Ranger Hitomi

Tong Hua tightened his grip on the axe, took a deep breath, and swung at the base of a relatively thin eucalyptus tree.

The blade sank deep into the trunk, sending wood chips flying. After several more swings, the trunk finally cracked.

"Timber!"

Tong Hua hurried a few steps to the side. The eucalyptus slowly toppled, finally hitting the ground with a boom.

"Phew..."

Tong Hua wiped the sweat from his forehead and crouched down to inspect the wood.

The cross section of the trunk was an even pale yellow. The grain was dense, and it gave off a crisp, clean fragrance.

"Not bad!"

After Tong Hua chopped off the crown and branches, the fast-growing eucalyptus became a log.

[Fast-growing eucalyptus wood: quality C. Relatively light but tough, with a naturally fresh fragrance. Current moisture content is high. Dry for 2-3 days before use. Recommended processing methods: woodcarving/alchemy.]

Tong Hua tried to lift the log, only to discover that it was a little heavier than he had imagined.

In the end, he only just managed to hoist it onto his shoulder with Turtwig and Minccino's help.

"Thanks, you two..." Tong Hua caught his breath and gave a wry smile. "Looks like I can only carry one back at a time."

With the two Pokémon helping him, Tong Hua set off and carried the log back to the ranch.

It had taken a full half hour to collect a single log.

Tong Hua had thought this would be easy just a moment ago, and now reality had already proved him wrong...

"According to my cheat's description, this wood needs a few more days in the sun before I can use it."

Tong Hua did a rough calculation. Based on the list in the blueprints, he still needed at least twenty logs of this size.

Hauling them by hand, entirely on his own, would take an average of half an hour per log.

It was already almost three, so there wasn't much point in collecting more logs today. He might as well try fishing and spend all day tomorrow chopping trees, from morning to night.

He would gather all twenty logs in one go!

Poor Tong Hua still had no clear idea of his own stamina and physical fitness. Tomorrow, he would find out just how laughable that idea was...

Still, tomorrow's problems could wait until tomorrow. That was how Tong Hua approached things.

Even with a clear plan, there would always be times when he had to adapt on the fly.

"Anyway, I'll spend the rest of today fishing."

With that decided, Tong Hua put the bamboo basket on his back again, picked up a wooden bucket, and headed for the stream.

Compared to chopping trees, fishing was much easier.

Bait the hook, cast the line, and sit by the water all day.

But as for his catch...

Tong Hua turned to look at Turtwig, who was playing at catching fish with Vine Whip.

Turtwig deftly controlled the vines, darting them beneath the surface. Before long, they wrapped around a lively, flopping grass carp.

"Nice one, Turtwig!" Tong Hua gave a thumbs-up, then glanced at his own empty wooden bucket and sighed helplessly.

"Looks like my fishing skills still need work..."

Minccino crouched on the bank, stirring the water with little paws. Suddenly, Minccino's eyes lit up, and a trembling grass carp was swiftly scooped out of the water.

Minccino swished that little tail proudly and dropped the fish into the bucket with a soft thud.

"You two..." Tong Hua didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He simply put down his fishing rod, rolled up his trouser legs, and prepared to try catching fish in the water himself.

But as soon as he stepped into the stream, his foot slipped...

Splash!

He toppled straight into the water.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Tong Hua scrambled onto the bank in a sorry state, soaked through, with water still dripping from his hair.

Turtwig and Minccino exchanged a glance. One spun the leaves atop its head to blow Tong Hua dry, while the other gently wiped the water from his head with a little tail.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll leave it to you..." Tong Hua wiped his face and sat back down on the bank in resignation, watching the two Pokémon show off their skills at the water's edge.

As the sun sank in the west, the bucket gradually filled with fish, though most were grass carp.

Since Tong Hua hadn't caught them himself, he couldn't see their exact quality information. Still, judging by how fresh they were, they would surely taste great sliced raw and cooked in a congee hot pot!

"That's a wrap!" Tong Hua stretched and picked up the heavy wooden bucket. "Hot pot again tonight!"

Turtwig and Minccino cheered and eagerly followed behind him.

