Chapter 686: The Plump Fairy Eevee

Because his bear disciple’s cultivation speed was simply “too fast,” by the time Luo Mu returned with it to the original area, having regained some mobility, Pai Pa and the others had just finished preparing.

“Teacher, I plan to use these two in battle!” Pai Pa rushed to Luo Mu’s side, excitedly holding up two red-and-white Poké Balls.

“Oh?”

Luo Mu’s gaze fell on the two red-and-white Poké Balls; he raised an eyebrow, already sensing something.

“Then let me see them out.”

“Hehe!” Pai Pa grinned, pressing the center buttons of both Poké Balls with both hands.

The red-and-white Poké Balls burst open with a *pop*, two red beams tracing elegant arcs in the air before coalescing into two towering figures.

One was a deep crimson, powerfully built Past Dragon.

The other was entirely metallic, radiating a futuristic technological aura: Future Dragon.

—Gholdengo and Glimmora!

In a few more days, Aulin and Professor Futu would take them back beneath the Paldean Pit; Pai Pa seized this chance to bring them out for one last stroll.

Watching this boy’s gradual shift from gloom to dumb, beaming joy, Luo Mu sighed deeply.

This is what it means to have good parents—these are Legendary Pokémon, and this idiot brought both of them. In any other League, he’d dominate the Grand Festival; even Darclo would have to step aside.

He had already reached the endpoint most Trainers spend their entire lives chasing.

He’d even wanted to see Pai Pa use Gholdengo and Glimmora as the final boss, just to shock Wu Li and Dan Yu.

But Luo Mu accepted Gholdengo’s full-force licks while crossing his arms.

“No using Pokémon you haven’t trained yourself!”

—The enthusiastic Gholdengo and the aloof Glimmora were instantly banned.

In the end, Pai Pa could only weep silently, abandoning his plan to use Gholdengo and Glimmora as power-ups, and joined the five-person rock-paper-scissors match with a guilty expression.

Luo Mu’s grouping method was simple: everyone played rock-paper-scissors; the first two winners formed a team, the next two winners formed another, and if three won in the first round, they replayed.

—As for the last person to lose, since there were only five students, they naturally fought against Teacher Luo Mu.

Heaven knows how violently Mu Dan’s inner emotions churned when she heard this news, her face utterly expressionless.

She wasn’t like that idiot Pai Pa, nor was she like Ni Mo or Wu Li, Luo Mu’s brainwashed fans who saw battling him as a blessing from the Goddess of Luck.

Her mind was fixed on only one thing.

—She absolutely could not reveal that for the past month, she’d been holed up at home with her beloved Eevee family.

The chance of exposure was highest if she fought Luo Mu.

So losing in rock-paper-scissors? Absolutely. Not. Going. To. Happen.

Pi Pa, who had kept training during the holiday and practiced unarmed combat daily with her Fighting-type Pokémon, stared in shock at Mu Dan, who was practically burning up with intensity.

Dan Yu didn’t care who she fought; if anything, like Wu Li, she was actually looking forward to battling Luo Mu.

—And Pai Pa? This boy had spent the entire month basking in long-lost family warmth and missed all his training.

He knew full well that, excluding Gholdengo and Glimmora, he’d likely stood still.

Prolonged lack of battle and training had even caused his Pokémon’s condition to decline.

He truly didn’t want to be publicly humiliated by Luo Mu!

Thus, two students burning with determination, two eagerly anticipating, and one indifferent to victory or defeat, plunged into a chaotic rock-paper-scissors match.

The outcome was equally dramatic.

In the first round, Wu Li, whose entire mind was fixed on battling Luo Mu, stared blankly at his scissors while everyone else showed paper.

He could only reluctantly become the first winner.

In the second round, Pai Pa, Mu Dan, and Dan Yu all showed rock, defeating Pi Pa’s scissors—round nullified.

In the third round, Pi Pa alone showed scissors and won.

In the fourth round, Mu Dan and Dan Yu showed paper, perfectly defeating Pai Pa, who stood frozen in place still holding rock.

