All that could be seen was white!
Even though they had already entered the second level of Shoal Cave, due to the refraction of light, the entire cave didn't feel dim at all. On the contrary, it was so bright that it made them a little dazed.
"Be careful!" Sato continued walking in front, with Weavile by his side, visibly eager.
Ever since they entered the second underground floor, Weavile seemed to have returned to its snowy days , its entire body radiating a vibe of 'I'm very comfortable, I'm very excited.'
"Go scout ahead on your own." Sato didn't want to spoil Weavile's good mood, so he simply let it go off to explore by itself.
"Wea!" Weavile nodded excitedly, then darted off. In the cave dominated by white tones, the purple-black Weavile stood out conspicuously.
Sato reminded gently. After receiving Weavile's response, he didn't send out any other Pokémon and simply continued walking forward.
Joseph gave Sato a thoughtful glance. Seeing that he truly didn't intend to send out any other Pokémon, he couldn't help but feel like saying something.
But before he could, Mark had already blurted out the question.
"Won't it be dangerous for Weavile to go ahead alone?"
"Weavile has probably already scouted the road ahead for us. There's no need to worry too much. But if any wild Pokémon do show up, have your Arbok handle it."
"Huh?" Mark looked at Sato in confusion. 'I just asked a question, and suddenly I've been assigned a task?'
Still, having played the mascot for so long... if he didn't get moving soon, he really would become a mascot who only knew how to act "cute".
"Arbok, let's go!" Mark declared heroically, waving his arm as he strode forward with an exaggerated swagger.
But a boss is still a boss. Even though Weavile was scouting up ahead, it still managed to eliminate all threats one after another.
So, half an hour passed, and apart from scaring away two confused Snorunt, Arbok didn't get to battle even once.
As a result, Mark dropped the exaggerated swagger from his stride, realizing that walking that way was exhausting... and honestly, a bit ridiculous.
Shoal Cave's underground was much larger than they had imagined, so after walking for over half an hour, they still hadn't found anything noteworthy. On the contrary, they were feeling dizzy from the countless branching paths.
Weavile had been tirelessly scouting the way forward, and the three of them were advancing by following the claw marks it had left. At the very least, this would let them retrace their steps without getting lost.
As they arrived at another fork in the path, Mark pointed to a set of three-claw marks left by Weavile.
"Eh? Weavile, why are you here?"
As they turned the corner, the trio saw Weavile, but just as they were wondering about it, two Ice Beams shot toward Weavile. With a nimble twist and a backward leap, Weavile landed beside Sato.
Mark shouted. Sato and Joseph had already noticed them, two Glalie charging toward them aggressively, immediately launching two more Ice Beams.
"Weavile, Metal Claw!"
Claw versus beam. Ice Beam was directly shattered, and both Weavile and Arbok closed in for close combat. Metal Claw and Iron Tail both struck true.
It's super effective!
"Metal Claw, keep attacking."
As it turned out, when Arbok got serious, its strength wasn't bad at all. Dealing with a wild Glalie of the same level proved to be effortless.
When the two Glalie were defeated, Sato and the others continued to move deeper in. After a turn, they came across a truly brutal scene.
The entire corridor was filled with Glalie and Snorunt that had lost the ability to fight. Judging by the looks of it, they had clearly all been taken down in one sweep by Weavile.
Sato instantly understood why Weavile had been blocked by those two Glalie earlier.
It wasn't that Weavile had been held back... those two Glalie were simply the last ones inside who still had any fighting power left.
Weavile had fought while retreating, almost clearing out the entire "nest" solo. It was just unfortunate that Arbok had stolen the final blow at the end.
Weavile, ever cold and ruthless, didn't mind. It just gave a faint glance at Arbok, then led Sato and the others straight into the heart of the Glalie's lair.
Arbok shuddered from the sudden glance, quietly slithering to the back of the group, properly falling into place.
Once they arrived at the core of the Glalie's lair, Sato saw Weavile knock down a chunk of ice-blue transparent stone, then toss it straight into its mouth, crunching down loudly.
"So this stone is edible...and it's good for you?"
"Weav!" Weavile nodded, then swung its Metal Claw. A huge, cube-shaped block of ice-blue stone was cleanly cut out, signaling for Sato to help carry it along for the journey.
"This one's a bit much. Slice it up a little more," Sato said with a frown after thinking it over.
Weavile slashed three more times -swish swish swish- and eight neatly shaped cubes were instantly formed.
Sato took out eight foam cooler boxes originally meant for storing ingredients and barely managed to fit all the stones inside, which he decided to call Ice Blue Stones for now, before stuffing them into his space backpack with some effort.
Good thing they had the high-tech spatial backpack. Otherwise, carrying supplies during outdoor travel really would be a huge hassle for any Trainer.
There was no path further behind the Glalie's lair. Sato was just about to turn back and try a different fork when Mark suddenly stopped him.
"Hey, do you guys think... the color of the stone on the inside looks kinda different from the outside?" Mark pointed at the square hole Weavile had dug out, his face filled with curiosity.
Sato and Joseph immediately leaned in for a closer look... and sure enough, there was a slight difference. The stone inside was a deeper shade of blue.
"Weavile, keep digging inside. Maybe there's something good in there," Sato ordered without hesitation.
Metal Claw was a move Weavile had learned long ago, and since it originally lived on a snowy place with lots of Ice-type opponents, it had become one of its survival techniques.
As a Steel-type move, Metal Claw was especially effective against Ice-types, so it had basically become one of Weavile's signature moves in its past battles, with proficiency no less than its STAB moves.
Plus, Weavile had a bit of OCD... every Ice Blue Stone it cut was nearly identical in shape and size.
Watching Weavile perform its smooth, flowing cuts gave off a strange sense of beauty.
"The color's getting darker"
As Weavile continued digging, the trio clearly noticed that the Ice Blue Stone was growing more blue in color, though still very transparent.
Weavile pointed at a freshly cut Ice Blue Stone, then pointed at Sato's backpack, suggesting they swap out the ones already packed.
The deeper-colored stones were clearly of better quality!
"You keep digging, maybe there's something even better in there."