Chapter 63 Post Alabaster Icelands Part 3
Before leaving Heart's Crag, they find alpha Gardevoir in the area as they quickly capture it.
Gardevoir's Research Tasks: Number caught:1,2,4,6,10 Number of alpha specimens caught:1,2,3 Number defeated:1,2,4,6,10 Number of you've defeated with Steel-type moves:1,2,3 Times you have seen it use Dazzling Gleam:1,3,6,12,25 Times you have seen it use Psychic:1,3,8,20,40 Times you've seen it use an agile style move:1,3,8,20,40
Hisui Dex Entry No.103 Gardevoir: The Embrace Pokémon: Psychic- and Fairy-type. Evolve from Kirlia at LV:30. It will dedicate itself to defending a master it has come to adore. Its pure white dress, reminiscent of those worn by ladies of nobility, is the dress of one who is willing to risk their life.
They walk on the Alabaster Icelands and find a man named Brice, and he says, "I came to set up another base camp, but I don't spy Craig from the Construction Corps...I told him to meet me near the base of the falls here in the Alabaster Icelands, so where is he? He's not the type to usually get lost, so I'm honestly a bit worried...Do me a favor? Would you find Craig for me?"
"Sure." Ash and the group decide to search for him on the other side of the fall, and he is there. Craig says, "Two of the Survey Corps, aren't you? Well, this is fortuitous. Have you seen Brice? Brice from the Supply Corps? He's the one who told me to meet him at the base of the falls, and yet he hasn't shown."
"We met him, and he is on the other shore across the river over there." Ash points at the shore, and he says, "I'm glad you came around, or I might've been waiting here till I turned into a block of ice. I'll hurry off to find Brice, then, so we can get that camp up and running in no time!"
After rushing back to where Brice is, he says, "Brrr! It's cold as a Cubchoo's snot out here! How do those Pearl Clan people stand it?"
"Excuse me? We live here for a lot of years..." Irida says while rolling her eyes.
"Boy, do I owe you for finding Craig for me. Now we can finally get things set up..." Brice says.
After waiting for a while to see them setting up the base, Brice says, "And here you have it: our newest base camp! Stop by anytime you need!"
Laventon also brings a lot of staff here and he is shivering, "Goodness, I don't know how the Pokemon living in this frigid place find the energy to dash about as they do...Do they have a nice layer of insulating fat, perhaps...? There must be some trick to it!"
"I agree." Adaman nods.
One of the staff members here is the balloon race man, and he says, "I tell you, there's no better way to stave off the cold than to run around and burst balloons! I run the balloon race in these parts. Would you care to have a go? You just need to burst as many of my adorable balloons as possible while riding a Pokemon. It's a blast, really! If you manage to burst, say, 30 balloons, well, that'd be an impressive start! How about it, kids? Want to play?"
Ash says, "Serena, do you want to do it or I?"
Serena says, "You do it, Ash. I know you can do it. Just don't be reckless."
Ash nods, and the man continues, "There are a total of 50 balloons on the course! Let's see how many of them you can burst in 2 minutes! Now, get out there and get bursting!"
Ash is now struggling a lot as he has to change from Wyrdeer to Sneasler, and then go into the water with Basculegion and then fly into the air with Braviary. And he has to make sure he holds onto Braviary tight so that he won't fall to his doom. And he gets the final balloon in the last second, much to his relief.
"Welcome back! You burst...50 balloons! A perfect score! Here are your rewards!" He gives them three Nuggets and a Grit Rock. He adds, "And whaddya know? You beat my target of bursting at least 30 balloons! Well done, you!"
Adaman says, "That sure is very intense."
"I agree." Irida says, "There are some times I thought Ash would have lost his life for sure..."
After that's done, Brice has another request for them. "It's so cold, I can't even feel my fingers...I can't work like this! I just want to earn my way up through the ranks! But to do that, I've got to at least warm myself up enough to feel my fingers...Do you think you could bring me a Pokemon that's good at manipulating flames? Then it could keep our fire roaring for me."
"Sure, we have another Magmar that we can give you." Ash says as they give him the Pokemon.
"I'm already feeling much warmer, thanks to this Pokemon of yours. Now I can focus on my work! Though...now that I'm so warm and comfortable, I seem to ... *yawn*...find my eyelids dropping..."
Then they see that the man falls asleep, and they have to wake him up. "Gahk! N-no! I wasn't sleeping! I swear!"
Brice then gives them 3 Full Restores and an Exp. Candy L, and then they decide to head back to Jubilife Village.
After getting back to the Galaxy Hall, they realize that Zeke is panicking again, and they know what is going to happen.
"Now here's the people I was hoping for! Wanda's constant saviors, Ash and Serena! I'm afraid the day has finally come...This time Wanda couldn't even find her way back from the Obsidian Fieldlands, right on our own doorstep!"
"Seriously? I thought she would be at Alabaster Icelands..." Serena mutters.
"It's practically our own backyard, right? She should know her way around, so I'm worried that something happened to her. I'd really appreciate some help from you and that Ursaluna. Use the scent from Wanda's raggedy old kerchief and search her out for me!"
"Just great..." Ash mutters as they all go to the Obsidian Fieldlands.
After picking up her scent, they find her at Nature's Pantry as she is surrounded by three Paras. "Eeeeekkk! HELP! Oh, please! I don't wanna sprout mushrooms!"
Ash has Staraptor and Gliscor help her chase away the Paras, and after making sure she's safe, Wanda says, "Th-th-THANK YOU! I swear I'd never survive here in Hisui without you as teammates! I came to patrol because I know some of the villagers come out here to hunt for mushrooms. While keeping an eye out for them, I ended up hunting around a bit myself for some finds...but the mushrooms ended up hunting m-me..."
