Chapter 254: Goodbye, Giant of Ice and Snow!
Lorelei's team now had five members.
Will was the strongest, while the two new little sisters were Lv. 21 and Lv. 15 respectively.
In seven months, it would be hard to raise their strength enough to compete for the Sinnoh Championship. Just getting them to a point where they wouldn't be a liability in the elimination rounds would be an achievement.
On the afternoon of the second day after leaving Four Island, Will and the others arrived in Snowpoint City, in the far north of Sinnoh.
"Wow! So much snow! Hahaha! Piplup, let's have a snowball fight!"
Lorelei ran off the ship, hugging Will.
Lorelei had lived in the sub-tropics her whole life. Where would she have seen snow? Even in the Icefall Cave, there was only ice.
So, arriving in Snowpoint City and seeing the snow-covered city, Lorelei couldn't hide her excitement.
"You've been here before?"
Lucario scanned the area and asked Will telepathically.
"Mm. It's changed a lot."
Will stared at the city before him, his gaze a bit distant.
Back then, Snowpoint City could only be called Snowpoint Village.
But now, Snowpoint City had truly become a big city. Crowds of people came and went, and the whistles of cruise ships sounded one after another. This "City of Shining Ice Flowers" had finally become lively.
In a park in Snowpoint City.
"Stop playing, you can't hit us anyway," Will said, looking boredly at the snowman in front of him.
Lorelei insisted on having a snowball fight. But could she hit Will and Lucario? Obviously not. Lorelei had no other path than becoming a snowman herself.
"Boring! Hmph."
Lorelei shook the snow off her body. Her little face was red from the cold, but she acted like it was nothing. Even though she was born on the tropical Four Island, she was more resistant to cold than northern children. What a strange flower.
"Are we going to challenge the Gym? Snowpoint Gym seems to use a 2v2 format."
"No! Let's catch the last Pokémon first!"
Lorelei shook her head. She picked Will up and ran out of Snowpoint City toward the nearby snowy mountains.
"Slow down, don't rush." Will yawned.
In this life, he was a Water-type, so he was much more resistant to cold than his Grass-type previous life. Lucario had thick fur and genes from a cold-climate ancestry, so he wasn't afraid of the cold either.
But Lorelei... she wasn't wearing much, yet she ran incredibly fast. If her mom saw this, she'd definitely get a beating.
She ran all the way to the nearby snowy mountains, rushing around like a headless chicken.
"Why can't I see any Ice-type Pokémon?" Lorelei looked around the vast white snowfield, a bit confused.
"What nonsense. This is a tundra, not a grassland. Even Ice-type Pokémon don't just run around in the open."
"Piplup, go find a Pokémon."
"Where am I supposed to find one for you?" Will sighed helplessly. Pokémon weren't things you could just conjure up.
However...
"Go that way."
Will pointed toward a small snowy mountain.
That was the mountain where Regice lived.
He wanted to go take a look. Maybe Regice hadn't woken up from its nap yet, or maybe it had gone somewhere else. Either way, there was no harm in checking.
"Oh? Are there Pokémon there?" Lorelei's eyes lit up, and she happily trotted in that direction.
They arrived at the small snowy mountain.
"Snoruu~"
"Snoru snoru~"
Just as they reached halfway up the mountain, a white and a yellow figure chasing each other playfully entered their vision.
"Ah! It's a Snover and a Snorunt!"
Lorelei's eyes widened in delight, and she immediately tossed Will aside.
The two little ones saw Lorelei rushing over with a Poké Ball and immediately got into a defensive stance.
The Snorunt stood in front, glaring, while the Snover hid half its body behind the Snorunt, looking at Lorelei cautiously.
"Really..."
Will was used to this. He looked at the two Pokémon and couldn't help but smile.
When he and Meowscarada first arrived here, they had also met a Snover and a Snorunt.
But the difference was... back then, the Snover was bold and curious, while the Snorunt was shy and timid. It was the complete opposite of the situation now.
'I wonder how those two are doing. Maybe they already left with other human trainers.'
Will pursed his lips and shook his head.
Not far away, Lorelei had already sent Cloyster to battle the Snorunt.
Originally, she planned to send Seel. But the terrain wasn't suitable for Seel, and Slowpoke's level was low, while the opposing Snorunt looked high-level. So after hesitating, Lorelei decided to send Cloyster.
Will glanced at the battle and confirmed that Snorunt's capture was a done deal.
"There should be Snover and Snorunt clans on this mountain."
He looked around. Snover and Snorunt were social species. Solitary individuals existed, of course. But seeing these two playing together over a hundred years ago, and seeing it again now, basically ruled out the possibility of them being loners.
A few minutes later.
Seeing its friend get sucked into a Poké Ball, the Snover was terrified and ran home.
"I suggest we leave quickly. That kid definitely went to get help," Will thought, raising an eyebrow and waving his flipper.
If a bunch of Abomasnow, Glalie, and Froslass showed up later, they might not be able to hold their ground. Maybe Lucario could. But that was only a "maybe." If there was an Elite Four-level Alpha or Totem, even Lucario wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Huh?" Lorelei tilted her head in confusion. She threw the Poké Ball.
"Snoruu~"
The Snorunt appeared, looking up at Lorelei.
"Snorunt, would you like to travel with me?" Lorelei asked patiently.
"Snoruu~" Snorunt smiled and nodded its body.
Lorelei spread her hands at Will, as if saying, "See? Problem solved."
"Oho, looks like school wasn't a waste of time," Will muttered, looking at Lucario.
Lucario nodded with a smile. He understood what Will meant. Two years ago, Lorelei would have just grabbed her Pokémon and sprinted down the mountain at Will's warning. But now, she had learned to use her brain to find a better solution.
THUD!
Just then, heavy, continuous footsteps sounded. At the same time, the entire small snowy mountain seemed to shake.
Will and Lucario looked up toward a patch of forest halfway up the mountain.
A large group of Abomasnow and Snover were running out of the forest. Above them floated many Glalie.
"They're here. Looks like the Abomasnow and Glalie clans have been on good terms for generations," Will sighed, looking at Snorunt.
The little cone-shaped Pokémon by Lorelei's leg immediately ran forward on its tiny feet, blocking its many family members.
After a few words of explanation from the little guy, the Abomasnow and others calmed down. They looked at Lorelei, then gradually retreated.
"Rargh!"
Suddenly, Lucario roared.
Will quickly looked to the peak. A white torrent was cascading down from the summit. An avalanche was happening on this small mountain!
"Piplup, return!"
Lorelei quickly took out her Poké Ball, intending to recall Snorunt and Will.
Snorunt was recalled. But Will hopped casually, dodging the red beam.
"Run to the sides immediately! Look for high ground or cover!"
Will obviously wouldn't return to the ball at a time like this. He ran to Lorelei's side, looking at Lucario, who was rushing over.
"Don't worry about me, protect Lorelei!"
"Rargh!"
Lucario nodded, scooped Lorelei up in his arms, and sprinted into the distance.
Both of them used Extreme Speed. Lucario was several times faster than Will.
Their goal was clear. They were running toward a small forest nearby.
A forest wasn't the best place to hide from an avalanche on a snowy mountain. But the problem was... this mountain had nothing else. That small forest was their only lifeline.
"That forest might not hold," Lucario looked back at Will.
"Get in there first," Will replied, glancing up the mountain.
The white torrent was right in front of them. Even if the forest couldn't save them, it was better than nothing.
Unfortunately, his current strength was weak, and Lucario's low-Elite Four level wasn't enough. Otherwise, a small natural disaster like this would have been resolved with a single tail swipe in his past life.
RUMBLE!
In the blink of an eye, the avalanche was upon Will.
He looked up. Lucario had carried Lorelei up a tree, but Will, with his short limbs, couldn't climb and was swallowed by the snow.
But even so, he was prepared. Before he was engulfed, he used his Aura Power to form a pale blue spherical barrier around himself, preventing him from being crushed.
Will felt himself rolling down with the avalanche. Even when he stopped, he didn't dare move. If he released the barrier, the rocks and snow above him would instantly crush him.
Now, he just had to maintain his Aura and wait for Lucario to sense him and dig him out. Fortunately, his Aura training over the past two years had been excellent; maintaining this barrier for five or six hours wouldn't be a problem.
Scratch, scratch~
Just then, a strange sound came from above.
Someone was digging through the snow and rocks, getting closer to his position.
Just as Will was wondering who it was...
Suddenly, a ray of sunlight hit the top of his head.
Will looked up.
A giant pillar of ice appeared in his vision.
"Regice?!"
Will shouted in surprise.
Regice tilted its body, reached down with both arms, and lifted Will out.
"You can control your power now!"
Will released his Aura barrier and patted Regice's arms.
"...Regi?"
Regice made a confused sound.
It couldn't understand why this Piplup would say that. Had it met him before?
The only ones who knew it couldn't control its power in the past were a Sceptile and a Meowscarada. But they had disappeared long ago. Regice had gone out to look for them years ago but never found them.
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