Idyll Ecological Investigation is Aniimo’s research event, and it works like a guided hunt. The game hands you a short list of featured creatures, points you at them on the map, and pays out once you bring each one in. The first wave went live alongside the global launch and closes on September 20.
Quick answer: Open the Events menu, press Track on each featured Aniimo card, follow the map marker, capture the creature, then return to the event screen and hit Ready to Claim.
Idyll Ecological Investigation event dates and waves
The event runs in three separate waves rather than one long window, and each wave features its own set of creatures. Progress does not carry between waves, so anything you leave unclaimed when a wave ends is gone.
| Wave | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| First | Sept. 16 | Sept. 20 |
| Second | Oct. 2 | Oct. 10 |
| Third | Oct. 16 | Oct. 22 |
Roughly four Aniimo are featured per wave. The second and third waves swap in different creatures, so the routes below apply to the wave that is running now.
Wave one targets: Chirpi, Budclaw, Iris, and Flameruff
Four cards sit on the event screen at the start of the wave. Each one is its own independent task with its own reward, and you can work through them in any order.
| Aniimo | Where it appears | Level found |
|---|---|---|
 Iris | Nimbus Fields | 10 |
 Flameruff | Nimbus Fields | 11 |
 Budclaw | The Argent Strait, on the coast | 25 |
 Chirpi | Revealed by tracking | — |
Iris and Flameruff sit in open grass and go down without much resistance. Budclaw is the outlier. At level 25 it needs to be worn down in combat before a capture attempt will stick, so bring a team that can actually take a few hits.
Where the markers lead in Breezy Plains
Every target in this wave lives in the Breezy Plains region, which keeps travel time short. Nimbus Fields is the low-level stretch nearest the starting area, while The Argent Strait is the coastal zone to the side of it.
| Area | Level range | Targets |
|---|---|---|
| Nimbus Fields | 5–15 | Iris, Flameruff |
| The Argent Strait | 28–32 | Budclaw |
Nimbus Fields has two transporters and two bonfires scattered across it, so fast travel handles most of the distance for the first two tasks. For Budclaw, the marker sits down on the sand, and gliding off the cliff edge above the beach is faster than running the long way around.
The same routes overlap with the region’s collectibles, so it is worth grabbing anything glowing on the way to a marker rather than doubling back later.
How to track and capture each featured Aniimo
Track one creature at a time. The trail leads to a single marked spawn, and clearing a task before starting the next one keeps the map readable.
Rewards and how to confirm a task is complete
The moment a capture registers, a tracking complete notice appears on screen naming the creature you just caught. That banner is the confirmation that the game counted it.
Back on the event page, the card for that creature switches to Ready to Claim. Pressing it pays out the reward, and the card then reads as finished for the rest of the wave. Iris pays out 20,000 Coins.
Capturing a creature is not the same as finishing the task. Rewards sit unclaimed until you open the Events menu and press the button, so check the page after every catch.
What Flameruff evolves into
The Flameruff you catch for the event is not the end of that line. It evolves into Scorchhowl, a stage 3 Fire Aniimo in the Emberpup family and number 3 in the dex. It fills a DPS role, stands 1.7 meters tall, and weighs 25 kg, with a moveset that runs from Fire Bolt up to Falling Star.
Wild Scorchhowl live in Beast Fang Ridge rather than the plains, so the event capture is a convenient head start on that line rather than a shortcut to the final form.
With four short tasks and every marker inside a single region, the whole wave is a one-session job. Clear it before the window closes on September 20, and the next set of featured creatures arrives on October 2.
