642 CH23 (637), Time Well Spent (2)

After leaving the Lilycove Art Museum, I decided to head to another one of the restaurants on my list for dinner. After eating my fill, I paid my due and made my way toward the Night Market. At this point, it was already 9:30 p.m. and the market had been open for around 2.5 hours. Thankfully the night market was true to its name and thus open until deep into the night, 1 a.m. to be specific. I kept going around the various stands and checked out each one while occasionally buying snacks from the snack stands dotted around the market.

I did stumble upon something interesting enough to buy from time to time, though most of those were just some curiosities that caught my attention, such as the little Manaphy figurine and the ocarina made of a sea shell. There were two occasions when I discovered something truly useful. The first one was something the seller labeled as a white coral branch, but my observe ability identified it as a broken-off part of a Cursola shell. When I inquired if he found it on his own, the man shared that he bought it from a merchant who came from the western continent.

Cursola and Galarian Corsola were quite rare Pokemon within the human realm due to their complicated and largely unknown origin, along with the fact that they did/could not come into being purely through astral energy, unlike many other ghost types. There was also the fact that at some point, unscrupulous humans tried to follow some rumors on a possible origin mechanic, which was suspected to be related to a painful mass death, to purposefully encourage/provoke the creation of ghost variant Corsola which got mercilessly stamped out by the alliance once the plot got uncovered.

Unfortunately, tens of thousands of Corsola had been killed by then, and heads literally rolled in return. The alliance showed no mercy to the perpetrators, and the laws issued concerning the issue afterward were some of the most brutal in the lawbook. As a result of all that, Trainers that had a member of that particular line in their roster had to prove how they came into possession of the Pokemon, which made Galar a popular destination for any interested trainer since the shores of Galar had the highest population of "Galarian" Corsola and Cursola within the human territories, though the number was still not particularly high.

Interestingly enough, possibly due to their nature, the breeding rate of this line was quite low, and the rate of "artificial" breeding was even lower. I personally did not like this particular ghost variant of Corsola, not to mention its evolution because I found its existence rather pitiful. That said the coral splinter could prove useful so I made sure to buy it, especially since I only had to pay a fraction of its true worth. I could freely say that I definitely enjoyed stumbling upon hidden treasures like this.

The second "treasure" I stumbled upon was being sold as a Shoal Shell but was actually an Ocean Shell. While both were qualified to act as one of the main components of the Shell Bell, the Ocean Shell was actually worth 3 to 6 times as much as the Shoal Shell since it could be used to create a superior Shell Bell, though I would need more than one for the production process. Not that I had to worry about quantity once I had one in my hands thanks to Utopia.

I happily bought the Ocean Shell and I was definitely going to create a Superior Shell Bell for each of my Pokemon since it would help their recovery after our usual training sessions. Well, on top of the usual healing effect of Utopia, though I doubt anyone would complain about a faster recovery speed. Not to mention that the Shell Bell's healing effect would work outside Utopia as well.

Likewise, I'd be making a bunch of them for myself, my parents, and my friends since they worked on humans as well. Their Pokemon would naturally also get one, though creating so many Shell Bells would take time so I'd have to spread out the creation to batches. My parents would get theirs first, followed by my Pokemon, and then I'd make mine, before moving on to create one for each of my friends. Afterward, it would be the turn of my parent's Pokemon and those of my friends, though creating so many Shell Bells would probably take a year or more since it would be something I would do on the side.

Anyway, I left the night market when they began to clear the market at 1 a.m. and returned to Utopia to sleep. The next day after breakfast, I kept my promise and pampered the rest of my main team, while everyone who was not currently being pampered did their morning training. I had to take a lunch break but continued with the pampering while everyone else relaxed.

By the time I managed to finish the session, it was slightly past 4 p.m., and I left Utopia to visit the next point on my list, namely the Lilycove Sea Museum. Just like its name would suggest, the sea museum displayed items related to the ocean, though there was a focus on the area around Hoenn/the northern continent, even if it was not the sole fixation.

There were replicas/models of the first few exploration ships and even submarines on display, along with replicas of the current best ships as well as submarines to show the technical progress humanity made for and in their exploration of the sea during our history. There were other sections such as the one dedicated to the people of water. The people of water were a group that worshiped Manaphy, who, according to myths and the pieces on display, was elevated/created and then appointed the title guardian of the sea by none other than Kyogre.

Unlike in canon, the people of water had no duty to guard a Manaphy egg, or at least there was no oral or documented information on anything like that. Besides, I seriously doubted they had the capability of doing so in the first place, ignoring the fact that Manaphy would have no reason to entrust its egg to anyone else in the first place.

