Pokemon Paldea [378-379] (Patreon)

Chapter 378 – You Obtained the Title: Pink Demon!

They called it laying an egg.

Of course, Chansey couldn’t possibly sit on a nest like a hen and physically lay a real egg.

Instead, the egg in the pouch on Chansey’s belly—the one said to be extremely nutritious—suddenly lit up with a warm golden light.

Amid the gale laced with electricity, Chansey lifted both arms high. The egg in its pouch rose into the air as if responding to its summons.

The oval energy egg cracked and turned into countless golden motes of light that sprinkled down, merging into Chansey’s body. The stamina it had lost tanking repeated Discharge and Hurricane was rapidly restored.

Iono was dumbfounded.

In the match against that Shuckle, its bizarre, disgusting moves had been annoying, sure, but at least Raichu’s damage had been steadily adding up.

If Raichu’s stamina hadn’t hit its limit first, it definitely would’ve had a chance to beat Shuckle.

But this Chansey in front of her could even restore its own health. How was this supposed to be playable?

Since she’d been chosen by Geeta as one of the eight official, league-recommended gyms of Paldea, the owner of Levincia Gym, Iono, was no battle newbie.

She knew she had to break Lucas’s tempo now. If this went on, Kilowattrel would be slowly and painfully stalled to death.

Kilowattrel’s Ability was Wind Power.

After half a day of observing and working with it, Iono had forcibly helped this faculty-or-student-belonging Kilowattrel develop that Ability so that it could integrate it into its attacks.

In other words… when using Flying-type moves, it could partially convert the power of the wind into electricity!

“As expected of our new Champion, to actually force Iono to use one of her trump cards. Kilowattrel, crank up the wind speed!”

They were only a temporary pairing, after all; there was no way the coordination could compare to the partners that usually lived and trained by Iono’s side. This call-out was one of the signals she and Kilowattrel had agreed on.

Kilowattrel’s eyes sharpened. It began flapping its wings faster and faster. Within the roaring gale, faint, almost unnoticeable sparks of electricity formed and shaped themselves into a circular golden wave of light which, before anyone expected it, washed over Chansey!

Bzzzzt—

Sparks of electricity flashed all over Chansey’s body, and under Lucas’s previous command, its attempt to fire off a second Rock Slide was cut short.

“You pull that out now!?”

Hassel’s eyes widened. He rubbed his bald head and praised them over and over.

“Whether it’s young Iono or Lucas, the youngsters these days are really too impressive.”

Tulip, standing to the side, raised a slender hand to brush back the strand of hair at her temple. With implied meaning, she said, “I’d say even this was probably already within that person’s expectations.”

Tulip remembered clearly how, in their own match, Lucas had calmly and methodically dismantled her Baton-Pass strategy that was built entirely around her Espathra.

She didn’t believe someone like that would be thrown off by a mere Thunder Wave. He must have already prepared counters for status conditions.

And just as Tulip expected—

When Iono saw that Thunder Wave had successfully hit Chansey, putting it into paralysis and making its movements start to stutter—

She called out confidently, “Raise the gale of counterattack! Rain Dance into Hurricane! ”

If she could, Iono would’ve loved to take this chance to set Electric Terrain as well, to prevent Chansey from using any Hypnosis or Sing. Unfortunately, this Kilowattrel didn’t know Electric Terrain, and there was no way she could make it suddenly learn it in such a short window.

Still, the Rain Dance + Hurricane combo was enough to start establishing an advantage for Kilowattrel.

All she had to do from here was chip away at Chansey’s HP step by step and stop it from using recovery moves, and victory would be hers!

Kilowattrel cried sharply to the sky. In an instant, dark clouds gathered. A torrential rain mixed with howling winds came crashing down, forcing the spectators nearby to retreat several steps, out of the downpour’s range.

Then, within the ear-piercing roar of the storm, a clear, bell-like chime suddenly rang out—a sound that felt like it could soothe a weary heart.

