Chapter 82: Witnessing Legends in the Wind and Rain
Chapter 82: Witnessing Legends in the Wind and Rain
At 7 PM, the rain poured heavily outside the window.
Naoki stood in the kitchen, taking out a bag of specially-enriched soil he had purchased from the Zichin Market. He began preparing a strengthening meal exclusively for his group of Salazzle.
Behind him was a heartwarming scene.
Mini-Vileplume swayed gently in her flower pot, leisurely observing the events unfolding.
Frosty the Snover, along with the five Salazzle, scampered across the wooden floor, their cheerful chirps filling the room.
Butterfree landed atop a cabinet, relishing this joyful moment.
The three Ride Sheep lazily chewed on their Grass Dumplings by the bed, while Buu, their companion, scurried around them, seemingly up to something.
Gourmetron and Motostalks lounged on the ground, awaiting their dinner.
Meanwhile, the Pidgeot stood at the door, gazing out at the pouring rain, deep in thought.
Noticing this, Naoki turned his attention back to the task at hand.
Tonight's dinner was almost ready. With this final special dish, they could officially begin their meal.
He focused all his attention on the flour-like soil before him.
Although it resembled soil, its appearance was more akin to finely ground flour.
This "flour" reminded Naoki of a particular cooking technique—stir-frying.
After a moment's thought, he poured the soil into a pan and added an appropriate amount of rock salt, stir-frying the mixture.
While this soil could be fed directly to the Salazzle, it wouldn't exhibit any of its magical properties without being cooked.
Every time he thought about this, Naoki imagined himself as an alchemist, not a chef, infusing food with magical properties.
Shaking his head to dispel these odd thoughts, he continued cooking. Gradually, the rock salt and soil fused, releasing a subtle savory aroma.
To humans, the scent wasn't particularly enticing.
But to the Salazzle, it was irresistibly alluring.
The Salazzle, who had been frolicking around the room, suddenly stopped upon catching a whiff of the aroma. They began chirping excitedly, "Salt! Salt!" as they gathered around, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.
What is that delicious smell?
Seeing that the dish was almost ready, Naoki turned off the heat and transferred the stir-fried soil into the prepared food bowls.
As he bent down, information about the dish appeared in his mind.
[Stir-Fried Soil with Rock Salt (Grade B-)
: A special dish made by mixing mineral-rich soil with nutritious rock salt. May be favored by certain Pokemon.
Dish Effects: Salty lv1—Slightly improves the quality of rock salt produced by Salazzle.
Special Effects: Strengthen lv1—Slightly enhances the physical strength of Salazzle.
Evaluation: A creatively concocted dish! Preparing Pokemon cuisine using human cooking techniques is an interesting approach!]
"Huh?" Naoki exclaimed, surprised by what he read.
Two effects from one dish...
To be honest, he wasn't too surprised by the first effect, but the second effect, [Strengthen], truly astonished him.
Naoki couldn't help but think of the Grass Dumplings that the Ride Sheep enjoyed. Aside from helping them understand Grass-type moves, those dumplings didn't seem to have any other additional benefits.
But now...
The Salazzle were eagerly awaiting their treat.
Seeing their anticipation, Naoki placed the bowl of stir-fried soil on the ground.
The five Salazzle immediately surrounded it, eagerly digging in.
As they feasted, Naoki fell into deep thought.
Soon, a possible explanation came to mind.
As everyone knew, Salazzle were born in underground rock salt layers, and their unique characteristic of leaving salt traces wherever they walked indicated that their bodies were mostly composed of rock salt.
Therefore, this stir-fried soil dish not only improved the quality of the rock salt they produced but also strengthened their physical constitution.
Understanding this, Naoki's doubts vanished.
What a fantastic dish!
He wondered what kind of "monster" Pokemon these five Salazzle would become if he fed them this soil regularly.
After all, he had seen the impact of the Grass Dumplings on the Ride Sheep.
Intrigued, Naoki decided to make another trip to the Zichin Market after the typhoon passed to see if he could purchase a large quantity of this soil from the same seller.
