In the evening, Natsui, along with Erika, Ash, Misty, and Brock, went to the Sea Shrine to attend the banquet.
The sky was dotted with stars, and a cool sea breeze blew over them, carrying away the last bit of residual heat from the sunset.
The Sea Shrine was located not far from the arena, on the west side of Kāku City on Red Rock Island. It was a grand structure, built upon a cliff. Looking down from here, one could take in the view of the entire city and also clearly see a wide, turbulent whirlpool on the surface of the sea on the other side of the cliff!
This whirlpool looked extremely dangerous. There was no telling when it had formed or how long it had existed. Like a constantly flushing toilet, it continuously sucked seawater to some unknown place.
The surrounding exposed reefs were washed smooth, and the sound of the water from the whirlpool was a constant roar, a bit harsh at first, but after listening for a while, one slowly got used to it.
Although this evening's banquet was grand, besides Natsui, the most important guest as the Sea Hero, and the host, High Priestess Maya, neither political figures nor businessmen from the Whirl Islands were on the invitation list. However, Natsui was allowed to bring some friends and family along.
From this perspective, the banquet seemed quite pure, without any ulterior motives, apparently set up solely to celebrate Natsui becoming the Sea Hero.
Walking past several security guards dressed as ancient soldiers, the group entered the shrine together.
Before they even got close, they noticed that the shrine's style, like the arena's, was ancient Greek. As they entered the main gate, they immediately saw a statue of the Sea God!
Just as Natsui had expected, the Sea God here was indeed Lugia!
The Lugia before them was carved in a one-to-one scale. Except for the color, it was sculpted so vividly that it was almost identical to the real thing!
The group couldn't help but stop and gather around to examine the statue carefully.
Although they had seen the legendary Pokémon in the Orange Archipelago, it was only from a great distance. They had never been able to observe it so closely.
"What a beautiful Pokémon... But up close, Lugia is truly huge!"
Misty looked up, touching one of Lugia's wings with her hand, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.
As a Water Pokémon trainer, her ultimate dream was to one day catch a Lugia or a Kyogre. With such a statue right in front of her, for a moment, it made her feel as if her dream was no longer so distant!
"It is huge," Natsui nodded. He was already quite tall for his age, but standing in front of this enormous avian Pokémon, he still felt very small. "According to records, an adult Lugia can reach a height of 5.2 meters and a weight of 216.0 kilograms. Its wingspan can exceed ten meters. It's a proper large-sized bird Pokémon, truly magnificent. Compared to it, my legendary birds can only be considered medium-sized and can't be compared to it at all."
The group marveled at the statue of Lugia. Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard from the other side. They turned to see High Priestess Maya walking gracefully towards them.
With a smile on her face, Maya walked over to them, her gaze also turning to the Lugia statue.
"As you can see, this is the Sea God, the being we in the Whirl Islands have always believed in. From a long, long time ago, it has protected the Whirl Islands from outside interference. It is our undisputed God of the Sea!"
Briefly marveling at Maya's beauty, and driven by her admiration for Lugia, Misty spoke up and asked, "Um... were the whirlpools outside the island also created by the Sea God?"
Maya gently shook her head. "Well... it was too long ago, so it can no longer be verified. It could be, or it could not be. However, the prevailing scientific view is that the formation of those whirlpools is related to the ocean trenches and currents near the islands."
Natsui raised an eyebrow. Hearing these words, he couldn't help but be a little impressed by this beautiful priestess.
One had to know that most clergy, in order to promote their faith, would eagerly attribute all sorts of strange phenomena to the deity they worshiped. A priestess like Maya, who stated the facts, was truly a rare sight!
Before he could say anything, Maya turned her head again to look at Natsui's companions.
Maya naturally knew a bit about Ash and Misty, who were contestants in the cup, but this was the first time she had met Erika and Brock, as they had not participated.
Natsui cleared his throat and made the introductions.
When she learned that both of them were Gym Leaders from the Kanto region, Maya showed a look of surprise. She couldn't help but smile. "As expected of the champion, or I should say now, as expected of our Sea Hero! To think that not only are you so powerful yourself, but even your traveling companions include powerful partners like Gym Leaders!"
"You've misunderstood," Natsui gently shook his head. "My two friends are just temporarily unable to stay at their gyms for certain reasons, so they're out traveling for a while. They didn't specifically give up their work to travel with me."
Maya chuckled lightly. "Even so, to gain the recognition of Gym Leaders, doesn't that also show how extraordinary you are!"
...
At eight in the evening, in the banquet hall of the Sea Shrine.
The long table was laden with all kinds of fruits, desserts, and delicacies. Several attendants played musical instruments to the side. Everything made Natsui recall that night on Shamouti Island.
Everything was so similar, and even the High Priestess seemed to correspond to the festival maiden from back then.
Clear and beautiful music echoed in their ears.
The banquet had now officially begun. Natsui and the others had released their smaller Pokémon. For a moment, the entire banquet hall seemed chaotic, yet very lively.
At the long table, Ash, Misty, and Brock were eating and drinking with abandon. Even Pikachu was constantly stuffing things into its mouth. The way they devoured their food was quite comical, causing the nearby attendants to cover their mouths and giggle.
Compared to them, Natsui and Erika's table manners were much more refined.
Because Natsui was willing to spend money, he had never been stingy with himself or his Pokémon when it came to food. So naturally, he wouldn't act like Ash and the others now, as if they hadn't eaten anything good in years.
During the meal, he and Maya chatted from time to time. The atmosphere seemed relaxed and pleasant, but he vaguely sensed that the purpose of this banquet was not so simple.
Although Maya had a smile on her face, there seemed to be something troubling her, evident in her brows.
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