"Here are your rewards and prize money."
After the tournament ended, Ace received a Poké Ball and a check from the Berries family. The check was issued by the Pokémon League and could be cashed at any League bank.
Ace put the check away and then looked at the Poké Ball.
Pokémon: Rotom
Gender: None
Level: 1
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
Potential: Inferior
Egg Moves: None
Moves: Astonish, Thunder Wave, Thundershock
…
Ace's face twitched as he looked at the Pokémon inside the Poké Ball. This Rotom was quite weak, and its Level 1 status suggested it hadn't hatched long ago.
Should he train this Rotom?
No, Ace quickly decided against it. An Inferior potential would require too many Mission Points. It would take 300 points just to raise it to Excellent potential.
If he had that many Mission Points, Ace would rather save them up to get a total of 500 points and exchange them for an Energy Core.
Currently, Ace had more than enough Pokémon on his team. Spreading his energy to train another one would likely mean he couldn't properly care for all of them.
Therefore, Ace decided not to train this Rotom.
However, not training it didn't mean Ace didn't want the Plasma Pokémon.
In Ace's opinion, instead of training its combat ability, it was better to cultivate its utility.
Since it could transform into plasma and control machinery as its core, Rotom's own strength wasn't that important as long as the machine it possessed was powerful.
Ace actually had an idea. If he could make it a reality, this Rotom would be of great use!
Ace put Rotom away, planning to get to work on this once he returned home to Kanto.
For now, he didn't have the time. He still had a pending mission to complete.
Leaving Sandgem Town, Ace's Crobat grabbed him and soared into the sky, following the directions Ace had set toward their next destination.
Floaroma Town, a town filled with the fragrance of flowers.
When Crobat landed with Ace in the town, the first thing Ace smelled was the variety of floral scents in the air.
To save Mewtwo, he had to find Shaymin, and the key to finding Shaymin was to find a Gracidea flower.
The only place in Sinnoh Ace could think of to find Gracidea flowers was Floaroma Town.
The town's population was quite small, so Ace didn't want to cause a disturbance. He went straight to a flower shop with Ralts and asked about Gracidea flowers.
To Ace's surprise, he had expected this type of flower to be extremely rare or difficult to harvest.
But after asking the shop owner, Ace learned that Gracidea flowers were quite common in Floaroma Town. The Floaroma Meadow outside of town had a large field of them.
Even when Ace asked to pick one, the owner said it was fine. As long as he didn't pick too many and destroy the flower field, no one would mind.
It felt like they were just wild flowers on the side of the road, and they weren't considered rare at all.
After asking so many questions, Ace felt a little bad, so he bought some fresh flowers and seeds before leaving the shop.
"Floaroma Meadow, huh..."
Ace recalled the sea of flowers he had seen on his flight over and decided to head there immediately. If nothing else, he would pick some Gracidea flowers to take with him on his search for Shaymin.
Thump.
Lost in his thoughts, Ace wasn't paying attention and bumped into someone who was also distracted.
When they collided, Ralts immediately used its psychic powers to stabilize Ace, so he didn't fall. The other person, however, was knocked off their feet and fell hard.
"I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
Ace snapped back to reality and saw that the person he had bumped into was a woman wearing a researcher's lab coat. She adjusted her glasses, looked at Ace, and asked with some confusion, "Have we met before?"
Ace was stunned because he actually did know this person.
It was Yanase Berlitz, Platinum's mother and Mr. Berlitz's wife. She was also a researcher in charge of the Rayquaza research project.
Ace had met her once when he broke into the research facility.
"We have. At the Goldenrod City research facility," Ace said with a slight smile.
"Oh, I remember now. You're that young man who accidentally broke in back then."
With Ace's reminder, Yanase Berlitz instantly understood. She stood up and looked Ace up and down. "You've changed so much, but what are you doing in Sinnoh?"
"Just some business," Ace replied with a smile. "I won't bother you anymore. I'll be going now."
"Oh, goodbye then."
Yanase Berlitz could tell that Ace wasn't interested in talking, so she waved to him, walked past him, and left.
Ace looked at her retreating back and frowned slightly.
Yanase Berlitz was a researcher. Why would she be in Floaroma Town?
Or was there some research facility in Floaroma Town?
Ace pondered for a moment before letting it go. After all, the plot hadn't mentioned anything about this later. Right now, his priority was to deal with Mewtwo's issue.
Ace shook his head and quickly walked toward Floaroma Meadow. Ralts glanced at Yanase Berlitz's back before turning and following Ace.
Inside Floaroma Meadow, Ace looked at the vast fields of flowers covering the mountains and felt a sense of awe for the determination of the Floaroma Town residents.
He also recalled the legend he had heard about the town and learned of Shaymin's connection to it.
Floaroma Town was originally a desolate wasteland. People had tried to plant flowers to bring it back to life, but no vegetation would grow.
Then, someone prayed and gave thanks for nature's gifts, and the entire hill instantly bloomed with flowers of different colors.
Perhaps the people of Floaroma Town didn't know who did it, only that they were grateful for nature's generosity.
But to Ace, this was clearly the work of Shaymin.
Shaymin's ability to express gratitude instantly turned barren land into a lush, green landscape. Without Shaymin's help, Floaroma Town would likely still be a wasteland.
Ace followed the path in the meadow and quickly found the field of Gracidea flowers.
Looking at the blooming flowers, Ace knelt down, ready to pick one or two for backup. He would then use them as a basis to search for Shaymin.
However, just as Ace placed his hand on a Gracidea flower, a young voice sounded from behind him. "Big brother, now is not the time to pick Gracidea flowers. If you want some, you should wait a few more days until they mature. Then you can collect some seeds for planting."