Dong Gang wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, turned to look at the massive Aggron hunched over in the narrow cave, and asked, "Aggron, how's the digging going?"
Aggron let out a helpless cry, "Aggron!" (Didn't find anything.)
"Ugh... That guy didn't trick me, did he?" Dong Gang muttered, putting down his shovel and sighing heavily.
He and Aggron had been digging here for a long time. Even with his good physique, he was exhausted, yet after all this digging, they still had no Harvest.
He gently patted Aggron, then recalled it into its Poké Ball, saying, "We've been digging for so long, let's go up and rest for a bit. If I ever run into that guy who took five hundred yuan from me...snort!"
Just then, a voice from not far behind him suddenly asked, "Who's in there?"
Dong Gang was already annoyed and retorted gruffly, "Who am I? Who the hell are you!"
Dong Gang thought it was the guy who took his money coming to cause trouble.
But the other party replied, "We're from Zigong Police Station. Come out now."
Hearing this, Dong Gang was stunned, his mind struggling to process it.
He slowly approached and, looking closely, indeed saw several people in police uniforms.
"This... what exactly is going on?"
The police officer said kindly, "Comrade, this cave has safety hazards. Please come out with us first; we'll discuss the details once we're outside."
"Oh."
Dong Gang was thus confusedly led out of the cave.
As soon as he came out, he saw Zhao Mingzhu and quickly asked in confusion, "Beauty, what exactly is going on?"
Zhao Mingzhu frowned and asked impatiently, "Where's Huang Mao?"
Dong Gang blurted out, "Xiao Wang? Xiao Wang and I are digging for fossils."
Zhao Mingzhu pointed to the sky, "Digging for fossils? Don't you know how long you've been digging? Why don't you look up at the sky?"
Dong Gang looked up and saw the sun already slightly setting in the west; it was clearly afternoon.
At this moment, another police officer emerged from the cave and reported to the police chief nearby, "Report, the cave has been thoroughly searched. Only he was found."
Normally, people who secretly dig for fossils come at night and rest during the day. Only Dong Gang was so fierce, digging from night until day.
Zhao Jie looked at Dong Gang again and asked in a serious tone, "So where did Huang Mao go?"
Dong Gang's face flushed with embarrassment. He cleared his throat and said, "Um... should I go down and look again? My Pokémon are all Rock-type, so it might be easier to find people in the cave."
The police officer glanced at Dong Gang and said, "Several Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon from our team have already thoroughly searched, and no one else was found."
Zhao Mingzhu gave Dong Gang another look, her eyes full of dissatisfaction.
Dong Gang was so embarrassed he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. He had been so engrossed in digging for fossils that he had completely forgotten about Huang Mao, who had come with him.
Wang Yi, who was nearby, listened with worry in her eyes, her lips bitten until they were white.
Bai Jin quickly walked to Wang Yi's side, gently took her hand, and softly said, "Xiao Yi, maybe Wang Tianxiang left earlier?"
Wang Yi couldn't hear any comforting words. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she said with a sobbing voice, "I shouldn't have listened to him. I said I'd plan the trip, but he insisted on helping and insisted on coming to dig for fossils. Now, the person who came to dig for fossils is gone. How am I going to tell his parents when I go back to the village?!"
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Her friends felt bad seeing Wang Yi so sad.
Qin Ying patted Wang Yi's shoulder and said firmly, "Let's not scare ourselves yet. Let's go look around again now. Maybe he came out earlier, and we can find him nearby."
Su Yuexi, who was nearby, nodded in agreement.
Wang Yi listened, and hope rekindled in her eyes.
She quickly wiped away her tears, stood up, called out Dubwool, and her friends began searching together in the surrounding forest.
In the forest, trees blocked out the sky, and sunlight could only filter through gaps in the branches and leaves, forming patches of light.
Various bird Pokémon chirped on the branches, and the fallen leaves and Vines intertwined on the ground, making it incredibly difficult to find someone here.
