Chapter 9: Family, I Caught a Person!

It was a child wearing orange-yellow shorts, seemingly young in age!

But his idiot Trainer hadn’t even looked into the water—his eyes were locked on the fishing rod, preparing to pull hard.

Idiot! If you do that, the child might get slashed by the hook!

Kingdra frowned, and two green vines shot out swiftly from near Ye Ling’s side.

One vine lashed straight at Luo Mu’s buttocks, making him gasp sharply and drop the fishing rod as he glared at Kingdra with a wounded expression.

He hadn’t done anything to upset Kingdra—had his past pranks finally been exposed?

Kingdra ignored him; the other vine moved with clear purpose toward the water, pulling the unconscious child up from beneath the surface.

When Luo Mu saw the child rescued by Kingdra, he forgot the burning pain in his buttocks and quickly caught the child from the vine.

“No external injuries in sight… probably water inhalation—coughing nonstop. Just need to drain the water from the airway.”

Luo Mu quickly judged the child wasn’t in life-threatening danger, marveled at the incredible resilience of Pokémon World humans, and directed Kingdra to extend a vine and perform the Heimlich maneuver to clear the water from the child’s airway.

Kingdra, with its precise control over the vines, could better gauge the right force—whereas as an adult, Luo Mu was more likely to misjudge and risk causing secondary injury.

At last, Luo Mu had a moment to observe the drowned child’s specific features.

He’d definitely have to take her to the police station and ask Miss Junsha to find her parents.

Before him was the face of a girl with fair skin, cute twin pigtails, around ten years old.

She looked vaguely familiar, but Luo Mu couldn’t place her.

Then he noticed her soaked clothing—by color and cut, it resembled the uniform of the Orange Academy in his memory?

Which meant this girl was likely a student of the Orange Academy.

Luo Mu began considering whether to contact Ye Ci.

Though it seemed like overkill to bother the busy President of the Paldea League over such a small matter, Ye Ci was the only person from the Orange Academy Luo Mu knew—and the other teachers weren’t the ones he remembered.

As Luo Mu wondered whether Ye Ci would answer if he called now, a noticeably louder cough drew his attention.

He turned his head and saw the girl’s eyes slowly opening.

Nimoh’s unfocused gaze gradually sharpened—but the instant she saw Luo Mu leaning over, her pupils dilated, her lips trembling as if to scream.

Yet Nimoh feared angering Luo Mu, so she clamped her hand tightly over her mouth, tears swirling in her eyes.

“?”

Luo Mu looked puzzled; judging by the girl’s unmistakably terrified expression, she’d been frightened by something.

Luo Mu thought it over—right now, only he, the kind big brother, and Kingdra, who clearly looked dangerous, were here.

The answer was obvious.

Kingdra had scared her!

Luo Mu marveled at his own cleverness for finding the correct answer so quickly—so the solution was simple.

He flashed a warm, sunny smile; under Kingdra’s “you’re an idiot” stare, he soothed the girl: “Don’t be afraid—Kingdra is my Pokémon.”

“It looks fierce, but it means no harm.”

Before Nimoh could process that, a vine slashed through the air with a loud crack—Kingdra, furious, lashed Luo Mu’s buttocks again.

Its control was still precise: it targeted the fleshy, resilient part of his butt, applying enough force to sting but not to break skin.

Luo Mu knew Kingdra had held back—its vines could easily snap trees and rocks—but he still winced with each sting.

After the brief scuffle between Luo Mu and Kingdra, he noticed the girl’s eyes no longer held fear—only lingering timidity.

Probably, she’d realized through their interaction that they weren’t bad people.

But the faint wariness still flickering in her eyes troubled Luo Mu.

Caution was good—but was this girl’s caution a bit too intense?

Luo Mu thought a moment, then decided to ease her nerves with conversation first, then take her home to dry off—staying in soaked clothes too long would make her catch a cold.

“Hello, I’m Luo Mu, the owner of this farm,” Luo Mu offered a brief self-introduction, then added: “This is my partner, Kingdra. Could you tell me your name?”

“Kai~”

Kingdra tried hard to soften its expression, but its innate noble aura wasn’t easily altered.

Nimoh glanced at Kingdra, then studied Luo Mu, who was showing her kindness.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she whispered timidly: “My name is Nimoh… Thank you, big brother, for saving me.”

“Mm-hmm, Nimoh? What a lovely name,” Luo Mu nodded instinctively, praising her in a gentle tone.

Then his eyes suddenly widened, his expression turning exaggerated.

Wait wait wait… had he misheard?

This fair-skinned, adorable little girl was… the future champion Nimoh, known as “Iron Crush” with her sun-kissed skin and energetic personality?

This didn’t look like her at all!

Neither her personality nor her appearance matched—only her facial features seemed vaguely similar…

Was it a coincidence? Or had he accidentally entered a genjutsu?

But Nimoh was definitely wearing the Orange Academy uniform. Luo Mu clung to a last hope and asked: “If it’s not too much to ask… could you tell me where you live?”

“I live in Small Spoon Town.”

This time, Nimoh answered quickly—some instinct told her this big brother wasn’t one of the kidnappers.

「Hisss.........」

Now it was certain—this girl was indeed the future form of “Iron Crush,” the battle-obsessed champion Nimoh.

Luo Mu, who once online had screamed about wanting to be Nimoh’s Flygon and Rockruff, felt a massive cognitive dissonance—he was numb all over.

It seemed the childhood personalities of the Zhu Zi protagonist group had changed compared to when the story began.

No—rather, their childhood personalities had evolved into their adult ones.

Luo Mu opened his mouth to invite Nimoh home, but at that moment, Nimoh grabbed his hand in panic: “Big brother, let’s get out of here right now!”

“Those kidnappers might already be nearby!”

Luo Mu’s smile froze. “Huh?”