#calaba

The sentries were eventually able to make contact with Calaba, who was able to use Ursaluna to track Ingo down.

By the time Calaba and Ursaluna caught up with Ingo, several hours had passed. Ingo was exhausted, scared, and confused. He was dismayed when Calaba asked him who he was and where he had come from. He had been hoping that the first person he saw would be able to explain those things to him.

After spending the night in the Coronet Highlands, Calaba and the others brought Ingo to the Pearl Clan Settlement in the Alabaster Icelands so that Irida could decide what to do with him.

The clan had a meeting to discuss what to do. Ingo was not invited to this meeting. In his amnesiac state, he was helpless as a child and quietly waited for the clan to decide his fate. Calaba, in particular, was in favor of dropping him off with the Galaxy Team's newly established settlement. They were always doing strange things and wore strange clothes. Ingo was probably one of them.

But Ingo had already claimed no familiarity with the Galaxy Team, and Irida didn't feel right about Ingo being passed from faction to faction like an unwanted stray. She decided that Ingo would stay with the Pearl Clan until they could determine where he had come from.

Ingo was grateful to the clan for allowing him to stay, but at first, he was frustrating to have around. He had no idea how to survive in Hisui and had to be taught how to do everything. Gaeric, in particular, was amused by how "scrawny" he was.

The one who gave Ingo the most difficulty at first was Calaba. Soon after Ingo was told he could stay, Calaba pulled Ingo aside and basically told him that he owed his presence here to Irida because if Calaba had her way, Ingo would be on his way to the Galaxy Team.

Ingo took those words to heart and worked hard to prove himself worthy of Irida's compassion.

However, what Ingo quickly came to realize is that while he was hopelessly inept with physical chores, such as harvesting crops or chopping firewood, his knowledge of Pokémon surpassed anyone else in the clan. He was able to name most of the Pokémon species he saw on sight, and his intuition about their behavior was usually more accurate than even that of the clan elders.

Ingo was an especially great help to Jiro, who had never managed to really train his Gligar.

Jiro had hatched Gligar from an egg. He had come upon a pack of Sneasel raiding the nest of another Pokémon while patrolling the Coronet Highlands. The Sneasel scattered when they saw him approaching, leaving only one egg left.

Jiro felt bad about leaving the egg out in the cold by itself, so he picked it up and started carrying it with him everywhere. It eventually hatched into Gligar.

Nobody else in the Pearl Clan really liked Gligar. Its stinger, pincers, and grin creeped them out, and it was constantly getting into their food stores. Many wished Jiro had simply left that egg in the wilderness.

But Ingo was able to give Jiro advice on disciplining Gligar. Ingo taught Jiro how to discourage poor behavior with a firm tone of voice and reinforce positive behavior with treats and praise. In particular, they discovered that Gligar really enjoyed Mushroom Cakes, and using them as treats was highly effective.

Jiro was impressed with Ingo's guidance and gushed with praise for Ingo's knack with Pokémon to anyone who would listen.

However, Jiro and Ingo's friendship was destined to be short-lived. One day, Jiro had a fatal encounter with an Alpha Rhydon in the Coronet Highlands. Gligar survived, but he did not.

There were no human witnesses to Jiro's death. The only other living soul who saw what happened was Sneasler.

Now, at this time, Sneasler didn't have a warden. Her previous warden had been a close friend and peer of Calaba. Sneasler's warden often used to joke that she wasn't as young as she used to be and ought to think about retiring soon. Keep in mind that she was around the same age as Calaba and thus in her late 90s.

One morning, she simply didn't wake up. She had passed away in her sleep.

Since then, Sneasler has had no official warden. Various sentries of the Pearl Clan took turns feeding Sneasler in shifts. Several candidates for the wardenship had been sent Sneasler's way, but Sneasler had rejected all of them. Like Calaba, Sneasler was not over her warden's death.

Sneasler saw the Rhydon attacking Jiro but wasn't able to get there in time to save him. After driving Rhydon off, she picked up Jiro's body and carried it back to the Alabaster Icelands.

