The temporary and rather affordable teacher, Frosmoth, was undoubtedly enthusiastic.
Once Vulpix clearly expressed her desire to learn Aurora Veil, Frosmoth showed no shyness at all, fluttering her beautiful, semi-transparent wings as she landed on the snow and immediately began teaching in Pokémon language, chirping "Moss moss."
Lucas looked over at Calyrex, only to find it intently observing the dazzling aurora curtain in the sky, nodding from time to time, looking thoughtful, and mumbling to itself.
"So that's how it is. Is this the kind of energy structure?"
Funny enough, even though Calyrex had lived for such a long time and had seen many other Ice-type Pokémon use Aurora Veil, it hadn't learned the move, hindered by some obscure power.
At the time, Calyrex didn't care about it.
If it couldn't learn, so be it. With its own power, constructing a psychic shield would be much more useful than these moves.
If it weren't for the fact that even for Vulpix it couldn't offer any decent suggestions, Calyrex wouldn't care so much about Aurora Veil, let alone start researching it on its own now.
To Calyrex, the secret of Aurora Veil was like thin paper, easily pierced. With serious observation, it could quickly understand its underlying principles.
It was much like Teleport—Calyrex could use its immense psychic power to directly warp space. As for Aurora Veil, by manipulating the arrangement of psychic and ice-type energies, it could create an "artificial" aurora.
However, it couldn't turn this technique into a genuine move for itself, though it now had enough knowledge to teach Vulpix. But Vulpix had already found a teacher.
Calyrex opened its eyes and shook its head helplessly.
"Forget it. I won't join in the fun."
With that, it floated over to Lucas and said, "Let me help you carve the ice sculpture. While I'm not very skilled, I can use psychic power for a one-to-one replication."
"That's perfect."
Lucas smiled and nodded. With Calyrex's help, he shouldn't be running himself ragged.
Pokémon assistance was allowed within the rules, so Lucas had no objections.
While searching his backpack for a second set of carving tools, Calyrex approached Glastrier and gently stroked its back.
"Dear steed, keep an eye on Vulpix. If necessary, call Regice over to help."
Glastrier looked at the little Vulpix, who was listening intently, and nodded without hesitation.
Little Vulpix was so cute—it was important to make sure no bad guys outside tried to kidnap her.
In some unnoticed corner, Glastrier suddenly developed a new, surprising hobby.
At that moment, Lucas poked his head out and reminded Regice, who had finished its work and was quietly "sitting," gazing at a small yellow flower blooming in the snow.
"Be careful not to freeze the tea set!"
"Doo-doo-doo-le-jie-ice."
Regice nodded (its body) gently, then continued to stare at the little yellow flower, lost in thought.
…
Night fell.
Lucas and Calyrex had already sculpted the intricate dragon scales and characteristic rings on the Rayquaza ice sculpture—details almost impossible to discern with the naked eye.
Nearby, Ceruledge, Mimikyu, and the Sandslash couple occasionally helped out—
Mainly by clearing away ice shavings that were too tough for Lucas's strength and acting as carving tools.
That's right—they could even serve as professional ice sculpting tools.
Ever since Lucas realized his tools felt like fruit knives trying to cut through Regice's ice—like using a fruit knife to butcher a cow—he'd been thinking of better tools.
Until he saw the rows of sharp, icy spines on the Sandslash couple's backs.
Sandslash actually grew steel spikes, but due to the massive outflow of ice energy, those spikes were covered in thick layers of ice.
Lucas figured that the thinner ones would fit nicely in his hands.
Luckily, Sandslash had a habit of replacing its spikes, so Lucas had no trouble collecting a few sharp, varying-thickness ice spines.
When held, a stab with the ice spine easily broke through the ice defense, unlike the effort needed with carving knives.
It meant Lucas could save half his energy.
He carefully set down the ice spine to avoid accidental injury.
After all, a stab from one of those things, with their sharp surfaces, could cause a nasty wound, not to mention the risk of frostbite.
Then he stepped back several paces and looked at the sculpture he'd spent all day working on.
Due to the ice block's properties, even with the Pokémon's help, all he could do was add supports underneath so it looked like it was flying.
That's right—just looked like it was flying.
As the Sky Dragon, Rayquaza's ice sculpture sitting on the ground would look odd, at least in Lucas's opinion.
He had an idea.
First, elevate the sculpture above the ground with multiple supports. Next, sculpt icy "mountains" to cover the supports, then add special effects with Pokémon moves.
Maybe in the end, it would look just as Lucas envisioned.
But whether the idea would succeed or not would only become clear after finishing tomorrow.
With his Pokémon, Lucas returned to the tent set up beside the sculpture.
At this point, Ceruledge had started a fire, and the kerosene lamp brightened the darkness.
The audience had left the venue by now, spending the night in nearby Montenevera Town.
Except for security staff, most organizers had left as well.
Many contestants, like Lucas, had set up temporary tents to guard their work.
After all, even security couldn't perfectly guard against wild Pokémon at night—or ill-intentioned contestants taking advantage of the darkness to do something underhanded.
Even Lucas planned to take turns with Ceruledge, Mimikyu, and Calyrex to stand watch.
As Lucas drank hot tea and pondered what to eat tonight, Vulpix bounced back.
As soon as she returned, Vulpix spun around proudly in front of Lucas, "Mew-mew," as if expecting him to notice something.
Lucas watched for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he changed the topic.
"Where's your Frosmoth teacher?"
