Chapter 88 More Outbreaks
After arriving at Crimson Mirelands, Mai is already waiting for them, she says, "It seems a massive mass outbreak has sprung up here in the Crimson Mirelands, too. Let's try to determine if this phenomenon occurs here as it does in the Obsidian Fieldlands."
But before they can say anything, they hear a voice that Ash and Serena hate a lot. "Hey ho, little people! No need to fret - Melli has arrived."
"What do you want?" Mai asks, and judging by her tone, it seems like even Mai doesn't like Melli.
"I heard rumors that you've been investigating "massive mass outbreaks" or some such. But I, Melli, have already solved the mystery! All that remains is to gather evidence." Melli says.
"For some reason, I don't believe whatever you're going to say is right..." Serena mutters.
Not bad, Melli!" Mai says.
"The reason these Pokemon have been mysteriously gathering in rainstorms is..." Melli asks.
"Out with it already, Melli. We don't have much time." Adaman says.
"...to give praise to the great Melli, naturally!" Melli boasts.
"I knew it..." Ash mutters, and the others are shaking their heads as well.
"Don't look so sour, you guys!" Melli says. "I realize it's a difficult truth to accept right away, but the awe I inspire - as both sun and shadow to Adaman - is clearly apparent to Pokemon! And as thanks for your adorable efforts in providing my theory true, I'll give you this generous reward."
He takes out 20 berries, and says, "Go on, take them! They're Aguav Berries - quite a rarity here in Hisui, you know!"
Ash and Serena accept the berries, and Melli adds, "As for why these Pokemon gather during rainstorms - well, that's sure to represent how I'm simply overflowing with wonderful qualities. And with those nuggets of wisdom, I shall be off!"
Once he leaves, Mai sighs, "He was very shy and withdrawn as a child, until one day when he announced he was going to work hard to help Adaman. I was happy to see him grow more optimistic, but I fear he may have taken that to ...extremes."
"You and I both." Adaman sighs.
"But Aguav Berries...Where could he have found them?" Irida asks with confusion.
Just then, Munchlax jumps and snatches 5 berries from Ash, and then he starts to eat it. "What?"
"Munchlax! Did you just eat some of the Aguav Berries?" Mai scolds.
After swallowing them, Munchlax belches, and the five of them just shake their heads until they hear the beeping from the Arc Phone.
"What's this? It looks like your fancy map is responding to Munchlax again." Mai asks.
"Look! All the Pokemon are shown on the map..." Serena says as all the question marks on the map disappears and replaces the Pokemon that can be found in that outbreak.
"Hm. Now the map shows not only outbreak locations, but the Pokemon there as well." Adaman says.
"What does this mean, Munchlax?" Mai turns to her Pokemon, who shrugs.
"So if we feed 5 Aguav Berries for Munchlax every time there is an outbreak, we'll be able to learn more about them?" Irida asks.
"Munchlax...What exactly is it you're trying to get us to understand?" Mai wonders. "Whatever this all means, please investigate three massive mass outbreak locations in the Crimson Mirelands, so we can compare these outbreaks to those we found in the Obsidian Fieldlands."
Then they start to explore the whole area, and they are also surprised to find Pokemon that can be found in the Space-time Distortions, like Cyndaquil and Gengar. As they get into the Solaceon Ruins, they also notice a lot of Unown.
"Oh my god...Unown Mass Outbreak is something that I really don't want to encounter..." Ash mutters.
"But it is a good thing we've already have all 28 of them, so we can just ignore this one." Serena looks at the map.
They are also surprised to see a Spiritomb outbreak and Ursaluna, Lilligant, even Goodra. All of the outbreaks are shocking their minds a lot. Once they are done, they quickly head back to find Mai.
"What happens twice will happen thrice - or so they say. Massive mass outbreaks seem likely to occur in the Cobalt Coastlands and other areas as well..." Mai says. "If that's the case, we can turn our investigation to the Cobalt Coastlands next."
Munchlax growls a little and Mai turns to the Pokemon. "Ah, yes. Munchlax. I know what's been keeping you busy is eating. Don't worry - you'll get your Berries. But I still wonder...What lies behind Munchlax's strange reaction to eating Aguav Berries? How does he know which Pokemon are gathering where during a massive mass outbreak?"
"He's some kinda genius, I assume?" Ash asks.
"Perhaps...Hopefully our investigations will shed some light on this mystery." Mai sighs.
"Well, I've learned some things about massive mass outbreaks myself." Irida says, as they all turn to her.
"I knew the leader of the Pearl Clan could help us!" Mai sighs.
"Mysterious goings-on in vast Hisui pique my interest, after all!" Irida says. "And on top of that, we're friends! I'll always come if you ask for help!"
"Wait a minute, when did you and Mai become friends? Big Sister Irida?" Serena asks.
"We'd seen each other around before, but after talking more at the Harmony Festival, we found we agreed on a lot of things." Mai says.
"Such as how exactly we think Adaman is doing as a leader." Irida says.
"Really? Talking about me behind my back?" Adaman glares at them.
"And we decided we'd help each other out, despite being from different clans." Mai adds.
