Elf: Re-employment of retired champion of Padiya

Chapter 732 The Gym Challenger from Unova

"Kanu—"

Carrying a massive hammer that was two heads taller than himself, the master blacksmith closed his eyes and carefully felt the changes in his body.

A moment later, it opened its eyes, which had a long eyelash, and its eyes were filled with confusion.

"Kanu?"

Why does it feel that its strength after evolution has not increased as much as it had expected?

The master blacksmith was plunged into deep confusion.

It wasn't until Erguipeng put on the "fire stove mask" and entered the workshop, excitedly grasping its hand, that the Great Blacksmith came to his senses, put down the hammer he was carrying on his shoulder, and grasped Erguipeng's small hand in return.

At this moment, the Evil Pine was excitedly inviting the Great Blacksmith to go to the training ground together later, to clash its thorny vine club with the Great Blacksmith's great hammer, and see who was stronger.

But the master blacksmith seemed somewhat distracted at this moment.

This was noticed by Luo Mu, the Crowned King, and the Wise Gorilla.

It stood still for about ten seconds after it had just completed its evolution.

Luo Mu originally thought that the Great Blacksmith was adapting to his evolved power, but now it seems that this is not the case.

After the Evil Spirit made its agreement with the Great Blacksmith, it, one of the two violent lolis, happily left.

Then the farm Pokémon, who were gathered around the blacksmith's workshop, took turns offering their blessings to the giant blacksmith.

Only after Luo Mu and the Crowned King were left in the blacksmith's workshop, and even Zhi Hui Xing had left first.

Luo Mu then stepped forward and said, "Congratulations on completing your evolution, Great Blacksmith."

"Kanu~"

Knowing that Luo Mu had returned at the last minute, the master blacksmith smiled and squinted his eyes, responding with great energy.

However, its mood quickly returned to its previous absent-minded state.

Luo Mu simply squatted down to look it in the eye.

Is something bothering you?

When communicating with most Pokémon, getting straight to the point is the best approach.

Even the proud and arrogant Serpent King is instantly defeated when confronted directly.

So after Luo Mu asked that question, the giant blacksmith, who had originally wanted to hide it, hesitated and revealed the reason for his low spirits.

"Do you feel the increase in strength is insufficient?"

Luo Mu blinked as he listened to the simultaneous translation from the Queen of the Crown.

"Kanu".

The master blacksmith nodded slightly.

The Crowned King also shared its observations.

"It seems to be more focused on improving overall quality."

In its mental scan, compared to before its evolution, the Greatsmith's abilities did not show any significant improvement; instead, it tended to show growth in overall quality.

"Most Pokémon that have two evolution opportunities are basically like this."

Luo Mu picked up the giant blacksmith, who looked like a rag doll, and gently comforted it, without taking the huge hammer with him.

"Compared to Arcanine or Milotic who share their experiences with you, this increase might not seem significant, but it's still much stronger than before you evolved, isn't it?"

Luo Mu remembered that the Little Blacksmith's physical attack stat was only 45 points, and its overall stats were only 297 points.

After evolving into Master Blacksmith, its total base stats reached 380, but its Strength base stat only increased by a mere 10 points, reaching 55.

Evolving from Master Blacksmith to Great Blacksmith brings its total base stats to 506, an increase of 126 points, almost matching the base stat increase of the starter Pokémon when they undergo their final evolution.

After all, it wasn't a huge boost like Arcanine, Milotic, or Gyarados, which caused Great Blacksmith to experience a temporary sense of disappointment.

But what should be most devastating for the Greatsmith is the increase in power it had been hoping for.

Unfortunately, the numerical value is only 20 points higher than during the Master Blacksmith era, while all other miscellaneous stats have been increased.

This slightly weakened the great blacksmith who hoped to become stronger and be able to forge better metalware.

After understanding the reason for the master blacksmith's low spirits, Luo Mu was speechless for a moment.

He couldn't very well say that the Great Blacksmith was set up by a company from some distant world, could he?

Because the Greatsmith has mastered a move called "Giant Hammer" that is a bit like an afro-headed buffalo, and its Fairy and Steel types are exactly the same as those of a certain once-glorious Sword King, its base stats have also been poisoned.

Who would have thought that the highest of the six base stats for the "violent loli" wielding the giant hammer in front of you is Special Defense?
On the contrary, the difference between physical attack and special attack is only five points, which is truly the evil dual-wielding configuration.

