Dawn of Pokémon

As night falls, the world turns from light to darkness.

But for the Fire People, the happiest time of the day has just begun.

Before getting closer, Xiaoye saw that the number of torches placed along the river had at least doubled - no, it was not just the torches that had increased.

On the east bank of the water, numerous long tables are placed along the river.They come in different styles and colors, and each dining table fully reflects the different preferences of different families.

Countless red-haired and flaming Pokémon were wandering around the endless table queue, busy serving food.Far away, Xiaoye heard someone with a loud voice yelling: "Heshu! We agreed that each house will serve a dish. Look what you serve. Are the wild vegetable roots edible!?"

Seeing the stranger standing there in a daze, the young man accompanying her smiled and pulled her, and the two of them merged into the bustling crowd.

Every returning patrol member received a warm welcome from those who stayed behind. There were even a few children waiting at the entrance of the valley, handing out snacks to those who passed by - while not forgetting to tell each other seriously, "You can't eat snacks." There are too many, and you are a good boy if you have a good meal.”

When the last outsider sat down at the long table, someone beat the Upe drum.The fast-paced drum beat was like laughter coming from the horizon, announcing the official start of the dinner party.

Hundreds of Niwa lanterns flow along the river, and the lights and the aroma of food mix together to create a carefree smoke and fire atmosphere.At the request of the people around her, Xiaoye released all the Pokémon and gathered around the table to eat. It is said that in formal banquets, it is a tradition that Pokémon should be served with people at the table.

Of course, the more important reason is that in this chaotic situation where "the whole village came out", no one would count how many Pokémon she released.

Most of the Pokémon that inhabit Mount Aso are fire-type, and the Fire People conquered all fire-type Pokémon.The diametrically opposite water system is considered a rare species to the mountain people. Within a few minutes, Gyarados was surrounded by adults and children watching what was going on.When the first bold person discovered that "you won't be bitten if you touch a handful," the body of the big water dragon was suddenly covered with hands.

Gyarados, with two five-year-old children on his head, didn't dare to move, so he angrily sprayed ice mist in people's faces - it didn't scare anyone away, but made him more popular. .

"Actually... Chew Chew... According to tradition, a group dinner is held seven days before the Fire Worship Festival... Chew Chew Chew... It's just..."

Before Yongzhen could finish his words, his mother slapped him lightly on the back of his head.

"You are so rude, swallow your food before you speak!"

Yang Yu shook his head dumbfounded, and continued what his friend said, "It's just that this year's situation is a bit special, and there are no guests invited, so the clan leader announced a few days ago that there will be no dinner party for the time being."

Xiao Ye feels this deeply.Although the scene in front of me was joyful, it was also chaotic. Hot and cold dishes and drinks were flying all over the sky. It really didn't look like they had been prepared in advance.

"Then why did you suddenly change your mind again today?" Xiaoye asked humbly, while pulling out the fire-breathing dragon that was about to bury its face in the fruit bowl of the tree.

"Because our soldiers are fighting." After teaching her son, Yongzhen's mother immediately put on a loving smile and replied.

She pushed her brown hair behind her ears and said with a smile, "Then, making everyone happy is the biggest mission of those of us who are not participating in the war, isn't it?"

Xiao Ye blinked thoughtfully and looked carefully at everything in front of her again.

People hugged their fellow Pokémon and didn't care how hot it was to huddle with fire Pokémon in the middle of summer.They drink wine from the cup to their heart’s content, laugh in unison at a bad joke made by their neighbor, and sing along inarticulately when the person next to them hums a song; as if they have never experienced the sudden night attack of the wind thief. , and the most important treasure has never been lost.

——Oh, one thing needs to be corrected.The yellow substance in their glasses was not liquor, but sweet and sour juice.

After they were full of wine and food, the banquet was not in a hurry to end. People began to wander around along the long table and chatted randomly with the people around them.On the contrary, the Pokémon whose appetite far exceeds that of humans firmly stick to their original position and still just focus on eating.

