As soon as Yuga looked at the route map, sure enough… there was a section of the Jumpluff migration path that passed especially close to Verdanturf City.
Yuga pointed to a spot on the route map and said to Officer Saskia and the others, "Let's go check out this area."
"Alright."
Of course, Saskia and the others had no objections, so the group bid farewell to the forest rangers and rode their Flying-type Pokémon toward the place Yuga had indicated. That area was the closest point to Verdanturf City along the Jumpluff migration path out of Petalburg Woods.
Before leaving, Yuga had even gone out of his way to consult with the forest rangers and ask in detail about the area. The rangers were quite familiar with the place and explained everything clearly.
As they got closer and closer to the destination, one of the officers suddenly exclaimed, "The amount of Sleep Powder in the air has suddenly increased!"
"Get your protective gear ready!"
Saskia immediately shouted, and the whole group quickly put on their specially made masks.
Yuga checked the wind direction and found that, indeed, the air currents in this area would eventually blow toward Verdanturf City.
"Looks like we're heading in the right direction."
At that moment, another observant officer said, "Mr. Shimizu, Captain, the wild Pokémon in the area have all disappeared."
Yuga guessed, "They probably sensed that something was wrong with the air around here and moved away." As he spoke, he looked around carefully. Sure enough, not a single wild Pokémon could be seen.
As they got even closer to the destination, Yuga and the others noticed that visible particles of Sleep Powder were beginning to accumulate on the leaves.
After the sleep incident in Verdanturf City, Saskia and the others had already consulted with Nurse Joy about the subtle differences between the hypnotic powders produced by different Pokémon. So, after inspecting the powder that had settled on one of the leaves, Saskia said: "This should definitely be Jumpluff's Sleep Powder!"
The group continued onward and finally arrived near a canyon. The structure of this canyon was quite unusual. When wind passed through it, it created powerful turbulence, which was why wild Pokémon rarely entered the area.
Looking at the unique canyon before them, Saskia exclaimed, "I didn't know Petalburg Woods had a place like this."
Yuga was equally amazed. Even though he had heard a bit about it from the forest rangers beforehand, seeing it with his own eyes was a whole different experience.
Before they came, the forest rangers had already briefed Yuga and the others about the canyon. It was known as one of the dangerous zones in Petalburg Woods. Because of the special terrain that generated strong turbulent winds, there were no Pokémon or other creatures living inside the canyon, and Pokémon from the outside couldn't easily get in either.
It was a very dangerous place, but as long as one didn't go inside, the danger wouldn't be able to harm them.
Of course, there had been some adventurers over the years who had gone in to explore. Most of them failed to enter successfully, and the few who did said there wasn't anything special inside—just wind and desolation.
But that made sense. In such a harsh environment, what could possibly survive?
At that moment, an officer reported, "Captain, Mr. Shimizu, the Sleep Powder is definitely coming from inside this canyon."
After a thorough inspection, Yuga and the others confirmed that the Sleep Powder was indeed being carried out by the turbulent winds inside the canyon.
"Could it be that some Jumpluff are trapped inside the canyon?" Saskia guessed.
"That's probably the case," Yuga said. "We need to go in and take a look."
"Alright!" Saskia replied, then turned to the other officers and said, "Split into two groups—half of you stay here to keep watch, and the other half will come with me into the canyon to check it out!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the officers responded in unison.
And so, Yuga and Saskia led several officers riding Pokémon and advanced toward the interior of the canyon.
However, once they entered the canyon, Yuga and the others realized that the turbulence inside was even stronger than they had imagined. The Flying Pokémon that the officers were riding could barely move due to the turbulent winds. Only Yuga's Absol and Saskia's Arcanine were still able to move forward.
So, Officer Saskia had no choice but to let the other officers return while she and Yuga continued further into the canyon.
This canyon had become one of the dangerous areas in Petalburg Forest purely due to its natural environment, so what lay within was naturally no simple matter.
As Yuga and Saskia ventured deeper, they discovered that in some places, the wild gusts of wind shooting out from the cracks in the canyon walls were as sharp as knives, slicing into their bodies and quickly leaving them battered and disheveled. In other places, the chaotic winds would form barriers of air, blocking their path and even pushing them backward.
There were several times when Yuga and Saskia were almost blown away by the fierce gales.
Fortunately, both Yuga's Absol and Saskia's Arcanine were large-sized Pokémon, capable of shielding their Trainers from the strong winds with their sturdy bodies.