"Yeah, and your brother has to ask us to look for you again." Ash says.
"I guess my brother is probably a mess worrying about me again, huh? But you're so good at battling...Probably even better suited to the Security Corps than I am!" Wanda says as they head back to the Galaxy Hall.
Zeke finds them and he says, "Thank you for saving Wanda yet again! I'm so glad we've got the Survey Corps to rely on. I was chilled to my marrow when I heard my sister was caught up in a Pokemon attack this time...If only she could just get herself assigned to patrolling the village for a while, nice and safe..."
He gives them 3 Star Pieces this time, and they put it into the satchel and leave. They stop by Radisa's store and she has another request.
"I've come up with the perfect pickle recipe thanks to Geodude. Aren't you curious?" Radisa asks.
"We're curious about that." Ash says.
"Tell you what, my dear - help me gather the ingredients, and I'll teach you the recipe! I'll need two hunks of Crunchy Salt, two pods of Plump Beans, and two bunches of King's Leaf."
Ash and Serena manage to buy the ingredients from the Ginkgo Guild and the Craftshop, and they manage to bring them back to Radisa. "Lovely! I already have the Sand Radishes I need, so let's get pickling!"
Now they start to work on the pickles as they mix all the ingredients together, after putting them into the giant pot, Radisa says, "Now for the final step - all we need to do is place Geodude on top of the pot, and it's done!"
But just as Geodude moves towards the pot, it starts to glow white, Radisa gasps, "What in the world?!" The light dies down and a Graveler appears in front of them.
"Gosh! Geodude changed shape!" Radisa says. "Is this that "Evolution" business I've heard people talk about? And what about the pickles?"
After Graveler jumps down from the pot, Radisa decides to taste the pickles, and she says, "Oh my. This is twice as good as I expected! I'll call it...the Twice-Spiced Radish! It truly is the perfect pickle dish. Why, with the help of Pokemon, there are no limits to what a cook can accomplish! Thank you so much for helping me out!"
Then she gives them the Twice-Spiced Radishes and the recipe so that they can try to make them, and after tasting them, Adaman says, "This sure is a nice taste."
"But I can feel my mouth burning a little..." Irida mutters.
And before getting back to the Galaxy Hall, they find a Ginkgo Guild member named Mani and he says, "Ah, if it isn't our beloved customers. Might I trouble you to help me with a little survey work?"
"What is it?" Serena asks.
"In my family, we've always passed down tales of some ancestor that lived in a village around the Avalanche Slopes. But I've never been able to find any hint of such a settlement ever existing. I'm beginning to doubt the tales are true. But everyone wants to know about where they came from, don't they? So help me out. See if you can find any evidence people ever lived around the Avalanche Slopes."
Ash and Serena nod as they go back to Alabaster Icelands for the request, and they get to the place to find two Snorunt. Both of them quickly run away after seeing them, and they find a torn Journal they have left.
"Feburary 5. I was on my way back to the village when a blizzard blew in. I decided to take refuge for the night in one of the mountain huts. I awoke at dawn due to some noise. Before me stood a ... ...arbed in a fine kimono...Our eyes met, and...beauty stole the breath fro... my breast - yet it...s a terrible beauty, frighten...to be hold...I cl...d my eyes in terror, waiting for th...to move on and lea...me in peace. When ...ext I open my eyes, the ... had disappear... ...leaving behind nothi... but the driven...s..." Serena says.
"The rest of the pages seem to be missing." Adaman says. "I wonder if those Snorunts took them."
They chase after the Snorunt, and suddenly, the two of them yell, and a Froslass appears in front of them, it starts to attack them, but Ash has Glalie defeat it with the Crunch attack. After they fled, the missing pages are now on the ground.
"September 1. It's hard to believe it's been ...years now since...and I began living together in the ...large. I was flipp... through my old journal entries today and...opened to be reminded of th...I met once...In an odd way...reminds me of the ...that I met that day. But I remind myself th...I live in the real world, not in a ...rld of old fairy tales. Surely such things c... be true... January 3. Why did I do it? Why d... I have to remember that...? Why speak of ... to my dear...? I regret so m... ...t it's too late for reg... now... ...is gone. I have lost ... forever, I know it, ...disappeared, leavi...behind nothing but the driving snow... Oh woe, why did I ...er speak of it? If only I h... held my tongue, kept my ...silence, I wouldn't have ever been ...ed to know...such grief..." Serena finishes reading.
No one says a thing as they bring the journal back to Mani of the Gingko Guild. He says, "Did you find any trace of a settlement that might once have been around the Avalanche Slopes?"
"We found this." Ash says as he tries to find the old journal, only to find that it is not in the satchel. "Strange...the journal is missing!"
"What? You say you found an old journal but now it's gone? And you got it from...a Pokemon? Well, don't leave me in suspense! What in the world did it say?" Mani asks, and Serena manages to remember everything and say it to him.
"That lines up exactly with the stories I heard from my old gran about the village...Which means that it's true! My ancestors really did come from a village that once existed there! You have no idea how many years I've wondered if I could believe those old tales or not. I really owe you a great deal for looking into this for me and clearing up my doubts."
Then he gives them a Dawn Stone as a reward, he adds, "But you still have to wonder...Why would a Pokemon be carrying an old journal that once belonged to a human? And you say it disappeared? I almost wonder if somehow, it returned to that Pokemon again..."
Ash and Serena shiver a little before leaving the basement to check out more requests.
I'll end the chapter here, and they finish 6 more requests right now. The next chapter will be more Pokemon researching and doing requests.