Chapter 93: Harvest Ruins

Can we take a look at its skirt?

Luo Mu frowned; this wild Mimikyu was truly immodest—there was another of its kind on its own shoulder, yet it dared make such a request right in front of its own Mimikyu.

But Luo Mu noticed the wild Mimikyu’s eyes held a pitiful look; he sighed, hoping his own Mimikyu wouldn’t get too jealous, then bent down, picked up the wild Mimikyu, and peered beneath its skirt—

Legend says a scholar who saw beneath Mimikyu’s skirt died of sheer terror. Some Trainers who accidentally glimpsed the doll’s interior when the wind blew it up reportedly writhed in agony and died that very night.

But Luo Mu knew perfectly well what lay beneath Mimikyu’s doll—he’d seen it countless times himself.

Under the wild Mimikyu’s stunned expression, Luo Mu calmly poked the creature beneath the doll and remarked: “Feels inferior to mine—mine has better texture.”

Is it malnourishment? The wild Mimikyu’s body felt hollow and limp under his touch.

The wild Mimikyu’s body wore an expression—whether humiliation or something else—as a hard object crashed down from beneath its skirt; Luo Mu instinctively shut his eyes, clutched his nose, and winced in pain.

That just barely missed breaking my nose!

When Luo Mu recovered and opened his eyes, he was shocked to find the wild Mimikyu gone.

Seeing the large door—closed by him when he entered—now wide open, he understood everything and sighed: “It ran off in a huff? Seems I hurt its pride. Next time I meet it, I’ll apologize properly.”

He sighed again, looking at his palm, where the culprit that struck his nose lay.

Resting quietly in his right palm was a crystal stone nearly identical in color to Mimikyu, its black patterns resembling Mimikyu’s design.

“This… is Mimikyu-Z!?”

Luo Mu’s exclamation drew the attention of Cardie and Mimikyu; they stared at the crystal stone appearing out of nowhere in his hand, their expressions odd.

Why had Luo Mu been talking to empty air just now, with his hand moving constantly?

“So it was a Ghost-type Pokémon?” Kukui, sitting by the fire and looking much better, crossed his arms in thought. “Come to think of it, I did see several Ghost-types drifting out from the old Super Value Supermarket—Gastly and Haunter, I think.”

“Did you see a wild Mimikyu? I encountered it deep in the supermarket’s warehouse, and afterward it seemed to have left.” Luo Mu held up the Mimikyu-Z before Kukui. “It left me this.”

Kukui leaned close under the firelight, studied it closely, then gasped: “This is Mimikyu-Z!?”

Luo Mu nodded firmly.

Kukui rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment, then said uncertainly: “I’ve never seen a wild Mimikyu.”

Luo Mu’s petting of Cardie paused; he could only reluctantly accept Kukui’s words.

“But…” Kukui suddenly spoke, his gaze fixed on Luo Mu with unusual seriousness. “You say you encountered that wild Mimikyu deep in the supermarket’s warehouse?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

“But supermarket warehouses are usually built separately on the side. Look.”

Kukui pointed left, where a half-collapsed warehouse stood plainly marked with the word “WAREHOUSE.”

The two exchanged glances, both reading grave concern in the other’s eyes.

Moments later, Luo Mu and Kukui re-entered the old Super Value Supermarket, staring blankly at a wall with no door.

Luo Mu disbelieved: “There was a door here when I came in just now!”

Kukui sucked in a sharp breath and said grimly: “This place isn’t safe—we’re leaving.”

The next morning.

Luo Mu and Kukui dragged a groggy Morden out of his warm dreams, supervised his morning routine, then took turns recounting everything that had happened the night before.

Morden sat with his legs crossed, listening increasingly uneasy, until he finally declared solemnly: “You two ran into a ghost. I’m amazed you made it back alive!”

Kukui, face twisted in distress, shook Morden’s collar violently: “Doesn’t your conscience hurt saying that?!”

Unlike the shaken Kukui, Luo Mu—who already knew Ghost Pokémon were real—had calmed considerably after a night’s reflection; the fog around him was slowly lifting.

Morden raised his hands in surrender: “My bad, my bad—can you let go of me now?”

After Luo Mu patted Kukui’s shoulder, Kukui finally released Morden.

Morden straightened his collar and pulled a wristband with a recessed slot from his pocket. “I didn’t plan to give this to you, but I nearly got you killed—this Z-band is my apology to Luo Mu. Are you satisfied now, Kukui?”

Kukui lowered his head, voice soft: “What about Capu Moomoo?”

Morden waved dismissively: “Go ahead, go find it—do whatever you want!”

Luo Mu accepted the Z-band with a strange expression; adding Mimikyu-Z, he hadn’t expected to acquire a second special system so easily.

After fiddling with the Z-band for a while, Luo Mu asked curiously: “What were you originally planning to give me, Uncle Morden?”

At this, Morden perked up with a smug grin: “Of course, my autographed photo as the star police officer of Ula’ula Island—and you can pick any one of the Alolan Meowth from the Ula’ula Police Station to take with you!”

Luo Mu & Kukui: “...”

They would never accept another mission from Morden in this lifetime!

To reach the Harvest Ruins on Ula’ula, you must pass through Capu Village, then traverse the labyrinthine Haina Desert, before finally arriving at the Harvest Ruins where the island guardian Capu Moomoo resides.

“If I can finish my training early, I’d like to visit Lanakila Mountain—Alolan Vulpix must be fun to pet.”

As they passed Capu Village, Luo Mu gazed at the towering snow-capped peak in the distance—the tallest mountain in Alola, and the future site of Kukui’s Pokémon League.

Kukui nodded slightly and smiled: “I’ll arrange the most experienced mountaineer for you. Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales are quite unique—their types changed to Ice and Fairy.”

While exploring alone might have taken several times longer, with Kukui’s guidance, the two, backpacks on their backs, successfully crossed the sandstorm-choked Haina Desert by afternoon, the silhouette of the Harvest Ruins gradually coming into view.

When a towering rock wall blocked their path, Kukui finally spoke: “Climb up—over this wall, you’ll see the Harvest Ruins.”

Luo Mu nodded and immediately released Dragonite, preparing to fly straight up.

(End of Chapter)