Chapter 591: Special Fireworks

Lalus City.

Luo Mu still retained a vague impression of this city; after a brief moment of thought, he went online to look it up.

Lalus City was a famous high-tech city in the Hoenn region, where sidewalks were replaced by moving walkways, and cube-shaped robots, coordinated by artificial intelligence, managed the entire city.

Lalus City also possessed a Battle Tower that frequently hosted various types of competitions; even Hoenn's Elite Four and Champion had performed exhibition matches there.

As for that Dr. Londo, he was one of the administrators of Lalus City, as well as a scientist.

However, Luo Mu remembered that he should not know the other party, nor should he have ever met him.

Why, then, would the other party send such a letter?

Unable to figure it out, Luo Mu simply tore open the envelope and began reading its contents.

The letter's content was simple; aside from polite New Year greetings, most of the information served as an invitation.

The gist was that Dr. Londo, as one of Lalus City's administrators, was inviting Luo Mu to participate in an exhibition match held at the Lalus City Battle Tower.

The performance fee was to be discussed in person. Luo Mu felt this exhibition match might merely be a pretext to invite him over; the other party's true purpose remained uncertain.

But all in all, there probably weren't many traps.

Since the other party had provided a quite generous reply window, Luo Mu simply set the letter aside separately, planning to ponder for a few days before deciding whether to accept the invitation.

Having finished reading the letter, Luo Mu sighed as he thought about having to reply to everyone individually tomorrow, then returned to continuing tonight's New Year's Eve preparations.

With seven great chefs now handling the food preparation, Luo Mu was liberated from that duty; he only needed to prepare the special dish he had specifically saved for today.

Over the past month, Luo Mu had researched this dish extensively; he wasn't sure if it could truly be considered authentic Phantom Alolan Cream Stew.

But personally, Luo Mu felt the taste had met the standard and should be quite popular.

As dusk approached.

After a full day of Yi Tian De Gong, the entire farm had been decorated in a festive atmosphere strung with lanterns and colorful ribbons; colored lights wound through the trees, their bright illumination lighting up the whole farm.

As this was the first New Year's Eve since the farm's establishment, everyone had exerted their utmost effort, intending to make this year's celebration become the most unforgettable and beautiful memory.

After finishing his tasks, under the curious gazes of the Pokémon, Luo Mu mysteriously returned to his room, then emerged carrying a large pile of items and began distributing them one by one to the Pokémon.

"Bi-mi?"

Victini, having likewise received an item distributed by Luo Mu, tilted its head, staring at the rectangular red object in its hand with complete bewilderment.

It attempted to seek an answer from Luo Mu.

Luo Mu smiled and explained to it: "This is a red envelope, also called 'yasui Xiao Qian' (New Year's money); it contains my best wishes for you, hoping you will grow up healthy, safe, and happy in the coming year."

"You can also treat this as a gift received only during a specific period each year; there is some money inside that you are free to use however you wish, whether asking me to help buy things or going to town to purchase items yourselves."

Lei Guan Wang, who had likewise received red envelopes—two of them—held Cosmog while listening to Luo Mu's explanation, nodding thoughtfully.

"So that's how it is."

It simply placed the red envelope Luo Mu had given it into Cosmog's arms, hoping it would grow up healthy just as Luo Mu had said.

Seeing Seeing Kapu likewise imitated Lei Guan Wang's example, stuffing its red envelope into Popplio's arms.

In contrast to those two, Moltres and Serperior, facing the "covetous" gazes of Feng Su Gou, Milcery, and Tropius, immediately wore tense expressions as they blocked their line of sight to the red envelopes.

I still need to use it to buy food! / This is a gift Luo Mu gave me!

Different thoughts simultaneously floated in the minds of the two Pokémon; clearly, they represented two completely opposite extremes compared to Lei Guan Wang and Seeing Seeing Kapu.

Luo Mu distributed red envelopes all around, from Luxray to the Tauros; even the Zygarde Core, which ate and drank for free, received one.

It was the first time receiving a gift from a human; the Zygarde Core wagged its tail, pondering whether this counted as accepting a bribe.

I am a guardian of order, an inspector of ecological balance!

Having received these benefits, should I turn a blind eye to things that have not yet happened but might occur in the future?

After the sky turned completely dark, a large table of New Year's Eve dinner prepared by the Falinks and Audino filled the long table to the brim; the enticing aroma was so strong that even Luxray nearly lost control, saliva constantly secreting from its mouth.

Gazing at that table of dishes perfect in color, aroma, and taste, there was only one word: Craving!

Seeing that the Pokémon could hardly wait, Luo Mu said no unnecessary words, instead declaring directly: "Then let's eat!"

