Chapter 574: Akara Pokémon Chef Academy Interview Session

Although Luo Mu had mentally prepared himself for Bewear's personality, seeing its stubborn, unyielding nature still left him somewhat helpless.

If not for Tapu Koko and Oranguru following beside him, Bewear's silent, full-force charge might well have succeeded as a surprise attack.

Once caught by Bewear, attempting to communicate with it would become difficult.

After all, in the anime, it mostly acted willfully, a trait even more pronounced than Hearing Nimo's.

For a Pokémon like this, which possessed great power and stubbornness, the only method of communication was to subdue it first, then guide it patiently.

Yet, how easy could accomplishing such a thing be?

Had they not seen that even Tapu Koko, caught off guard, had nearly failed to withstand the opponent's immense strength?

One could only say that one cannot use normal logic to gauge the combat power of a comic-relief character.

Gazing at the Bewear before him, capable of long-distance flight across regions and oceans by its own power, Luo Mu organized his words and spoke: "You are looking for your child, Stufful, correct?"

"Guma!"

Bewear, its overheated brain having cooled slightly, nodded frantically, putting immense pressure on Oranguru and the Forest Sage.

Damn it, how did its head manage to move free from the constraints of the command!

"Phew—"

Since it was difficult to explain how he had linked Bewear with Stufful, Luo Mu adopted an expression of sudden realization, then spoke again:

"In that case, the Stufful rescued by Ms. Mohn was indeed your child."

Suddenly hearing Luo Mu call out Mohn's name, Gladion beside him froze for several seconds.

How had the topic shifted over there?

But immediately after, upon receiving the keyword, Gladion's relatively new brain began operating at once, retrieving memories buried deep within his mind.

Gladion realized with sudden clarity: "The one from the Aether Paradise?"

He vaguely remembered hearing about this matter before from James's endless nagging; Lillie had even tried to approach the Stufful, but ultimately failed.

However, by that time he rarely lived at home, had not gone along, and naturally retained no deep impression of it.

Gladion's interjection came at just the right moment; Luo Mu nodded. "Yes. Counting from my arrival in Alora until now, only half of the fourth day has passed."

"If asked where I ever encountered a Stufful and acquired its scent, it could only have been yesterday morning when I visited the Pokémon Preserve at Aether Paradise."

Feigning recollection, Luo Mu stared at Bewear as he spoke.

"Gugu?"

Upon receiving news of Stufful, Bewear first became excited, then immediately displayed a bewildered expression.

It had never even heard of something called Aether Paradise.

Would Stufful be bullied there?

Bewear's train of thought inexplicably took a sharp turn, and its emotions immediately surged again.

"Jiii!!!"

A high-decibel, piercing screech rang out once more.

Seeing this,

Tapu Koko, who also knew little about the matter, remained silent, while the Forest Sage beside it, appearing thoughtful, hurriedly spoke to comfort Bewear.

"Yare, yare yuta."

The Forest Sage explained the existence of Aether Paradise to Bewear as best it could.

Although it had never actually visited Aether Paradise, it had dealt with their personnel to some extent.

In fact, many Pokémon in this forest, including one of its own staff members, Torkoal, had been rescued by them.

According to Torkoal, those humans would place them in an environment identical to, or even superior to, the outside world, with ample food and drink, until their injuries healed, before releasing them back to their original locations.

There were even many Pokémon who had grown accustomed to such leisurely days and refused to leave no matter what.

At least among wild Pokémon, the reputation of those Aether Paradise staff members rivaled that of Nurse Joy at every Pokémon Center.

The Forest Sage believed Stufful must have received proper care.

Stufful had likely been injured by accident, picked up by a passing staff member, and since they thought it lacked parental care, simply let it stay there, ultimately causing this misunderstanding.

Bewear and the Forest Sage had a decent relationship, often trading goods with each other; after hesitating for a few seconds, it finally nodded.

"Guwu gu."

It could trust Luo Mu, but on the precondition that Luo Mu take it to find Stufful.

Oranguru translated Bewear's response for Luo Mu.

Luo Mu immediately breathed a sigh of relief; he had originally planned to guide Bewear to Aether Paradise to find Stufful, allowing mother and child to reunite.

But calculating the time, it was nearly approaching the agreed-upon hour.

