There was silence deep in the mountains, and even the sound of birds flapping their wings and taking off in the distance could be heard clearly.

Xiao Ye saw the red-haired boy's expression change several times, and finally lowered his head guiltily.

"I'm sorry. Yang Yu whispered, "I know that we have gone too far in doing this, as if we were trying to drive away the people who were kind enough to help." But ......"

When the boy pursed his lips and wanted to make a ninety-degree bow of apology, the tourist's voice rang out first, and his tone was full of surprise, "Don't do this—if your people see it, they will definitely think that I am bullying you." ”

“...... Huh?"

"I'm just asking. Xiao Ye said briskly, not seemingly caring much about the answer to that question, "There are still a few days until the Fire Worship Festival, and I think the probability of retrieving the Udpe drum is still very high before that, isn't it?"

"Well, you're right. And ......"

"What?"

Yang Yu followed Xiao Ye and crossed the trunk of the tree blocking the road, and said seriously, "It's about to be in our responsibility, there is no one of my clans nearby, you don't have to worry." ”

Sayo: "......"

Yang Yu: "?"

Xiaoye: "...... I don't think that's the point. ”

And "don't worry" is some kind of magic speech, is it encouraging me to bully people with confidence......

After arriving at the arranged patrol point, the two of them each released a Pokémon to defend themselves and began today's patrol. Yang Yu carefully inquired about the waveguide detection range that Xiao Ye was used to, and planned a detailed route based on this, Xiao Ye only needed to follow him, and he could search the entire responsible area in a carpet manner.

There are no roads in Mt. Aso, and it is not uncommon for you to have to climb the branches of trees. Fortunately, the strong chicken and the forest lizard who lead the way are both good at jumping in the woods, and the two trainers are agile enough not to delay their work.

Within a moment of the start of the search, Xiao Ye pointed to the top of her head and asked in a low voice, "Are there so many dark crows here in normal times?"

The cloudy weather makes the deep mountain jungle even more sultry and silent. Through the foliage, a dark crow could be seen flying overhead from time to time, making a rough and unpleasant call.

Yang Yu shook his head, "There are very few wild dark crows in Aso Mountain—that's the Wind Thief's scout. ”

As he spoke, he stopped, retracted the strong chicken into the ball, and replaced it with a fire eevee.

Xiao Ye was stunned for a moment, and roughly understood that Yang Yu wanted to shoot down the enemy's "eye", and quietly observed its movements.

For the next few minutes, Yang Yu did not give any orders, just looked up at the dark ravens that occasionally appeared in the gaps between the canopies. Saya noticed his fingers drawing slowly and rhythmically in circles through the air, as if searching for the Dark Raven's flight patterns.

"Fire Eevee, aim straight up. ”

The boy subconsciously took a few steps back as he spoke.

As the trainer's words fell, the orange beast raised its ears, and a fireball appeared in front of it.

It was not in a hurry to make a move, and a steady stream of flame energy was released from its body, and it was condensed in the fireball, like a cannonball ready to fire.

A few seconds later, before the Dark Raven could be seen, Yang Yu's boots tapped lightly on the ground.

Flame-burning cannonballs ejected from the bottom up like meteorites, cutting through the blockade of the dense forest and heading straight into the cloudy gray sky. The moment it broke through the canopy, the dark raven slammed into the flame charge as if it were deliberately feeding. In the flash of fire and the blast wave, the Scout didn't even have time to scream to warn his companions before he fell headlong - Xiao Ye didn't hear it fall to the ground, probably on a tree branch somewhere.

The girl let out a small exclamation - the dark crow flew too high, and it was not easy for the Pokémon on the ground to reach it, let alone rely on eyesight and prediction to achieve a precise strike against the air.

"That trick just now is also one of the uses of 'deflagration'?"

Xiao Ye asked—at the same time, she noticed that Yang Yu seemed to have retreated too far, and the distinct moves used by Fire Eevee were not so easy to spread to the surrounding area.

"Well, a little trick to increase explosiveness and make moves go farther by accumulating flames. Yang Yu replied, gently touching Fire Eevee's head as a sign of encouragement, "The scouts of the Wind Thieves are very cunning, and if you fight in the air, they will run away from them, and if you want to deal with them, you must hit them with such a blow." ”

After swapping the Pokémon back for a strong chicken that is more suitable for traveling in the mountains, he smiles at the tourists.

"I'll take care of all the chores, just probe it, Xiaoya. ”

As the human footsteps marched, invisible waves swept through the foliage, air, and earth.

Observing everything around you indiscriminately with a sense other than the five senses is actually a very energy-consuming task. It's just that Xiao Ya has always been more comfortable with this kind of analysis and calculation task, and even if she works non-stop until noon, the accumulated fatigue is far from enough to make her lose concentration.

Due to the heavy workload, both of them simply ate some sandwiches for lunch that they had brought with them when they set off - they were placed in a small package that Yang Yu had brought with him, and Xiao Ye didn't even notice when his companion picked them up.

The strong chicken, who followed the boy, opened the package and handed out the sandwiches to the trainers, looking like a brave mother who stuffed food for her children. Pichu, who had been given a minimal sandwich, looked at its bright red appearance and hesitated for a long time before taking a tentative bite - and then eating it all with his eyes lit up.