"Azalia Town..." Naoki thought, recalling the town that produced this unique soil. "I should visit there sometime."
Azalia Town was renowned in the Paldea region for its abundant mineral resources.
It was said that the Celebratory Armor and Mystical Armor, which enabled the evolution of Coalittle, were discovered deep within the mines of Azalia Town.
Naoki had learned about this incident from a TV program called "Unusual Stories of the Paldea Region."
After preparing dinner, Naoki served the meals and called over his Pokemon to begin their feast.
Once the dinner was over, the wind and rain outside intensified.
Pidgeot gazed at the scene, feeling a sense of longing.
On a day like this, if it ventured outside, could it learn a new move like it did last time? With this thought, Pidgeot turned to look at Naoki expectantly.
Naoki was sitting cross-legged on the bed, grooming the Ride Sheep.
Although the Ride Sheep lived outdoors, their bodies were remarkably clean, and instead of the typical goat smell, their brown fur exuded a faint fragrance of grass.
Hearing Pidgeot's call, Naoki turned his head.
Soon, he understood what Pidgeot wanted.
After some contemplation, he said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt."
Pidgeot's eyes lit up instantly. "Pidgeot!" It knew it!
A move that could be practiced in a typhoon...
The first move that came to Naoki's mind was the Flying-type move Hurricane, with a whopping power of 110.
Hurricane: Sweep your opponents away with a fierce gust of wind, sometimes causing them to become confused.
In the games, aside from a slightly lower accuracy, this move had almost no drawbacks. It boasted tremendous power and even had a chance to confuse the opponent.
However, in reality, it was a different story.
The move clearly screamed "large-scale AOE skill."
Naoki explained the move's basics to Pidgeot.
"Do you want to give it a try? The weather outside is terrible; maybe it's not a good idea," Naoki asked.
But Pidgeot shook its head, refusing the suggestion.
It looked determined as it said, "Pidgeot!"
Pidgeot, as a species, was naturally unfazed by wind and rain, and it was for this very reason that they were often the saviors of ships caught in storms at sea.
Every Pidgeot had to go through such a storm.
This was an oral tradition among the Pidgeots on Pidgeot Island, and it was said that only those who truly mastered hurricanes and rainstorms could become the kings among Pidgeots.
Seeing this, Naoki felt helpless. He got up from the bed, intending to accompany Pidgeot to witness its attempt. "Alright then, let's go!"
However, Pidgeot stopped him.
It extended its chubby claw and pushed Naoki back onto the bed, saying seriously, "Pidgeot!"
After the previous incident where Naoki fell ill, Pidgeot was worried that he might get sick again if he went out in the rain. That was why it refused to let him come along this time.
Understanding Pidgeot's concern, Naoki was deeply touched. He reached out and patted Pidgeot's head gently.
It was truly heartwarming! This Pidgeot had initially followed him back to the ranch purely for the sake of becoming stronger.
Now, it was gradually adapting to and blending into the ranch life, and it had even learned to care for him.
Did this mean that their bond had grown deeper? Naoki wondered.
"Pidgeot?" Pidgeot looked at him, slightly confused.
Naoki stood up, patted Pidgeot's shoulder firmly, and said, "Since that's the case, off you go! I'll wait for you here at the ranch with the others. Be careful and come back safely!"
Hearing these words, Pidgeot's eyes shone with determination. "Pidgeot!"
Before departing, Naoki took out a Lucky Pudding from the refrigerator and fed it to Pidgeot, hoping to boost its luck for the day and aid in its attempt to learn Hurricane.
Pidgeot opened its big mouth and swallowed the pudding in one go. Then, it walked out of the room and into the pouring rain. It turned and waved its claw at Naoki.
With its small wings flapping gently, Pidgeot soared into the sky.
Naoki stood under the eaves, watching Pidgeot disappear into the distance, before turning back into the room.
Naoki sat on the carpet, leaning against one of the fluffy Ride Sheep, and turned on the TV to pass the time.
However, due to the bad weather, the TV signal was poor, and all he could see was static.
Naoki: "..."
Looks like watching TV was out of the question.
