"This is… a yellow crystal?"
Staring at the crystal before him, Aven felt a little dazed. Had he really obtained the second crystal this easily? Reaching out, he took the yellow crystal into his hand, and at once he could see that when the three crystals were brought together, all of them began to radiate light simultaneously.
Among them, the power of the red crystal and the yellow crystal slowly flowed into the black crystal, causing the light within the black crystal to rapidly dim and fade. However, it was obvious that completely eliminating the power contained in the black crystal would not be so easy. To truly neutralize it, he would still need to find the final blue crystal.
Yet this raised another question in his mind. The red crystal was guarded by Heatran, the yellow crystal was protected by Cresselia—then which Legendary Pokémon would be guarding the last blue crystal?
Although he had already obtained two crystals, one had been gained because he had saved Heatran, and the other because he had encountered the benevolent Cresselia. There was no guarantee that the next guardian would be so easy to deal with.
"Thank you, Cresselia. Do you know anything about the blue crystal?" After some thought, Aven asked further.
Compared to the pitiful, sealed Heatran, Cresselia clearly knew much more and reacted far more strongly to the crystals. Since it had been able to track him here by sensing the power of the red crystal, perhaps it could also sense the aura of the blue crystal and lead him to it.
After hearing his words, Cresselia actually nodded. Then it turned its gaze toward the southwest—and that direction pointed straight toward the Almia Region!
"So the final blue crystal is in Almia?" Aven's face first lit up with joy, but then hesitation crept in.
Even if he now knew the location of the last crystal, he still did not possess the strength to travel to the Almia Region on his own. For the time being, all he could do was wait.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Cresselia fell silent for a moment, then suddenly floated over to Aven and gently descended to the ground in front of him.
"Cresselia… do you mean to take me to Almia?" Aven froze for a second, then asked tentatively.
Cresselia nodded without hesitation. The psychic power around its body surged forth, lifting Aven directly into the air and drawing him close. The crescent-shaped halo of moonlight completely enveloped his body.
Seeing this, Aven's face broke into a smile. He glanced at the Pokémon hovering nearby, their expressions tense with concern, then thought for a moment and took out his Poké Balls.
"Lilligant, Froslass, Gardevoir… I'll have to let you stay inside your Poké Balls for now."
Hearing this, the three Pokémon visibly relaxed and nodded toward Aven. As long as he wasn't abandoning them, that was all that mattered.
With beams of white light flashing out, Lilligant, Froslass, and Gardevoir were all recalled into their Poké Balls. Poipole, unable to enter a Poké Ball, curled up quietly in Aven's arms instead.
Once Aven had finished preparing, Cresselia shot upward into the sky, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished into the night through a flash of teleportation.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
When the sun finally rose above the horizon, Aven could already faintly make out the silhouette of a vast region in the distance.
"We're already here? Cresselia's speed is incredible…"
"Could it be that earlier, it sensed the aura of the red crystal and rushed all the way from the Almia Region?"
As Aven pondered this, before he could react, Cresselia's body suddenly shimmered with light again, and its figure vanished from midair.
When Aven regained his senses, he found himself standing in a land of ice and snow. Bone-chilling winds howled endlessly around him, making him shiver instinctively.
It was summer right now, yet this place felt like the depths of winter. The temperature here was even colder than the harshest winters of Aspiration City.
"Everyone, come out," Aven said, taking a deep breath as he pulled out three Poké Balls and released Lilligant, Froslass, and Gardevoir.
"Lilli!"
The moment Lilligant emerged, its body shrank slightly. For a Grass-type Pokémon, such an icy environment was extremely uncomfortable, especially since Grass types were naturally at a disadvantage against Ice types.
"Lass~!"
Froslass, on the other hand, looked delighted. It danced through the air joyfully, stirring up flurries of snow as it moved.
Winter, its favorite season—had just ended, and it had been dreading the arrival of summer, thinking it would have to wait another half year before feeling such cold again. Who would have thought that here, it could once more bask in an icy, comfortable environment? It seemed this expedition would take place under frigid conditions, and Froslass felt it had to perform especially well.
After delivering Aven here, Cresselia did not continue onward. Clearly, from this point on, acquiring the blue crystal would be something Aven had to do on his own.
"Cresselia, thank you for bringing me here," Aven said sincerely.
Cresselia nodded at him and indicated that there was a castle ahead, and that the blue crystal lay within it. However, for certain reasons, it could not approach that castle itself. From here on, Aven alone would have to enter the castle and obtain the final blue crystal.
"I understand," Aven replied, calling out once more as he led Lilligant, Froslass, Gardevoir, and Poipole toward the unknown castle.
At present, Lilligant, Froslass, and Gardevoir were all at the peak of the King level. Lilligant, in particular, could even enter the Champion level by relying on its Natural Reversion state. Poipole, though only at the quasi–King level for now, was on the verge of completing its final evolution. Once that happened, it could step into the King level at any moment, and with the latent potential of an Ultra Beast approaching that of a Legendary Pokémon, its strength would be anything but weak.
If the Pokémon guarding the blue crystal truly was a powerful Legendary Pokémon, Aven still had Darkrai as his final trump card. With the black crystal, he could fully command Darkrai in battle.
That said, they were currently on the Almia Region, and the power of the Lake Guardians could not reach this place. He would have to proceed with caution.
"Lass~"
Along the way, Froslass stayed close to Aven, subtly controlling the surrounding temperature.
Lilligant had originally wanted to use Sunny Day to dispel the snowstorm altogether, but Aven had stopped it.
Since this was an icy environment, the guardian here was likely connected to ice or snow. Using Sunny Day to forcibly disperse the blizzard could very well provoke the guardian.
If he could obtain the blue crystal as smoothly as he had with Cresselia, Aven had no desire to clash with a potential guardian.
"Lilli~"
Lilligant nodded helplessly. With its control over natural energy, it was confident it could withstand the environment, but since Aven had said so, it could only endure it.
Soon after, energy surged around its body. The Mothim behind it used Camouflage, changing its typing from Bug to Ice. Gradually, that same energy wrapped around Lilligant as well.
Although Lilligant itself could not learn Camouflage to alter its own typing, by relying on the Mothim's power and its own mastery of natural energy, it achieved the effect with ease.
Once this was done, Lilligant no longer felt the biting cold and quietly let out a sigh of relief.
At the same time, waves of life energy rippled around it as it used its sensitivity to life force to continuously probe the surroundings.
Because of the special environment, many Ice-type Pokémon lived in this region. Lilligant guided the group to carefully detour around them, avoiding any unnecessary disturbance.
Even though their strength gave them a clear advantage, accidentally triggering something like an avalanche would still pose a serious threat.
(End of Chapter)