"No!"
But to Caster's surprise, Lorelei actually refused, shaking her head and saying, "Stay right where you are. I'll come pick you up at Cape Brink."
With that, she hung up.
"She's coming to pick me up herself? That's way too considerate!"
The thought made Caster grin to himself.
The various islands of the Sevii Archipelago weren't far apart, and Two Island and Four Island were practically within sight of each other.
Sure enough, before long Caster spotted a Pokémon gliding across the distant water toward him: blue-bodied, with a grey shell on its back covered in uneven ridges and bumps.
It was Lapras, the Water/Ice-type Pokémon!
And perched cross-legged on Lapras's back was a strikingly beautiful woman with red hair and a pair of sleek metal-framed glasses that could stop anyone in their tracks.
"Lorelei!"
Caster waved enthusiastically from the rocky shore of Cape Brink.
Lapras truly lived up to its reputation as the finest Pokémon for ocean travel. It moved swiftly through the water, yet its body remained perfectly steady, without so much as a ripple of turbulence.
In no time at all, Lapras glided up to the rocky shoreline.
Click, click.
The sharp tap of high heels rang out against the stone as Lorelei stepped off. Those long, elegant legs of hers were impossible to ignore.
"Return, Lapras!"
Watching Lorelei recall her Lapras, Caster stepped forward with a wide grin. "Long time no see, Lorelei. All done with the business over at Hutber Port?"
"Yes. I staked out that area for over half a month without a single sighting of a giant Tentacruel. Staying any longer felt pointless, so I applied to the League to come back."
Lorelei adjusted the metal frames on her nose and smiled. "Wait here a moment, Caster. I'd like to go pay my respects to the Priest first. He was something of a teacher to me, in a way."
As Lorelei explained, Caster learned that she had spent a period of time training under the old Priest when she was young.
The two of them walked together to the small cottage at the tip of the cape to visit him.
The moment he saw Lorelei, the Priest immediately put on a pot of tea to welcome her.
While the two of them caught up, Caster took the opportunity to let out his Slowpoke and feed it some Pokémon food.
"Wait, is that a red Slowpoke?"
Lorelei paused mid-sip, her eyes lighting up the moment she spotted the little Slowpoke.
The difference between pink and red wasn't enormous, but Lorelei was an Elite Four member. Her eye was razor-sharp, and she could tell at a glance that this little Slowpoke was no ordinary one.
Click.
At that very moment, one of the Poké Balls in Lorelei's pocket snapped open on its own.
A burst of red light flared and resolved into an enormous shell.
It was one of Lorelei's main Pokémon: Cloyster!
"Bwoh..."
The moment Cloyster appeared, it sniffed the air several times, its eyes filling with a glazed, entranced look.
Caster's expression shifted immediately.
He knew exactly what had happened: Cloyster had caught the scent of the sweet aroma drifting from Slowpoke's tail.
The little Slowpoke had been suppressing that scent, but Lorelei's Cloyster was simply too powerful. Even the faintest trace was enough to escape Cloyster's detection.
"Bwoh..."
And sure enough, Cloyster quickly locked its gaze onto the little Slowpoke's tail, the very source of that irresistible fragrance.
A low, longing sound escaped Cloyster's throat.
Cloyster's expression turned utterly enchanted. It opened its shell and lunged toward Slowpoke's tail.
The whole thing appeared slow, but in reality it happened in barely a second or two. Caster had no time to grab his Poké Ball and recall Slowpoke, let alone try to intervene.
And even if he had, it wouldn't have mattered. Given Cloyster's sheer power, not even Gyarados being on the scene, or Slowpoke throwing itself in the way, could have stopped it.
Fortunately, Slowpoke's tail could regenerate. Losing a piece wouldn't be the end of the world, though it would take a toll on Slowpoke's vitality.
What surprised Caster, however, was that Slowpoke's scream never came.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Cloyster had been frozen in place less than a finger's width from Slowpoke's tail, unable to advance another inch.
Beside Lorelei stood a Pokémon that hadn't been there a moment before: entirely pink, walking upright on two legs, with creamy-colored stripe markings across its belly and a top-shaped shell dangling from its tail, covered in sharp spines and dark patterned markings.
It was Slowbro, the Water/Psychic-type Pokémon!
Slowbro's eyes now glowed with a faint blue light, and a tremendous wave of psychic energy surged out from its body. It was Slowbro that had frozen Cloyster in place.