Yong Zhen's cough symptoms were still severe, but he didn't care about it. He put a mask on himself and took Yang Yu to run away to chat with his friends of the same age.

With quick eyes and quick hands, Xiaoye saved the little Pichu who was almost swallowed as a yellow snack on the dining table. After smoothing the little guy's hair, he started walking along the river.

Not long after, the girl's pace slowed down and stopped.She frowned slightly and glanced at the scrawled bandages on the people passing by - and this was not the first injured person she saw.

Yang Yu once said that if any patrolman encounters a wind thief or is attacked during search work, others will get the news immediately, but Yang Yu did not receive any notification related to this throughout the day.

So...why were these people injured?

She thought about it and walked towards the end of the long table.

"Mr. Jingmu."

Hearing the girl's call, the middle-aged man turned around.

Jing Mu's dress was much more casual than when he was in the auditorium, only wearing a thin short coat.There were many large and small scars on his arms. The injured person didn't seem to care about them and didn't even put a few band-aids on them.

Although they were only superficial scratches, they looked a bit too dense.

"What's wrong?" the middle-aged man answered seriously as always - unlike the people who were laughing and chatting around him, he still kept a straight face even at this time, just writing a line above his head, "I have endured all the big-hearted people." The tribesmen throw away their unnecessary sorrows.”

"I'm sorry to disturb you." Xiaoye looked up at the tall conversation partner, "I'm just a little concerned - it seems that many people, including you, were injured? Did you encounter a wind thief?"

"How could those thieves hurt us so easily?" Jing Mu raised his eyebrows, "It's just a few games after work."

"...I understand." Xiaoye nodded, as if she didn't intend to continue asking.

Xiao Ye, who was very self-conscious about drinking, was about to say "goodbye" when she saw Jing Mu staring at her intently, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter, as if she saw green caterpillars crawling on her face.

"...?"

"You don't have to worry." Jing Mu suddenly said, "Most of the thieves are not good at fighting head-on. If you are really in danger, just run away for your life immediately. They will not deliberately pursue a foreigner who has no grudges or grudges." Of the tribe.”

"No, I'm not worried about this..." Xiaoye immediately raised her hands in a fit of laughter and tears. Unexpectedly, these words touched the strange point of anger of the person opposite.

"What? How can you not worry!!"

The middle-aged man's expression immediately turned dark.

Xiaoye, who was originally a little worried about the injured, was caught and talked about for almost 10 minutes. From how to strengthen self-protection to how to escape in critical moments, Xiaoye was so confused that she didn't know where she was.

The red-haired man sitting next to the middle-aged man held back his laughter for a long time, and finally spoke with kindness to end this one-sided abuse.

"Jingmu, please stop chattering. Our guest has lost his ability to fight."

Until she returned to the Pokémon with bulging bellies, Xiaoye still felt in a daze, forgetting that she should doubt Jingmu's unreasonable reason for the injury.

"Xiaoye...what's wrong with you? What happened just now?" Yang Yu approached worriedly and looked at Xiaoye's expression.

"No, I just had a few words with Mr. Jingmu."

"Uh." The red-haired boy's expression changed, and his face was filled with deep sympathy, "Why are you so hard to think about it?"

Night:"……"

After chatting for a long time, the red-haired people finally got up and began to clean up the mess in twos and threes.Xiaoye was about to step forward to help, but Yang Yu reached out and grabbed her.

"We, the 'formation team,' don't have to do any chores." The young man said with a smile, "Xiaoye, do you want to watch our training later?"

"Training means Pokémon battles?"

"No." Yang Yu shook his head and pointed to the waist drums piled not far away.

"It's a "dance to welcome the gods." "

The excitement of the dinner party gradually dissipated, and the crowd dispersed into several groups.One of them pushed each other and rushed towards the altar where the Covenant Pillar was located.

