Chapter Seventy-Two: The Sudden Storm

At this moment, Cheng Cheng was staying indoors with his Pokémon as strong winds howled and heavy rain poured down outside. He was worried about the Pokémon out there, but for now, there was nothing he could do but wait.

Inside, some of the Pokémon appeared frightened—several were shivering, as if sensing something terrifying. Cheng Cheng was puzzled; such a powerful storm was unlikely to appear so suddenly, especially when the weather forecast had only predicted light rain. What was the cause of this tempest? Could it have been triggered by a Pokémon? Yet, as far as he could recall, no Pokémon in the Hoenn region was capable of creating such a violent storm—except, perhaps, Kyogre, but Kyogre should be dwelling in the ocean, not appearing in Verdanturf Town. What could possibly be happening? Despite pondering for a long time, Cheng Cheng couldn’t figure it out. He tried using his psychic powers to sense any unusual presence outside but found nothing out of the ordinary—just the fierce wind and rain.

Since there was nothing more to be discovered, he put aside these concerns for now. The most important thing was to comfort the frightened Pokémon, who were clearly in a poor state of mind.

“Chimecho, could you help, please?”

“Chiiime~”

Though Chimecho hadn’t learned the move Heal Bell, its regular chimes still had a soothing effect. Its gentle ringing echoed through the room, calming the Pokémon. Together with several others, Cheng Cheng managed to help them all settle down; they huddled close and soon fell asleep.

After everyone was calmed, Cheng Cheng gathered his own Pokémon and communicated with them using his psychic abilities.

“Did any of you sense something?”

“I don’t know why, but I just feel scared,” Chimecho was the first to respond.

“I sense something about to appear—something extremely powerful. Everyone is afraid,” added Lunatone.

The other Pokémon echoed similar sentiments; it seemed as if something had arrived, something so strong it unsettled them all.

Cheng Cheng once again cleared his mind and reached out with his psychic senses. Within his range, there were no signs of anything unusual, only the raging wind and rain. Still, since all the Pokémon could sense something, he believed something must indeed have appeared—though he could not find it. This storm was truly abnormal, but he could not fathom the reason.

Unable to find an answer, Cheng Cheng decided to rest. He found an empty spot, leaned against a few of his Pokémon, and prepared to sleep. After a night of such chaos, there would be much to do the next day—he needed to conserve his strength.

At dawn, the storm had vanished without a trace, and sunlight streamed down once more. Cheng Cheng and his Pokémon stepped outside.

Throughout the reserve, muddy pits and puddles dotted the ground, and several fences had been blown down by the wind. Cheng Cheng instructed his stronger Pokémon to search for and gather all the Pokémon they could find.

He returned to the breeding house and retrieved the roster of all the Pokémon. As they were gathered, he checked each one and discovered that thirteen were missing. Many of those found bore wounds; the water-dwelling Pokémon had fared better, having hidden in the river, but others were severely injured.

Cheng Cheng prioritized treatment for the most badly hurt. When Ah Li and Xiao Li arrived, he entrusted the day’s medical tasks to them. Ah Li wanted to take the injured to the Pokémon Center, but Cheng Cheng refused—after such a storm, the center would surely be overwhelmed. Since he could handle their injuries himself, there was no need to go.

He treated the worst wounds himself, then left the rest to his assistants. Taking all ten of his own Pokémon, he set out with them to search for the missing thirteen: two Chingling, three Ralts, four Natu, one Chimecho, two Exeggcute, and one Girafarig.

The storm had damaged many sections of the reserve’s fencing; if any had escaped, the search would be difficult. To speed things up, Cheng Cheng assigned different areas to his Pokémon. Slowpoke was responsible for searching the river in case any had fallen in, while the four flying Pokémon surveyed from above. The remaining five searched with him on the ground.

As they searched, Chimecho soon reported a discovery: two Exeggcute had been found in the berry grove, huddled together in fear. Cheng Cheng asked Mr. Mime to teleport them back.

He suspected more Pokémon might be hiding in the berry grove and extended his psychic senses across the entire area, detecting two more presences. Following their trail, he found two Natu in the trees, both injured and unconscious. He instructed Chimecho to bring them back as well.

After confirming there was no other presence in the grove, he regrouped his team. The entire reserve had now been searched, but two Chingling, three Ralts, two Natu, one Chimecho, and one Girafarig remained missing—they must have left the reserve.

This would make things more complicated, as Cheng Cheng had no way of knowing which direction they had gone. He decided to split up for the search. Fortunately, every Pokémon wore a special ribbon from the breeding house, so there would be no chance of mistaking them.

He sent Chimecho to search the main street in front of the house, while Lunatone and Sigilyph searched the left and right sides of the reserve, respectively. Because Sigilyph was special, Cheng Cheng kept it with him, and together with several other Pokémon, he headed into the forest behind the reserve.

This forest posed its own challenges, as many wild Pokémon lived there—encounters could easily turn hostile.

Cheng Cheng had Sigilyph scout from above, recalled the rest of his Pokémon into their balls except for Kirlia, and carefully explored with his psychic senses. Not far in, he found a faint life force—a Poochyena, lying injured on the ground, its leg and back badly hurt, unable to move. Cheng Cheng hadn’t expected the wild Pokémon to be so badly affected.

He had Gothita stay behind to watch over it while he pressed on with the others. Along the way, he found several more wounded Pokémon, gathered them together, and sent his own Pokémon to escort them back to the breeding house. Mr. Mime was also left there to help.

Cheng Cheng continued deeper, eventually finding several of his missing Pokémon hiding among berry trees and bushes. After counting carefully, only one Chimecho remained missing.

He searched further, and soon, his own Chimecho returned, having found the lost one. Now all of the missing Pokémon had been recovered.

Back at the reserve, Cheng Cheng treated the wounded, and had his own Pokémon bring back the injured wild Pokémon from the forest as well. After a day’s hard work, all injuries had been dealt with. Cheng Cheng and Ah Li prepared a large amount of Pokémon food and distributed it among the Pokémon.

Exhausted, Cheng Cheng returned to his room on the second floor and turned on the TV to the Hoenn channel. Unsurprisingly, the news covered the recent storm: it had struck mainly in Verdanturf Town, with some effects felt elsewhere. Many buildings had been damaged, and numerous Pokémon injured. The Pokémon Center was overrun, and a massive rescue operation was underway, with many Pokémon being transferred to other towns for treatment. Experts were investigating the cause, but so far, there were no leads.

Cheng Cheng turned off the TV and lay on his bed, reviewing the events and his conversations with the Pokémon. The storm had been sudden and violent, and the Pokémon had sensed something’s arrival—a presence that triggered the storm.

In his mind, Cheng Cheng reasoned that, aside from Kyogre in Hoenn, only the three Legendary Forces of Nature from the Unova region could cause such a powerful tempest.

He continued to speculate about which Pokémon might be responsible, but no one knew for sure. A great crisis was looming on the horizon.