Chapter 76: Braviary

The ringtone sounded a few times before being answered, and Pipa's slightly distorted voice came through the phone's speaker.

"Brother Luo Mu?"

Pipa's voice was hazy and slurred, looking as though he had already fallen asleep only to be woken up by Luo Mu's call.

Luo Mu said with a touch of apology, "Have you already fallen asleep? Otherwise, we can contact each other tomorrow."

Lying on his dormitory bed, Pipa yawned, shifted his posture, and teased, "Since I'm awake anyway, Brother Luo Mu, just tell me what's on your mind."

Feeling that Pipa made a valid point, Luo Mu nodded: "Then I'll make this brief. Clearly, in terms of raw strength, Ao Ao Jiaofu is definitely superior, yet you still lost to Wen Xiang Jun yesterday; what do you think is the reason?"

Pipa fell silent for a moment before answering, "The reason... lies with me."

Since he was already very familiar with Pipa, Luo Mu had no intention of beating around the bush and stated bluntly, "That's right; the reason Ao Ao Jiaofu lost to Wen Xiang Jun is simply because your commanding skills are terrible."

Pipa muttered softly, "But I never intended to become a powerful Trainer anyway; whether my commanding skills are terrible or not doesn't matter."

Pipa's demeanor of 'you're right, but I still plan to rot' left Luo Mu somewhat helpless.

For now, it was understandable for Pipa to think this way, but after experiencing that incident, Pipa would surely hate his own weakness and regret why he couldn't have become stronger.

Since this was a tragedy that could be changed at its source, Luo Mu didn't mind contributing a bit of effort; it was merely a simple favor.

Luo Little Little Dandan said, "Then if I were to say that as long as you become a powerful Trainer, you will be able to go to the Great Crater of Paldea and help Professors Sada and Turo, would you still hold your current thoughts?"

Pipa, wanting to justify himself, got stuck: "Uh..."

Luo Mu paused briefly, then said, "Countless fierce and powerful wild Pokémon live within the Great Crater of Paldea; isolated from the world, they have bred within the crater for over a thousand years, maintaining absolute wildness."

"The reason Professors Sada and Turo are so busy, aside from the research itself, is the lack of sufficient combat power to advance the exploration of the Great Crater of Paldea."

"Once you become stronger, you will definitely be able to help them in the future."

There was a faint hint of incitement in Luo Mu's words, causing Pipa to immediately fall into silence, his heart wavering.

Noticing signs that Pipa's attitude was softening, Luo Mu decided to add fuel to the fire: "How about this: since you've already enrolled in the Battle Studies course, as long as you study diligently and grow stronger together with Ao Ao Jiaofu, if the opportunity arises, I can personally take you to the Great Crater of Paldea to meet Professors Sada and Turo."

Pipa asked with a voice barely concealing his excitement, "Is it a deal?"

Luo Mu nodded: "It's a deal!"

Pipa rolled over, his face showing anticipation in the Expression Shows Phase: "Then what exactly do I need to do? How can I improve my level as a Trainer?"

The corners of Luo Mu's mouth turned upward as he explained in detail, "That's simple; what you need to supplement first is the basic knowledge of a Trainer. I have a relevant reading list here..."

The next day.

Today's sky was somewhat gloomier than yesterday's, but this did not hinder Luo Mu from continuing his work in the fields.

Farm work is always tedious and dull; constantly repeating basically the same movements is a great test of one's physical strength and spirit.

But to Luo Mu, who knew that a deadly eight-on-eight assembly line still existed in this world, these tasks seemed not so arduous after all.

Approaching four o'clock in the afternoon, Luo Mu gazed at the farmland where a quarter of the area had been sown, looking neat and aesthetically pleasing; while wiping sweat, his heart overflowed with a sense of satisfaction.

It seemed the sowing could be preliminarily completed before the second class.

After the sowing ended, basically only watering and care would be needed, leaving more time to do other things then.

With his hands covered in mud, making it inconvenient to pull out his phone, Luo Mu looked up at the sky, intending to observe the weather to judge roughly what time it was.

After observing for a while, Luo Mu reached a conclusion: "Hmm... it's probably around four or five o'clock?"

Squinting at the sky, Luo Mu was just about to withdraw his gaze when he suddenly saw a black dot in the nearby sky rapidly approaching this side.

That black dot looked like a Flying-type Pokémon; its movements were somewhat crooked and wobbly, failing to maintain proper flight posture at all, giving the feeling that it might plummet directly at any moment.

Frowning slightly, Luo Mu still shouted to his side, "Dragonite! Let's go take a look."

Judging by the trajectory of that black dot, the landing point had a high probability of being right here in the farmland; it would be a minor matter if the dot smashed itself, but it would not be good if it harmed the freshly sown seeds.

Hearing this, Dragonite, who had been playing with Milcery nearby, first entrusted Milcery to Serperior, then took a few steps to Luo Mu's side, lowered its body, and waited for him to mount.

Familiarly climbing onto Dragonite's back, Luo Mu patted Dragonite to signal he was ready, whereupon Dragonite began flapping its small, cute wings and ascended directly into the sky.

Although Dragonite's Agility stat was on the same level as Magikarp's, its flight speed was undeniably excellent.

In less than a minute, Dragonite carried Luo Mu rapidly closer to that swaying black dot in the sky, and the outline and true identity of the black dot were confirmed in Luo Mu's line of sight.

To Luo Mu's surprised expression, a somewhat disheveled Braviary appeared in his field of vision.

Messy feathers, a beak opening and closing incessantly while panting, and wings flapping with increasingly weaker amplitude—all made it obvious at a glance that Braviary was exhausted and powerless.

If it were just an ordinary wild Pokémon, Luo Mu wouldn't be so surprised.

His gaze focused on Braviary's strong lower limbs; clutched in its right talon was an unconscious male human!

Had this human been attacked by Braviary?

No, Luo Mu quickly overturned this guess; if this Braviary had truly attacked a human, why would a Braviary already at the point of exhaustion still cling desperately to this person?

Luo Mu was more inclined to believe this man was Braviary's Trainer, who had fallen into a coma for some unknown reason.

Just in the gap while Luo Mu was thinking, Braviary seemed to have completely used up its last shred of strength; it flapped vigorously a few times, yet still could not stop the pull of gravity coming from the ground, and could only look at the sky in despair.

Luo Mu's heart tightened; knowing he had to act now, he ordered Dragonite, "Use Wind to slow down their falling speed!"

Dragonite nodded slightly; with a thought, a flowing wind under its control caught up to the falling Braviary and man, helping them reduce their speed of landing.

At the same time, the commotion here also attracted Serperior's attention.

With Milcery perched on its head, Serperior looked up at the sky; noticing Dragonite's action, a thoughtful glint flashed in its noble red pupils, and Serperior without hesitation lashed out two vines reaching toward the sky!