My Pokémon Story of Seasons

"Are you a ranger?"

Tong Hua tentatively called out to the person, while cautiously taking two steps forward.

Hearing the noise, the other party also turned around and noticed Tong Hua and his group, their eyes instantly drawn to the enormous vines.

"I'm Souichi, a ranger from Windswept Town. This is my partner, Patchlitz. May I ask who you are and what you're doing here?"

Soichi frowned and asked, while raising the hunting dart on his wrist to identify himself.

"Tremble!" Pachirisu beside him called out to the Pokémon next to Tong Hua with a serious expression.

"So you're the creator. My name is Tong Hua, and I run a fairytale ranch nearby."

These are my Pokémon: Turtwig, Foaming Squirtle, and...

Tong Hua was about to blurt out the words "Shirabi" on his own, but thankfully he reacted in time and swallowed the words back.

The two shrines concealed themselves as soon as they sensed the presence of outsiders nearby, seemingly not wanting anyone to know of their existence.

"And this giant vine, it's wild, I followed it here."

"Momo..."

Suddenly pushed in front of everyone by Tong Hua, Giant Vine shyly covered her face with her hands, not daring to look Chuang Yi in the eye.

"Uh...it seems a bit shy. When I saw it just now, it was like that, staying submerged in the water and not daring to surface."

Upon seeing this, Chuang Yi paid no attention and continued to frown.

"I see, you're the rancher. I'm sorry, I'm actually handling an important task concerning the life of a little girl, which is why I asked you that question."

"A little girl? Her life is at stake?"

Could you elaborate?

At this, Tong Hua couldn't help but frown and subconsciously tighten her grip on the umbrella handle.

Chuangyi did not refuse and said directly: "This morning, an eight-year-old girl got lost in the forest."

I followed the tracks of the rain boots to this place, but the trail ended here.

As Chuang Yi spoke, he pulled up a photo of the little girl from his communication equipment.

The photo shows a little girl with a brown bob haircut, happily holding several small lucky eggs.

"Her name is Meimei. According to the parents who reported her missing, she apparently ran into the forest alone while looking for something."

The parents didn't take it seriously until Meimei's GPS watch suddenly lost contact, at which point they rushed to report it to the police.

We must find Meimei as soon as possible; it could be dangerous for a child to be alone in the forest on a rainy day.

After Chuang Yi finished explaining, the giant vines beside Tong Hua suddenly became excited.

"Momo! Momo!"

Suddenly, the giant vine darted into the pool below the waterfall and stretched out its arms to pull something out from a crevice in the rocks.

It was a watch that was already broken.

"This is!"

Chuangyi quickly took the watch and compared it with the one in the photo; it was the same watch!

"Do you know Meimei's whereabouts?" Tong Hua couldn't help but ask the giant vine. "Did you call me here just for this?"

"Momo! Momo!"

"But why is there only a watch? Where's Meimei? I've searched the whole area. Could it be that Meimei climbed up to the top of the waterfall..."

Tong Hua and Chuang Yi looked up at the same time, gazing at the source of the waterfall above.

At a height of approximately twenty meters, after eliminating all other possibilities, whatever remains, however outrageous, must be the truth.

Meimei is very likely up there.

Chuang Yi frowned and quickly dialed the communicator.

"Renmei, I've found a new clue. The location is upstream of the waterfall in the Wind-Swept Forest."

"Received, I'll be right there," came Renmei's efficient reply from the other end of the communicator.

Looking at the steep cliffs and rushing waterfall, Tong Hua's worry deepened: "How did a little girl get up here? And with the rain so heavy, what if she slipped or..."

"Momo!"

Suddenly, the giant vine wrapped its tendrils around Tong Hua's wrist and anxiously pointed to a hidden, moss-covered path on the side of the waterfall.

It was a natural staircase that was almost integrated with the rock face, and it was impossible to notice it unless you looked closely.

"You mean... we can go up from here?" Tong Hua asked in surprise.

Chuangyi and Patchlitz quickly checked the path and nodded decisively: "Although this path is slippery, it is indeed feasible. It will take some time for Renmei and the others to arrive, so I need to go up and check it out first."

"I want to go too, let us help out." Tong Hua said to Chuang Yi without hesitation.

"This..." Chuang Yi hesitated slightly. According to the rules, he could not involve ordinary people in the incident.

However, if the other party insists on helping, one cannot directly refuse.

In the words of the sanglang team leader, this is called not letting the masses feel disheartened.

"Okay, then you follow behind me. Be careful."

Upon hearing this, Tong Hua nodded repeatedly, then turned to the grass turtle and the foam squirrel and said, "Come on up, sit on my shoulders."