Fortunately, the Greatsmith is quite clever, and his personality isn't the type to become completely gloomy.

With Luo Mu's patient persuasion, it quickly stopped getting stuck on its own ideas.

"Kanu!" (Strength can be trained!)
The master blacksmith clenched his fist earnestly and set himself a short-term goal.

Train until you have the strength of a giant swamp monster, then knock a flying dragon down from the sky with a single blow!
That's right, the Greatsmith never targeted the Steelravens; the real reason he often plucked their feathers wasn't out of kindness.

It simply transferred its impulse to shoot down the Corviknight at any moment onto a black dragon.

It set this goal even before it joined the farm.

Seeing the great blacksmith's fighting spirit reignited, King Rachelon smiled and added fuel to the fire.

"And don't forget, I will also lend you a hand in the future. When you forge an iron hammer that can rival a sword and shield, I will fulfill my promise."

“I look forward to that day.”

Feeling confident that he was invincible again, the great blacksmith replied with brimming self-assurance, "Kanu!" (He'll be here soon!)

Because of the semi-automatic translation achieved by the Crowned Queen through mental power, Luo Mu was able to hear their entire conversation.

That's why several question marks suddenly appeared above his head.

What hammer, what agreement?
what are you guys saying?
Luo Mu wasn't one to keep questions to himself, so he immediately asked for the reason.

The Crowned King and the Greatsmith exchanged a glance. From the "Anti-Greatsmith Armor" that the Greatsmith had created when he was still a skilled blacksmith, to the agreement they made, whereby the Crowned King would help the Greatsmith become the "King of Hammers" after he created a hammer of the same level as the "Unyielding Sword" and the "Unbreakable Shield". Everything was made clear.

After listening to their statements, Luo Mu fell silent.

Putting aside the fact that he was indeed aware of it, the name "Anti-Giant Blacksmith Armor" is also full of flaws.

What the heck is this "King of Hammers"?

Luo Mu tried to construct in his mind the future where the future master blacksmith actually successfully forged that iron hammer.

Zacian's Attack stat increased by 30 points when he transforms into the Sword King, so wouldn't Greatsmith's Attack stat also increase by 30 points when he transforms into the Hammer King?
75+30=105
Don't be fooled by the fact that it may not seem particularly outstanding. Considering that the Greatsmith's "Giant Hammer" is half again as powerful as "Giant Beast Slash" and has even more base power, it's terrifying just to think about.

Who taught Cerezo to "create" illegal Pokémon?!

Although the Great Blacksmith and the Crowned King's "King of Hammers" move did catch Luo Mu off guard.

But after leaving the blacksmith's workshop, he quickly composed himself and began to reflect on the gains from his trip to Frostmoil Mountain. Besides the promised cash bonus to be distributed along with the banner, he had also helped the messenger bird meet with its people.

Then, almost nothing good ever came of it.

The poaching gang of a dozen or so Pokémon hunters, who were caught after enduring a long blizzard, also included three elite members of Team Rocket's "True Bird Matrix."

And then there's Ao-Green, who's about to get involved in a trainer-versus-trainer battle in order to clean up this mess and save himself some trouble.

The only real gain was the claw meat of the competitive hairy crab that had already disappeared from his stomach!
"You've got nothing better to do than run around all day!"

Seeing the puzzled look on the Mimikyu that had stuck to him, Luo Mu quietly slapped himself, deciding that he didn't plan to go out for a while.

After that, I just stayed at the farm, taught at Orange Academy and attended the Pokémon Center in Flatbread Town at fixed times, and occasionally fried fish at the gym, living a peaceful life.

As for getting involved in the major events that are about to happen in the Sinnoh region, he didn't even want to think about it.

Unlike the previous situation in Hoenn, Sinnoh is a very special place.

The events in the theatrical trilogy all involve situations in very special areas that cannot be resolved by brute force alone.

Time, space, reversal, and an officially certified creator god.

Who can afford to offend these big shots?

Even though Arceus's clone was almost humiliatingly killed by humans using mercury and electrotherapy, Luo Mu would not underestimate its power in the slightest.

The same applies to time, space, and reversal.

Luo Mu felt that he could wait until Ash finished playing through several movies before going to explore the Sinnoh region.

That way, things won't turn out like they did with Hoenn.

As long as he stays in the Padiya region, he won't get involved in anything strange.

