Elf: Re-employment of retired champion of Padiya

Chapter 802 is simple, just become the leader.
"I don't think this is a difficult thing."

Sensing the "you must be joking" look that Gang Shi was giving him, Luo Mu remained calm and composed.

"If you only have this idea because you see its large size, I think you should give up on it as soon as possible."

Gangshi frowned, recalling the intelligence he had gathered from the settlement when he was giving Luo Mu time to prepare.

"Although it is almost two-thirds larger than its kind, that is almost useless."

"It doesn't even know how to use its size advantage to push its competitors. No one has ever seen it use any moves. Most of its generation of Goomy have evolved into Goodra, and a few of the more talented ones are not far from evolving into Goodra."

"And it, on the other hand, remains stuck in the sticky state and can't make any progress."

"You say you're confident I can trust you, but to make it evolve in three days... I really can't have any hope of that."

Gang Shi finished speaking and turned his gaze to Luo Mu.

"So it had so many problems?"

Hearing Gangshi's earnest explanation, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow and looked at the lonely Sticky Baby with even more curiosity.

Gangshi thought he had taken it to heart, and his expression softened a bit. "It's good that you understand. Even if you want to save time, you can't be so hasty."

"Don't worry, there's plenty of time for training in this area, and most people who fail do so because they chose to give up."

“You have plenty of time to build a relationship with it, and even do the things you said you would like to help it evolve. I can guarantee that you will not be hindered from entering or leaving this wetland during this time.”

Luo Mu knew very well that Gang Shi was thinking of him in every word. It could be said that Gang Shi had done his best to help him, even if he wasn't completely open with him.

He didn't even seem to be seeking any reward.

Luo Mu appreciated his kindness, but still stuck to his original point of view.

"Thank you for your kind offer, but I will stick to my original plan."

"Whether it succeeds or not, give me three days first, and we'll see then."

"You... sigh!"

Gangshi sighed heavily, but ultimately said nothing more.

Just as Luo Mu said.

Whether Luo Mu was just boasting or he truly had the ability, the outcome would be clear in three days.

Rather than wasting time arguing, Gangshi preferred to wait three days.

“I will send someone to deliver food and water on time every day, and I will come again after three days.”

After leaving those words, Gangshi put down a backpack he had prepared, which was stuffed full of things and looked bulging. Without lingering any longer, he set off and left the wetland.

As the leader of the Kongo team, he has many other matters to attend to and cannot stay here all day.

Not to mention, the spacetime rift on Tianguan Mountain is still a hidden danger, and he goes to Zhuqing Village almost every day to discuss countermeasures with the Galaxy Team and the Pearl Team.

As for Luo Mu, to be honest, Gang Shi didn't have high expectations. He just thought that once Luo Mu hit a wall in three days, he would naturally stop making promises that were difficult to achieve.

Gangshi left.

Luo Mu examined the backpack of "supplies" he had left behind and found that it contained almost all the things that could be used in the wild, and even a set of equipment for camping in the wild. It could be said that he had prepared very well.

The only problem is that, due to the times, these things are not very convenient and cannot compare to Luo Mu's own camping kit.

Luo Mu accepted the favor, but instead of setting up his own rest camp immediately, he focused more on the sticky creature that he was "testing".

Just as Diamond said.

This sticky creature is completely unable to integrate into the group. Both the other sticky creatures and Sticky Beauty consciously reject it.

It wasn't attacked by other wild Pokémon, partly due to its intimidating physique, but more likely because that area belonged to Goodra, the leader of the group mentioned by the Rockstone. No wild Pokémon would be foolish enough to challenge its authority.

As for personality issues and the inability to use certain moves, these details can only be assessed more thoroughly once we get closer to the person.

However, there is one thing Luo Mu is certain of.

That's Goo Goo, which is definitely not a "powerless" Goo Goo.

It's just that its talent hasn't been discovered yet.

This has nothing to do with the system's cheats or the prompts from the Lady Crown King.

This was just Luo Mu's intuition as a trainer and a teacher.

"Luo Mei~" "Luo Mei!" "Luo Mei~"

Hearing the sounds of his kin laughing and playing, and being in shallow water that barely covered a fifth of his body, Noodle Treasure no longer cast envious glances in that direction as he remembered from long ago.

It's not just because it's several generations older than those sticky babies; there's a generation gap between them.

It's also because it's long been used to being a lone dragon all the time.

