Half an hour later, Misty and the other girl, having successfully exchanged the crystal for money, also arrived in front of Isao's shop.
"Yes, exactly, control the heat, and then strike—Good heavens, is this really your first time carving? You look like an old hand who has gone through a thousand trials and tribulations."
"It's done, it's perfect. Ash, you are truly discouraging. I spent who knows how long to achieve my current skill level, yet you mastered it completely in just half an hour. If you weren't a Trainer but a crystal sculptor, you would definitely make a name for yourself."
Misty and Serena exchanged a look, then stepped into the shop.
Upon entering, the sight before them was Isao standing by the fire pit and Ash sitting in front of it. The fire pit that should have belonged to Isao now had Ash sitting there. Combined with what Isao just said, did that mean Ash went to make Glass Products?
Furthermore, judging by the amazed tone in Isao's voice, it wasn't just the creation of ordinary Glass Products, but Glass Products that could elicit sighs even from someone as skilled as Isao.
What exactly did Ash make?
Ash turned his head upon hearing the movement behind him, and the sight on his face made Serena and Misty burst out laughing.
Ash's face, originally a bit bronze, now had a large black patch, looking as if someone had smeared ink across it with a couple of strokes, making it impossible not to chuckle upon seeing it.
However, when they saw what was in Ash's hands, the smiles on their faces instantly froze.
"Ash, what is that in your hand—"
"You've come back at the perfect time. Here, this is what I just learned to make, using those crystals from the cave. Since it was my first time, I didn't quite grasp the degree of control, so there was quite a bit of waste. My share of the crystal could only make these two pieces. I was originally planning to make one for Pikachu too." Ash smiled, spreading out the two crystal sculptures he held in his hands. What was carved on them was not the shape of any Pokémon, but—Misty and Serena!
Misty's depiction showed her classic outfit: a crop top, ultra-short denim shorts, a small backpack on her back, Togepi standing on her shoulder, one hand raised high while the other crystal arm hung vertically, her face wearing a bright smile, looking as if she was about to jump up.
Serena's sculpture depicted her current attire, as Serena had only worn this set of clothes up until now. It wasn't that Serena never changed clothes, but that even when she changed, it was the same style.
Most traveling Trainers, including Ash, were like this; they could wear several sets of the same clothes for several months before changing. Serena might change her clothes soon, but for now, she only had a few identical sets: the black sleeveless top and red short skirt she was currently wearing, along with a pink sun hat.
The pretty Serena stood with her hands behind her back, a smile also appearing on her face, but that smile was more reserved and shy than Misty's bright and sunny one, reflecting the distinctly different personalities of Serena and Misty.
Although they hadn't spent much time together, even Ash's emotional intelligence could tell that Serena was very easy to read. Her classic personality was easily guessed: a blend of gentle shyness mixed with boldness and decisiveness—that was Serena.
Even though it was his first attempt at carving, Ash had accurately reproduced the characteristics and temperament of both girls. However, upon closer inspection, one could discover that Misty's statue was slightly more refined in its detailed carving and temperament representation than Serena's.
This was not intentional bias on Ash's part. Even though Misty was his girlfriend, he would never be partial in such matters; giving his all in everything he did was his consistent principle of conduct.
The reason for this difference was purely due to the difference in how familiar he was with them. No matter how easy Serena's nature was to understand, she had only been with Ash for less than four days; Misty was different. The time they spent accompanying each other had long allowed him to grasp her every look.
Therefore, there was a gap in the details between the two statues, but unless one placed them side-by-side for comparison, others would never notice this subtle distinction.
Both crystal sculptures were lifelike, as if the figures of the two girls were lodged within the translucent gems.
"This is—you carved this?" Misty's red lips parted, her pretty face filled with disbelief. She knew Ash intimately, yet she truly couldn't believe this was his handiwork—after all, Ash had been completely clueless about this kind of handicraft before!
