Chapter 599: Evolution Under the Moonlight

Afternoon.

Luo Mu and Hearing Hearing Nimo enjoyed a sumptuous lunch prepared by the Audino and the Falinks; at the table, he also instructed the Oranguru to keep an eye on Hearing Nimo this afternoon, ensuring she didn't just battle endlessly without resting, as that would be nothing but harmful to Champion Test Number 12.

With everything arranged, Luo Mu, who just moments ago had worn the air of a teacher, now resembled a student; clutching several medical textbooks thicker than his own life, he took heavy steps toward the interior of Cortondo.

Cortondo Pokémon Center.

At this moment, Joy Lin was struggling with a document issued by the official Paldea League headquarters.

The Joy family was responsible for the global Pokémon medical system, yet due to the distances between regions, it was subdivided into different branches for each region.

Strictly speaking, the Joy family essentially developed within their respective leagues, holding a certain degree of influence, but there was no such thing as a headquarters or a main house.

Therefore, tasks issued by their affiliated league were generally not ignored by them.

Let alone the fact that this was beneficial to them—or at least, that was what the older generation of Joys believed.

"Forward-Looking Manual on Strengthening the Pokémon Center's Ability to Respond to Sudden Crises."

This was the main title of the "manual" in her hands, which was nearly thick enough to compete with a dictionary.

It was compiled by the Paldea League Headquarters, though the specific personnel were not listed.

As far as she knew, this absurdly thick manual had been precisely distributed to every employed Joy at every Pokémon Center.

Her older cousin, younger female cousins, and distant relatives had all received identical manuals.

Joy Lin dared to guarantee that if she ever found out who participated in compiling this "manual" or who proposed these rotten ideas, she would not hesitate to use her "uprooting a weeping willow" strength to give them a proper reception.

Truly, they had committed every evil deed possible.

Clearly, their usual workload was already busy enough, yet they still had to find time to study all the basic knowledge inside, claiming it was related to a tactic that could enhance the defensive capabilities of Pokémon Centers in the future.

Because the Pokémon Centers in the Paldea region were relatively peaceful and stable, they were being used as a pilot site first; only after summarizing the experience would it be popularized to Pokémon Centers in other regions—did they consider them to be lab rats?

In a while, they were even going to arrange an examination; simply inhuman!

When Luo Mu arrived at the Cortondo Pokémon Center with the Eevee sisters, what he saw was Joy Lin, reeking of the grind, flipping through a thick book with a face full of resentment.

Luo Mu thought it was some kind of medical pharmacopoeia or similar and asked curiously, "Still grinding during lunch break?"

Joy Lin looked up at him, rolled her eyes, and said, "What are you thinking? This is a training task included in the performance assessment."

"... Oh."

Luo Mu's expression immediately turned strange; indeed, this sort of thing was quite torturous.

But his question was like opening a floodgate for Joy Lin; the other party immediately began to complain incessantly.

The more Luo Mu listened, the more he felt something was off; especially when he heard her say viciously, "Wait until I find out who came up with this rotten idea, I'm definitely going to hammer them like a tree," he broke out in a cold sweat.

He finally figured out the whole matter.

Because of that random exhibition battle between the Naranja/Uva Academy teachers and the Gym Leaders at Grape Academy, the Chansey he commanded had given Geeta a bold idea: to popularize the "Minimize, Toxic, Seismic Toss, Rock Slide, Serene Grace Egg" strategy to strengthen the self-defense capabilities of Pokémon Centers.

His student, Joy Shizuka, was that number one lab rat; recently, he had often seen Shizuka and Brother Brother Qingmu being frequently summoned to the Chairman's office; it seemed this slightly overly thick "manual" was something she, Brother Brother Qingmu—the Normal-type expert—and perhaps other auxiliary staff had cooked up together.

Geeta most likely wanted to lay the groundwork first at the Pokémon Centers under the jurisdiction of the Paldea League, and later, based on Shizuka's progress, continue to optimize it.

Who knew if Joy Lin, this extraordinary woman capable of uprooting a weeping willow, would think he was the source of all evil and then impose an iron-fisted sanction upon him.

Driven by a strong desire for survival, Luo Mu didn't dare to chime in at all; instead, he changed the subject, placing the afternoon tea desserts prepared by Shuang Nai Xian on the Pokémon Center front desk, and indirectly suggested it was time to start studying.

He had never loved studying as much as he did today.

Over there, the daily routine of supplementary lessons began; meanwhile, the Chansey, having just finished patrolling the wards, fixed its gaze on the Eevee sisters, feeling slightly disappointed.

It had wanted to say that it would play a few more rounds of poker with the Comfey today; recently, after playing a few hands with several patient Pokémon, Chansey felt its luck was improving again.

This time, it definitely wouldn't lose easily to Comfey!

Since Comfey hadn't come, practicing with these two little Eevees didn't seem impossible either...

Thinking this, Chansey's eyes flashed with an eerie light; it moved its steps, thrusting forward its round and bouncy body, and walked toward them.

Who would have expected that Joy Lin, who was teaching Luo Mu, seemed to have eyes on the back of her head; a stern rebuke arrived immediately.

