Low IQ

It showed that a new sentence had been added to the phone memo, containing someone's distinctive verbal tic.

[Mr. New Champion~ What Little Dragonite is holding is Silph Co.'s mo~st recently developed Nutrient Solution. Although it's a ti~ny bit expensive, the effects are immediate~ Please check the instruction manual for the detailed effects. That's all (<ゝω·)~☆kira]

Some people's personalities could be roughly discerned from their writing alone, such as the New Gym Leader of Breg Light City, who had only been in office for a year.

Luo Mu would not have lost his composure over that sentence in the memo alone. What really got to him was checking his Bank Card balance and being overcome by sorrow.

After buying several bags of experimental Crop Seeds, some fertilizer, and enough Grass Seeds to cover the entire Ranch Area, Luo Mu still had 210,000 League currency left.

Yet the balance on his Bank Card clearly showed that the 210,000 had now dwindled to just 60,000 League currency.

In other words, this one box of Incubation Nutrient Solution had cost him a full 150,000 League currency.

What kind of Incubation Nutrient Solution cost 150,000? Even the Incubation Nutrient Solution he had used for Dragonite had only cost 50,000 in total.

His savings had now fallen into a full-blown deficit crisis!

With a heart full of grief and indignation, Luo Mu viciously tore open the box and threatened aloud, "Once you get over a thousand followers, I'm dragging you over here to do Live Commerce for me!"

The box was not large. Once opened, three bottles of emerald-green liquid, perfectly intact and well wrapped in Bubble, came into view along with their containers.

Luo Mu did not even look at the liquid. He simply felt that it had become the physical embodiment of money, and looking at it made his heart ache.

He snatched up the instruction manual and began reading. A moment later, his anger slowly faded, and all his mixed emotions turned into a sigh.

Kofu had really gone to a lot of trouble.

This Incubation Nutrient Solution was Silph Co.'s latest product. It specifically addressed issues involving Pokémon in Pokémon Eggs with Congenital Deficiency, as well as Pokémon unable to break out of their eggs. It could effectively replenish nutrients lost by the Pokémon inside the egg and improve problems such as Congenital Deficiency and physical weakness after hatching.

The three bottles in this box were to be used at a rate of one bottle per week, with three weeks, or twenty-one days, constituting one treatment cycle.

The fact that Kofu had managed to find Incubation Nutrient Solution like this showed that the girl had seriously considered the Pokémon Egg.

Well, when the time came to have her do Live Commerce, he would squeeze her a little less.

Luo Mu put down the instruction manual, opened his phone, and searched through his contacts. He muttered, "I almost forgot. While there's still some battery left, I should call Dr. Jacq and let her know I'm safe. She and her wife must be frantic."

However, no matter how many times he scrolled through the list, he did not see any missed calls from Dr. Jacq. Luo Mu's brows drew tightly together as he looked at Senpai Pepper, who stood behind him with an expression that seemed to say something but stopped short. How could he not understand what had happened?

Dr. Jacq probably did not even know that Pepper had left the house, did she?

Luo Mu nearly laughed in exasperation. He had actually been completely fooled by Pepper, this half-grown boy. This boy had not come to visit him on a sudden whim at all.

His parents had clearly broken their promise, and, lost in sorrow and confusion, he had happened to meet Luo Mu—a person who did not exist in the original storyline. That was why he had run to Luo Mu like a little animal, seeking a place to lick his wounds.

Dr. Jacq and Dr. Futaba were probably away from home because some urgent matter had come up over the past few days. That was why they had not realized that Pepper had been gone for so long without returning.

Luo Mu looked at Pepper's cautious expression, as though he was afraid Luo Mu would throw him out. Remembering the loneliness Senpai Pepper had hidden in countless details when Luo Mu himself had played Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, he could no longer summon any anger. He sighed and said, "Forget it. Tell me what your parents went off to do. Were they already gone last night?"

"Yes."

