The little Tinkatink ran very fast.
In the blink of an eye, it was almost to the flat grasslands on the eastern side.
On this plain, a carefree group of Houndour with bone-like structures on their backs were playing and frolicking.
Standing guard nearby was a sleeker, longer, and much more menacing Houndoom, its body covered in bony structures—like a hellhound from the underworld—keeping a vigilant eye on the surroundings.
It all seemed harmonious, but the moment Tinkatink and Salandit barged in, everything changed.
Almost instantly, the playful Houndour froze, and together with Houndoom, they turned fierce glares towards Tinkatink and Salandit, growling menacingly.
Salandit, whose mind had been clouded by its desire to take credit, also stopped chasing Tinkatink; its hot blood cooled and reason returned.
Stiffly turning its head, Salandit looked in terror at this gang of hellhound-like bully Pokémon, realized something was wrong, and wanted to retreat.
But having gone through so much trouble to lure Salandit here, how could Tinkatink let its plan fail?
A faint metallic sheen appeared on its small hands.
Using all its strength, Tinkatink nimbly leapt in front of Salandit and swatted it right into the midst of the Houndour and Houndoom.
Salandit was stunned.
As it traced a graceful arc through the air and landed right in the center of the group, facing the fierce, encircling hellhounds, sweating, Salandit instinctively used its best attack move in self-defense.
The desperate Salandit, beset by several Houndour, spat a mouthful of poison on one of them, making it cry out in pain.
This, of course, only made the Houndour and Houndoom even angrier.
The flash of their attacks swallowed it whole.
A moment later...
Relying on its agility, having used Salandit as a scapegoat, and seeing all the Houndour and Houndoom focus on Salandit, Tinkatink slipped into the grass and peeked out quietly.
Watching the group run toward the Salazzle's territory, carrying the unconscious Salandit as if seeking justice, Tinkatink finally relaxed.
Its plan to divert trouble eastward had worked.
Next, while Salazzle and the hellhounds were fighting, it would sneak into the small mountain to look for the nest of Corviknight with lots of feathers.
Tinkatink happily ran to where it had previously buried the feathers, hugged them tightly, and carefully hid in the grass, waiting for its chance.
…
August 29, Year 798 of the League Calendar
There was less than a day until the start of the Summer Ice Sculpture Contest.
Meanwhile, Lucas's progress had almost reached the final goal.
…
In the ice cellar.
Ceruledge's blazing sword danced nimbly.
Having learned sword techniques from Iron Valiant, Ceruledge's own skills had become more delicate and skillful. In battle, this meant more variation; for sculpture, it meant higher quality.
If the Sandslash couple's job was to roughly shape the ice blocks with their big claws, Ceruledge's job was to refine the details.
Like turning a crooked rectangle into a winding dragon's body.
Mimikyu's job was similar, its Shadow Claw shaving off ice chips precisely, revealing a lifelike, winding dragon.
When their work was done, Lucas would take the stage with professional tools, finishing the details from scales to expression.
Moments later...
A dragon-shaped ice sculpture about one meter long was finished.
Lucas looked at Calyrex riding the Glastrier.
Calyrex nodded slightly and stepped forward to use a move.
A moment later...
Looking at the dragon ice sculpture now shrouded in fog, mysterious and revealing only part of its body, Lucas smiled in relief.
That familiar voice echoed in his mind, telling him: This is the one.
If combined with an aurora effect, this fog would make the display even more impressive.
The small version was a success—he felt confident about making the large version for tomorrow's contest.
A giant dragon sculpture tens of meters long could only be made here, with Pokémon's help.
He looked forward to the official unveiling.
Feeling it was about time, Lucas let Ceruledge and the others rest, then approached Calyrex.
"How do you feel?" Lucas asked.
Calyrex answered honestly, "The details are fine, the shape is aesthetic, but… it's still far from as lifelike as Oranguru's wood carving."
"I thought so," Lucas said, shaking his head with a nostalgic expression. "Especially when Oranguru carved the eyes onto the wooden sculpture—I felt as if I was face to face with Rayquaza again."
"That's what it means to bring a dragon to life."
Lucas was well aware of his own limits.
No matter his talent, there was no way he could become a master ice sculptor in just a week.
In fact, it was because he let the Sandslash couple and Ceruledge, Mimikyu, and the others handle the major steps that he could focus on details with Oranguru.
Even if he couldn't make it "spiritually alive," he could get close to the level of masters through clever ideas and design.
After chatting with Calyrex for a bit and taking some advice, Lucas waved, "I'll be counting on you all tomorrow."
The lineup for the Summer Ice Sculpture Contest was set: the Sandslash couple, Ceruledge, Mimikyu, Vulpix, Regice, and Calyrex (who could control Glastrier).
Lucas felt this was a top-tier team for the contest.
Calyrex nodded slightly. "No problem. I'm also curious to see just how lively a human-hosted event can be after all these years."
As Lucas was about to leave, Glastrier suddenly neighed, "Neigh!"
Lucas paused, while Calyrex smiled wryly and translated Glastrier's meaning.
"Glastrier says: just let Vulpix do what it can, don't force it too hard or it'll hurt itself."
