Chapter 172: Volcanic Eruption?!
Will and Meowscarada walked the streets and entered a large department store. When they needed to trade for human goods, this was the best place to go. You could buy everything you needed in one go. And the shopkeepers here were generally willing to barter. The only downside was that the store was very crowded.
Everywhere they went, a large group of people would follow. The sight of two Pokémon from other regions, shopping by themselves, was just too interesting to miss. Fortunately, Will and Meowscarada were now immune to this kind of attention.
As they passed a clothing store, Meowscarada suddenly stopped and tugged on his arm. "Meow," she said, pointing to a set of clothes and pulling him inside.
"Oh my? What style of clothes are these two customers looking for? Our store can custom-make them for you!" the shopkeeper, a woman in her thirties, called out. She was very smart and immediately began to promote her goods to the large crowd that had followed them in.
"Meow~" Meowscarada pulled Will to two mannequins and pointed at the clothes on them.
"...Those are pajamas," Will said, scratching his head. She had her eye on a matching set of "big cat, little cat" pajamas. They were made of thick, pure cotton and looked very warm.
"Meow!" Meowscarada didn't know what pajamas were; she just wanted them. In her eyes, all clothes were the same.
"Alright, I'll go and talk to the shopkeeper," Will sighed. The shopkeeper was a smart woman and understood his gestures immediately.
"Oh my~ no need to trade! Auntie will have a custom set made for each of you. Come back in about five days, and they should be ready," she said, hugging his arm affectionately. "But in a couple of days, you two have to do me a favor. Wear the clothes and play in the store for a while. I'll prepare some delicious food for you and even give you a little gift."
"Hehe, okay. Thank you, Auntie," Will grinned and nodded. He knew she wanted them to be models for a little advertisement. That wasn't a problem. Custom-made clothes, food, and a gift... half an hour of modeling was a small price to pay.
And so, Will and Meowscarada stood obediently as she took their measurements. In that short time, the store was surrounded three layers deep, and many customers had already taken a liking to the clothes, especially the parent-child set they had chosen. Officer Jenny was even drawn by the commotion. The shopkeeper was so happy she couldn't stop smiling.
As they were leaving, she even took them to the Pokémon snack shop next door and bought them two large bags of Grass-type food.
After all this, Meowscarada's mood was wonderful. If not for the large crowd still following them, she would have already started singing.
"Well, this saves us the trouble of buying food. There's enough here to last for half a month," Will said, hefting the two bags. They were not light.
"Meow?"
"Yes, let's go buy some bedsheets and blankets. A normal sleeping bag probably won't fit me," Will mused. He had been fine sleeping on the grass or even the dirt in the wild, but he couldn't do that on a bed of ice.
"Meow," Meowscarada nodded.
Suddenly, both of their expressions changed. Not just them, but many of the Pokémon in Snowpoint City had also become agitated.
"Meow!" Meowscarada pointed a paw to the south.
Will looked in that direction, and his eyes widened. A small, dormant volcano near Mt. Coronet was now spewing grayish-white smoke. Plumes of smoke rose hundreds of meters into the sky. Before long, glowing red lava began to overflow from the crater, forming numerous black and red streams that flowed down the mountainside.
"Mafic lava... this is not good. A lot of Pokémon are going to be in trouble," Will said, swallowing hard as he watched the rapidly flowing lava.
Mafic lava doesn't erupt violently but flows out like a flood of water. However, the amount of lava it produces is staggering, and its low viscosity allows it to flow very quickly. At this rate, all the Pokémon on that volcano were probably going to lose their homes. Not only that, but the environment around the foot of the mountain would also be drastically changed. When the lava cooled, it would become black igneous rock, covering the surface and creating a desolate, barren landscape.
"Meow."
"It won't affect Snowpoint City. It's too far away," Will shook his head.
"Meow."
"It is quite a spectacle," Will nodded. He watched for a moment, then turned to leave. "Come on. Let's go. It's getting late."
"Meow~" Meowscarada stubbornly shook her head, hugging his arm and refusing to let go.
"...Are you planning to stand here and watch for several hours?"
"Meow..." she said, her eyes welling up with tears, looking at him pitifully. She had never seen such a sight in her life and was completely captivated.
"Then hold on to my tail. I'll lead you. You can watch as we go," Will sighed, lifting his tail.
They left Snowpoint and headed southwest, back towards the igloo. When they got close, they immediately saw Regice sitting at the entrance.
"Regice~ we're back~" Will called out, waving.
Regice didn't respond, but stood up and waved back.
"Let's go inside," Will said, beckoning for Regice to follow him.
"Meowscarada?"
"Meow-meow~" Meowscarada wanted to stay outside and watch the volcano.
"Alright," Will said, then took the things he had bought and found a corner to put them.
"Let's get the mattresses and stuff laid out first," he said, taking out the bedding. Because he was so large, he had bought two of everything. "By the way, I didn't buy any for you. They'd just freeze the moment you touched them. When you've learned to control that cold, you can have them too."
"Regi," Regice responded obediently, watching Will work from a corner. It wanted to help, but it couldn't. And for Regice, even just watching Will was interesting. At least it was better than sleeping all the time or sitting alone at the entrance of the igloo in a daze.
"And the oil lamp. This needs to be put up too, or it'll be too dark in here," Will said, taking out a small lamp and hanging it on one of the ice sculptures. The inside of the igloo was instantly brightened.
"Regi," Regice, seeing a lamp for the first time, cautiously approached it. It thought the yellow light was very beautiful. It then remembered something and pointed to the corner.
"Oh~ you protected it very well. Thank you," Will said, seeing his bag.
"Regi," Regice scratched its head in embarrassment. It felt it hadn't really done much, just sat by the door.
"By the way, what was with that earthquake and the volcano erupting? Have you ever seen anything like that before?"
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