"Is this the thing you said you wanted to do, Ash?" Serena murmured softly.
Earlier, Ash had asked them to take the crystals to sell, while he returned to Ah Gong's place, mysteriously hinting at doing something. They thought Ash was up to something, but they didn't expect him to come back to make crystal sculptures for them!
"Yes, I was worried I wouldn't have enough time to do it well, but my talent turned out to be even higher than I expected!" Ash grinned, a hint of relief in his tone.
Ah Gong, standing nearby, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, suppressing a retort with his professional demeanor.
What do you mean "talent is higher than expected"? This can't simply be explained by "high talent", can it!
Anyone ignorant might think Ash was the reincarnation of his father, renowned for his craftsmanship! Ash wasn't learning sculpting; it seemed more like he was awakening a dormant memory of the craft within his body.
Initially, he was quite unskilled, struggling even with the most basic melting and forging techniques, but after just twenty minutes, his movements became fluid, no longer resembling a novice, but rather an expert of many years.
Moreover, the material Ash used was real crystal—the difficulty of refining crystal far exceeds glass, with far stricter requirements on technique.
Despite this, Ash spent only thirty minutes carving two crystal statues that even he couldn't help but marvel at.
To be blunt, sculpting human figures is much more troublesome than sculpting Pokemon—it's exponentially more challenging.
Even if you see them every day, the person must model in front of you for a chance to sculpt it well, or the details will be far off. Human expressions and skin textures are much harder to depict than Pokemon forms.
There are many shops in town that sculpt Pokemon, but nearly none that sculpt human figures. It's simply a thankless task that requires a lot of effort. If, after enduring great hardship, the customer says, "Not satisfied," then all the previous work is wasted.
For Pokemon sculptures, as long as the general essence is there, it's fine; the emphasis is on capturing the Pokemon's life force, and a slightly rough appearance is acceptable. But human figurines are completely different; a slight error can ruin the overall charm.
So when Ah Gong first heard Ash wanted to sculpt human figures, his initial reaction was to stop him — the difficulty is something a beginner, who hasn't even mastered the basics of sculpting, can't handle.
Yet Ash insisted on trying, determined to use the expensive and challenging crystal as material, which seemed to Ah Gong like a waste of money!
Still, Ah Gong couldn't oppose Ash, and since Ash also captured a Crystal Onix and agreed to stay here tonight, allowing him to carefully observe the Crystal Onix's posture, this swap deal was something Ah Gong couldn't refuse.
So, knowing full well Ash was wasting resources, Ah Gong still taught him how to sculpt glass products.
Sculpting crystal and crafting with glass have similarities, though the latter is much simpler; after all, the hardness of glass and crystal are not on the same level. To sculpt and refine on crystal, the difficulty is naturally higher. This was also the reason Ah Gong initially lacked faith in Ash.
In the mere twenty minutes, Ash completely overturned Ah Gong's assumptions—never had he seen someone with such formidable learning ability!
He had already been recognized by his father as a talented individual in glass products, but compared to Ash, he was simply worlds apart.
In those twenty minutes, Ash completely replicated the skills Ah Gong had learned over ten years, and in the final ten minutes, when making those two girl sculptures, he infused them with a soul he himself lacked.
This resulted in the two girl sculptures looking exceptionally lifelike, which was precisely what he was missing.
Ah Gong believed that as long as he could see the Crystal Onix, he could grasp such a profound meaning, but there was no point comparing himself to Ash anymore. How long had he studied glass products? How long had Ash studied sculpting?
Time-wise, there was simply no comparison.
As Ah Gong was lost in self-reflection, Misty and Serena had already taken the two crystal sculptures from Ash's hands.
The texture of these crystal-made sculptures was different from glass, and as their fingertips touched the sculpture surface, they felt this noticeable difference.
Misty held the sculpture that belonged to her, first feeling the unique cool warmth of crystal, unlike ordinary glass that has a certain sharp coldness, it felt instead like touching deep winter ice, but wrapped in a mild tenderness.
Her fingertips brushed over the hair texture on the sculpture, easily feeling the fine, inherent grain of the crystal, unlike the overly smooth and somewhat flimsy feel of glass, instead, it carried a dense, naturally solid weight.
Serena also couldn't put down the sculpture in her hand, her pure blue eyes full of surprise. Although her sculpture wasn't as detailed as Misty's, receiving a sculpture made by Ash was already surprising enough for her.
After all, her relationship with Ash and Misty's relationship with Ash were completely different, one as a companion, the other as a travel partner, how could they be equated?
Ash could still make one for her; this was entirely a pleasant surprise.
"The feel... is completely different from any glass ornament I've seen," Serena couldn't help but say, her tone full of marvel, "Obviously it's also transparent, but it looks gentler and feels nicer."
Misty also nodded in agreement, with her fingertips brushing over the crystal surface of the sculpture's cheek, her eyes full of affection: "Touching glass always feels cold and hard, but this is so gently cool, and when the light hits it, it looks like there are stars inside."
"As long as you both like it."
"Pika Pika~~"
"Um... but you already have one, right? Don't compare with Misty and Serena, okay?"
"Pika Pi!! Pikachu Pika!" Pikachu responded with a very dissatisfied expression, the sculpture Ash mentioned was just an ordinary glass ornament bought from the roadside.
If he didn't have Misty's and Serena's Ash-made sculptures for comparison, Pikachu would still be very satisfied with his ornament, but now… he also wanted one!!
"But there's no extra crystal left, the remaining bit is not enough to make it." Ash spread his hands, saying helplessly.
It's not that he doesn't want to make one, but that there really isn't enough material!
"I still have some because this crystal is very pretty, so I planned to send it home as an ornament. But now that I have this, I don't need it anymore!" Serena, carefully holding her sculpture with one hand, raised the other high like a student answering a question, calling out to Ash as if claiming credit.
"Eh? But that's yours, Serena, I..."
"Oh come on! Ash, you made yours into sculptures for us, so it should naturally be yours! I even feel that the money from selling mine should go to you..."
"Okay, okay, I'll take it. Enough with the money talk. Just give me the crystal." Ash quickly made a pause gesture to interrupt Serena's follow-up words.
To get Serena to accept that money, he and Misty had put in significant effort, and if Serena returned it, then their efforts would be for naught!
"That's right; whatever Ash gives you, just take it directly, talking money is too formal, Serena. You should take the crystal money from Pikachu's little gold stash; Pikachu would be more than happy to lend it to you~" Misty chimed in with a playful smile.
Pikachu patted his little chest, indicating he has money in his stash—essentially, his stash is Ash's money, so it's also a big stash.
Serena was amused by this scene, letting out a laugh, her blush faded somewhat, as she tightened her grip on the crystal, finally not obsessed with the money issue: "Then I'll take it, thanks, Pikachu~"
"Pika Pika~" Pikachu waved his hand, indicating that it was no big deal. As Ash's experienced Teacher Dapi, he could see this new teammate felt differently about Ash, maybe she would become his second female owner, so as one of his own, there was no need to fuss.