Pokémon: Above the Top-Chapter 248: First Exploration of Shoal Cave

Time flew by, and by the time Sato and the other two arrived in Mossdeep City, a week had already passed.

Mossdeep City housed the Hoenn Region's space research base. Its technological development far surpassed even Mauville City, though the population was notably smaller.

The main reason the three came to Mossdeep City was to undergo some training inside Shoal Cave.

Naturally, the main participant in this training was still Weavile.

Shoal Cave was located to the northwest of Mossdeep City, separated by the sea and facing it from a distance.

After a brief discussion, the trio decided to head straight there by riding Water-type Pokémon. Sato's Sharpedo and Mark's Lapras came in handy.

After a short rest at the Pokémon Center in Mossdeep City and replenishing their supplies, they set out directly for Shoal Cave.

As the saying goes, "a Rapidash can die running toward a mountain it sees." Even though Shoal Cave looked close, it still took them two hours to reach it by water.

The origin of the name "Shoal Cave" came from the fact that from the outside, it looked more like a massive reef in the sea rather than a mountain.

Only a few Wingull lived on the exposed rocky surface.

The enormous cave entrance of Shoal Cave resembled the gaping mouth of a ferocious beast, directly facing Mossdeep City from afar, making it very easy to locate.

"It's high tide right now. If we go in, we'll only be able to explore the upper areas of the cave," Joseph said after checking his watch.

"That's fine. Let's scout it out first. When the tide goes out tomorrow, we'll head deeper."

Only part of Shoal Cave's interior remained exposed at all times. The cave systems below the surface could only be accessed during low tide.

Naturally, the aboveground areas had already been thoroughly explored by trainers, and most rare Pokémon and hidden items were said to be deep within the cave.

Having reached an agreement, the three waded into the waters of Shoal Cave and let Sharpedo and Lapras out once they reached a point where they could no longer proceed on foot.

At this point, all three, including Sato, chose to sit on Lapras's back, while Sharpedo was tasked with scouting and guarding the surroundings underwater.

Strangely enough, perhaps due to the cave's connection to the sea, the interior of Shoal Cave wasn't dark. On the contrary, it felt rather well-lit.

"Hey, I just saw a Spheal! So cute!" Mark exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a blue Pokémon not far away.

However, the Spheal seemed startled by Mark's loud voice and immediately dove into the water with a splash.

"Shh, keep it down." Joseph quickly pulled the shouting Mark back and pointed seriously at the top of the cave.

Mark followed his gaze and saw a dense cluster of Zubat and Golbat hanging upside down from the ceiling. The sight of so many packed together made his skin crawl.

Mark's shouting had caused a slight stir among them, but thanks to Joseph's quick action, the Golbat soon settled back into sleep.

Luckily, being nocturnal Pokémon, they usually preferred to remain asleep if not provoked.

"Do we... still want to go in?" Mark asked with a trembling voice. Golbat didn't have the best reputation, they were known for bloodsucking and meat-eating.

"As long as we keep quiet, we'll be fine. We just need to finish exploring before dark," Sato said softly, patting Lapras's neck to signal it to move forward again.

As they went deeper, the Pokémon density inside Shoal Cave didn't decrease. In addition to the hordes of Golbat, various Ice- and Water-type Pokémon appeared frequently.

After continuing their journey on Lapras for quite some time -roughly three hours- the three of them finally finished exploring most of the upper level of Shoal Cave.

During the exploration, aside from finding some Shoal Shells used to make the Shell Bell, the three of them gained nothing else.

"Let's go back. Seems like we'll have to wait for low tide."

"Yeah."

"We should've left earlier. I don't even want to come back tomorrow," Mark muttered quietly to himself, but both Sato and Joseph chose to ignore him.

By the time the three of them emerged from Shoal Cave, the sun was already slanting westward. Since returning to Mossdeep City would still take three hours, the trio simply found a sheltered beach and set up their tents.

They had dinner, did some training, and only after night had fallen did the three of them gradually go to sleep.

The night passed uneventfully...

The next morning, they got up early thanks to the unbearably noisy cries of the Wingull. Even Mark, who usually clung to his sleep, couldn't take it anymore.

After breakfast, the trio returned to Shoal Cave. By now, the cave entrance was no longer submerged.

Upon entering, the areas that had previously been underwater were now fully exposed.

There was no need to search hard; a well-trodden path led straight to the lower level entrance of Shoal Cave.

Since the upper level had already been fully explored, the three of them naturally proceeded downward without hesitation.

As soon as they reached the first basement level, Sato saw a Jynx fleeing in panic deeper into the cave.

A Psychic and Ice-type, Jynx wasn't exactly known for her looks, but she was undeniably a rare Pokémon.

This made Sato's spirit lift. Without hesitation, he released Weavile.

"Weavile!"

With a flash of red light, Weavile emerged from the Poké Ball. Feeling the chill in the air, she let out a refreshing sigh.

It hadn't been easy for Weavile; ever since being captured by Sato, it had hardly encountered any natural snow or ice.

It was said that the deeper one went in Shoal Cave, the colder it would get, and at the deepest point, there was supposedly a natural ice cavern.

"Let's go!" Sato said, taking the lead. Joseph followed with his more cold-resistant Wigglytuff, while Mark -as always- sent out his Arbok.

If they did reach an ice cavern later, switching to Lapras would be ideal, since Lapras wasn't just great at surfing, it excelled at ice-skating too.

"What's this?"

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After only a few steps, Mark suddenly stopped and squatted down to inspect a pile of rubble.

Sato stepped up and saw a heap of irregular stones mixed with some shiny yellow crystals.

"That's Shoal Salt. It's a specialty of Shoal Cave. They say it's one of the materials used to make Shell Bells," Sato explained softly.

"Is it rare? Valuable?"

"...Rare, but not valuable. Mainly because the inheritor of the Shell Bell crafting technique went missing. So this stuff's basically useless now."

"Alright then, I'll just collect a bit. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll cash in," Mark said disappointedly before immediately switching to a money-grubbing tone.

Sato and Joseph were long used to Mark revealing his true nature, so they simply waited for him to finish collecting before moving on.

But this time, they had barely walked a few more minutes when a sturdy Ursaring blocked their path.

It was already odd for Sato to see a Jynx in here, and now an Ursaring appeared? A bold guess began to form in Sato's mind.

But before confirming anything, they had to take this one down first.

"Weavile, Brick Break!"