Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 368 The Egg of the Articulated Bird

Officer Jenny contacted a large group of police officers, but when they arrived, the circly bear herd had unusually calmed down.

One after another, the round bears lined up, each carrying a large box, and scattered in all directions.

Is Pikachu maintaining order?

Some of the circle bears that had received compensation even returned.

In their hands they held all sorts of things, such as stray mushrooms, herbs, or wild fruits.

They piled the food in front of Natsume, trying to trade it for more food.

"Let it go, but we can't trade the little wild boar."

"Tree bark is no good either; scraping your butt isn't a plus."

Natsume's lips twitched slightly.

These circle bears use all sorts of strange and wonderful things to barter for food.

Aside from the lost mushrooms and herbs he needed, Natsume divided the rest into two batches.

One batch consisted of dispensable items such as wild fruits, amber, and strange pebbles.

The other batch is completely useless and Natsume doesn't need it.

For example, the little wild boars stacked into a human pyramid shape.

"Huffing and puffing."

When the group of police officers approached, it felt like being in a pigsty.

“Mr. Natsume, this?” Officer Jenny looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Please take these wild boars back, and remember to take them somewhere far away," Natsume instructed.

The little wild boar that was initially captured by the Circly Bear was thrown back to the vicinity by Natsume using telekinesis.

But soon, Natsume discovered that they had been captured again.

It's as if wild boars are some kind of hard currency in the snowy mountains.

The bears, who had been full of confidence after catching the baby wild boar, were utterly disappointed and sat dejectedly in the snow.

"For you guys."

Natsume tossed over a few bags of Pokémon food.

These foods are for emergencies; Natsume didn't bring much.

There is plenty of food for humans, but these circled bears have little interest in it.

Seven or eight circly bears took the food bag that Natsume threw to them, looked at each other, and turned to leave.

The officers began evacuating the baby boars. Natsume let out a long breath, turned into white smoke and disappeared in front of him. He immediately felt much more relaxed.

It seems that this matter has been resolved.

"Miss Officer Jenny, what about that Articuno that you mentioned was attacked?"

Officer Jenny was directing the officers when she heard Natsume's voice behind her. She turned around and said succinctly:
"As I said before, there are eyewitness reports that a trio attacked Articuno."

"Eyewitness?" Natsume's expression was strange.

The trio's luck in encountering an "eyewitness" in such a place is truly remarkable.

Officer Jenny was taken aback, then quickly explained:
"This is an egg-laying frozen bird, so we have people watching it."

"I see," Natsume nodded thoughtfully.

"In that case, we should find the other party even more, otherwise the frozen bird eggs might run into problems if no one takes care of them."

Natsume rubbed his hands together and handed over his researcher's badge.

"For example, me, a prospective Pokémon Professor, has a pure love for Pokémon."

Natsume looked at Officer Jenny hopefully, trying to find out the exact location of the Articuno's nest.

He hasn't seen an egg from a legendary Pokémon species yet.

I wonder if it's any different from a regular Pokémon egg.

Officer Jenny took the identification document handed to her, stared at it blankly for a few seconds, and exclaimed in surprise:
“No wonder you were able to quell the anger of these circle bears so quickly, but…” Officer Jenny changed the subject, saying regretfully:
"If you had come two years earlier, you might have been able to see what you wanted to see."

"Why?" Natsume asked, puzzled.

"Because the Articuno's chick hatched last year and migrated north, only the Articuno returned this year."

"Oh," Natsume thought for a moment and realized something was amiss:

"If this arthropod's northward migration was later than usual this year, and it wasn't because of the chicks, then what was it because of?"

Although Articuno is an Ice-type Pokémon, it still requires a certain temperature to hatch its young.

Logically speaking, this season is perfect for incubating eggs.

But according to Joey, the frozen bird wasn't delayed because it needed to incubate its eggs.

"Actually, it's still because of incubating the eggs," Officer Jenny sighed.

"Huh?" Natsume was confused.

But he quickly realized what was happening and tentatively asked:

"There are two eggs?"

“Yes.” Officer Jenny nodded silently.

Natsume quieted down and stopped clamoring to go freeze the bird's nest. Eggs that haven't hatched after more than a year are most likely dead.

“However, even a dead egg has research value.” Natsume stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said it directly:
"Miss Officer Jenny, could you tell me where that Articuno's nest is?"

"That's hardly a secret."

Officer Jenny pulled out a small screen.

“We have placed surveillance cameras near the nest.”

As she spoke, Junsha opened her eyes wide, and a nest standing atop a towering boulder appeared before Natsume.

The nest is made of various pine needles mixed with cotton wool, and the bottom is frozen, like a large bowl that firmly holds it in place.

“It seems you’re getting along well with this Articuno.” Natsume glanced at it and noticed that there were many human-made items among the nesting materials.

“Of course, this Articuno is under our protected area,” Jenny said, giving a thumbs-up before abruptly pausing in her voice.

Every pine needle in the nest was clearly visible, but the eggs were nowhere to be found.

"how could be?"

Officer Jenny, refusing to believe it, swiped the camera to search around the nest.

"Could it be that this Articuno has given up?"

Natsume guessed.

After two years of incubation without hatching, and with a healthy egg for comparison, this frozen bird should have realized its mistake.

"It's hard to say. It's also possible that it was related to the attack by those three and was lost during the attack."

Officer Jenny frowned.

Natsume shrugged, no longer paying attention. He returned to his original position and continued to maintain order, allowing the remaining circly bears to collect the supplies.

"Hooo!"

A roar rang out, and Natsume turned around, instinctively saying:
I don't need any other Pokémon.

"Help me, meow!"

The cuddly bear is holding a cat in its paws.

"Okay, this can be exchanged."

Natsume gave the two teddy bears a large box full of food.

The two teddy bears carried the box away, and Natsume turned his head and looked at the still-shaken Meow Meow:

"Give me your entire battle plan and pre-battle reconnaissance." Natsume reached out his hand.

"What...what battle plan?" Meow Meow looked up, the word "struggle" imprinted on her slightly confused head.

"You're all fighting over Articuno."

"Don't talk nonsense, meow!"

Meow Meow quickly covered Natsume's mouth, and seeing Officer Jenny casting a glance from afar, Meow Meow lowered her voice and said:
"No problem, meow. But how did you know we had a battle plan and could detect us?"

"Meow Meow asked curiously."

“Poor students have many tools.” Natsume looked at the photo that Meow Meow had given him, and there was no trace of dead eggs in the nest.

The articulated bird gave up.

Natsume felt a little regretful.

If he had come sooner, he might have been able to get that dead egg.

It certainly has research value.

"What does 'poor students have many tools' mean, meow?"

Meow Meow touched her chin, only to find that a shadow had fallen over her head.

"What is this, meow!"

"Boom~"

A loud noise rang out, and many of the circly bears in the queue turned their curious gazes towards it.

Natsume, who was directly involved, suddenly turned his head to look at the person beside him.

There stands a huge block of ice.

Inside the ice, a hairy pig is frozen solid.

"Roar, roar!"

Four circly bears emerged from behind the ice block and roared at Natsume.

“I’m not saying the little wild boar is too small,” Natsume’s lips twitched slightly.

Just as he was about to refuse, he suddenly thought of something and looked again at the long-haired pig frozen in the ice.

Frozen in the ice were a hairy pig and a medicinal herb.

After examining it for a moment, Natsume realized that it was a medicinal herb used to treat burns.

"Wait a minute, I'll take this one."

With a wave of his hand, Natsume gave each Ursaring a large box of Pokémon food.

(End of this chapter)