"Chansey, do not teach the children bad things!"

Joy Lin slapped the table and stood up with a "swish," glaring angrily at Chansey.

Meanwhile, Luo Mu looked at the solid wood table, which had cracked open, with an expression of terror.

Recently, Joy Lin had constantly received reports stating that after trainers or ordinary families left their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center for fostering and treatment, those Pokémon returned home having developed varying degrees of gambling addiction.

In the most severe cases, they had no mind for training whatsoever; their heads were full of nothing but playing cards!

After she checked the surveillance footage, she discovered that this fellow Chansey often slipped into the wards in the middle of the night while she was asleep, dragging the Pokémon in the wards up to play cards with it.

Not only did this cause everyone to develop a gambling addiction, but they all ended up with dark circles under their eyes; Chansey's were especially severe, almost catching up to the Pangoro in the photos sent by the sisters from Kalos!

And now, Chansey actually wanted to drag the Eevee sisters into this bottomless abyss?

Joy Lin had heard their story from Luo Mu; especially since she had once participated in treating the older Eevee sister, she could not bear to see such a thing happen.

What a pair of spirited eyes; if they were tainted by these things, they would become absent-minded like Chansey, thinking about playing cards all day long.

Storming over to Chansey in a rage, Joy Lin rummaged through the pouch on its belly where the egg was kept and, sure enough, found a brand-new, unopened deck of playing cards.

"This is confiscated, and tonight's gathering at the izakaya is canceled!"

Amidst Chansey's reluctant and disappointed expression, Joy Lin threw the deck of cards into the trash can right in front of it.

Once Joy Lin had walked far away, under the curious gazes of the Eevee sisters, Chansey finally stopped acting and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It subconsciously touched the nurse's hat perched on its head, then carefully straightened it to prevent the object inside from falling out or making a sound.

However, even if this deck of cards was discovered, it didn't matter; it would only cause Joy Lin's vigilance, which had just subsided a bit, to spring up again.

As a Pokémon nurse with official establishment status at the Pokémon Center, Chansey naturally had its own share of wages.

Even though the details of its overt wages could not escape Joy Lin's eyes, over these years it had quietly saved a stash of private money; combined with what it had accumulated from playing cards with those patient Pokémon, it was enough to buy hundreds of decks of playing cards.

The only thing it worried about was Joy Lin's strict scrutinizing gaze and her occasional surprise inspections.

But judging by the current situation, the other party had clearly completely relaxed; it seemed tonight it could invite a few card-playing friends to gather at the Pokémon Center!

In Chansey's mung-bean-sized eyes flashed a light that made the Eevee sisters feel an inexplicable sense of fear.

After two full hours of tutoring, and to prevent himself from being "exposed," Luo Mu skipped even his afternoon tea, bid farewell to Joy Rin, and fled immediately with the Eevee sisters flanking him on both sides.

However, he did not return to the farm immediately; instead, he rushed to Mesagoza before five o'clock.

"Let me see, it should be right here."

Holding up a gold-embossed business card, Luo Mu looked around at his surroundings.

Then he spotted his target—a car dealership that, at a single glance, was clearly not a place ordinary people could enter.

Harboring the thought, "I'm just here to look, not necessarily to buy," Luo Mu stood before the automatically opening and closing glass doors.

Besides, he didn't believe such a high-end dealership would have the type of vehicle he needed; from the very beginning, he had never included those flashy luxury cars that were merely good-looking in his list of candidates.

But when Sebastian handed him the business card, that slightly meaningful smile still filled him with a sliver of expectation.

The doors opened, and suitable warm air carrying a certain woody scent rushed toward him. It wasn't like sandalwood; it was more like cedar mixed with the scent of some kind of metal.

The moment his sneakers sank into the carpet, a different sensation underfoot transmitted from the point of contact; Luo Mu remained expressionless at this, feeling not the slightest embarrassment, nor would such a thought ever arise in him.

"Vee~"

The Eevee sisters' eyes sparkled as they looked around; this was their first time in such an environment!

The halo of the crystal chandelier flowed across the black marble floor as a pair of gleaming leather shoes approached from afar, belonging to a male sales consultant dressed in a dark gray suit.

The moment the other party saw Luo Mu, he immediately ran over, his right hand, clad in a pristine white glove, making a guiding gesture.

"Greetings, Mr., may I ask if you are here to select your desired beloved car?"

The sales consultant's attitude was extremely good; even though Luo Mu was wearing casual clothes, he did not display the slightest hint of rudeness.

Luo Mu did not answer immediately; instead, he looked left and right at the interior environment of the dealership, discovering that there were only a handful of luxury cars parked here. Apart from some on display, most were likely already ordered by someone and awaiting pickup.

After all, before his transmigration, he had watched immersive car-selection videos; usually, one selects and places an order on-site, then the vehicle is assembled according to requirements before being delivered to the dealership.

Merely looking at these cars with their cool exteriors and ultra-low chassis, he still felt a slight urge to retreat in his heart.

