Chapter 173: Another Lesser Legendary
Regice swayed its body from side to side. It had been asleep for most of its existence; how could it have noticed such things? But at least in the time it had been awake, it had never encountered the same phenomenon.
"Is that so? What a troubled autumn," Will muttered. Something felt wrong.
He and Meowscarada had been traveling in the Sinnoh region for a long time. The mountains near Mt. Coronet were basically all dormant volcanoes, which were supposed to be extinct. Yet today, one of them had suddenly erupted for no reason. Could a dead volcano be "resurrected"? In the history of Will's old world, there were indeed cases of this happening, but the probability was extremely low, no less than suddenly encountering a wild Regice. And yet, in the last two days, Will had encountered both of these coincidences.
"Never mind. No matter what, your first priority right now is to get your own body under control," Will said.
"Regi."
"You have to work hard. If you can't control your body, the weather around here won't go back to normal. Sooner or later, the humans will find out you're the cause," Will said, not trying to be alarmist.
"Regi?"
"Not necessarily. Most humans are kind and friendly, but there are also some bad ones," Will said, raising an eyebrow. In this era, the vast majority of people were indeed good. But in a hundred or two hundred years, that would not be the case. So, he didn't tell Regice that the world was full of good people, lest it hold onto that belief and be tricked into slavery one day.
"Regi," Regice's lights flickered. It remembered this. It would be more careful if it met humans in the future.
"How have you been feeling these past two days?"
"Regi..." At this, Regice became a little dejected. It couldn't find the method or feeling for controlling its cold aura at all.
"Hmm... could it be because your level is too low? Do you need to be a higher level to learn control?" Will asked, scratching his head. He had no idea about these things.
"Regi?"
"Of course! I'm not lying to you," Will said, puffing out his chest confidently. He remembered it clearly. In the Battle Frontier, when Ash challenged Pyramid King Brandon, Pikachu had made physical contact with his Regice twice with Iron Tail and Volt Tackle, and had shown no signs of being frozen.
"Don't worry. You've only just started trying for a few days. Don't be in a hurry," Will said, giving it an encouraging grin. He then walked outside the igloo and pulled in the Meowscarada, who was still watching the volcano.
"Meow!"
"What are you looking at? Time for dinner! If you don't eat, are you planning to become an immortal?" Will said, his hands on his hips.
"Meow..." Meowscarada pouted and mumbled.
"By the way, Regice, what do you eat? You can't eat, can you?" Will asked, looking at the big ice pillar. Come to think of it, the designs of some Pokémon were truly abstract. Like the Regi trio. They were so crudely designed. Never mind not being able to see their expressions, they didn't even have mouths or noses. To think of living in this world, unable to eat, only able to watch other creatures eat... it was too pitiful.
"For the next few days, you just practice controlling your ability. And Meowscarada, you need to train too," Will said, first looking at Regice, and then turning to the Meowscarada who was acting like this had nothing to do with her.
"Meow?!" she stared, demanding to know why.
"How long has it been since you've trained? Let me think... it's been two months since your last battle, right? If you don't get moving, you're going to get rusty," Will said, poking her head.
When they had left Jubilife, Meowscarada was Lv. 45. Now, after a year and a half, she had only gained 3 levels, to Lv. 48. You didn't need to look at anything else. Just from her leveling speed, you could tell what she had been doing for the past year and a half.
"Meow..." Meowscarada turned her head and flopped onto the ground, playing dead.
Will just glanced at her and started eating.
"Regi?" Regice pointed at the Meowscarada on the ground and looked at Will anxiously.
"It's fine. Don't worry about her," Will said with a casual wave.
It might seem incredible, but he and Meowscarada had a strange connection. If she was in real trouble, he would immediately feel a sense of unease all over his body. So, her pretending to be sick or faint in front of him had never once worked.
"Meow-meow-meow!" The Meowscarada jumped up and used Fury Swipes on Will. He didn't care at all. She was really angry now!
"Here, a sweet and sour Silvervine stick."
"Meow~" The Meowscarada immediately stretched its neck and snatched it. Anger could wait.
...
"It's getting late," Will said.
"Regi?" Regice looked at Meowscarada, then at Will.
"That's a lot. We've met a lot of interesting things and people who have helped us on our journey," Will said.
"Meow!" Meowscarada nodded enthusiastically. A lot of humans had given her delicious food! They were all good people!
"Regi?"
"Wait a second. Since there's nothing else to do tonight, we'll tell you about it," Will said with a smile. He then took out his backpack and pulled out the small glass frame. Inside was a pressed white flower.
"Regi?"
"This... hmm, it starts from when I was just 'born'. It's very important," Will said, his head tilted as he remembered, a grin on his face.
"Meow," Meowscarada rolled her eyes. She had heard the story of that flower a dozen times in the past few years; she could recite it by heart.
...
The long night was spent with Will telling Regice his story. By the time he finished, it was very late. But the snowfield tonight wasn't as dark as yesterday. The crater of the distant volcano still glowed with rolling lava, its red light illuminating that part of the night sky, visible even from their igloo.
"It's very late. We should go to sleep," Will said, pulling the big cat into the bedding.
"Meow?" Meowscarada, tucked under the covers, looked at the big ice pillar and asked a question.
"Regi," Regice didn't feel sleepy but still lay down on the ice, savoring the feeling of sleeping with its friends.
"Goodnight."
"Meow~"
"Regi."
...
Five days passed in a flash. Will either trained with Meowscarada or studied Regice's abilities. When they were tired, he would play with the two "kids," having snowball fights, playing hide-and-seek, or telling them stories.
"Alright, today we have to go to Snowpoint City to pick up the clothes."
"Meow!" Hearing this, Meowscarada perked up, her ears standing straight.
"Regi?"
"We ordered some clothes in Snowpoint before. They should be ready today. We're going to go pick them up," Will explained. "We'll be back the same day. If we go fast, we can be back before dark."
"Regi."
"You'll have to watch the house today. Remember to guard the bag," Will said, waving a hand. He then set off with Meowscarada, running across the snow towards the city.
Regice stood at the entrance of the igloo, watching them go. Then it sat down and continued to practice controlling its ability. In the past five days, it had more or less gotten the hang of it. Although the effect wasn't particularly noticeable, Will had said that the cold aura surrounding its body had been partially absorbed, and its area of influence had shrunk. If it just worked a little harder, it could hug Will.
Time passed. The sun, which had been in the east, had now moved overhead and was beginning to set in the west.
Pat.
A faint footstep sounded nearby. Regice stood up and looked at the sky. Will had said he should be back before dark. It was getting dark now. Was that them?
Pat.
The sound came again, closer this time. Regice turned its head. It was a brownish-red Pokémon crawling on the ground, its body covered in gray metal armor. Regice had never seen such a Pokémon before. It didn't know that the creature before it was Heatran, another lesser legendary, just like itself.
And in terms of their lore, the Regi trio and Heatran had a point of similarity: they were all composed of elements. The Regis were made of rock, steel, and ice, respectively, while Heatran was made of lava and steel.
"Roar (I've finally found you)," a threatening growl rumbled from Heatran's mouth.
"Regi..." Regice looked warily at the four-legged beast. It could tell from its tone that it was not friendly. And from its words, it had come looking specifically for it.
Regice didn't want to fight. It tried to reason with it.
ROAR!
[Heat Wave].
Heatran didn't say another word. It opened its mouth and spat a blast of hot air, like a gust of reddish wind. The heat was so intense that much of the surrounding snow instantly melted.
Regice raised its arms to block. It used [Amnesia], drastically raising its Special Defense. A Fire-type move was incredibly damaging to an Ice-type like it. Fortunately, its own Special Defense was naturally very high, making it a good matchup against the special-attacking Heatran.
"Regi," Regice said again, indicating it didn't want to fight.
But Heatran didn't care. It had come out of its home and had been searching for five days to find Regice. Today, it was going to drive it out of this area, no matter what.
"K-k-k!"
[Metal Sound].
Heatran opened its jaw and emitted a series of ear-grating metallic screeches. The sound waves washed over Regice, making it feel incredibly uncomfortable and lowering its Special Defense. Regice cried out in pain, clutching its head. Suddenly, it saw a puddle of water at its feet. It looked back. The igloo, under the heat wave, was already starting to melt.
"Regi!"
Regice stood up and raised its arms, aiming them at Heatran.
ZAP!
A swift yellow bolt of electricity shot out, striking Heatran directly.
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