Chapter 650: Hot Spring Eggs

Bonnie led Luo Mu all the way to the reserved hotel room.

As soon as the sliding door was pulled open, a fresh and pleasant woody incense scent drifted into Luo Mu's nostrils.

Looking around, the room was spacious with several bedrooms, so there was no need to worry about sleeping in cramped conditions.

More importantly, all the necessary furniture was arranged neatly and quietly in various positions; Luo Mu felt this blend of Japanese and Western styles was excellent.

He simply could not accept the idea of laying out bedding on tatami mats and calling that a place to sleep.

If it wasn't a bed, he would find it uncomfortable to sleep.

Nor did he fancy sitting on cushions near low wooden tables or tea tables, crossing his legs or kneeling.

That would really make one's legs go numb; isn't lying on a sofa much more delightful?

In short, the part he was most worried about posed no problem, and Luo Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, having finished personally introducing the room's layout to him, Bonnie flicked her wrist, opening the fan she had been holding to cover half her face.

Then, she blinked playfully.

"Next comes the main event, Luo Mu."

Opening a sliding door printed with patterns of unknown flowers, Bonnie led Luo Mu into the private courtyard included with this suite.

The courtyard's landscape had clearly been meticulously pruned, crafted, and maintained by a gardener; more importantly, turning from the lower-left corner of the courtyard onto a new gravel path and walking a few steps further—

A huge hot spring pool emitting white steam came into view, while a faint scent of sulfur eagerly rushed into his nostrils.

This was precisely the specialty of Lavaridge Town that Luo Mu had been longing for—the Lavaridge Hot Springs.

Judging by its size alone, the hot spring pool was nearly comparable to a standard swimming pool.

Let alone accommodating Luo Mu and the several Pokémon he carried with him.

Even if he wanted to do a hundred-meter freestyle sprint inside it, there would be no problem.

"Hehehe, aside from the mixed-gender hot spring pools, you absolutely won't find a larger pool than ours in any hotel in Lavaridge Town."

Noticing Luo Mu's expression, his eyes practically glowing, Bonnie smiled with great pride.

"It fully meets my expectations."

Amidst his pleasant surprise, Luo Mu also nodded to Bonnie.

Come to think of it, although the Bonnie standing before him was one of the Hoenn region's Elite Four, she herself was not originally from the Hoenn region.

Judging by the Pokémon she specialized in, Bonnie likely hailed from a region with rather cold territories.

She herself clearly came from a wealthy family; judging by her demeanor, she might even be some sort of noble.

One had to say, as expected of foreign capital, they indeed had something substantial.

He had also checked the price of this hot spring inn online; compared to other bustling inns, the quieter environment alone revealed this fact.

—The price was not very attractive.

At the very least, this place would not be the target of ordinary tourists.

But for guests like Luo Mu, who needed private space and a large hot spring pool.

This place was the undisputed choice.

Before leaving the room, Bonnie informed Luo Mu about the hotel's meal service hours.

She told him that if he planned to go out or enjoy the hot springs, he should remember not to miss the designated times.

Luo Mu had no intention of causing trouble for her; he nodded and made a special note of the meal service times.

After all, chefs also need to clock off work.

Having once been a worker himself, Luo Mu generally tried his best not to make things difficult for fellow workers, let alone engage in what amounted to deliberate harassment.

It was currently five in the afternoon; meal service would begin at five-thirty and last until nine at night.

To be honest, the timeframe was quite ample.

During this period, Luo Mu could comfortably wash away the fatigue of his previous battle in the hot spring, enjoy some specialty cuisine, and then, taking advantage of the cool night breeze, stroll through the brightly lit Lavaridge Town.

". Well then, everyone, come out!"

Standing in the courtyard, Luo Mu acted like a ruthless Poké Ball throwing machine, and within moments, he had called out all the Pokémon he was carrying.

Victini and Terapagos, the two children who hadn't grown up yet, were already playing together, dragging Mimikyu along to admire the flowers planted in the flowerbed at one corner of the courtyard.

Politoed and Swampert immediately ran to the source of the sulfur scent, right beside the hot spring pool.

They spent almost their entire days soaking in the icy Thunder Lake; although Luo Mu occasionally dragged them to take a hot bath, this was their first time seeing such a large-scale hot spring pool.

They couldn't help but feel eager to try it out.

Luo Mu directly held down the two restless creatures, emphasizing, "You must bathe first!"

"Nyoru?"

