Elf: Re-employment of retired champion of Padiya

Chapter 789 Luo Mu: What to do when the door is blocked? Urgent help needed online.

That was the year he was still traveling in the Parthian region.

Standing on the street outside the transparent and bright shop window, Luo Mu saw for the first time in a corner of a bustling toy store the Mimikyu, who was trying to disguise itself as a doll, hoping to blend in with the cute real dolls and be chosen.

He noticed that the guests who came and went never paid attention to it. Instead, they would walk up to it, pick up the cute dolls, and laugh with their families.

And that Mimikyu, alone in the corner, waiting to be chosen by someone, has probably been waiting there for countless sunrises and sunsets.

But Mimikyu disguised as Pikachu is definitely cute, and it's not like it's completely ignored.

After observing the gazes and actions of passersby, Luo Mu vaguely understood the problem with Mimikyu.

Passersby did not see it, find it unattractive, and simply ignore it.

—Instead, they hadn't noticed the Mimikyu hiding in the corner from the very beginning.

This situation is very unusual.

Next, Luo Mu communicated with the Roentgentodox, the Green Vine Snake, and the Mudkip that were following him.

To his surprise, he discovered that if he hadn't mentioned it, none of the three of them would have noticed that Mimikyu, a Pokémon, had been mixed in with a group of lifeless plush toys.

Today, Luo Mu can't quite remember what he was thinking back then.

He only remembered that he didn't think about why Mimikyu wasn't being "observed." Instead, he instinctively pushed open the shop door and picked up Mimikyu, who was sitting in the corner, to the sound of the melodious wind chimes.

Then, amidst the shop assistant's bewildered expression—"When did the store get this doll?"—Luo Mu paid the standard price for the dolls sold in the store and bought Mimikyu.

Later, through his interactions with this somewhat shy little creature who longed to be showered with affection, Luo Mu came to the conclusion that Mimikyu possessed a naturally weak sense of presence, a characteristic that could be considered a "special ability."

Despite being called a "special ability," this ability doesn't actually perform very well in actual battles, and it has extremely limited impact on Mimikyu's combat power.

On the contrary, Mudkip at that time, relying solely on its strength, was able to wrestle with X-Rayet Cat for a second or two before being overwhelmed.

Mimikyu's most limited ability is to catch some bad-tempered wild Pokémon off guard in the wild.

And once a hit is landed, it will be immediately recognized, and it won't be very effective afterward.

As for battles involving "eye contact" with wild trainers or challenging gyms, this ability is not very useful.

Luo Mu didn't understand why he was immune to Mimikyu's faint presence, which was like that of a saint.

However, he also summarized many patterns.

For example, after Mimikyu initiates an attack, the time it takes for the attacked party to notice Mimikyu's existence varies depending on the power difference between the two sides.

Luo Mu himself acts as an "anchor point." As long as he interacts with Mimikyu, people or Pokémon around him who notice his actions will notice Mimikyu's presence and will not be affected by its faint presence.

Therefore, in formal battles, when Luo Mu sends Mimikyu to the battlefield, its special ability is no different from its blank slate.

Once everyone recognizes you, it's no use having a faint presence.

Luo Mu had considered training Mimikyu's ability to become a true shadow assassin, but he kept running into obstacles when he tried to do so.

Before he knew it, a year had passed. Mimikyu had been trained to the point where he could defeat the Elite Four and Yaji's main force, but his abilities in this area seemed to be completely locked at their limit, with no progress whatsoever.

On the other hand, Swampert's strength increased as it grew stronger, and eventually, with the boost of Mega Evolution, it was able to slam Hoenn Rayquaza to the ground with a single punch, leaving it stunned for quite a while.

In the end, Luo Mu could only conclude that Mimikyu's ability was indeed fixed from the beginning and could not be upgraded any further.

When did the turning point come?

Luo Mu remembered that it must have been shortly after the Crowned King joined the farm with the Snowstorm Horse and the Spirit Horse.

The Spirit Horse and the Crowned King are masters at manipulating spiritual power.

Spiritual power is a special ability possessed by Ghost-type Pokémon, comparable to the psychic or superpowered abilities of Psychic-type Pokémon.

