Chapter 548: Tropical Vacation!!!

November 24th, Monday.

Luo Mu, carrying twenty-five Paldea Ancient Gold Coins acquired from the Captain, arrived before a wooden lacquered treasure chest, a one-to-one replica of the chests in the game and anime, placed in the first compartment of the display cabinet installed in his new home.

Luo Mu did not directly lift the lid; instead, like knocking on a door, he lightly tapped the chest's body.

Before long, sounds emanated from within the treasure chest.

An invisible large hand opened the chest from the inside, revealing the glittering Jin Guang coins and the figure of the Greedent.

This could be considered a talent of the Greedent species: utilizing a peculiar, "unexplainable" power similar to spiritual energy possessed by Ghost-type Pokémon to open treasure chests that absolutely could not be opened by their own strength.

However, this ability could only be applied to treasure chests.

"Ding~"

The Greedent poked its head out, its two antennae, resembling treasure detectors or dragon-locating rods, swaying slightly; it waved a hand, greeting Luo Mu.

"Hello there, look what this is."

Luo Mu smiled and spread his hands open; the twenty-five Paldea Ancient Gold Coins, sparkling under the light, dazzled the Greedent.

"Ding!"

Yet it paid this no mind, this time letting out a joyful, crisp cry; like a little money-grubber, it pounced directly onto Luo Mu's palm, making swimming motions in that small pool of gold coins.

It inexplicably gave people a sense of wallowing in luxury and dissipation.

Should one say it lives up to being a future capitalist?

The corners of Luo Mu's mouth twitched as he placed the Greedent, along with the ancient gold coins, back into the treasure chest.

Allowing itself to be added to these twenty-five Paldea Ancient Gold Coins, bringing the total to three hundred and twenty-five, the Greedent was submerged in the Paldea Ancient Gold Coins and immediately began taking a gold coin bath.

Seeing its state, it seemed it would be immersed in this for some time, so he decided not to disturb it.

Carefully closing the treasure chest lid, listening to the crisp, bell-like laughter sounding from within from time to time, Luo Mu turned and left.

The so-called bell-like laughter was nothing more than this, wasn't it?

Taking warm clothing and a scarf from the coat rack in the entryway, Luo Mu thought for a moment and simply put on warm woolen gloves; unlike the scarf, the gloves came from the Serperior, their color appearing somewhat plain, yet Luo Mu quite liked them.

Placing his indoor slippers inside the "Feng Su Gou Safe," changing into thick, warm snow boots, Luo Mu walked directly out of his new home.

It was quite lively outside; after a heavy snowfall last night, following several days of clear weather that had shown signs of melting the snow, quite a bit of accumulated snow had piled up once again.

Having eaten lunch not long ago, the Pokémon were all exercising their bodies through play and frolicking.

The Politoed, leading its subordinates the Poliwags, together with three Bai Bai Pengpeng, gathered together to build dog-shaped snowmen.

But if one looked closely, one would discover they were simply using the Dachsbun as a mold, attempting a one-to-one replica, that was all.

At this moment.

A red circular "sphere" drew a graceful arc through the air, landing with a "plop" into the soft accumulated snow, emitting a gentle and brief sound.

It happened to land right in front of Luo Mu.

Meeting the mung-bean-sized eyes of the younger Shuckle, Luo Mu then looked toward several Pokémon running over from not far away.

There were the Eevee sisters wearing warm little dresses, the Ogerpon, the Rolycoly, the Sandshrew, and the Xue Li Guai, along with the Volcarona and the Feng Su Gou.

Beside them was another who had not joined in, the older Shuckle with a blue shell.

Clearly, they were using the younger Shuckle as a ball to kick around.

However, this could not be considered farm bullying; it was simply that the younger Shuckle had volunteered, stating that it also enjoyed the feeling of flying.

This allowed it to gain superior control over its body, training so that it would not become dizzy or fail to hear commands clearly after being knocked flying by an opponent during battle.

To draw an analogy, it was equivalent to "wind tunnel training."

In any case, all of them were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Eevee, Eevee!"

The older Eevee sister lively jumped to Luo Mu's feet, its pink paw pads leaving a series of plum-blossom footprints on the snow, its demeanor seeming to invite Luo Mu to join their game.

Luo Mu thought for a moment, then politely declined their invitation.

Mainly, he was worried about the bad impression it would make; if others saw him kicking the younger Shuckle back and forth, they might misunderstand and think he was abusing Pokémon, which would not be good.

It was certainly not because he felt the younger Shuckle's shell was rock hard, and lacking a Pokémon's physique, kicking it would probably make his toes hurt for a whole day!

