Sevii Islands, Island Four.
In the small courtyard of Lorelei's villa.
"Ya-no~"
Beside the pool, the red Slowpoke suddenly let out a cry, a strange light abruptly flashing in its eyes.
Immediately after, an energy wave shimmering with vibrant colors shot out, striking the pool.
Boom!
The pool exploded, and cold water splashed all over the courtyard.
"What happened? What's going on outside?"
In the living room, Adrian and Lorelei, who had been chatting, hurried out, only to see wisps of cold air transforming into rising Mist in the courtyard.
Adrian knew that at the bottom of this pool lay ice-type items like never-melt ice, Icy Rocks, Ice Stones, and even never-melt ice, which was why the pool water was so frigid.
Adrian walked to the edge of the pool and asked, "What happened?"
By the pool, the culprit, Slowpoke, held its small head high with a look of pride, saying via Telepathy: "Trainer, Senior Slowking just taught me a new move. I've already learned it!"
"Ah?"
Adrian was stunned for a moment and quickly opened Slowpoke's attribute panel to check.
Sure enough, a Psychic-type move, 'Psybeam', had been added to it.
Adrian's expression turned strange: "You learned a new move just like that?"
Although Adrian often used TMs to teach pokémon moves or even increase their skill proficiency, he knew deep down that it was quite difficult for a pokémon to master a move from scratch.
Even for basic moves with high type compatibility and low difficulty, it usually took a pokémon three to five days to learn.
If things didn't go smoothly, it might even take ten days or half a month.
As for those with low compatibility, the time span was hard to say.
This could be seen from Pikachu; aside from when it evolved, the little guy had never comprehended a new move.
But how long had Slowpoke taken?
From the time it started communicating with Slowking until now, it hadn't even been an hour in total.
And it already learned it?
"Whether it's simple or not, I can't say. But Senior Slowking just said I have high comprehension—"
Little Slowpoke held its head high, looking smug: "I plan to take this opportunity to learn a few more moves from Senior Slowking and then become even stronger. Hehe!"
Hearing this, Adrian couldn't help but give a thumbs up in praise, then encouraged: "Then watch and learn more from Slowking. When you get back, I'll give you an Energy Orb."
Although Adrian could obtain TMs through fishing, since most of what he caught were Water-type pokémon, the skills he gained were mostly Water-type moves, with a few being Ice-type or Normal-type moves.
As for moves of other types, the difficulty of obtaining them was somewhat high.
Especially Psychic-type, because pokémon of this type were relatively rare and precious, making them usually very hard to fish up.
In Slowpoke's skill list, the most numerous were undoubtedly Psychic-type moves, especially the many Psychic-type status moves like Psychic Terrain, Skill Swap, Trick Room, Magic Coat, Wonder Room, Imprison, and Amnesia—"
These were all moves with many clever uses that could often have miraculous effects on the battlefield.
Watching Slowpoke leave excitedly to continue consulting Slowking, Adrian couldn't help but rub his chin and ponder: "Is Slowpoke's comprehension really that high? Or is Slowking teaching that well? Or maybe it's both?"
But regardless, Adrian was clearly unwilling to give up such a good opportunity to learn moves, so he made up his mind: "Lorelei's home is great! I have to stay at Lorelei's home!"
All for the sake of the pokémon!
Thinking of this, Adrian cast a subtle glance at the older sister Lorelei standing nearby.
The good news was that Lorelei really did let Adrian stay at her house.
But the bad news was that Lorelei didn't live alone; her parents were also at home.
In the evening, Lorelei's parents returned and were overjoyed, thinking Lorelei had brought home a boyfriend.
Upon learning that Adrian and Lorelei were just ordinary friends, they looked suspicious.
But when they found out Adrian was only eighteen, they were immediately disappointed.
Clearly, Adrian was looked down upon for being too young.
The night passed without word.
The next morning, after breakfast, Lorelei found Adrian and said, "Come on, follow me to Icefall Cave. Didn't you say you wanted to go fishing there? I'll take you!"
"Alright!"
Adrian looked excited and immediately packed his fishing gear to follow Lorelei out the door.
Icefall Cave was an extremely strange cave. The high mountains outside were covered in green vegetation, but the cave entrance was covered in a thick layer of ice, with a chilling Mist constantly billowing out.
Even from a distance, Adrian felt the severe cold and quickly tightened his clothes.
In contrast, Lorelei was still wearing high heels and a short skirt, as if she couldn't feel the cold at all.
Adrian sniffled and doubted himself: "Am I too weak?"
"Many wild pokémon live inside Icefall Cave. It's best to release a pokémon for guard duty before entering, and you must stay alert at all times once inside."
Stopping at the cave entrance, Lorelei first gave a warning and then threw a poké ball.
A red light flashed, and a humanoid pokémon appeared.
It wore a red long dress that covered its feet, had white arms with purple hands, a purple face, pink lips,
saucer-shaped eyes, and long blonde hair.
It was exactly the Ice/Psychic pokémon—Jynx!
Although its appearance was a bit of an eyesore, there was no denying that Jynx was undoubtedly Lorelei's main pokémon, and its strength was very formidable.
"Understood!"
Adrian nodded solemnly.
"Pika-pi~"
Pikachu's gaze also sharpened as it became guarded.
"Zhu-la~"
Jynx swayed its thick waist as it walked at the very front to scout, its faint Psychic power sweeping out, making it so that almost any movement in the surroundings could not escape its perception.
Adrian and Lorelei walked side by side behind Jynx, slowly making their way into the cave.
As they entered the cave, the light and shadows changed, and it became significantly darker.
But thanks to the ice crystals everywhere, if they looked closely, they could still see the surrounding environment clearly.
"Zhu-la~"
After only a few steps, Jynx noticed something unusual and pointed to a rock not far away.
Behind the frozen rock, a rustling sound could be faintly heard.
"There seems to be a pokémon behind the rock!"
Adrian's gaze immediately sharpened as he went on alert.
However, thinking that Jynx and Lorelei were there, Adrian immediately relaxed again.
"Wo-yi Wo-yi"
A soft cry sounded, and a small pokémon appeared, covered in thick brown-striped fur that hid its legs, revealing only a pink nose and eyes that seemed permanently closed.
"It's a Swinub!"
Adrian recognized the pokémon before him.
This Swinub seemed to be foraging; it was a bit scared upon seeing Adrian's group and quickly ran into the depths of the cave with its short legs, disappearing from sight.
"This is the entrance area of Icefall Cave, where the temperature is highest. Although there are ice crystals everywhere, some specific plants can still survive. So, the pokémon in the cave often come here to find food."
As Lorelei walked, she pointed out several patches of green vegetation while giving an introduction.
However, the further they went in, the less vegetation there was, and the temperature continued to drop.
At the same time, along the way, Adrian saw more and more wild pokémon: Sneasel with sharp claws and fierce eyes, Seel happily skating on the ice, Delibird flying in the air with their bags—
Some of these pokémon acted alone, while others were in groups.
For instance, the Sneasel packs appeared in groups, and the few Weavile leading them had cold glints constantly flashing in their eyes, making them look very difficult to mess with at a glance.
But they clearly knew Lorelei was even more dangerous, so they only dared to watch from afar before quickly fleeing, not daring to act up at all.
Advancing without any major incidents, the group soon reached the inner area of Icefall Cave, which was also Adrian's destination—the Unfrozen Lake.