Tong Hua was just about to leave when he suddenly heard a strange sound from upstream.

"Milu~"

The cry sounded very familiar, and Tong Hua instinctively looked that way.

There, in the water not far away, a Miltank was drifting with the current.

"Huh?"

Tong Hua stared in bewilderment, his mind racing.

There shouldn't have been any wild Miltank in the Almia Region. Even if there were, people would probably have taken them back to their ranches long ago.

Thinking back to that morning, Tong Hua immediately guessed that this had to be the missing Miltank from Mr. Da's ranch.

"So she made it all the way out here..."

Tong Hua quickly put down everything he was carrying and prepared to wade in and stop the playful Miltank.

"Tur!" Turtwig reacted too, extending vines to help Tong Hua.

"Milu?"

Only when Miltank was about to touch the vines did she finally realize someone was trying to catch her!

"Milu!"

Miltank kicked her legs in panic, and the splashing prevented Turtwig from securing her right away.

"Oh no!" Tong Hua and Turtwig hurried along the bank in pursuit.

Minccino sprang nimbly into the air and landed on Miltank within a few breaths, trying to soothe her.

Instead, it had the opposite effect...

"Minccino!"

Watching Miltank struggle more and more fiercely, Tong Hua's heart clenched!

Just then, another voice rang out!

"Ariados! Use String Shot to stop them!"

From a treetop farther downstream, a giant red-and-black spider spat silk that stuck firmly to Miltank and Minccino!

With one hard tug, the two Pokémon were hauled out like fish on a line and flung onto the bank, landing in front of a girl in red!

"Capture start!"

The girl in the red uniform launched the spinning top from her arm and began frantically tracing circles around the two bound Pokémon!

"Huh?"

Jogging over, Tong Hua froze at the sudden turn of events, but he immediately recognized this as a Ranger's handiwork.

"Capture complete!"

The Ranger girl retracted her Capture Styler. Miltank, who had been struggling just moments ago, was now calm.

"Milu~" "Min~"

Even Minccino, still clinging to her, quieted down as though hypnotized.

"Thanks for stopping them!" Tong Hua picked up the soaking-wet Minccino and thanked the Ranger girl.

"You're welcome. Hehe, I should be thanking you, actually.

I'm Hitomi, a Ranger from Windring Town. I've been looking for this Miltank for ages."

As Hitomi spoke, she used the tool on her arm to cut through Ariados's silk. Freed, Miltank stood up and willingly moved behind Hitomi.

As for the Ariados that had spun the silk, it had vanished after pulling Miltank ashore.

"I'm Tong Hua, the owner of Fairy Tale Ranch nearby.

So this really is Mr. Da's Miltank. I helped him find two others this morning.

That makes all of them. I guess his wife won't give him a hard time now."

"Uh... hard to say." Remembering the pleas for mercy she had heard when leaving the Miltank Ranch, Hitomi had a feeling things might not end too well for Mr. Da...

"Speaking of which, Fairy Tale Ranch? Isn't that the ranch our captain went to coordinate with this morning?"

Hitomi held out her right hand and smiled at Tong Hua.

"Let's introduce ourselves properly. I'm Hitomi from Windring Town Base. We'll probably be seeing each other often."

Tong Hua reached out and shook her hand. "Mr. Palmer told me the junior Rangers would be handling pickups from now on. Did he mean you, Miss Hitomi?"

"Not just me. There's also a boy named Chuang Yi who joined at the same time I did. We'll take turns coming to Fairy Tale Ranch to help with the shipments."

"Thanks for all your hard work. If you don't mind, would you like to come take a look at our ranch now? It's almost dinnertime, so you could stay and eat with us."

Hitomi shook her head and looked at Miltank beside her.

"I still need to take her back to the Miltank Ranch first. Sorry, I'll visit another time."

"Of course, of course. The assignment comes first." Tong Hua smiled and nodded, casually wringing out the still-dripping hem of his clothes.

"I'll make sure to give you a proper welcome another day."

With that, Hitomi left with Miltank, while Tong Hua and his two Pokémon headed home carrying a whole bucket of fish.