Garden of Mystery

"Starter Pokémon?" Professor Cerise chuckled. "What an interesting name."

"That's just a name I came up with to make it easier to refer to them." Xia You waved a hand, then asked, "Professor Cerise, do you know where I could find wild starter Pokémon nearby?"

"As far as starter Pokémon go, you generally have a chance of finding Charmander in volcanoes or lava caves, while Squirtle would require a trip to a secluded stretch of coast or an isolated island. As for Bulbasaur, you should be able to find them in dense forests. But if you mean somewhere nearby..." At this point, Ren seemed to remember something. "Have you heard of the Garden of Mystery?"

"The Garden of Mystery?" The name sounded vaguely familiar to Xia You.

Beside him, Professor Cerise explained, "According to legend, the Garden of Mystery is where Bulbasaur gather to hold a festival celebrating their evolution. But since very few people have ever been there, most people see it as a place that exists only in fantasy."

With that explanation, Xia You seemed to recall the storyline involving it. Hadn't Ash entered the Garden of Mystery to look for his Bulbasaur in the Original Series?

But...

Feeling a little uncertain, Xia You couldn't help asking, "Is this the season when they hold their festival, though?"

"That, I'm not too sure about." Professor Cerise thought for a moment, then added, "But we can confirm that the Garden of Mystery really exists. And even if it isn't the festival season, I imagine there must still be plenty of Bulbasaur living around it."

"I see." Xia You nodded. "Do you have any leads, then? Or... how should I go about finding it?"

Professor Cerise used the computer to bring up a map of the area around Vermilion City on the large screen.

Pointing to one area, Professor Cerise said, "Although I don't know the Garden of Mystery's exact location either, our previous observations showed many wild Bulbasaur moving about deep in the forest north of Vermilion City. Perhaps you could try your luck there."

"So that's where it is." Xia You studied the map and committed the location to memory, then thanked him sincerely. "You've been a huge help, Professor Cerise. Thank you so much!"

As Xia You walked down the laboratory steps with Chloe, he glanced back and saw Professor Cerise's Yamper running out of the laboratory too, wagging its tail as it followed close behind her.

At the sight, Xia You couldn't help smiling. "Looks like it really likes you."

"Does it?" Chloe glanced down at Yamper, her tone barely changing. "I don't really feel that way. It's always pestering my parents at home too, so I suppose it treats everyone the same."

From their brief time together, Xia You realized that Chloe wasn't particularly talkative. Although she was still a minor, she was calm and composed, giving the impression of a sensible, well-behaved girl.

Bending down, Xia You stroked Yamper's forehead. It narrowed its eyes in contentment and stuck its long tongue out at him.

It likes being scratched. Looking at it like this, it really is no different from a dog.

"All right, you don't need to see me off any farther. Until we meet again, Chloe!"

After waving goodbye to Chloe, Xia You didn't immediately set off to find the Garden of Mystery. Instead, he first visited an outdoor supply store in Vermilion City, where he bought a baseball cap, a sleeping bag, a water bottle, binoculars, travel food, and basic cooking gear, packing them into a large backpack.

Since he was heading into the wilderness, he naturally needed to be well prepared. If he failed to reach a town before nightfall, he would have to rely on this equipment to camp outdoors.

Leaving Vermilion City, Xia You and Ralts headed north. They walked for a long time, leaving the urban area behind and crossing a small hill before finally reaching a dense forest.

Compared with the other forests nearby, the plants here were noticeably thicker and sturdier.

Once he entered the forest, his phone soon lost its signal because he was so far from the city. With navigation no longer working, Xia You could only follow his instincts as he made his way through it.

Green filled his vision. Only now, surrounded by nature, did he truly feel how small he was.

Although Xia You had visited many forests before, this was his first time entering such a vast sea of trees.

Everything around him was quiet. Fortunately, Ralts was there to keep him company, making him feel less lonely.

As he walked, he found that this forest was indeed remarkably untouched.

Huge trees with lush branches and leaves stood everywhere. At first, there were still a few paths worn by passing travelers, but as he ventured deeper, those paths gradually vanished. To keep going, he had to have Ralts use Confusion to move the branches aside.

Silence surrounded them.

Whether Caterpie, Weedle, Oddish, or Bellsprout, not a single one of the Pokémon commonly found in forests was anywhere to be seen. Yet the more this continued, the more certain Xia You became that he had come to the right place.

After all, this would only happen in the habitat of a particular group of Pokémon, where their territorial instincts drove them to chase other Pokémon away!

He walked and paused through the enormous, maze-like forest for more than two hours. Finally, at dusk, Xia You faintly heard the cries of many Pokémon coming from ahead.

However, thick vines blocked the way before him. Like a wall, they were not only extremely tough but covered in sharp thorns, keeping any creature from approaching.

These didn't grow here naturally!

Then the Garden of Mystery should be just behind this wall of vines!

Xia You gave Ralts a meaningful look. Ralts nodded in understanding, then unleashed its psychic power. A mass of invisible, transparent energy shot from its hands and struck the vines, instantly opening a small gap!

The opening wasn't large, but it was enough for them to pass through.

Using both hands and feet, Xia You climbed through the vines, then lightened his steps and continued forward.

When he pushed aside the branches, the view suddenly opened up. There, amid the dense, boundless forest, lay a basin!

From a distance, he could see a huge dead tree in the center of the basin, with countless Bulbasaur frolicking around it.

Although the Garden of Mystery lay at the very heart of the forest, protected by a wall of vines, he had finally been lucky enough to find it!

Still, thinking about it, that made sense. The basin covered an enormous area. Even with the vines protecting it, it couldn't stay hidden from someone determined to find it.

It was simply that very few people ever made it this far.

Stopping to gaze at this peaceful habitat, Xia You didn't rashly enter and disturb them. Instead, he took out his binoculars and carefully examined the scene in the lingering light of sunset.

After scanning the area a few times, he trained his binoculars on a Bulbasaur.

In appearance, Bulbasaur was a four-legged Pokémon resembling a green frog. Aside from its bright red eyes and dark green markings, its most distinctive feature was the garlic-shaped flower bud on its back.

These Bulbasaur clearly hadn't noticed Xia You's arrival yet. There were so many that it was easy to get overwhelmed, and their personalities were difficult to judge from their appearance alone. After watching for a while, Xia You settled his gaze on a Bulbasaur that had just walked out of the basin.

Perhaps because no one had intruded here in a long time, this Bulbasaur looked completely at ease. Every so often, it used Vine Whip to pick a Berry from a tree and pop it into its mouth. Before long, it had wandered far from its group.

Seeing his chance, Xia You hesitated no longer. He moved softly toward it, trying not to make a sound.

Choosing this Bulbasaur was, in fact, the safest approach.

If he ventured too far inside, he might cause panic and unrest among the Bulbasaur. If they all attacked him at once, it would hardly be worth the trouble.

Bulbasaur remained entirely unaware of the approaching danger.

Once he got close, however, Xia You didn't choose to launch a sneak attack. Instead, he stepped directly in front of it.

Hearing a noise and suddenly seeing a human standing before it, Bulbasaur was startled at first.

But it immediately bent all four legs and took a battle stance!

Two vine whips abruptly shot from the flower bud on its back, lashing wildly through the air as though it were trying to intimidate Xia You!

Their eyes met. Xia You waved a hand, and Ralts took a few steps forward from his side.

At the sight of Ralts, Bulbasaur seemed to realize something. It kept crying, "Bulba, Bulba!" as its gaze instantly sharpened!