August 30, Year 798 of the League Calendar
Morning.
Fully equipped, Lucas shouldered a backpack full of tools.
It contained all types of ice shovels and picks, a toolbox full of carving knives, spare cold-weather clothes and gloves, and several spray bottles filled with water.
Oranguru joked that Lucas was the type to have all the supplies but no skill, and Lucas couldn't argue.
After all, he still had a gap with the true masters.
As usual, after watching Corviknight and the others finish delivering Miltank milk, goat's milk, and dairy, Lucas got a message from Oranguru about a successful trade.
Katy had worked hard for these ingredients, even arranging daily pickups and dedicated cold chain trucks to deliver them to Patisserie Soapberry stores.
Today, Oranguru went along to help avoid communication issues between Three Scar and humans. Judging by now, Three Scar should soon be able to deliver to this special client independently.
Clip-clop—
Behind him came the crisp sound of hooves, slow and unhurried, showing the rider was relaxed.
Lucas turned—sure enough, it was Calyrex.
After leaving Cosmog at the Arboliva Daycare, Calyrex had ridden over on Glastrier, carrying Vulpix.
Lucas took the well-rested Vulpix from Calyrex. It seemed to have recovered from its fatigue and was no longer worried about Aurora Veil, looking much livelier.
Vulpix, held by Lucas, wiggled its fluffy tail and patted Lucas's arm with its paws, full of anticipation.
"Meow-woo!"
Finally, going to play on a real snowy mountain!
After waking up, Vulpix realized its obsession from days before now seemed silly. As Lucas said, happiness comes first.
Unlike Luxray and the others, who loved battle and training and gained fulfillment from growth, Vulpix just wanted to be happy.
At least, that's how it felt now.
Lucas looked at Calyrex. "Is Spectrier not coming with us?"
Calyrex shook its head, "It has to guard its field. Too much ghost energy has gathered there, drawing Ghost Pokémon at night. The other day, it found half its black carrots eaten and was furious."
Lucas hadn't spoken, but Glastrier neighed gleefully.
When it comes to schadenfreude and taunting each other, Glastrier and Spectrier, rivals for thousands of years, are evenly matched.
Calyrex shot Glastrier a disapproving look, and it immediately straightened up, pretending to be well-behaved.
Lucas understood Spectrier's perspective and nodded. "Makes sense."
Ghost Pokémon are great at hiding and some can even go invisible and erase their presence. On a large farm, if you're not careful, they can sneak in.
With Spectrier guarding the fields, Lucas felt reassured about leaving.
He checked to make sure he hadn't forgotten any Pokémon.
Ceruledge, Mimikyu, Regice, and the Sandslash couple were all in their Poké Balls.
Plus, with Vulpix, Calyrex, and Glastrier, the team for the ice sculpture contest was ready.
He'd thought about bringing Dragonite, too.
His idea: once the sculpture was mostly done, have Dragonite whip up a wind and use wind blades to polish it—how convenient!
But then he figured, since they'd be relying on Calyrex this trip, giving Dragonite a break was fair, so he left Dragonite and Luxray to train at the farm.
Moments later, seeing it was almost eight, Lucas and Calyrex set off.
Time wasn't tight—there were still two hours until the contest started—but with the sun rising, Lucas was sweating in his heavy winter clothes.
Calyrex said, a little wryly, "This is the largest mountain range in the area, right?"
"Yeah, let's land around halfway up the mountain." Lucas replied, trying to cool off.
Calyrex closed its eyes, spreading its psychic energy to locate Glaseado Mountain.
Soon, it said, "Found it."
With a twist of psychic power, Calyrex warped space and teleported them to the coordinates.
In a flash, Lucas saw the scenery had changed completely.
From heat to instant cold.
Surrounded by white snow, with Vulpix yipping in excitement, Lucas took a deep breath. "We're here! Glaseado Mountain!"
…
On the mountainside of Glaseado Mountain.
A wide, flat, snow-covered area had gathered quite a crowd.
A symbolic barrier surrounded the area, with hired trainers patrolling. If wild Pokémon approached, they'd intercept or drive them off.
After all, Glaseado Mountain is a dangerous region in Paldea, so for the safety of contestants, judges, and ice art fans, the main organizer—the World Ice Sculpture Art Association—had arranged with the Paldea League for a Gym Leader to guard the event.
The Paldea League recommended the Eighth Gym, with the leader of Glaseado Mountain Gym, former pro snowboarder, and ice specialist: Grusha!
At this moment, Grusha sat quietly at the outdoor venue, responding coldly to anyone who tried to chat. His attention wasn't on security.
His ace, Altaria, was patrolling the sky. With its keen vision, it could spot any threats early, and as a Dragon/Flying-type, Altaria could quickly transport Grusha if needed.
So, rather than focusing on what Altaria could do better, Grusha was more interested in today's contestants.
From the organizer's rough data, he knew there were over fifty participants.
But whether any were acquaintances, who knew?
His gaze kept straying to the registration entrance. But so far, he hadn't spotted anyone familiar.
As a former athlete, it was odd for Grusha to know anyone in the art world. But before becoming famous in sports, he had practiced in a corner of an ice sculptor's workshop.
Thanks to that, Grusha had some appreciation for ice sculpture, and this past experience was why he took on this job.
Otherwise, the closer Montenevera Gym Leader, Ryme, would probably be the one guarding the venue.
As Grusha reminisced about the mature figure who brought a Frosmoth, he suddenly saw a completely unexpected face at the entrance.
Lucas, holding Vulpix, with a big-headed Pokémon riding a white horse.
He was entering the contest too?
Surprised, Grusha's gaze was caught by Lucas.
Lucas wasn't surprised to see Grusha.
He'd heard that a Gym Leader was providing security. There were only two Gyms on Glaseado Mountain: Ryme or Grusha.
Grusha had delicate, almost androgynous looks.
On the mountain, he liked to wrap up, leaving only half his face visible, scarf covering his neck and mouth, and long hair flowing.
So everyone's first impression was that he was a girl.
Add in his soft, cold voice when listless, and people often mistook him for a woman.
Fortunately, Lucas had seen Grusha's real face and no longer made that mistake.
Who knew that when he dropped the scarf, Grusha could switch from androgynous beauty to a rather handsome young man?
Seeing Lucas approach, Grusha waved and asked quietly, "Lucas, what brings you to this contest?"
Lucas lifted Vulpix like Simba, matter-of-fact: "To experience life and capture beautiful moments."
He shook the camera hanging from his neck.
Grusha: "..."
Yeah, this guy's retired—no one is as free as he is.
To be honest, Grusha's feelings toward Lucas were complex—part frustration, part envy.
With such talent, why quit being a trainer?
Whenever he thought of his own injury and forced retirement from snowboarding, his once-passionate nature frozen, Grusha sometimes imagined: If he'd just gotten bored with snowboarding instead of being forced to quit, how nice that would be.
Because of these feelings, Grusha was both self-critical and awkward around Lucas.
Like when Lucas called to ask about training Aurora Veil, Grusha had panicked before answering.
In retrospect, maybe Lucas's contest participation was already foreshadowed then.
But Aurora Veil, huh? That person's Aurora Veil was legendary—was Lucas trying to imitate that?
Grusha didn't dwell on it, instead glancing at Vulpix, Glastrier, and Calyrex, his gaze lingering longest on Calyrex, as if trying to figure out what type it was.
After a moment, Grusha, in a stiffer, colder voice than usual, asked, "Did you catch these Ice Pokémon just for the contest?"
He remembered Lucas's team had no Ice-types during his League challenge.
Was it just for this event?
As an Ice specialist, Grusha recognized the Alolan Vulpix.
But the other two... he didn't know at all.
"Only Vulpix," Lucas said, expertly holding it. "The others are my friends: Calyrex and its horse Glastrier."
Calyrex nodded at Grusha, about to speak with telepathy, but when it looked at Grusha, it suddenly fell silent, as if it noticed something.
Glastrier just snorted at Grusha.
Except for Calyrex, Lucas, and those it couldn't beat, Glastrier never gave anyone a good face.
"Calyrex and Glastrier..." Grusha repeated the names, feeling something off.
Visually, Calyrex on Glastrier looked like two Pokémon.
But their auras were eerily merged, seamless.
Weird.
Maybe because he always felt awkward around Lucas, Grusha was about to find an excuse to leave.
But before he could, Calyrex suddenly spoke, a wave of psychic power entering Grusha's mind.
To his surprise, he could understand Calyrex's speech.
Calyrex asked:
"You were injured once?"
Grusha's thoughts spun into chaos.
How did Calyrex know he'd been injured?
And then—wait! Calyrex is speaking!
Telepathy?
As Grusha reeled, Calyrex continued: "Your legs and ankles, feet—they're too fragile now. You can't handle intense activity, right?"
Lucas, puzzled at first, then remembered Grusha had been a pro snowboarder, forced to retire due to injury.
Trying his luck, Lucas asked, "Can it be healed?"
"Of course," Calyrex glanced at Lucas. "Unless it's a disease, as long as there's a breath left, I can cure any wound or injury."
Without further ado, Lucas and Calyrex decided to heal Grusha's lingering injuries.
After all, it was a small thing for them.
As Grusha came to, he found himself enveloped in a warm energy.
He wanted to call Altaria for help, but as he felt the constant pain and weakness in his legs vanish at an unreal speed, he forgot everything else.
First the pain disappeared, then the weakness—Grusha, always sensitive to his legs, realized they were returning to their peak state.
When the energy faded, Grusha was still dazed.
After a while, like in a dream, Grusha stared at Calyrex, hoarse, "How... did you do that?"
He had seen countless doctors and Pokémon, but no one could promise to restore his legs for competition.
Did Lucas and Calyrex realize how miraculous this was?
Calyrex said, "You seemed troubled, so I healed you on a whim."
Worried Grusha might misunderstand, Calyrex added, "Don't worry, this was just a whim. No need to repay us."
"..."
Grusha fell silent, then explained his story: "Even the best doctors couldn't heal me, yet you did it in minutes."
He even wondered if he was being fooled by a Pokémon that could create illusions.
But the sensation from his healthy legs was all too real.
He couldn't tell fantasy from reality!
Lucas and Calyrex exchanged a look, feeling sorry for Grusha.
Those injuries had truly done harm—he couldn't even tell real from unreal anymore.
Placing Vulpix down, Lucas patted Grusha's tense shoulder and explained, "Other doctors and Pokémon just weren't strong enough."
"Don't know if Chairwoman Geeta ever told you, but my Calyrex is a legendary Pokémon from Galar. It's perfectly normal for it to have this power."
"Legendary... Pokémon..." Grusha muttered, tears of joy streaming down.
He'd waited so long for this day.
Overwhelmed with happiness.
When Grusha calmed down, Lucas, as if he'd just helped an old lady cross the street, mentioned he had to compete and left with Calyrex.
He still had to get a good spot in the venue!
Only then did Grusha come to his senses.
Wait—
Who brings a legendary pokémon to an ice sculpture contest?!
...
PS: Read at least 254 advanced chapters at patreon.com/AbsoluteCode