[Caught Cloyster. Reward: 1x Never-Melt Ice (Millennial Grade).]
The moment Cloyster swallowed the fragrant bait, the cheat ability's notification materialized before him.
"Never-Melt Ice, Millennial Grade? What is this thing, some kind of enhanced version of the regular Never-Melt Ice?"
Caster studied the reward with a thoughtful expression. As soon as his attention settled on it, the item's description appeared.
[Never-Melt Ice: An ice crystal of extreme, primordial cold. Even after a thousand years, it shows no sign of melting. When consumed, it dramatically boosts the power of Ice-type moves.]
Reading the description, Caster gave a quiet nod of understanding.
"Puru!"
Meanwhile, Cloyster, thoroughly pleased with itself after wolfing down the bait, decided that Caster wasn't so bad after all.
This guy was alright.
With that little interlude wrapped up, Lorelei recalled her Cloyster and Caster recalled his Slowpoke. The two of them waved farewell to the Channeler and headed back toward the shore.
"Ride with me on my Lapras!" Lorelei said cheerfully, releasing the great sea turtle as they reached the water's edge.
"I'd appreciate that!" Caster rubbed his hands together and clambered up onto Lapras's back without hesitation.
If Gyarados was the sports model of aquatic mounts, then Lapras was undeniably the executive edition. Its shell was lined with natural ridges that formed what felt like built-in seats and handrails, perfectly suited for riding.
Better yet, its movement through the water was remarkably smooth, without so much as a bump or a jostle.
Lorelei settled on the left side, her pale, long legs draping naturally along the curve of the shell. Caster took the right side, his cheeks a faint shade of pink.
"Bwuh!"
Satisfied that both riders were seated, Lapras let out a proud cry, then began working its flippers to part the waves. White foam bloomed gently along either side of its body, filling the air with a soft, rhythmic rushing sound.
The waters of the Sevii Isles ran a deep, vivid blue, like a gemstone shifting between shades of sapphire. The sea breeze swept across their faces, carrying a clean, salt-tinged freshness that was far from unpleasant.
Lorelei tucked a strand of windswept red hair behind her ear and broke the silence first. "Caster, how much do you know about the Sevii Isles?"
He was close enough to hear her clearly, close enough, in fact, to catch the faint, pleasant scent drifting from her. In the sunlight, her profile was striking: fine and precise, strands of red hair dancing in the wind, her eyes behind the metal-framed glasses calm and deep.
Caster actually knew a fair amount about the Sevii Isles. But given the moment, he didn't hesitate to lie. "Honestly, not that much."
"Then let me give you a quick rundown!" Lorelei turned toward him with a bright smile, her eyes curving into crescents.
Caster stared a beat too long, then caught himself and covered it with a tactical cough.
A gentle older-sister smile like that, with that expression, that warmth — it landed squarely in the chest of an eighteen-year-old boy.
He was not going to survive this trip.
"You've already spent several days on Two Island, so I'll skip that one." Lorelei pointed toward the large island lying even further west. "That's One Island. At its southern tip, there's a small beach where, if you're lucky, you can find rare items like Big Pearls and Star Pieces. People call it Treasure Beach for that reason. To the north, a long, narrow path leads up to Mt. Ember, where a lot of Fire-type Pokémon make their home."
"Three Island is more of an island group, really. It's made up of a main island and a smaller one connected by a rope bridge. It has the highest population of any of the Sevii Isles. Head west and cross that bridge, and you reach the Berry Forest, where all kinds of Berries grow wild for anyone to pick."
She gestured toward Three Island as she spoke, her voice unhurried and easy. "As for Four Island, it's the smallest in the chain. There isn't much to explore on the surface, but the Icefall Cave is something else entirely — the most unique spot in all the Sevii Isles."
A note of quiet pride crept into her expression as she talked about her home. "Almost everywhere else in the Sevii Isles has a strong tropical climate, but the Icefall Cave is a cold, frozen cavern, perpetually buried under heavy ice and snow that never melts. All kinds of Ice-type Pokémon live there."
Caster had heard of the Icefall Cave before, but listening to her now, something stirred at the back of his mind. "A permanent ice cavern in the middle of a tropical climate, ice that never thaws... could there be a Legendary Pokémon inside?"
His thoughts drifted to Articuno, Regice, and Kyurem — the great Ice-type Legendaries. The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.
Articuno especially. It was one of the Legendary birds of the Kanto region.
If Mt. Ember on One Island was known for Moltres sightings, it wasn't much of a stretch to imagine Articuno making its home in the Icefall Cave on Four Island.
"Worth investigating, if I get the chance," Caster thought, quietly filing the idea away.
They continued east, and Lorelei kept talking, island by island.
When she found out Caster enjoyed fishing, she recommended several prime spots, including the Water Labyrinth on Five Island, where Remoraid apparently gathered in large numbers.
"The Water Labyrinth?" Caster raised an eyebrow and played dumb. "Just the name makes it sound like a maze. If someone doesn't know their way around, wouldn't they get hopelessly lost?"
He already knew, of course, that the Water Labyrinth was a stretch of natural rock channels carved into the sea between Five Island and the resort area, notoriously difficult to navigate.
Lorelei smiled. "With the Pokémon you've got? You'd probably be fine."
Caster might be a rookie on paper, but in terms of actual combat ability, he was already pushing Elite Trainer territory. A little water maze wasn't going to slow him down.
Somehow, that only made Caster more disappointed.
Before long, the four of them arrived at Four Island.
It was a small place — only a handful of villages, not even enough to qualify as a proper town, and the population to match.
"Lorelei, you're back!"
The moment they set foot on the island, a cluster of children came rushing over. By any standard, the Sevii Isles were a remote backwater compared to mainland Kanto.
But this little backwater had produced a Pokémon trainer of Elite Four caliber, and to every child on the island, Lorelei was nothing short of a hero.
She greeted them warmly, ruffling hair and offering words of encouragement as the kids swarmed around her.
"Lorelei!"
Then, a young man roughly Caster's age came sprinting over from not far away, his face lit up with excitement.
He threw out a Poké Ball before he'd even fully stopped, practically vibrating with energy. "I'm a real Pokémon Trainer now, Lorelei. And I'm here to officially challenge you!"
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones