"Indeed, in the Ice-type domain, your power, Mr. Pryce, is top-notch," Ace said with emotion, returning his Ninetales and Lapras to their Poké Balls.
"Are you slacking off recently, you rascal?" Pryce, in his wheelchair pushed by a Seel, said as the ice crystals before him shattered, turning into a flurry of fine ice shards. "I don't see much progress in your Lapras. What exactly have you been doing?"
Pryce tapped the ice on the ground with his cane, sounding a bit disappointed with Ace.
"I've been contemplating issues with ice structure, and I have other Pokémon to train, so I've been a bit lax," Ace stood at attention, taking the scolding obediently. "However, I plan to focus on Lapras soon. If possible, I'd like to have Lapras learn the move you just used."
Ace looked at Pryce, who squinted and said flatly, "In your dreams."
"Alright, you really are a strict 'teacher'," Ace said with a grin. "I just came to check on you, to see if you were doing well. But you look quite spirited, so I'm relieved. I'm off."
With that, Ace turned to leave.
"Wait a moment." Pryce called out to Ace. As Ace turned back, Pryce threw a scroll-like object at him. "Keep it safe, don't drop it."
Then, Pryce turned his wheelchair and, with the help of his Seel and other Pokémon, returned to his workshop.
Ace opened the scroll and found that it contained some of Pryce's insights into the Ice-type domain, as well as methods for training Lapras.
"…I owe him a huge favor now," Ace said with a wry smile, putting the scroll away. He hadn't expected Pryce to be so generous, selflessly teaching him a part of his craft.
Actually, Ace's visit to Mahogany Gym had been to test Pryce's depth. If he could overpower Pryce, Ace might have been able to "force" the completion of his main quest. However, as things stood, the corrupted Pryce was a formidable opponent. Ace was no match for him in a serious fight. He would probably have to wait until Pryce redeemed himself and let go of his inner demons before he could defeat him.
"Oh well, I won't think about it anymore." Ace walked out of the Mahogany Gym, politely closing the door behind him. He released his Aerodactyl, patted its body, and said, "Let's go, we're heading to Hoenn. This time, I'm going to meet Rayquaza."
A burst of light erupted from Aerodactyl, and soon after it had Mega Evolved, it grabbed Ace's shoulder and soared into the sky. Following Ace's directions, it flew towards Hoenn.
Meanwhile, in the ice carving room of the Mahogany Gym.
Pryce was carving a Lapras ice sculpture, but his mind was clearly not on the task. He exhaled a sigh of relief, then saw a small stand in the corner of the room. It held a Voltorb ice sculpture. The sculpture was not very smooth, nor did it have any spirit. It was clear at a glance that it wasn't Pryce's work. It was an ice sculpture that Ace had carved during his time studying with Pryce.
Although Pryce had spoken with disdain about it, he had still kept it and even made a special stand for it.
"As you get older, you get a little nostalgic," Pryce sighed, quickly composing himself. He said in an exceptionally cold voice, "But I will not give up! I must succeed!"
With that, Pryce focused entirely on the ice sculpture in front of him. As he chiseled, a vivid Lapras with a hint of melancholy in its eyes soon appeared before him.
The winds howled. Ace looked down at the expanse of ocean below, then raised his arm to check the map on his watch, confirming their current location.
"At Aerodactyl's current speed, it will take about three days to reach the Hoenn region," Ace said, zooming in on the map on his watch. He then said to Aerodactyl, "Aerodactyl, there's a large island about three kilometers ahead. We'll rest there tonight and set off again tomorrow."
Aerodactyl let out a loud cry, indicating its understanding, and flapped its wings, accelerating sharply. Soon, an island appeared ahead. Aerodactyl flapped its wings and landed on the island with Ace.
As they landed on the soft sand, Ace looked around and released all of his Pokémon.
"We'll rest here tonight. Blastoise, Lapras, you two will be in charge of dinner. The rest of you, help gather some firewood. We'll camp nearby."
The Pokémon quickly went to work. Blastoise and Lapras dived into the water, preparing to catch some fish or other Pokémon. The other Pokémon fanned out to collect as much firewood as possible. Ace moved away from the beach and found a patch of dirt on the island to set up his tent.
However, before Ace could prepare the stove, a Crobat landed on his shoulder. Ace reached out and placed his hand on Crobat's head, and a series of images soon appeared in his mind. In Crobat's memory, it had planned to use Steel Wing to cut some branches for firewood. But as it was choosing a suitable tree, a large tree caught its eye. Finding that the tree was unusual, Crobat quickly turned around and returned here.
"It seems to be a tree of Oran Berries, but…" Ace recalled the image of the Pokémon surrounding the tree in Crobat's memory, and his mouth twitched. It was a large group of nearly a hundred Pokémon. It was obvious that they had taken over the tree.
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was that this Pokémon group was a Torchic group, one of the Hoenn starter Pokémon! This was something Ace found extremely confusing. After all, this was an isolated island. Torchic are Fire-types and cannot fly, so how did they manage to settle on this island? If there had been a group of Mudkip here, Ace would have understood, as Water-type Pokémon could have swum over. But where did these Torchic come from?
Filled with a hint of curiosity, Ace followed Crobat towards the center of the island. He wasn't sure if it was because the island had been taken over by the Torchic group, but on his way to the fruit tree, Ace didn't see any land-based Pokémon, only a few Flying-types.
His other Pokémon also realized something was up and quickly rejoined Ace. With Ace in the lead, the group of Pokémon brazenly appeared before the Torchic group.
Ace's intrusion instantly put the entire Torchic group on high alert. The only two Blaziken in the group rushed out, flames igniting around their wrists, and warily looked at Ace, the outsider...