Read upto 25+ advance chapters exclusively on my Patreon ahead of everybody else - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
------------------
If someone asks, what is the largest forest in the Kanto region? If the person being asked is from Kanto, they will undoubtedly blurt out "Viridian Forest."
Yes, Viridian Forest is the largest forest in the Kanto region. It is located between Viridian City and Pewter City, and a large number of wild pokemon live there. Of course, like other normal forests in the pokemon world, the pokemon living there are mostly Bug-type and Grass-type.
However, as the largest forest in the Kanto region, the pokemon species living in Viridian Forest are certainly not limited to just Bug-type and Grass-type pokemon. Almost all types of pokemon can be found here.
Moreover, as interaction between regions in the pokemon world becomes more frequent, some pokemon that originally only lived in certain regions have appeared in others, either intentionally or unintentionally influenced by human actions. These pokemon have adapted to the local environment and begun to thrive and reproduce in these new areas (due to accidents in the wild, pokemon experiments, poachers transporting captured pokemon encountering mishaps, or heartless trainers abandoning their pokemon, etc.).
Of course, these invasive pokemon species are generally rare in the local environment. There are many reasons for this, including difficulty adapting to the environment or being rejected by local wild pokemon, leading to expulsion or even attacks.
The rejection of invasive pokemon by local wild pokemon is the biggest reason. There are generally two causes for this rejection.
First, invasive pokemon haven't yet established themselves in the local environment, making it difficult for them to reproduce and making their numbers too weak to resist the powerful local wild pokemon groups.
Second, invasive pokemon damage the interests of the local wild pokemon. After all, there's only so much pie to go around, and when a new species suddenly shows up to take a share, the old forces naturally don't want to give up their territory.
(Note: I wrote so much about invasive pokemon to help some readers understand that it's possible for pokemon from other regions to appear in Viridian Forest. This also serves as a setup for the story.)
In fact, the League has worked hard in nurturing its elite members. Not only do they host the prestigious League Tournament that countless trainers strive to enter, but they've also established safe wild pokemon habitats in specific regions.
These so-called safe wild pokemon habitats are areas created by the League through force within wild pokemon territories, where the pokemon living there are of very low levels. Additionally, pokemon that are particularly harmful to humans rarely appear in these safe zones.
In these safe wild pokemon habitats, rangers play an important role. These powerful trainers, directly affiliated with the League, are the backbone of maintaining safety in these zones.
Indeed, the reason these safe wild pokemon habitats are so "safe" is largely due to the efforts of rangers, who diligently drive out powerful pokemon from the safe zones each day.
Of course, these safe zones only occupy a small portion of the wild pokemon habitats. After all, not all wild pokemon are harmless. If pushed too far, some powerful pokemon will fight back at any cost to ensure the survival of their species. As a result, rangers also belong to one of the League's departments with the highest mortality rates.
At 10 a.m., outside the safe zone of Viridian Forest, a young man wearing a Team Rocket grunt uniform was lying in a thick patch of grass. The weeds in this patch of grass were at least one meter high, growing vigorously.
The young man lying unconscious in the dense grass was none other than Sato. At this moment, he was still in a state of unconsciousness.
As a thick cloud overhead was blown away by the wind, the sun finally managed to shine down onto the grass. Sato, who had been exposed to the sunlight for a long time, began to feel discomfort, and his consciousness rapidly started to awaken.
Sato slowly opened his eyes, but had to shield them from the glaring sunlight with his hand. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, his once-drowsy gaze regained its usual sharpness and calmness.
"Where exactly is this place? I remember I should be at the plaza... Oh right, I was hit by a sleep-inducing gas." Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, Sato held his still slightly aching head, trying hard to recall what had happened earlier.
Finally, Sato's memory froze on the moment when he was forced into a sleep state by the gas. Just before he fell asleep, he vaguely saw a woman walking toward him. After that, he remembered nothing, and when he woke up, he found himself in this place.
A minute later, Sato was staring gravely at a map in front of him. After a bit of recovery, he realized that nothing on his person had been stolen—his two most important pokemon and his Team Rocket-issued watch were still with him. The only new thing was a small backpack placed next to him.
It was just an ordinary backpack, not a space-type item, and it contained only two things: a flare gun and an unopened envelope.
After Sato opened the envelope and read its contents, he understood where he was and why he had ended up there. Inside the envelope was a map that had been folded several times.
It was a hand-drawn map of Viridian Forest, and it was incredibly detailed, showing various terrains in great clarity. Unfortunately, there was no information about the locations of pokemon habitats.
From the information on the map, it was clear that this was only a partial map. His current location was marked with a red star, and nearby dangerous areas were indicated with skull symbols (both white and red). Lastly, there were several triangular markers, all of which were located in areas marked with red skulls.
It's worth mentioning that the grassland Sato was currently in was marked with a white skull on the map.
When he flipped the map over, it turned into a letter. Judging from the elegant handwriting, it appeared to be written by a woman.
The letter's content was roughly this: Sato was now undergoing a two-week wilderness survival trial. If he chose to give up, he could use the flare gun to call for help at any time. The consequence of failing the trial would be the confiscation of his pokemon and being demoted to a menial role.
At the same time, the letter clearly stated that the green triangular markers represented mission items. He had to collect all these items within the specified time; otherwise, even if he survived the two weeks, he would still fail the wilderness survival trial.
"This is really sudden. They knocked us out without a word and threw us into this place. Looks like this is the real deal... a proper wilderness survival training." After reading the letter, Sato thought with a serious expression.
Then, based on the information from the map, Sato stood still, using his body as a substitute for a stick and relying on the shadow-casting method to determine direction from the sun. He quickly set off toward the nearest supply cache.
As soon as Sato began to move away from his original position, a Pidgeot that had been circling above him suddenly flashed with a glint of light in its eyes. With a flap of its wings, it sped off toward the north.
Shortly after the Pidgeot flew away, the eerie silence in the grassland was broken, and the usual noise returned. A rustling sound began to emerge from various directions in the grass.
"Already awake, huh? Good. Let's see how capable you really are. If you can't even get through this, there's no way you'll be able to hold your own against the monsters in the rookie tournament. You'd just be a passing, insignificant background character at best." Seeing the Pidgeot return, Sofia, who was now standing on a lone peak, stroked the bird's head and muttered to herself, her expression somewhat gloomy.