"Neighhhh!"
Glastrier slammed its raised front hooves down. Two surging blasts of bitter cold erupted forward like twin spears.
In an instant, a path of jagged, razor-sharp icicles formed before it. The freezing air drifted about like immortal mist, making the whole scene look like a fairyland on earth.
Under the worshipful gazes of the surrounding Pokémon, Glastrier held its head high, chest thrust forward, charging ahead with the momentum of a warhorse facing down a thousand foes. It was as if ten thousand enemies barred its way, and it alone would stand as the unbreakable war god, one steed holding a pass against ten thousand men!
Yet before the former king's grand conquest could even begin, it was cut off midway.
"My steed, what are you doing?"
A calm voice rang out, and Glastrier froze in place as if someone had grabbed it by the throat.
In Glastrier's mind, four big characters scrolled past in rapid fire:
It's over.
Ever since it gave up its identity as a king, Calyrex had rarely used "I, the king" or called others "thou," except in moments of extreme emotion.
If it suddenly started talking like that again, it meant it was at least a little angry.
Drenched in cold sweat, Glastrier hurriedly took in the coronation road it had carved out for itself. Seeing the frozen trees and grass all around, and the wild Pokémon that had scattered in terror, it immediately understood what Calyrex was upset about.
After thinking it over, Glastrier very spinelessly lowered its head. None of its old, hot-headed King of Brawn temper from the Crown Tundra was visible as it let out a soft, apologetic whinny.
There weren't many Pokémon watching Glastrier's little show. Aside from the three Eldegoss who'd just gotten off work, there was only Politoed and its three little underlings, who had come to learn Ice-type moves from Glastrier.
Seeing Glastrier cave, then looking again at the dignified Calyrex, they all turned tail and bolted, scattering like birds.
Politoed decided that maybe Glastrier wasn't the best teacher. Better to go ask Regice instead.
Apparently, its friend Ceruledge had fought Regice once. Maybe it could get Ceruledge to introduce them.
Politoed pondered its training plan in silence.
In addition to spending two to three hours a day with the damp rocks in the lake to maintain its Water-type affinity, it also needed the ability to protect itself in close combat should it be dragged into melee—and on top of that, filling its blind spot with Ice-type moves was a top priority.
Meanwhile, Calyrex looked helplessly at the guilty-faced Glastrier. An invisible wave of psychic power rippled outward, shattering all of Glastrier's ice formations, then flowed into the withered plants, restoring them and soothing the frightened wild Pokémon.
Gently stroking Glastrier's mane—frozen stiff with ice—Calyrex spoke as kindly as it could.
"I know you get bored. Even in the old days, I never forced you all to remain at my side. I let you roam freely across the Crown Tundra."
"But your power is like a natural disaster to the weak wild Pokémon here. If it is not restrained, trouble is sure to follow."
Compared to the Crown Tundra, once a frigid place of exile in ancient times, this land's environment was much softer and gentler. Most wild Pokémon here were low-level. If Glastrier ran wild, it was no different from a natural catastrophe.
Calyrex didn't want its presence, nor that of Glastrier and Spectrier—these three beings long forgotten by humans—to disrupt the lives of the wild Pokémon and ordinary people nearby.
"If you want to battle, you can go find Luxray and the others. I spar with them every night; you can join us. And on ordinary days, Lucas will keep preparing all sorts of foods you've never seen. Before winter comes, just bear with it for a while."
Calyrex's tone was patient and earnest.
Glastrier might usually act first and think later like a muscle-headed brute, but if you calmly explained things, it would listen.
Hearing Calyrex's lecture, Glastrier lowered its head, its whole body drooping. It was clearly downcast, but at least it mumbled a response.
"Neigh…" (I understand.)
Head hanging, Glastrier trudged toward the ice cellar, apparently planning to cool off in the environment it was used to.
But maybe because it was still a bit rattled, it ended up wandering in the wrong direction and towards somewhere else entirely.
Watching its retreating figure, Calyrex drew its psychic aura back into itself, sealing all of its power deep inside. On the surface, it looked no different from an ordinary Pokémon.
Sometimes Calyrex felt that this was relaxing. Thinking that Lucas should be getting back soon, it was just about to turn around and head home when a soft rustle sounded from a patch of grass where the farm met the wilds.
When Calyrex turned its head toward the noise, a silver-gray shape burst from the grass and dove into a taller patch, disappearing in a blink.
Because of the grass, Calyrex couldn't see the newcomer's face clearly. It only remembered a silver-gray—perhaps silver-white—coat of fur, and that it ran on four legs.
It didn't think much of the little incident. Shaking its head, Calyrex didn't even maintain the bare minimum of telekinesis, simply relying on its long legs to walk back toward the farm.
…
Lucas returned to the farm, still feeling a buzzing in his head after the Naranja Academy event.
It was just a normal exhibition match—how had it suddenly netted him an extra student? Did Geeta really see him as her direct subordinate now!?
Lucas looked thoroughly put out.
