I, Xiao Mao, want to become a Pokémon Master!

Page 387

Could it be...?

Xiao Mao thought of a bad possibility, but he couldn't be 100% sure. He could only wait until he had time to investigate it further.

After putting the crystal away, Xiao Mao washed up and went to bed.

...!

Early the next morning.

Ash and his friends then left Veilstone City and headed to Safari Zone City to challenge the fourth Gym Leader.

"Shaymin's movie should take place after Ash gets the Field Gym Badge, so I won't get involved this time."

After thinking about it, Gary realized that if he wanted to catch Shaymin, there was no need to follow Ash and the others; he could go directly to the vicinity of Gracidia to find Shaymin.

Unfortunately, Gracidia is a protected area, so you can't catch Pokémon there. Therefore, if you want to catch Shaymin, Gary will need to find Shaymin outside the Gracidia protected area.

"Let's go find Shamy first."

Xiao Mao thought about it and decided that it would be more convenient to go find Shemi first, because the Gracidia flowers would be blooming soon, and if he missed that time, it would be difficult to find Shemi.

Because Shaymin is a migrating spirit, whenever a region experiences the change of seasons from autumn to winter, Shaymin will transform into its sky form and travel to regions that experience spring and summer. Therefore, after the Gracidia flower season, Shaymin will leave the Sinnoh region.

It's already autumn, and there's only a month left until winter. Shigeru needs to catch one of the Shaymin before they arrive at Gracidia Flower Garden, otherwise he won't be able to catch it when they arrive.

Because there are Elven rangers in the Gracidia Reserve, once you enter the reserve, the rangers will secretly monitor the Shaymi and protect them as they reach the flower garden.

Pokémon Rangers are a special type of trainer; their primary responsibility is to protect rare wild Pokémon.

Rangers have a tool called a hunting dart that can temporarily capture Pokémon. The captured Pokémon will become telepathically connected with the ranger and become a temporary partner.

Of course, if the captured Pokémon has a violent personality, it won't listen to the rangers, but most wild Pokémon are willing to obey.

Because the rangers are protecting the Elf Forest, and the elves are quite intelligent, they know that the forest is their home. When it comes to protecting their home, wild elves will obey the rangers' commands.

Shigeru rides an Articuno and heads to the Gracietia Flower Field.

The Gracidia Flower Field is located in the northeastern part of the Sinnoh region, directly above Wilderness City, near the Sinnoh glacier.

Articuno, as a legendary Ice-type Pokémon, has a keen sense of climate and can tell which direction leads to a cold region just by observing the movement of the air.

In less than two hours, Articuno brought Gary to the Gracietia Flower Field.

Articulated birds landed next to the flower field.

The flower field is covered with buds of Gracidia florida, but it will be some time before they bloom.

"Arcanine, come out." Gary casually tossed out a Poké Ball.

Baton!

A large canine spirit with fluffy fur makes its appearance.

"Wang!"

When Arcanine saw Gary, it immediately came over and started licking Gary's cheeks enthusiastically—this is Arcanine's way of welcoming people.

"Alright, stop licking." Gary stopped Arcanine.

【LV56 Arcanine♂/Elite Four】

Gary checked Arcanine's level; it was currently level 56. Arcanine was one of the first Pokémon Gary bred, but due to its low potential, its level lagged behind other Pokémon of the same era. In fact, the Pokémon Gary bred in the Johto region were all higher level than it.

Xiao Mao patted Arcanine and silently said in his mind, "System, use a Silver Crown on Arcanine."

[Ding! The Silver Crown has been successfully used.]

【LV56 Arcanine♂/Champion】

Originally, Gary didn't plan to train Arcanine first, but now that there's a reward like the Ability Exploration Stone, Arcanine is worth training.

Gary was particularly interested in how powerful Arcanine's Intimidate ability was, especially since it was already enhanced. He wanted to enhance Arcanine's other two abilities to see what kind of improvement it would bring.

"Growlithe, go over there and smell the flowers," Gary said.

"Wang."

Arcanine shuffled over to the flower field, its massive head lowered as it inhaled the fragrance emanating from the flower buds. Although the flowers hadn't bloomed yet, the buds were already emitting a sweet scent.

The substance that truly transforms Shemi is the pollen of the Gracidia flower, and Shemi also carries the distinctive fragrance of this flower.

"Wang."

Arcanine has been trained by the police and is adept at scent tracking. In just over ten seconds, Arcanine remembered the scent of the Gracidia flower.

"Okay, come in then."

Gary recalled his Arcanine and flew towards the outside of the Gracietian Reserve. Once outside the area, he released Arcanine and began his search.

Arcanine lowered its head and searched for scents, eventually ending up on the right path.

"What's going on? Could it be that the Shemi are migrating from the main road?" Xiao Mao asked, puzzled.

Shaymin is a very worrying elf, and it is nocturnal. Although Shaymin is most active during the day, daytime is too dangerous.