Jingle, jingle, jingle—

In the downpour, Chansey endured the pain of paralysis and used Heal Bell!

Geeta smiled, as if everything was going according to plan. She glanced toward the Nurse Joy beside her and murmured, “For a Pokémon Center nurse, healing injuries and clearing status conditions are both core courses.”

“Iono was still a bit careless. Perfect chance for Lucas to teach her a lesson.”

To Iono’s shock, Chansey cleansed its status with Heal Bell and, still wearing that kind and gentle Pokémon Center nurse smile, raised its hand to summon Rock Slide again—interrupting Kilowattrel’s Hurricane during its startup yet again.

Flinch triggered once more!

Chansey’s Ability truly lived up to its name: Serene Grace. Not only was it constantly proccing the flinch effect, even Rock Slide’s accuracy seemed absurdly high. That was a small comfort to Lucas, who’d used to miss Hydro Pump all the time and felt that any accuracy under 100 basically meant “0.”

Taking advantage of Kilowattrel’s latest “crash landing” due to flinching, Lucas had Chansey set up a Light Screen so it wouldn’t have to spam Soft-Boiled to stay healthy.

Moves like that consumed a fair bit of energy. If Chansey ran out and suddenly couldn’t use Rock Slide anymore, now that would be boring.

In Iono’s eyes, which were suddenly tinged with despair, a seemingly fragile wall of light slowly manifested before Chansey.

Larry clutched his stomach and said weakly, “My ulcer’s acting up.”

Grusha, who’d spent years up on snowy mountains, had the urge to tighten his scarf for comfort.

But his hand came up empty.

Only then did Grusha remember that when they’d just left Glaseado Mountain, he’d stubbornly worn his full snow-mountain gear—then promptly gotten schooled by the summer heat and passed out from heatstroke.

In the end, it had taken Ryme’s iron-willed insistence to get him into his current, much lighter outfit. His scarf was back in their Mesagoza hotel.

“So cold…”

Grusha shivered quietly.

As the battle dragged on, Kilowattrel kept getting sent crashing down by Rock Slide, so much that Iono’s fans were about to give it a new nickname: “The Crash-Test King.”

Even boosted by the rain, with both power and accuracy greatly enhanced, Hurricane and Thunder did little more than tickle Chansey.

And if that were the whole problem, it would’ve been one thing.

The worst part was that Chansey’s own attacks weren’t much better—barely more than gentle scratches—so both Kilowattrel and Iono were being tortured.

The match time even crept close to a full hour.

In the end, a completely fed-up Iono ordered Kilowattrel to launch a “suicide assault.” If ranged attacks didn’t work, then she’d take the risk of heavy poison and go all-in at close range!

To be fair, this was actually Iono’s best move from a tactical standpoint. Chansey’s physical Defense was nowhere near as absurd as its Special Defense.

Unfortunately, Kilowattrel’s HP had already been whittled down. Its power was flagging. When it finally went for Brave Bird, Chansey caught the opening and grabbed it, slamming it with a Seismic Toss.

As the minutes crawled on, the jokers in Iono’s livestream chat went from gloating to genuine sympathy.

[“Forget it, forget it, you can stop leeching free food off us now.”]

[“Watching this through a screen is making me nauseous.”]

[“It hurts. It really hurts.”]

[“Please… just put it out of its misery.”]

[“Fsssh…”]

Finally—

At Lucas’s crisp command—“Egg Bomb!”—Chansey hurled the egg from its pouch, that oval egg that wasn’t meant for its own offspring, at the exhausted, defenseless Kilowattrel.

Mid-air, the egg traced a graceful arc and began to glow gold once again.

But this time, the radiance wasn’t gentle, healing light.

It was a golden light brimming with destructive power—ready to explode on impact.