"Let's see what the Delibird is doing now, and while we're at it, continue bothering Mewtwo."

Rubbing his gloved hands together, Luo Mu directly grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, took out the black sphere he carried with him from his pocket, skillfully unfolded it into a plane capable of transmitting objects, and then placed the snow upon it.

In just a little while.

As the black sphere began to operate, after a slight tremor, the trace of that handful of snow instantly vanished.

The reason Luo Mu did such a boring thing was mainly to tell the Delibird that the Paldea region had now fully entered winter; that tropical region in Hoenn with its many volcanoes and deserts was something you couldn't handle, so while there were still two months left in winter, come back to rest and then go play in Sinnoh; it's cold over there.

According to the positioning on the black sphere, one could roughly discern that the Delibird was on some small island in the seas near the Hoenn continent.

As for exactly where, it was hard to determine; one would have to go find it personally.

Before long, the Delibird's response arrived.

The black sphere in Luo Mu's hand trembled slightly, transforming into the shape of a plane.

A container, along with the unknown liquid filling it halfway, quietly appeared upon it.

Luo Mu focused his gaze and discovered that the water-holding container was none other than a coconut shell grown on a coconut tree in the tropical region, except it was only half a shell, and the coconut meat had disappeared.

Then this liquid was... Luo Mu tried leaning in to sniff it; apart from the surrounding cold air, there was an inexplicable salty and damp smell.

An answer rapidly formed in Luo Mu's mind.

It was seawater! That fellow Delibird had scooped up half a coconut shell of seawater and sent it over; was it saying it hadn't adventured enough yet? Luo Mu helplessly shook his head, just about to pour out this half coconut shell of seawater.

After all, Pingdie Town was not far away, and roughly a little further ahead from Little Key Path lay the South Paldea Sea; seawater truly held nothing novel.

But what exceeded his expectations was—

Perhaps it was thirsty from playing, yet did not want to directly lick snow or return indoors to drink water and miss out on playtime.

The Feng Su Gou's cunning eyes darted, and its genius brain instantly came up with an idea.

It directly set its sights on Luo Mu.

It recognized that coconut shell; the coconut juice inside tasted quite good. How about—

Never considering the possibility that the coconut shell didn't contain coconut juice, Luo Mu had just set the shell down, preparing to stand up and pour it out.

Feng Su Gou narrowed its eyes, activated the "Extreme Speed" move, turned into a white rainbow, and with lightning speed that left no time to cover one's ears, lunged directly and purposefully at the coconut shell.

Probably all the cats and dogs at home are like this; what's in your bowl doesn't smell as fragrant as what's in mine.

They'd rather steal a drink from their owner's cup than take a single drop from their own bowl.

Purely rebellious.

The moment Feng Su Gou's large snout dipped directly into the coconut shell, without even sniffing, it started drinking immediately.

Then—"Ugh!"

The unique saltiness of seawater made Feng Su Gou jump three feet high; Luo Mu, who witnessed this operation with his own eyes, fell silent.

Luo Mu silently looked at the Moltres not far away, which stood out against the snowy ground, his eyes seeming to harbor a thousand emotions.

Moltres: "."

It chose to silently turn around, out of sight, out of mind.

This has nothing to do with me.

After dinner.

Garganacl happily hugged several bags of soil just mailed from the Kanto region, which Luo Mu had asked Steven to specially collect from Mt. Silver, preparing to return to the Salt House for a snack.

A pair of Rattatas picked up a small feather duster made from Moltres feathers and, with considerable skill, began cleaning.

Meanwhile, from the kitchen sink came the sounds of Politoed and the Poliwags using the "Bubble Beam" move to remove grease.

Having prepared tonight's dinner as well, Luo Mu lay like a salted fish on the living room sofa, receiving a "stomping" attack from the Eevee sisters.

Come to think of it, it was quite comfortable and stress-relieving.

Until a shadow cast down from above, Luo Mu half-opened his eyes and asked Bewear in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Yah-leh~"

Bewear, unusually, did not speak to Luo Mu via Telepathy, but instead handed him something that looked like a ticket.

Luo Mu patted his back, signaling the Eevee sisters to stop first, took the "ticket" handed to him by Bewear, and a slightly surprised expression appeared on his face.

"."An airline ticket?"

That's right; what Bewear handed Luo Mu was a direct flight ticket purchased under his identity, departing from Mesagoza in the Paldea region and landing on Akala Island in the Alola region.

After staring at Bewear for a while, Luo Mu roughly understood what it meant and immediately became interested.