In particular, Yuga's Absol—with its towering height of three to four meters—stood firm against the winds. No matter how strong the gusts became, they could do nothing to it. On two occasions, both Saskia and her Arcanine were protected by Absol's massive frame and managed to avoid danger.
The interior of the canyon was incredibly complex, filled with branching paths and swirling sand and wind. Yuga and Saskia could only continue forward by following the direction from which the Sleep Powder was drifting.
After overcoming one obstacle after another, the two of them finally made it through the chaotic winds and reached the innermost part of the canyon. Surprisingly, the inner part of the canyon was completely calm and quiet, with no trace of the violent gusts.
However, just like the outer areas, the deepest part of the canyon remained barren. Not a single blade of grass grew there, and all around them were bare rocks.
After entering, the two of them spent quite a while brushing themselves off before they could move on. The outside winds had left them covered in sand and dirt. Absol and Arcanine in particular had their fur clumped into messy balls.
Although Absol wasn't as obsessive about cleanliness as a Ninetales, it was still a Pokémon that liked to be clean. It kept shaking its body in an effort to get the dirt and sand out of its fur, but no matter how hard it tried, nothing worked.
Yuga comforted it by saying, "Don't worry. Once we get back, I'll give you a nice bath."
Hearing this, Absol could only bear the discomfort and continue moving forward with Yuga.
The environment inside the canyon remained as complicated as before—like a giant maze. As they walked, Yuga and Saskia made sure to leave markers along the way.
After a while, they suddenly heard a startled cry. A dirty, trembling Jumpluff came floating toward them, its voice full of surprise and joy.
Seeing this Jumpluff, Yuga and Saskia both thought the same thing in their minds: The truth behind the Sleep Powder is about to be revealed.
This Jumpluff looked extremely weak, and its speech was jumbled and incoherent. Yuga had no idea what it was trying to say, so in the end, they had no choice but to follow it as it led them deeper into the canyon.
At the very deepest part of the canyon, Yuga and Saskia saw a large group of Jumpluff. Without exception, all of them looked utterly miserable.
If Yuga and Saskia's guess was correct, and these Jumpluff had indeed been trapped here, then their current condition was clearly due to starvation.
There wasn't a single blade of grass in the canyon—not a speck of food to be found. Even though Grass-type Pokémon like Jumpluff could usually endure hunger better than other types, they were now severely weakened from lack of food.
The towering rock peaks within the canyon blocked out the sky, leaving no sunlight and no water. They couldn't even rely on photosynthesis to regain a bit of energy.
Sure enough, the appearance of Yuga and Saskia caused a stir among the Jumpluff group. In no time, the two of them were completely surrounded by a crowd of Jumpluff.
Some of the Jumpluff were originally still in midair, continuously releasing Sleep Powder into the air, letting the powder drift away with the turbulent currents above the canyon. But when they saw Yuga and Officer Saskia, they all stopped what they were doing.
Very quickly, Yuga learned the reason why these Jumpluff had been trapped here from the mouths of the other Jumpluff.
Over ten days ago, these Jumpluff were migrating with the main group of their species, passing by Petalburg Woods, and flying near this canyon.
This canyon was part of their annual migration route out of Petalburg Woods.
They passed by here every year during migration, so they were quite familiar with this canyon. They knew it was dangerous and therefore usually wouldn't get too close.
The bodies of the Hoppip, Skiploom, and Jumpluff evolutionary line were very light and easily affected by wind while flying—especially when their levels were still low, and they couldn't control wind currents well. It was even easier for them to get blown off course by strong winds.
The group of Jumpluff that ended up trapped in the canyon was the last batch trailing behind the main migration group that had nearly finished flying out of Petalburg Woods.
But then, an accident happened—two battling Pokémon suddenly broke into their group. And they were both Flying-type Pokémon.
One was a Togekiss, and the other was a Pidgeot.
The powerful gusts of wind generated by the battle between the two Pokémon blew this trailing group of Jumpluff away from the main flock. Most of them fell into the canyon and were swept into the chaotic wind currents.
Togekiss hadn't intended to involve innocent bystanders in its fight with Pidgeot, so in order to save the Jumpluff, it charged into the canyon without hesitation.
Togekiss had already been injured during its fight with Pidgeot, and then, while trying to protect the Jumpluff from the turbulent air currents, it sustained even heavier injuries. In the end, it was only able to barely bring the Jumpluff into the center of the canyon.