Watching the Egg Bomb describe that beautiful arc in the sky toward it, Kilowattrel, wings too numb from constant Rock Slide impacts to flap, saw a faint spark of hope return to its dulled eyes.

With a deafening boom, Kilowattrel closed its eyes peacefully. The shockwave from the powerful blast swept out across the field, and this pain sufficient to knock it out of the battle somehow felt… reassuring to the bird.

At last, it was over.

When the smoke cleared and the rain stopped, the sky brightened.

The surroundings fell into a rare silence. The only sound was Iono, who looked like a toy that had been played with until it broke, babbling incoherently.

Whether they were Naranja Academy students, participating teachers, or Gym Leaders, everyone wore the expression of someone who’d seen a ghost, staring in horror at the still-smiling Chansey in its Pokémon Center nurse grin—and at Lucas, who had commanded it.

The barrage of messages in Iono’s livestream chat raced past so fast they were unreadable. Someone even screencapped the final scene, posted it on social media, and gave it a title:

[“The Pink Demon.”]

Lucas’s second-round opponent was Tyme, the math teacher who had won the sister showdown.

The moment the match started, Lucas took one look at Tyme’s kind grandmotherly smile and immediately chose to forfeit.

That not only made Tyme, clutching her Bronzong, sigh with relief; it let the students and other competitors breathe easier too.

That was enough. If they had to watch another match like that, they really would throw up.

Hiding within the crowd, Arven and the others were at a loss for words.

Now they completely understood why Lucas had said he would only teach it once.

If this kept up, the next time they met him, it’d be with a fruit basket on their way to visit him in the hospital.

He was going to make too many enemies.

But while Arven, Penny, and Eri were all hesitating with things they wanted to say, Nemona and Paul had a very different take.

Nemona, though she didn’t really understand the tactics, clung to the core belief that “Teacher is awesome!” and cheered non-stop.

Paul, on the other hand, looked as if a new continent had just opened up before him. His razor-sharp triangular eyes gleamed as he lowered his gaze to the Fuecoco munching an apple in his arms. A clear, focused resolve appeared in his eyes.

Once Fuecoco finished its final evolution, perhaps he could develop another tactic for it, one unique to it—but built around the same stalling core concept.

Under Geeta’s introduction, Lucas—with Chansey prancing excitedly by his side, eyes shining from its victory and steps almost bouncy—finally met Chansey’s Trainer.

The disguised Nurse Joy.

“Chansey~”

Chansey ran excitedly up to Joy, waving its little arms around and begging for praise.

Joy looked a bit guilty. She glanced left and right, as if making sure there wasn’t someone squatting in the bushes ready to leap out and punch her, then slowly took off her disguise and hugged Chansey.

“You were amazing.”

Praised, Chansey straightened up even more proudly.

Once she’d calmed Chansey down a bit, Joy stood up, a faint blush rising on her pale cheeks. She bowed to Lucas gratefully and said, “Thank you for helping me discover a different side of Chansey!”

She’d never imagined that Chansey’s just for fun attempts at battle could actually let it defeat Electric-type Gym Leader Iono’s Electric-type Pokémon in a straight fight.

“No need to thank me. If your Chansey hadn’t learned so many moves, I wouldn’t have been able to bring that strategy out.”

Lucas’s reply was modest.

Geeta, meanwhile, rubbed her chin. As if struck by an interesting idea, she suddenly spoke up: “This is worth trying.”

Both of them turned to look at her.

Geeta pointed at Chansey with her gloved finger and said succinctly, “I think this Chansey-oriented strategy can be promoted across the Pokémon Centers of Paldea.”

Joy and Lucas both froze.

Geeta, excited, continued, “Every city needs two core facilities: the police, who ensure the city’s safety, and the Pokémon Centers, who save lives.”

“Up until now, Leagues have always kept combat and logistics clearly separated. I think that division can be reformed.”