Pi Pa vs. Wu Li, Mu Dan vs. Dan Yu, Pai Pa vs. Luo Mu.

“Alright, the matchups are set.”

Luo Mu clapped his hands with a sly smile, his mischievous gaze making Pai Pa shiver.

The only comfort for Pai Pa now was that he’d be fighting Luo Mu last.

The first battle was between the two winners: Pi Pa and Wu Li.

Both were “hardworking” types, but Wu Li held a slight edge in natural talent.

Meanwhile, Pi Pa’s longer experience as a Trainer could help compensate for some of the gap in talent.

Under these combined factors, they delivered a spectacular 2-vs-2 Pokémon battle.

Wu Li sent out his ace, Mirei, and his core unit—the evolved Blaziken, which had originally been a Fletchinder he met in the Ecological Egg at Blueberry Academy.

Pi Pa’s first pick was his unquestionable partner, the one who had trained and grown alongside him: Oranguru.

But Pi Pa’s second pick surprised Luo Mu.

Not the Moonmoon, which had type advantage over Blaziken, could learn Fighting moves, and matched its size.

—But another of the starter trio: Charizard.

The battle between Oranguru and Mirei was thrilling: Oranguru used its vast combat experience to calmly dodge and parry the serpent’s bites and encirclement, then withstood the explosive “Random Light” attack through sheer toughness and willpower, finally turning the tide with its signature “Rage Fist.”

The bear disciple watched with wide, admiring eyes.

From this first battle, it was clear Wu Li and Pi Pa differed greatly in combat experience.

But Wu Li was truly a prodigy plus a hard worker—his Pokémon’s development level revealed it.

In the second battle, Blaziken vs. Charizard, their strengths were roughly equal, but Charizard held a clear type advantage.

Yet the actual battle saw Blaziken endure the pressure, fight Charizard to a standstill, then land a hidden move—a Flying-type “Acrobatics”—catching Charizard off-guard and taking it down in a mutual knockout.

Though the two battles weren’t connected, and Blaziken didn’t get to shine in its preferred Doubles format,

Luo Mu could still see that since returning to Blueberry Academy after his advice, Wu Li had done his best to patch up Blaziken’s weaknesses.

At least his move combinations had become far more flexible.

The first battle ended with Pi Pa winning one and drawing one, narrowly defeating Wu Li.

In the second battle between Mu Dan and Dan Yu, Luo Mu instantly saw just how well Mu Dan and her Eevee family had been living.

—Have you ever seen a Jigglypuff or a Flareon with belly fat?

Well, Luo Mu had now seen it firsthand.

The Fire-type Flareon was understandable—its high heat accumulation naturally led to weight gain.

Look at the pot-bellied Charizard, the plump Flareon, even the Flamebird Luo Mu had witnessed—weren’t they all like this?

But a chubby Jigglypuff? That was just absurd.

The once graceful, ethereal, fairy-like silhouette of the Jigglypuff had warped beyond recognition; Luo Mu could only imagine how shattered his expression must have been.

As expected, realizing she couldn't hide her month-long slacking, Mu Dan didn't even bother using her Terastal Pearl—she lost cleanly, 0-2.

After the battle, Luo Mu stared for a long time at Mu Dan, who no longer snapped sarcastic remarks but looked deeply guilty.

Finally, he delivered his verdict coldly: “Back at the academy, starting tomorrow, you’ll begin physical training. Not only your Eevees must lose weight—you, as a Trainer, must lead by example. I’ll have Professor Huangbo supervise you.”

“Be ready by morning.”

“N-no—!”

Hearing Luo Mu’s icy words, Mu Dan froze like she’d been struck by lightning.

Make her—a homebody—run every morning at six?

Six a.m. was her bedtime!

Ugh! Just kill me now!

But Luo Mu’s mind was made up; he believed most people would support his decision.

A fat Jigglypuff like this chaotic existence should never have appeared.

After judging Mu Dan, it was now Luo Mu’s turn to face Pai Pa.