Vulpix paused, shook her head, "Mew" (Frosmoth teacher went home, said we'll continue tomorrow)
"Oh~ Then can you show me your progress today?"
Lucas picked up Vulpix and gave her a good head rub.
Ceruledge paused in the midst of slicing with its flaming sword, then resumed as if nothing happened.
But its gaze stayed glued to the hands rubbing Vulpix's head, emotions fluctuating slightly.
So, Lucas prefers the fluffy Vulpix over cold armor after all?
Ceruledge felt a bit envious, wondering if it could ever grow such fluffy fur.
Unlike Ceruledge's silence, Mimikyu was much more proactive in expressing itself.
"QQ!"
It opened its slightly scary shadow claws, called a few times, trying to attract Lucas's attention.
Lucas's attention was indeed drawn. He put down Vulpix, who was about to perform, and picked up Mimikyu, letting Vulpix display her day's training results in front of everyone.
After a while.
After eating and drinking, Lucas breathed a long sigh as he saw little Vulpix sleeping soundly in her sleeping bag.
Calyrex floated over silently like a ghost, whispering, "That Frosmoth is a pretty good teacher."
Lucas nodded in agreement and lowered his voice, "At this rate, in another day or two, Vulpix should master Aurora Veil."
"That won't be in time for tomorrow's showcase," Calyrex thought for a moment and suggested, "If not, when I prepare Mist, I'll also use psychic power to create an aurora?"
Calyrex was confident—even if it couldn't replicate Aurora Veil's magical effects, it could still create a beautiful aurora to illuminate the sculpture.
Lucas nodded, "That's the best we can do."
Not long after.
Just as Lucas was cleaning up the cookware and getting ready to rest.
He suddenly saw someone near a distant tent, a silhouette that looked like Grusha.
Lucas remembered that was Frosmoth's trainer, the defending champion of this ice sculpting contest, Shawa's tent.
He wasn't the type to overthink every man-woman meeting, so he just mumbled to himself, "Do they know each other?"
He could vaguely see Shawa looking very happy, excitedly circling Grusha, the two of them goofing around in the snowy night.
As expected, after talking with Shawa for a bit, Grusha picked up a lantern and walked toward Lucas's side.
Why was he coming to him?
Before Lucas could figure it out, suddenly, in this quiet place, a noisy commotion broke out, full of presence.
Most of the noise was people yelling, but there were also some Pokémon cries mixed in.
Grusha hadn't expected the disturbance and immediately ran toward Lucas.
Because the source of the noise was behind Lucas.
Lucas called out to Grusha as he approached, "What happened?"
Grusha put down his walkie-talkie and said, "Nothing serious. Looks like some wild Pokémon are trying to barge into the venue—I'll go chase them off."
"Oh."
Lucas nodded, thinking he could just go rest and leave venue security to Grusha.
But for some reason, Lucas suddenly felt uneasy.
As if, if he didn't go, he might regret it.
At that moment, Calyrex, as if knowing something, said in a calm voice, "I'll watch things here. If you want to go, go check it out."
Since Calyrex said so, Lucas decided to trust his instincts. He grabbed his gloves and called to Grusha, "I'll go too."
Grusha didn't stop, nor did he try to dissuade Lucas.
Even though he was very grateful to Lucas and Calyrex, he wasn't about to tell his benefactor not to take risks—
Lucas was much stronger than himself and had two good legs—how could he stop him?
Grusha didn't want to waste time. He'd rather hurry to the scene.
Lucas woke Mimikyu, who was napping in his shadow, put on his cold-weather gloves, and followed.
Soon, they reached the source of the commotion.
Several red-vested security guards and their Pokémon were eyeing two imposing, over-two-meter-tall figures, faces tense.
"Aren't they almost never seen where people gather?"
Someone whispered nervously.
Though Glaseado Mountain wasn't as dangerous as the distant Silver Mountains, wild Pokémon here weren't weak either.
Let alone the two Abomasnow in front of them—their presence was overwhelming, far beyond what the average trainer and their Pokémon could handle.
When Grusha arrived, everyone looked at him like a savior, quickly explaining what happened.
Lucas, arriving next, caught the gist.
For some unknown reason, the two Abomasnow insisted on entering the venue. Yet, strangely, they didn't attack. After some initial conflict, both sides just stared each other down.
For some reason, Lucas felt the Abomasnow looked familiar.
Grusha whistled, summoning a graceful Altaria, intending to drive the Abomasnow away without hurting them.
Being a longtime Ice-type trainer and gym leader on Glaseado Mountain, Grusha understood Abomasnow's temperament.
Generally, unless provoked, Abomasnow were easy to get along with.
Seeing Altaria, the two Abomasnow tensed up.
They knew Altaria was much stronger than them.
They pressed closer together, protecting something behind them.
Lucas, who'd been observing, realized something.
Their posture wasn't fear—it was protective.
Judging by their features, they were clearly male and female—a pair. What were they protecting?
Thinking of a possibility, Lucas decided to test it.
He stepped forward and said to Grusha, "Wait, I think I know those Abomasnow."
Grusha was surprised, gave Lucas a deep look, and stepped aside.
The staff didn't understand, but since Grusha did, they kept quiet, just watching Lucas anxiously, praying nothing would happen.
To their surprise, the Abomasnow relaxed as Lucas approached.
Then, from behind them, a small, white-capped head poked out.
It was their child, a Snover who hadn't yet evolved.
Seeing Lucas, Snover's eyes lit up. It cupped a beautiful snowflake-patterned stone in its sprout-like hands and ran over happily.
…