"There are so many high-rise buildings here; I feel like I'm suffocating. How can there be so many buildings?" Ash exclaimed, looking around in disbelief.
Alex rubbed his legs and sighed, "My legs are about to break from all this walking! It's too difficult. Don't we have a bicycle or something?"
"Exactly! This really looks like a concrete jungle," Misty added, her expression melancholic.
"Where are we now, Brock?" Ash asked, turning to Brock, who was studying the map intently.
"Uh, let me see… We're in the Yo Yo Yo Wo District," Brock said, frowning.
"Yo Yo Yo Wo District? What kind of strange place is that?" Alex, Ash, and Misty asked in unison.
"Huh?" Alex suddenly noticed a middle-aged woman running toward him.
The woman hugged Alex tightly, pulling him into her embrace. "Xiao Yi! Where did you run off to? Do you know how worried your mother was about you?" she said with concern.
At that moment, Alex found himself in an awkward position. He finally managed to twist his head to catch his breath. "Hello, my name is Alex, not the Xiao Yi you're talking about," he said, a black line forming on his face.
"Hello, I'm his friend, Misty," she chimed in, flashing a 'V' sign with her hand.
"Nobody asked for your name!" Ash pressed down on Misty's shoulder, complaining.
"Oh, right, haha…" Misty said, retreating awkwardly to the side.
"Ah? I'm sorry! It's just that you look so much like Xiao Yi," the middle-aged woman said, flustered.
"What exactly happened?" Misty asked curiously.
The group found a park bench and sat down, eager to hear the woman's story.
"It's like this: my son, Xiao Yi, suddenly disappeared. It's been three days now, and there's been no news."
"I've searched everywhere, but I still can't find him," the woman said, touching her face with one hand, her eyes full of sadness.
"So, your son is missing?" Alex asked gently.
"He wouldn't have left to become a Pokémon Trainer, would he?" Ash guessed.
"That child loves Pokémon, but he never said he wanted to be a Trainer," the woman replied.
"Maybe your child is almost home by now," Misty suggested, cupping her face in thought.
The woman shook her head. "Actually, it's not just my child who's gone missing."
"Huh?" Alex and the others expressed confusion simultaneously.
At that moment, the woman pointed to a row of posters pasted on a wall in the park.
"Look at that."
"Posters?" Ash asked, puzzled.
"Those are photos of missing children." The woman sighed deeply.
"So many people? There must be at least a dozen of them," Alex said, frowning as he examined the posters.
"This city seems very dangerous," Ash said, looking concerned.
"Then I need to be careful because I'm just too cute," Misty said, looking absorbed in her thoughts.
This caused Alex, Ash, and Brock to give her incredulous looks.
"What's with those expressions?!" Misty said angrily.
"Ahaha! You're very cute, you're very cute," Ash said, stroking Pikachu's head affectionately.
"Pika!"
"It's strange that all the missing children are cute, and this keeps happening. It's truly incomprehensible," Alex remarked.
In front of the poster wall, Officer Jenny held a new missing child poster, muttering to herself in confusion.
"Where should I paste this one?" Jenny wondered, looking at the almost fully covered wall in front of her.
"Excuse me, are you a cousin or distant relative of the Jenny we've met before?" Ash ran over and asked.
"I'm a distant relative; the connection is very far," Jenny replied, glancing at Ash.
"This is the most beautiful one I've seen so far," Brock said, his face turning red again.
"She's exactly the same as the ones we've met before," Misty rolled her eyes at Brock.
"With so many children missing, you must be working very hard. Although my strength is meager, please let me help with the investigation. Let's join hands and take action together!" Brock rushed over, grabbing Jenny's hand lecherously.
"What? Just don't get in my way," Jenny said, shaking off Brock's hand.
At that moment, Alex looked at the woman sitting on the stone bench, her face full of worry. It reminded him of his mother's expression from his childhood memories.
He recalled a time when he had run off to play and got lost in the forest. When his mother found him, she had the same worried look.
Ash, beside him, muttered to himself, "My mom… she must be very worried about me." After saying that, he adjusted his hat.
"Ash, what do you think? Shall we help them solve this case?" Alex asked, seeing that Ash was also thinking of his mother.
"Alright! Let our 'Great Detective Duo' solve this difficult case!" Ash exclaimed, high-fiving Alex before starting to shadowbox in place.
Alex rubbed his forehead, wondering if teaming up with Ash was a good idea.
Afterward, the group followed Jenny to understand the situation better.
"It's like this: everyone started disappearing about three days ago, continuously," Jenny explained as they walked.
"Three days ago?" Alex repeated.
"Do the missing children have any common characteristics?" he asked.
"Right! What's the commonality among the missing children?" Ash said, extending his finger in sudden realization.
"None. No clues have been found," Jenny replied, looking puzzled.
"That's why I think the children must know something," Alex concluded.
"I see. So we need to go to the Pokémon Center to ask questions," Brock said, looking at the Pokémon Center in front of them.
"Have you seen this child?" Jenny squatted down, asking two little boys nearby.
"I don't know."
"I played with him a long time ago," they replied in childish voices.
"What about the last few days?" Jenny asked gently.
"I don't know; I haven't seen him," one boy said.
Suddenly, Brock rushed over with a serious expression and squatted down next to the boys. "Little brother, listen. You need to answer honestly. Whatever you know, you must tell the pretty big sister!"
"Yes," the two boys said, clearly intimidated.
"And do you like pretty big sisters?" Brock asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Hey, can you not interfere with my work?" Jenny said, looking exasperated as she glared at Brock.
At this moment, Alex and Ash walked over to Nurse Joy, preparing to ask her if she had any clues.
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