Chapter 41:

Icy Takes on Old Friends

Location: Tapu Village

Still suffering a bit from the heatstroke, I took Professor Kukui's advice to take it easy for today. Man, a desert is hot enough but a desert in a tropical setting is just too much. I decided to sit outside in the shade with Hau, who had since caught up.

The Tapu Village was located at the foot of Mt. Lanakila, which is where the Pokémon League was being built. Even in the warm region of Alola, the cold air could be felt coming down. Apparently, snow would occasionally fall here.

"Taking on Haina Desert," Hau said. "You have real guts."

"I guess so," I replied. "Maybe I should leave it to the experts though."

"Maybe not," Hau said. "You took a risk, and who knows; you might need to take it again! After all, Tapu Bulu is at the other end. And if you need help from this Heinrich guy, he will certainly help! I met him on the way here, he's a nice guy."

Hau was right. He was certainly nice; he just let's ambition get in the way of common sense sometimes.

"Ah, there you are!" We saw Samson Oak walking towards us. "Why don't you two steps out in the sun aye?"

"Not a great plan," Hau said, turning his attention to me. "Someone went exploring in Haina Desert yesterday and got sunstroke, so we're taking the day off to heal."

Samson Oak smiled. "Woo. That is daring. Okay, I understand. I'm here researching the Ice Types."

Honestly, it amazed me that Alola had Ice Types. Alola. The region of permanent summer. The only Ice Types I had seen were Delibird, Glaceon and Vanillite, all of which belonged to Trainers.

"Look!" Hau said as a Vulpix darted out of the grass. Well, I say it was a Vulpix. It was white and fluffy.

Vulpix (ロコン) (Alolan form)

#330

Ice Type

Fox Pokémon

2'00" (0.6 m)

21.8 lbs (9.9 kg)

It exhales air colder than -58֯F (-50֯C). Elderly people in Alola call this Pokémon by an older name-Keokeo.

"Wow," I said. I looked up to Mt. Lanakila with all the construction work going on at the top. "I'm still amazed."

"Look!" Hau said. "Another Pokémon!" Out came a Sandshrew, but with a round back made of ice. It looked like a walking igloo.

Sandshrew (サンド) (Alolan Form)

#328

Ice/Steel Type

Mouse Pokémon

2'04" (0.7 m)

88.2 lbs (40 kg)

An ancient tradition of Alolan festivals, still carried on to this day, is a competition to slide Sandshrew across ice as far as one can.

"Interesting," I said. "Hey Oak, how long will Acerola be?"

"She'll be here by the end of tomorrow, but she needs to set everything up first. If you want to pass the time, maybe go to the Aether House on Route 15? It's to the west of here!"

"Sounds good," I replied.

"Aether Houzze it izz! Roto!"

"Yeah…" I said weakly. "I… think I might need to go back inside for some Vanillite treatment."

"You do that!" said Samson Oak. "I can assure you that recovery will be close to complete tomorrow; you'll be able to continue your journey!"

"Great," I replied.

Rotom's Move Dex!

Poor Elliott, Roto. But hey, we got to see some Izze Typezz! Zzt zzt! So, it'zz time for an Ice Type move!

Sheer Cold!

We have a firzzt for thizz show; a One Hit KO move! Roto! Sheer Cold, if it hitzz, knockzz out the oppozzing Pokémon! But that'zz if it hitzz. Whilzzt it only hazz an accurazzy of 30, if the oppozzing Pokémon izz at a higher level, it will alwayzz mizz. Roto. Oh, and don't even think about uzzing it on opozzing Ice Typezz; they won't feel a thing!

Pokémon that can uzze Sheer Cold include Alolan Ninetales, Lapras and Glalie!

I think that would be too cold even for Elliott! Roto!