Politoed tilted its head in confusion; wasn't this exactly what it was going to do—take a bath?

Seeing its bewildered expression, Luo Mu could only explain further.

Under normal circumstances, if one wishes to soak in a hot spring, one must first scrub off basic dirt like mud and dust from the body and rinse it away before entering the hot spring to enjoy the bathing experience.

However, this rule generally exists because most hot spring pools are used by multiple people; to avoid excessively polluting the pool water, this unwritten regulation came into being.

Even though this entire hot spring pool would "belong" exclusively to him during Luo Mu's stay.

But to ensure the cleanliness of the hot spring pool as much as possible, he still hoped the Pokémon would wash themselves before entering the water.

Even if this meant he, as their trainer, would be busy bathing every single Pokémon and end up exhausted and drenched in sweat.

Politoed tilted its head, listening carefully to Luo Mu's explanation.

A moment later, a miniature lightbulb suddenly lit up atop its head.

Cleaning off dirt?

It was familiar with this!

"Nyoru! Nyoru!"

Politoed clapped its hands and let out a loud cry, trying to stop Luo Mu, who was already preparing to take it, Swampert, and the Pokémon behind them to the washing area for a shower.

Luo Mu turned around, just about to ask Politoed if there was still some problem, when—

—Politoed opened its mouth.

In an instant, under the glow of the warm yellow lights, bubbles shimmering with a strange luster instantly filled the entire washing area.

Luo Mu first froze slightly, then immediately, his eyes lit up.

Right, I almost forgot about the move Bubble Beam!

Not to mention the dust and grime on human bodies or Pokémon.

Even stubborn oil stains on porcelain plates, once treated by Bubble Beam, could become unprecedentedly clean and white.

In the anime's storyline, Dawn, Ash's travel companion in the Sinnoh region, had a partner Piplup whose Bubble Beam could instantly make Dawn's unwashed, frizzy hair become smooth and full of luster.

Even her face would become radiant and smooth.

This effect was even stronger than that of ordinary body wash or shampoo.

Luo Mu had Swampert go in and give it a try.

When Swampert walked out from the enclosure of Bubble Beam, not only was the mucus it automatically secreted to keep its skin moist cleaned away thoroughly, but even its skin had become smooth and tender.

Under the illumination of the lights, it resembled the skin of an infant.

While gasping in surprise, Luo Mu began to call the Pokémon over one by one to receive the baptism of Bubble Beam.

Luo Mu was busy over here.

Over at the hot spring pool, with a "plop," Swampert had already jumped in first.

Soaking in the steaming hot spring, Swampert sank almost its entire head into the water, its eyes comfortably narrowed into thin slits.

How to put it, that somewhat reckless Ice Punch from a few days ago had indeed inflicted heavy injuries upon it.

Even though it had already been healed by Comfey, it still felt slightly unwell in its body these past few days.

It was as if the interaction between parts and parts, gears and gears, was somewhat stagnant.

Swampert thought this must be the hidden injury Luo Mu had mentioned.

In the past, to deal with these hidden injuries caused by high-intensity battles for his Pokémon, Luo Mu had expended considerable effort and money.

This also resulted in that after completing the Champion Test challenge, even counting the symbolic prize money, the savings in Luo Mu's hands were used up just by purchasing a piece of land.

And under the nourishment of this Lavaridge Hot Spring, Swampert was surprised to discover that the discomfort within its body seemed to gradually disappear as the time spent soaking in the hot spring lengthened.

This magical experience made Swampert simply submerge its entire body into the hot spring, only occasionally exhaling a few strings of bubbles to signal to other Pokémon that there was still a Pokémon diving in this spot.

After all, being a Water-type Pokémon, Swampert could breathe underwater, so soaking like this posed no problem at all.

Victini, who was not afraid of bathing in water in the least, wanted to imitate Swampert, but nearly ended up choking itself.

In the end, it could only wear an expression of "I've behaved myself," with a dry Mao Jin on its head, enjoying itself while leaning against the edge of the hot spring pool.

Luxray had also soaked into the hot spring; its mane, which usually looked majestic and imposing, was completely soaked by the hot spring water, making it look slightly comical.

But no Pokémon dared to laugh at it.

Leaving aside how powerful the lethality of electric current was in this environment where they were currently immersed in pool water.

Even if one could truly endure the electric shock, electric current in water was AOE damage, inevitably affecting other Pokémon and even Luo Mu.

As the culprit, one would definitely be finished then.

