Seeing that it would take a full twelve hours, Ace temporarily recalled the Poké Ball.
Two consecutive S-rank ratings gave Ace some self-judgment regarding the system's rating system.
To get an S-rank evaluation, one must either complete the task as quickly as possible, or by the strictest means, or... by disrupting the plot, causing a severe deviation in future events.
For example, with the previous main quest, Ace forced Giovanni to retreat, disrupting the subsequent plot development, and thus earned an S-rank evaluation.
Ace glanced at the side quest "Rayquaza's Contractor." The staggering reward of 500,000 gold coins was enough to show how difficult this quest was.
"Unless I immediately catch up with Rayquaza, forcefully defeat it, capture it, and then learn Dragon Ascent, an S-rank evaluation is out of the question."
Ace shook his head. He opened a Poké Ball, and Aerodactyl grabbed him, flying swiftly towards Mahogany Town.
After a day and a night of flying, Ace rushed to the outskirts of Mahogany Town.
A shiver ran through him, and Ace, who had been feeling a bit drowsy, instantly woke up.
"It's really cold here. It's autumn, but it feels like it's about to snow already?"
Ace looked up at the thick cloud cover. No sooner had he spoken than a few snowflakes began to drift down.
"...Quite suitable for training Ice-type Pokémon," Ace comforted himself. Crobat flapped its wings, carrying Ace to the Mahogany Gym.
It was an unusual gym located at the bottom of a rift valley. Crobat slowly descended with Ace, landing at the entrance of the Mahogany Gym.
Ace wrapped his windbreaker tighter around himself, looked at the dome-shaped building made of ice, sighed helplessly, walked forward, and knocked on the door.
"Creak."
The door opened directly. Seeing this, Ace walked straight into the gym and loudly called out, "Is Gym Leader Pryce here?"
"Oh, oh, coming."
A slightly aged voice rang out. Soon, propelled by a small Seel, Pryce, a man in a wheelchair, dressed in simple clothes with arm sleeves, looking like an old man from next door, came out.
Pryce squinted, sizing up Ace, and asked, "Are you here to challenge the gym?"
"No, I've come to request your training."
Ace walked towards Pryce, simultaneously pulling a letter from Professor Oak out of his windbreaker.
The gym floor was a smooth sheet of ice. Ace walked on it as if on solid ground, reached Pryce, and handed him the letter.
"It's Oak's handwriting."
Pryce took the letter. Looking at the well-sealed envelope, he tore it open, took out the letter, and began to read.
"Hmph."
After finishing the letter, Pryce snorted coldly, then pushed the wheels of his wheelchair inwards without looking back.
Seeing this, Ace quickly stepped forward, and to Seel's bewildered gaze, took over its job, pushing the wheelchair further inside.
"Kid, I don't take apprentices."
Feeling the unusualness behind him, Pryce turned around and said sternly, "You can go back."
"No need to take me as an apprentice."
Ace said with a smile, "I just want to train here for a while. Once my Lapras grasps the basics of a certain move, I'll leave."
As he spoke, Ace pushed Pryce into his workshop.
Here, a row of shelves stood, displaying ice sculptures of various Pokémon. These lifelike ice sculptures were so valuable that even Ace, an amateur, could tell.
"You can continue with your work, old man. I'll just borrow your battle arena for a bit."
Ace smilingly pushed Pryce into position, then turned and left Pryce's workshop, returning to the Mahogany Gym's battle arena.
"Lapras."
As Ace opened the Poké Ball, Lapras landed on the icy surface of the Mahogany Gym.
The cool ice instantly made Lapras feel comfortable. But immediately after, as Ace signaled the start of special training, Lapras began to unleash cold air, practicing the move Sheer Cold.
As Lapras practiced, the temperature inside the Mahogany Gym dropped lower and lower. With Ace's breathing, large amounts of white mist slowly exhaled from his nostrils, then turned into ice crystals and fell to the ground.
"Tap, tap, tap."
The sound of a bamboo stick tapping the ice rang out. Ace turned around and saw Pryce walking out of his workshop, his face grim.
"If you want to practice, go outside and practice. Don't practice in my gym."
"Alright."
Ace readily complied. He gestured to Lapras, then lightly jumped onto its back.
Lapras smiled and paddled its limbs, sliding towards the gym's exit with Ace.
An Ice Beam shot out, quickly creating a large sheet of ice outside the gym. Lapras, having slid out of the gym, stopped on the ice outside.
Fine snow gently fell. Ace jumped off Lapras's back and onto the ice, saying to Lapras, "Lapras, try it again, Sheer Cold!"
Lapras nodded, let out a low cry, and cold air burst from its body.
Under Lapras's control, the cold air rapidly gathered in front of it. Lapras was also trying its best to lower the cold air's temperature, hoping to meet the conditions for using Sheer Cold.
Pryce's gaze passed through the large door, watching the struggling Lapras. In a trance, he seemed to see himself.
At that time, he also trained his Lapras so diligently, hoping they would become stronger.
"Hmph."
But soon, Pryce shook off the memories in his mind and turned back to his workshop.
"Team Rocket has fallen. Their remnants can be gathered," Pryce thought silently as he carved ice sculptures. "Once they form a significant force, then it will be time to try and capture that Pokémon..."
"Clink, clink, clink..."
A hammer struck an ice chisel, slowly chipping away at the ice. Soon, a lifelike Seel ice sculpture appeared before Pryce.
Outside the gym, Ace also immersed himself in training, no longer paying attention to Pryce.
He knew very well that Pryce wouldn't easily develop a liking for Ace just because of a letter from Professor Oak.
One must remember that Professor Oak and his peers were Pryce's close friends, yet even they couldn't pull Pryce out of his reclusiveness, let alone Ace.
So Ace had long prepared for a protracted battle, to wear him down little by little.
Unless Pryce truly felt nothing for Lapras, with Pryce's personality, encountering such a diligent and serious Lapras, his ice-like heart would eventually melt a little.
And this would require the accumulation of time, or perhaps...
Ace's Lapras was male, and Pryce's Lapras, if Ace guessed correctly, should be female.
If all else failed, Ace wouldn't mind his Lapras sacrificing its "charm" to tempt that Lapras.
To be honest, Pryce cherished his Lapras greatly, treating it like an old father viewing his daughter.
If his "daughter" fell in love, then he would eventually have to reveal some things to this "son-in-law."