Chapter 60: What Should One Do on a Rainy Day?

After a moment of hesitation, Luo Mu, just to be safe, dialed the phone number Principal Mu Fei had given him during the faculty meeting.

Beep, beep, beep—

The call was answered quickly, and Mu Fei's voice came through the handset: "Is there something you need, Teacher Luo Mu?"

Luo Mu organized his thoughts and said, "Regarding the message you just sent to everyone, just to be safe, I wanted to ask..."

"That message?"

Mu Fei understood immediately and chuckled, "It means exactly what it says. While battle studies can certainly teach theoretical knowledge in the classroom, the weather is a bit terrible right now. I also heard from an acquaintance that a typhoon seems to be forming over the Paldea sea; by the time it arrives, even theoretical classes will likely have to be suspended."

"Although you, Teacher Luo Mu, could ride your Dragonite over here, Naranja Academy isn't so heartless as to force you to endure such extreme weather just to get to campus for class."

"Until the typhoon passes, please stay home and rest. Oh, and don't worry, your salary will still be paid in full."

Luo Mu was momentarily at a loss for words: "Uh..."

Was Naranja Academy really not running a charity?

Even with this sudden holiday, Luo Mu found he didn't know what to do with himself.

With the heavy rain pouring down, it was definitely impossible to go to the farming district to plant seeds; fortunately, he had had the foresight earlier to spend some money building basic drainage channels, otherwise he would have to worry about standing water drowning his crops.

Activities in both the farming district and the ranch district were temporarily impossible to carry out, so it seemed he could only stay at home and relax for a while.

After washing up, Luo Mu first went to the living room.

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly; to avoid the rain, Moltres had also entered the living room, where Growlithe was snuggled against it resting, and Luo Mu's second missing cotton slipper was currently pinned under Growlithe's head, seemingly being used as a pillow.

Shaking his head helplessly, seeing how soundly Growlithe was sleeping, Luo Mu didn't wake it just for the sake of a slipper; besides, he was wearing his spare pair right now anyway.

Under Moltres's gaze, Luo Mu walked lightly to the fireplace and added another log to the fire.

While adding the wood, Luo Mu stared at the orange-red flames streaked with hints of gold in the hearth, his mind wandering aimlessly.

He recalled that in the Kanto and Johto regions, Moltres's flames seemed to be worshipped as a sacred fire; during the liveliest competitions like the Indigo Conference and the Silver Conference, the sacred fire was lit in the torches within the stadiums.

So what did this make him?

Using sacred fire just to keep warm?

Moltres's gaze followed Luo Mu's back; noticing him crouching by the fireplace and staring intently at the flames it had exhaled, Moltres suddenly felt a chill of unease for some reason.

Moltres felt that this human, Luo Mu, was thinking of something disrespectful, but since it was currently staying under another's roof, Moltres found it inconvenient to show any reaction.

Moltres knew its injuries had completely healed and it could spread its wings and leave this farm at any time, but when Moltres considered the reaction of the clingy little dog sleeping beside it, it momentarily couldn't bear to do so.

At least... at least it should wait until Growlithe grew a bit older, and then it could teach the pup some moves; otherwise, Moltres wouldn't feel at ease leaving.

Ending his aimless internal ramblings, Luo Mu stood up, stepped past Moltres, and walked toward the other side of the living room; their gazes met only for an instant, neither having any desire to communicate.

Moltres felt guilty, fearing that if Luo Mu opened his mouth, the first words out would be telling it that it could go back now.

As for Luo Mu, he felt that probably most legendary Pokémon were like Moltres—aloof and unapproachable to other creatures; it was only because he had personally hatched Growlithe that their relationship was closer.

Since it wanted to stay on the farm temporarily because of Growlithe, then let it stay; although Moltres's status as a legendary Pokémon might bring some trouble, he, Luo Mu, wasn't so pathetic that he couldn't even protect a single Moltres.

Because of Growlithe, both sides maintained a certain tacit understanding.

On the other side of the living room, besides Luxray lying on the ground, shouldering the "responsibility" of watching over the messenger bird he had rescued, Poliwag was also sleeping here temporarily due to the heavy rain and the late hour.

Apart from those Pokémon without hands or feet that could only live in water, creatures like Poliwag were perfectly capable of resting on land.

Luxray's sleep was very light, which had something to do with its experiences before meeting Luo Mu; the instant Luo Mu's footsteps approached, Luxray opened its eyes, its expression completely clear and alert.

Luo Mu placed his hand on Luxray's fur and stroked it gently, saying, "Thank you for checking on the messenger bird's condition tonight."

Luxray nodded slightly, its throat emitting a series of purring sounds, indicating that it was currently enjoying Luo Mu's touch.

Inside the brightly lit living room, the crackling sound of the burning firewood formed the starkest contrast with the whimpering, howling wind outside the window; the ability of a house to shelter one from wind and rain truly could bring people a sense of security.

Luo Mu greatly enjoyed such a tranquil moment; he picked up the slightly sleepy-eyed Poliwag, which had been woken by Luxray's movements, and simultaneously cast his gaze toward the peacefully sleeping messenger bird, asking, "Did you clean its body?"

"Gururu!"

Poliwag instinctively nodded, then immediately froze; it glanced sideways at Luo Mu, worried that he might think this had been its own unauthorized decision.

In Luo Mu's eyes, the messenger bird looked like a completely different Pokémon compared to how it had appeared last night.

Scattered around its temporary nest were feathers that had turned charred black from the lightning, and the messenger bird had transformed from the black blob last night, whose specific appearance had been unclear, into a pitiful little bird with almost all its feathers gone.

With its feathers lost, most of the messenger bird's skin was exposed, yet it showed no obvious signs of discomfort; the reason it tolerated the cold weather so well was probably because the messenger bird itself possessed the Ice type.

Luo Mu withdrew his gaze and, noticing Poliwag's somewhat evasive eyes, understood instantly.

It seemed this clever little fellow was worrying about unnecessary things again.

Breaking into a warm smile, Luo Mu gently stroked Poliwag's head in his arms and said, "Don't worry, I won't blame you."

"You did very well; given the messenger bird's current condition, using Bubble Beam to clean its body was the right choice; leaving those feathers on would only hinder the growth of new ones."

Poliwag breathed a sigh of relief, its demeanor becoming lively once again.

After comforting Poliwag, Luo Mu couldn't help but sigh that caring for a Pokémon's psychology was also a field of study; handing it over to Luxray to look after, he headed straight for the kitchen.

Before even reaching the kitchen door, Luo Mu heard rhythmic chopping sounds; thinking of the instructions he had given Ceruledge last night, Luo Mu smiled and opened the kitchen door directly.

Ceruledge wore an apron patterned with ocean waves, its sharp eyes, usually so keen in battle, fixed unblinkingly on the ingredients on the cutting board, while its Flame Sword, capable of breaking through even Mega Blastoise's defenses, was skillfully dicing several carrots into cubes.

That was the new apron Luo Mu had specially selected for it in Levincia City.