The Three Areas Get on Track

This mission had gone exceptionally smoothly. On the afternoon of the day he caught the four Poliwag, Luo Mu returned to the farm.

He first went to check on Moltres and the Pokémon Egg in the incubator beneath it.

Moltres was sleeping soundly. Mimikyu, hiding in the shadow of the Small Western-Style House, noticed Luo Mu and Luxray returning and reported that during Luo Mu's absence, Moltres had done nothing but eat and sleep, with no unusual behavior whatsoever.

Luo Mu patted Mimikyu on the head in praise and told it to get ready for a feast that evening before taking Luxray to their next destination—the Farming Area.

By the fields, Serperior was idly shaping its vines into different forms to amuse the two Gossifleur, while Eldegoss drifted through the fields, checking for any signs of pests or weeds.

Hearing Luo Mu's footsteps, Serperior instantly abandoned the two Gossifleur, who were having a great time, and leisurely slithered over.

"Gah?" (You're back?)

"I'm back. Thanks for watching the fields. We're having a feast tonight~" Luo Mu noticed the tip of Serperior's tail curling around his finger. He smiled without exposing it, then looked toward Eldegoss in the field and called out, "Eldegoss, you worked hard too. Take a break, then remember to come home for the feast tonight."

"Goss!"

Eldegoss nodded with a beaming smile.

Next, Luo Mu went to inform Swampert, which was staying in the Lake Area to inspect its future home; Ceruledge, which was practicing swordsmanship on a small hill not far from the farm; and Dragonite, which he had thought was sleeping in the sky again but was actually curled up inside the Small Western-Style House.

That evening, Luo Mu gathered all the Pokémon behind the Small Western-Style House for a barbecue party.

Ceruledge stood beside the grill, skillfully using its Flame Greatsword to skewer and grill all sorts of wild mushrooms Luo Mu had brought home.

Luo Mu evenly divided the crab meat from the second Crabrawler claw into fifteen portions and steamed them.

Then, while he had some time to spare, Luo Mu let out the four Poliwag.

The three Poliwag hid behind their leader, curiously surveying their surroundings. They felt that what Luo Mu had said was indeed true.

So many powerful Pokémon had gathered here and lived together harmoniously. Especially that enormous bird wreathed in flames—Poliwag felt that it was worlds apart from them, far beyond their reach.

Soon, Ceruledge's grilled wild mushrooms and Luo Mu's steamed Crabrawler claws were ready one after another. Luo Mu distributed the portions and set them in front of the corresponding Pokémon. Taking a serving for himself, he squatted on the ground and started eating.

Moltres first sampled a skewer of Ceruledge's barbecue. The moment the seasoned skewer entered its mouth, Moltres's eyes lit up.

The chili powder was spread evenly across the mushrooms. All their moisture had been grilled out, leaving them crisp without being dry, utterly delicious.

The crab meat was an inspired finishing touch. After the spicy skewers, the intensely sweet and fresh crab meat delivered a devastating blow.

Moltres, which had only ever absorbed energy from volcanoes and occasionally eaten some Berries, had never tasted anything this delicious. It even found itself thinking that staying here for the food might not be so bad.

After tasting the crab meat, the five main Pokémon finally understood why Luo Mu and Luxray had been so obsessed with it. If it were them, after tasting this crab meat, they would surely lose all interest in food and drink for quite some time.

Tears trickled from the Poliwag's bright, round eyes. As they tasted this supreme delicacy, they sincerely felt that pledging themselves to Luo Mu was the wisest decision of their lives.

Three days later, the water channel from the lake where the Poliwag had been caught to the farm was successfully completed. Since the channel would be filled in again after the water had been diverted, Swampert did not need to care about appearances and simply used brute force the entire way.

Serperior wove a large net with extremely narrow gaps from tough green vines and placed it over the lake's outlet. This would prevent wild Water-type Pokémon or fish of unknown species from entering Thunderclap Lake without Luo Mu's knowledge.

The entire project lasted three days and was completely finished after Swampert filled the water channel back in.

Although Thunderclap Lake initially had an average depth of only 3.5 meters and covered just five mu of land, Luo Mu believed that one day, he would develop it into something worthy of its name.

As soon as Thunderclap Lake was completed, the four Poliwag moved in. Though the lake contained no one besides them and the somewhat fierce-looking Swampert, they were extremely satisfied with the environment and looked forward to more companions and species joining them in the future.

In the Farming Area, the strawberry fields had already produced flower buds, with a few of them having bloomed. The tomatoes, eggplants, and cabbages were the same.

In the fastest-growing cucumber field, tiny cucumbers could already be seen.

With the two major areas on track, it was naturally time to make arrangements for the Ranch Area as well.

Once again, Swampert used wide-range Stomping Tantrum to clear the weeds and loose stones from the wasteland. Then, the Pokémon each displayed their abilities, quickly sowing seeds of edible pasture grass across the freshly turned soil.

The pasture grass grew extremely quickly and did not even need Eldegoss to share nutrients with it. As if heaven itself were helping Luo Mu, a light rain quietly arrived on the night the grass was planted.

At the same time, the nutrient solution inside the Pokémon Egg turned transparent again.

Luo Mu gritted his teeth and replaced it with the last canister.

Two more days passed, and patches of tender shoots had emerged from the soil across the Ranch Area. They would probably need only a week to fully grow.

When the time came, Luo Mu planned to spend some money on several Pokémon suitable for raising on a ranch.

Such as Miltank, Mareep, Skiddo, and so on.

After selling the gains from that day's wilderness exploration, Luo Mu earned 12,000 League currency. After accounting for the cost of buying more ingredients afterward, he still had 55,000 League currency in savings. Buying a few Pokémon to keep in the ranch would not put him under much pressure.

Once the farmland was harvested, there would be another new source of income. And only three days remained before he was due to report to Naranja Academy.

Everything was steadily improving.

On the morning of the sixth day, Luo Mu, who had been sleeping soundly in bed, was suddenly jolted awake by an extremely piercing cry. Luxray and Dragonite, lying beside him; Mimikyu and Serperior on the bed; and Ceruledge, staying alone in another room, were all awakened as well.

Luo Mu instantly became fully alert and quickly determined that the cry had come from Moltres in the backyard of the Small Western-Style House.

Moltres had been especially well-behaved lately. Over the past two days, Luo Mu had even relaxed enough to let Mimikyu, which had been assigned to watch it, move about freely.

He had not expected Moltres to pull something like this today.

Without even having time to put on clothes, Luo Mu, his heartbeat racing, shoved his feet into his slippers and rushed downstairs with the Pokémon, heading straight for Moltres.

Under the small shed, Moltres stared blankly at the Pokémon Egg flashing in a very rhythmic pattern, cold sweat streaming down its face.

What was going on now?

Could it have incubated the egg until it exploded? Would Luo Mu bring six Pokémon to gang up on it?

At that moment, Moltres and Luo Mu were feeling remarkably alike.

They were both scared shitless.