Looking at Pai Pa, drenched in sweat, Luo Mu tilted his chin.

“You go first, or me?”

“Who goes first doesn’t matter.”

Having seen Mu Dan’s fate, Pai Pa now had a grim sense of his own future.

Every second now felt like waiting for execution; his heart pounded with tension.

From the start, he never thought he could beat Luo Mu.

Not even with Gholdengo and Glimmora.

And the truth proved him right.

Luo Mu sent out his Bug- and Fire-type Flareon, while Pai Pa sent out his Grass- and Fire-type Litten.

Pai Pa believed that among his team, Litten had maintained the most “vitality”—always running around, it was least likely to show signs of decay.

But when Litten faced Flareon, Pai Pa froze.

—Flareon was single-handedly overpowering Litten, even in its final evolved form.

The blazing flames made Pai Pa almost believe Victini was secretly buffing Flareon.

He knew exactly when Flareon had hatched.

How could this little bug—now nearly waist-high on him—not be small anymore—

How could Flareon have gotten this strong in just a little while?

Luo Mu offered no explanation for Flareon’s sudden power-up; he simply stated coldly:

“Compared to before the holiday, Litten’s strength has hardly changed at all.”

Cold sweat suddenly drenched Pape’s back, but at least it spared him from hearing Luo Mu say those three words: “You’ve regressed.”

After Hěn Làjiāo collapsed, Pape hesitated for a long time before releasing his own Mastiff Patriarch.

Because Mastiff Patriarch usually lay around, and had done so throughout this month of happy family time, his physique hadn’t expanded sideways like Eevee’s family after a month of slacking off—he shouldn’t have drawn Luo Mu’s attention.

To counter Mastiff Patriarch, Luo Mu directly sent out Rapidash.

After all, Mastiff Patriarch was Pape’s ace; even Burnworm struggled against him, whereas Rapidash, an old rival, was better suited.

But the result left Luo Mu slightly disappointed.

Though Pape hadn’t regressed like Mudkip, his progress was nowhere to be seen in either Mastiff Patriarch or Hěn Làjiāo.

Unlike Pípa, Wūlì, and Dānyú, who had all improved far beyond his last memory of them.

Luo Mu could guess the boy had simply been indulging in long-awaited family time.

Luo Mu personally couldn’t fault him for such a reason.

But after staring at Pape until his legs nearly gave out, he sighed and said gravely: “Training intensity will increase from now on. Work hard to adapt.”

“You haven’t forgotten your goal, have you?”

Hearing this, Pape’s guilty expression instantly turned serious.

After a long silence, he nodded solemnly.

He hadn’t forgotten his goal.

To gain the strength to cross the Paldea Great Pit—the Zero Zone—alone, so he could visit his parents whenever he wanted.

Though this goal lacked ambition, it was deeply important to Pape personally.

That was why he had nodded so earnestly.

With the primary goal of the strength test concluded, the results—aside from Mudkip—were largely within Luo Mu’s expectations.

Pípa, Dānyú, and Wūlì’s progress was visibly evident, proving they hadn’t slacked off during their break.

After praising them for this, Luo Mu let them explore the surrounding environment.

After all, this was field training—contacting nature, gaining new experiences, and encountering Pokémon that suited them was the point.

Luo Mu didn’t intend to start Mudkip’s training yet; he let her off by assigning her to help set up tents and prepare ingredients with Pape.

——But morning drills upon returning to the academy were non-negotiable.

Time passed slowly, and soon they had established a temporary base on a flat area near the water source.

Though building a camp by water risks flooding, the ecology and weather around Luánjī Waterfall were stable—such an event was virtually impossible.

By the time lunch was ready, Wūlì and the others returned from exploring the natural surroundings.

But—Wūlì and Dānyú’s expressions were clearly off.

When Luo Mu asked about it, the siblings exchanged glances, then nervously revealed what they had just discovered.

“Behind a small waterfall, we found a strange lid sealed shut by four massive chains!”

(End of Chapter)