Ghost-type Pokémon can manipulate objects into floating motions to scare people, and they can also steal life energy to create all sorts of bizarre phenomena, all of which are achieved through spiritual power.

Of course, this does not mean that Mimikyu's ability to have a faint presence is essentially a form of spiritual power.

The Crown of Lace also gave a negative answer.

However, due to the presence of the Calycerin King and the Spirit Horse, Mimikyu began to cultivate its spiritual power, which it rarely did actively improve before.

After all, strictly speaking, Mimikyu is a melee fighter or assassin.

All sorts of tricks created through spiritual power, such as creating illusions, influencing magnetic fields, blocking electronic signals, and generating hallucinations, are useless against Mimikyu.

Neither is as practical and efficient as physically stunning the opponent with a single swipe of a claw.

In fact, when Luo Mu first started cultivating spiritual power, he only defined it as a relaxation activity after the daily combat training of the Mysterious Hill.

But not long ago, Mimikyu unexpectedly discovered that as its spiritual power gradually increased, it was able to consciously control its abilities.

It's not just about the most basic "closing off one's own faint sense of existence" and "activating one's own faint sense of existence," but also about consciously enhancing one's abilities through spiritual power to make one's own sense of existence even fainter.

This would even allow Mimikyu to hide from Rare Crown King for a period of time.

Furthermore, once a certain condition is met, this ability can be used in battle.

The specific operation is just like when Mimikyu was caught in Gallade's teleport combo.

First, she used "Spiritual Ambush" to make her opponent lose sight of her, and before leaving the alternate dimension, she consciously used spiritual power to make her presence even less noticeable.

The final result was just like before, where the other dimension had already left and appeared behind Gallade, but the other party was completely unaware before Mimikyu made its move.

All these memories flashed through Luo Mu's mind in the blink of an eye.

Hearing his answer, Wu Song couldn't help but have a few question marks pop up above his head.

"Simply, a lack of presence?"

Do you even believe what you're saying?

Just now, not only Gallade, but also his eyes were fixed on the area around Gallade.

But what about the facts?

The moment Mimikyu made its move, he and Gallade realized that the other's figure seemed to have suddenly appeared behind Gallade!
No, it's less about the other party suddenly appearing behind Gallade.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that after they couldn't see Mimikyu, they both inexplicably and subconsciously ignored each other's reappearance!

The thought of this possibility sent chills down Wusong's spine.

This ability is truly terrifying.

Imagine if you were to engage in a battle in the wild, and Mimikyu could appear behind you without you even noticing, then knock you unconscious or do something even more dangerous.

After all, without a trainer, a Pokémon's combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

Even the heavily guarded League headquarters, Mimikyu could easily slip in, then kill the Sinnoh Chairman there and escape unscathed. — She's practically a born assassin!

Wu Song even felt a sense of relief.

Fortunately, Mimikyu's trainer is Lomu, not anyone from Team Galactic, or a member of an evil organization from another region, or one of those vicious poachers.

Otherwise, this ability could cause who knows how much more trouble.

"Timi~"

After eating his fill, Bictini, whose stomach was practically bursting, lay comfortably on Luo Mu's head, burping contentedly.

I don't know how it maintains its balance.

"That's great, Mimi's hungry too."

Shami looked up at Bictini with a hint of envy.

But just as Luo Mu had initially considered, it was envious and greedy, but it didn't pester others to get a share of the pie.

After all, Shaymi couldn't even touch the victory fluctuations that only Victini could see after consuming.

On the contrary, Talebagos, the little guy, had already poked his head out of the bag and was curiously looking around at his surroundings.

This place is already close to the edge of Black Gold City.

Even the scenery in the wild has come into view.

After exchanging pleasantries with Wusong for a while, Luo Mu didn't make any further demands this time and let the Four Heavenly Kings, who resembled Brother Aoki, go.

After thanking Gym Leader Hyota again, he left the Oz Gold Gym and headed away from Oz Gold City with Calyrex and the others.

Luo Mu originally planned to take the tourist bus directly from Heijin City to Baiyang Town.

However, after hearing his plan, Piao Tai regretfully said that the special line was damaged by wild Pokémon not long ago, and it would take time to repair. If he wanted to go to Ashford Town, he would have to return to Luna City and then take the tourist line directly to Ashford Town from Luna City.