Lucas was a bit surprised, then smiled. "I know, that's what I was thinking too."
He looked at Glastrier in surprise.
He hadn't expected this usually grumpy horse to have such a gentle, thoughtful side. Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover.
…
Even as Lucas walked away, he didn't notice Glastrier's look of disbelief at Calyrex.
Noticing Glastrier's gaze, Calyrex patted its head and smiled wryly, like a parent dealing with a naughty child. "Dear horse, I was just voicing what you really wanted to say. It's not good to be so contrary."
"And if you say 'Vulpix shouldn't overestimate itself' in front of it, it might get upset, you know."
Glastrier's expression stiffened, suddenly lacking confidence.
…
Lucas headed to the open field.
It was near dusk, but training was still in full swing.
With Lucas's special training, Tropius's accuracy with Leaf Blade had improved a lot.
It could now hit within five rings of the bullseye from ten meters away almost every time; sometimes, with luck, even dead center.
Compared to its old aim, this was huge progress.
Now, Tropius was using Leaf Blade repeatedly against three fluffy Eldegoss, trying to break through their tough-looking but actually very strong cotton defense.
Per Lucas's request, the Eldegoss defending with cotton would sometimes taunt Tropius to provoke it—things like "Have you eaten?" or "Wow, you're really weak!"—to spur its fighting spirit.
Now that accuracy was up, the next step was to improve the move's power.
Leaf Blade isn't a high-power move, but it's great for practicing accuracy, energy control, and force application at the basics.
With all the supplements and rare seasonings lately, Tropius and the others were improving rapidly—almost changing daily.
Tropius even naturally learned a few moves. When it got bored of Leaf Blade, Lucas would let it practice new moves for fun.
Tropius was too naive to realize how deep a trainer's methods could be; it just trained harder and felt happy.
After watching for a bit, Lucas corrected a few problems, interacted with the Eldegoss, then headed to the Vulpix training area.
Even though it was dusk, the summer heat had only slightly eased.
But this area was much cooler than the other side.
The reason was the hailstorm summoned by Vulpix.
Like Politoed's Rain Dance, Vulpix's Snow Warning could call down hail, which is why its evolution often features in weather teams.
Aurora Veil is an important defensive move for Ninetales in battle.
However, Vulpix's progress with Aurora Veil had not been ideal.
Because there was no reference, not even Calyrex, Glastrier, or Regice could use this move, so Lucas could only use his imagination and try different ways to help Vulpix learn Aurora Veil by analogy from Aurora Beam.
His method was: after activating its ability, Vulpix should try to spread out the energy from Aurora Beam, merging it with the hail, so that hail and aurora would echo each other and form a protective veil.
But in practice, it was unexpectedly difficult.
The main problem seemed to be Vulpix's lack of energy control skill.
Lucas had even asked two ice specialists he knew—Lorelei and Grusha—for advice.
They both agreed: Lucas's idea was sound, but Aurora Veil is a top-tier move in both effect and difficulty. Hoping for results in just a few days was unrealistic.
In their experience, only Pokémon with excellent energy control and some power could learn Aurora Veil.
Vulpix just wasn't there yet—it hadn't trained long enough.
Lucas watched Vulpix in the center of the hail, its snowy form barely visible.
At that moment, Vulpix was trying hard, mouth open, to scatter Aurora Beam energy into the hail.
But every time it did, the energy dissipated in the air, far from merging with the hail.
Another failure.
Vulpix stopped. It had felt discouraged before, but now its big eyes were full of stubbornness. Remembering how its mother used Aurora Veil, it lifted its head to try again.
Then Lucas stepped forward to stop Vulpix.
Meeting Vulpix's puzzled eyes, Lucas stroked its fluffy head and smiled, "Time to rest. Tomorrow we're heading to Glaseado Mountain first thing, and the contest will last two days. You need to save your energy."
"Meow-woo…" (But Aurora Veil still isn't…)
Vulpix lowered its head, afraid to meet Lucas's eyes.
It hadn't succeeded with Aurora Veil; would Lucas be disappointed?
He didn't need a translation. Lucas could tell what Vulpix was thinking from its face. Softly, he said, "It's okay if you don't learn it now."
"Meow-woo?"
Vulpix looked up, confused.
Picking up Vulpix, Lucas said lightly, "Did you forget? We joined the contest to enrich our summer, not for victory or ranking. We're going to have fun. If you get exhausted, that defeats the purpose."
"The future is long. Maybe, once you evolve, you'll learn Aurora Veil naturally."
Lucas's words struck a chord in Vulpix's heart. It blinked—so that's how it is.
Lucas could feel Vulpix's once-tense body relax in his arms.
That's better. Training and the contest are just part of a richer life.
Vulpix was still young; on the whole farm, except for the Sandslash couple's unhatched offspring, it was the youngest Pokémon.
He wanted to give it a happy life.
Childhood is fleeting, after all.
Once it relaxed, the fatigue it had ignored washed over it.
Sleepiness rolled in like a tide, and soon Vulpix couldn't resist closing its eyes, dozing peacefully in Lucas's arms.
Stroking Vulpix gently, Lucas smiled and whispered, "Sweet dreams."
…