Just then, his phone vibrated. He pulled it out reflexively.
It was a text message.
[Paldea People's Bank: League Year 798, 08/13 16:25 p.m. – Private Account 0001 has transferred to your account ending in 114.]
[ Amount received: 500,000 League Coins.]
[ Balance: 2,511,450.88 League Coins.]
[ Note: Bonus deposit.]
"Heh… guess I can't complain."
For a moment, Lucas's brain was completely dazzled by money, and he chuckled to himself.
Then he shook his head hard and patted his cheeks. "No, no… I can't let myself be bought so easily with a bit of cash. Just half a month's worth of Moomoo Milk sales would bring in that much. I can't be that spineless!"
"…Whatever. Teaching five students is teaching, and teaching six is still teaching. I can just give lessons at the Los Platos Joy, then go back and teach the Mesagoza Joy after. That actually sounds kind of fun."
This might actually be the first time a battle instructor ever took a Joy as a student.
Thinking that, Lucas glanced at the Dragonite family that had said they were going on a flight together and shook his head, heading into the house.
"Woof woof!"
As soon as he stepped in, a little dog came bounding to greet him.
Lucas inhaled and almost got knocked out by the heavenly smell of baked bread coming off Dachsbun.
Wiping his mouth, he squatted down, ruffled Dachsbun's head, and asked, "Where's your big brother?"
"Woof-woo!"
Dachsbun thought for a moment, then mimed a running motion.
Lucas understood instantly.
"Out rampaging again, huh?"
He hadn't been slandering Arcanine when he'd compared it to a hyper husky.
After evolving, Arcanine's energy level was terrifying. If it didn't blow off steam, it'd start tearing the house apart—and Lucas's slippers would be the first to suffer.
Even with the farm's huge grounds, there wasn't enough room for Arcanine to truly run wild.
In the end, Lucas had come up with a solution: since Arcanine needed exercise anyway, he'd make Moltres take its favorite son out for a run every day. That way, Arcanine could vent its extra energy, and the usually-sedentary Moltres wouldn't get too fat too quickly.
Two birds with one stone.
Shaking his head, Lucas and Dachsbun wandered into the kitchen like a couple of street punks.
These days, with dozens of Pokémon on the farm all needing three meals a day prepared by Lucas, the normal kitchen space wasn't nearly enough. He could cook all day and still not make enough food, especially with a few notorious big eaters among the bunch.
So now, Lucas mostly cooked outside with a huge wok, letting Moltres breathe fire for him.
The kitchen had been repurposed entirely into Alcremie's dessert studio.
Right now, Alcremie had just pulled a tray of warm cookies out of the expensive oven Lucas had splurged on for it.
Almost instantly, the cramped kitchen was filled with an intoxicating fragrance of freshly baked cookies, blending with the rich scent of cream into a perfect harmony.
Lucas's gaze fell on the little yellow cookies on the tray, and he immediately knew what they were.
Marguerite cookies, one of the simplest biscuits to make.
The ingredients: low-gluten flour, cornstarch, butter, cooked egg yolks, a pinch of salt, and powdered sugar.
"Ma-fu~"
Smiling with narrowed eyes, Alcremie picked up a cookie and passed it to Lucas, clearly asking him to taste-test.
Lucas popped it into his mouth and chewed carefully, while Alcremie tossed a couple of cookies to Dachsbun as well.
The cookie was perfectly crisp yet delicate, with an intense creamy aroma. It was very good.
If Lucas had to describe the texture and taste of this Marguerite cookie, he'd go straight for the highest praise he could think of:
"It tastes like the milk puffs I ate as a kid."
Ignoring the fact that the cookies were still hot enough to burn his fingers and tongue, Lucas grabbed several more and savored them one by one, then gave Alcremie a big thumbs-up.
"Delicious!"
"Woo-woo!"
Dachsbun wagged its tail furiously, indicating that it also loved the cookies.
Happily validated, Alcremie beamed.
Most of the sweets it made were visually stunning, high-end desserts that also tasted great.
But every now and then, making something that looked plain and homey like this was just as popular.
After finishing his taste test, Lucas left the kitchen—only to run into Calyrex, who had just come back from picking up a still-fast-asleep Cosmog from the Arboliva Daycare.
Holding Cosmog in its arms, Calyrex smiled at him. "You're back, Lucas."
"I'm back."
Lucas nodded lightly, his gaze dropping to Cosmog.
Just like Nebby in the anime when it traveled with Ash, Cosmog spent about ninety percent of the day asleep. It was rarely awake, but once it woke up, it became incredibly energetic.
Looking at Cosmog, Lucas remembered he still needed to buy a candy machine to make Sugar candy for it.
Sugar candy wasn't really a thing in Paldea, so machines for making it were almost impossible to find. Lucas decided he'd sort it out when he visited Kanto in a few days.
After all, Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh were all based on various Japanese prototype cities, and Sugar candy was one of their traditional sweets. He should be able to learn the technique there and buy a proper industrial machine.
