Just as Dylan went off to deal with the Spheal situation, a clear piercing cry rang out from the sky.
"Art!"
Everyone looked up and saw an Articuno circling overhead. The Swinub below, which had only just calmed down, immediately became restless.
However, under the pressure of Articuno's aura, the commotion quickly subsided.
As Articuno landed, Rowan jumped down from its back.
Although he had been well protected, frost still clung to his eyebrows and the strands of hair exposed outside his clothing.
"How did it go?" Anthony quickly asked.
He had sent Rowan to investigate the giant iceberg at the center of the Land of Extreme Ice.
Now that Rowan had returned, he must have brought back some information.
"Grandpa, the temperature around the iceberg has already dropped to more than minus eighty degrees Celsius. Humans can no longer enter the area, and the Pokémon living there have started migrating outward."
At temperatures below minus eighty degrees, even the warmest protective clothing was practically useless.
Moreover, under such extreme conditions, most Ice-type Pokémon couldn't endure it either. Only Pokémon that had reached the pseudo-Elite level could withstand those temperatures.
And while there were quite a few such Pokémon, they certainly weren't common.
"What about that Cryogonal?" Anthony asked.
The strongest Ice-type Pokémon in the entire Land of Extreme Ice was a Champion-level Cryogonal.
"It's still there. I also had Articuno ask it about the situation. It said that a Pokémon deep within the iceberg is awakening, and that's what's causing the temperature of the entire realm to keep dropping."
That Cryogonal had once belonged to one of the Willow family's ancestors. Otherwise, Rowan would never have dared to send his Articuno into its territory.
"Grandpa, this is beyond our ability to handle. We need to notify the Council."
Seeing the deep frown on his grandfather's face, Rowan didn't want him to keep trying to shoulder everything himself.
After all, if a Pokémon that hadn't even fully awakened yet could cause the temperature of the entire realm to plummet, then its level was definitely beyond Champion.
There was a very high chance it was a First-class Legendary.
Although the Willow family had managed the Land of Extreme Ice for more than two hundred years and knew the secret realm extremely well, they had never discovered that a First-class Legendary was sleeping there.
And considering it was hidden deep within the iceberg, it wasn't surprising that nobody had known.
"If it really is a First-class Legendary, then even if the Champions come, it won't make any difference," Anthony shook his head.
He didn't doubt Cryogonal's speculation.
After all, there had to be a reason behind the sudden changes in the Land of Extreme Ice.
Similar changes had occurred in other secret realms within the country, as well as in secret realms abroad.
Among the various causes behind such abnormalities, First-class Legendaries accounted for roughly one-third of the cases. In other words, a significant number of secret realm disturbances were caused by the awakening of First-class Legendaries.
In fact, he himself had considered this possibility before.
Now, combined with the information brought back by Rowan, there was a high probability that a First-class Legendary was indeed responsible.
At this moment, Anthony didn't know whether he should feel relieved or distressed.
If a First-class Legendary was causing the disturbance, then theoretically, once it fully awakened, the secret realm would return to normal.
However, there was also another possibility.
As the First-class Legendary awakened, the secret realm itself might be destroyed.
Some secret realms existed in dependence on First-class Legendaries. A secret realm could form around a sleeping First-class Legendary, and when that Legendary awakened, the secret realm could collapse along with it.
If the Land of Extreme Ice fell into the latter category, then its destruction would be an enormous blow to the Willow family.
The family was the leading Ice-type family in Drakoria, and a large part of that status came from the Land of Extreme Ice behind them.
If the Land of Extreme Ice disappeared, the Willow family would undoubtedly suffer the greatest loss. Of course, from the nation's perspective, Drakoria would also suffer significant loss.
Aside from the Steel-type special secret realm, which was now completely controlled by the Walker family, the remaining seventeen Special Advanced-level secret realms were all jointly managed, with half the resources belonging to the families and half belonging to the state.
The Walker family was a special case only because Julian had emerged.
In the past, even the Walker family's Special Advanced-level secret realm, the Oreburgh Great Wall, had its resources split equally with the nation.
So when a First-class Legendary awakened within a secret realm, there were only two possible outcomes.
Either nothing happened.
Or the secret realm was destroyed.
And based on previous cases involving the awakening of First-class Legendaries, there was a very high chance that the Land of Extreme Ice would be destroyed once this First-class Legendary fully awakened and departed.
Thinking of this, Anthony's expression became rather grim. Rowan naturally understood this as well.
As the heir of the Willow family, he would most likely inherit the position of family head directly from his grandfather. And like him, everyone in the Willow family knew just how important the Land of Extreme Ice was to the family.
If the family lost the resources of the Land of Extreme Ice, then their overall resources would basically be cut in half.
So to ensure the family's continued development, most resources would have to be prioritized for the family's talented younger generation and powerful members.
Under such circumstances, while the family could avoid declining in the short term, it would inevitably cause instability within the clan.
"Let's get out of here first," Anthony sighed. If a First-class Legendary was truly awakening, he simply did not have the ability to stop it.
Rowan nodded.
With that, the group departed from the Land of Extreme Ice.
Once outside, Anthony pondered for a moment and then said, "Rowan, let Champion Walker know about this. If possible, ask him to come take a look."
This was clearly no longer something they could afford to delay.
The longer they waited, the lower the temperature in the Land of Extreme Ice would drop.
By then, more and more Pokémon from inside the secret realm would gather at the secret realm's gate, and their strength would continue increasing as well.
If the Willow family tried to prevent them from leaving the secret realm, a massive conflict would inevitably break out.
"Mm, I'll contact him right away," Rowan nodded.
Since it involved the awakening of a First-class Legendary, only Julian could handle this matter now.
Far away in Lake City, Julian was currently sitting on the sofa playing Pokémon Glory in a five-man team with Celebi, Jirachi, Slowking, and Zeraora.
"Zeraora, you stole my kill again!"
Julian glared angrily at Zeraora as he watched the Steelix that his Aggron had reduced to critical health get finished off by the Alakazam controlled by Zeraora.
He currently had three assists, and Zeraora had three kills.
That's right—every single one of those kills had been stolen from him.
"Your gameplay is so bad it was painful to watch."
Without even looking up, Zeraora controlled Alakazam toward the bottom lane, seeing if it could find an opportunity to steal one of Celebi's kills.
"You're the one with bad gameplay!"
Seeing Zeraora head to the bottom lane, Julian immediately ran to the middle lane and cleared an entire wave of Zeraora's minions.
At least he could recover some losses.
When Zeraora returned from the bottom lane and found its minion wave gone, while also failing to secure any kills there, it instantly knew that its Trainer had eaten the entire wave.
A cold smile appeared on its face.
Seeing its Trainer fighting again in the top lane, it immediately sent Alakazam over.
Half a minute later—
"Zeraora, I dare you to steal one more kill from me!" Julian shouted.
Zeraora retorted, "Just be happy you even got an assist."
*****
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