Poliwag

A single Tera Shard sold for around 3,000 League currency, roughly on par with items like Hard Stone.

Tera Shards had only one use—in the famous Treasure Cafeteria of the Paldea Region, fifty Tera Shards of the same type could be used to make a special dish capable of changing a Pokémon's Tera Type.

"Changing a Tera Type gives wealthy people more tactical options, but normal Tera Types are usually good enough. I'd better sell these two shards for money."

Luo Mu shook his head. Tera Shards were still abundant throughout the Paldea Region. When the crystals that Appearing randomly across the region shattered, there was a chance they would produce Tera Shards. Plenty of scattered Tera Shards of various types were sold on the market.

They had even given rise to a group of people who made their living specifically by picking up Tera Shards.

Luo Mu did not catch the Crabrawler. The taste of claws dropped by Wild Crabrawler was worlds apart from those dropped by farm-raised Crabrawler; they were simply incomparable. When most restaurants bought crab claws, they specifically noted that they wanted claws dropped by Wild Crabrawler.

Following Luxray, Luo Mu found a flat spot in the mountains and set up his tent. He lit a campfire, placed a small pot over it, and began steaming the Crabrawler claws.

When the claw was cracked open, it revealed around six or seven pounds of tender white crab meat. As long as he found some water and steamed it in the pot, the crab meat's fresh flavor would be fully brought out.

After challenging the Normal-type Gym, Luo Mu had once eaten at the Treasure Cafeteria with Aoki, his fellow corporate drudge.

At the time, one of the Treasure Cafeteria's chefs heard that Luo Mu had found a pair of Wild Crabrawler claws and had eaten one of them simply boiled in water. The chef could not help but sigh in regret.

That way of eating it was simply a waste of heaven-sent ingredients. The chef immediately introduced Luo Mu to the best way to prepare Crabrawler claws.

Unfortunately, Luo Mu had not brought any soy sauce. He only carried portable seasonings such as salt and chili powder. Otherwise, with how delicious the crab meat inside the claw was, dipping it in a little soy sauce would have been enough to make someone's eyebrows fall off from freshness.

Billowing white steam drifted upward. Luo Mu was not worried that the campfire or the smell of food would attract Wild Pokémon.

Putting aside whether there was any Wild Pokémon nearby that could last three moves against Luxray, after Luxray's loud roar following its Terastallization, most Wild Pokémon would probably not dare come out to forage even if they smelled the aroma.

The moment the countdown in his head ended, Luo Mu lifted the lid without hesitation. Amid the hazy white steam, the tender white crab meat lay within the claw shell. The meat and the clear broth steamed from it released a sweet, fresh fragrance. At a single sniff, saliva began to flood Luo Mu's mouth at an astonishing speed.

The finest ingredients often required only the simplest cooking methods.

Luo Mu exchanged a glance with Luxray. Ignoring the scorching heat of the shells, they each picked up—or hugged—a shell and eagerly sampled the delicious crab meat.

The thick, plump, snowy-white strands of crab meat were distinct from one another, and each sucked out incredibly fresh, sweet juices. Combined with its rich, soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture, a single bite made Luo Mu feel that all the hardship of the past year had been worthwhile.

Luxray's eyes gleamed as it ate, its star-shaped tail tip swishing happily.

Luo Mu ate a smaller portion of the crab meat, while Luxray ate the larger share.

Even so, they ate at almost exactly the same pace.

Just filling up on such top-tier delicacy made Luo Mu feel that this trip had already been worthwhile.

As for the remaining claw, Luo Mu planned to bring it back as a local specialty to share with the other Pokémon. After all, it would not be very nice for only him and Luxray to feast alone.

The temperature was low on this early spring night, yet Luo Mu felt that ever since eating the crab meat, his entire body had become pleasantly warm. Even in the cold wind, he did not feel chilly.

Luxray's sensation was even clearer than Luo Mu's. Not only had the energy Inside the Body become abundant after eating the crab meat, but its physical functions had also improved slightly.

The next morning, at dawn.

Luo Mu and Luxray packed up early and returned down the mountain by the same route. The lake they were heading for lay roughly several hundred meters east of the mountain's foot.

They moved quickly and reached their destination in under ten minutes.

The lake was situated in the middle of a small wetland, with quite a few Wild Pokémon that lived in the wetlands scattered around it.

There were no exceptionally rare late-blooming Pokémon youngsters like Goomy, but Wooper and Quagsire, Psyduck and Marill, as well as Barboach, Can Be Seen throughout the area.

Luo Mu looked around. The wetland environment would make it much easier for Swampert to dig channels and divert water. He could not yet tell exactly what Pokémon and fish lived in the lake, but its water storage capacity was plentiful enough that filling the huge pit on his farm would not risk lowering the water level.

As for the water quality...

Luo Mu walked to a relatively dry spot along the lake's edge and crouched down, taking a water-testing kit from his large backpack.

He dripped the collected lake water onto the kit and waited for around three minutes. The two red bars that would indicate unclean water did not appear, proving that the lake water met all the requirements.

Luxray came over and nudged Luo Mu with its head, letting out a short, rapid rumble from its throat.

Luo Mu freed one hand to stroke its fluffy head and smiled. "No problem. We can bring Swampert over to divert the water once we get back."

With one concern settled, Luo Mu figured he would stroll around the wetland before leaving and see if there were any suitable Water-type Pokémon to kidnap—cough, cough—adopt and bring home!

Wooper, Psyduck, and Marill did not quite meet Luo Mu's expectations.

If most Wooper were overly lively and rambunctious, then their evolved form, Quagsire, was the opposite extreme—slow to react, mild-tempered, and relaxed, practically the Pokémon version of a capybara.

Psyduck was too dim-witted, while Golduck was better suited to diving with fishermen to catch fish than working on a farm.

And Marill, the water mouse, along with Azumarill, the water rabbit, were better suited to using Play Rough to beat up Salamence—definitely.

Luo Mu's gaze drifted over the lake surface, hoping to find a Water-type Pokémon that would suit the farm.

About five minutes later, Luo Mu's eyes were nearly watering from staring when he finally spotted a Pokémon that had just swum ashore not far away.

Slippery blue skin, a round body without arms, a plump feather-like tadpole tail, and a black spiral pattern on its belly!

The Tadpole Pokémon—Poliwag!

Its initial form might not have been much different from Psyduck, Marill, or Wooper.

But after completing two stages of evolution, one of the branched evolutions of Poliwhirl, Politoed, possessed unique abilities that made it one of the Pokémon best suited for Luo Mu Farm!