Qin Ying's Mankey moved agilely through the forest, weaving in and out; Bai Jin's Dratini could even float and fly slightly; but Wang Yi's Dubwool, due to its overly thick wool, kept getting stuck in the bushes, making movement very inconvenient.
Wang Yi was focused on finding her younger brother as quickly as possible. Suddenly, she saw a Pidgey. She quickly pulled a Poké Ball from her waist and held it tightly in her hand.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, her eyes fixed on the Pidgey, calculating its flight path and speed.
When the Pidgey flew to a suitable distance, Wang Yi suddenly swung her arm back, then forcefully swung it forward. The Poké Ball flew out like an arrow from a bowstring.
The Poké Ball arced gracefully through the air, flying precisely towards the Pidgey. With a "thwack," the Poké Ball accurately hit the Pidgey.
The Pidgey was disoriented by the sudden Tackle. It struggled to fly away, its wings flapping frantically.
However, the Poké Ball's red light had already enveloped it.
The Pidgey flashed continuously in the Poké Ball's light, its body being drawn inside.
The Poké Ball fell to the ground, shaking violently and emitting a "buzzing" sound, as if the Pidgey was struggling inside the ball.
Seeing this, Wang Yi immediately rushed forward, grabbed the Poké Ball in her hand, and softly said,
"Pidgey, be my partner, please help me!"
As Wang Yi's words fell, Pidgey seemed to respond to Wang Yi's request, and the Poké Ball stopped shaking.
Wang Yi felt a surge of joy. She knew she had successfully captured this Pidgey.
She slowly released her tight grip, looked at the Poké Ball in her hand, and a bright smile appeared on her face.
She threw the Poké Ball and said loudly,
"Go, Pidgey, please help me find my brother! He might be around here, with yellow hair!"
Pidgey flew out of the Poké Ball, circled once above Wang Yi's head, then flew towards the depths of the forest, joining the search party for Huang Mao.
Su Yuexi, who was nearby, watched everyone trying to help with the search, but she felt a bit helpless because she and Gloom were too slow on foot.
"What should I do, Gloom!"
Gloom looked up at its trainer in disbelief, as if saying,
No, sis, are you asking me?
Su Yuexi awkwardly scratched her head, "You're right, I should figure something out myself."
Just then, she saw a thin, green flying Pokémon on the outskirts of the forest.
She cautiously walked over and asked weakly, "Um..."
This green Pokémon, already shunned by its own kind because of its unusual color, was now so hungry it was dizzy, floating weakly in mid-air. Suddenly being addressed, it was so startled it almost fell from the sky.
"Hop!?"
Su Yuexi stammered, "Um... could you please do me a favor?"
This green Hoppip looked at the strange human in confusion, but it was so hungry its stomach was practically touching its back, so it said,
"Hop, hop." (Give me something to eat, and I can help you with a small favor.)
"Okay!" Su Yuexi wasn't at all confused about why she suddenly understood Hoppip's words.
She took out a handful of special Grass-type Pokémon food made for Gloom and offered it to Hoppip to taste.
Hoppip first sniffed it, then ate the food in large gulps.
"Hop... hop!" (Delicious... truly delicious!)
As an oddly colored Pokémon, it had been ostracized by its tribe since birth. Let alone such a delicacy, it was grateful just to eat its fill.
So it ate ravenously, almost choking.
Su Yuexi took out a bottle of water and offered it to Hoppip, "Slow down, slow down. There's more if you need it."
Hoppip took a sip of water, patted its body with its short little hands, swallowed the food, and felt a bit more comfortable. It then asked proudly,
"Hop, hop?" (Human. What do you need me to do?)
Su Yuexi explained, "I have a friend with yellow-dyed hair. I was hoping you could look from the sky and see if you can find him?"
Hoppip made an 'okay' sign with its short little hand:
"No problem, it's a piece of cake. Leave it to me!"