There was nothing that could be done about this unexpected situation, so Luo Mu could only make new plans.

But after he recalculated the time, he found that by the time he returned to Zhuqing City, the next nearest tourist bus would take quite a while.

In that case, they might miss the deadline for registering for the dessert competition.

Therefore, there is only one solution at present.

After leaving Black Gold City, summon Dragonite or Arcanine in the wild and ride them northwest to Ashford Town.

With the wilderness within reach, the Crowned King asked Luo Mu a question that had been on its mind since the beginning.

"Why did you specifically tell that human named Wusong not to think about Mega Evolving that Gallade when he left?"

"With the boost from Mega Evolution, that Gallade's combat power might increase by the same proportion as Swampert's, right?"

Calyrex genuinely believed that Gallade had immense potential in its battle methods, and even considered finding a Psychic-type Pokémon with similar abilities for Luo Mu to train if his team wasn't fully formed.

Since Gallade can also Mega Evolve, why deliberately give it up?
The basic stat boosts from Mega Evolution should cause both the speed of teleportation and the intensity of slashes to increase dramatically.

"So that's what you're worried about." Luo Mu spread his hands, his expression somewhat strange. "Because Gallade's abilities will change after Mega Evolution."

"The 'Unyielding Spirit' and 'Spirit of Justice' are one thing, but the trait changes brought about by Mega Evolution are negligible."

"However, Gallade's ability is 'Sharpness,' which directly boosts Gallade's combat power. But after Mega Evolution, the ability changes to 'Inner Focus,' and the boost from 'Sharpness' disappears."

"Perhaps the improvement in basic stats brought about by Mega Evolution can make up for this deficiency, but for Gallade, which relies on teleportation and slashing attacks, this is actually not very meaningful."

"That's why I told him that instead of Mega Evolving Gallade, we should focus on improving Gallade's base stats and then find other Psychic-type Pokémon to invest in the team."

"Who would bother to Mega Evolve Gallade? It's like nobody in the world uses Gigantamax Duraludon. Who would bother to Mega Evolve Gallade?"

"Aren't Alakazam, Slowbro, and Gardevoir better than those?"

"A change in characteristics, huh?" After listening to Luo Mu's seemingly personal complaints, the Queen of the Crane pondered for a moment and thought it made sense.

After all, when I fuse with Aima, my abilities change, but compared to Gallade's change, which is essentially a weakening, it should actually be considered a slight enhancement.

King Lei smiled with relief and stopped dwelling on the matter.

It and Luo Mu continued forward for a while, and the traces of buildings belonging to Black Gold City had disappeared, and they had completely entered the wilderness area.

Luo Mu, who was standing next to them, was taking out a Poké Ball to summon Arcanine to get on their way when suddenly, Calyrex seemed to sense something and instinctively turned its gaze to the front of them.

When he noticed what was there, the Lady Crown King narrowed his eyes.

Its telepathic connection resonated in Luo Mu's mind.

"Could that be..."

"Yes, very likely."

Luo Mu also noticed the unusual situation over there and nodded slightly.

Just now, a stream, green space, and some towering, unidentified plants inexplicably appeared in that place that was still loess and rocky mountains.

More importantly, there was a "tent" that was clearly man-made standing there.

This came way too fast!

The thought popped into Luo Mu's mind, and at the same time, the question from the Queen of the Brilliant Crown echoed in his mind.

"Want to go there?"

"No, let's go in a different direction."

Luo Mu shook his head decisively, his gaze lingering for a moment on the spot that seemed to be waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump, before he had the Crowned King summon the Snowstorm Horse and the Spirit Horse, preparing to circle around from another direction.

Let alone whether entering will lead to some strange trouble.

He has more important things to do now, whether it's registering for the Alcremie's dessert competition or worrying that too much delay might lead to him being directly involved in the White Poplar Town incident.

These reasons made Luo Mu have no desire to enter that area to investigate.

But, in reality, it is.

It was as if the other party was determined to challenge him.

No matter which direction he took to detour, after a short while, the scene ahead would appear as if it were haunted, resembling a secluded hermitage.

After several such incidents, Luo Mu fell completely silent.

What the hell.

Am I being blocked by trouble?!
(End of this chapter)