Upon hearing this, the Pokémon's eyes lit up, and they immediately began to feast heartily.

Just as everyone was eating with great enjoyment, a crackling burst of sound suddenly rang out from overhead.

It wasn't that something had gone wrong; rather, the neighboring Jones Ranch was setting off fireworks.

Gazing further toward the distant sky, lights occasionally soared upward from Flat Dish Town, transforming into fireworks that briefly bloomed with their utmost beauty.

The sound of the fireworks blooming startled everyone, who had already eaten until their bellies were round and smooth; they all gathered by the windows to look outside.

Ogerpon gazed at the sky, its star-shaped eyes reflecting the beauty of the fireworks, its heart filled with nostalgia.

It remembered that long ago, it too had worn a mask and joined that person for the Kitakami Mask Festival; the fireworks back then seemed just as dazzling to Ogerpon as they were now.

The Eevee sisters lay atop Tinkatuff's head, staring blankly at the sky, their small cheeks occasionally illuminated by the glow of the fireworks.

Having always lived in the wild, this was the first time they had witnessed such a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Behind them, Luo Mu quickly pulled out his camera; with a click of the shutter, he took countless consecutive photos.

There were photos of the fireworks, and photos of the Pokémon.

After picking and choosing for quite some time, he finally transmitted the photos via the Black Sphere to the Delibird currently in the Hoenn region.

What he did not know, however, was that during the spatial transmission, a backdoor established on the Black Sphere opened, and the photos were intercepted midway by a "mysterious" large hand bearing three paw pads.

Cloaked in a tattered linen-colored robe, Mewtwo stood alone atop a city's clock tower, carefully browsing through the photos; gradually, its naturally somewhat "bitter and deeply resentful" facial expression softened slightly as it raised its head to gaze at the sky.

Brilliant fireworks filled the black sky; the people of this city were also celebrating the annual New Year's Eve.

Mewtwo thought that at this moment, it should be gazing at the same starry sky as Luo Mu and the others, as well as the cloned Pokémon it had settled.

A faint arc curved at the corner of its mouth; with a slight movement of Mewtwo's mind, the Black Sphere floating in its palm automatically unfolded, and following a burst of light, it transmitted to the Delibird staying in the wild, who was currently gazing boredly at the starry sky.

Outskirts of Flat Dish Town.

Seeing that the fireworks in the sky were gradually becoming fewer, with the next wave likely waiting until the exact moment of the New Year.

Observing the Pokémon's expressions, which still showed some lingering desire, Luo Mu smiled and said: "Since everyone is full, let's all go outside to set off fireworks together!"

Fortunately, having anticipated this event, he had already purchased enough fireworks in town for everyone to enjoy to their heart's content.

With Lei Guan Wang and Zhi Hui Xing present, there was no need to worry about anything going wrong, so Luo Mu simply stayed behind to clean up the aftermath.

Meanwhile, outside the house, the Pokémon had already tried setting off the first round of fireworks.

"If we just set off fireworks like that ordinarily, it seems there's nothing new—"

Feeling that something was off, Moltres offered its own opinion.

Its proposal received unanimous agreement from most of the Pokémon.

Indeed, although Luo Mu had asked Zhi Hui Xing to teach everyone how to launch those large fireworks that shoot straight into the sky, and had also taught the method for playing with ordinary small fireworks,

because Luo Mu had bought the fireworks in Pingdie Town, most of them ended up being identical to the ones that had exploded earlier; while they seemed somewhat interesting when first launched, they ultimately lacked a bit of "surprise."

Possessing a spirit of exploration and believing that bigger is better, Tinkaton offered its own idea.

"Kanu~"

I think we can combine multiple fireworks together; this might create a change that will surprise the Pokémon~

Tinkaton's voice was clearly conveyed to the Pokémon present.

Under Zhi Hui Xing's slightly worried expression, several fireworks were combined together, their fuses merged, and Feng Su Gou lit them without hesitation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Accompanying the blooming of the fireworks, they discovered with delight that the originally monotonous fireworks, coordinated with other types of fireworks, jointly bloomed into even more beautiful colors!

Everyone immediately became excited, and under Tinkaton's leadership, they began combining fireworks.

Perhaps because the previous fireworks were too beautiful, Cosmog, wearing a scarf, clamored noisily to see even bigger fireworks.

Being somewhat indulgent toward Cosmog, Lei Guan Wang, helplessly, could only entrust Cosmog to Arboliva's care, thinking that fireworks, no matter what, only had that much power anyway.

Under the direction of Tinkaton, whose eyes grew increasingly bright while muttering something about "flame tests," Lei Guan Wang used its psychic power to deconstruct the structure of the fireworks, then used telekinesis to mix the gunpowder and some substances within, before finally resealing them.

