Chapter 87: Visiting the Pokémon Ecological Reserve
"So, where are we going next?"
The meal delivered by the hotel staff was devoured by Rio, who wanted to satisfy his craving; Ming Rizhao, who had been hungry for most of the day; and Ralts, who didn't know what was going on but ate because everyone else was eating.
"Hmm..."
Ming Rizhao slumped in her chair and thought for a moment.
"Let's go check out the reserve!"
"This time, I will never believe in any VIP channel nonsense again!"
The young girl puffed up her cheeks and shook her fist.
…
Outside the Verdant Leaf City Pokémon Ecological Reserve.
Perhaps because it was already nearing evening, the number of people queuing outside the reserve had significantly decreased. But even with this flow of people, it looked like they would still have to queue for some time.
"Miss, believe me, the VIP ticket in my hand is absolutely genuine. Look at my ID if you don't believe me."
A man quickly showed his ID to the young girl.
The girl was somewhat tempted.
"Let's go, don't believe these people."
Rio couldn't watch any longer. He grabbed the hem of Ming Rizhao's clothes and forcefully dragged her away from the man.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't believe in any VIP nonsense again?"
A cunning smile suddenly appeared on Ming Rizhao's face. "Heehee, I'm just stalling him."
The girl held up her phone, which displayed the police station's number.
Then, Rio and the others saw Officer Jenny get out of her police car with great authority and lead her officers to take away all the people who had been loitering outside the crowd, seemingly constantly peddling so-called "VIP" tickets.
"A sting operation. You're awesome!"
Rio gave a thumbs-up.
Ming Rizhao smiled without saying a word.
"(Pokémon Language) Let's hurry up and queue! Or else it's going to close," Ralts tugged at the hem of Ming Rizhao's dress.
The smiles on Rio and the girl's faces froze. Then, they yelped and rushed to the back of the crowd to queue.
…
Fortunately, it seemed a staff member from the reserve recognized the girl with two Pokémon as the hero who had been a great help that night. So, he led the three little ones to the real VIP channel, allowing them to enter the reserve without having to queue.
This place, as its name suggested, was a "Pokémon Ecological Reserve." To cater to the living habits of different Pokémon, the reserve also had different ecological zones.
Taking Altaria, Seviper, and Lairon as examples.
Altaria is a Flying-type bird Pokémon, so it likes to live in forested areas with many trees.
Seviper is a Pokémon similar to a python, so it also has the living habits of snake-like Pokémon, preferring to live in low mountain jungles.
As for Lairon, it is a Steel and Rock-type Pokémon that usually likes to squat in rock caves.
In addition, there were also large lakes, man-made desert areas, and other terrains distributed throughout the reserve, which naturally housed a large group of diverse Pokémon.
The three little ones walked along the sightseeing path specially opened up in the reserve. The first thing they saw was an Altaria teaching a little Swablu to fly among the trees.
Seeing a familiar face (?), Rio excitedly leaned on the railing and waved. "Hi, we meet again, Auntie Qingniao (Blue Bird)!"
"Hmph!"
Altaria, who had been looking at her child with a gentle face, got a cross-popping vein on her head after hearing Rio's shout.
"(Pokémon Language) You brat," Altaria said irritably. "(Pokémon Language) Don't shout nonsense, I'm not familiar with you."
The group of chubby, cotton-ball-like Swablu huddled together, curiously watching their parent bickering with a small dog-like Pokémon.
"So cute!"
No one can refuse cute creatures, and Ming Rizhao was no exception. She looked at the group of innocent "cotton balls," feeling her heart about to melt from the cuteness, and quickly took out her phone to take non-stop pictures.
Only Ralts, squeezed in the middle of the railing, observed that there seemed to be traces of bandages on Altaria's leg and asked with concern, "(Pokémon Language) Sister Qingniao, is your injury not better yet?"
Altaria naturally recognized this Pokémon who had helped her escape from the iron chains.
"(Pokémon Language) Little sister Ralts is still the one who cares about me."
Altaria rolled her eyes at Rio, then smiled gently at Ralts. "(Pokémon Language) It's nothing, just a small injury. I'll be fine after resting for a while."
After chatting for a little longer, the three little ones bid farewell to Altaria and explored deeper into the reserve.
The Azurill, Marill, Clamperl, and Luvdisc living in the lake; the Baltoy, Trapinch, and Vibrava living in the man-made desert; and the Seviper, Seedot, and Roselia living in the grasslands all broadened the horizons of the three little ones.
And Ming Rizhao, in particular, was taking pictures with her phone's camera left and right, looking extremely happy.
Finally, the three of them arrived at the innermost part of the reserve, a rocky area filled with flying dust.
"Oh, is that little brother Rio?"
A Pokémon with several plate-like steel armor segments covering its back and round holes on its sides came running over on all fours, shouting loudly.
"Oh, long time no see little brother Rio how come you've gotten so much thinner in such a short time by the way do you know we did a great job that night taught those bad guys a good lesson luckily that last explosion was far away from me but it still blew my beautiful steel armor all black you have no idea how hard it was for me to wash it oh I remember I don't know if you know but I do know that there seems to be a very fierce big fellow in this cave it makes me quite scared I even told my little brothers to stay away you guys better not go in either..."
"@?" x3
This continuous bombardment of words left Ming Rizhao, Rio, and Ralts, who could understand Pokémon language, completely baffled.
Yes, this very fierce-looking big fellow was actually a chatterbox by nature, and a chatterbox whose topics jumped all over the place at that.
"Alright, alright, my head hurts."
Rio raised his paw, stopping Lairon's nagging. The moment he heard this loud-voiced rambling, he remembered the scene from that night, digging holes while being bombarded in the ear. Good heavens...
Lairon had finally gotten its fill of talking. Usually, when it rambled, the Aron and Beldum around it would wish they were ten meters away, which made it feel really bottled up.
"Little brother, don't you forget me, remember to come and see me more often..."
Hearing Lairon about to start its chatterbox mode again, Rio quickly stopped it.
"Okay, okay, I'll definitely come see you when I have the chance."
Only then did Lairon reluctantly return to its resting cave, looking back every three steps.
"Click!" Ming Rizhao took a final photo of the very rare Pokémon "Beldum" and then prepared to leave with satisfaction.
"Let's go. Today's harvest has been very good... Whoa, ahhh, what's wrong?"
Before the girl could finish her sentence, a strong tremor suddenly came from the ground.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble," as if something had collapsed, a dull thud came from the depths of the reserve.
The tremor continued for a while, then subsided.
"!"
Rio suddenly jumped. He turned his head to look towards the depths of the reserve, trying to see through to what it was that had made him feel that sense of dread again.
However, he saw nothing.
Next, the three little ones saw some reserve staff hurrying over. They politely asked the tourists still lingering in the rocky area to leave, and then set up a security cordon.
Ming Rizhao blinked. Although she was very curious, she also knew it wasn't appropriate for her to probe into others' secrets. Therefore, she picked up Ralts and, calling out to Rio, followed the crowd to leave.
Rio couldn't help but turn his head for one last look:
A man in a suit, surrounded by staff, was walking into the deepest part of the reserve.
He had a premonition that he would definitely return here again one day.
So, Rio turned his head and followed his trainer out of the reserve.