Chapter 430:
What was happening in the sky, Kaede didn't know, and even if he did, he would probably just give a light smile.
As far as battles were concerned, his remaining Serperior, Dragonite, Salamence, and Gardevoir weren't really well-suited for fighting Ice-type Pokémon.
Of course, Gardevoir was just too strong.
Leaving Dragonite and Salamence aside, even Serperior was afraid of the cold.
Bringing them along was just Kaede's way of saying he didn't mind having battles.
"Where did your Alolan Ninetales go just now? Why did it suddenly appear from the water?"
"My Mr. Rime couldn't even find its location."
Over on her side, Rosaline had just landed from her Pidgeot and came right up to Kaede. Without any reservation, she asked directly.
"Ahem, you mean Alolan Ninetales... Actually, the moment the Blizzard started, it used Dig to go into the seawater."
"It stayed in the sea the whole time?" Rosaline asked, puzzled.
"That's right. Since it was little, it loved going into the water to catch fish, so it learned to hold its breath for a long time. It also figured out how to form ice crystals in the water to breathe," Hayashi Kaede said with a straight face.
In reality, it was the underwater breathing effect Alolan Ninetales gained after eating that special recipe.
"..."
"How strange."
Although Rosaline was surprised, as a Trainer who had traveled for over a decade, she had seen countless unusual Pokémon. An Alolan Ninetales learning to form ice crystals to breathe underwater sounded far-fetched, but it was still plausible.
"Ninetales~..."
The Alolan Ninetales, which had walked over, heard what Hayashi Kaede said. It thought about how it really learned to breathe underwater, opened its mouth, but ultimately stayed silent.
Rosaline, meanwhile, turned her gaze to Alolan Ninetales. She crouched down and placed a hand on it.
Perhaps because she spent so much time with Ice-type Pokémon, Alolan Ninetales, which usually didn't like strangers touching it, didn't shy away this time.
"The fur is glossy, Ice-type energy is abundant, eyes are clear..."
She murmured to herself while examining it, then looked up at Hayashi Kaede. "What's this Alolan Ninetales' Ability?"
"Snow Warning."
"Snow Warning? The power of this Snow Warning is quite intense. My Froslass's Blizzard isn't even this strong." Looking at Alolan Ninetales, Rosaline grew more and more satisfied. This Alolan Ninetales was perfect in both form and growth potential!
It even had the recently discovered Fairy typing!
It was the perfect counter to Dragon-type Pokémon.
It was the ideal Pokémon in the heart of any Ice-type specialist. Her next planned travel destination had actually been the Alola region, hoping to catch an Alolan Vulpix.
But then Kazephyr introduced that rule about Elite Four members having to recommend outstanding Trainers each year, forcing her to stay put for now.
"How did you raise it?"
Rosaline finally asked the question that had been puzzling her for so long.
For a Trainer dedicated to reaching the pinnacle, seeing a fellow Ice-type Pokémon like this and not knowing the reason would surely keep her up at night.
"Huh?"
Kaede didn't expect an Elite Four member like Rosaline to directly ask for advice.
But as for how it was raised...
Kaede couldn't really explain it either...
He hadn't fed it Rare Candies.
He could only reply, "...Good food, I guess."
"Good food?"
Rosaline was taken aback, then her face turned serious. "You're lying to me."
No amount of good food could make an Alolan Ninetales reach this level in less than a year.
"Uh..." Kaede was utterly helpless. No one believed the truth.
But Rosaline didn't seem angry. She patted Alolan Ninetales's head again and stood up. "But I understand. A training technique like this definitely can't be shared casually."
Kaede: "..."
You understand? You understand too well!
Kaede offered an awkward smile and stayed silent.
The secret that his cooking could grant special effects wasn't actually hard to figure out.
Most Trainers who regularly bought the more expensive Energy Cubes from his Breeding House could probably guess.
Just like Blue in the Kanto region—just by watching short videos, he could guess that the food Kaede made had miraculous effects.
Others had likely figured it out too.
But that didn't mean Kaede would proactively reveal the secret to the public.
If you could guess it, good for you. If you came and asked, he'd just be evasive.
If you tried to take it by force?
Well, sorry, but he had some fighting prowess of his own.
But now, Rosaline stood there, her eyes thoughtful as if pondering something. Kaede wasn't in a hurry and just watched her.
Because he was thinking about a problem too.
He was thinking about what recipe to create as a reward after someone cleared all the sky challenge stages?
According to the younger Indeedee, after Rosaline completed the challenge last time, she only asked if he was there and didn't take any reward.
She said something about the challenge not being for the reward.
But honestly, he hadn't even decided on the final stage's reward yet.
Because so far, no one had cleared the final stage.
The two of them stood quietly on the ice, which was pure torture for Satoshi up above.
He didn't know what they were talking about just now, and even now that they were closer, he didn't dare fly down.
But the earlier Ice-type Pokémon battle had already been hard on him. His Aegislash had expended a lot of energy and seemed injured.
Plus, so much time had passed. He had no idea where the cruise ship was by now.
If Aegislash ran out of stamina later, wouldn't he be stranded?
The livestream viewers kept telling him to wait a bit longer, that maybe they'd start fighting again?
But finally, in this tense atmosphere, the two below moved.
...
"Elite Four Rosaline?"
Kaede couldn't come up with a reward idea right away. He figured he'd just prepare a good dish later and see how it turned out. If nothing else, he could reward her with a barrel of Grepa Berry Wine and some fine wine chocolates.
Wasn't Mr. Rime a Psychic-type too?
"Hmm?"
"The battle's over. Should we head back?"
Kaede reminded her.
There was no other way. She didn't have a Flying-type Pokémon. He couldn't just leave her here, could he?
"Oh, sure."
Actually, the problem Rosaline had been pondering was her next direction, or her path forward. Her original plan to travel to the Alola region was scrapped because the League there wasn't fully established yet, and there was no proper League Conference. Compared to that, she wanted to uncover the secrets behind raising an Alolan Ninetales.
So, she needed to find a way to stay in Aogiri Town.
That wasn't too hard to figure out.
Within the Eastova League, there just happened to be a shortage of Ice-type Gyms, right?