This was also a small fun part of life; Bewear wanted him to guess why it bought this ticket.

After a moment of thought, his eyes lit up, and he spoke: "Pokémon Chef!?"

"Yuta."

Bewear revealed a smile.

Clearly, Luo Mu guessed correctly.

The few Pokémon chefs it contacted through the Butler Academy would be waiting for Luo Mu in the Alola region to "interview" him.

With the experience from the Pokémon Butler Academy, Luo Mu was not surprised or opposed to this.

This actually showed that the other party was responsible toward the Pokémon.

Luo Mu had originally vaguely had this idea.

Going to the Alola region this time could simply be treated as a vacation.

Just as Luo Mu, who was prone to liking new things and tiring of old ones, was getting a bit tired of the snow scenery, spending a few days vacationing in a typical tropical region like the Alola region seemed like a good choice.

Even though the place he originally favored was Hoenn, which was also considered tropical and coastal.

However, since the Alola region was more convenient, changing the vacation spot there wasn't bad either.

After all, the Alola region was also a famous tourist destination near and far.

Sitting up with a "swish," Luo Mu scooped up the older Eevee sister with his left hand and the younger Eevee sister with his right, and announced with high spirits, "Let's go vacation in the tropical region of Alola!!"

Do as you say; taking out his cracked-screen phone, which he intended to keep as a family heirloom, Luo Mu skillfully edited a text message and sent it out.

At the same time.

Near Mesagoza, Paldea League Headquarters, the office of the President and Champion.

The sound of a vibrating phone interrupted the two's conversation; Geeta glanced at the vibrating phone, realized it was a text message rather than a call, and while picking up the phone to browse the message with her peripheral vision, she looked at the person before her.

"That's all for today. After you return, just send the organized 'Endurance Training Insights' to the email address I told you about."

"Yes, President."

Brother Brother Qingmu replied weakly and walked toward the office door like a wandering soul.

At this moment, Geeta had just finished reading the content of the text message.

After a moment of thought, she suddenly spoke: "Wait."

Brother Brother Qingmu's steps halted; he felt an impulse to simply ignore everything and escape the room.

But after careful consideration, in order to afford to feed the huge pile of Pokémon at home, especially the very gluttonous Snorlax, he chose to yield.

"Does the President have anything else to instruct?"

"If you have time in a couple of days, substitute for Luo Mu's class."

Geeta's voice paused; her gaze fell on Brother Brother Qingmu's somewhat conspicuous dark circles under his eyes, and remembering a certain sentence in the text message, a shred of conscience surfaced.

She changed the subject.

"Forget it, just prepare the 'Endurance Training Insights.' Let Hassam handle the substitute teaching to keep him from idling all day and doing things like painting modified cars with students."

"."Yes."

Leaving the response, only after Brother Brother Qingmu walked out of the office did she widen her eyes as if waking from a great dream.

What kind of auspicious day is today, that the Chairperson would let me go so easily?

Before Brother Brother Qingmu could figure it out, Geeta's voice rang out from the office again.

"After you finish organizing your 'Insights on Enduring Training,' since the League has nothing important going on lately, just go relax at a nearby tourist spot; I'll have Rika record it as paid leave for you."

"Personally, I recommend the Hoenn region or the Alola region; those places have a tropical climate, unlike Paldea, which has recently entered winter."

After Brother Brother Qingmu had walked far away, Geeta lit up her phone screen again, gazed at the content of the message, shook her head with a smile, and murmured softly as if talking to herself.

"It's one thing for her to want a vacation for herself, but she even wants to apply for leave on Brother Brother Qingmu's behalf."

Still, who could blame her, given her excellent mood lately? The consecutive victories against Blueberry Academy had further enhanced Paldea's external influence, there were new discoveries like the evolved form of Ursaluna known as Bloodmoon Ursaluna, and then there was the talent currently in short supply within the Paldea League... Since he had helped her so much, it would be somewhat heartless if she did not agree.

Moreover, Brother Brother Qingmu truly did need to rest and relax a bit.

Thinking of this,

Geeta picked up her phone, and with her fingers tapping, sent a message of approval.

She even added the sign-off "Enjoy your vacation."

Afterwards, she drafted separate messages for Clavell and Carmine, notifying them of this new arrangement.

Having done all this, Geeta finally disregarded her image, stretched lazily in her office chair, leaned over her desk, and muttered to herself, "I suppose going to the tropics for a vacation is out of the question for me."

"Oh well, I'd better find an interesting competition and go incognito as a guest to relax."

(End of Chapter)