The two Pokémon obediently nodded and climbed onto Tong Hua's shoulders. After carrying the two little ones, Tong Hua took a deep breath and followed Chuang Yi.

The natural steps were incredibly slippery, and you had to do your best to keep your balance with every step.

The giant vine took the lead, using its thick tendrils to secure a foothold for the two of them, and even thoughtfully cleared away the moss.

As you ascend, the roar of the waterfall becomes deafening, and the spray blurs your vision.

Tong Hua's trouser legs were already soaked, and his fingers were white from gripping the rock crevices so tightly.

Although he knew that two shrines were hiding in the shadows protecting him, his body's instincts made him uncontrollably afraid of these dangerous environments.

"Game..."

"Terrifying!"

The same was true for the Turtwig and Foam Squirrel on Tong Hua's shoulder; both Pokémon clung tightly to Tong Hua's sleeve, neither daring to look down.

It's hard to imagine how a little girl like Meimei managed to climb up this path...

A dozen minutes later, the two finally arrived at the area above the waterfall.

This area is still open and flat, and the rain is much lighter than down below; it hardly rains at all.

Walk a little further from here and you'll reach the highest point in the southern part of the entire Almia region, which is also the best viewpoint overlooking Windswept Town: Windswept Hill.

"So the Wind-Swept Forest has such a large elevation difference... But the view from up here isn't bad."

Tong Hua's legs were weak after finally reaching the top. If it weren't for the giant vines that had wrapped around his waist as a safety rope, he probably wouldn't have had the courage to come up.

"Sure enough, the footprints have reappeared. We're searching in the right direction." Nearby, Souichi discovered another new clue and, together with Patchlitz, began searching along the footprints.

"So, why did Meimei come here?"

Tong Hua caught up with Chuang Yi, panting, her doubts deepening.

The giant vine suddenly sped up and headed towards a dense thicket of bushes ahead.

"Momo! Momo!"

It seems to be calling for something.

Tong Hua and Chuang Yi exchanged a glance and immediately followed.

After passing through the bushes, the sight before them stunned them both...

Under a giant tree, on a small, open patch of grass, several small wild Pokémon were huddled together, chattering away. Two people were sitting beside them.

"Giant Vine, why are you so slow to come back? Where did you go playing?"

Upon seeing the giant vine appear, the wild Pokémon all crowded around it, but when Tong Hua and Chuang Yi appeared right after them, they were all stunned.

"Beautiful!"

"Mumu?"

Chuang Yi and Tong Hua spoke at the same time, calling out the names of the two people.

"Hey? Junior Brother Tong Hua? What brings you here?"

Yes, that signature green hair, and that long ahoge (cowlick). Isn't that Tong Hua's woodcarving senior apprentice, Mu Mu?

"I was just about to ask you that, what are you doing here?"

Tong Hua quickly stepped forward, looking at Mu Mu in surprise. Chuang Yi also stepped forward to check on Mei Mei's condition.

"Renmei, I've found Meimei. I've sent her the location."

"receive!"

After closing the communication, Chuang Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief. His brows gradually relaxed, and he returned to his usual carefree demeanor.

"So, there's a place like this above the waterfall. I've never been here before when I was on patrol."

Chuangyi looked around at his surroundings.

"So could you please explain what exactly happened?"

Tong Hua walked to Mu Mu's side and asked with a strange expression.

Mumu scratched his head, his ahoge swaying slightly with the movement: "Explain? Explain what? Meimei and I are friends. We're on holiday today, and we made plans to hang out together."

"But Meimei's parents don't seem to know what she's doing out here. Didn't you tell her family?"

"Oh, this..."

Mumu's ahoge (cowlick) suddenly froze, and an embarrassed expression appeared on her face: "Well... Meimei said she's already told her family..."

Meimei immediately lowered her head, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes with her little hands: "I...I'm afraid my parents won't let me come out to play..."

Chuangyi smiled helplessly, "So you snuck out? Luckily you didn't run into any danger. You can't do that again."

"I'm sorry..." Mei Mei buried her head even deeper.

The incident ended there; it turned out to be all a misunderstanding. It was a stroke of luck that Meimei wasn't in danger.

"So... what are you doing here?" Tong Hua asked gently as she sat down between Mu Mu and Mei Mei.

Turtwig and Foam Squirrel also got off Tong Hua and joined Pachirisu from Chuang Yi in communicating with the wild Pokémon.

"What can we do on a rainy day? We're waiting for the rain to stop so we can go to Sakaze Hill to paint."

As Mu Mu was speaking, she suddenly stood up and walked towards the giant tree behind her.

Tong Hua then discovered that the giant tree actually had doors and windows, and there was even a vegetable garden surrounded by a fence next to it.

This is clearly an eco-friendly treehouse.