Pepper nodded almost imperceptibly and told him everything: how Dragonite had taken him home last night, the empty house, the ingredients left on the dining table that had yet to be put away and assembled, and the note.

Luo Mu folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "So they broke their promise because something urgent came up at work?"

Pepper nodded in a muffled voice, as though he had just cried. "Mm."

"I'm telling you, Pepper." Luo Mu pulled one hand free and rubbed his forehead helplessly, helping him sort out his thoughts. "Even though your parents were in such a hurry, they still left a note to explain the situation because they cared about how you would feel. They didn't just leave without a word like before. Doesn't that prove they care a lot about you?"

It was not as though Luo Mu was deliberately speaking up for Dr. Jacq and Dr. Futaba. In this situation, was he supposed to stand on Pepper's side and curse those two parents for being irresponsible? That would be ridiculous. Pepper might look like this, but he was deeply attached to his parents. Luo Mu would have to be insane to badmouth them in front of Pepper. All he could do was go along with him and soothe him.

After hearing Luo Mu's words, Pepper blinked without saying anything. At the same time, Luo Mu's phone rang with a busy signal.

The phone number Luo Mu had been repeatedly trying to call, Dr. Jacq's, kept returning a busy signal. That meant they had probably already reached somewhere without a signal.

Combined with how hurriedly they had left this time, there was a high chance it was related to the Great Crater of Paldea.

Luo Mu glanced at Pepper. He did not plan to take him back to South District 1, so he suggested, "Forget it. Just make do and sleep here tonight. We'll figure out the rest tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Pepper nodded vigorously. He hated the empty house. Compared to going back, he would rather sleep at Luo Mu's place.

"Then it's settled."

Luo Mu did not try to change Pepper's mind again. Haste made waste; with matters like this, they could only take things one step at a time.

The next morning.

Luo Mu had grown accustomed to rising early from his days of training, and got up promptly at seven.

He threw back the covers and looked around. Seeing nothing, he nodded in satisfaction.

Good. It seemed that Serperior, Mimikyu, and Dragonite had not secretly slipped into his bed last night.

Mimikyu was probably still out in the wild searching for a suitable Pokémon with the Flame Body Ability, so it was normal for it not to be home.

After continuously adding furnishings and making renovations during this period, the Three-Story House had begun to acquire the warmth of a real home.

On the nightstand, the Pokémon Egg that had been soaking in Silph Co.'s Incubation Nutrient Solution rested quietly inside the incubator. After one night, the emerald-green liquid had already changed color somewhat.

Luo Mu remembered the instruction manual saying that once the liquid changed from emerald green to transparent, it meant all the energy in the solution had been absorbed by the Pokémon Egg.

"Isn't that change a little too fast?"

Luo Mu was puzzled. Realizing that his own Low IQ made it impossible for him to figure out, he asked Yuanfang in his mind, "Yuanfang, what do you think?"

[My lord, I'm sitting here watching.]

"Quit fooling around. All you know is how to play off catchphrases. Hurry up and tell me why."

[Host, have you misunderstood the Hint System's range of functions? Are you treating me like a search engine and an Omniscient Book?]

Luo Mu tried to confuse the system. "We have to learn to innovate. Who says the Hint System can't change careers and become a search engine? Think about it. As long as the Pokémon inside the Pokémon Egg hatches, I'll have another source of combat power, won't I?"

"The accumulation of strength works slowly and steadily, like a gentle stream."

[Damn it, Host. What you said makes so much sense.]

[This is a Pokémon Egg from the distant past. Its talent is exceptional, but the energy contained within the Pokémon Egg itself is insufficient for it to hatch. Recommended hatching methods: 1. Provide sufficient energy. 2. Have a powerful Pokémon with the Flame Body Ability assist with hatching.]

Luo Mu fell silent for a long while, his emotions terribly complicated. He poked his own head and asked himself, "Why didn't I ask you from the beginning?"

[Perhaps... you have amnesia?]