Chapter 93: Harvest Ruins

Can we take a look at its skirt?

Luo Mu frowned; this wild Mimikyu was truly immodest—clearly having its own kind on its shoulders, yet it dared to make such a demand in front of his own Mimikyu.

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

Legend says a scholar who saw beneath Mimikyu's skirt was frightened to death by sheer terror. Some trainers who accidentally glimpsed the doll's interior due to the wind reportedly died in agonizing struggles that very night.

But for Luo Mu, he 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 malnutrition? The wild Mimikyu's true body felt hollow and limp when poked.

The wild Mimikyu's true body wore an expression—whether humiliation or something else—as a hard object crashed down from beneath its skirt; Luo Mu involuntarily shut his eyes, clutched his nose, and groaned 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 behind him—closed by him upon entering—now wide open, he understood everything and sighed helplessly: "It ran off in a huff? Seems I hurt its pride. Next time I meet it, I'll apologize properly."

He sighed and looked at his palm, where the culprit that struck his nose lay.

On his right palm rested 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 Cutiefly 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 feeling 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 Misdreavus, I think."

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

Kukui leaned close by the firelight, studied it closely, then gasped: "This is Mimikyu Z!?"

Luo Mu nodded firmly.

Kukui pondered for a moment, then uncertainly said: "I've never seen a wild Mimikyu."

Luo Mu's petting of Cutiefly paused; he could only reluctantly accept Kukui's words.

"But…" Kukui suddenly spoke, his gaze on Luo Mu serious. "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 leftward, where a half-ruined warehouse stood plainly marked.

The two exchanged glances, both seeing Solemnity in the other's eyes.

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

Luo Mu disbelievingly said: "There was a door here when I came in earlier!"

Kukui sucked in a sharp breath and said gravely: "This place isn't safe to stay in. Let's go!"

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, growing more uneasy as he listened, finally concluding with a serious face: "You two must've encountered a ghost. I'm amazed you made it back alive!"

Kukui, face twisted in distress, shook Morden's collar fiercely: "How can you say that without your conscience hurting?!"

Compared to the still-shaken Kukui, Luo Mu—who already knew Ghost Pokémon were real—had calmed considerably after a night's reflection; the fog around him gradually lifted.

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 released Morden.

Morden straightened his collar and pulled a bracelet with grooves from his pocket, sighing: "I didn't plan to give this to you, but I nearly got you killed—this Z-Ring is my apology to Luo Mu. Are you satisfied now, Kukui?"

Kukui lowered his head, voice soft: "What about Seeing Seeing Kapu?"

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

Luo Mu accepted the Z-Ring with a strange expression; adding Mimikyu Z, he hadn't expected to acquire a second Special System so easily.

After fiddling with the Z-Ring 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 Alolan Meowth from the Ula'ula Police Station to take with you!"

Luo Mu & Kukui: "..."

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

To reach the Harvest Ruins on Ula'ula, one must pass through Seeing Seeing Kapu Village, then traverse the labyrinthine Haina Desert, before finally arriving at the Harvest Ruins where the island guardian, Tapu Tapu Moumou, resides.

"If I can finish my training early, I'd like to visit Lanakila Mountain—Alolan Vulpix must be great to pet."

As they passed Seeing Seeing Kapu 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 for the most experienced mountaineer in Alola to guide you. Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales are quite unique—their types have become Ice and Fairy."

While exploring alone might have taken several times longer, under Kukui's expert 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 upward—past this wall, you'll see the Harvest Ruins."

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

(End of Chapter)