like that—

"My sincerest apologies," Luo Mu apologized with zero sincerity, then steered the topic back, "So, what are you doing? Milotic said you often stay here."

Mentioning Milotic immediately shifted the Gyarados's attention; it shyly wagged its tail and pointed the tip toward the ice below. "Roar~"

I'm treasure hunting~

In fact, not long ago, probably during those few days when Luo Mu took Pecharunt to the Paldea Crater.

Gluttonous as it was, it had run over to the new orchard to mooch freshly ripened Berries from Dondozo and Shuckle.

After mooching Berries, it even got some honey gifted by Vespiquen, who had just happened to stop by with a present; finding it a bit too cloyingly sweet, Gyarados decided to head to the creek to drink some water and moisten its throat.

But just as it lowered its head to drink, through the crystal-clear flowing stream, it vaguely saw a certain golden mysterious object flash by! After returning to Thunderstorm Lake, Gyarados pondered for a long time and even asked many Pokémon on the farm before finally confirming what the target was.

It was definitely rare gold! Gradually accepting that its friendship had turned strange, Gyarados could no longer stay calm.

After all, Milotic's beautiful fish tail also bore golden patterns! It really liked that kind of pattern—bright and sparkling.

Stubbornly convinced that Milotic would surely love this precious item sharing its own color, Gyarados wondered: if it presented this as a gift to Milotic, would the other party be very happy? Thus, whenever it had free time, it squatted here; even when the creek froze over, it waited persistently for the gold to swim by again—

Today was no different.

Having explained the whole story at such length, the truth was that Luo Mu hadn't understood a single word of Gyarados's series of cries.

All he could grasp was that Gyarados seemed to be looking for something.

Thinking he'd have Moltres, Oranguru, or Lei Guan Wang translate for him later, Luo Mu simply took out the tools he always kept on hand.

He gave Gyarados a check-up right then and there; confirming it hadn't fallen ill due to the sudden temperature drop, Luo Mu left only the exhortation, "Remember to come back early if it gets cold; don't get sick," before returning to the farm's new home with Chairman Zhi Mi.

As for the contract to be signed, Chairman Zhi Mi already had a ready-made copy; it only needed slight modifications based on both parties' circumstances.

Luo Mu directly handed this entire matter over to Oranguru to handle.

Meanwhile, the purchase prices Chairman Zhi Mi offered for various crops exceeded Luo Mu's expectations.

The profits from apples, which would likely sell extremely cheaply in a regular market, might even rival the farm's largest revenue stream: Tapu Tapu Moumou's fresh milk!

The prices offered for purchasing many other crops were also very generous.

As Chairman Zhi Mi stated, good ingredients deserved a price matching their flavor.

Chairman Zhi Mi would also arrange proper channels for cold-chain transport, air freight, and the like; Luo Mu only needed to prepare the ingredients listed in the advance manifest sent by Chairman Zhi Mi during fixed time slots, and someone would come to collect them.

Having listed so many benefits, under such favorable conditions, Chairman Zhi Mi's side naturally had corresponding requirements.

For instance, fruits and vegetables must be fresh and freshly picked; this was the most basic yet crucial point. For other farms, this might be somewhat difficult, since growing high-quality off-season plants under heavy goose-down snow was evidently challenging.

But for Luo Mu's farm, this was neither difficult nor demanding.

Since Chairman Zhi Mi's restaurant served a fixed number of guests daily, the required quantity wasn't particularly large; they only needed to focus on caring for crops in a small plot of land, without needing to manage such a vast area as usual.

As long as they concentrated on planting specific crop types and prepared the harvest for each cycle, that would suffice.

Moreover, if necessary, Luo Mu could consider building a greenhouse; severe cold was not something difficult to overcome.

After happily signing the contract with Chairman Zhi Mi and setting the time for the first delivery, Luo Mu and the farm's Pokémon enjoyed a private banquet cooked by a world-class chef.

Then, before nightfall had fully descended, he escorted Chairman Zhi Mi to Artazon Airport, watching him board the plane bound for the Kalos region.

Because so many things had happened that day, upon reflection, Luo Mu completely forgot about having Oranguru and the others translate Gyarados's words.

As for Gyarados, it squatted every day in the frozen creek, "waiting for a rabbit by the stump," its willpower remarkably firm.

November 9th.

Luo Mu received a phone call from the Kanto region.

The caller was Ash.

Seeming to have struggled for a long time before finally making the call, when Luo Mu first answered, Ash on the other end was still somewhat hesitant, unable to get to the point for quite a while.

As Luo Mu followed his lead in the conversation, gradually loosening up, Ash finally spoke in a vibrant voice, perhaps carrying a hint of Yao Gong intent, stating that he had successfully achieved runner-up status at the Silver Conference.

Luo Mu recited praises for Ash in a flat tone, praising him until he was completely disoriented; Ash even forgot his own decision never to mention this somewhat embarrassing matter, and directly let it slip.

Ash said that after securing runner-up at the Silver Conference, feeling he wasn't far from becoming a Pokémon Master, he had boldly challenged the Pokémon League directly, using his challenger qualification from the conference to select one of the Elite Four he knew best—Bruno—to challenge.

Then he was straight-up shaved bald, six to zero, and carried away.

It was this crushing defeat that made his arrogant and complacent self realize there are always higher mountains beyond mountains, and greater people beyond people—

The previous sentence was all nonsense.

Luo Mu couldn't figure out how someone could be so lacking in common sense; had Ash's beatings in the Paldea region been in vain? Was merely achieving runner-up at a conference enough to make him swell with pride? Suppressing the urge to ride Dragonite over and shave Ash bald again, Luo Mu then heard Ash on the other end of the line mention that in a few days, he would be traveling to a new region.

This time, it was the Hoenn region.

Hearing this news, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, chatted a few more words with Ash, and then hung up the phone.

Beside him, Lei Guan Wang, who was clumsily knitting a scarf with both hands while learning from Oranguru, put down the ball of yarn and looked at Luo Mu.

"Should we take the armor to him before he departs?"

Lei Guan Wang suggested.

Luo Mu blinked, pondering in his mind.

Calculating the time, it had been nearly a month since Ash left the Paldea region; according to normal training progress, Charcadet should be about ready to evolve.

Moreover, matters concerning Hearing Hearing Nimo and others, as well as the Ursaluna currently in his possession, also needed preparation.

Pallet Town happened to have Professor Oak, an authoritative Pokémon Professor; with his help, going public with Ursaluna should allow them to avoid many detours.

Luo Mu wasn't the hesitant type either; Blueberry Academy wouldn't arrive in the Paldea region for a few more days, so a trip to the Kanto region wouldn't take much time—he could just go quickly and return quickly.

Having made his decision, Luo Mu nodded to Lei Guan Wang and said, "Then I'll go wake up Ursaluna; as for the armor, I'll trouble you and Oranguru to prepare it."

Lei Guan Wang nodded slightly, while Oranguru beside him waved the fan in its hand, signaling Luo Mu to go with peace of mind—they would have everything ready.

Luo Mu directly put on a down jacket, slipped on his boots, and headed out.

Calculating the time, since the day of the heavy snow, Ursaluna had already been hibernating for several days.

Fortunately, he could still wake it up normally on his end.

(End of Chapter)