He still had to attend an interview this afternoon; making this round trip would most likely cause him to miss the time.

Looking at the Bewear before him, now freed from the "Command" state by Oranguru and the Forest Sage, still staring intently at him but now calmed down,

After brief consideration, Luo Mu set his sights on Gladion.

"Gladion, why don't you take Bewear to Aether Paradise instead? You know the route there better."

"Ah, me?"

Gladion pointed at himself, his face filled with difficulty.

No, if he could freely return to Aether Paradise, would he have needed to run away from home in the first place?

Having finally escaped from there with Silvally, he had no intention of returning to walk straight into a trap.

Seeing Gladion's obvious reluctance, Luo Mu, who knew the reason clearly, naturally had his own considerations.

"Bewear, letting Gladion take you to Aether Paradise is fine, but can you guarantee that Gladion will leave Aether Paradise together with you?"

"Gugu."

Bewear nodded seriously.

If Gladio could truly lead it to find Stufful, then no matter what obstacles lay ahead, it would bring Gladio out.

Since the Bewear, capable of flying, crossing seas, and burrowing underground, had made such a promise, Luo Mu turned his gaze back to Gladio.

Although he wasn't clear on just how powerful the Bewear was, the fact that it had required the combined efforts of Tapu Koko and two Oranguru to be subdued made Gladio hesitate.

After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll go!"

Even if he were intercepted by a alerted Faba, he figured the Bewear should still be able to carry him to escape from the Aether Paradise.

Agreeing was one thing, but Gladio was still a bit curious about what Luo Mu had gone to the Aether Paradise to do yesterday morning; yet he hesitated, wondering if asking would count as prying into someone else's privacy.

Luo Mu saw through his dilemma at a glance and remarked casually, "Come to think of it, if I hadn't chatted with Mrs. Lusamine, I'm afraid I wouldn't even know you are Mr. Mo En's child."

"Squeak!!!"

Just as the stunned Gladio was about to say something, the impatient Bewear had already lunged forward, scooping him up into its arms in a princess carry.

Shocked by the sudden impact, Gladio only heard Luo Mu suggest that he could go chat with Lusamine and ask to accompany her to meet Mo En.

Immediately after, the Bewear accelerated, charging straight out of the forest; large trees along the way were snapped in half directly by its terrifying monstrous strength, leaving Gladio no time to voice his questions.

The air was left filled only with a string of exclaimations he could no longer suppress.

Watching their retreating figures, the corners of Luo Mu's mouth twitched slightly.

This Bewear really couldn't wait even a single moment.

However, this was a good opportunity.

Luo Mu's eyes rolled slightly, and seizing the momentum, he spoke to Tapu Koko and the Forest Sages: "Since the matter is resolved, and we still have business to attend to on Akala Island later, we will take our leave now."

Having said that, Luo Mu dragged the Oranguru, who hadn't yet recovered from the Bewear's shocking exit, waved goodbye to Tapu Koko and the Forest Sages, then turned and left the forest.

It wasn't until he had followed Luo Mu out of the forest in a daze that the Oranguru remembered what it had forgotten.

But looking at Luo Mu walking ahead with cheerful steps, just like an Arcanine.

The Oranguru chose to play dumb.

Ah well, as long as Luo Mu was willing to put effort into it for its sake, that was enough.

As for techniques and raw materials, there would be plenty of time to bring them up later; sooner or later, it would make Luo Mu choose its portion of the drink without hesitation.

The Oranguru chuckled lightly, gently waving its feather fan as it caught up to Luo Mu's pace.

First, they should investigate whether there were any suitable Pokémon chefs to join the farm.

Before heading to the Akala Pokémon Chef Academy, Luo Mu and the Oranguru first returned to their rented villa.

After all, the dishes prepared by the hired Pokémon chef needed not only to suit Luo Mu's taste but also consider the many Pokémon on the farm; Luo Mu felt they too deserved a say.

Although it wasn't possible to have every Pokémon taste the food and vote, the few Pokémon staying by his side could certainly come along.

After recalling Luxray and the others into their Poké Balls, Luo Mu mounted his Spectrier, holding onto the Popplio that insisted on riding together, and headed toward the navigated destination.

Tapu Fini was clear about its special status; to avoid causing unnecessary influence on this part of Alola, it chose to remain inside its Dive Ball for now.

