He arrived with one Pokémon, and left with two Pokémon.
Having witnessed Zarude's power, Mu Zong walked through the jungle with a bolder stride.
"Dig..."
He heard that sound again.
"Is that a Pokémon? Why hasn't it left after so long?"
He stopped, curiously pushing aside the bushes.
Inside was indeed a Diglett.
However, this Diglett looked very unwell, leaning against a tree trunk, with some piercing-like wounds on its body.
"Beedrill?" Looking at the wounds, Mu Zong first thought of a Pokémon like Beedrill.
But no matter what, its condition looked very poor.
He wasn't overly stingy, throwing out a Sitrus Berry he had tucked in his Arms.
It was the one he had broken off a piece from for Leavanny.
The Diglett looked at the rolling Sitrus Berry, then at Mu Zong and the two Pokémon standing there.
His intuition told him that these two Pokémon were exceptionally strong and could easily defeat him.
Even stronger than that Beedrill.
He looked at the Sitrus Berry, momentarily unsure of their intentions.
But before he could think much more, he saw Mu Zong turn and leave, taking Leavanny and Zarude with him.
"Dig?"
The Diglett was a bit at a loss, and only after everyone was out of sight did he hastily swallow the Sitrus Berry.
Only when his stamina recovered somewhat did he cautiously proceed in the direction they had left, leaving a trail of his movement on the ground.
Finally, he stopped at the edge of the forest, looking down at the farm below.
Human society made him unsure how to enter, so he ultimately hesitated, hovering by the mountainside.
Below, Mu Zong had already returned to the farm.
The first thing he did was find a bucket, have Zarude remove the basket from his back, and place the wild fish from it into the bucket.
"Live fish should be worth more than dead fish," he thought to himself.
He planned to go to Xiao Jia's tool shop before nine o'clock tomorrow morning and have her introduce him to Mr. Kyle.
At least he needed to save some money with these fish.
He also placed the Sitrus Berries in a cool place in the kitchen to prevent spoilage.
Then he left the house and looked at Zarude and Leavanny in the yard.
"Why don't you stay here tonight? I'll buy some fabric tomorrow," Mu Zong said to Leavanny.
Leavanny instinctively wanted to flee, but then saw Zarude's somewhat threatening gaze.
She could only nod in agreement.
"Then let's make dinner first!" Mu Zong looked at Zarude.
Today was different from before; there was an extra fish for ingredients.
But when the fish started jumping on the cutting board, Mu Zong found himself in a predicament.
"You are forest blood... do you eat meat?" Mu Zong asked with some hesitation.
Zarude shook his head, just as Mu Zong had guessed; he never ate flesh and blood.
"Then let's just put the fish away first..."
Before Mu Zong could finish speaking, a gleaming knife plunged into the fish's body.
Zarude processed the fish without batting an eye.
He was a Zarude, yes, but he was Mu Zong's Zarude, so naturally he wouldn't be like other Zarude.
Not eating fish didn't mean he couldn't kill fish.
"luzha!"
He reminded Mu Zong to follow his lead and learn.
Mu Zong then reacted, quickly following Zarude and learning.
Zarude was determined to teach Mu Zong everything he himself had learned, as he had a premonition that perhaps he would one day disappear.
Just like the vortex he had exploded.
After preparing the fish, he heated oil in the pan.
Tonight was a fried fish feast, accompanied by the indispensable fried eggs.
In Zarude's eyes, the human characters appeared again.
"Zarude's Fried Fish: Even stubborn forest blood will change for family."
"Effect: Simple ingredients, healthy food, no special effects, combined with fried eggs achieves unexpected results."
Zarude skillfully carried the plates to the living room, telling Mu Zong to sit down and eat.
Mu Zong, who had been hungry all day, had a huge appetite, having long been unable to resist the wafting aroma.
The fish was made without any fishy smell, even though no special seasonings were used.
It didn't seem to have any extra techniques either.
"I should really learn this well," Mu Zong said, swallowing a mouthful of fish.
After making sure he didn't get a fishbone stuck, he turned to look at the kitchen.
One shouldn't turn their head carelessly while eating fish, as it's easy to get a fishbone stuck, something he had always believed.
Zarude was in the kitchen, making some thumping sounds, busy with something unknown.
Soon, he came out with two cups of juice, placing one on the dining table and taking the other out of the house.
"Sitrus Berry Juice: Simple pounding and juicing, retaining part of the original flavor of the Sitrus Berry."
"Effect: Can quickly restore some stamina."
He was taking this cup to Leavanny.
Although he seemed a bit fierce, a bit thuggish, Leavanny would eventually be family too.
Mu Zong didn't speak, but he could tell what the other was going to do.
Unconsciously, a smile also appeared on his lips.
Zarude was gentler than he let on.
Outside the room, the somewhat flustered Leavanny was cutting strange shapes from large leaves she had picked up somewhere.
When she saw Zarude, she instinctively wanted to retreat.
"luzha." Zarude extended the hand holding the cup.
Leavanny immediately froze, the fruity scent entering her nostrils.
"Mu?"
Leavanny was puzzled.
Only after Zarude nodded as a signal did she cautiously take the cup, holding it with both hands and drinking from it.
Zarude nodded contentedly.
After Leavanny finished drinking, he took the empty cup back into the house and, looking at the dining table, found that Mu Zong had already finished eating.
But the cup of juice was left on the table, seemingly for him.
"luzha..."
He came to the table, staring somewhat blankly at his blurry reflection in the cup.
Until Mu Zong poked his head out from the kitchen.
They exchanged a smile; everything was unsaid.
After washing the dishes, Mu Zong went to the bathroom.
The house was old and small, but fully equipped.
He took off the pink cloak hidden under the bedsheet and sat on a small stool to wash it.
Zarude didn't fuss; after drinking the juice, he went to the planting area.
Leavanny also followed him curiously.
The remaining half of the berries rapidly grew into small trees under Zarude's miraculous power.
However, Zarude's panel was incomplete, only a portion brought back from the future.
The panel was divided into two parts: one was the planting panel that Mu Zong could see, along with a mutation panel.
The other part was the food panel that he could see.
One day in the future, he suddenly obtained this.
He didn't know how to return this to Mu Zong, nor did he know why it was left to him.
He shook his head and looked around.
He was getting closer to the forest in his memory; by then, the entire farm would be enveloped by trees, and in the middle, there would even be a towering tree, with healing water sprinkling down.
A living fossil-like Pokémon also resided there...