The entire clan mourned, Ingo not least of all. Jiro had been his friend and the man who found him in the first place. He felt he owed his life to Jiro and was devastated he would never be able to repay that debt.

But the one who seemed to be the most heartbroken was Gligar. Gligar had followed Jiro's body all the way back to the Icelands, and spent much of its time whimpering in Jiro's hut.

There were some in the clan who hoped that Gligar would leave once Jiro had been buried, but Ingo realized that Gligar had spent its whole life around humans and wouldn't know how to survive in the wild.

Ingo began leaving out food for Gligar. In time, Gligar started following Ingo around just as he'd followed Jiro.

Gligar was especially needy during this time, always climbing onto Ingo's shoulder or into his lap, wanting to be petted. Ingo tolerated all these cries for attention with patience.

One night, he remarked to Gligar that as miserable as it felt, in a strange way, he envied Gligar in its grief. Gligar, at least, knew what it had lost.

Once in a while, a merchant from the Gingko Guild would stop by the Pearl Clan Settlement to sell their wares.

On one occasion, after Gligar had started living with Ingo, Ingo looked over what the guild member was selling and was astonished to recognize Poké Balls among his wares.

The Ginkgo Guild member apologized. He actually hadn't meant to display the Poké Balls, since members of both clans tended to be deeply offended at the sight of them. The merchant was astonished when Ingo offered to buy 10 of them.

Ingo showed one of the Poké Balls to Gligar. Gligar didn't know what it was and tried to eat it, so Ingo had to wrench it out of his mouth.

Once Gligar had come to understand that it was not food, Ingo gently explained that this device was called a Poké Ball, and it would allow the two of them to stay together. He urged Gligar not to be scared and tossed it.

The catch was successful on the first try, but Gligar was alarmed when Ingo called it back out again and panicked slightly. However, it quickly grew accustomed to the ball and even responded happily if Ingo pulled it out after a long day. Gligar came to see the Poké Ball as a place of refuge, a hidey hole just for it.

Naturally, the rest of the Pearl Clan was put off by Ingo embracing Poké Balls. Even Irida wasn't pleased. But, the clan did have to admit that if Gligar was in the ball, it was much less likely to get into their food stores.

The clan was even more astonished when Ingo used his cache of Poké Balls to catch a Machop. In no time at all, he had the Machop chopping firewood and carrying it back much more easily and efficiently than Ingo himself ever could.

The clan still didn't like the Poké Balls, but Ingo’s command of Machop quickly made him an asset. People were always asking him for Machop's help with chores. Can Machop carry this? Can Machop break that?

Machop, and Ingo, were only too happy to oblige.

Ingo began spending more time out in the wilderness, taking on Jiro's old patrol duties. He felt much more at ease out in the wild with the Pokémon than back at the settlement.

One day, he came across Sneasler, who was acting not at all like her usual self. She'd been downcast ever since Jiro died, and Ingo found her sitting on a rock, starting down at the ground.

Ingo approached her cautiously, but she allowed him to get near. He could guess at what was bothering her and comforted her, saying that Jiro's death was not her fault. Furthermore, he was certain that the clan was grateful to her for bringing his body back for a proper burial. He told her that she was a valuable member of the clan and pet her on the head. Sneasler let him.

Another sentry from the Pearl Clan saw this interaction at a distance and reported back to Irida. Both the sentry and Irida were astonished that Sneasler had allowed someone to pet her.

Sneasler had been prickly ever since her warden died, avoiding and snapping at clan members who came near her, refusing food, showing her teeth. Even Calaba couldn't calm her.

Sneasler even had a history of being mean to Ingo. Once, when Jiro was still alive, Ingo had accompanied him when it was his turn to feed Sneasler. When Ingo saw how uncooperative Sneasler was being, he scolded her, saying it wasn't right for her to be so contentious with Jiro when he was just trying to take care of her.

Sneasler had responded by swiping Ingo's cap and running off with it. Gligar had to chase her down to get it back, as Ingo was completely incapable of keeping up with her.

But now she had not only allowed Ingo to approach her but actually pet her. Ingo was not only some kind of Pokémon savant but he had actually managed to reach her when everyone else had failed.