The request

North of Chicory Village, beyond a stretch of woods and Chicory Path, lay a town.

Its name was Windring Town. It might not have been the most prosperous town in the Almia Region, but it was certainly the place most beloved by the wind.

Every household had a windmill installed. Here, wind was an inexhaustible source of energy gifted by nature.

To the east of town stood the Pokémon Ranger School, where countless boys and girls studied and honed their skills, eventually becoming qualified Rangers who worked to protect the bonds between people and Pokémon.

To the west lay Wind-Circling Forest. South of the forest were Wind-Famous Beach and Wind-Swept Hill, tourist destinations whose beautiful scenery had long drawn plenty of visitors.

And right in the center of town stood its landmark building.

It was Windring Town's Ranger Base.

From the outside, it looked like an enormous greenhouse, its roof covered in all kinds of green plants and its walls made entirely of transparent tempered glass.

The advantage of this design was that citizens could always see the reassuring figures of the Rangers hard at work.

Whatever trouble you had, you could ask a Ranger for help!

In the Almia Region, that was common knowledge.

"I'm back!"

A girl passed through the automatic doors into the base's lobby and called toward the front desk.

"Ranger Hitomi, reporting the newspaper delivery complete!"

"Pachi!" An energetic Pachirisu on her shoulder called out just as loudly.

Captain Palmer, who had been chatting with the staff at the front desk, turned around and smiled at the newcomer.

"Hey, you're back."

Palmer walked up to Hitomi. Compared with her, his burly frame looked like an elephant standing in front of a little rabbit.

"Hello, Captain!" Hitomi respectfully gave him a textbook Ranger salute.

Pachirisu copied her and raised a little paw, only to nearly slip off her shoulder. It hurriedly grabbed her collar to steady itself.

Palmer laughed heartily and waved his large hand. "No need to be so formal!

"By the way, did you save a copy of the Almia Times for Chuang Yi? I think he said he wanted to keep it for his collection."

"I did, I did!" Grinning, Hitomi took out a pristine copy of the paper. Chuang Yi had graduated in the same class as her, and after spending so much time together, she knew his interests inside out.

"Speaking of which, is Chuang Yi still not back? Didn't he go to patrol the forest?"

Her question made Palmer suddenly realize that Chuang Yi had yet to return.

"Don't tell me he went off to slack off again?" Hitomi speculated good-naturedly.

As soon as she spoke, the automatic doors opened behind her, and a boy rushed in, looking travel-worn.

"I-I'm back!"

Chuang Yi panted heavily, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead. He had clearly run all the way back.

Behind him was another Pachirisu, panting just as hard. The stripe on his forehead was a little longer than the one on Hitomi's partner, so he appeared to be male.

"What happened?" Palmer folded his arms, his expression turning serious.

Chuang Yi caught his breath and recounted what had happened in Wind-Circling Forest.

When he mentioned a pink Pokémon emerging from a spatial rift, everyone in the lobby visibly froze.

"After that, I passed out beside the waterfall. As soon as I woke up, I came straight back to the base...

"I don't know where that Pokémon went. I think it might still be somewhere near the forest."

After hearing Chuang Yi's report, Palmer closed his eyes and considered it for a moment before speaking.

"Thanks for your hard work. Go back to your room and get cleaned up. Leave this matter alone for now."

"Yes, sir!" Chuang Yi saluted, then turned and headed farther into the base.

"Oh, right, Chuang Yi! Here's today's paper." Hitomi hurriedly handed it over. Chuang Yi nodded in acknowledgment, then returned to his room.

A mysterious Pokémon from a rift... That needs investigating.

While Palmer was thinking, the base's doors suddenly opened again.

This time, a tall, thin man entered, looking nervous.

"H-hello..." The man seemed timid, his voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Palmer snapped out of his thoughts and approached him. "Welcome! Are you having some trouble? Tell us all about it!"

"Eek!" Mr. Da was clearly startled. Fortunately, the observant Hitomi hurried over and pulled her captain behind her.

"Sorry, our captain doesn't realize how intimidating he looks." Hitomi gave a friendly smile, rising onto her toes to pat Palmer's heavily muscled arm. "Sir, what can we help you with?"

Unexpectedly teased by his junior, Palmer rubbed his fierce-looking face with a wounded expression and quietly took half a step back.

"W-well..." Mr. Da rubbed his fingers together, his voice growing a little louder. "I'm from Chicory Village. My Miltank is missing. Please help me find it!"

"Don't worry. Take your time and tell us what happened." Hitomi led Mr. Da to the front desk, where a staff member began recording his request.

"Last night, one of my Miltank suddenly broke through the fence and ran away. I still haven't found it. Please help me."

Once the details were confirmed, the staff member used the computer to post the request in the system.

"Understood! Ranger Hitomi guarantees the mission will be completed!"

Hitomi playfully struck her signature pose, then grabbed Mr. Da's arm and hurried out.

"Pachirisu, let's go!"

With her partner Pachirisu, Hitomi followed Mr. Da through Chicory Path toward Chicory Village.

Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, dappling the path with light and shadow. Pachirisu bounced excitedly on Hitomi's shoulder, occasionally letting out a "Pachi!"

"Mr. Da, could you tell me more about what happened when Miltank went missing?" Hitomi asked as they walked.

Mr. Da wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Around ten last night, I heard something over by the ranch.

"When I got there, I saw a huge hole in the fence, and that Miltank was already gone..."

"Did the other Miltank behave strangely at all?"

"Two more ran off this morning, but the owner of Chicory Woodwork Hall sent people out to look for them. I don't know whether they'll find them..."

When they returned to the Miltank ranch, they saw that the fence had already been repaired, and the two Miltank that had run away that morning

had settled down quietly in the ranch.

Mr. Da first breathed a sigh of relief, then saw his wife emerge from the barn, a rather friendly look in her eyes...

Good at reading people, Hitomi immediately sensed something was wrong and found an excuse to slip away.

"I'll definitely find it before the end of the day! Leave it to me!" With that, she left without looking back.

Before long, Mr. Da's pleas for mercy came from behind her, and Hitomi instinctively quickened her pace...

Meanwhile, at Fairy Tale Ranch.

Tong Hua brought Xiang Shi and Mu Mu into the ranch for a look, and they immediately spotted plenty of things that needed repairs.

"The pasture fences have pretty much all deteriorated. The Pokémon Cottage and the barn will basically need to be torn down and rebuilt, too.

"After all, this place has been abandoned for far too long. It doesn't even have running water or electricity. Renovating everything will probably take several years of development.

"Most importantly, can you really manage a ranch this big all by yourself?"

After listening to Xiang Shi, Tong Hua's gaze remained firm.

"I can. Fairy Tale Ranch is my home, and the Pokémon's home, too. Even if it takes years, I'll keep living here with them."

As he spoke, a Miltank came rolling toward them from the distance. Mu Mu ducked behind Xiang Shi in fright, while Tong Hua slowly held out a hand and stopped Miltank with ease.

"Moo~" Miltank affectionately licked Tong Hua's palm.

Tong Hua smiled faintly, then spoke to Xiang Shi again.

"Mr. Xiang Shi, please help me redesign the place. I can handle the actual construction myself! That... should make it a little cheaper, right?"

At present, Tong Hua only earned 3,000 League Coins a day from Moomoo Milk. Even with his 110,000 in savings, he still needed to set some money aside for food...

...His budget really was rather tight.