“Take Pokémon Centers—key logistical hubs. I’ve heard that in Kanto they’re often occupied or robbed by evil organizations, forcing the police to divert manpower just to protect the Centers.”

“They don’t need incredible offensive power. But if Pokémon Centers can at least defend themselves for a while and act as a deterrent, that would indirectly reduce pressure on the police.”

Geeta’s words left Joy completely stunned, while Lucas could only marvel at her sense of the bigger picture.

As expected of the person who held the real power of the Paldea region. While everyone else only felt disgusted by Chansey’s toxic tactics, her first thought was whether they could be used to make Paldea a better place.

“Lucas, Chansey’s held item just now was Eviolite, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what item would suit Blissey?”

Lucas thought for a moment and answered without hesitation, “Leftovers.”

Blissey had many possible builds, but if you were going for a Serene Grace flinch-stall set, Leftovers was the best, most universally useful item to increase its ability to stay on the field.

As for those full-offense Blissey builds that held Choice Specs or Assault Vest, their Ability was basically always Natural Cure, so you couldn’t lump them together.

And as for Healer-Ability Blissey… that was a proper big healer. What kind of idiot would send their reliable main medic to the front lines?

Using this opportunity, Lucas gave Geeta a quick rundown of the different tactics you could build for Chansey and Blissey depending on what Ability they had and what movesets they used.

By the end, Geeta’s eyes were glowing. She gave Lucas a big thumbs-up and promised, “Thank you for your cooperation. Once this is implemented, I’ll give you a special Chairman’s bonus.”

Lucas was a simple man. If there was money in it for saying a few words, why not?

He agreed on the spot.

Then Geeta turned to Joy and Chansey and asked, “Would you two be interested in becoming instructors? You could travel to different cities and teach the local Joys your techniques.”

“M-me?”

Joy grew flustered, not very confident in herself.

Chansey, though, was all in. It raised its little hand, chirping “Chansey! Chancey!” as it insisted on signing up.

Joy’s smile never left her face.

Every Joy’s Chansey partner was either one they’d trained since childhood, or a randomly paired partner from their family-run nurse school.

Whether in school or later in the Pokémon Centers where they worked, Chansey and Blissey with the Healer Ability—and their Joy partners—were always valued more highly and given more resources.

There was no real discrimination, no bullying, but all the Joys understood that Serene Grace Chansey and Blissey just weren’t as favored.

In fact, among the three Joys at the Pokémon Center, she had the most seniority.

Yet the Joy in charge, whose partner had Healer, had far less experience than she did.

Joy never complained. She just felt a little upset on her Chansey’s behalf.

Now, the opportunity was right in front of her. The most powerful voice in Paldea was personally inviting her. Even if she still lacked confidence, Joy wanted to seize this chance to change things for herself and Chansey.

Maybe she didn’t have to stop at being a Pokémon nurse. Perhaps the path of a Trainer had always been open to her.

Eyes shining, Joy thought that with this opportunity and Geeta’s support, she might be able to step onto the road to becoming a Trainer!

With that thought, a firm light flashed in her eyes. She bowed deeply to Geeta and said, “I’ll do my best!”

Geeta waved a hand, still smiling, and added, “Don’t be in such a rush. Even I can tell you only have a half-baked grasp of tactics—you don’t really have any formal knowledge, and you’re nowhere near as flexible in your strategy use as Lucas is.”

“Like this, you wouldn’t be fit to serve as an instructor.”

Joy’s fiery motivation was doused like a bucket of cold water.

She asked weakly, “Then what do you mean, Chairwoman?”

Geeta pointed at Lucas, who had been minding his own business, completely uninvolved.

Lucas had just been happily wondering how large the bonus would be, when he suddenly became the center of the conversation. Caught off guard, an ominous premonition crept up on him.

The next second, his premonition came true.

Geeta’s amused voice floated over.

“I’ll talk to your family, Joy, and have them assign someone new to take over your current duties. Before you officially become an instructor, you’ll enroll in Naranja Academy and learn from Lucas how to properly use these tactics.”

As soon as Geeta finished, it wasn’t just Joy who froze.

Lucas’s head filled with question marks as he let out an incredulous shout.

“HUH!?”

This Joy’s growth route seemed pretty obvious, didn’t it?

Chapter 379 – Riding a Glastrier-like Pose

“Neighhhh!”

Glastrier slammed its raised front hooves down. Two surging blasts of bitter cold erupted forward like twin spears.

In an instant, a path of jagged, razor-sharp icicles formed before it. The freezing air drifted about like immortal mist, making the whole scene look like a fairyland on earth.

Under the worshipful gazes of the surrounding Pokémon, Glastrier held its head high, chest thrust forward, charging ahead with the momentum of a warhorse facing down a thousand foes. It was as if ten thousand enemies barred its way, and it alone would stand as the unbreakable war god, one steed holding a pass against ten thousand men!

Yet before the former king’s grand conquest could even begin, it was cut off midway.

“My steed, what are you doing?”

A calm voice rang out, and Glastrier froze in place as if someone had grabbed it by the throat.

In Glastrier’s mind, four big characters scrolled past in rapid fire:

It’s over.

Ever since it gave up its identity as a king, Calyrex had rarely used “I, the king” or called others “thou,” except in moments of extreme emotion.

If it suddenly started talking like that again, it meant it was at least a little angry.

Drenched in cold sweat, Glastrier hurriedly took in the coronation road it had carved out for itself. Seeing the frozen trees and grass all around, and the wild Pokémon that had scattered in terror, it immediately understood what Calyrex was upset about.

After thinking it over, Glastrier very spinelessly lowered its head. None of its old, hot-headed King of Brawn temper from the Crown Tundra was visible as it let out a soft, apologetic whinny.

There weren’t many Pokémon watching Glastrier’s little show. Aside from the three Eldegoss who’d just gotten off work, there was only Politoed and its three little underlings, who had come to learn Ice-type moves from Glastrier.

Seeing Glastrier cave, then looking again at the dignified Calyrex, they all turned tail and bolted, scattering like birds.

Politoed decided that maybe Glastrier wasn’t the best teacher. Better to go ask Regice instead.

Apparently, its friend Ceruledge had fought Regice once. Maybe it could get Ceruledge to introduce them.

Politoed pondered its training plan in silence.

In addition to spending two to three hours a day with the damp rocks in the lake to maintain its Water-type affinity, it also needed the ability to protect itself in close combat should it be dragged into melee—and on top of that, filling its blind spot with Ice-type moves was a top priority.

Meanwhile, Calyrex looked helplessly at the guilty-faced Glastrier. An invisible wave of psychic power rippled outward, shattering all of Glastrier’s ice formations, then flowed into the withered plants, restoring them and soothing the frightened wild Pokémon.

Gently stroking Glastrier’s mane—frozen stiff with ice—Calyrex spoke as kindly as it could.

“I know you get bored. Even in the old days, I never forced you all to remain at my side. I let you roam freely across the Crown Tundra.”

“But your power is like a natural disaster to the weak wild Pokémon here. If it is not restrained, trouble is sure to follow.”

Compared to the Crown Tundra, once a frigid place of exile in ancient times, this land’s environment was much softer and gentler. Most wild Pokémon here were low-level. If Glastrier ran wild, it was no different from a natural catastrophe.

Calyrex didn’t want its presence, nor that of Glastrier and Spectrier—these three beings long forgotten by humans—to disrupt the lives of the wild Pokémon and ordinary people nearby.

“If you want to battle, you can go find Luxray and the others. I spar with them every night; you can join us. And on ordinary days, Lucas will keep preparing all sorts of foods you’ve never seen. Before winter comes, just bear with it for a while.”

Calyrex’s tone was patient and earnest.

