Five minutes later.
Natsuhiko retrieved ten Pokeballs.
Six Senior Level Beartic and four Abomasnow, among which three are Senior Level and one is Elite Level, successfully obtained.
He placed the ten Pokeballs into his backpack, provided simple treatment for the Pokémon's injuries, and gave them a brief respite.
Meanwhile, his mind became active once more.
"In theory, Pokémon like Abomasnow can, through long-term accumulation, form 'Non-Melting Ice'."
Of course, it's just a theory; he didn't find any Non-Melting Ice on these Abomasnow.
However, he did find quite a bit of ice shards nestled within their thick and dense fur.
It was evident that these had formed on them over long periods living in cold environments, and perhaps they weren't even aware of it.
Natsuhiko speculated that it was precisely due to the dense fur of Abomasnow which gathered these ice shards, particularly those ice crystals that hadn't melted under Abomasnow's body temperature, slowly accumulating over time, eventually becoming Non-Melting Ice.
Non-Melting Ice: Blocks that can insulate heat, boosting the power of Ice-type Techniques when carried.
It's considered a rare Pokémon item, difficult to form.
Naturally, it represents high value.
Unfortunately, none of these Abomasnow managed to produce Non-Melting Ice.
The largest piece was a fist-sized block of ice extracted from the leader Abomasnow's fur; it barely melted, even when held in his hand until it nearly went numb with cold.
He tried for half a day but only managed a tiny bit of melting.
But any melting indicates it hasn't fully formed yet.
So in the end, Natsuhiko returned it to the dense fur of the leader Abomasnow.
"I promised Froslass to find a safe living environment for it and the four Snorunt. With the presence of 'Thousand-Year Ice', temperature shouldn't be much of an issue, as long as a suitable place can be found."
Natsuhiko muttered to himself, rubbing his chin.
"It's the same as with Wormadam. If I can support one group, I can support two. The massive 'Thousand-Year Ice' surely affects a large area; supporting a group of Abomasnow should be no problem."
"As for Beartic..."
Beartic do not have the ability to produce Pokémon items, and unlike Grass-type Pokémon like Abomasnow, which rely on plants to survive, Beartic requires a large amount of meat to replenish its thick layers of fat for enduring the cold.
Breeding Beartic undoubtedly incurs high consumption with almost no income, which isn't a wise move.
"Perhaps I'll keep them for a while, but selling them might still be the more profitable option."
In his musings, Yujira and Beedrill had picked all the papaya fruits from the fruit trees.
This fruit has quite a high value.
Because it demands specific growth conditions and climate, it's quite rare.
"But four Abomasnow is still too few. There should be many more Abomasnow and Snover on this mountain; let's see if we can gather more."
Scale is key to breeding; only when the numbers reach a certain point does breeding hold value and meaning.
"And these Tree Fruits."
He stored the papaya fruits that Yujira handed over.
"Creating an environment suitable for Froslass and Abomasnow would certainly be suitable for growing papaya fruit."
Rubbing his temples, Natsuhiko muttered, "Yet planting tree fruits is a whole other subject, even though it's covered within being a Breeder. But I haven't engaged much with it before."
The more ideas he had, the more Natsuhiko felt his own inadequacy.
An "assetless, powerless, and impoverished" individual trying to build an enterprise from scratch—that's truly difficult.
But he had no choice but to do so in reality.
He needed to increase his income sources, especially legitimate ones, else relying solely on capturing and selling Pokémon is barely maintaining balance now; once the Pokémon numbers grow and their strength increases, expenses will outstrip resources.
Unless he's willing to forego his status in the alliance and join underground forces like the Hunter Guild, Rocket Team, or Ocean Team.
But those forces also require strength; without strength, gaining more resources means inviting danger.
And it might draw attention from the alliance.
It's not worth it.
Natsuhiko wouldn't resort to such choices unless he's out of all other options.
Unable to capture Pokémon on a large scale and unwilling to join underground forces, he could only explore his income avenues further.
Energy Blocks are one avenue, while occasionally captured Pokémon yielding items is another avenue. Natsuhiko was preparing his third path.
"But first, I need land—enough land to start..."
He was preparing, but as it stood, he didn't even have the basic conditions.
Feeling a bit helpless, he snapped back to reality, realizing he was nearly halfway up the mountain.
Once reaching halfway, he didn't go further up.
Going further up would lead him near the Divine Hall of Snow Peak.
He wanted to observe the personnel arrangement of the Hunter Guild around mid-mountain, while also capturing more Abomasnow and Snover.
Regardless of having a place to breed these Pokémon or not, preparation was essential.
Once there was land, the "farm" could take shape quickly.
During this time, he finally encountered a few teams of hunters but chose not to initiate contact. They only cast him odd looks, seeing him moving alone.
Natsuhiko similarly avoided interaction, merely pretending to search for Pokémon.
Yet he could sense that since then, an invisible gaze seemed to constantly watch him.
Being watched was uncomfortable.
He attempted to subtly search for the source but couldn't pinpoint it.
So he turned his attention to finding Abomasnow and Snover, pretending to be oblivious.
Ultimately, he managed to discover a couple of small groups and captured them.
Before night fell, he left Snow Peak Mountain without any observation of the direction of the Snowpeak shrine or moving closer to it.
Once he left Snow Peak Mountain, that sense of being watched vanished.
To this, Natsuhiko wasn't surprised.
The next day, he returned to Snow Peak Mountain, continuing his search for Abomasnow.
And that sense of being watched resurfaced.
With another uneventful day of seemingly hunting only Abomasnow, he maintained his facade.
This cycle continued.
Until five days later, when Natsuhiko's return to Snow Peak Mountain no longer brought that watchful feeling.
Even so, Natsuhiko wasn't in a rush.
He waited until the sixth day.
Only then did he finally attempt to approach the Snowpeak shrine.
He had to admit, the Pokémon hunters of the Hunter Guild were indeed skilled; their concealment abilities were top-notch.
Had he not wandered up and down Snow Peak Mountain many times like this, a single pass through might indeed miss the strange happenings on the mountain.
Finally familiar enough with the surrounding environment and having figured out the hunters' patterns, Natsuhiko had his first real sighting of the Snowpeak shrine.
Though named a shrine, apart from a historically styled top, most of it was concealed within the mountain.
As he stood observing, he suddenly felt something, whipping his head around.
Yet he saw nothing.
"Yongji?"
Yujira called out in confusion, its super sensing didn't detect anything unusual.
However, ever since being in the Froslass' ice cave where its super sensing was obstructed by Ann Jie's Copper Bell, Natsuhiko had learned not to place absolute trust in such abilities.
It wasn't a matter of distrusting Yujira, but rather the ability itself.
After all, Natsuhiko knew more than one method to block super sensing.
"Come out!" Natsuhiko soothed Yujira with a hand and sternly called out.
Yet there was no movement.
Natsuhiko's brow furrowed ever more tightly, and he spoke coldly, "If you don't come out, I'll have to resort to my own methods to make you."
At this, there was finally movement.
A figure shot out from the dense canopy, displacing a cascade of snow, and deftly landed on the ground.
"Weavile?"
Seeing this Pokémon, Natsuhiko was a bit taken aback.
"Impressive vigilance," said a woman with a tone of admiration, stepping leisurely out from behind a tree.