It was exactly as he had expected; he might as well just go to the place he had previously found to look—

But Luo Mu still asked without hope, "I plan to look at pickup trucks or off-road vehicles; you probably don't have any here, do you?"

"We do, Mr."

The male sales consultant smiled and answered without the slightest hesitation.

Luo Mu: "????"

Wait, they actually do?

The male sales consultant's gaze fell upon the business card Luo Mu held in his right hand; if he wasn't mistaken, that was likely a card given out by his direct superior, the dealership owner.

It didn't matter how this young Mr. had obtained it.

He only knew that for a guest like this, even if they didn't have what was needed, they must have it.

Moreover, their dealership actually did have them.

"Let me take you to see them. By the way, would you like something to drink? We also provide dinner. As for your two lovely Eevee partners, we can have our staff take them to the Pokémon Park specially prepared for them to play."

The sales consultant spoke at a pace that allowed Luo Mu to hear every word clearly, radiating meticulous care.

At his signal, another person approached from the other side—a woman wearing an extremely affable smile, looking less like a salesperson and more like a breeder.

Luo Mu had to admit that their service was indeed very good.

Since things were this way, he stopped being hesitant; instead, he squatted down to pat the Eevee sisters' heads and asked, "Do you want to go play, or choose a car with me?"

The older and younger Eevee sisters exchanged a glance and, without hesitation, chose to cling to Luo Mu's pant legs.

Even though they weren't very afraid of strangers, they didn't want to leave casually with strangers!

Receiving their answer, Luo Mu flashed an apologetic smile at that woman.

"Sorry, it seems they want to stay with me."

"It's fine; then I'll prepare drinks for you. Is there anything you'd like to drink? Our dealership has..."

The other party didn't mind in the least and smoothly changed the subject instead.

Luo Mu thought for a moment and said, "Just a glass of ice water for me, and warm Tapu Tapu Moumou milk for them."

At home, he was always restricted by the Oranguru from drinking cold beverages; today was a perfect chance to secretly have a glass.

"Understood."

The other party nodded lightly, turned, and left.

Meanwhile, Luo Mu was led by the initial male sales consultant to a room where a tablet computer was placed before him.

On the lit screen, numerous car models awaited Luo Mu's selection; it was just that the prices didn't look very pleasant.

Counting that string of zeros, Luo Mu pondered how many farms' worth of land he could buy, or how many Tera Orbs he could craft.

Under the filtering of specific terms by the sales consultant, the number of car models rapidly decreased; soon, several Jeep off-road models that looked quite tempting were listed one by one.

"If you definitely want a pickup truck, customization may be required. However, if you are unwilling to wait approximately one month, I actually have a new model to recommend to you."

While Luo Mu browsed the car models, the sales consultant spoke.

The other party's attitude was very good, so Luo Mu didn't mind the sales pitch and casually replied, "What is it?"

"Judging by your appearance, you seem to be a Trainer; this car model is very suitable for you and your Pokémon to go on a road trip together."

The sales consultant smiled, used the tablet in his hand to bring up an interface, and placed it before Luo Mu.

Looking at the car model above, Luo Mu displayed a surprised expression and whispered, "An RV?"

Evening.

Just before dinner, Luo Mu returned to the farm with the Eevee sisters.

Hearing Hearing Nimo had already been picked up and taken home by Sebastian; the other party seemingly felt it was improper to let Hearing Hearing Nimo mooch meals at Luo Mu's farm all day long.

This was the case even though Hearing Hearing Nimo still wanted to train after dinner until bedtime.

Hearing Hearing Nimo could only pull a long face, make an appointment with Luo Mu to come early tomorrow morning for exercise to make final preparations for the day-after-tomorrow's Champion Test, and only then get into the car with Sebastian.

There was no snow tonight, and the moonlight was excellent, so everyone at the farm shared dinner outdoors.

Zhi Zhi Hui Xing asked curiously at the makeshift dining table, "Did you find a car that suits your taste today?"

Luo Mu hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded lightly. "I found an RV I like; I plan to test drive it tomorrow."

Recalling the RV equipped with numerous high-tech modules, Luo Mu admitted he was indeed somewhat tempted.

Eevee Big Sister and Little Sister, who were enjoying their own meal, heard Luo Mu and Zhi Zhi Hui Xing's exchange, lifted their small heads, twitched their rabbit-like ears, and a glimmer of longing flashed in their bright black eyes.

They remembered what happened this afternoon, when the sales consultant mentioned they could go on a road trip in an RV.

They felt a little hopeful; if only that could happen.

As Little Sister Eevee fantasized, a scene from her imagination flashed through her mind, followed immediately by the image of Luo Mu's face.

She wanted to stay with Luo Mu forever, the one who had helped her and taken her and her sister in, whether on a road trip or staying on the farm.

The next second.

Even Little Sister Eevee herself did not realize that in the instant moonlight spilled over her silvery-white fur, her mood seemed to resonate with the moonlight, and the recessive genes within her body were completely activated at that moment.

Dense milky-white light enveloped her small body.

No one had expected that Little Sister Eevee would begin to evolve without any warning.

(End of this chapter)