But Lei Guan Wang still felt something was missing; wanting to prepare something even better for Cosmog, after a brief moment of thought, it summoned Spiritreiter, mounted it, and injected some special energy into the tube.

Noticing Lei Guan Wang's actions, Moltres also excitedly injected some energy into the tube, and even brought along Victini, egging it on to secretly inject infinite energy later to make the light effects even more spectacular.

After doing all this, Moltres and Tinkaton remembered Zygarde Core, and called it over.

"Inject energy into this?"

Zygarde Core looked suspiciously at the excited Moltres and Tinkaton, recalling the sky during the earlier firework explosions.

Will this really not cause any trouble?

Seeing that Zygarde Core seemed somewhat unwilling, Tinkaton and the others turned their pleading eyes toward Lei Guan Wang.

Lei Guan Wang fell silent for a few seconds, then simply used its psychic abilities to glimpse a brief moment of the future.

Hmm, it looks quite beautiful, and the power should be normal; anyway, it's not as strong as one of my own Star Shatters, so it should be fine.

Probably?

Cosmog's gaze was truly moving; thinking that the problem shouldn't be significant, Lei Guan Wang nodded at Zygarde Core, telling it not to worry.

Seeing that even Lei Guan Wang, whom it considered fairly reliable, had nodded, Zygarde Core also quite wanted to see what the fireworks would look like after injecting its own power.

It generously injected its Order Energy.

Before long, a super-large fireworks tube, looking several times bigger, was forcibly created by them.

The Pokémon gathered around the fireworks with looks of amazement, already beginning to anticipate the explosion.

Having witnessed all of this, Luxray and Zhi Hui Xing fell silent for a few seconds, then silently moved to fetch Luo Mu.

They had a feeling that something extraordinary was about to happen.

The large firework was assembled from three parts, which would sequentially release fireworks carrying energy injected by Lei Guan Wang, Moltres, and Zygarde Core.

Under the influence of their energies, it should explode into three particularly large fireworks.

When Luo Mu was brought out of the house by Luxray and Zhi Hui Xing, what he saw was Feng Su Gou, looking extremely excited, breathing fire to ignite a fuse that was probably as thick as Luo Mu's own wrist.

Meanwhile, Victini's figure flashed briefly near the fireworks and vanished.

Accompanied by the sizzling sound of the fuse being lit, just like the Pokémon, Luo Mu looked up at the sky, anticipating what kind of fireworks would appear next.

The substances in the left firework tube, ignited by the flame, launched first.

Just as a faint, barely perceptible Jin Guang flashed, the next instant, the entire farm shook!

Bang!

Accompanied by a burst of intense light exploding from the mouth of the firework tube, the ignited firework, carrying the powerful energy and the special energy injected by Moltres, soared into the sky, then suddenly exploded.

Boom!!!

The night sky of Pingdie Town, at this moment, briefly turned into day.

Amidst the fireworks exploding across the sky, countless colorful streams of fire scattered in all directions, vaguely forming the shape of a fire bird.

"... Sacred Fire?"

Feeling his ears ring painfully, Luo Mu stared dumbfounded at Moltres; before he could even question it, the next round of explosions arrived.

Similar to before, but even more intense, the disturbance struck; propelled by powerful energy, the firework exploded high in the sky.

Within a huge mushroom cloud flashing with strange green light, the symbol "Z" was faintly visible, followed immediately by dissolving into points of light.

Is this Core Enforcer?

For the third explosion, countless small, dark yet brilliant spirits bloomed together with the fireworks.

Star Shatter.

Indeed, as Lei Guan Wang had said, because the range of the firework explosion was high enough, those below would hardly be affected.

But this power—

Luo Mu's vision went dark; he deeply suspected whether Zhi Hui Xing's earlier retelling of Lei Guan Wang's original words, "the power isn't very great," might have contained a miscommunication.

Not long ago, at the Pingdie Town Police Station.

Miss Miss Junsha, forced to work even on New Year's Eve, lay face down on her desk with a look of pure exhaustion; listening to the sound of fireworks blooming, she felt truly miserable that she had drawn the short straw for the New Year's Eve shift again this year.

Gazing at the brilliant fireworks blooming in the sky, Miss Miss Junsha pondered that next year she must avoid the fate of working on New Year's Eve and find a suitable marriage partner this year to break free from the destiny of being an older single person!

Just as Miss Miss Junsha was enjoying visions of a wonderful future life, a tremendous boom shook her so violently she nearly couldn't catch her breath.

Gazing at the spectacular, tremor-inducing "fireworks" blooming one after another in the sky, Miss Miss Junsha, who had instinctively stood up, wore a face full of shock.

"T-terrorist attack!?"

(End of this chapter)