Chapter 636: Bagogo

“Hello, I’m Yao, and this is my younger brother Sheng.”

The girl named Yao introduced herself with a hint of shyness.

She had medium-length brown hair tied into a fluffy ponytail, paired with a red headband bearing a white Poké Ball emblem.

Her red T-shirt, dark blue shorts, and white skirt gave her a slightly sporty look; a yellow waist pouch was snugly tied around her slender waist—by development alone, the girl clearly matured earlier than her peers.

Beside Yao, a boy about Yu Lijia’s age, wearing a green short-sleeve shirt and brown shorts with thick black-rimmed glasses, stared eagerly at Luo Mu, his enthusiasm almost overwhelming.

“I recognize you, big brother! You solved the Sacred Bird incident in the Orange Islands, and you’re the very pinnacle of Trainers—the Champion!”

“I heard that Nimo, who became Champion just a year after starting her journey in the Paldea region, was personally trained by you!”

Even as his sister whispered reminders to calm down, Sheng couldn’t contain himself.

To him, who had dreamed since childhood of becoming a Trainer, Luo Mu was nothing short of legend.

And today, that legend stood right before him!

Ash, equally excited as Sheng, chattered nonstop beside Luo Mu.

If not for Brock’s reminder, the boy might have stood at the station exit and recounted every detail of his journey through Hoenn.

You ask how Luo Mu reacted to them?

He was numb.

Not just because he was about to be dragged into a movie plot—how tragic.

But also because he’d planned to disembark a little later to avoid them, yet Ash’s group broke all rules, took the wrong path, and walked straight into the business-class car right into his lap.

And so, he was immediately surrounded.

The only consolation was that Nimo’s group was definitely no longer near Larus City.

But life must go on. Luo Mu sighed, made no dramatic gestures, and calmly greeted them.

Especially Yao and Sheng—he’d never met this brother-sister pair before.

Now that Xia Xia had returned home to inherit the Vermilion Gym, starting from Hoenn, Ash’s female traveling companion changed with every region.

Even from Unova onward, Brock ended his journey, and Ash’s male companion began to change too.

As they chatted, they stood together on the moving escalator.

“I didn’t believe Ash when he said it, but I never thought Messenger Bird was really your Pokémon.”

Sheng, searching for conversation, glanced at the Pokémon interacting nearby, his expression thoughtful.

During their travels, though Ash and Pikachu constantly challenged Messenger Bird—and often lost—this Messenger Bird had helped them many times.

Like during the Milaizu Kingdom incident, when everyone was at a loss—if Messenger Bird hadn’t appeared to help, Xia Xia’s Pichu would have been taken for sure.

And during the Fains incident, Messenger Bird also delayed the Earth Demon’s movements.

Now it made sense: Messenger Bird’s strength wasn’t without reason—it was Luo Mu’s Pokémon, after all!

“Compared to other Pokémon, Messenger Bird prefers exploring and traveling outside, honing itself alone—that’s why it’s strong. It has little to do with me.”

Patting Messenger Bird’s head, Luo Mu smiled as he watched it, Bixitini, Bagogo, and Pikachu interact.

At that moment, the escalator brought them to the first floor.

A robot made of four small green squares and one large square floated up to them.

“Welcome to Larus City!”

A cute mechanical voice rang from within the squares; the small squares, powered by unknown means, lifted into the air and reassembled above the large square, revealing English text.

“WELCOME”

“What an adorable welcome!”

Yao’s eyes lit up—she had no resistance to cute things, barely holding back from stomping her foot and yelling “so cute!”

Ash and Sheng marveled: no wonder this was a high-tech city—the greeting robot was this advanced!

Only Brock looked uneasy, disappointed: “I personally think a beautiful lady would make a better welcome.”

Bixitini and the others stared curiously at the square robot—even Messenger Bird, now well-traveled, looked surprised.

It had visited many human cities, but never one like this.

Just then, unexpectedly, a small green square box on top suddenly opened, revealing an internal camera.

The cute voice spoke again.

“Say cheese~”

Click. The flash went off.

“Huh?”

Yao froze, her expression caught mid-astonishment—slightly comical.

After capturing the photo, the robot ignored her and turned to photograph Ash, Brock, Sheng, and Luo Mu.

Luo Mu, having researched Larus City before arriving, explained to the four utterly clueless people: “The photos are uploaded to the city’s database, then a personal access card is issued.”

“To live in or visit this city, you must have this access card—Pokédexes, navigators, and other IDs won’t work.”

As if echoing Luo Mu’s words, the square robot handed each person a completed access card.

“This is your city access card. You can use it for anything—traveling anywhere or making purchases.”

Yao’s card showed a photo that looked like a car crash—perfectly capturing her most unflattering expression. She nearly wept: “Can’t we retake it?”

Obviously impossible.

After issuing access cards to the five, the square robot hurried off to prepare cards for the next passengers.

Luo Mu watched its retreating figure, feeling a quiet awe.

Before his transmigration, many netizens joked this thing was the true top-tier power in this movie.

Don’t be fooled by its cuteness—if enough of them went berserk, they’d swarm like locusts, covering the sky and ground, and even Rayquaza would be overwhelmed.

It’s no wonder humans dominate this planet—some black tech is just absurd.

“Bimi.”

Bixitini clung to Luo Mu’s shoulder, slightly annoyed.

It thought it would get its own photo too—yet the robot didn’t even glance at it.

This was Pokémon discrimination!

Due to the crowd, Ta Le Bagos had retreated back into Luo Mu’s shoulder bag, its two cute eyes peeking out through the gap, observing its surroundings.