"Anyway, what I want to say is that...I heard from Iscan and Lina that they'd both seen something that was like a mass outbreak...but stranger! I just brushed it out like that, but now that I think about it...something is not right."
"So what are your thoughts on these massive mass outbreaks, Irida?" Mai asks.
"Well, I wonder what about them causes Pokemon to flock together this way...Perhaps there's been some shift in space because of mighty Palkia's appearance?" Irid asks. "I'd certainly be glad to have more Pokemon around - it would help Hisui flourish...But it's too early to conclude it's all for the best. Hordes of strong Pokemon could be dangerous. I'll be sure to warn Lina to be careful, too!"
Mai nods and she says, "I assume you want to stay here for longer, right? Then I'll head to Jubilife Village once I wrap up a few things here. We can meet at the front gates when it's time to set out on our next investigation."
Mai gives them 20 Apricorns, 30 Black Tumble Stones, and 30 Iron Chunks for them as rewards, and they accept them and leave.
When they arrive at the Diamond Settlement, Irida decides to play the Celestica Flute for the Diamond Clan so that they can hear the melodies their clan holds dear. Ash and Serena watch as to how Irida is blowing the Celestica Flute, and it gathers a lot of the crowd. Because of the Harmony Festival, the Diamond Clan has no more grudges against the Pearl Clan, and they are amazed to see how Irida can blow the flute well.
Once the playing is over, Irida says, "Ash and Serena, can I ask you for a request?"
"What is it?" Serena asks.
"Listen. I...I want to battle mighty Palkia! I want to prove to myself that when the Pearl Clan worshiped mighty Palkia, thinking it was almighty Sinnoh...our belief, at least, was real! Please help me do this! Use the Lustrous Globe to transform mighty Palkia and bring it alone to battle me!"
Serena says, "Are you sure about that? You do realize how strong Palkia is..."
"I want to know mighty Palkia's power firsthand - the power that brought space itself into being!" Irida says, "So please help me out."
"Okay." Ash says, "Serena, you command Palkia, okay?"
Serena nods as she sends out Palkia in its origin form. Irida says, "To step forward into this great wide world takes bravery - and determination!"
She also calls out her three Eeveelutions to fight Palkia. With its power, it is capable of defeating Flareon with just a Hydro Pump, but Glaceon uses Ice Beam to make Palkia frostbitten. Palkia also manages to defeat Espeon with the Spacial Rend, even though it takes a lot of damage from Psychic attack. And eventually, Glaceon is also defeated with Aqua Tail.
"The sheer power of mighty Palkia...It's as unfathomably vast as space itself. I'm in awe before it." Irida sighs.
"That was incredible! Must have been the Pearl Clan's almighty Sinnoh!" They turn to see people from the Diamond Clan watching them.
"Looks like the Pearl Clan's leader can really hold her own in battle, too!"
"Did you hear that? The people of the Diamond Clan praised our almighty Sinnoh...They praised mighty Palkia!"
"Yeah." Ash and Serena nod.
"I want to take the spirit of respecting and cherishing one another and spread it throughout vast Hisui - and I'll do it through battling! I've decided, on behalf of the entire Pearl Clan! We will bring our battles to Jubilife Village's training grounds to let these ideas flourish!"
"That's great." Ash says as Irida gives them an Exp Candy XL and an Ice Stone.
Ash turns to Adaman and asks, "So? Are you going to do the same thing as Irida did?"
"Maybe later, not now." Adaman chuckles a little.
Their final stop is the Brava Arena, where they find Calaba standing there instead of Arezu, since she is at the Hairdresser. Calaba says, "The Lady of the Ridge is doing radiantly well. So child, what do you want to do?"
"We will like to have a rematch with Lilligant." Ash says.
"Then on behalf of Warden Arezu...Lady Lilligant! Kindly honor these challengers with a battle!"
Then Lilligant also arrives with the same glow of light, but that doesn't mean it is frenzied as well. Ash and Serena also fight her by using the balms, just like before. And this time Lilligant are making sure that her attacks aren't fatal, and Ash and Serena also try to dodge every attack that she deals with.
"Still, I can't believe that Calaba would be glad to help out one of the Noble Pokemon in the Diamond Clan." Irida says. "From what I knew, Calaba was the one who didn't like the Diamond Clan at first."
"I know, Ash and Serena are the ones that change her perspective." Adaman says. "I can't be more proud of them."
Once the final balm is hit, Lilligant returns to normal and bows at them, then she just dances off to who knows where.
"Quite the performance. You claimed this victory after 5 minutes. Here, this is from me." She gives them the same reward as Lian. After that's done, she adds, "Also, Warden Arezu had a message for you. She said, "Please keep Lilligant company!"
"We will." Ash and Serna nod.
"Well, it is quite fun to explore this Crimson Mirelands again." Ash says, "But now we should do our next mission."
"You're right." Serena says.
I'll end the chapter right here, and I added the request of battling Irida with only Palkia in the team in this chapter. Not only that, I am not going into full details about the Massive Mass Outbreaks, only stating out the rare ones so that you can try to find them once it occurs. I hope you like this chapter and we will be getting to the Cobalt Coastlands in the next chapter.