Chapter 536: Volo
After spending a night in Jubilife Village, John prepared to head to Snowpoint Temple the next morning with Akari.
Though the Pearl and Diamond Clans had temporarily joined forces, that didn’t mean the rift between them had healed. The two clans still didn’t get along.
The Diamond Clan had already set off in a hurry last night, while the Pearl Clan took a different route this morning. They were heading to check on one of the "nobles" in their territory.
Therefore, the Galaxy Expedition Team asked Akari to guide John.
"I’ve never been to Snowpoint Temple!"
At Beni’s Wallflower, Akari, having just learned she’d be accompanying John to Snowpoint Temple, didn’t even bother finishing her meal. She was frantically studying a map instead.
John calmly ate his rice ball while reaching out to pet Pikachu and Shaymin. The two little ones were also eating happily. Apparently, they had specialized Pokemon rations even in this era.
"Huh?" John glanced at the rice ball in his hand. The seaweed wrap contained lean meat and salted egg yolk.
Was this the rice version of a breakfast sandwich?
The first experience was pretty good.
John understood why the Galaxy Expedition Team sent Akari with him. He’d just joined, and Cyllene wasn’t entirely confident about him yet.
"Eat quickly and pack your things after. You don’t need to lead the way though, I know the route."
"Really?" Akari’s eyes lit up, but then she looked confused. "Then... what do you need me for?"
"You can ask Captain Cyllene," John suggested.
"Let’s forget it." Akari hurriedly stuffed two rice balls into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged like a hamster’s as she ran out of the restaurant, rushing home to pack.
"Meet at the village entrance!" John called after her.
"Okay!"
After finishing with a sip of milk, John stood and nodded to Beni, the restaurant owner and one of Cyllene’s confidants. "Thanks for the meal."
He left the restaurant and headed toward the village entrance, observing the buildings and pedestrians along the way.
"Excuse me, what’s this fruit called?" John suddenly stopped because he’d spotted an unfamiliar berry.
Since the Pokemon world was essentially a "game," designers often reused settings and items from previous generations in later ones.
Even if the next generation took place two thousand years earlier on the timeline.
John could still see numerous berries in Jubilife Village that were identical to those from two thousand years in the future.
However, because this belonged to an earlier generation, there would always be some newly added content and items.
The yellow, dragon fruit-like berry John held was one he’d never seen in games or reality, indicating it was likely a new berry type from this generation.
Of course, there was another explanation.
This berry had gone extinct and only existed in the Hisui Region two thousand years ago.
"That’s called a
Plump Bean
. The juice is sweet, but just like alcohol, you’ll get drunk if you eat too much," the woman vendor said, noticing John’s Galaxy Expedition Team uniform and enthusiastically explaining. "Beni’s Wallflower often uses them to make fruit wine."
"Do any Pokemon like eating this berry?" John continued asking.
"Normally, no Pokemon particularly like
Plump Beans
." The vendor thought seriously before replying. "However, Pokemon like Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam are extremely fascinated by them. Laventon’s family planted a Plump Bean grove, and when the fruits just matured, they encountered a whole group of Abra and nearly lost everything."
The aunt shared various amusing stories about
Plump Beans.
John listened carefully and confirmed that neither the name, taste, nor effect matched any berry in his memory.
As an experienced berry farmer, he could say with certainty that berries like
Plump Beans
wouldn’t exist in the future.
Plump Beans were definitely unique to the Hisui Region two thousand years ago.
Perfect. He’d take them back and plant them, one more material for making Pokeblocks.
"I’ll take all the
Plump Beans
you have." John paid with the mission funds Akari had collected from Galaxy Expedition Team headquarters today.
"Wonderful!" The aunt smiled as she packed the berries.
Taking the
Plump Beans
, John continued toward the village entrance. As he turned a street corner, he casually flipped his hand and stored them in his Gameboy.
Stopping periodically, John explored all of Jubilife Village.
When he arrived at the village entrance, Akari was already waiting with Pikachu, and beside her stood a blond man carrying a large travel pack.
"Over here!"
"Pika-pi!" Akari spotted John and immediately called out, waving enthusiastically with Pikachu.
John quickly approached.
"Hello, my name is Volo. I’m a traveling merchant from the Ginkgo Guild." The blond man greeted John with a warm smile.
"Volo?" John froze. If he remembered correctly, Volo was the final antagonist of Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
He and Giratina had jointly orchestrated the crisis in the Hisui Region.
However, Volo’s appearance didn’t suggest villainy. On the contrary, he looked like an elegant nobleman, despite wearing standard Ginkgo Guild merchant attire.
"Do you know me?" Volo seemed confused by John’s reaction.
"I don’t know you, but I’ve heard of the Ginkgo Guild. I wonder if you brought anything valuable on your visit to Jubilife Village this time?" John asked casually.
"Of course." Volo smiled and politely handed John a list.
"These are the products I prepared for this visit to Jubilife Village, along with their prices. Please take a look."
John took the list, and a shop interface immediately appeared on his Gameboy screen.
There were indeed many good items.
There was a special Pokeball called a
Feather Ball
unique to this era, a ball that could fly swiftly through the air when thrown, useful for catching fast-flying Pokemon.
A secret treasure-level evolution item, the
Shiny Stone
.
Also, there were
Aux Power
mushrooms that temporarily increased a Pokemon’s attack power. When Pokemon ate them, they’d display effects similar to using
Sword Dance
.
John had read in some historical texts that the origin of the
Sword Dance
move was that certain Pokemon ate too many of these mushrooms and thus mastered
Sword Dance.
Of course, this claim had never been confirmed.
After all, these mushrooms were listed as extinct plants in John’s world.
He never imagined they were actually plants from the Hisui era.
Unfortunately, he was a bit short on funds at the moment. He wouldn’t have time to buy them again before leaving the Hisui era.
"Your products are all excellent, but there’s nothing I need right now." John handed back the list.
"Really? That’s truly unfortunate." Volo took the list with a smile, showing no regret that the sale hadn’t gone through.
"Then, we’ll be on our way. We still need to make good time."
"Looking forward to meeting again."
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