One day later.
Out on the sea between Cinnabar Island and Fuchsia City, Terrance, who was taking a short rest, was suddenly awakened by the Rotom Pokédex.
"What is it?"
Terrance rubbed his eyes and said, "Have we arrived?"
"No, Roto." The Rotom Pokédex opened a page and said, "Do you still remember those two people from yesterday?"
"You mean the two who wanted to look for Never-Melt Ice?" Terrance asked. "What about them?"
"It looks like news about that Never-Melt Ice is spreading online. Because of your conversation yesterday, I've been keeping an eye on the internet, and I didn't expect to find such a big scoop, Roto."
After Rotom Pokédex finished speaking, Terrance looked over.
It was a news article, and its main point was that an explorer on Seafoam Islands had discovered a piece of Never-Melt Ice that was at least 3,000 years old. This news had previously only been circulating in a small circle on the Adventurer's Forum, but apparently, because some explorer team took action early, a big battle broke out on Seafoam Islands.
The fact that powerful Pokémon were guarding the Never-Melt Ice had already been announced on the Adventurer's Forum, but even so, some explorer teams couldn't resist the temptation and made a move.
As for the result, the whole team's lives were endangered. They were frozen solid by powerful ice. If not for a timely rescue, those people might have lost their lives.
"Articuno!"
Seeing the speculation in the news, Terrance's expression froze. He had just gotten information about Moltres from Blaine, and now there was news about Articuno. How interesting!
From the contents of the article, this Articuno seemed to be quite strong. Now, with the combination of Thousand Year-old Never-Melt Ice and Articuno, the Seafoam Islands were bound to become extremely lively.
Terrance was hesitant. He coveted the Never-Melt Ice, but at the same time felt helpless. With the news out, there were bound to be plenty of Trainers heading over, so obtaining the Thousand Year-old Never-Melt Ice definitely wouldn't be easy.
"Ninetales has Fairy Aura to help with training Fairy energy, but as for Ice-type energy... If only we had Never-Melt Ice. Not only could Ninetales use it, but Castform could as well. Thousand Year-old Never-Melt Ice must contain many, many times more energy than the Flame Orb Blaine gave me," Terrance mused, stroking his chin. Thousand Year-old Never-Melt Ice was even rarer than the fear energy gathered on Nightmare Island. You could say that even for a Top Trainer specializing in Ice type, obtaining it would give their strength a temporary boost to a whole new level.
Rotom Pokédex seemed to pick up on Terrance's thoughts and started tempting him.
"Terrance, do you want to go take a look, Roto?"
"I think you just want to watch the excitement," Terrance replied. "We're almost at Fuchsia City. I was planning to go around the Safari Zone and then head straight to Saffron City... As for whether or not to go to Seafoam Islands, keep watching the internet. I'll decide after we get off the ship."
"Roger, Roto!" Rotom Pokédex replied with a chuckle.
The ship soon arrived at Fuchsia City, which has the only Safari Zone in the Kanto Region. Terrance thought it over and gave up on the idea of visiting for now. As soon as he arrived, he found a suitable place, then set off to sea riding on Altaria.
There still hadn't been any news online about someone obtaining the Never-Melt Ice or Articuno being defeated. Although Terrance sounded hesitant, in the end, his body moved on its own.
Rotom Pokédex wanted to see the excitement, and honestly, so did he…
Not long after Terrance flew off, the Team Rocket trio, who had rowed a wooden boat from Cinnabar Island to Fuchsia City, collapsed and coughed up blood.
Jessie was the first to recover. She punched James awake and said, "It's all your fault! You insisted we needed a ridiculously detailed plan. There were so many opportunities back in Pewter City and Cinnabar Island, but we wasted them all. Now we've even lost track of our target!"
"How can you blame me? You and Meowth agreed too! This was an assignment personally given to us by Boss Giovanni, and making dozens of strategies was the only way to guarantee a flawless job!" James defended himself.
"Dozens of…" Meowth's eyes flashed with gold coins, and he wondered why he ever believed James's nonsense about having to make such an incredibly detailed approach plan.
Now the plan was perfect, but they had lost their target.
"I don't care, James. You think of something!" Jessie angrily tossed him the oar.
…
…
Meanwhile, Terrance, who had wasted an S.S. Ticket for nothing, was deep in thought, resting his chin on his hand.
He understood well: if the Never-Melt Ice was guarded by Articuno, things would only escalate.
For example… countless Trainers would come to capture or subdue Articuno.
Compared to the Thousand Year-old Never-Melt Ice, Articuno clearly held greater value in the eyes of most Trainers.
Of course, if Terrance had to choose, he'd pick the Never-Melt Ice. What interested him about a powerful Legendary Pokémon was only the opportunity to battle it. As a Breeder, Terrance far preferred raising a strong Pokémon from scratch himself, rather than just capturing one.
The Seafoam Islands are two islands on Route 20 in the Kanto Region. They look exactly alike, like a pair of twins, and that's why they're called the Seafoam Islands. [TN: Seafoam Islands are called Twins Island in Japanese.]
Altaria flew far faster than the ship, and before long, Terrance arrived at a certain area of the Seafoam Islands.
At this moment, the Seafoam Islands… could only be described as packed with people.
After arriving, Terrance grabbed a middle-aged man in a ski suit to ask about the situation. The answer he got gave him a headache.
"What? What's the rush, kid? Oh! You mean Articuno and the Never-Melt Ice. Hah, after that last battle, it seems Articuno ran off. Now you Trainers are practically digging up the whole Seafoam Islands, but there's no sign of Articuno, and even the other Ice-type Pokémon have almost all fled."
"It's tough for people like us who just want to ski in peace."
"Sorry, sorry." Terrance smiled awkwardly and hurried to the shore, feeling a bit helpless. So… did he come all this way for nothing?
As Terrance gazed out at the sea, clutching his aching stomach and wondering whether to go inside the Seafoam Islands, a mature woman in sunglasses and a mask tapped him on the shoulder.
"Isn't this the Fairy Elite Four?"
Hearing the familiar voice and that nickname, Terrance's hair stood on end. The corners of his mouth twitched as he turned around. "Master Lorelei? What are you doing here?"
"And that title again… I'm not any Elite Four…"
It was indeed Master Lorelei, whom Terrance had met during the Prison Island battle. She was so well disguised now that even Terrance had nearly failed to recognize her.
"Haven't you thought of challenging the Elite Four yet?" Lorelei exclaimed, covering her mouth with a laugh. She assumed that after Agatha's suggestion, Terrance would apply for the Champion League immediately; after all, most Trainers were crazy about becoming Elite Four or Champion.
"All right, let's not talk about that." Lorelei saw Terrance's embarrassment and guessed his purpose for coming to the Seafoam Islands. "You must be here for the Never-Melt Ice or Articuno, right?"
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