[Video writeup here!](https://youtu.be/giG21dPkZ18?t=171)

The third “Gone Missing” challenge was tough and I solved it only after the end of the competition.
We are dropped in front of a pole with an Asian banner attached to it. Looking around we can see that we are in front of a turn and in the middle of a country.
In the background, there is an Asian-shaped building, but it is difficult to tell what it is.
Unlike before, we don't have major elements that allow us to accurately identify our location. We must use the many minimal pieces of information available to us to try to orient ourselves

The three big elements that can help us are the banner, the type of pole that looks very distinctive, and a label with 6 numbers attached to it.
Looking around more closely, we can also notice a couple of markings on the asphalt, which might perhaps come in handy later, the black and yellow curve signs, and the location of the power towers, which pass over the forest and which we could use as a reference.

My initial efforts focused on identifying the banner and figuring out what was written on it.
After some time spent scanning it with various OCRs, I realized that the banner was mirrored. I adjusted the photo and scanned the sign again, understanding that we are in “Yunlin County”, in Taiwan!
This region however is huge! How can we narrow down the research?

I started investigating the 6-number plate we noticed on the pole, searching for all the different poles used in Taiwan.
I discovered they use a standardized “layout” for utility poles: they are striped black-n-yellow and each of them has a blue sign that can be used as a coordinate!
The logic behind those signs is pretty cool: the first letter of the sign indicates a specific square region in Taiwan. The following four numbers, divided into two pairs, instead indicate the x and y coordinates in percentage value.
With this method, it’s possible to pinpoint a specific pole with an error of about 10 meters.
There is also a Wikipedia page reserved entirely for the topic with some scripts for performing the conversions. Give it a look in case you need it.

Unfortunately, this blue sign is not on the light pole we were given as a reference, and the sign on the pole in front of us was not readable enough.
From this moment, the treasure hunt began. I started looking in every major city in Yunlin for poles that had the same 6-number plate, trying to understand the numbering flow of the poles.
In the centre of the region, in Huwei, we found a pole starting with 295. In the suburb of Dounan, instead, we find one that begins with 312. Near Gukeng, we found 392.

We roughly identified the area. We need to look for our location in the eastern area of Yunlin.

On Route 157 and in the Dapi surroundings, we find some poles with the number 330. We are getting closer.
From this point forward, I began to focus on the other secondary elements that can help us identify our location: pylons, wooded areas, road design, and your like and subscription to my channel.
Obviously, the last two things are a joke, but it would be appreciated so much, so thanks in advance!

Continuing the research, I suddenly ended up on the 158, a road very similar to the one to be identified, whose poles are numbered starting with 310!
I started following the road. I saw some familiar curve signs, then I got lost, then I found a new promising path, then I got lost again, until, finally, I saw the light.
A long straight stretch through the countryside. In the end, a yellow bottom pole.
The number is 320. We are close. I advance a few meters, going after the curve.

Here we are! That's our pole!

We can drop our Pikachu placeholder on the southern 158 and obtain our third and last flag for the GeoGuessr-like challenges.