Dawn of Pokémon

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The half-empty auditorium was quiet for a moment.

The faces of the "wartime cadres" of the Fire People standing around - let's think so - all changed to the same look, with "nonsense" written all over their faces.

The young patriarch who was sitting upright was stunned, but he did not immediately express any objection.He leaned forward slightly and asked seriously, "Why do you want to do this?"

"Just a few days ago, the wind thief stole important items belonging to someone who was kind to me. I want to help her get them back." The purple-haired girl answered calmly, "Besides -"

She raised her right hand, and a crystal blue ball of light slowly emerged accompanied by the exclamations of the people around her.

"My ability is very suitable for finding things. I may be able to help everyone."

After Xiao Ye's words fell, there were noisy whispers inside and outside the auditorium.She even heard someone whispering outside the window, "No wonder he was so violent last night. It's not surprising that he was the waveguide messenger." She was immediately confused by this logical relationship of cause and effect.

"Indeed, our clan lacks the ability to detect enemies. If we had the assistance of the power of waveguide..."

"You may not know much about the real situation in Aso Mountain." One of them was interrupted by hesitant speech.The middle-aged man, who was called "Jing Mu" by the young patriarch, frowned and spoke - his expression was serious and even a little sinister, with several deep grooves between his eyebrows. His appearance was enough to scare away children, "The Wind Thief is traveling with you. Unlike the trainers I met, they are not law-abiding citizens. I admit that your ability to design tactics and initiate attacks is very good compared to your peers."

As he said that, he glanced at the gun that Xiaoye had taken off on the table.

"But once we enter the mountain, the wind thief is in the dark and we are in the light. I think you should be able to imagine-"

Before he finished speaking, a large black shadow spread without warning, instantly covering the stranger's figure.

"——What will happen to those who are not familiar with the battlefield."

As soon as this move came out, the people in the house remained silent as if they had expected it, and the children outside the window were already shouting in dissatisfaction.

"Uncle Jingmu, you are so outrageous, why do you treat our guests like this!"

"He always puts up lights and ghosts to bully people, and he has the ability to compete with outsiders!"

A few seconds later, Jing Mu suddenly raised his hand to signal the young onlookers outside the window to be quiet.

There was only a black silhouette of the mummified person, and theoretically he should have been unable to move. However, the black shadow was melting helplessly, and it was vaguely visible that the interior was empty, with no trace of human beings at all.

The figure of the light ghost appeared on the side, looking left and right to find the target of his attack.Jing Mu, who originally had a nonchalant attitude, was startled. Before his brain could speed up, he felt a light touch on his waist.

He lowered his head suddenly and saw a red light shooting straight out, dragging the light ghost back into the ball.

The instigator still had the same overly calm expression, as if he didn't feel that he had done anything strange.She calmly returned the elf ball that came "by chance" to the original owner, and said seriously, "I think what you just said is right - I can indeed make up for your ability to find enemies. So, let me join?"

"..."

The middle-aged man who performed the live performance of failed search for the enemy was speechless for a moment.The children outside the window laughed together as if they had agreed, not wanting to save any face for their families.

The young patriarch turned his head calmly, not sure if he was hiding his smile.

It wasn't until he received a vague glare from his friend that he cleared his throat and said seriously, "Please forgive our rude behavior just now - it was just a small test, and I didn't mean to hurt you."

Ye stood up and stretched out a hand to the stranger with a smile, "On behalf of all the people of the flames, I thank you for your help. Please lend us your power temporarily."

"Yeah, I'd love to."

The two hands clasped together, and the young man wearing a feathery fabric blinked briskly again.

"What you just said was just a scene, and I don't think you will like it. How about I put it another way - you really helped us a lot, and we will prepare delicious desserts to thank you!"

As soon as the patriarch finished speaking, the children's choir outside the window immediately announced the names of the dishes.Ye seemed to think that the excitement was good, so he just stood there and laughed, until Jingmu, who was so noisy that his brain hurt, slammed the window.

"Yang Yu."

"Yes." The red-haired boy who had been standing in the corner raised his head and looked at Jingmu.

"You just said that Yongzhen was injured, right? That's just right, you and her will form a temporary team."

"I understand."

Yang Yu nodded and immediately ran to Xiao Ye's side, smiling and saying "Please give me more advice."

Xiaoye was a little surprised because Jingmu said "Yongzhen was injured" - he was obviously fine when they met after the battle.But before she could ask in detail, the people sitting at the conference table stood up, as if the discussion had ended.

Before walking out of the auditorium, Xiaoye was stopped by the young patriarch behind her.

"I have to emphasize one thing."

The red-haired man became unusually serious.

"Whether you find the Upe drum or not, you must leave Mount Aso before the start of the Fire Worship Festival, okay?"

The outgoing patrols of the Fire People seemed to be in teams of two.The division of labor had already been arranged at the meeting, so Yang Yu said that he would explain the precautions to the new members in detail later.

The members participating in this "carpet search" have already entered the mountain one after another. Xiaoye and Yang Yu did not want to stay too long. They only went to Yongzhen's house before leaving and said hello to the family of three. .

And when he heard that "new friends and old friends are going to search mountains together," Yongzhen immediately widened his eyes.

"Wait, cough, cough, wait. I'm going to go!!"

The brown-haired boy was coughing heartbreakingly while holding on to the sleeves of the two of them, as if he would not let go until they were agreed.

