Pokemon: My Strange Pokemons

Although today was the last day of the Pear Festival, there were still quite a few people visiting Miranda Mountain.

From time to time, trainers could be seen riding Pidgeot or other flying-type Pokémon, crossing over Sylphmere Lake on their way here.

While the city had restrictions on Pokémon carrying passengers for flights, the suburbs had no such limitations.

Ethan looked enviously at those carefree trainers, then glanced down at Eevee and muttered to himself.

"I wonder if there's an evolution form for Eevee that can fly."

"Eevee?"

Eevee scratched its head with its small paw, thinking to itself that such an evolution would only be possible after the Crystallized Energy explosion far in the future.

Putting aside such whimsical thoughts, Ethan handed the ticket to the Mismagius at the gate and led Eevee into the Miranda Mountain scenic area.

Though Miranda Mountain was just a hill on an island in the middle of a lake, it was quite large, and its elevation was the highest in Riverhaven, a southern city.

Although it was only around 500 meters tall, the mild climate made this land very pleasant for both humans and Pokémon.

Ethan, Eevee, and other trainers along with their Pokémon followed behind the staff of the Pear Festival, listening attentively to the event rules.

"You are welcome to pick fruits from the trees in the scenic area. If you don't want to take the fruits with you, you can also sell them to us."

Ethan was speechless. I have every reason to suspect that you're just too lazy to pick the fruits yourselves and came up with this event!

With the 1,000-pokedollars ticket, you can't even break even without picking some Western Pear fruits.

And the staff surely knows exactly where the Western Pears are located and how many there are, right?

In other words, not only do we have to pay for the ticket, but we also end up working for them—and then we have to praise how fun this place is!

The person who came up with this event is a marketing genius. They should hang themselves from an electric pole out of self-awareness!

Ethan silently complained, but following the Valorians' tradition of "Since we're here, we should enjoy the trip," he decided to set aside his utilitarian mindset and enjoy the journey.

...

The guide continued, "This year, we've added an exciting treasure hunt activity. We've hidden some Pokémon items, so make sure to keep an eye out for unusual places in the surroundings!"

"Lastly, there's a clear dividing line between the scenic area and the wild Pokémon protection zone. Please cherish your lives and avoid crossing it. Once you do, the scenic area will not be responsible for any consequences."

Hmm. Is this supposed to be an exciting activity?

It's so interesting!

Ethan turned his camera to aim at a Growlithe that was shaking its head repeatedly and smiled.

This footage is great. It shows that even dogs shake their heads at this event.

After the staff guided them to the entrance of the forest, they returned. Next was the time for the visitors to pick fruits freely.

Ethan picked up a basket and prepared to head in.

"Eevee!"

Eevee grabbed Ethan's pant leg and pointed to itself.

"You want to join too?"

Ethan chuckled but still grabbed a small bag that could barely hold a few fruits and hung it over Eevee's body.

Since they were playing together, Eevee should have some involvement too.

With that settled, they walked into the lush forest.

...

Most of the trees in the forest were ordinary.

Fruits contained rich energy, so the nutritional needs of the fruit trees were higher than those of ordinary trees.

Thus, even in a forest with thousands of trees, the number of fruit trees wasn't many.

What's worse, the outer area's Phoenix Pears had already been picked by earlier visitors.

Ethan looked up and saw a Squirrel Pokémon picking the last Phoenix Pear from a tree, sighing.

"Eevee~"

Eevee pointed deeper into the forest, and its meaning was clear.

If we don't enter the depths of the forest, how will we get any fruit?

Ethan thought for a moment and agreed with Eevee's suggestion.

Since ancient times, Pokémon injuries were not uncommon, but as long as you didn't intrude on their territory, there shouldn't be any issues.

Moreover, humans had already developed most of this half of the mountain, so it should be safe.

The other trainers seemed to have similar thoughts and didn't linger outside the forest. Ethan followed suit.

Since he was also filming a vlog, Ethan didn't rush and instead took his time to capture the scenery while walking deeper into the forest with Eevee.

Though the area was developed for tourism, the natural landscape had been well-preserved, and many gentle and friendly Pokémon lived there.

Sometimes, though, Pokémon might get a little too friendly.

...

Ethan shooed away a Thievul that was rummaging through his backpack. "Shoo, shoo! You've got hands and feet, why do you have to steal things!"

"Fox?" The Thievul, with a face full of slyness, looked utterly confused.

You humans call us Thievul, yet don't let us steal things?

Stealing is in my DNA!

After giving it a scolding, Ethan finally let the Thievul go, now that it had been sufficiently reformed by his words.

By this time, he and the group had gradually become separated, and no one else was in sight.

Miranda Mountain was vast—so vast that it would take a whole day to climb from the base to the summit.

This forest was located at the foot of Miranda Mountain, straddling both the southern tourist zone and the northern wild Pokémon area.

To avoid returning empty-handed on the last day of the Pear Festival, they needed to head north.

With the sun high in the sky, Ethan finally found his first fruit tree still bearing Phoenix Pears.

This tree was particularly tall, perhaps because of this, it had escaped the hands of previous visitors.

Ethan couldn't help but smile when he saw the golden fruits. Though he knew they weren't worth much, the sight of them still made him happy.

Perhaps it was the long search that made this harvest all the more rewarding.

...

"Eevee, up!"

The Phoenix Pear tree was tall, and Ethan couldn't climb trees, so he had to rely on Eevee.

"Eevee!"

Climbing trees was a skill Eevee had learned shortly after hatching, and with its training and growing strength, it had no trouble scaling the 7-8 meter high tree.

The thin branches couldn't stop Eevee's progress.

Eevee nimbly balanced on the branches, moving across them as if it were on solid ground.

Ethan looked up nervously. "Eevee, slow down, no need to hurry."

"Eevee~ (Don't worry, I've got this~)"

Eevee's voice came from above, followed by a Phoenix Pear that was even larger than Ethan's fist.

No, this was a Golden Sitrus Berry!

Ethan happily picked it up and placed it in his basket. Perhaps after a few more, the ticket price might just be worth it?

"Eevee~ (Here comes another one~)"

Another Golden Sitrus Berry fell, slightly smaller than the first, but still worth about a hundred pokedollars.

"Eevee~ (Here comes little Eevee~)"

Eevee's voice echoed again, and Ethan looked up, waiting for more "money to drop from the sky." However, what came down was a brown-and-white clump of fur.

It was Eevee!

Ethan hadn't expected Eevee to be so brave. Afraid she might get hurt, he rushed to the spot where she was falling to catch her.

The force of gravity almost bent Ethan's arm, but fortunately, humans in this world were stronger than usual; otherwise, this fall might have hurt him more than Eevee.