The Akala Pokémon Chef Academy had set the interview location at the Hano Hano Resort near Heahea City, in the eastern part of Akala Island.

According to the Oranguru, this academy seemed to have a cooperative relationship with this famously largest resort in Alola, and many chef Pokémon graduating from the academy were arranged to work at the resort.

Dishes personally prepared by Pokémon were considered one of the special features of the Hano Hano Resort.

During the journey, Luo Mu searched online for the Hano Hano Resort and was surprised to discover that hotel reservations there were already booked up until the end of next year.

In his impression, perhaps only Chairman Zhi Mi's restaurant was more exaggerated than this; it seemed today they might truly find a satisfactory Pokémon chef.

Although people in the Alola region were quite accustomed to mount Pokémon, as they traveled along the road to the Hano Hano Resort, many envious gazes still fell upon the Spectrier.

Compared to the flashy Spectrier, his own Tauros, Machamp, and Jynx suddenly seemed much less impressive.

It was approximately one-thirty in the afternoon.

As the Spectrier came to a halt, a large building with an exterior that looked quite grand and imposing came into view.

Outside the building was a large swimming pool constructed by the Hano Hano Resort; many people in swimwear kept glancing over, and especially when they saw the Spectrier leap and dive into Luo Mu's shadow, a chorus of exclaimations erupted.

Luo Mu was long accustomed to others' attention; without changing expression, he called out the Oranguru.

The Oranguru quickly got into character, took out its carried tablet, and made a phone call; shortly after, a woman with dark skin ran out from the hotel's main entrance.

Her attire was quite revealing, her brown hair tied into a single ponytail, with red highlights on her forehead that looked somewhat like a rooster's comb.

Luo Mu always felt these few characteristics seemed somewhat familiar, but for the moment he couldn't recall who they were associated with.

The woman flashed a cheerful smile and jogged with clear purpose to stand before Luo Mu and the Oranguru.

"Alola, are you two the bosses coming for the interview today?"

"Let me introduce myself; I am Amara, and today I am responsible for leading you both to participate in the interview session."

The woman friendly extended her hand toward Luo Mu and the Oranguru.

"Alola."

After politely shaking hands with her, Luo Mu and the Oranguru also greeted her.

Perhaps because Luo Mu's gaze was too conspicuous, Amara, finding it strange why he kept staring at her, asked puzzledly, "Is there something on my face?"

"No, I just feel you look somewhat familiar."

Luo Mu's face was full of confusion, feeling he was just one step away from remembering.

"Although I'd love to say I have a husband, plus a son and a daughter, judging by your demeanor, you don't seem like a low-class flirt; so tell me, why do you feel I look familiar?"

Amara crossed her arms, appearing to allow Luo Mu to examine her at will.

A few seconds later, those intensely noticeable red highlights on Amara finally sparked inspiration in Luo Mu; his eyes lit up as he said, "I remember now! At the Pokémon School on Melemele Island, that student who uses Turtonator has highlights just like yours!"

"His name is Kiawe, right?"

Not entirely sure if Amara knew the person, Luo Mu's voice carried a hint of hesitation.

Who would have expected Amara's eyes to light up immediately as she excitedly exclaimed, "Oh? You know my son?"

"Not exactly well-acquainted."

"That doesn't matter; come with me quickly! Leave the task of introducing outstanding graduates to me!"

Amara was clearly a very enthusiastic lady; upon hearing that Luo Mu seemed to know Kachi, she immediately excitedly led him and the Oranguru toward the hotel lobby.

As they walked, she continued, "This place is just my part-time job; my family's main business is running a ranch. Since you know Kachi, you must come visit us later! I'll treat you to unlimited servings of our famous Akala Ice Cream!"

"Ah, sure."

Luo Mu and the Oranguru followed her into the hotel lobby.

The first thing that met his eyes was decor far more magnificent than the outside world; people came and went, making it look quite lively, somewhat resembling the super-large bathhouses from Luo Mu's memories before his transmigration.

Amara said the interview would be on the second floor; when they took the elevator up to the second floor, an even more spacious environment came into view.

Accompanying this sight was an olfactory bomb composed of the aromas of various different dishes, doing everything possible to drill into his nostrils.

(End of Chapter)