As an Elite Four member, Lorelei had clearly reacted far faster than Caster. The instant Cloyster forced its way out of its Poké Ball, she had already released Slowbro.
"Bwoh..."
Held in place by Slowbro, and caught under Lorelei's ice-cold stare, Cloyster felt the primal urge stirring inside it begin to subside. Its eyes cleared.
It folded both halves of its shell shut, as though too ashamed to show its face.
"I'm so sorry, Caster. I hope we didn't startle you and your Slowpoke!"
Lorelei rose quickly and bowed to both Caster and the little Slowpoke. "To be honest, my Cloyster has never acted like this before."
Despite being an Elite Four member, Lorelei was warm and entirely unassuming outside of battle, without an ounce of arrogance.
"Lorelei, your reaction was incredible," Caster said, waving off her apology and reassuring her that everything was fine.
He knew it wasn't Cloyster's fault. Slowpoke's tail was simply too irresistible.
What shell-type Pokémon could resist that kind of temptation?
The fact that Cloyster calmed down so quickly after being stopped was already remarkable in itself.
Besides, no real harm had been done when all was said and done. It had been a scare, nothing more.
Even though Caster held no grudge, Lorelei continued to apologize. Then she added, "Caster, you're heading to the Icefall Cave, aren't you? I can authorize you to catch any Pokémon there freely, except for Lapras."
"Wait, why not Lapras?"
Caster blinked in confusion.
He had been eyeing Lapras for a long time now. Finding out it was off the table was a genuine disappointment.
"Lapras is a highly intelligent Pokémon with a gentle heart. It's highly resistant to cold and completely unafraid of icy seas. Its intellect is advanced enough to understand human language, and it loves ferrying people across the ocean. When it's in a good mood, it's said to sing in a beautiful voice."
Lorelei sighed and explained, "But precisely because it rarely fights back, it was captured in massive numbers and once came dangerously close to extinction. Because of that, the League established protected reserves in several locations, and the Icefall Cave is one of them. Catching Lapras inside the Icefall Cave is strictly prohibited."
Seeing the disappointment on Caster's face, Lorelei smiled warmly and added, "That said, based on my research, the conservation efforts in recent years have been very effective. Not only has the Lapras population recovered, there are actually signs it may be getting out of hand. In areas where Lapras have become too numerous, the populations of Fish-type Pokémon have dropped noticeably."
"So I've already submitted a proposal to the League to remove the special protections on Lapras. Whether it takes a month or several, the new legislation should pass through the League's approval before long. After that, there will no longer be any restrictions on catching Lapras. For now, though, it's still not permitted."
Caster shook his head with a helpless smile. "Sounds like I came at just the wrong time."
The group chatted a while longer after that.
Eventually, Lorelei prepared to take her leave and brought out her Poké Balls to recall Cloyster and Slowbro.
Looking at Cloyster curled in on itself, Caster felt a sudden spark of inspiration. "Lorelei, wait a moment!"
Lorelei wasn't sure what he had in mind, but she obliged and held off on recalling her Pokémon.
Seeing both Lorelei and the Priest looking at him curiously, Caster quickly explained, "I know Cloyster is completely drawn in by the sweet scent from Slowpoke's tail. My little Slowpoke's tail isn't something I can let it eat, but letting it have a little taste of the sweetness should be fine."
With that, Caster took out his fishing gear and bait, then held the bait up to Slowpoke's tail. "Slowpoke, can you give off a bit of that sweet scent?"
"Sure!"
Slowpoke nodded, and its tail immediately began to release that irresistible fragrance, with shimmering, crystalline sweet liquid seeping out.
"Bwoh! Bwoh! Bwoh!"
The moment it caught the scent, Cloyster's shell snapped back open, and it looked up with a desperate, yearning expression.
This was pure instinct. Cloyster could suppress it, but couldn't eliminate it entirely.
"Go ahead, Cloyster."
Caster held the bait up to Cloyster's mouth, smiling cheerfully.
The rewards from his cheat ability were calculated based on a combination of factors, but strength was undeniably the most important one.
As one of an Elite Four member's main Pokémon, Cloyster's power was beyond question.
Caster was genuinely curious: just how generous would the reward be for reeling in this Cloyster?
"Bwoh..."
Cloyster glanced sideways at Lorelei. Seeing no sign of objection, it opened wide and swallowed the bait whole, savoring every trace of Slowpoke tail sweetness soaked into it.
Absolutely divine!!!
[Cloyster successfully reeled in. Reward: Never-Melt Ice x1.]
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones