On the second day in the icy plains, as soon as the sky brightened, Hayato changed into the gear provided by Dr. Lund—a full cold-weather outfit with an attached camera—and began wandering through this frozen world.
According to Yuko, one of the female researchers, the number of Pokémon appearing on the icefield would increase more and more as the month went on.
Sure enough, when Hayato climbed a steep ice slope and gazed into the distance, he saw that the variety and number of Pokémon here today were already much richer than yesterday.
Yesterday, he had only encountered a family of Spheal.Today, he came across another family—Cubchoo from Unova.
These were small Ice-type Pokémon with snowy white bodies, blue heads, and runny noses that constantly dripped.
When Hayato spotted the little Cubchoo, it was sprawled by an ice hole like a polar bear, head lowered into the opening, peeking at something inside.
Then—splash!A much larger "white bear" emerged from the hole, jaws clamped on a fish. With thick paws, it clawed at the edge of the ice and hauled itself onto the surface.
Beartic! The evolution of Cubchoo.
After evolving, Beartic became towering in size, its body covered in dense white fur for insulation, its face far fiercer, with none of the Cubchoo's childish innocence.
Hayato quickly pointed his Pokédex at it. The screen flashed with information:
"Beartic, the Freezing Pokémon. An adept swimmer, it freezes its own breath to create ice fangs and claws for combat—or even to form roads across the sea. Beartic dwell in the frigid northern lands."
Clambering fully ashore, the fearsome Beartic dropped the fish before its child, then shook its soaked fur, spraying water in all directions.
The Cubchoo happily accepted the fish, plopping down on the ice and clutching it with snowy paws, gnawing away with delight.
Seeing this heartwarming scene, Hayato instantly raised Dr. Lund's camera, aimed, and snapped.
Click!The precious image of a Beartic feeding its child was captured forever.
But then, the Beartic's ears twitched. It turned its head sharply, gaze locking directly onto Hayato.
Their eyes met.
The look in Beartic's eyes grew dangerous.
Hayato: "…"
Alright, time to leave. The photo was already secured.
He promptly slid down the icy slope.
The stark difference between Cubchoo and Beartic reminded Hayato of another bear Pokémon—Pancham and its evolution, Pangoro. Their temperaments changed drastically after evolution too.
At the base of the slope, Tory was waiting, too young to climb up himself. His eyes lit up as he asked eagerly:
"Hayato-nii, did you get pictures of any new Pokémon?"
"Mm." Hayato nodded, showing him the photo of Beartic. "Cubchoo and Beartic."
"Wow! They're so cute!" Tory's eyes blazed with determination. "I want to take Pokémon photos too!"
"Do your best!" Hayato encouraged him.
"See you later then, Hayato-nii!" Tory waved.
For safety, Dr. Lund had assigned each of them a strong Pokémon protector: Tory was given a Blaziken, Brendan an Altaria, and Hayato a Medicham.
But Hayato had his own partners and declined the help.
"See you," Hayato said with a smile.
Tory waved once more before his Blaziken scooped him up and leapt in a single bound—straight back onto the icy slope Hayato had just descended.
Tsk. Blaziken, huh.
The sight reminded Hayato of the beginning of the XY anime, when a Mega Blaziken appeared before Ash. If he remembered correctly, that Blaziken could leap from the ground all the way to the top of skyscrapers.
Watching Tory and Blaziken vanish into the distance, Hayato realized the story was beginning to diverge from the original timeline.
In the original events, there had been no photography competition, and Dr. Lund had not dispatched Blaziken to guard Tory. That was what led Tory, unnoticed, to wander off after Pokémon on the icefield—only to be caught in the shockwave of Deoxys battling Rayquaza, leaving him deeply traumatized.
But now, with Blaziken by his side, that outcome likely wouldn't happen.
A small but positive change—thanks to his presence.
Hayato never expected things to reach this point.
At first, all he wanted was for Professor Birch to watch over the Pokémon in his ranch. The research paper he'd submitted was merely meant as a gift.
Yet that very paper on Relicanth caught Dr. Lund's attention in secret, bringing this pivotal figure straight to him.
The twists of fate were truly fascinating.
Somewhere beyond his sight, the world was quietly shifting—because he was here.
Blaziken and Tory soon vanished completely from view. Hayato took a breath, deciding to continue his own exploration.
As for Brendan… he had already parted ways with him when they first left camp that morning.
Dr. Lund's team called this phenomenon—the mass appearance of Pokémon—"community aggregation."
Hayato didn't know the academic term or the cause, but the meaning was easy enough to grasp: large numbers of Pokémon, drawn by some special reason, gathering in one place.
The camp itself had been built on the outskirts of the aggregation zone. Pokémon showed up, but not in overwhelming numbers.
Now, Hayato followed Dr. Lund's map toward the core of the aggregation area.
Sure enough, the closer he went, the denser the Pokémon became.
Towering Avalugg, like floating icebergs… herds of Mamoswine moving together… playful Snorunt scampering across the snow.
All of it came together into a grand, living canvas, brimming with the vibrancy of nature.
Aside from petting fluffy Pokémon, Hayato's greatest joy was observing wild Pokémon ecology—watching how they resembled animals yet carried unique spirit and intelligence.
He quickly raised his camera and preserved the breathtaking sight.
That was when he heard a familiar song.
Hayato's eyes lit up.
He knew this voice!Back when he returned to Hoenn aboard the White Sea Lion…Lapras!
He turned toward the sound and soon spotted them—Lapras swimming slowly through the sea beyond a broken cliff of ice.
Click! Click! Click!
He fired off a triple shot.
On the screen, Lapras glided across the shimmering waves.
Now that was a rare capture.
In that moment, Hayato felt the true charm of "Pokémon Snap" photography.
The Lapras pod drifted farther out to sea. Hayato thought they would likely prefer temperate oceans to this frozen wilderness.
The morning's expedition went smoothly.
By noon, Hayato returned to camp, waiting while the cook prepared lunch.
While the photographers were out, Dr. Lund's research team had been busy studying the ecology of the Pokémon they observed.
Hayato sat with a steaming cup of tea in his hands, listening as the researchers chatted nearby.
"Unbelievable, isn't it? So many species living here in the icefield!"
"Yeah! It's fascinating. The friendly Spheal, the wary Walrein, and all those Snorunt running everywhere! Haha, I even caught one in a Poké Ball!"
A third researcher entered, dropping into a chair with a grin. "You think that's something? Look what I found today!"
He laid out photos and analysis data.
The others leaned in—and gasped in unison. "A Glaceon!"
"Haha, rare, right?" The man chuckled, but then sighed. "But that wasn't all. I also saw a little creature I'd never seen before."
"It was pure white, with beautiful icy-blue eyes and many fluffy tails. Looked kind of like a Vulpix, but before I could get close, it darted away."
"A Shiny Vulpix?" one guessed.
"No," he shook his head. "Shiny Vulpix are golden. This one's fur was white as snow."
"…Then I've got no idea." The others fell into thought, before their eyes lit with excitement. "In that case, we have to track it down!"
"Exactly! Investigating unknown Pokémon—that's why we're here!"
"Then hurry up and eat, so we can keep searching this afternoon!"
They rushed the cook to finish lunch.
Hayato, listening quietly, pieced it together. That Pokémon… it had to be the Alolan form of Vulpix.
In the Pokémon world, some species developed different regional forms depending on their environment, gaining new types and moves.
At this point in time, the Alola region had no Pokémon League yet, so it was no surprise that word of Alolan Vulpix hadn't spread.
The image of the snowy fox appeared in Hayato's mind, making his heart itch with desire. Compared to regular Vulpix, the Ice-type version was even more beautiful—and just as fluffy.
He decided he had to search for it himself that afternoon.
But then came the problem: his ranch's Ecological Park had no icefield zone. Where would an Ice-type live?
In the fridge?Hayato considered seriously. Not impossible.
If he captured an Alolan Vulpix, he'd remodel the fridge into a gorgeous ice palace just for it.
For the moment, he completely forgot why he had come here in the first place.
Only when Tory bounced back into camp did Hayato recall—he was here to witness the legendary clash of Rayquaza and Deoxys.
Still, that wasn't something he could rush. Who knew when Deoxys would arrive on the planet?
"Hey, Hayato-nii!" Tory greeted cheerfully.
"Hey." Hayato glanced behind him—no Brendan. He frowned. "Where's Brendan?"
"Huh?" Tory looked around in surprise. "Brendan hasn't come back yet?"
Hayato: "…"
"I don't know either," Tory admitted.
Maybe he got so caught up in taking photos that he lost track of time?
But no—Brendan wasn't the type to cause that kind of worry. They had agreed to be back before noon.
Unless… something happened?
A chilling thought crossed Hayato's mind.
But that shouldn't be possible. With Altaria by his side, even if danger appeared, Brendan could simply fly away.
Sensing something wrong, Tory grew nervous. "You don't think he's in trouble, do you?"
Hayato glanced at the clock. Ten minutes to noon. He looked outside. "Let's wait a bit longer."
They waited an hour.
12:50. Still no Brendan.
Hayato finally realized—the worst-case scenario had come true.
Dr. Lund noticed as well and immediately organized search parties.
Tory, worried, wanted to go too. But Hayato stopped him. "Stay here. I'll look. Don't worry—it'll be fine."
"I can help too!" Tory protested.
Dr. Lund strode over, voice firm. "Tory. No fooling around."
The boy wilted, then told Hayato: "Then be careful, okay?"
"Don't worry."
Hayato nodded to Dr. Lund, then set out with his Pokémon, retracing the path Brendan had taken that morning.
But around noon, another snowfall had erased all footprints.
Without a trail, Hayato could only estimate. Brendan shouldn't have gone too far in just a morning's walk.
This path swarmed with wild Pokémon—no less than the route Hayato himself had traveled.
But the species were different. Jynx, Smoochum, Froslass…
They seemed friendly enough. Hayato sent out Gengar to ask if anyone had seen a human pass through.
Soon Gengar returned. From their accounts, a strange fellow with a box in hand—clearly a camera—had clicked pictures of them earlier, then headed west.
West, then.
Hayato thanked the Smoochum and pushed forward.
Before long, the landscape grew rugged—slopes and ridges, until finally a massive chasm of ice opened before him, deep and bottomless, snow swirling in the wind.
He peered down. A mournful wind whistled up from the depths.
Hayato: "…"
Could Brendan… have fallen in?
After a moment's silence, he decided to go down.
Without Zapdos, he couldn't fly. So he had Ralts use psychic power to lower him.
Thanks to training, Ralts' telekinesis was now nearly as precise as a Kirlia's.
The deeper they descended, the darker the ice walls grew, the wind howling louder through the gorge.
Then—
A familiar voice echoed from below.
Brendan!
As Hayato suspected. He directed Ralts toward the sound.
Soon, on a protruding ledge of ice, he spotted him.
Brendan was crouched there, a small Snorunt in his arms. He seemed uninjured—but his face was clouded with despair.
Hayato glanced up at the height they had fallen from.
…Of course. Only in the Pokémon world could a human survive such a drop.
Reasonable?No. Not reasonable at all!
(End of Chapter)