——The dance to welcome the gods, the final and most important link of the Fire Worship Festival; the dance performed by the people of the fire to welcome the God of Niwa during the Fire Worship Festival.It is said that in ancient times, when the five mountains fire ceremony ended and the dance to welcome the gods began, the flame bird would emerge from the volcano, dance with its believers, and vow to protect each other this year and never abandon each other.

Xiaoye had only seen the very end of the dance rehearsal before, but today she really saw the full picture of this dance that has been passed down for thousands of years.

The red-haired people beat the Upe drums on their waists, and the sound was like thunder, like burning flames, and like human chants; while the people of the flames danced in time with the rhythm on the altar, and the torches surrounding the altar were The dancers cast long shadows that eventually converge towards the central Covenant Pillar.

The mountain people are very proud of this dance and often talk about it at the dinner table.Therefore, even a foreigner who has just arrived here for a day knows clearly that the Upe drum is a very difficult instrument to play. Even among the Fire People, there are only a few people who can master it skillfully. The 24 people who danced the dance to welcome the gods during the Fire Festival were carefully selected and passed various assessments to become good dancers.They are sincere, passionate and pure-hearted, which is why they can play beautiful music with Upe drums.

——Xiaoye’s friend, Yang Yu is one of them.

The girl stood under the stage, looking up at the people dancing on the altar.

Yang Yu's smile was always gentle and restrained, but when he danced the ancient dance with his compatriots, Xiaoye saw that his expression no longer felt depressed at all. The bright color of the torch reflected in his red pupils, almost shining like stars. Dots and dazzling sand of light.

"It's a pity that Haruna is not here, otherwise this dance would have been more perfect."

A clear voice came from behind.Xiaoye turned around and looked at the boy... no, the pseudo-boy, the real young man, the baby-faced, and the short patriarch.

"Mr. Ye, good evening."

"Good evening." The clan leader finally took off the hot-looking Jinhaori and was only wearing a white singlet. The two scimitars were hung on his waist - the bright red round stone was still embedded in it. The hilt of the knife shines brightly.

He smiled and waved, "You worked hard today, how was the result?"

"Yang Yu and I have searched the designated area, and no trace of the wind thief was found either visually or with the power of the waveguide." Xiao Ye replied.

Before she could say the second half of the sentence, "I saw a strange walkie-talkie," Jianye's smile gradually stiffened, "Uh, wait a minute, 'all searched' refers to..."

Xiaoye thought for a moment, thought she understood the question, and suddenly answered, "The waveguide detection range I am used to is a sphere with a radius of ten meters, so to determine that there is no abnormality, it is ten meters above and below based on the horizon. I need to Will the scope be expanded?”

"..."

Ye recalled the search area assigned to each team at the combat meeting, then raised a hand in slow motion and covered his forehead.

"It's too much. That's three days of work..."

"Because detection is much faster than seeing with your eyes?"

"It's much more exhausting than looking at it with your eyes, isn't it?" The young patriarch blinked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Of course, it would be better to say that I have long been accustomed to turning on the detection all day long." Xiaoye answered straightforwardly.

She knew that the Fire People would not be able to safely let a strange ten-year-old tourist carry out important tasks right away.If you want to help everyone better, you must first show your strength - just like what she did today.

"...Okay, I understand." Ye seemed to have read Xiaoye's thoughts. He sighed and stopped talking about the topic. Instead, he gave the dessert in his hand to Xiaoye, "Here you are, the rice crackers we promised Cake! Just think of it as a token of sympathy for your hard work today!"

"Oh, thank you..." When did you say it?

The two watched the ancient dance to welcome the gods in silence for a while.Amidst the rumbling drums, the patriarch turned his head and looked at this young and "over-enthusiastic" guest.

"Xiaoye, can you please come with me to the place where the wind thieves are imprisoned?"

"Maybe I need your help."