In the hazy memories of her early life, Nian Nian Bao vaguely recalls having carefree times, but now, those beautiful memories have long been replaced by indelible shadows.

Now, Sticky Baby is like a ghost wandering on the edge of its tribe, ostracized by its own kind, rejected by its father, and can only eat some water plants to fill its stomach.

After all, its own kind wouldn't share food with it, and it didn't have any elders who would take special care of it.

It remained perpetually hungry, and that was all it could do.

Sticky Baby wouldn't dare go to places further away where trees and fruits grow.

Not only because it wasn't as protected by the father's presence as this wetland, but also because it didn't dare to venture into such a perilous place.

It knew it was very, very weak.
Just as Sticky Baby was wondering if it could find more aquatic plants to eat today.

Suddenly.

The splashing sound of feet repeatedly stepping into the water caught Sticky Baby's attention.

Sticky Baby looked toward the source of the sound and saw a human walking toward it.

Meanwhile, the smaller Sticky Babies hid behind Sticky Meadow or Sticky Dragon. Sticky Meadow and Sticky Dragon remained unmoved by the human's approach and even watched the show.

It's as if this kind of thing happens all the time.

Sticky Baby has long been used to humans approaching it every now and then.

It went from deliberately avoiding it at the beginning to becoming numb to it now.

It wasn't that it hadn't had expectations before.

But after repeated failures and being abandoned time and time again.

These expectations have long since turned into mountains of words like "useless" and "hopeless," weighing it down and making it hard to breathe.

Yes, it has even accepted the reality that it is useless, and it is already beyond saving.

It just thought about it silently.

Here comes another one. How long will it take for him to realize he's a hopeless case and give up on himself this time?
Sticky Baby thought to himself with a sense of self-abandonment.

The footsteps stopped less than a meter away from him.

A shadow fell from above, and Gooey Pokémon could feel that the other was watching it.

But it just kept its head down, as if it wanted to bury its head in the water.

Because whenever it looks up, it can't help but think of its father, who once placed high hopes on it, and the way he looked down at it after repeated disappointments.

In the enormous shadow cast, the eyes that had once shone with hope and satisfaction now held only coldness, disappointment, and disgust.

Whenever she recalls this memory, Nian Nian Bao feels as if her heart is being torn apart from all sides, and she is extremely sad.

These feelings of sadness then transformed into deeper self-denial.

But the people who came this time seemed to be different from the others.

It's not the kind of motivational speech that starts by making it go from excited and thrilled to numb.

It's not the kind of judgment that someone is unsuitable for important tasks after just one glance, and that leads to a turn and departure without even giving them a try.

But -

"Looks like you're really hungry. The energy you need to move around with such a big body must be enormous every day, right?" A clear voice rang out, and a pair of outstretched palms came down.

On the left is a crystal-clear square that it has never seen before, emitting a pleasant fragrance.

The right side also exudes a comparable aroma and looks very tempting in its round shape.

“Lumei.”

Somewhat disbelieving that this was prepared for it, Noodle Baby quietly raised its head, only to meet a pair of smiling eyes.

It lowered its head again, almost as if it had been electrocuted.

Luo Mu could see the sticky baby's tentacles trembling slightly, secreting mucus out of fear.

His voice softened a bit.

"Don't worry, both of these dishes are for you. Choose whichever you like, or if you like them both, you can eat them together."

After speaking, Luo Mu did not urge him, but waited quietly for Nian Nian Bao to make a move.

He knew that this step couldn't be rushed.

While using food to increase Sticky Baby's affection may seem old-fashioned, it's undeniably a very effective trick.

Perhaps they were starving, or perhaps they were attracted by the smell of the energy cubes and mushroom balls in Luo Mu's hand.

After remaining stiff for almost ten minutes, Noodle Baby slowly began to move.

Instead of choosing the mushroom lure that attracted it more by its scent, it slowly crawled toward the energy cube, then slightly raised its body and carefully picked up the energy cube without touching Luo Mu's palm.

It was once rejected by someone because of the slime on its body.

Sticky Pokémon could vaguely sense that this thing contained more energy than it had consumed ten Mushroom Lure.

Sticky Baby has no teeth. It eats by swallowing its food whole and then digesting it with the digestive juices secreted in its body.

So after swallowing the energy cube, it immediately climbed onto Luo Mu's other outstretched hand and swallowed the mushroom lure in the same way.

Upon seeing this, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow.

Hmm, knowing "I want it all" is good; he's a promising talent.