But Togekiss passed out from its serious wounds. The Jumpluff alone had no way to break through the turbulent currents and escape, so they became trapped here. With no food or water, it was practically no different from waiting for death.
Eventually, the Jumpluff came up with an idea. They used the turbulent currents to carry Sleep Powder outward, hoping someone outside would notice the abnormality in the canyon and come to rescue them.
The Jumpluff knew there were forest rangers stationed in Petalburg Woods.
Unfortunately, the rangers hadn't noticed anything strange here, and instead, the nearby Verdanturf City suffered as a result.
But no matter what, someone had finally noticed their distress signal.
After understanding the situation, Yuga and Officer Saskia followed the Jumpluff to see the severely injured and unconscious Togekiss.
...
Togekiss (Severely Injured) ]
Type: Fairy, Flying
Ability: Serene Grace
Gender: Female
Potential: Blue
Level: 69
Moves: Growl, Sweet Kiss, Yawn, Safeguard, Take Down, Magical Leaf, After You, Encore, Fairy Wind, Extreme Speed, Aura Sphere, Air Slash, Sky Attack, Shadow Ball, Trick, Dazzling Gleam, Water Pulse.
...
This was a Togekiss that was just about to break through to the Elite level, but it was also indeed very badly injured. Although it wasn't quite at the brink of death, if left untreated and the injuries worsened, death was not out of the question.
So Yuga quickly released Chimecho and Florges, and with the help of the two Pokémon, he began treating Togekiss.
Recently, due to regularly consuming the sacret tree fruits from Torterra, Yuga's healing abilities had improved significantly, and so had Florges'. As a result, Togekiss was soon out of danger.
During the treatment, Togekiss woke up briefly for a few minutes, but only managed to open its eyes before falling unconscious again from exhaustion.
Compared to the Jumpluff who hadn't eaten anything for quite some time, Togekiss had at least eaten a little. The food source was the leaves from the heads of a few Hoppip in the Jumpluff group.
The Jumpluff had been worried that Togekiss wouldn't survive due to its injuries, so while it was unconscious, they had secretly fed it. As a result, the few Hoppip had their leafy heads plucked bald.
However, aside from not looking good and temporarily being unable to fly, losing their leaves didn't really harm them. As long as they got enough sunlight and nutrients afterward, the leaves would grow back quickly.
After treating Togekiss, Yuga took out the Pokeblock he carried with him and distributed them to the Jumpluff.
However, since there were too many Jumpluff here, each one only got a single Pokeblock. Still, it was enough to temporarily fill their stomachs.
Having starved for so many days, now that they finally had food to eat, the Jumpluff were all smiling with joy.
Next came the discussion on how to safely bring the Jumpluff out.
Using Poké Balls was definitely out of the question. Even if Yuga had that many Poké Balls, with Officer Saskia present, he couldn't just take them out!
After all, what kind of normal person carries over a hundred Poké Balls on them?
After much discussion, Yuga finally decided to have Chimecho, Gengar, and Mismagius work together to create a psychic barrier that would contain all the Skiploom and carry them out of the canyon.
The barrier would be formed primarily through Chimecho's psychic power, with Gengar and Mismagius providing support.
It was a pity that Nana and Ninetales weren't here. If they were, it would've been easier to assist Chimecho.
Actually, the special space created by Dusknoir, Gengar, and Mismagius would've been the best choice, but unfortunately, that space doesn't overlap with the real world and can't interact with it. Even if the Jumpluff went inside, they wouldn't be able to leave the canyon.
Fortunately, Chimecho's psychic was sufficient to accomplish this. It's just that afterward, it might suffer a bit from the energy depletion.
Soon, the psychic barrier created by Chimecho, Gengar, and Mismagius was ready. The Jumpluff flew into it one by one, while the unconscious Togekiss was carried on Absol's back. The Hoppip who couldn't fly were held by Yuga and Officer Saskia.
Although they encountered a few minor troubles on their way out, the overall process went fairly smoothly.
Outside, the officers had been anxious ever since Yuga and Officer Saskia went into the canyon, worried that something might have happened to the two of them—after all, the canyon was a dangerous place.
But when they saw the two of them come out with a large group of Jumpluff, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Captain! Mr. Shimizu! Are you two alright?"
Saskia waved her hand and said, "We're fine. What matters now is figuring out how to settle this group of Jumpluff."
The main migrating flock of Jumpluff had already left. The ones left behind here couldn't be ignored.
Upon hearing that, Yuga said, "Leave it to the Ranger Union. They'll take these Jumpluff to the migration site."