There were however two things the people of water were known for, which was what truly earned them a section in the museum compared to their worship of Manaphy. The first one was proven contact and a positive relationship with a Phione. Phione were/are the direct enforcers of Manaphy, who help Manaphy watch over and safeguard the sea area they are in charge of. Some say they were created by the original Manaphy just like it had been created by Kyogre, while others say that they are descendants of Manaphy.

Either way, Phione were not something anyone should/would dare to provoke due to their strength and position, which was why the relationship the people of water had with one was a big deal. Not to mention the second point that made them famous, which was the Sea Crown bestowed to them by Phione.

The Sea Crown granted its wearer a multitude of abilities. The most basic one was the ability to breathe underwater. The most useful one as far as personal prowess was concerned was being able to manipulate water the way only a highest-ranking Water Elementalist could even without having any prior training. An accomplished Water Elemntalist wearing the crown could surpass the prowess of his or her peers by far, and a newbie would be able to progress much faster than he or she would be able to on his or her own.

The Sea Crown also gave its bearer a presence that identified him or her as a friend of the sea, which would allow him or her to command fish/regular sea life while ensuring that water types would not be hostile toward him or her unless he or she tried to harm them. It also made bonding with water types easier. All in all, the crown was one of the most impressive objects known to humanity.

Sadly, the Sea Crown's current whereabouts were unknown, though there were rumors that it was in the possession of the core members of the people of water hidden away from modern society. Nonetheless, the people of water denied those rumors and declared that they returned the crown to Phione once they were unable to ensure its protection. To me that sounded like they were able to request its custody whenever they felt like they could protect it, but maybe that was me reading too much into it.

Anyway, I once again ended up engrossed in exploring the museum and lost track of time. In a similar vein to the event at the art museum, someone from the sea museum staff had to inform me that it was already 8:45 p.m. and that they were close to closing before I wrapped up my visit. Thankfully I had already been in the final exhibit area, so I was able to finish my tour before I was asked to leave.

Once I had made my way out of the sea museum, I pondered whether I should go out for dinner and strike off another entry on my food/restaurant list, or if I should enter Utopia and eat dinner with my Pokemon, who had yet to eat dinner as well. I eventually decided to eat with my Pokemon so I found an empty place and entered Utopia. Everyone happily greeted me, and we happily discussed the things we had seen at the Lilycove Sea Museum while I distributed everyone's dinner. That conversation stretched not only through dinner but also went on for the rest of the evening.

The next morning, once we had eaten breakfast, saw me keep my promise to the reserve team members. I began pampering the reserve members while everyone else was doing their morning training routine. Since there were only 16 reserve team members at the moment, I managed to finish the session shortly after lunch. I was pretty happy with that since this would give me enough time to visit both the Pokemon Fan Club and the Grass Hall today.

However, just as I had begun to tell everyone that I would be leaving and that I would be calling out some of them for Pokemon battles, the whole Eevee Squad came running over and excitedly doggy-piled me. I played along and allowed myself to fall over to let them have their fun for a few moments before I sat up and asked them what had them this excited. They looked at each other and giggled before Borr/Eevee stood up somewhat smugly and moved right in front of me while releasing a (high) silver aura, showing that he had advanced.

I pat his head and congratulated him on his advancement. The rest of our family followed suit, and there was excitement in the air since everyone knew that Borr reaching the (high) silver stage meant that he would be evolving. I directly made the announcement over UtopiaFM before heading toward "EeveeLand" with everyone in tow. While we waited for the interested Utopians to hurry over, I took out the supplements I had prepared for this moment.

I had used a multitude of berries, including Yache and Chiri Berries, along with crushed Ice Stones, Cryogonal Ice, Vanniluxe Powder, and Glalie Shards while producing these supplements, and contrary to what most would expect, the various ice-type items did not immediately liquify. They only did so when it became necessary for the process. I was not worried that the paste would trigger Borr's evolution due to the crushed Ice Stones since a complete/unbroken Ice Stone was needed for that, so the supplement couldn't do it regardless of how rich in ice energy it was.

Anyway, once the last Utopians had arrived, I asked Borr to come to my side, while everyone began to form the circle around us. The Eevee Squad doggy piled him one last time before they left and Fortuna/Togekiss came over to wish him good luck before rejoining the others. Once they were done, I hugged him as well, before I began using the supplements. As usual, I had prepared two kinds of supplements, the ones that had to be ingested, and the kind that had to be externally applied. I used telekinesis to feed Bore the edible supplements while I applied the external ones to his body.

Only after his whole body was covered and everything had been eaten did I take out the Arctic Heart. I levitated it beside me and took a step back to give Borr some room before moving the Arctic Heart towards him. I had him wait until I joined the others before I gave him the signal to touch the Arctic Heart, which triggered his evolution.

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