Glastrier might usually act first and think later like a muscle-headed brute, but if you calmly explained things, it would listen.

Hearing Calyrex’s lecture, Glastrier lowered its head, its whole body drooping. It was clearly downcast, but at least it mumbled a response.

“Neigh…” (I understand.)

Head hanging, Glastrier trudged toward the ice cellar, apparently planning to cool off in the environment it was used to.

But maybe because it was still a bit rattled, it ended up wandering in the wrong direction and towards somewhere else entirely.

Watching its retreating figure, Calyrex drew its psychic aura back into itself, sealing all of its power deep inside. On the surface, it looked no different from an ordinary Pokémon.

Sometimes Calyrex felt that this was relaxing. Thinking that Lucas should be getting back soon, it was just about to turn around and head home when a soft rustle sounded from a patch of grass where the farm met the wilds.

When Calyrex turned its head toward the noise, a silver-gray shape burst from the grass and dove into a taller patch, disappearing in a blink.

Because of the grass, Calyrex couldn’t see the newcomer’s face clearly. It only remembered a silver-gray—perhaps silver-white—coat of fur, and that it ran on four legs.

It didn’t think much of the little incident. Shaking its head, Calyrex didn’t even maintain the bare minimum of telekinesis, simply relying on its long legs to walk back toward the farm.

…

Lucas returned to the farm, still feeling a buzzing in his head after the Naranja Academy event.

It was just a normal exhibition match—how had it suddenly netted him an extra student? Did Geeta really see him as her direct subordinate now!?

Lucas looked thoroughly put out.

Just then, his phone vibrated. He pulled it out reflexively.

It was a text message.

[Paldea People’s Bank: League Year 798, 08/13 16:25 p.m. – Private Account 0001 has transferred to your account ending in 114.]

[ Amount received: 500,000 League Coins.]

[ Balance: 2,511,450.88 League Coins.]

[ Note: Bonus deposit.]

“Heh… guess I can’t complain.”

For a moment, Lucas’s brain was completely dazzled by money, and he chuckled to himself.

Then he shook his head hard and patted his cheeks. “No, no… I can’t let myself be bought so easily with a bit of cash. Just half a month’s worth of Moomoo Milk sales would bring in that much. I can’t be that spineless!”

“…Whatever. Teaching five students is teaching, and teaching six is still teaching. I can just give lessons at the Los Platos Joy, then go back and teach the Mesagoza Joy after. That actually sounds kind of fun.”

This might actually be the first time a battle instructor ever took a Joy as a student.

Thinking that, Lucas glanced at the Dragonite family that had said they were going on a flight together and shook his head, heading into the house.

“Woof woof!”

As soon as he stepped in, a little dog came bounding to greet him.

Lucas inhaled and almost got knocked out by the heavenly smell of baked bread coming off Dachsbun.

Wiping his mouth, he squatted down, ruffled Dachsbun’s head, and asked, “Where’s your big brother?”

“Woof-woo!”

Dachsbun thought for a moment, then mimed a running motion.

Lucas understood instantly.

“Out rampaging again, huh?”

He hadn’t been slandering Arcanine when he’d compared it to a hyper husky.

After evolving, Arcanine’s energy level was terrifying. If it didn’t blow off steam, it’d start tearing the house apart—and Lucas’s slippers would be the first to suffer.

Even with the farm’s huge grounds, there wasn’t enough room for Arcanine to truly run wild.

In the end, Lucas had come up with a solution: since Arcanine needed exercise anyway, he’d make Moltres take its favorite son out for a run every day. That way, Arcanine could vent its extra energy, and the usually-sedentary Moltres wouldn’t get too fat too quickly.

Two birds with one stone.

Shaking his head, Lucas and Dachsbun wandered into the kitchen like a couple of street punks.

These days, with dozens of Pokémon on the farm all needing three meals a day prepared by Lucas, the normal kitchen space wasn’t nearly enough. He could cook all day and still not make enough food, especially with a few notorious big eaters among the bunch.