As she ate her own lunch, she secretly came to the conclusion that the biggest feature of Flame Valley's specialty might be "red and sweet".

Their temporary settlement was a rare piece of fairly flat land in the mountains. Above the two of them, tall wooden frames crisscrossed the branches and foliage of the forest, and bundles of ropes were tied to them. Looking into the distance, the rope stretched towards the top of the mountain, and the end was submerged in a deep green.

"This is the 'big text' that connects to the crater?" asked Saya curiously.

"Hmm. Yang Yu nodded, "On the day of the ceremony, someone will light it from the foot of the mountain and let the fire burn along the rope all the way to the top of the mountain - in previous years, many tourists would take Pokémon to the air to watch." ”

Xiao Ye approached the wooden frame and carefully examined the objects in front of her.

She saw old broken ropes hanging from the ground, nearly half buried in the earth, replaced by new ropes – most likely because the earthquake had destroyed many of the festival's decorations the other day.

The Flame Folk prioritize repairing the facilities needed for the Five Hills Fire Ceremony while their homes are still rebuilt, at least it shows that they really want to celebrate this important holiday as they always do.

So...... Where did the order to prohibit the presence of outsiders come from?

After lunch, the two men quickened their pace and continued their search.

They found no clues to the drum or any trace of the wind thief, but they did pick up a strangely shaped device under the tree.

Xiao Ye shook the dirt off the pitch-black electronic device. The display has cracked like a kaleidoscope, and the buttons seem to have been splashed with corrosive venom, so you can't see the characters, and you can only barely guess from the shape, which is mostly a walkie-talkie.

"Is it broken?" Yang Yu took the brick-like object and shook it in confusion.

"It's still sending a weak signal, and it shouldn't have broken down completely. Xiao Ye said—because of this, the detection of the power of the waveguide was able to instantly sense its presence in debris such as gravel and fallen leaves.

The pitch-black device is heavy in the hand, and the shell is also hard and dense, and it seems to be able to withstand considerable impact. The characters on the keys have been etched and blurred, but they are intact - it's clear that this is not a walkie-talkie for field travel that has been abandoned by tourists because of damage, but a more "military" device that can maintain normal work on the battlefield of Pokémon fighting.

The girl and her companion looked at each other.

"Do you think this could be left by the Wind Thieves?"

"There's not a lot of dust on it, it should have been left here in the last two days - no one has been in the mountains lately, and I think it's probably the stuff of wind thieves. Just ......"

Sayo comprehended Yang Yu's incomprehension.

"Wind thieves are just a bunch of difficult thieves, there's no reason why they should have walkie-talkies like they can't buy on the market - like they shouldn't have guns, right?"

After a brief discussion, the walkie-talkie was put away by the discoverer, Nighta, intending to hand it in when he returned to the Valley of Flames.

They didn't say anything more, but the doubts about the wind thief's anomalies had long been buried in their hearts - and the emotions intensified at the end of the day's work as the sun set.

"It's weird. The red-haired boy frowned, "The presence of dark crows on the spot, suggesting that most of the wind thieves are moving around - but not only did we not see the shadow of the wind thieves, but we also failed to find the traces left by them when they ate and rested. ”

"I didn't even detect human footprints other than the two of us. Sayo added.

Yang Yu was silent for a while.

He didn't know if anyone else had noticed the anomaly, or if the patriarch's bizarre series of instructions was because he had more information. But as the most ordinary patroller among the Flame People, Hizohara Yang Yu instinctively felt-

Something bad is about to befall Mt. Aso.

As the sun sank into the western horizon, Saya and Yofeather returned to the Valley of Flames.

The night was still glowing, and the families of the Valley of Flames were already eager to light up their lights, and from a distance it looked as if the starry sky was reflected on the ground.

The firelight, the sound of drums, the sound of running footsteps, the sound of laughter and noise, as if time traveled, the small villages standing in the valley were shrouded in laughter, just like yesterday.

Standing at the entrance to the valley, Saya was really stunned. She remembered how dreary the atmosphere in the Valley of Flames was before she set off early in the morning, could she ......

"Has there been any significant progress in the search, or has the Udpegu been found?" she asked tentatively.

"Probably not. I'll be notified if there's a big discovery. Yang Yu shook the mobile phone in his hand, "Why do you ask that?"

"Because everyone looks happy?"

Whether it's adults, children, or Pokémon, they all happily shuttle back and forth on the gravel road. The inhabitants danced to the distant beat of drums when they were in the mood, and didn't care whose house they broke into in a circle—almost like a group of elves who had never experienced pain and were born carefree.

"Oh, that's what you said. ”

The red-haired teenager squinted and laughed.

He squeezed lightly in front of Xiao Ye and held out his index fingers against his cheeks.

It was a gesture that represented "smile".

"We've already taken away one treasure – how can we give up 'another'?"

====================

Small Theatre:

Sayo: (serious) Wind thieves are just a bunch of difficult thieves, there's no reason why they should have walkie-talkies like they can't buy on the market - like they shouldn't have guns, right......?

Yang Yu: (expecting) Do you mean?

Sayo: (determined) They've gotten rich overnight!

Yang Yu: ......