After all, Dialga and Palkia, who are busy fighting, or Giratina, who is spying on the Reverse World, can't just drag him all the way over to join in the fun without even knowing him, right?
The probability of this is not low, but it is practically nonexistent.

Putting all these thoughts and worries aside, Luo Mu carried Mimikyu all the way back to his room and pounced on the bed.

"Ahhh! I haven't seen everyone for days, let me give you a hug!"

"The fluffy fur is nice too! The cool armor is nice too! And the soft belly!"

Inside Luo Mu's room, a series of slightly offensive sounds rang out.

On April 17, the second day after returning home, Luo Mu was forced to become a wage earner.

It was still the Orange Academy course, after all, he couldn't let Hachisaku keep teaching for him.

Today, Luo Mu didn't lead Pipa and the others around; instead, he stayed obediently in the academy's battle arena.

Even with Shinji and Shizuka both staying in the Sinnoh region, he still had to teach more than five people, and occasionally Ortega, Pina, and Alex, whom he had taught before, would come over to audit his classes.

Luo Mu felt that if things continued like this, sooner or later he would have to teach a class of students.

Fortunately, his biggest problem hadn't been at the academy these past few days, which made things much easier for him.

Nemo recently asked the college for a few days off and will not be coming to class.

The reason for her leave seemed to be that her father and sister, who were doing business in the Kalos region, had returned to the Padilla region and were discussing going on a family trip for a few days to celebrate her becoming a Champion Trainer.

Luo Mu thought it was great, and Principal Claver approved the leave directly.

After all, students at Orange Academy can actually take leave under the pretext of "family trip".

Unlike before Luo Mu transmigrated, when he needed a doctor's certificate to take leave if he was sick, otherwise it would be considered absenteeism.

—Although school and workplace shouldn't be confused.

Today's lesson was relatively simple.

"Let the Pokémon suffer type attacks that it is not good at or does not like."

Simply put, it's desensitization training.

Luo Mu is a teacher who teaches combat experience. The reason he is doing this training is because he thinks this exercise is very important.

For example.

In the actual battle, both you and your opponent only have one Pokémon left.

The opponent's Pokémon is a Water-type Pokémon that is super effective against your Fire-type Pokémon, and it also has a move called "Muddy Water".

Your Pokémon not only has the Fire and Rock type, which is four times weak to Water, but it is also very clean and doesn't like getting dirty water on itself.

Once hit by the "Turbid Flow" move, not only will you lose a lot of stamina, but you will also fall into an emotional state, which may cause you to become confused or disobedient.

Even if Luo Mu came, he wouldn't be able to turn the tide in this situation; the only thing they could rely on was the bond between the trainer and the Pokémon.

To prevent such situations from affecting Pokémon's combat power and performance in official matches, appropriate desensitization exercises are essential during regular training.

Just like the Growlithe that was still guarding the farm, Luo Mu has now trained it to be able to calmly snatch Luo Mu's slippers and wreak havoc even after being sprayed in the face with Luo Mu's water hose.

Well, Luo Mu never expected that his attempt to get Arcanine used to taking a bath would produce such a terrible result.

But that has nothing to do with today's lesson.

He strolled around the battle arena with his hands behind his back, his gaze moving over Piper and his friends and their Pokémon.

The image finally settled on a short, absent-minded figure.

Wu Li has been a student at Blueberry Academy for some time now.

Why did Luo Mu think he was distracted?
The poor boy's attention was completely elsewhere; he was staring intently at Evil Creeper, who was wielding a thorny club that was wrapped in water and relentlessly beating the Fiery Roaring Tiger.

Those eyes, hidden beneath her bangs, seemed to sparkle with starlight.

Luo Mu: "."

He strode forward and lightly tapped Ulquiorra on the head. Luo Mu said expressionlessly, "Keep a close eye on your own Pokémon. As a trainer, how can you let your mind wander to other Pokémon while it's trying to overcome its weaknesses?"

That's just nice talk.

If Luo Mu can do something like chasing a speed dog with a hose, he's just kidding.

But for a naive child like Wuli, the effect was remarkable.

Wu Li held her head and weakly apologized, "I'm so sorry."

"It's enough to admit your mistake."

Luo Mu nodded slightly, then turned and went to patrol other areas.

Just then, his cell phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

Luo Mu skillfully picked up his phone and answered the call. Hearing what was being said on the other end, he paused, tilting his head in confusion.

"You mean, a trainer who came all the way from the Unova region specifically requested that I personally accept the gym challenge?"

(End of this chapter)