Chapter 535: Blueberry Academy Delegation

Regarding Zeru's proposal, Luo Mu did not hesitate and readily accepted his kindness.

Rather than seeking out a factory himself to process the wool into yarn or fabric, it was better to contact a reliable place directly through Zeru.

There was no need to fear that Zeru might collude with the factory to cut corners; they would simply establish standards for the finished products, and since the laws in this regard were highly comprehensive, there was absolutely no need for concern.

After spot-checking several areas in the warehouse and confirming the quality of this batch of pre-winter wool, Luo Mu cheerfully finalized the transaction with Zeru.

On his side, he had secured enough wool to equip every Pokémon on the farm with several sets of warm clothing, while Zeru no longer had to worry about supplies for his Mareep and Flaaffy to survive the winter.

Leaving the warehouse, Luo Mu called for the Eevee sisters, who had been playing happily with the Mareep and Flaaffy, politely declined Zeru's offer to see him off, and chose to mount directly onto the back of Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao, who was waiting outside, returning to the farm by flight.

Although it was not as comfortable as riding on Dragonite's back, Skarmory Sanmao had specially learned the move "Fly," formerly known as "Fly Technique," and with the protection of air currents, Luo Mu at least would not have his face frozen stiff by the cold wind.

With the Eevee sisters perched on his shoulders and a Volcarona constantly radiating warmth in his arms, it was not long before, amidst the scenery swiftly passing before his eyes, Luo Mu caught sight of the farm's outline.

The next day.

Looking at the numerous documents laid out before him and then turning to Oranguru, Luo Mu asked in surprise, "You found these so quickly?"

Oranguru's efficiency was truly too fast.

"Headmaster Otto helped gather all of these; I merely performed a preliminary screening," Oranguru replied.

Oranguru smiled; after all, this was just basic work for a butler.

"May I take a look as well?"

Lei Guan Wang, who had just dropped off Cosmog at Oliva's "kindergarten" for care, floated over.

"Of course."

Luo Mu handed the documents directly to Lei Guan Wang; it made no difference whether it was Lei Guan Wang reading them or himself.

Under the influence of psychic power, the papers arranged themselves in a row, hovering in midair, as Lei Guan Wang began to browse through them carefully.

"A chef with four hands, a Machamp skilled in most common cuisines."

"A Gardevoir who trained in a maid café and specializes in heart-shaped omelet rice?"

"The Magician of Cuisine, a Delphox adept at bringing out the inherent flavors of ingredients."

"A chef who brings their own ingredients, a Sirfetch'd who specializes in cultivating Leek seeds and loves stir-frying over high heat."

"A Pokémon who trained as a nurse, an Audino skilled in most cuisines while also being proficient in medicinal diets."

Luo Mu read through approximately twenty profiles together with Lei Guan Wang.

It had to be said that talents were indeed emerging in great numbers.

With so many Pokémon whose primary profession was chef, Luo Mu momentarily did not know where to begin his selection.

Oranguru said that today was merely for a rough review of the materials.

Later, it would contact the relevant parties to arrange corresponding interviews; Luo Mu only needed to appear on-site as a discerning diner to conduct taste tests.

Luo Mu was quite looking forward to this.

After all, decisions could not be made based solely on documents; to understand a chef's skill, one had to taste the dishes they personally prepared.

After lunch, Luo Mu, as usual, opened his laptop and contacted the Leader to confirm his current progress.

Although Ash, that muscle, was no longer present, the Leader himself was, after all, an experienced ruin explorer, and his efficiency was impeccable.

Luo Mu provided locations, and the Leader brought back Paldean Gold Coins to replenish Gimmighoul's treasury.

Currently, Gimmighoul's chest already contained 300 Paldean Gold Coins, nearly achieving one-third of the total quota.

Originally, Luo Mu had estimated that the collection of 999 Paldean Gold Coins would be completed by the end of the year, but judging by the current situation, it would likely have to be postponed.

After confirming that the Leader would bring back another 20 Paldean Gold Coins tomorrow, Luo Mu, who had intended to close his laptop, suddenly noticed an unread email.

The sender was Professor Sada.

Without a second thought, Luo Mu opened the email directly.

The first things to catch his eye were several photos, mostly depicting daily interactions between the two professors and Koraidon and Miraidon.

There was Koraidon fighting other researchers for sandwiches, and Miraidon, disdaining the large bed prepared by Professor Turo, insisting on sleeping in a pile of cardboard boxes in the warehouse—

A smile curved the corners of his mouth as Luo Mu turned his attention to the text portion.

The content was not long; aside from mentioning that after the two professors had established good relationships with Koraidon and Miraidon, they were preparing to operate the prototype time machine once again soon.