Xiao Ye and Yang Yu looked at each other with helpless expressions.

It wasn't until she entered the house that Xiaoye realized that the "Yongzhen injury" mentioned before was actually just a throat injury caused by poisonous smoke. He didn't even need to take medicine. He would recover naturally after a few days of cultivation.Of course, the planned search was a no-brainer.

"Where are you going? Do you want to scare away the thieves with your cough?" The chubby boy's mother slapped her son on the back of the head angrily.

"I can bear it!!!"

Yongzhen took a sharp breath, blushed and remained silent for ten seconds.

Then he turned his back and coughed until the sky was dark and the sun and the moon were dim.

"Alas... you have also seen that my unsatisfactory son is of little use now."

The woman sighed, ignored her son's grumbling protests, pushed him into the house and slammed the door.Then, she stretched out her arms and patted the two young men on the shoulders.

"Yang Yu, and our little guest - please, please find our treasure."

After a brief meeting with their friends and their parents, the two men, who were on a mission, stopped dawdling and headed straight for the road out of the valley.

Before leaving, Yongzhen's mother just stuffed Xiaoye with a scimitar that was always kept in the homes of the Fire People, saying it was just in case of emergency.Saya's belt could only absorb Poké Balls, and if she tried to hang a heavy knife on it, it might cause a disaster, so she had no choice but to hang it on her shoulder like a shoulder bag.

As Yang Yu walked, he opened the map he carried with him and showed it to Xiaoye.

It was a partial map of the Aso Mountains, and every corner was drawn in great detail.The river winding through the mountains is clearly visible, and there is a waterfall not far upstream of Lieyan Valley. According to Yang Yu, you can hear the sound of the waterfall as long as you walk slightly to the north of Lieyan Valley.

The team's patrol route has been carefully marked on the map by Yang Yu with a pencil.Xiaoye looked at the route that was obviously not drawn casually, and couldn't help but wonder how the people of the flames accurately assigned the entire mountainous patrol mission to each team in a brief combat meeting.

When passing by the altar in the center of the Valley of Flames, Xiaoye saw that the red-haired guards had formed a strict formation, patrolling back and forth near the Pillar of the Covenant. Even the sky was being observed by more than one person holding a telescope, as if they were on a giant scale. The appearance of an enemy.

"Yang Yu." Xiaoye considered the words, "Clan Leader, does he also think that Feng Thief's goal is to destroy the Covenant Pillar?"

"Yes." The young man shook his head, and the two dull hairs on his head that were raised like tender sprouts drew a blank arc in the air, "If the destruction of the Covenant Pillar is unsuccessful, the stolen Wupei Drum belongs to the Wind Thief. Backup plan, that's what the clan leader said - but I don't understand why they would do this at all, it's obviously not good for the wind thief."

"Such as selling the drum?" Xiaoye asked casually.

"Unlikely." Yang Yu shook his head and said, "Our Wupei drum is a registered cultural heritage. It is the only one in the world. No matter where it is taken, it will be too eye-catching and difficult to sell."

"Well, since they didn't destroy the Wupei drum like they attacked the Covenant Pillar, but stole it quietly, it means they must do something with this drum... Yang Yu, is there anything special about it? "

"Uh...is it particularly loud?"

"..."

Seeing a meaningful change in Xiaoye's expression, Yang Yu, as a person of the same age, immediately raised an objection, "It can't be that the sound of drums has a hypnotic effect or something - we use that faceless crow every year during the Fire Worship Festival. I never thought there was anything strange about playing with a drum.”

"That's it..." Xiaoye blinked and finally got rid of the strange second guess in her mind.

The sound of people gradually became sparse, and the two of them had left the residential area and walked into the forest.

"It doesn't matter here. We will move forward quietly once we leave this area. If you find traces of the wind thief, don't rush to do anything. Report it to the clan leader first - ah, there is no need to detect the surroundings yet."

Seeing that Xiaoye seemed to be intent on conducting an indiscriminate search, the red-haired boy quickly waved his hands to stop him, and the light-colored scarf wrapped around his neck began to shake, "Detecting a large area is very energy-consuming, isn't it? Let’s wait until we get to the area we are responsible for.”

"You're right." Xiaoye happily accepted Yang Yu's kindness.

Probably considering that it was probably the first time for Xiao Ye to do this kind of work, Yang Yu explained the precautions for patrolling in the mountains in detail.When his words came to an end, the Pichu on Xiaoye's shoulder was already drowsy and fell down - but was narrowly caught by its owner.

"Thank you for your explanation -" Xiaoye smiled at the boy, "Don't worry, I won't hold you back."

"I-I'm not worried about this..."

"I know, it's just a joke."

The purple-haired girl gently crossed the tree trunk in front of her, looked back and asked, "Yang Yu, I remember Yongzhen said before that the annual Fire Worship Festival is always held when the lava in Mount Aso is most active, and this time The time is predicted by the clan leader, right?”

"Yes." Yang Yu responded, "This is why we recommend candidates for the clan leader based on their abilities - if their abilities are too weak, they won't be able to sense when the volcano is active."

"I see. So, is this year's volcanic activity different from previous years?"

Yang Yu was stunned, "Why do you say that...?"

The girl turned around and observed Yang Yu's expression.

"Yang Yu, can you tell me why the clan leader requires all outsiders to leave Mount Aso before the Fire Worship Festival?"

The red-haired boy paused.The air fell into a long silence.