Quilava

Luo Mu didn't like Self-Destruct, so he wasn't about to tempt fate by saying Moltres looked like a hen crouching on its nest. He crouched down, reached beneath Moltres, and pulled out the incubator. While he was at it, he gave Moltres's warm-feeling feathers a cheeky grope.

Feeling a pair of hands making mischief against its belly, Moltres's anger flared higher and higher. But under Luxray's casual gaze from beside Luo Mu, Moltres forced its fury back down.

Moltres felt utterly aggrieved. It was a Legendary Pokémon, and yet a human was fondling it—and it didn't dare fight back.

How could it ever show its face again if word got out?

While Moltres sulked to itself, Luo Mu picked up the incubator and held it close for a look. Frowning, he murmured, "It's only been four days. It's absorbed the Nutrient Solution way too quickly. Is Moltres responsible?"

The Nutrient Solution, which had originally been a vivid green, had now turned completely transparent. That meant all the energy it contained had been absorbed.

He remembered the instructions saying that an ordinary Pokémon Egg would absorb most of its Nutrient Solution within seven days. Even the fastest usually finished only a day or two early. The instructions had no cases at all of a Pokémon Egg like this one absorbing every last drop in four days.

It was ridiculous.

Luo Mu sighed and went back inside to pour the second bottle of Nutrient Solution into the incubator. With a worried frown, he said, "At this rate, it won't last even half a month."

He quietly slipped the incubator back beneath Moltres. All he could do was hope the Flame Body Ability of this divine Pokémon was powerful enough to help the Pokémon Egg hatch as soon as possible.

Otherwise, he'd be eaten out of house and home.

Serperior and the others were keeping an eye on the farm, and Moltres seemed pretty well-behaved. Luo Mu had also asked Mimikyu to watch it from the shadows, just in case it suddenly got a crazy idea and went after the Pokémon Egg.

Luo Mu left with a reasonably easy mind.

Following the system's prompts, he searched the wilderness for materials and items he could sell, while he and Luxray made their way toward their destination.

Searching always made time fly. Luo Mu had set out at noon, but the sky had already turned dusky gold, and nightfall was fast approaching.

Luo Mu took stock of what he'd found during the afternoon. Apart from the medicinal herbs he wanted to keep for himself, the most valuable item was a Hard Stone, a held item for Rock-type Pokémon.

A Hard Stone sold for around three thousand League currency on the market. They could drop from many Rock-type Pokémon, so they weren't particularly expensive.

With a few other odds and ends, he should be able to bundle everything up and sell it in Pingdie Town for a tidy five thousand League currency or so.

When he reached the foot of a mountain thick with trees, Luo Mu stopped and told Luxray to wait. Then he began thinking about what to eat that night.

He had some dry rations in his backpack, but those were for emergencies when he couldn't find anything else to eat. Since the plants on this little mountain were growing so well, there ought to be some wild delicacies hidden inside.

As Luo Mu pondered, Luxray, which had been crouched nearby on alert, suddenly stood up and sniffed the air. It seemed to have caught a scent.

After identifying it, Luxray's eyes lit up. It called to Luo Mu, "Myaow!"

"What is it, Luxray?"

Luo Mu looked at Luxray in confusion. Luxray didn't try to explain with gestures. Instead, it signaled for Luo Mu to follow and set off running into the mountain.

Luo Mu blinked. The scene felt oddly familiar, as if this had happened before.

There was no time to think. Luxray was already about to disappear into the mountain, so Luo Mu cut off the memory and hurried after it.

The mountain trail was rough. There were hardly any signs of human footsteps—it could barely even be called a trail.

Luo Mu, however, moved like he knew the way. Keeping his eyes on Luxray as it paused now and then, he scrambled forward as nimbly as a monkey.

As they went, even Luo Mu could catch the faint, intermittent fragrance in the air.

His memory stirred, and he recalled the days just after he'd crossed over.

Back then, he'd been so broke he didn't have a penny to his name. Together with Luxray, who had still been a Shinx at the time, he'd used Shinx's excellent eyesight and sense of smell to earn his first pot of gold in the mountains.

The thing he remembered most vividly from those days had also begun with a fragrance just like this one.

They'd climbed most of the way up the mountain. Even Luo Mu was panting a little under the weight of his big backpack, but fortunately, Luxray stopped at that moment too.

Luxray didn't make a sound. It simply glanced toward a spot in the distance, signaling for Luo Mu to look.

Luo Mu could feel the rich fragrance lingering beneath his nose, but that didn't stop him from gazing toward the spot with delight.

There was a male Quilava.

Its skin was black all over, while its eyelashes, tail tip, and hooves were peach pink.

In an instant, Luo Mu's mouth began to water.

Don't get the wrong idea. Luo Mu wasn't after the Quilava itself. He was interested in what its natural abilities could help him find.

Quilava and its pre-evolution, Cyndaquil, were both famous for their sense of smell. Their noses were incredibly powerful, capable of sniffing out all kinds of mountain delicacies buried deep underground.

Because their amazing sense of smell was devoted entirely to finding food, Quilava didn't react at all, even with two unfamiliar sources of scent—Luo Mu and Luxray—so close by.

Quilava sniffed around in the soil, occasionally rooting through it and popping a tasty mushroom into its mouth.

Only at night was its nearly black body harder for predators to spot, allowing it to hide its heavily scented form.

As it ate and rooted around, Quilava didn't notice the two little tails following behind it, picking up the food it had rejected.

Then Quilava caught a remarkably sweet, fresh scent in the air. Its eyes lit up, and its four legs—seemingly all fat but actually all muscle—tensed before it sprinted wildly toward the source.

Luo Mu and Luxray, trailing far behind, exchanged a glance and immediately chased after it.

Judging by Quilava's reaction, there had to be something good!

Quilava ran for a full ten minutes. Strange howls and cries rang out now and then from the shadowy mountain. While most people would have been terrified by a place like this, Luo Mu and Luxray only grew more excited as they ran.

Because on the ground not far from where Quilava had stopped lay a pair of enormous pincers!

Jackpot!

Luo Mu held back his excited voice, his gaze fixed on the pair of pincers.

The naturally shed pincers of a Crabominable!

Its meat was tender, smooth, and sweet—a dream ingredient that countless high-end restaurants would pay a fortune for and still might not be able to get their hands on!

It was also the source of the first travel funds Luo Mu would earn as a Champion-level Trainer!