Chapter 692: The City Drenched in Steam, Suspected Pokémon of Water

Steam curled everywhere, like a fairyland.

This is the current state of Bottle City.

“Is this… steam?”

Luo Mu released the parking brake, leaned out the window, and stared at the fog swirling through the streets—his head full of questions.

What the hell is going on here?

Bottle City is close to the Baking Desert, even though the city itself was originally part of the desert.

It’s just a rare oasis in the desert.

But no matter how you look at it, Bottle City shouldn’t look like this.

Even the hot spring capital of Fuyan Town, which Luo Mu had visited not long ago and was filled with springs, never reached a state where steam filled every street and alley.

Pedestrians passing by the pickup truck looked hurried, as if unwilling to linger outside.

Many vehicles on the road had stopped and pulled over; drivers and passengers inside hesitated whether to get out.

Once a well-ordered city, Bottle City now Yinyin carried the sense of descending into chaos.

The only silver lining was that, due to the vast coverage of the steam, its temperature had not yet risen to the point of scalding.

If it had, the streets of Bottle City wouldn’t just be quietly unsettled—they’d be in full-blown panic.

Luo Mu turned his head to look at the Reuniclus sitting in the passenger seat; as if sensing his thoughts, it shook its head, and a telepathic voice echoed in his mind.

“This steam contains no energy—it’s merely water heated to evaporation.”

“In every body of water, pool, and channel within this city that my psychic sense can detect, the water temperature continues to rise.”

“So someone might be deliberately heating these waters, then.”

Luo Mu stroked his chin, murmuring thoughtfully.

Reuniclus nodded in agreement.

Still, if it were only steam filling the air, they didn’t need to go to great lengths investigating—let the city authorities handle it.

After all, judging by the current situation, aside from increased humidity and reduced visibility, the steam had yet to cause serious harm to Bottle City.

Luo Mu restarted the pickup’s engine, still heading for the feed shop recommended by Grandma Ju Zi, driving slowly along the streets.

As mentioned, visibility was limited; careless driving could easily lead to scrapes—or even accidents.

—Though with Reuniclus here, the likely outcome would be both vehicles lifted by psychic force anyway.

Bottle City was divided into three tiers; the feed shop Luo Mu targeted lay in the second tier.

To reach the second tier, one had to use massive elevators.

There were elevators for pedestrians and others for vehicles.

But when Luo Mu followed the traffic to the vehicle elevator, a group of workers in uniforms rushed over.

One middle-aged man, more experienced and wearing a hard hat, waved his baton and lightly tapped on Luo Mu’s sealed window, designed to keep steam out.

Knock-knock-knock—

As Luo Mu rolled down the window, the man’s apologetic voice drifted through the gap, mixed with the steam.

“Sorry, but due to moisture in the steam, the elevator’s wiring may risk electrical leakage—this passage is temporarily closed.”

After saying this, the man ran swiftly to the car behind Luo Mu and repeated the same actions as before.

Luo Mu saw it clearly in the rearview mirror.

Meanwhile, workers in the same uniforms ran back and forth along nearby lanes, informing drivers of the elevator’s temporary closure.

Gradually, people eager to reach the second and third tiers began complaining, but the workers could only keep apologizing.

After all, if there was any safety risk, no one could be allowed to use the elevator.

The pedestrian elevator on the other side faced the same situation.

In the end, both vehicles and pedestrians had no choice but to turn back.

As the surrounding traffic began reversing and leaving, Luo Mu’s pickup remained idle.

The middle-aged man, who had been chasing the line of cars, watched this and grimaced.

If he went to warn them again, he’d probably get yelled at—or worse.

He could only hope the young guy had a calm temper.

But before he could reach the pickup, a powerful psychic force surged from inside, lifting the entire vehicle into the air and smoothly rising to the second tier.

“.Can you even do that?”

The man’s eyes widened like copper bells; his mouth hung open wide enough to fit a duck egg.

But he quickly recovered—he’d worked for years, and the pickup’s owner’s action instantly sparked an idea.

He grabbed his equally exhausted apprentice beside him and ordered, “Quick! Contact upstairs—see if we can get a team of Psychic-type Pokémon!”

“We need a lot. A few alone won’t be enough to lift heavy vehicles up to the second tier using psychic force.”

As he spoke, the man recalled the moment he first tapped on the window—through the young man’s face, he’d glimpsed the large-headed Pokémon sitting in the passenger seat.

To lift that pickup so effortlessly to the second tier, that Psychic-type Pokémon must be incredibly strong.

Meanwhile.

While the workers below scrambled, Luo Mu, aided by Reuniclus, had already arrived at the feed shop on the second tier.

He parked the pickup in the designated spot, unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and stepped out with Reuniclus, walking straight into the shop.

—Just as they’d both suspected.

The young female shop owner was frowning, directing her own Galarian Weezing to flap its wings in a futile “bird worker” attempt to clear the fog.

But steam had blanketed nearly the entire Bottle City, including the second tier; no matter how hard the Weezing flapped to create airflow, fresh steam seeped in through every crack.

Soon, the 60-centimeter-tall parrot panted with its tongue hanging out.

“I don’t know where all the food you eat goes—you’re already exhausted?”

The shop owner sighed in frustration, earning a furious “noise attack” from the Weezing.

Luo Mu, unable to bear it and unwilling to endure the same noise, tried to interrupt the brewing argument between woman and Pokémon.

“Um… maybe close the door first?”