Meanwhile, in Larus City’s Urban Management Command Center.

A high-ranking Junsa was monitoring the large screen, safeguarding the city’s order.

When Luo Mu’s photo flashed past as a registrant, the Junsa with excellent memory immediately recalled what Dr. Lendo had told her to watch for.

Without hesitation, she ordered her subordinate: “Contact Dr. Lendo immediately—he’s been notified that his guest has arrived on time!”

In this fully high-tech city, at least outdoors, no one had any privacy.

Luo Mu soon received a call from someone claiming to be Dr. Lendo—the call came directly to a convenience store near the station, and the clerk ran out to hand him the phone.

Because the Battle Tower was famous, Ash had detoured to Larus City specifically for battles.

Luo Mu had never planned to follow their plot, and now that Dr. Lendo’s call had come, he announced he was going to meet the person who invited him to Larus City, bidding farewell to Ash, Sheng, and the others who were reluctant to let him go.

Standing before the steadily moving moving walkway, Luo Mu felt a quiet sense of wonder.

Larus City’s aesthetic truly differed from most cities—high-tech was fully integrated into daily life.

The moving walkway before him seemed to cover the entire city; he wondered which genius had come up with the idea.

And just as he entered Larus City, Dr. Lendo called immediately.

As if the whole city were under constant surveillance.

Compared to the SkyNet of his pre-transmigration country, it might not be much less advanced.

Surprisingly, Dr. Lendo had arranged to meet him in an ordinary café.

In this high-tech city, getting lost was nearly impossible—anyone with an access card could ask the roadside square robots for directions at any time.

After confirming the route, Luo Mu stepped onto the moving walkway.

He didn’t need to walk—the walkway would carry him smoothly along its programmed path to his destination.

“De li!” “Bimi!” “Bagogo!”

Messenger Bird and the others stared curiously at the fast-moving conveyor belt below, their eyes gleaming with eagerness.

They wanted to try it too!

The two Pokémon that could fly simply flapped their wings and landed safely on it; Ta Le Bagos, however, needed Luo Mu to bend down and place it on the belt.

The little turtle opened its bright eyes, overwhelmed by the dizzying sensation—the moving walkway beneath its feet and the scenery around it were too much to take in at once.

After a while, Bixitini, having played enough, planned to go ask Luo Mu for snacks.

As it fluttered its tiny wings upward, it suddenly remembered something and innocently asked Ta Le Bagos: “Biti mi?” (Can Bagogo fly?)

In Bixitini’s view, if Ta Le Bagos could fly too, its chances of getting snacks from Luo Mu would skyrocket!

Then, both it and Bagogo would hover on either side of Luo Mu, being adorable—he’d never resist!

Ta Le Bagos hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Bagogo!”

It could fly—but not now, not here.

Its species could absorb and draw in ambient Terastal energy to change form.

In its former era, due to the overwhelming Terastal energy within its kind’s stronger members, Terastal crystals were everywhere.

For a weaker Ta Le Bagos like itself, changing form only required absorbing the Terastal energy stored in those crystals.

Before leaving home, it might have found occasional Terastal crystals in the environment to help.

But now, there was absolutely no Terastal energy here, and its own stored energy was insufficient to support transformation.

The energy inside Luo Mu’s Terastal Pearl might be enough to sustain his transformation for a while, but that would be putting the cart before the horse.

Tera Borgos looked at Victini with a hint of guilt—he probably couldn’t fulfill its expectations.

Chatot also noticed the communication between the two Pokémon; it had considered simply picking up Tera Borgos and flying off with it.

But it hadn’t expected Victini, after a few seconds of thought, to suddenly flash a brilliant smile, revealing its tiny fangs, and make a “V” sign with its fingers.

“Bimimi!”

It thought this was some hard problem!

Lack of energy? That wasn’t even an issue for it!

Victini directly placed its small hand on Tera Borgos, and a brilliant golden aura surged upward.

Tera Borgos, feeling its internal energy swell beyond anything it had ever known, widened its eyes—and then its body instinctively began to change.

A blinding light fully enveloped its body.

Luo Mu, only now noticing the commotion: “????”

Wait, what are you two doing!?

Luo Mu admitted that when he saw Tera Borgos wrapped in thick crystalline light, he froze for a moment.

Can Tera Borgos even evolve!?

No, how on earth did it suddenly evolve?

But Luo Mu’s confusion didn’t stop Tera Borgos’s “evolution” from continuing.

Within the crystalline light, Tera Borgos’s limbs, neck, and tail grew shimmering blue manes.

As its limbs spread open, its shell suddenly enlarged and became heavily crystallized, covering its limbs entirely—only the small claws of its front limbs remained visible through the manes, the shell’s shape now resembling a disc.

On the back of the shell, eighteen deep-blue pentagonal crystals encircled a central hexagonal Terastal crystal, each pentagon engraved with one of eighteen patterns symbolizing different types.

Having “lost” its limbs, Tera Borgos seemed to have gained flight instinctively, floating effortlessly in midair.

Luo Mu stared, eyes wide, unable to believe the sight before him.

“What… is this?”

The commotion drew the attention of other pedestrians on the moving walkway.

Many turned to look, pulling out their phones to take photos.

“Tera Borgos!”

Tera Borgos was highly sensitive to stares; realizing it had become unusually conspicuous, it let out a panicked cry and immediately reversed the transformation it had unconsciously initiated.

Just like when reversing Terastallization, as the crystals shattered, Tera Borgos reverted to its previous form—a small turtle.

(End of Chapter)