But if he went to sleep now, he probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep either, as he had taken a nap in the afternoon and wasn't feeling sleepy at all.
"I should've bought a few books from the bookstore," Naoki thought with some regret.
With nothing else to do, he lay on the bed, idly wondering if Pidgeot would succeed in learning Hurricane this time.
Naoki jolted awake, the sound of the storm outside pulling him from his slumber.
Finding the room pitch black, he assumed Garchomp had turned off the lights, so he fumbled around to turn them back on.
However, when he flipped the switch, the lights didn't come on.
"Looks like there's a power outage," Naoki muttered to himself.
He groped for a flashlight and, after shining it around the room, asked, "Garchomp, you haven't seen Pidgeot yet, have you?"
"Garch!"
Garchomp nodded its large head.
Hearing this, Naoki frowned, a sense of worry creeping into his heart. "It's been such a long time. I hope nothing bad has happened."
"Gaarch..."
Garchomp yawned lazily, completely unconcerned.
Meanwhile, far away, several kilometers out at sea...
A draconic roar echoed as Garchomp's body was enveloped in a swirling cyclone of air, and it dove once more into the eye of the typhoon.
The usually azure ocean had turned pitch black, and towering waves now crashed upon its surface, where once there had been calm.
The distant horizon had all but vanished, the sea and sky blending into one.
Thick, dark clouds shrouded the sky, forming a massive, spectacular spiral cloud wall that plummeted vertically from the heavens under the cyclone's influence.
These clouds blotted out the sun, stretching endlessly, with no hint of light to be seen.
Amidst this apocalyptic scene, Garchomp's body seemed minuscule, like that of an ant.
This was Garchomp's umpteenth attempt to breach the eye of the storm.
Despite the fierce winds carving wounds into its body, Garchomp refused to give up, its pride and determination burning fiercely.
It would conquer this tempest, pushing forward with all its might to reach the center, the eye of the typhoon!
Garchomp poured on the speed, surging forward.
As it drew closer, the surrounding storm grew more ferocious and violent, the immense forces threatening to overwhelm it. Garchomp's body was buffeted and sent reeling backward for dozens of meters.
"Roaargh!"
A roar escaped Garchomp's mouth as it flapped its wings to steady itself. Memories of the past and images of Naoki flashed through its mind.
Its eyes shone with determination.
Then, with a mighty surge, it lunged forward once more.
Naoki's words rang in Garchomp's ears.
"To successfully use a move, you must first understand its power and learn to control the energy."
"If you don't succeed the first time, we'll just try again. Eventually, you'll get it."
"As long as you don't give up and keep trying, one day, all humans and Pokemon in the world will look up to you!"
Garchomp plunged back into the heart of the storm.
Ahead, the savage currents of air assailed it once more.
The lessons learned from countless failures came to the fore.
To avoid being repelled, it had to—! Garchomp swiftly shifted its body to the side, and the current of air grazed past harmlessly.
Success!
But there was no time to celebrate, as another blast of wind rushed toward it.
Without hesitation, Garchomp adjusted its body and met the challenge head-on.
The winds raged all around.
Garchomp gritted its teeth and charged forward with all its might.
It was so close now, just one last step!
As it gazed at the storm's eye, tantalizingly close, a surge of unprecedented power rose within its body.
An intense Flying-type energy erupted from Garchomp, the swirling currents of air scattering the last vestiges of the wind that sought to hold it back.
Garchomp accelerated, plunging into the eye of the storm.
And in that moment, all sound vanished.
Here, there was utter tranquility, no raging winds or pouring rain, as if it had entered another realm, serene and peaceful.
This was Garchomp's first time reaching this place.
Currents of air swirled around its body, a testament to its triumph over the fierce winds.
Garchomp curiously looked around, then craned its neck to gaze upward.
It wondered what lay beyond, high above in the sky.
So, with its tattered wings, it flew upward, its wounded body determined to reach the clouds.
Just as it was about to break through the cloud layer, Garchomp suddenly felt a mysterious gaze upon it.
It whipped its head around and, in the distant sky, spotted a massive, pitch-black silhouette that resembled a swimming dragon.
(End of Chapter)
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