"Of course, it was me! I learned the craft from Isao. These two pieces cost a lot of crystal to make; the base material alone cost over a hundred thousand!" Ash said with a brilliant smile, showing no heartache over the waste.
That small expense could be recouped hundreds of times over after one night's sleep. He was a man making a fortune daily now; he didn't lack money at all!
This was also why he chose to practice with crystal first, rather than glass. On one hand, it was due to his confidence in the effect of the Aura he possessed; on the other hand, he felt it was unnecessary.
However, if only one piece of material remained, he would definitely have to practice with glass. Fortunately, before the materials were completely used up, he successfully created the sculptures of the two girls.
"Is this what you meant by what you were going to do?" Serena murmured.
Earlier, Ash had told them to take the crystal to sell first while he returned to Isao's place to do something secretively. They wondered what Ash was going to do, only to find out he was back to make crystal carvings for them!
"Yeah, I was worried I wouldn't have enough time to do it well, but I didn't expect my talent to be higher than I anticipated!" Ash grinned, with a hint of relief in his tone.
Isao, standing nearby, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Only his strong professional discipline kept him from voicing the retort that was on his lips.
What did he mean by talent being higher than expected? This couldn't be explained by 'high talent'!
If someone didn't know the situation, they might think Ash was the reincarnation of his supremely skilled father! Ash wasn't learning carving; he was clearly awakening dormant technical memories within his body.
At first, he was clumsy, struggling even with the most basic melting and forging, but after only twenty minutes, his movements became fluid, completely lacking the look of a novice. Instead, he looked like an expert who had been immersed in melting and forging techniques for over a decade.
Furthermore, the material Ash used was solid crystal—the difficulty of melting crystal far surpasses that of glass, and the demands on technique are much stricter.
Even so, Ash only spent thirty minutes carving two crystal statues that made even him gasp in admiration.
To put it bluntly, carving a human portrait is exponentially more troublesome than carving a Pokémon.
Even for people you spend time with daily, you would need them to pose as a model right in front of you to carve them well; otherwise, the details would be off by ten thousand miles. Human expressions and Muscle Textures are far harder to capture than the forms of Pokémon.
There are many shops in town that carve Pokémon, but almost none that carve human figures. Ultimately, this work is thankless. If you put in immense effort to finish a carving, and the customer simply says, 'I'm not satisfied,' all your previous work goes to waste.
For carving Pokémon, it's enough if the form and Spirit are mostly accurate; the key is to carve out the Pokémon's vitality, and a slightly rough exterior doesn't matter. But carving human figures is a completely different matter; even a tiny difference can ruin the overall Spirit.
That's why when Isao first heard Ash wanted to carve a human figure, his immediate reaction was to stop him. That level of difficulty was simply not something a beginner who hadn't even truly started carving could handle.
But Ash was determined to try, and he insisted on using precious and difficult-to-handle crystal as the material. In Isao's eyes, this was simply wasting money for no reason!
Ultimately, Isao couldn't win against Ash. Moreover, Ash had already captured the Crystal Onix and promised to stay there tonight so Isao could carefully observe the Crystal Onix's posture. This exchange offer was something Isao truly couldn't refuse.
So, even knowing Ash was wasting time, Isao still taught Ash how to carve Glass Products.
Carving crystal shares similarities with making Glass Products, although the latter is much simpler. After all, the hardness of glass and crystal are not on the same level. Having to carve and melt the crystal first naturally increases the difficulty, which was why Isao didn't think highly of Ash initially.
As a result, in just twenty minutes, Ash completely changed Isao's perspective. He had never seen anyone with such formidable learning ability!
His own father had already praised him as a talented individual in Glass Products, but compared to Ash, it was like the difference between the clouds and the mud.
In those short twenty minutes, Ash completely replicated the skills he had learned over more than a decade. And during the last ten minutes, while creating the sculptures of the two girls, he infused them with a soul that he himself lacked.
This resulted in the two girl sculptures looking incredibly lifelike, which was precisely what he had been missing.