So now, Lucas mostly cooked outside with a huge wok, letting Moltres breathe fire for him.

The kitchen had been repurposed entirely into Alcremie’s dessert studio.

Right now, Alcremie had just pulled a tray of warm cookies out of the expensive oven Lucas had splurged on for it.

Almost instantly, the cramped kitchen was filled with an intoxicating fragrance of freshly baked cookies, blending with the rich scent of cream into a perfect harmony.

Lucas’s gaze fell on the little yellow cookies on the tray, and he immediately knew what they were.

Marguerite cookies, one of the simplest biscuits to make.

The ingredients: low-gluten flour, cornstarch, butter, cooked egg yolks, a pinch of salt, and powdered sugar.

“Ma-fu~”

Smiling with narrowed eyes, Alcremie picked up a cookie and passed it to Lucas, clearly asking him to taste-test.

Lucas popped it into his mouth and chewed carefully, while Alcremie tossed a couple of cookies to Dachsbun as well.

The cookie was perfectly crisp yet delicate, with an intense creamy aroma. It was very good.

If Lucas had to describe the texture and taste of this Marguerite cookie, he’d go straight for the highest praise he could think of:

“It tastes like the milk puffs I ate as a kid.”

Ignoring the fact that the cookies were still hot enough to burn his fingers and tongue, Lucas grabbed several more and savored them one by one, then gave Alcremie a big thumbs-up.

“Delicious!”

“Woo-woo!”

Dachsbun wagged its tail furiously, indicating that it also loved the cookies.

Happily validated, Alcremie beamed.

Most of the sweets it made were visually stunning, high-end desserts that also tasted great.

But every now and then, making something that looked plain and homey like this was just as popular.

After finishing his taste test, Lucas left the kitchen—only to run into Calyrex, who had just come back from picking up a still-fast-asleep Cosmog from the Arboliva Daycare.

Holding Cosmog in its arms, Calyrex smiled at him. “You’re back, Lucas.”

“I’m back.”

Lucas nodded lightly, his gaze dropping to Cosmog.

Just like Nebby in the anime when it traveled with Ash, Cosmog spent about ninety percent of the day asleep. It was rarely awake, but once it woke up, it became incredibly energetic.

Looking at Cosmog, Lucas remembered he still needed to buy a candy machine to make Sugar candy for it.

Sugar candy wasn’t really a thing in Paldea, so machines for making it were almost impossible to find. Lucas decided he’d sort it out when he visited Kanto in a few days.

After all, Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh were all based on various Japanese prototype cities, and Sugar candy was one of their traditional sweets. He should be able to learn the technique there and buy a proper industrial machine.

Calyrex told him about Glastrier’s incident that morning. After thinking for a moment, Lucas dug a few winter outfits out of the back of his wardrobe and decided to go check on the ice cellar.

Speaking of which, he wondered how Sandslash’s side of things was going—whether they’d gotten an egg yet. He could look in on them at the same time.

Even though Glastrier had just been sent off to cool down on its own, Calyrex still wanted to go with him.

That horse was twice as sulky as Spectrier.

…

Inside the ice cellar—

If the blazing sun outside brought sweltering heat, then in here was the opposite extreme.

Ever since Regice had moved in, even though it had pulled its aura in tight, the temperature in here had almost dropped below minus forty, even minus fifty, several times. It was only thanks to Lucas and Calyrex’s constant intervention and adjustments that things had stabilized.

Today, the ice cellar was livelier than usual.

Regice, who usually sat alone in a corner carefully reining in its freezing aura, was now surrounded by Politoed and its three little brothers.

It felt awkward and stiff, clearly unaccustomed to all the attention brought by the kids that Ceruledge had introduced.

Under Politoed’s intense, eager gaze, Regice quickly surrendered, its round yellow eyes flickering. It pointed its three crystal fingers at an empty patch of ground and very carefully channeled Ice-type energy, forming a stream of frozen air.

