Chapter 58
: Forest Ranger Ma Long
"You actually inherited that farm over there? I've heard of it; they say there's a really powerful Pangolin that guards it."
"Sigh, I never expected such a thing to happen. I think your grandfather will be very pleased that you have taken over his hard work."
"What? You actually know Milotic from Lake Sunshine?"
On the way to the ranger's cabin, Hailey's open personality allowed her to quickly blend in with the conversation, from Xia Ming's identity to things about the mountain range.
Before Xia Ming could explain for Hailey, Abiergay, who was holding Coco Dora in his arms, preemptively answered:
"That's right, that's where the four of us used to play in the water when we were kids. Grandma Banling's Milotic is now the leader there. The Swans and a group of Politoed also live there, as well as many small Water-type Pokémon."
Not only that, we also know many other Pokémon from the mountains, such as Torterra, Bee Whiskers, Venusaur, Victreebel, and many more.
Whether Hailey listened or not, Abiergay got more and more excited and couldn't stop talking once he started.
After talking about the Pokémon he knew, he started talking about how he met them. For example, Torterra and Venusaur. At that time, the four of them were preparing to camp in the mountains, and the food they were camping attracted a lot of wild Pokémon.
Among them, the little ones from the Venusaur and Torterra families came to them asking for food. Later, they gradually became familiar with their parents and even received many small gifts from them.
The queen bee was someone they accidentally provoked a bunch of bees with, and while fleeing, they passed through the territory of a group of three honeybees.
In the end, it was the family's Pokémon who bailed them out; otherwise, they would have been in for a good scolding from the Queen Bee just for stirring up trouble.
It ended well; they ate a lot of the sweet treats that the three bees had given them—they were incredibly sweet.
There were many more adventures like these, and it was through these adventures that Abigail fell completely in love with travel and adventure.
"Abigail, why didn't you apply for a travel permit after you graduated? I remember it shouldn't be difficult."
"Ugh, just thinking about this makes me angry. It's all my dad's fault..."
"Abigail, we've arrived."
Before Abierguy could begin attacking Pierre, Xia Ming interrupted them, pointing to the ranger's hut not far away.
Abilgei had calmed down by this point, and she gave Hailey an apologetic smile:
"Sorry, Hailey, that went a bit too far."
"It's okay, Abiergey. I also have some complaints about my parents. If you want to vent your frustrations, you can come to me. I can talk to you all day."
"That's wonderful!"
“…………”
Xia Ming didn't know what to say, since he didn't have any family troubles at all.
Soon, the three of them, along with a group of Pokémon, arrived at the Ranger's Hut.
The cabin wasn't large, only big enough for one person, but there were many large houses around it.
Giant Pokémon were either resting or playing with a few smaller Pokémon around, and most of them appeared to be injured.
Besides them, there are also some injured Pokémon and homeless Pokémon living in the houses. Most of them are rare Pokémon that cannot survive alone in the forest.
Compared to regular Pokémon, rare Pokémon without parents have a much harder time surviving alone in the wild.
Take baby Tyranitar as an example. Where they are born, there will definitely be one or two or even more Tyranitar living on the ground. It is difficult for other powerful Pokémon to appear in the place where they are born.
Upon seeing the three, most of the Pokémon looked at them curiously, while only a few large Pokémon, such as Nidoking and Ursaring, stared at them warily, as if they would attack immediately if they made a move.
These are wild Pokémon, and they are the norm around most rangers' living areas.
Ta-da!
Xia Ming was the first to step forward and knock on the door of the small house. He had made an appointment with Ma Long a few days ago, so he figured Ma Long should be home now.
Click~
Sure enough, the door was quickly opened by a middle-aged man with spiky hair, and an adorable Eevee was perched on his shoulder.
"Boo~ Boo-boo~"
"Oh, it's Xia, and Abi and Hailey too. I've got everything ready. Would you like to come in and have a seat?"
Malone knows every resident in town well, even though he's often not in town.
He knew Xia Ming and Abilgai, the two troublemakers who had been causing trouble for him since they were little, inside and out.
After speaking, Ma Long took out a pre-folded map from his pocket and handed it to Xia Ming in front of him.
"Thank you, Uncle Long, but I won't trouble you any further."
Taking the map, Xia Ming subconsciously scratched the back of his head, a gesture he always made when he saw Ma Long as a child.
However, he quickly stopped moving because he suddenly realized that he had grown up and was no longer the "exploration team leader" who had to beg Uncle Malone to let them into the mountains when he was a child.
"Alright, I've already spoken to the Pokémon in the mountains these past two days. They won't stop you, but just don't bother the Beedrill like before, or you'll be in for a lot of trouble."
"Don't worry, Uncle. I know exactly how to get around that plot of land by heart. I won't trouble you to make that trip again."
"That's good."
After giving his instructions, Ma Long felt relieved.
Xia Ming was completely relieved after hearing that Ma Long had already greeted the Pokémon in the mountains.
That's why he came here.
Although the mountain is right there and you can enter it at any time, and there are several roads leading into the mountain from his farm, and Sandslash is familiar with the Pokémon in the area, it's definitely the right thing to do to greet the local ranger before entering this mountain range.
This will greatly save him time, and he won't have to run away or battle if he accidentally wanders into the territory of a powerful Pokémon.
With Ma Long's prior notice, his journey was smooth sailing; he only needed to be careful of a few particularly sensitive areas and could reach his destination while enjoying hot pot and singing along the way.
Moreover, as a forest ranger, Malone was very familiar with this mountain range, and the map in Xia Ming's hand marked more than a dozen small Pokémon habitats:
The butterfly, the babysitter, the sweet and cold queen, and Miss Skirt.
These are the Pokémon groups he intends to win over on this trip.
They are mostly produced in small quantities, but they are of great help to the farm.
Especially Miss Skirt and Queen Sweet Cold Beauty, they are key to harvesting and maintaining the fruit.
Xia Ming's task was to gather a group of one of their species and return them to his farm today, while the Violet Butterfly and the Nanny Bug would also be taken along for a brief exchange.
With the map given to him by Malone, Xia Ming led Abirgay, Hailey, and a group of Pokémon along the mountain path into the deep mountains.
Their first destination was Sunshine Lake, a lake located on the outer edge of the mountains.