Isao believed that if he could see the Crystal Onix, he too could grasp this Profound Secret, but there was no need for comparison with Ash anymore. How long had he studied Glass Products? How long had Ash studied carving?
There was simply no basis for comparison between the two in terms of time.
As Isao was lost in self-reflection, Misty and Serena had already taken the two crystal sculptures from Ash's hands.
The texture of sculptures made from crystal is different from glass. The moment their fingertips touched the surface of the sculptures, both noticed this distinct gap.
Misty, holding her sculpture, first felt the unique cool smoothness of crystal. Unlike the slightly sharp coldness of ordinary glass, it felt like stroking ice in the deep winter, yet wrapped in a hint of restrained softness.
As her fingertips traced the texture of the crystal strands of hair, she could clearly feel the crystal's inherent delicate texture. It wasn't as thinly smooth as glass, but possessed a weighty, naturally formed sense of solidity.
Serena also admired the sculpture in her hand, unable to put it down, her pure blue eyes filled with surprise. Although her sculpture had a slight difference in refinement compared to Misty's, the mere fact that she received a sculpture made by Ash was already a huge surprise.
After all, her relationship with Ash and Misty's relationship with Ash were completely different—one was a companion, the other a travel partner; how could they be compared?
The fact that Ash even made one for her was completely an unexpected delight.
"This texture—it's completely different from the glass ornaments I've seen," Serena couldn't help but exclaim, her voice full of amazement. "Even though they are both transparent, this one looks gentler and feels more comfortable to the touch."
Misty nodded in agreement, rubbing her finger across the crystal cheek of the sculpture, her eyes full of affection. "Glass always feels a bit cold and hard, but this is cool yet very soft. When the light shines on it, it looks like there are stars inside."
"It's good that you like them."
"Pika Pika~~"
"Uh—You already have one, so don't be petty with Misty and Serena, okay?"
"Pika Pi!! Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu showed a look of clear dissatisfaction upon hearing this. The sculpture Ash referred to was an ordinary glass sculpture he bought by the roadside.
If it weren't for the comparison with the two sculptures personally made by Misty and Serena, Pikachu would have been quite satisfied with his ornament. But now—he wanted one too!!
"But there's no extra crystal left. The remaining bit isn't even enough to make one," Ash said, spreading his hands helplessly.
It wasn't that he didn't want to make one, but there was genuinely no material left!
"I still have some! Because this crystal is so beautiful, I wanted to keep it to send back home as an ornament, but now that I have this, I don't need it anymore!" Serena carefully held her sculpture in one hand and raised the other high like a student answering a question, shouting towards Ash as if seeking praise.
"Eh? But that's yours, Serena. I—"
"What's the matter! You made sculptures for Misty and me, so it's only natural that I give mine to you! I even think the money from selling mine should go to—"
"Stop, stop, stop, I'll take it, okay! Just give me the crystal, don't bring up money again," Ash quickly made a stopping gesture to interrupt Serena's continuing speech.
It took quite an effort for him and Misty to get Serena to accept that money in the first place. If Serena returned it now, wouldn't all their efforts have been in vain?
"Exactly! Ash should just accept whatever he gives you. Talking about money makes us too distant, Serena. Just take some money from Pikachu's Little Vault for the crystal; Pikachu will surely be happy to give it to you~" Misty chimed in with a smile.
Pikachu patted his little chest, indicating that his Little Vault had plenty of money. This revealed that his Little Vault was Ash's money, so the Little Vault was also a big vault.
Serena chuckled at the scene, the blush on her cheeks fading slightly. She tightened her grip on the crystal, finally letting go of her insistence on the money: "Then I'll accept it, thank you, Pikachu~"
"Pika Pika~" Pikachu waved his hand, indicating it was no big deal. As the veteran Great Teacher Pikachu by Ash's side, he could tell that this newly joined teammate had extraordinary feelings for Ash, perhaps she would become his second mistress, so as 'one of us,' there was no need to be so calculative.