The Reason

Tetsuya and the others looked up to see a Beautifly flapping its wings. Green powder blanketed the sky and drifted down, and several Whismur fell asleep on the ground without any chance to resist.

Above them, a Pidgeot nearly two meters tall beat its wings. The group shivered as the chilly wind swept down on them.

"Is that... a Pidgeot?"

"And a Beautifly-"

"Who's there?"

Their battle with the Whismur interrupted, the four looked up in surprise and suspicion. But apart from a Pidgeot flying overhead and a Beautifly circling nearby, they saw nothing.

Only when Pidgeot slowly descended and a boy in a white short-sleeved shirt jumped off its back did they come to their senses. His hair was a light brown with a golden tint.

The boy looked gentle, but his brown eyes held a serious expression. He studied the four of them in silence for a moment, but before he could speak, the others suddenly cried out.

"You're... that guy from yesterday?" Sōsa stared at him in surprise, his tone hostile.

"Hey, why did you go back on your word? We waited for you for a long time." The girl Trainer called Koki had also recognized Terrance, and she spoke in annoyance.

Agaku and Tetsuya, the other two, looked at him as well.

"..." Terrance said nothing.

"I never agreed to it in the first place." Terrance was a little troubled. He hadn't planned on seeing them again. "I told you afterward, too. I wasn't interested."

"You just never gave me a chance to explain."

The four were clearly dissatisfied with his answer. At the same time, they turned their attention to Beautifly and Pidgeot.

Beautifly aside, Pidgeot's nearly two-meter frame, magnificent appearance, and fierce, imposing gaze alone were enough to intimidate the boys and girls on the spot.

"Now isn't the time to explain. Anyway, if you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you follow me," Terrance said.

"What do you mean?" Tetsuya asked.

"This place is dangerous. You need to leave now and wait for the police to rescue you. I don't think you're strong enough to protect yourselves," Terrance said. "I didn't stop you before because I hadn't realized how serious the situation was. The Whismur group has a very powerful leader capable of commanding them. Facing over a hundred Pokémon, I don't suppose you're conceited enough to think you can handle them?"

"There's no time. If you believe me, follow me."

"They're very aggressive right now, and they're nearby. Nothing good will come of them noticing you."

Terrance stroked Pidgeot's neck and gave it an instruction, then headed away from Exploud and the others.

"That brat-" Sōsa gritted his teeth, deeply displeased with Terrance's arrogant attitude.

"Let's consider what he said." Agaku of the Rustboro Gym adjusted his glasses. "He shouldn't have any reason to lie to us."

"He's right. The commotion earlier did seem unusual. We'd better follow him for now." Tetsuya's expression was grave as he sighed. "If he's telling the truth..."

"All right, then." Seeing the others' reaction, Sōsa had little else to say.

A few minutes later.

The four followed Terrance along several mountain paths and arrived at a hidden cave entrance.

"All right. I took a look from the air earlier. This place should be safe. The Whismur probably won't come to a small place like this in a group." Terrance clapped his hands. They had inevitably gotten a little dusty on the way.

"You still haven't told us why."

As they followed Terrance, the more they thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Why had a boy even younger than them appeared here to warn them...?

And his Pidgeot in particular looked very strong. How could a rookie Trainer have a Pokémon like that...?

"Roar!~~~~~~"

"Roar!!~~~~~~~~~~"

Terrance looked at them calmly. Suddenly, the roars came again, making his expression freeze. "I don't have time to explain. Remember, stay here. I'll be right back."

"Pidgeot-"

Terrance called loudly to Pidgeot as it flew overhead, then climbed onto its back again and flew in the direction they'd come from!

It looks like Master Katsumune and the others have arrived. Is that... a battle?

After analyzing the Rusturf Tunnel incident, Terrance had a vague feeling that the Whismur weren't the root of the problem. He wanted to see how the incident would end.

With Pidgeot flying at top speed, he returned to the place where he'd started in the blink of an eye.