The main focus was on an item called "Driving Energy."

The two professors discovered that even though Paradox Pokémon possessed extremely strong environmental adaptability and inherently had the characteristics and instincts to alter their environment.

They were, in essence, still Pokémon, and the fact that they required energy to remain active had not changed.

Koraidon and Miraidon often slept; initially, the two professors only thought they were adapting to the environment within the modern Paldea Crater, but the theoretical adaptation period had long passed, yet the two Pokémon remained exceptionally sleepy.

After deduction and investigation, they pinpointed a cause.

Sleep was the method used by Ancient Species No. 1 and Future Species No. 1 to conserve their consumption of "special energy."

When Koraidon and Miraidon modified their surrounding environment, they consumed a certain type of special energy.

This energy seemed to be non-renewable; to replenish it, they had to stay in the corresponding environment or supplement it through the most basic method of eating.

Professor Sada classified the power these two Pokémon used to alter their environment as a unique Pokémon characteristic and gave it a name.

Ancient Species No. 1, Koraidon, possessed the Ability "Orichalcum Pulse," which recreated the sunny weather of its living era through ancient pulses, boosting its Attack.

Future Species No. 1, Miraidon, possessed the Ability "Hadron Engine," which set up an Electric Terrain originating from the future, using a special mechanism to boost its Special Attack.

According to research, when these two Pokémon activated their Abilities, that special energy would be consumed, requiring replenishment through eating afterward.

However, they felt that relying solely on eating was too inefficient.

Thus, they decided to locate that energy, concentrate it, and manufacture it into an "item" for more efficient utilization.

"Driving Energy" was the envisioned finished product, and testing was currently underway.

The two professors did not explicitly state the specific composition of "Driving Energy" in the email, only saying that it was unrelated to Terastal energy and could not even be considered energy in the broad sense, requiring the use of a time machine to collect and produce it.

After browsing through all the content within the email.

Luo Mu closed his laptop and let out a long sigh of relief.

Once the finished product is developed, he should be able to obtain the relevant items from the two professors; in that case, the Iron Valiant currently cosplaying as a figurine in the living room might be able to restart.

Subconsciously opening the drawer, his fingers brushed against a cold hard drive again.

Rubbing the hard drive with his fingertips, Luo Mu fell into thought.

Nowadays, most of the goals he had set were showing obvious progress; the only idea that remained indefinitely out of reach was constructing a facility similar to an ecological dome environment.

Whether in terms of funding, personnel, or materials, there was no sign of any headway.

The Blueberry Academy had received support from the Unova League, spending a considerable amount of time, financial resources, and manpower before it was finally completed.

On his end, he was likely going to need to accumulate resources for a very long time.

Sighing, Luo Mu withdrew his finger and gently closed the drawer. Compared to the ecological dome, which was currently nothing but a pipe dream, he was far more concerned about the Blueberry Academy delegation arriving in the Paldea region tomorrow.

When the time came, all those stepping onto the field to fight would be his students; even with Hearing Hearing Nimo as their ace holding the fort, the better Mudanhe Sect and Penny performed, the higher his bonus would be.

Indeed, he should head to the academy again in a little while and use actual combat to test the results of their special training over this period.

But before that, he had other matters to attend to.

Touching the crystal pendant on his chest, Luo Mu walked straight to the living room.

Bai Bai Pengpeng, Victini, Pecharunt, and Politoed were gathered together, completely focused on watching the television hanging on the living room wall.

Compared to the originally small, old-fashioned television, the one in their new home was a large-size high-definition version specially selected by Luo Mu, with clarity and sound entirely different from before.

For Pokémon with nothing to do during winter, aside from playing, they loved using this to pass the time.

At this moment, the television was broadcasting an adventure story about Princess Pikachu and her knight, Hoopa.

Luo Mu couldn't quite appreciate it, but the Pokémon loved watching it.

Without directly disturbing them, Luo Mu waited quietly for a while until this episode finally finished.

Taking advantage of the commercial break, he pulled Victini over to his side and said, "Victini, I'm counting on you for today's portion as well."

"Victi~"

Still immersed in the story of the Hoopa Knight defeating Hydreigon and rescuing Princess Pikachu, Victini savored the moment for a few more seconds before striking a pose ready to work.

What Victini needed to do was actually quite simple.

Just like normally charging Z-Crystals and Tera Orbs, it would use its versatile infinite energy to charge the crystal pendant.

Ever since Luo Mu learned that the crystal entity was actually Terapagos transformed.

He had consulted the system, obtaining both the answer and the method to awaken the other party.