Therefore, during the day, Shemi disguises itself as grass, absorbing sunlight energy to continue living within its body, and then moves around at night, making it difficult for people to detect it.

Moreover, Shemi usually walk towards areas with grass, not on main roads.

Xiao Mao ignored it and continued to let Arcanine search.

As a result, while searching, they came to the entrance of a small village.

Xiao Mao looked at the notice board at the entrance of the village, which read "Relocation Village".

This is the village near the Gracidia flower fields.

Xiao Shigeru immediately understood why Arcanine had found this place. It was near the Gracidia flower field, and the village was more or less permeated with the fragrance of Gracidia flowers. There might even be some Gracidia flowers still preserved in the village.

Gracidia flowers only bloom in autumn and wither and fall after autumn. However, they can be preserved for a long time as long as the temperature is suitable. In particular, Gracidia flowers are quite expensive and have a certain value in the flower market.

568: Searching for Shemi

"Wang?"

Seeing that Gary's expression was off, Arcanine knew that he must have come to the wrong place and hesitated whether to go in.

"Go in and see what you find," Xiao Mao said.

Shigeru wasn't in a hurry to find Shaymin. Instead, he wanted to see what exactly was emitting the fragrance of Gracidia flowers, misleading Arcanine.

Arcanine nodded and walked into the village, and Gary got off Arcanine.

When the villagers saw Gary and Arcanine, they all turned to look at him and sized him up.

Because the village itself has a small population, few outsiders come here. When they saw that Xiao Mao was a stranger, they knew that he was from outside and couldn't help but look at him curiously for a while.

Xiao Mao also observed the relocated village, which was a very ordinary village with a peaceful atmosphere.

"Wang."

The Arcanine suddenly stopped and barked softly.

Xiao Mao stopped and saw a flower shop in front of him, with all kinds of bouquets displayed at the entrance.

The only specialty of Zhuanzhuan Village is flowers. Because of its unique climate, which is located in a glacial and temperate climate zone, many exotic flowers grow here, making flowers the pillar industry of Zhuanzhuan Village.

"Excuse me, are you here to buy flowers?" At this moment, a young girl from the shop came out and asked.

"Yes, do you have Gracidia flowers?" Shigeru asked.

"Yes, we do, but are you sure you want to buy it?" the female shop assistant asked hesitantly.

"Any questions?"

Xiao Mao wanted to buy some Gracidia flowers and then go outside to see if he could run into Shemi, since Shemi was very sensitive to the fragrance of Gracidia flowers.

According to the original storyline, Shaymin, who got separated from the main group, arrived at the Grassedia Flower Field ahead of time because of Ash, while its companions arrived several hours later.

So Xiao Mao wanted to buy a Gracidia flower to see if it would make it easier to find Shemi.

"The Gracidia flowers will be in bloom soon. The Gracidia flowers we sell here bloomed last year and aren't very fragrant anymore. Are you sure you want them?"

The female shop assistant was quite conscientious and refused to sell the old Gracietian flowers.

"It's okay, last year's is fine too. How much is one?" Xiao Mao asked.

"Then I'll give you a discount, 500 yuan a flower," the female shop assistant said.

Xiao Mao's heart skipped a beat.

He had bought flowers before, but 500 yuan a flower was too expensive, even more expensive than roses. Sure enough, the premium on flowers was too high, and this was even after the discount.

"Give me 10 flowers," Xiao Mao said.

"Okay, would you like me to make it into a flower basket for you?" the female shop assistant asked.

Gracidia flowers symbolize gratitude and are typically given as gifts when visiting patients or friends not seen for a long time, so florists usually help to make them into flower baskets.

"Okay, please."

Xiao Mao immediately pulled out 5000 yuan in cash.

After all, online payment hadn't yet emerged, and in remote villages like Zhuanchuan Village, cash payments were the norm.

"Please sit down and rest, sir. I'll make it for you right away." The female shop assistant welcomed Xiao Mao into the shop, poured him a cup of tea, and then went to make the flower basket.

The shop assistant was very efficient. She cut the decorative grass, placed the Gracidia flowers on the grass, and finished quickly. She then told Xiao Mao to keep it safe.

Because the current temperature is perfect for Gracidia flowers, they don't need to be stored and won't wither even if left outside for more than ten days.

After buying the Gracidia flower, Gary stayed at the Pokémon Center in the village, preparing for his nightly mission.

Because Shamy is nocturnal, Shigeru can only try to find Shamy at night.

...!

Night falls.

After dinner, Xiao Mao left the relocation village, riding his Growlithe towards the right-hand stream. Carrying a flower basket and a powerful flashlight, he began his search.

Since Shaymin are not only nocturnal, they also need to drink water, so searching near water sources can increase the probability of finding Shaymin.

Arcanine already knew that there were Gracidian flowers in the transfer village, so it naturally stopped searching in the direction of the village and searched every now and then.

Xiao Mao thought one night should be enough for Growlithe to find Shaymin.