But contrary to the chaotic battle he'd imagined, Exploud, the Whismur, and the Loudred were all remarkably quiet.

A Miss Jenny was mounted on a majestic Arcanine, and together with two men in police uniforms, she was looking ahead-

Master Katsumune and a foxlike Pokémon stood peacefully in front of Exploud, apparently talking about something.

Alakazam was handling the communication through telepathy.

Exploud's expression gradually eased from its initial wariness and eventually returned to normal. It all happened very quickly.

"Oh ma~~"

As Exploud returned to normal, Master Katsumune smiled.

Its voice... is back to normal? Terrance was taken aback. What had they communicated in such a short time to bring the highly aggressive Exploud out of its agitated state?

Then, under Terrance's astonished gaze, Master Katsumune bowed to Exploud. All the Whismur and Loudred withdrew, and Exploud left as well.

"What about those Trainers?" Master Katsumune had noticed Terrance landing from the sky.

"They're in a cave a kilometer to the northwest," Terrance said. "There were a few Whismur too. They almost started fighting, so in the end I had Beautifly use Sleep Powder to put them to sleep."

"Go wake those Whismur up. For now, this matter has more or less come to an end," Master Katsumune said.

Verdanturf Town, Pokémon Center.

Only half a day had passed since Exploud had been calmed down.

Miss Jenny had also found Tetsuya and the other three who had entered the mountains and given them a harsh scolding. Now, however, they were all clamoring to see Terrance.

As for Terrance, there was naturally no chance of him appearing before them again. At that moment, he was walking through the mountains with Master Katsumune.

"So that's what happened... In that case, the Whismur were wrongly blamed."

The Rusturf Tunnel incident was now clear. It had begun with the largest farm in Lavaridge Town.

In pursuit of greater profits, the farm owner had decided to take advantage of the location and turn the nearby farmland into a large hot spring resort. A group of Diglett the owner had kept were ruthlessly abandoned.

Diglett loosened the soil where they lived, and their droppings made it fertile, so many farmers carefully raised them.

As the largest farmer in Lavaridge Town, the owner had kept nearly a hundred Diglett. After the farm was abandoned, the Diglett naturally had nowhere to live.

The Diglett traveled south in search of new caves suitable for them to live in and ended up near Verdanturf Town.

"Diglett aren't aggressive, but the soil becomes looser wherever they pass. If they migrate during the Rusturf Tunnel construction, the nearby mountainsides could collapse," Terrance said.

"At the same time, the migrating Diglett wandered into the Whismur's territory and caused serious trouble for the place they lived. Although the Whismur temporarily drove them back, they clearly had no good way to deal with Diglett burrowing underground."

"So they tried to get through to humans-or rather, warn them about the danger posed by the Diglett-and stop the Rusturf Tunnel project, hoping humans would help them drive the outsiders away."

"The result was obvious. The two sides couldn't communicate normally, and on top of that, the decision-maker made the wrong judgment and brought in Trainers to drive away the Whismur, escalating the conflict between the two sides even further."

Terrance was speechless. The mix-up reminded him of a Pokémon: Absol.

When Absol sensed the signs of a disaster, they appeared before humans, hoping to warn them. But in ancient times, they were treated as symbols of disaster. All of this was caused by a lack of understanding of Pokémon and insufficient communication with them.

"Maybe the Whismur never intended to cause trouble in the first place. But the moment the Trainers tried to solve the problem directly with 'force,' a conflict arose."

"They meant well, but the Trainers' attitude angered Exploud."

Master Katsumune had inspected the area around the mountains and discovered traces of the Diglett migration. Only then had he been able to make a series of judgments and communicate reasonably with Exploud.

After a series of concessions, the two sides resolved their grievances. The main thing humans needed to do next was deal with the impact the large number of Diglett had on the local ecosystem.

Barring any surprises, the farm owner would be punished for mishandling the Diglett, and the person in charge of Rusturf Tunnel would also face some disciplinary action.