Unlike the Terapagos within Area Zero, the Terapagos slumbering within the crystal pendant he possessed was in an extremely weakened state.

It was even difficult for it to instinctively absorb external energy to repair itself; under normal circumstances, it would require a considerable amount of time to recover.

Coincidentally.

Luo Mu happened to have lured the mythical Pokémon Victini, codenamed the Star of Victory and possessing the versatile energy known as "Infinite Energy," back to his farm.

Although it couldn't charge the Iron Valiant, Victini was capable of charging Z-Crystals and Tera Orbs.

Naturally, it could do the same for the crystal pendant.

There was, however, one slightly awkward and bizarre problem.

Because the strength of the Terapagos in Luo Mu's possession was far inferior to that Tera Source within Area Zero, plus it was currently in a weakened and heavily injured state.

Victini's infinite energy could not fully charge it in one go; it had to be done in many small increments, charging slowly.

Otherwise, it would be easy to cause secondary damage to Terapagos.

By charging in small batches multiple times, they could awaken Terapagos's self-healing ability, allowing it to recover on its own until it broke free from its crystal form.

Watching Victini carefully channel the golden aura spreading from within its body into the crystal pendant, Luo Mu felt somewhat helpless.

The two professors had also educated him on some relevant knowledge regarding the Terapagos species, so he knew that the Terapagos species had likely gone extinct due to crustal shifts about two million years ago.

Originally, he had been troubled, wondering how a legendary Pokémon like Terapagos could be completely wiped out by crustal shifts.

But looking at it now, it didn't seem so unacceptable after all.

Sensing that the other party was nearly "full," Victini stopped channeling its infinite energy; coincidentally, the commercial break ended just then, and the program resumed broadcasting.

Its eyes lit up; after returning the pendant to Luo Mu, it eagerly sat back on the sofa and began watching with full concentration again.

Luo Mu: "."

Never mind, this was the child's only hobby for entertainment.

At the same time.

On an airplane destined for the Paldea region.

Several students wearing Blueberry Academy uniforms were heatedly discussing something.

If one listened closely, it was clear they were deliberating on the order of appearance and tactics.

In the depths of each person's eyes flashed a trace of determination, more or less.

Having tasted defeat last time, this time they would reprove the worth of the Blueberry Elite Four and Champion! In contrast to that fiery atmosphere over there, the area where Carmine sat in the back row was much quieter.

Lian was leaning against her seat, sound asleep, while Carmine gazed out the window, filled with anticipation.

He had successfully broken through the cruel qualification contest and secured the qualification to travel to the Paldea region for an exchange match.

If that person knew, would they be very surprised? The moment he thought of that scene, Carmine couldn't help but softly hum to himself subconsciously.

Noticing the movement from Carmine's direction, Alder, who was sitting diagonally opposite him with arms crossed feigning sleep, half-opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

What was this kid happily chuckling about?

Alder admitted he was somewhat curious.

Although he had joined Blueberry Academy as a teacher halfway through, the exchange match against Grape Academy had been decided several months ago.

Blueberry Academy focused on training Pokémon Trainers, and its overall atmosphere reflected that; moreover, with the qualification tournament to "decide the slots for the revenge match against Grape Academy" being launched, the academy's overall atmosphere had become even more serious.

As the teacher managing the Battle Club, Alder had naturally noticed Carmine, this silent figure who always shrank into the corner.

He almost never participated in group activities; aside from his sister, he rarely communicated with others, and he was somewhat timid.

Dai Ke, who had once specifically investigated the matter of discovering a new evolution for the Snom line, never expected that the discoverer would be Kieran.

But before Dai Ke could find a way to cheer Kieran up, after just an ordinary holiday, Kieran underwent a tremendous change.

Not only did he dare to challenge his classmates to battles, but his own progress was also remarkably rapid; he forcibly secured a spot in an exchange tournament as a dark horse and even became one of the Blueberry League's Elite Four.

It was only then that he noticed this boy possessed quite considerable talent as a Trainer.

Then there was Kieran's older sister, Carmine, who usually kept a low profile yet directly defeated senior club members during the qualifiers to secure a spot.

Added to them were Drayton, Lacey, Amarys, and Kiana, the four Elite Four members and Champion of the Blueberry League, representing the next generation of the Unova region's future.

And finally, there was Elios, who could be considered the strongest among the graduating senior students.

Thus, the seven strongest individuals of Blueberry Academy gathered here.

Perhaps, this trip to Grape Academy might actually yield impressive results?

Thinking of this, Dai Ke revealed an amused smile.

What kind of preparations have you made in response, Luo Mu?

Luo Mu.

(End of Chapter)