“Sorry to keep you waiting.
Changing clothes took a bit of time.”
Blake and Nessa found Leon, who had been firmly kept in place by Sonia.
Honestly, if Sonia had not somehow awakened her hidden potential and managed to hold Leon there, today’s activity might have turned into a game of “Find Leon.”
“No problem, no problem.
We can’t battle today anyway, so waiting a little is fine.”
Leon smiled and scratched his hair.
“But this Great Catch Festival is really interesting.
Is there any historical story behind it?”
Sonia took out a small notebook and asked.
She was very interested in all kinds of Galarian history, especially anything related to the legendary kings of sword and shield.
However, since Chairman Rose had not yet begun Galar’s large-scale development project, many old buildings and ancient ruins in the region had yet to be excavated.
“Not really.
It’s basically just the closed fishing season.
But if you really want a story, then according to legend…”
Blake and Nessa exchanged a glance, then began telling the story passed down through generations of Hulbury parents to scare children.
The story took place so long ago that no one knew exactly how many years had passed.
Legend said that in the past, Hulbury had been an extremely prosperous town.
Because it was close to the sea, the endless supply of fish allowed Hulbury to flourish year after year.
But human greed drove Hulbury’s fishermen to sail farther and farther out to sea, casting their nets again and again.
The holes in the nets grew smaller and smaller, until everything from ordinary fish to Pokémon was hauled ashore without exception.
In the end, this reckless overfishing angered the god of the sea.
Great waves overturned every fishing boat.
Swarms of Water-type Pokémon smashed through the docks.
The fishermen who fell into the water never returned to shore.
The might of the ocean destroyed human desire, and from then on, the survivors held a festival called the Great Catch Festival every year to calm the sea’s wrath.
“Is that a true story?”
Sonia recorded every word the two of them said, her eyes shining as she asked.
“Sorry, but it’s fake!
The real story is that people realized excessive fishing every year caused the catch to decline.
People in the past believed this was because they had angered the sea god, so they began holding a yearly ceremony and resting for a while to give the fish time to spawn and reproduce.
The story just now is actually a cautionary tale.
It hasn’t even existed for more than two hundred years.
Parents use it to scare children, and its original purpose was simply to teach kids to respect nature.”
Blake shrugged.
He liked all kinds of local stories too.
Whenever his father came home, he would collect local myths and legends from different places and tell them to Blake.
Hulbury’s story sounded very convincing, but that was exactly why it was fake.
Fishermen were smarter than people imagined.
Some individuals might do something as shortsighted as draining the pond to catch all the fish, but not every fisherman would be that stupid.
Besides, this was a world with Pokémon.
Pokémon would not just sit there silently without warning people.
Most importantly, the story had spread far too late.
It was even possible to trace who first made it up.
It was the classic case of someone taking another story, changing the skin, and turning it into a Hulbury tale.
“What?
So it’s fake?” Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Sonia looked extremely speechless.
“After all, Hulbury was just a fishing village in the past.
It only developed properly in recent years.
Legendary stories aren’t that easy to find.
Otherwise, archaeologists and historians wouldn’t have to spend year after year researching them.”
Blake spread his hands.
History was famously a bottomless pit of a discipline.
Plenty of people dove into it headfirst and vanished without even making a splash.
Grumble…
“So, uh…
can we go eat something?”
Leon rubbed his rumbling stomach and spoke with some embarrassment.
“Then let’s go try Hulbury’s fish dishes.
Our seafood is famous!” Nessa said with a smile.
“We’ll treat you today.
Consider it our duty as hosts.”
Blake smiled as well.
“Then, thank you very much!”
Leon and Sonia did not refuse.
After all, they really were hungry.
The four of them wound through several streets before arriving at a small restaurant that outsiders would never have found on their own.
The boss and chef had once been a sailor, and if there was one thing he was good at, it was seafood.
His cooking was no worse than what one might find in a large restaurant.
Most importantly, this boss could get his hands on certain Pokémon-derived ingredients.
For example, Crabrawler claws, Veluza meat, Octillery ink, and other excellent ingredients.
Eating Pokémon was illegal, but ingredients naturally produced by Pokémon were not.
The problem was that obtaining them was usually troublesome.
Take Slowpoke tails, for example.
Although Slowpoke tails could fall off and regrow, the sale and consumption of Slowpoke tails were very strictly controlled to prevent people from maliciously capturing and harming Slowpoke.
Of course, in some places, Slowpoke were so abundant that they had become a local problem, and households even used Slowpoke tails as side dishes.
At the very least, the four of them were lucky today.
A portion of Veluza meat had just been delivered.
After the boss cooked it, the already delicious fish gained an additional unique flavor, and all four of them ate happily.
As expected, fish really did taste best when prepared by fishermen.
“It tastes amazing!”
Leon swallowed the last piece of fish and patted his stomach in satisfaction.
Compared to the fish made by his mother and Master Mustard’s wife, this boss’s fish was practically heavenly.
“It is Veluza meat, after all.
This Pokémon’s flesh is delicious enough to attract other Pokémon into fighting over it.”
Blake shrugged and took the plate Haunter had licked clean.
Ever since evolving into Haunter, this guy’s appetite had grown larger and larger.
He often ate enough in one meal to equal seven or eight of Blake’s meals.
Yet Haunter’s body had not visibly grown much at all, which made Blake increasingly curious about where all that food actually went.
By all logic, it was Gengar that had another dimension inside its body. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Haunter was still a Gas Pokémon, wasn’t it?
“By the way, have you booked a room yet?
Rooms at the Pokémon Center are hard to reserve right now.
Our scenic area opened recently, so the number of tourists has been growing exponentially.”
After recalling her well-fed Chewtle and Wingull into their Poké Balls, Nessa asked.
“Uh…
not yet!”
Only then did Sonia remember.
Because she had gotten separated from Leon earlier, they had never gone to the Pokémon Center to register!
“Forget it.
Let’s go check first.
If there really aren’t any rooms, you can stay at my house.
My place is pretty big, so housing a few extra people won’t be a problem.”
Blake slapped his forehead and spoke helplessly.
It was already afternoon.
There was probably little chance of finding a room at the Pokémon Center now.
Fortunately, his house did have guest rooms.
“Huh?
Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?”
Leon sounded a little embarrassed.
It was their first time meeting.
Although they got along well, staying at the other person’s home right away felt somewhat impolite.
“It’s fine.
My parents aren’t home anyway, and they’re just guest rooms.
Besides, there’s a Pokémon battle court in my yard.
Didn’t you say you wanted to battle?
We can try it there tomorrow.
Also, there’s something I’d like your help with.”
Blake waved his hand.
He was fairly at ease with Leon as a person.
Whether in the games or the anime, aside from his sense of direction, Leon was the kind of guy who was top-tier reliable.
“All right!
If there’s anything I can help with, just ask.
I’ll tell you everything I know!”
Leon was not the type to be overly fussy either.
Since Blake was helping them like this, if there was anything he could do in return, he would not refuse as long as it did not go against his principles.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing difficult.
You’ll know when the time comes.
For now, let’s go to the Pokémon Center first and see if there are any rooms left.
If there aren’t, we’ll head straight to my house.
What about you, Nessa?
Coming with us, or going back to the Gym?” Blake asked.
“I’m coming with you, obviously.
The Gym is closed for the next two days, so what would I go there for?”
Nessa’s answer was not surprising in the slightest.