Shamouti Island.
"Are you guys ready?"
In a dressing room in the tiki hut, Suzie was currently putting on a white dress while standing in front of a mirror.
Daisy stood next to her. She was clothed in the same white dress with a long, orange scarf wrapped around her head.
Melody opened the door and stepped into the room. She was wearing the same dress as them.
"We'll be ready in a sec."
Daisy replied.
"Okay. I'll be waiting outside. The festival is going to start in a few minutes. Hurry up, or you guys will miss it."
Melody reminded them before she left the room.
Bang! Bang!
The loud sounds of beaten drums rang out.
Following that, more than a dozen women and men walked out of the festival hut in a row. The men were dressed in plain white robes, carrying
torches while the women were wearing wreaths of flowers on their heads.
It was already a quarter past eleven, and the quaint and deafening drum beats came to an abrupt end, and then the door of the festival hut that had been closed was swung open.
Three women walked out. A young girl stood in the lead. She wore a white dress with a long orange scarf wrapped around her head. Her long brown hair hung down her shoulders. On either side of the girl was a pair of beautiful women. They were holding flower baskets and wearing the same clothes as the girl.
A crowd of fascinated onlookers gathered in the streets in front of the festival house, watching the festival celebration.
'Suzie? Daisy? Shouldn't they be on Tangelo Island? What are they doing here on Shamouti Island?'
Hisoka thought while watching the ceremony in the crowd. If he wasn't mistaken, the girl in the middle should be the Festival Maiden.
The women and men from before lined up in a row as three women walked past them and headed toward the altar that had been set up in the center of the town.
Melody looked solemn as she stopped in front of the altar. She handed the flower baskets to Suzie and Daisy and told them to stay put.
Taking a deep breath, she climbed up the stairs to the altar. In the center, there was a bowl filled with water along with three colored flags. Red represented Moltres, yellow represented Zapdos, and blue represented Articuno.
She washed her hands in the bowl and wiped them with a dry towel.
Then, she came to kneel on the cushion facing the crowd and picked up the ocarina hanging on her side.
When the flute touched her mouth, a beautiful and pleasant melody came out from the ocarina, bringing a serene sense of peace to the crowd. It was said that the song was created by the previous elder after meeting Lugia, the beast of the sea. Since then, this song has become an important part of the ceremony.
The ceremony finally ended after an hour. Although some people had left, most of the crowd stayed because the next part of the festival was going to be held.
At this time, Melody stepped down from the altar. Before she left with the others, she faced the crowd with a smile and said.
"To the people who had signed up for the hero ceremony, please gather in the town square after showing your ticket."
After that, she turned around and went toward the festival house, followed by the others.
The tickets she was referring to was actually three feathers of different colors, which were red, yellow, and blue, representing the three legendary birds. The people who participated in the hero ceremony could only choose one of them.
The final part of the Legend Festival required the participants to go to the surrounding Isles to find the three glass balls and bring them back to the island's shrine to complete the hero ceremony. The three winners would also receive a prize after completing the task.
Hisoka, Doran, and Will decided that they would act separately during this festival. They still would keep in touch at all times.
He chose the blue feather, which meant that he had to go to the Ice Island. Doran chose the red feather, and Will chose the yellow feather.
As for Shelly, they haven't seen her since they separated from each other this morning. They didn't know where she had gone.
"Are we going to ride this tiny boat?"
Doran said with twitching eyes.
Hisoka and the others stood at the beach together. In front of them were three canoes lying down on the shore.
"This should be a small test from the organizer."
Hisoka replied.
"They said we must take the assigned canoes to the island of our choice. It seems they are doing this to this take some people out. They are many small whirlpools around this part. The ocean currents are strong too. Getting to this island is no easy task."
There were more than a hundred people who joined the hero ceremony. There were only three treasures, so it made sense for the organizer to create this rule. There were also some people who came to join in the fun.
As for the winner's prize, whether it was Charcoal, Never-Melt Ice, or Magner, they were all good items. Especially since these three items were all high-quality items produced on Shamouti Island.
"Can't we just use a Water-type Pokemon?"
Doran suddenly asked.
Indeed, the organizer did not explicitly say that Water-type Pokemon was not allowed. The only requirement was that the participants had to bring back the canoes. As long as no one saw them using a Pokemon, it would be fine.
"Great idea Doran. But do you have a Water-type Pokemon?"
Hisoka asked. He knew that Doran aspired to become a Fighting-type Pokemon Master like Bruno.
Doran fell silent at that. He remembered that he didn't have a single Water-type Pokemon on his person.
"I have a Slowbro."
Will said, walking past them toward the canoes.
"Hurry up, many people have already set off."
"I also have a Water-type Pokemon."
Hisoka patted Doran's shoulder in sympathy. He then walked to a canoe and pushed it into the sea.
"Damn."
Doran cursed under his breath. He was still determined to row to the Fire Island regardless.
More than a hundred canoes went into the sea one after another. Many of the participants, who had never rowed before, overturned their boats as they fell into the sea.
Those who fell popped their heads out of the water's surface, looking at their canoe while shaking their head. Some of them had already given up. It would take a long time to turn over their boats back.
Hisoka paddled left and right very easily, heading towards the Ice Island. He was among the first few to leave Shamouto Island.
Splash! Splash!
The loud sounds of water splashing came from the front. Doran almost flew the canoe using his powerful strength. As for Will, he was at the back with the others. It seemed he was also having trouble rowing the boat.
Thirty minutes later, he and Doran had almost reached the three islands.
"Let's part here."
His goal was the Ice Island, so he needed to head to the island in the middle, while Doran needed to head to Fire Island on the left.
Doran nodded and, without saying much, rowed past him. Although the purpose of this trip was to capture a member of Team Aqua to pass the hunter exam, it didn't prevent them from earning some extra money along the way.
After Doran had left, he grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it into the air.
"Come out, Milotic."
Milotic appeared on the sea with her signature cry.
He threw the oars into the boat and jumped on her back.
"Hello Milotic, can you take me to the island in the middle? Oh, and please take the boat with you too."
"Mee!"
Minas let out an ethereal cry as she wrapped her tail on the bow of the boat and pulled it forward.
Among the many water-type Pokemon, Milotic swimming speed was not too fast, but it was much faster than him rowing the boat.
About fifteen minutes later, Ice Island came into view. It was the tallest island among the three islands.
He looked out and saw a mountain that towered into the sky covered in snow. Due to the thick clouds at the top, he could not even see the highest point of the mountain.
Milotic slowly swam into the shallow waters of the bay. He stepped down from her back and pushed the canoe to the shore. As soon as he landed, he felt a chill all over his body.
Due to the hot climate of the Orange Islands, he had been wearing a thin set of clothes. However, the temperature on this island was obviously much lower than outside.
The ground was frozen solid as a gust of cold wind passed by, causing him to shiver from the cold. He looked up and was completely stunned by what he saw. It was a completely frozen forest.
"Ice Island really lives up to its name. It is indeed the place where the Articuno live."
Hisoka murmured to himself.
Fortunately, his space-folding backpack was always with him, so he scrambled for his heavy winter coat in his bag.
Tightening his coat, he walked towards the frozen forest along with Milotic. If there was no accident, the glass ball should be hidden somewhere on the top of the mountain.