“Re-gi… ce?”

Once it finished, Regice turned to Politoed, asking if it had seen the flow of energy clearly.

Politoed watched the slowly dissipating frost, then raised its own hands, trying to alter the nature of the Water-type energy in its body and fire it as an Ice-type move.

The three Poliwrath, who also wanted to learn Ice Punch, stared up at their boss with shining eyes, ready to master the basics and then have Politoed explain it in simpler terms.

Politoed deserved its reputation as one of the smartest Pokémon on the farm. Following Regice’s guidance, it gradually grasped the essence of Ice-type energy manipulation.

Just as it managed to cast a wobbly, weak Blizzard, Glastrier trudged gloomily back into the ice cellar.

And walking behind it was none other than Vulpix, who usually stayed up in the Iron Bundle Cabin.

Even Politoed was so stunned by this bizarre combo that its gathered Ice-type energy collapsed.

Because the Iron Bundle Cabin’s entrance was very close to the Sandslash couple’s den, Glastrier had barely come down before it found itself the target of two wary stares.

This made Glastrier a bit aggrieved. All it had done last time was show off an ice trick in front of the Sandslash pair. Was that really worth such a big reaction?

Then it spotted Politoed and its three underlings, who had been praising it earlier and were now learning Ice moves from Regice instead.

Glastrier’s grievance only deepened. Even its proud, head-held-high swagger deflated. In the old days, with its bad temper, it would’ve just started a fight on the spot.

But it had just listened to Calyrex’s lecture. How could it act like that now?

Even its walking slowed. Vulpix, who had been stubbornly trailing it like a piece of chewing gum stuck to its hoof, was overjoyed.

“Myu-uu” (Uncle Glastrier, let me ride you, pleeease)

Hearing that clingy voice, Glastrier’s forehead immediately bulged with veins.

But maybe because the repeated blows from earlier had left it deeply discouraged, the emo Glastrier simply gave up and let out a weak whinny.

“Neigh…” (Do whatever you want.)

The moment it heard that, Vulpix’s eyes lit up, full of excitement.

Recently, Oranguru had bought children’s picture books for the younger Pokémon.

Vulpix had one, as did Applin, Tropius, and Combee.

In its book, Vulpix had just read a story:

The Prince on the White Horse and Snow White.

Vulpix didn’t envy Snow White, saved by a prince on a white horse. It had no interest in becoming someone so weak and helpless.

Lucas had taught it the joy and sense of achievement that came with winning battles. Vulpix thought being like the prince on the white horse sounded much more interesting.

And on the farm, Glastrier was the perfect white horse candidate in its eyes—handsome, snow-white, trailing cold mist wherever it walked. It was so cool.

Vulpix’s eyes sparkled as it fired off a string of myu-myu compliments that blew away Glastrier’s gloom. Glastrier’s view of Vulpix completely changed.

Before, it had only seen Vulpix as a fellow Ice-type, but a weak little one.

Now, though, this little guy clearly had taste.

Glastrier’s gaze turned warm. It willingly let Vulpix climb onto its back, and Vulpix grabbed the Reins of Unity permanently hanging from its neck.

Unfortunately, the Reins of Unity could only be used by Calyrex. Vulpix and Glastrier had no way to achieve the deep resonance needed to merge their power like Calyrex and Glastrier could.

But to Lucas and Calyrex, who had just stepped into the ice cellar in their winter clothes, the Vulpix sitting astride Glastrier looked perfectly in sync—

What on earth was this?

Riding a Glastrier-like Pose?

Calyrex was so stunned it was speechless. The Iceroot Carrotit’d brought with it slipped from its hand and hit the floor with a thud, as it stared blankly at Glastrier and Vulpix, feeling a rare moment of utter confusion.

Could someone please explain what on earth had just happened?