Chapter 30: Encounter
“Lili…”
Hearing this, the Poffins froze in place.
They lifted their little heads to look at the human before them, tears still glistening in their eyes.
“Lei Wen, my name is Lei Wen.” Lei Wen did his best to show kindness to this group of Poffins.
“Lili…”
The Poffins did not answer immediately.
They turned their heads to look at their companions around them, communicating with each other through their eyes.
“Lili?”
“Lili…”
“Lili!”
The Poffins whispered and conspired loudly.
Lei Wen squatted to the side, patiently waiting for their answer.
Poffin, a cute Pokémon from the Unova Region that is comparable to Clefairy.
They are cute in appearance, love cleanliness, and even have severe mysophobia.
In anime, Poffins can often be seen using their tails as brooms to clean, until all the dirt in their dwelling is swept away.
“Interesting,” Lei Wen thought.
After a while, the Poffins finished their communication.
They all looked up at Lei Wen in unison and answered firmly: “Lili!”
“You agreed?” Lei Wen raised an eyebrow and asked.
“Lili!” The Poffins nodded their little heads.
At this point, they had no other choice but to trust this human.
Moreover, he didn’t seem like the type to lie.
What’s more, if what this human named Lei Wen said was true.
Then, by next spring, they would have a berry forest full of fruit!
Then, they could settle down there, sleeping amidst the fragrant fruit aroma every day, and in the morning, with just a stretch of their paws, they could reach delicious berries.
Just thinking about that kind of life made the little Pokémon feel happy!
The Poffins couldn’t help but fantasize.
Seeing this, Lei Wen slowly relaxed.
He stood up and had someone call the physician of his territory, Lila, to treat the injured Pokémon, while also signaling everyone to continue working.
The residents of the territory then slowly came forward, hesitating as they looked at the cute-looking monsters.
“They won’t attack us anymore,” Lei Wen reassured everyone. “Until next spring, these monsters will temporarily live with us.”
Everyone had heard Lei Wen’s conversation with these monsters just now.
They had no objections, after all, they were the ones who destroyed the monsters’ home first.
Seeing that they were no longer aggressive, people then began to cut down trees with peace of mind.
Trees continuously fell, and the forest became an open space…
The Poffins watched this scene. Although they had agreed to Lei Wen, seeing their former home disappear with their own eyes still made them feel a little sad.
Lei Wen had expected the Poffins to be sad for a long time.
However, this sadness dissipated in less than half an hour.
Charcoal burned fiercely in the brazier, and inside the warm tent, five Poffins sat at a table eating dried almonds, with a cup of steaming hot black tea beside them.
“Lili~” It’s so warm~
“Lili!” It’s so delicious!
“Lili…” It’s so comfortable…
To be able to eat such delicious food and stay in such a warm and clean dwelling during the food-scarce cold season was something they couldn’t have imagined before.
The Poffins’ faces were filled with happiness, as if they had received a relocation payout of fifty million.
There was no trace of their earlier sadness.
Lei Wen: “…”
Dratini: “…”
At this moment, Lei Wen just wanted to loudly ask: Hey! What happened to your bottom line?!
But looking at the Poffins before him, Lei Wen suddenly remembered something.
This forest was very, very large, and it possessed extremely rich natural resources.
In such a place, it was obviously impossible for only Poffins to inhabit it.
They would not be able to stop logging in the short term.
Because building wooden houses required wood, and in winter, sufficient wood was needed for fires to keep warm.
Places rich in natural resources would also have a rich variety of Pokémon.
Perhaps they would encounter similar situations in the future.
After pondering for a moment, Lei Wen stood up and instructed Dratini to stay and help look after the Poffins, while he headed to the logging camp.
The residents and Snowrunt were enthusiastically chopping trees, and as people swung their axes, one by one, the large trees slowly crashed down.
The loud, dull sound carried far, far away.
“Prince Lei Wen!” A knight saw Lei Wen approaching and stepped forward to give a standard knight’s salute.
Lei Wen nodded, but his gaze fell on the quiet forest around him as he inquired, “Have you encountered any wild monsters while cutting trees these past few days?”
“Wild monsters?” The knight was taken aback. He thought carefully and then replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, we have encountered them!”
“Oh?” Lei Wen was a bit surprised. “What kind of monsters?”
The knight thought carefully. “Monsters that fly like pigeons, monsters that are as wary as mice and run away as soon as they see us, and also a monster that resembles a small deer with brown fur.”
Hmm? Judging by this, the Pokémon ecosystem in this area is quite rich.
The pigeon-like monster is probably the Pidgey of the Unova Region.
The mouse-like wary monster should be a Patrat.
The deer-like monster is likely a winter form Sawsbuck.
“Did they react when they saw you?” Lei Wen asked again.
The knight scratched his head and replied, “Perhaps it was because there were too many of us, which scared them. Those monsters turned and ran as soon as they saw us.”
Is that so…
It seems these Poffins were among the bolder ones.
Of course, it’s also possible that their habitat trees were continuously logged, leaving the Poffins with no choice but to come out and confront them.
“I understand, you can go back to work!” Lei Wen said.
“Yes, Your Highness!” The knight saluted again and then turned to continue his work.
Lei Wen stood on the snowy ground, turned to look around, and gazed at the vast forest thoughtfully.
But at that moment, he suddenly felt a sense of being watched, as if something was peeping at him from the shadows.
Hmm?
Lei Wen instinctively turned around.
The next second, he saw a small green figure on a large tree not far away.
The gazes of the person and the Pokémon met in mid-air.
It was a small, bipedal, serpentine Pokémon.
It had a green body, a cream-colored belly and feet, and a yellow stripe running down its back to its tail.
Although it was a serpentine Pokémon, it had cute limbs and could stand on its hind legs like a human.
That Pokémon is… the Grass-type starter from the Unova Region, Snivy?!
Lei Wen’s pupils contracted, and he froze in place.
This place is inhabited by a Pokémon like Snivy?!
He was looking at the Snivy, and the Snivy was also looking at him.
The person and the Pokémon gazed at each other across a snowy expanse.
