"Starter Pokémon?" Professor Sakuragi chuckled. "That's an interesting designation."
"It's just a name I came up with to refer to them easily," Ethan said, waving his hand. He then asked, "Professor Sakuragi, do you know where I might find wild starter Pokémon around here?"
"As for the starter Pokémon, you might encounter Charmander in volcanoes or lava caves. Squirtle, on the other hand, requires more remote coastlines and isolated islands. As for Bulbasaur, you should be able to find them in dense forests. But if you're asking about nearby…" At this point, Renji seemed to recall something. "Do you know about the Mysterious Garden?"
"The Mysterious Garden?" Ethan felt the name sounded somewhat familiar.
Beside him, Professor Sakuragi explained, "Legend says the Mysterious Garden is where Bulbasaur gather to hold their evolution festival. However, because very few people have ever been there, most consider it merely a place of fantasy."
That jogged Ethan's memory. He vaguely recalled a plotline where Ash entered the Mysterious Garden in the original series to find his Bulbasaur! But…
A little confused, Ethan couldn't help but ask, "But is it the season for their festival now?"
"That I'm not entirely sure about," Professor Sakuragi thought for a moment, then added, "However, what's certain is that the Mysterious Garden truly exists. And even if it's not the festival season, I imagine there must be many Bulbasaur living and residing around that area."
"I see." Ethan nodded. "Are there any clues now? Or rather… how should I look for it?"
Professor Sakuragi operated his computer, bringing up a map of the area around Vermilion City on the large screen. Pointing to a specific region, Professor Sakuragi said, "While I don't know the exact location of the Mysterious Garden, in our previous observations, we found many wild Bulbasaur active deep in the forest north of Vermilion City. Perhaps you could try your luck there."
"Understood." Ethan's gaze swept over the map, committing the location to memory. He then sincerely thanked the Professor, "This has been a huge help, Professor Sakuragi. Thank you so much!"
Walking down the institute steps with Koharu, Ethan looked back and saw Professor Sakuragi's Yamper running out of the institute, wagging its tail and following closely behind Koharu.
Seeing this, Ethan couldn't help but smile, "It seems to really like you."
"Does it?" Koharu looked down at Yamper, her tone showing no significant change. "I don't really feel it. It often clings to my parents at home too; it's probably the same with everyone."
Through their brief interaction, Ethan found that Koharu wasn't very talkative. Although underage, she had a calm and steady demeanor, giving off a sense of being very sensible and well-behaved.
Ethan knelt down and stroked Yamper's forehead. It squinted its eyes contentedly and even stuck out its long tongue at him. It enjoyed being scratched, which, in that regard, wasn't much different from a dog.
"Alright, no need to see me off further. Well, Koharu, I hope we meet again!"
Waving goodbye to Koharu, Ethan didn't immediately set off to find the Mysterious Garden. Instead, he first went to an outdoor supply store in Vermilion City. There, he bought a baseball cap, a sleeping bag, a water bottle, binoculars, portable food, and a simple cooking set, packing them all into a large backpack. Since he was going into the wilderness, it was essential to be well-prepared. Otherwise, if he missed a town at night, he would have to rely on this equipment to camp outdoors.
Leaving Vermilion City, Ethan and Ralts headed north. They walked for a long time, well past the city limits, and over a small hill before finally arriving at a dense forest. Compared to other nearby forests, the plants here were noticeably more robust.
Upon entering the forest, his phone signal quickly disappeared as they moved away from the city. With no navigation, Ethan could only rely on his intuition as he traversed the woods. Green was all that met the eye; it was only surrounded by nature that one truly felt how small they were. Although Ethan had been in many forests before, this was his first time entering such a vast sea of trees.
It was eerily quiet all around. Fortunately, Ralts was with him, preventing him from feeling too lonely. Walking along, he found this forest to be truly pristine.
There were large trees with dense foliage everywhere. At first, there were a few small paths for people, but as they went deeper, the paths gradually disappeared. To proceed further, Ralts had to use Confusion to move aside the branches.
Silence reigned all around. Not a single common forest Pokémon—whether Caterpie, Weedle, Oddish, or Bellsprout—was in sight. The more this was the case, the more Ethan became convinced he was in the right place. After all, such a situation, where other Pokémon were driven out due to territorial instincts, only occurred in a specific species' habitat!
In this forest, resembling a giant labyrinth, they walked and stopped, taking over two hours. Finally, at dusk, Ethan faintly heard the calls of many Pokémon ahead.
However, the path ahead was blocked by thick vines. These vines, like a wall, were not only incredibly tough but also covered in sharp thorns, preventing any creature from approaching.
This wasn't natural growth!
This meant the Mysterious Garden had to be behind this wall of vines!
Ethan gave Ralts a look, and Ralts nodded understandingly. It then unleashed its psychic power; an invisible, transparent energy emanated from its hand, striking the vines and instantly creating a small opening!
Though the opening wasn't large, it was enough for them to pass through. Using both hands and feet, Ethan squeezed through the vines, then softened his footsteps and continued forward.
As he pushed aside some branches, the area ahead suddenly opened up. In the vast, boundless forest, a basin appeared! Looking from afar, there was a giant withered tree in the center of the basin, and around it, countless Bulbasaur were playing.
The Mysterious Garden, though in the very heart of the forest and protected by a vine wall, had finally been found by him, luckily! But thinking about it, it made sense; after all, this basin covered a huge area. Even with the vines protecting it, if one were determined to find it, it couldn't remain hidden. It was simply that very few people ever reached it.
Ethan stopped, gazing at the peaceful habitat. He didn't presumptuously enter and disturb them. Instead, he took out his binoculars and, using the fading glow of the sunset, carefully observed the situation inside. After scanning around a few times, he focused his binoculars on one particular Bulbasaur.
Physically, a Bulbasaur is a quadrupedal Pokémon, resembling a green frog. Besides its bright red eyes and dark green markings, its most distinctive feature is the garlic-shaped bulb on its back. These Bulbasaur were clearly unaware of Ethan's arrival. However, their sheer number was dizzying, and it was difficult to discern their individual personalities from their appearance alone. So, after observing for a while, Ethan focused his attention on a Bulbasaur that had just walked out of the basin.
Perhaps no one had intruded here for a long time, as this Bulbasaur was utterly relaxed, occasionally plucking berries from trees with its Vine Whip and tasting them, quickly moving away from its group. Seizing this opportunity, Ethan no longer hesitated. He moved stealthily, making as little noise as possible, and approached it.
Choosing this particular Bulbasaur was actually the safest method. If he went too deep, it might cause panic and disturbance among the Bulbasaur, and being attacked by the whole group would be a significant loss.
The Bulbasaur showed no alertness to the impending danger. However, upon getting close, Ethan didn't choose to ambush it but instead walked directly in front of it. Hearing the sound and suddenly seeing a human standing before it, the Bulbasaur was initially startled.
But quickly, it bent its four limbs and assumed a battle stance! From the bulb on its back, two Vine Whips suddenly extended, flailing in the air, seemingly trying to intimidate Ethan!
Their eyes met, and Ethan waved his hand. Ralts at his side took a few steps forward. Seeing Ralts, the Bulbasaur seemed to realize something, continuously making "Bulba, Bulba" sounds, and its gaze instantly sharpened!