Letter 25: The Vortex of Power

Dear Serena,

After a week of nothing interesting to write about, we've managed to meet a new friend, and Misty's gotten better at the Water Z Move, Hydro Vortex.

But let me start from the beginning.

This morning Misty was trying to teach Mele Hydro Vortex, but was having a rough time of it--Mele could get the initial drop to form, but not get it to expand into a whirlpool. After a few fruitless attempts, Mele was tired, so Misty decided to see if she could find someone with a Water type that did know the move, in hopes of getting help.

She didn't have to look very far before befriending Ia, a lady with a Brionne that knew the move. After getting to know each other and Nami, Ia's Brionne, Misty led the way back to the hale, where I was playing with Tarina, and Brock was serenading the sea with his guitar (he'd tuned it to an open G tuning to give his song a more "Alolan" flavor--I think he just made it all up, though.)

After introducing ourselves to Ia and Nami, we told her we were mainly in Alola on vacation, but we were also collecting Alolan songs and lore to share at home. Ia told us that supposedly, there was pirate treasure to be found around the island, and she and Nami were looking for one such stash.

Misty offered to help, in return for teaching Mele how to use Hydro Vortex. Brock and I wanted to come too, so after we had packed accordingly, we set sail for the cove where the treasure supposedly lay.

We arrived at the cove a little after noon, so after a quick lunch, we started scouring the shallows for any sign of treasure. At first we didn't have much luck, so Brock and I took Tarina to look for jewels in the shallows where Misty and Ia practiced Hydro Vortex together.

By the time we got back some time later, Mele was getting the hang of Hydro Vortex, but wasn't quite good enough to do it consistently. Tarina, meanwhile, had found lots of pearls (at least six different colors) on our expedition. Ia and Misty both needed a break by then, so Ia got some fishing line and strung them into a necklace for her.

I remembered we'd brought scuba gear in case we needed to venture into the deeper waters of the cove, so with Brock and Tarina keeping watch from the boat, Ia, Misty, and I suited up for our expedition into the deeper parts of the cove.

There were plenty of coral reefs near the cove--I wish I had brought the underwater camera so I could've taken pictures of the reef. It's okay though--I'm sure we'll get in a few more reef dives in before our vacation ends.

As we ventured into the trench where the treasure Ia was looking for was said to lie, we found out that what I thought was part of a shipwreck was actually a Pokemon named Dhelmise--it it was intent on guarding the treasure!

Sparks had this to say about Dhelmise:

"Swinging its massive anchor, it can KO Wailord in a single blow. What appears to be green seaweed is actually its body."

Ia had packed a Sharpedo stick to keep wild Pokemon away, but that didn't seem to help. It did, however, give Nami time to cover Misty as she got Mele to a safe place to attack from.

I was about to send out Tintri to help Ia when the Dhelmise found Misty! Panicked, Mele managed to pull off Hydro Vortex moments before it could try and hurt Misty.

After we had collected ourselves and Ia assessed Misty for injuries (she was okay, thankfully) she congratulated Mele on finally pulling off Hydro Vortex. Needless to say, Misty was proud of Mele too, and gave her a big hug when we surfaced.

Brock was amazed when we told him what had happened, and he too congratulated Mele on finally mastering Hydro Vortex.

Just when we thought we had lost the Dhelmise, did it surface again! Misty's first thought was to panic, but Mele dove back in the water and used Hydro Vortex again, in full view of Brock and his team!

That was enough to warn the Dhelmise away, so we returned to shore without further incident.

After Misty and I had both showered and rested from our adventure, Ia surprised us with dinner as thanks for helping her and Nami--shoyu Combusken and Kalua Tepig with all the fixings. Brock thought our adventure was worthy of a song, so after dinner, he proceeded to premiere his latest original ballad--"The Ballad of Brave Mele". I'll ask him to play it for you on our next video dispatch.

Ia loved the song, and taught Brock a few more Alolan songs and tales (all the songs had ukulele tabs on them as well as guitar tabs, so I can learn to play them too.) But all the other Pokemon were congratulating Mele too. Mele seemed flattered by all the attention, but she just told the others she was just doing what she had to do to protect her master, and nothing more.

We let Ia and Nami stay with us overnight before seeing her and Nami off the next morning. Misty thanked her and Nami for her help, and promised to keep practicing Hydro Vortex with Mele. Ia in turn wished us good luck on our travels.

I really hope we get to see Ia and Nami again, but Mele's heroic act has been all Tarina can talk about today--maybe there's a Pichu Z Move we don't know about, or she can tap into the Pikapaz?

It's an intriguing thought--we just rested today after our harrowing adventure--but we'll be back on the road again tomorrow!

Until next time,
Ash