In every sense of the word.

A sound came from the shore.

Milotic, with more than half its body immersed in the pool water, opened its beautiful eyes.

Its gaze fell upon Luo Mu, who was wearing only a pair of swim trunks, and then shifted to the side.

At this moment, Luo Mu was dragging Moltres, which refused to enter the water alive or dead, trying to pull this fellow into the water.

"Soaking in a hot spring is beneficial for internal blood circulation, improves metabolism, and can help you lose weight!"

Regardless of where he had seen this theory, Luo Mu spoke without thinking, determined to drag Moltres down no matter what.

Are you kidding me!

The tail flame symbolizing the vitality of a Charizard can burn even in water; are you, a Legendary Pokémon, afraid of yours being extinguished?

You can even bathe in magma, so what's wrong with bathing in a hot spring that also has a sulfuric scent!?

At this moment, Moltres's face was full of resistance; its legs, slightly meatier than those of an ordinary Moltres, constantly exerted force, and even its claws were straining.

I'm not soaking!

It would rather fly to the dormant crater of Chimney Mountain, blast a path leading to the dormant magma, and then fly in to bathe, than enter this hot spring pool!

Moltres's intense reaction completely exceeded Luo Mu's expectations.

In his presumption, the one reacting most strongly should have been either Luxray or Ninetales.

As a result, these two had both changed their usual dislike of having their fur soaked, and very proactively jumped into the hot water like dumplings.

Instead, it was Moltres, which usually could remain nonchalant even when hit in the face by a Dragonite's Hydro Pump, raising its flame temperature to evaporate the moisture, that became hesitant and shy at this time.

Since Moltres was dead set on not entering the hot spring pool, Luo Mu, with his physique, could do nothing about it.

He could only let it squat nearby like a mother hen, its eyes unblinking as it stared at the several bags of Lavaridge Senbei the old lady had given, held in Luo Mu's hands.

Just as Luo Mu, exhausted and sweaty, had Politoed use Bubble Beam to clean him up and was subsequently about to enter the pool—

He suddenly discovered that besides Moltres, there was another Pokémon staying on the shore.

However, compared to Moltres who resisted the hot spring, this Pokémon's eyes revealed a hint of longing.

Bending down and squatting in front of Mimikyu, Luo Mu revealed a smile.

"Are you worried about the doll getting wet?"

The dejected Mimikyu raised its head, looking at Luo Mu with its bean-like eyes, and subconsciously nodded.

Just like Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, it cherished every single doll disguise on its body that Luo Mu had crafted with his own hands.

"Just use your true form to soak."

Luo Mu gave the suggestion.

Mimikyu's eyes lit up, yet a trace of worry showed.

It lacked confidence in its own true form; besides, rumors circulated of people seeing its species' true form and then being cursed.

It worried it would affect its other companions.

"Everyone won't mind; besides, I've seen your true form long ago, and that didn't bring a curse either."

Luo Mu lifted Mimikyu up and encouraged it.

At this moment, sounds of Terapagos and Victini calling for Mimikyu came from the hot spring pool.

While praising the good assist, Luo Mu shot an encouraging look at Mimikyu.

"..."

After a few seconds of silence, Mimikyu seemed to have made up its mind.

The vivid doll's painted skin instantly collapsed and went limp; at the bottom of the doll, a small black creature jumped out and bounced into the hot pool like a rice ball.

Victini and Terapagos immediately rushed over.

Victini aside, this little one, Terapagos, should logically be a land turtle, yet inexplicably it could breathe underwater.

There was just one problem: it seemed that because it had hardly entered water before, this child had no idea how to float, so it sank to the bottom of the hot spring pool, occasionally blowing out a string of bubbles with a "pulu-lu."

It looked quite interesting.

Striding with long legs, Luo Mu stepped into the hot spring pool in one step, intending to teach Terapagos how to swim.

At the same time, he casually placed the wooden basin he was holding, which could float on the hot spring water, onto the water's surface.

Inside were several unopened bags of Kaen Senbei and a Pokémon egg entrusted to him by an old woman.

Perhaps having heard Bonnie's words, for some reason, whenever he held this egg, Luo Mu felt as though he was being watched.

This made him immediately sink his body into the hot spring pool.

At this moment, Victini dog-paddled over, pointed at the Pokémon egg in the wooden basin, and asked with drool hanging: "Bi-mi bi-mi?" (Can Timi eat this hot spring egg too?)

(End of this chapter)