“Then only the gaps would let steam in.”

His words finally made the woman and her Pokémon notice the customer who’d been standing at the entrance for a long time.

After closing the shop, the steam seeping in lessened slightly.

The shop owner, with full sincerity, showed Luo Mu what “craftsman spirit” meant.

“Red bean paste, sorry!”

“We never meant to leave you standing outside!”

As she spoke, she pressed her stubborn Weezing into a joint apology.

Luo Mu didn’t feel slighted at all—he found their bickering amusing—and quickly said, “It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.”

“By the way, you must be Miss Mao Lan, right? Grandma Ju Zi mentioned you.”

“Yes, I’m Mao Lan.”

The shop owner, Mao Lan, blinked blankly, then her eyes brightened.

“I get it! You’re the farmer Grandma Ju Zi said was coming today to buy fish feed!”

Years ago, she’d worked at Grandma Ju Zi’s shop, saved some money, and opened this feed store in Bottle City.

Only now, after seeing more of the world, did she realize how kind Grandma Ju Zi had been—running such a tiny shop alone, yet still hiring her.

This made Mao Lan instantly warm toward Luo Mu, the one Grandma Ju Zi had recommended.

“That’s right,” Luo Mu nodded with a smile, glancing around the shop. “But with this situation…”

Mao Lan understood his unspoken concern and sighed bitterly. “I know what you’re worried about.”

“All the feed on display—opened or sealed—can’t be sold anymore.”

In this steam environment, the damage was far worse than ordinary dampness.

Moistened feed might still be salvageable, but feed that continuously absorbs moisture, softens, swells, and eventually molds is nearly impossible to save.

High temperature plus high humidity accelerates mold and bacteria growth—far faster than ordinary dampness.

Luo Mu nodded in understanding, then asked casually, “How long has this steam been spreading?”

“Hmm… judging by time, it started last night—so it’s been nearly a full day now,” Mao Lan said, straining to recall.

“I heard Officer Junsu has started investigating and even invited some Trainers to help. The Gym Leader seems involved too.”

“But so far, nothing’s changed.”

“A full day…”

Luo Mu rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

For a city like Bottle City, having officials investigate was only natural.

But after nearly a day with no progress, the problem wasn’t hard to solve—it just hadn’t been found yet.

Like finding a listening ear, Mao Lan’s words poured out.

“Yeah, I heard from Qiang, the fish seller next door, that many ornamental and edible fish in private ponds are dying from oxygen deprivation due to temperature changes.”

“Aquatic Pokémon are doing okay, but some have started falling ill.”

“I wonder when this will be fixed.”

“Luckily, I’ve stored plenty of feed in the basement—steam hasn’t reached there yet—but I still can’t sell it to you, since you know the conditions outside—”

Luo Mu nodded, finishing her sentence: “Feed meant to last long turns bad quickly when exposed to steam.”

“Right?” Mao Lan and the Weezing nodded in unison, faces full of regret. “So I’m truly sorry—I can’t sell you the fish feed you want right now.”

Mao Lan expected disappointment on Luo Mu’s face—but instead, he was deep in thought.

Moments later, Luo Mu replied, “It’s fine; the matter will be resolved soon.”

“Huh?”

Mo Lan blinked in surprise, about to ask if Luo Mu knew some insider detail, when she noticed he had locked eyes with the Pokémon that had remained silent all this time—its head absurdly large, like a head of broccoli.

In the next instant, as space subtly warped, Luo Mu and Regigigas vanished completely.

Only Luo Mu’s final words lingered in the air.

“I’ll pay a visit later.”

Mo Lan fell silent for a long while, staring blankly at Nidoqueen.

Her puzzled voice echoed through the shop, where a faint mist of steam hung in the air.

“Was that… Teleport?”

In a flash, Luo Mu’s surroundings shifted from inside the feed shop to a towering building shrouded in steam.

Above the building hung a sign composed of several large characters.

【Bottle City Government】

“Let’s go.”

Arriving at the destination, Luo Mu wasted no time and entered the building with Regigigas.

He didn’t need to explain—his purpose was already clear.

—Go straight to the head official and ask for updates on the incident.

If there was any problem he could solve, he would solve it directly.

It was that simple.

Of course, Luo Mu knew steam couldn’t possibly affect his purchase of fish feed.

After all, Regigigas beside him could easily use Psychic to teleport the feed beyond the steam-covered area—or even straight to the farm.

—But Luo Mu felt this wasn’t right.

He was just here to buy fish feed. Why should he have to go through such convoluted means?

So he decided, with Regigigas, to extinguish the source of this incident outright.

No one stopped him along the way; as a worker under the Paldea League’s jurisdiction, most staff recognized him—the Champion whose public appearances had been growing steadily.

Luo Mu walked unimpeded all the way to the Market Office inside the City Hall.

Unexpectedly, after the secretary waiting at the door went in to announce him, then opened the door and told him he could enter directly—

When Luo Mu stepped into the mayor’s office, he found it unusually bustling.

The mayor of Bottle City, a dozen officials whose titles Luo Mu couldn’t name, Mr. Haidai, the Gym Leader of Bottle Gym, Officer Junsa, and several police officers were all gathered here.

It looked like a meeting was in progress.

On the whiteboard at the front, covered in writing, was a slightly blurred photograph of a Pokémon.

Luo Mu paused, noticing the Pokémon in the photo.

Was that Suicune?

(End of Chapter)