After feeling her body warm up again after a long time, Nian Nian Bao finally dared to look up and steal a glance at Luo Mu, who had been patiently waiting for her.

It wasn't that no one fed it before, but soon after being fed, it would give up on itself because of its own incompetence.

Sticky Baby just wanted to remember even this one moment of the other person's warm expression.

Unfortunately, this time its gaze met Luo Mu's again.

Seeing the momentary avert of Goomy's gaze beneath him, Luo Mu had already gleaned a considerable amount of information through his day and night study of "Pokémon Psychology."

Hmm. This is clearly a typical manifestation of a lack of self-confidence, or even self-loathing.

It was probably formed through repeated failures and setbacks.

To eliminate the influence of this personality trait, the first step is to build self-confidence little by little.

Luo Mu had done this before, and the person he was with was Hu Hu's younger brother.

However, that method was too time-consuming; three days was simply not enough.

—But this Sticky Pokémon's situation was different from that of Potty Brother back then, and that was his breakthrough point.

After establishing an initial connection, Luo Mu wasn't satisfied with that. Instead, he squatted down, stared at Noodle Treasure who was deliberately avoiding his gaze, and asked, "Do you want to become stronger?"

"Luo enzyme?"

Upon hearing this, for the first time, Nian Nian Bao did not avoid Luo Mu's gaze, but instead raised her head and stared at him blankly.

In its memory, this was the first time it had ever been asked, "Do you want to become stronger?"

Instead of the kind of half-demanding statements like, "I'll help you become stronger and achieve a stunning comeback that will amaze your kind."

Because of its delicate and sensitive nature, Sticky Pokémon can clearly tell that the human in front of it is genuinely asking for its thoughts, and not just putting on an act.

It could also sense the inexplicable sense of closeness emanating from this human, which was one of the reasons why it ate the food offered by this human so quickly.

But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint him.

“Lumei.”

Sticky Baby looked away, still feeling negative.

Now it can't evolve anymore, and it can't even use its moves. It's useless to have grown such a big size, except to increase its daily consumption and food intake.

How could it possibly become stronger like this?
Noticing that Noodle Baby was trying to avoid him, Luo Mu's attitude became a bit tougher this time.

Ignoring the sticky fluid secreted by the sticky creatures, Luo Mu used both hands to turn their faces around with a "smack".

"If you want to become stronger, I can help you."

"Believe in me, believe in your own potential."

"Lumei—"

It no longer dares to believe in anything.

Seeing that Noodle Treasure did not answer, Luo Mu did not force it to confront the question.

This kind of operation must be done in moderation, otherwise it will backfire.

Thanks to the "telepathy" of the Crème de la Mer, it can communicate with Sticky Baby without any obstacles and has a general idea of ​​what it is thinking.

Luo Mu then began to speak fluently and at length.

Let's analyze your current situation.

"The two key points are that we can't evolve and can't use any moves."

"But have you ever considered that all of this started because you ate something you shouldn't have?"

Clearly, Luo Mu's words piqued Nian Nian Bao's curiosity, and it subconsciously raised its head.

"Luo Enzyme?"

Looking at Sticky Baby, Luo Mu calmly stated the conclusion that Calyrex had just transmitted from Sticky Baby, which it had scanned.

"You probably unknowingly ingested an 'Everstone' when you were a child, a stone that can suppress evolutionary power."

"However, this stone is only one of the triggers. Its effect is now negligible and it has no power to stop your evolution."

"What really affected you was the psychological distress that accumulated afterward."

"And your father, who was the leader of the tribe."

As soon as Luo Mu finished speaking, Nian Nian Bao's eyes widened instantly.

How is it related to its father?
"This is also information I learned from other leader Pokémon."

Luo Mu shook his head, the image of the leader Haoli appearing in his mind, and continued talking to himself.

"It's probably because of the influence of the Everstone. You've been stuck at the GooPo stage for too long, and since you're a descendant of the boss, you're naturally growing in that direction."

"But only one leader Pokémon can exist in a group."

"To put it bluntly, it's your father who's in your way, and a series of complicated reasons that have led you to this current predicament where you're stuck in a limbo."

"Lumei." (What should I do then?)

Perhaps Luo Mu's viewpoint was too novel, because Nian Nian Bao, who was hearing this conclusion for the first time, couldn't help but ask a question.

At that moment, Luo Mu resembled a fisherman who had finally caught a fish, a slight smile curving his lips.

"It's very simple."

"Why don't you just become the leader?"

(End of this chapter)