Chapter 9: Family, We've Hooked a Person!

It was a child wearing orange-yellow shorts, looking not very old!

But his own idiot Trainer wasn't looking at the water at all, his gaze fixed firmly on the fishing rod as he prepared to pull hard.

Idiot, if you do that, the child might get scratched by the fishhook!

Serperior frowned, and two green vines swiftly extended from near its leaf collar.

One vine directly whipped Luo Mu's butt, making him gasp in pain; he dropped the fishing rod and looked at Serperior with a resentful expression.

He shouldn't have offended Serperior, could it be that his past schemes against Serperior had been exposed?

Serperior ignored him, while the other vine moved with clear intent toward the water, directly pulling the unconscious child up from it.

Upon seeing a child rescued from the water by Serperior, Luo Mu forgot the stinging pain in his butt and hurriedly caught the child from Serperior's vine.

"No external injuries within sight... it should be water inhalation; constant coughing means we just need to expel the water from the airway."

Luo Mu quickly judged that the child was not in life-threatening danger; while marveling at the heaven-defying constitution of people in the Pokémon world, he directed Serperior to extend its vines and use the Heimlich maneuver to expel the water from the child's airway.

In this aspect, Serperior, being adept at controlling its vines, could better gauge the appropriate force, whereas he, an adult, might easily misjudge the strength and risk causing secondary injury to the child.

At this moment, Luo Mu finally had the leisure to observe the specific features of this child who had fallen into the water.

In a moment, he would definitely take her to the police station and entrust Miss Miss Junsha to find her parents.

Before his eyes was the face of a little girl, about ten years old, with fair skin and cute twin tails.

She seemed somewhat familiar, but Luo Mu couldn't recall who she was.

Next, the girl was wearing soaked clothes; judging by the color and style, they resembled the uniform of the Orange Academy from Luo Mu's memory?

In other words, this little girl should be a student of the Orange Academy.

Luo Mu began considering whether to contact Geeta.

Although troubling the Paldea League Chairperson, who is busy with myriad affairs, over such a small matter seemed like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, Geeta was the only person Luo Mu knew in the Orange Academy, as the other teachers were not the ones familiar from his memories.

Just as Luo Mu was wondering if Geeta would answer a call at this time, a noticeably louder coughing sound caught his attention.

Turning his head, he saw the little girl's eyes slowly opening.

Hearing Nimo's unfocused eyes gradually sharpened, but the instant she saw Luo Mu leaning over to look, her pupils dilated, and her lips trembled as if wanting to cry for help.

But Hearing Nimo feared provoking Luo Mu, so she could only press her hand tightly over her mouth, tears swirling in her eye sockets.

"?"

Luo Mu looked puzzled; judging by the obvious frightened expression on the little girl's face, she had probably been scared by something.

Luo Mu thought for a moment; right now, there was only him, this amiable big brother, and Serperior, who looked unmistakably formidable.

Then the answer was obvious.

It was Serperior that had scared her!

Luo Mu marveled at how smart he was, finding the correct answer so quickly; thus, the countermeasure was also very simple.

Displaying an amiable and sunny smile, under Serperior's expression that looked as if he were an idiot, Luo Mu soothed the girl: "Don't be afraid, Serperior is Big Brother's Pokémon."

"Although it looks a bit fierce, it has no malicious intent."

Before Hearing Nimo could digest the information, a green vine sliced through the air with a loud crack; Serperior, looking furious, was so angered that it whipped Luo Mu's butt several more times.

Its control of strength was quite good; not only did it choose the butt flesh which can withstand blows, but the force was also at a level that would hurt without causing skin or flesh injuries.

Luo Mu knew Serperior was already showing mercy; after all, its Vine Whip could easily snap trees and rocks, yet he still emitted continuous gasps of pain.

After Luo Mu and Serperior finished their frolicking, he noticed the little girl's eyes no longer showed fear, though she still appeared a bit timid.

Probably, through the interaction between him and Serperior just now, she realized they were not bad people.

Yet the lingering wariness in her eyes still made Luo Mu somewhat concerned.

Having a sense of vigilance is a good thing, but wasn't this little girl's wariness a bit too strong?

Luo Mu thought for a moment and decided to first ease the girl's emotions through conversation, then quickly take her back to his home to at least get her body dry, as wearing soaked clothes for long makes one prone to catching a cold.

"Hello, my name is Luo Mu, and I am the owner of this farm." Luo Mu first gave a brief self-introduction, then continued: "This is my partner, Serperior; could you tell me your name?"

"Gah-lok~"

Serperior tried its best to soften its expression, but its innate noble temperament was not so easily changed.

Hearing Nimo first looked at Serperior, then observed Luo Mu, who was showing kindness toward her.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Hearing Nimo said timidly: "My name is Hearing Nimo... thank you, Big Brother, for saving me."

"Mm-hmm, Hearing Nimo? That's a very nice name." Luo Mu subconsciously nodded and praised her in a gentle tone.

Immediately after, Luo Mu's eyes suddenly widened, and his expression became exaggerated.

Wait, wait, wait... did he hear wrong?

Was this cute little girl with fair skin the future energetic Champion Senior Sister Hearing Nimo, known as "Iron Unrequited Love," who had a healthy wheat-colored complexion?

This didn't look like her at all!

Whether in personality or physical features, only the facial features seemed somewhat similar...

Was it a coincidence of names, or had he accidentally entered a Tsukuyomi illusion?

But Hearing Nimo was indeed wearing the Orange Academy school uniform; unwilling to give up, Luo Mu made a final struggle and asked: "If it's convenient... could you tell me where your home is?"

"I live in Poco Path."

This time Hearing Nimo answered quickly; for some reason, her intuition told her that this Big Brother shouldn't be one of those bad guys who kidnapped her.

"Hiss........."

Now it was completely confirmed; this little girl was indeed the human-shaped future version, the battle maniac Senior Sister Hearing Nimo, nicknamed "Iron Unrequited Love."

Luo Mu, who had once howled on the internet about wanting to make Hearing Nimo Senior Sister's Feng Su Gou and Lycanroc, felt an immense sense of dissonance; his entire person went numb.

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

No, it should be said that their childhood personalities had evolved into their grown-up personalities.

Luo Mu wanted to open his mouth to ask Hearing Nimo to follow him home, but at this moment, Hearing Nimo also grabbed Luo Mu's hand with a panicked expression, saying anxiously: "Big Brother, let's leave this place quickly!"

"Perhaps those who kidnapped me are already nearby!"

Luo Mu's smile froze, and he asked in bewilderment, "Huh?"