Calyrex told him about Glastrier's incident that morning. After thinking for a moment, Lucas dug a few winter outfits out of the back of his wardrobe and decided to go check on the ice cellar.
Speaking of which, he wondered how Sandslash's side of things was going—whether they'd gotten an egg yet. He could look in on them at the same time.
Even though Glastrier had just been sent off to cool down on its own, Calyrex still wanted to go with him.
That horse was twice as sulky as Spectrier.
…
Inside the ice cellar—
If the blazing sun outside brought sweltering heat, then in here was the opposite extreme.
Ever since Regice had moved in, even though it had pulled its aura in tight, the temperature in here had almost dropped below minus forty, even minus fifty, several times. It was only thanks to Lucas and Calyrex's constant intervention and adjustments that things had stabilized.
Today, the ice cellar was livelier than usual.
Regice, who usually sat alone in a corner carefully reining in its freezing aura, was now surrounded by Politoed and its three little brothers.
It felt awkward and stiff, clearly unaccustomed to all the attention brought by the kids that Ceruledge had introduced.
Under Politoed's intense, eager gaze, Regice quickly surrendered, its round yellow eyes flickering. It pointed its three crystal fingers at an empty patch of ground and very carefully channeled Ice-type energy, forming a stream of frozen air.
"Re-gi… ce?"
Once it finished, Regice turned to Politoed, asking if it had seen the flow of energy clearly.
Politoed watched the slowly dissipating frost, then raised its own hands, trying to alter the nature of the Water-type energy in its body and fire it as an Ice-type move.
The three Poliwrath, who also wanted to learn Ice Punch, stared up at their boss with shining eyes, ready to master the basics and then have Politoed explain it in simpler terms.
Politoed deserved its reputation as one of the smartest Pokémon on the farm. Following Regice's guidance, it gradually grasped the essence of Ice-type energy manipulation.
Just as it managed to cast a wobbly, weak Blizzard, Glastrier trudged gloomily back into the ice cellar.
And walking behind it was none other than Vulpix, who usually stayed up in the Iron Bundle Cabin.
Even Politoed was so stunned by this bizarre combo that its gathered Ice-type energy collapsed.
Because the Iron Bundle Cabin's entrance was very close to the Sandslash couple's den, Glastrier had barely come down before it found itself the target of two wary stares.
This made Glastrier a bit aggrieved. All it had done last time was show off an ice trick in front of the Sandslash pair. Was that really worth such a big reaction?
Then it spotted Politoed and its three underlings, who had been praising it earlier and were now learning Ice moves from Regice instead.
Glastrier's grievance only deepened. Even its proud, head-held-high swagger deflated. In the old days, with its bad temper, it would've just started a fight on the spot.
But it had just listened to Calyrex's lecture. How could it act like that now?
Even its walking slowed. Vulpix, who had been stubbornly trailing it like a piece of chewing gum stuck to its hoof, was overjoyed.
"Myu-uu" (Uncle Glastrier, let me ride you, pleeease)
Hearing that clingy voice, Glastrier's forehead immediately bulged with veins.
But maybe because the repeated blows from earlier had left it deeply discouraged, the emo Glastrier simply gave up and let out a weak whinny.
"Neigh…" (Do whatever you want.)
The moment it heard that, Vulpix's eyes lit up, full of excitement.
Recently, Oranguru had bought children's picture books for the younger Pokémon.
Vulpix had one, as did Applin, Tropius, and Combee.
In its book, Vulpix had just read a story:
The Prince on the White Horse and Snow White.
Vulpix didn't envy Snow White, saved by a prince on a white horse. It had no interest in becoming someone so weak and helpless.
Lucas had taught it the joy and sense of achievement that came with winning battles. Vulpix thought being like the prince on the white horse sounded much more interesting.
And on the farm, Glastrier was the perfect white horse candidate in its eyes—handsome, snow-white, trailing cold mist wherever it walked. It was so cool.
Vulpix's eyes sparkled as it fired off a string of myu-myu compliments that blew away Glastrier's gloom. Glastrier's view of Vulpix completely changed.
Before, it had only seen Vulpix as a fellow Ice-type, but a weak little one.
Now, though, this little guy clearly had taste.
Glastrier's gaze turned warm. It willingly let Vulpix climb onto its back, and Vulpix grabbed the Reins of Unity permanently hanging from its neck.
Unfortunately, the Reins of Unity could only be used by Calyrex. Vulpix and Glastrier had no way to achieve the deep resonance needed to merge their power like Calyrex and Glastrier could.
But to Lucas and Calyrex, who had just stepped into the ice cellar in their winter clothes, the Vulpix sitting astride Glastrier looked perfectly in sync—
What on earth was this?
Riding a Glastrier-like Pose?
Calyrex was so stunned it was speechless. The Iceroot Carrotit'd brought with it slipped from its hand and hit the floor with a thud, as it stared blankly at Glastrier and Vulpix, feeling a rare moment of utter confusion.
Could someone please explain what on earth had just happened?