Chapter 257: Carbink in Danger! Heading to the Snowy Mountains

Frozen Bear League, Diamond City, deep underground.

This was a temporary camp that had been set up.

"Karl, you shouldn't have attacked those people from the Japan League."

Sorina held a cup of coffee, swirling the mug in her hand.

Karl, on the other hand, was in high spirits.

"Sorina, you should see what we've found."

Karl patted a specially designed cage and grinned. "Look, so many active Carbink."

"These Pokémon are usually found sleeping in mines or veins, but the Carbink here are unusually active. That's not normal."

"Moreover, according to our energy detection, there's definitely a powerful Pokémon sleeping deep underground here."

"I think it might be Xerneas."

Sorina sighed. "That's not what I'm talking about. If you provoke the rangers from Japan over this, it's going to be a big problem."

Karl shrugged. "What else could I do?"

"Those people are always snooping around the area above us."

"If they find out something's off, it'll be just as troublesome for us."

"Besides, I was careful. I only meant to lure a few Weavile over to deal with them, but those damn rangers showed up too quickly."

Sorina looked at Karl and sighed. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Do whatever you want."

"I'm heading back to West Asia for a bit. You're in charge here for now."

"West Asia?"

Karl frowned. "This is a critical moment. If you leave now, aren't you worried about the higher-ups getting mad?"

Sorina shrugged. "Let them get mad. We'll deal with it when it happens."

Karl stared at Sorina for a moment, then suddenly said, "Is this about that legend?"

"You still haven't given up on that?"

"Come on, that story's ancient."

Sorina didn't respond. She just waved her hand. "Goodbye."

"Hope to hear good news from you."

Karl watched Sorina leave, then spat on the ground. "Still as annoying as ever."

"But," he said, turning to the electronic monitor in front of him, "let's see what's really down there."

At the edge of Towada Lake, inside a cave in the forest.

Natsume leaned against Piloswine, dozing off. The howling wind and snow outside had gradually died down, and at some point, it had completely stopped.

The campfire inside the cave occasionally crackled.

The burning flames had slowly dimmed.

Natsume slowly opened his eyes and stretched his neck.

Across from him, Gardevoir was gazing at him gently.

Natsume yawned and asked, "Has the snow stopped outside?"

"It stopped a while ago," Gardevoir replied softly. "Greninja and Blaziken have already gone out."

Thud.

A sound of movement came from outside the cave.

Natsume patted the Mamoswine behind him and stood up. "Let's go take a look."

"Mamoswine," the Pokémon let out a low growl, then followed Natsume out of the cave.

The morning after the snow was refreshing.

The lazy sunlight spilled onto the pristine snow, casting a soft yet dazzling glow.

The air was crisp and carried a chill.

Taking a deep breath, Natsume shivered involuntarily.

Exhaling, he could see the mist from his breath slowly dissipate.

"Greninja!"

In this silver-white world, Greninja dashed toward Escavalier.

Thud!

Water Shuriken flew through the air.

Escavalier swiftly moved its lance, deflecting the shuriken Greninja had thrown.

"Escavalier!"

Escavalier took a stance, its eyes locked on Greninja.

They were in the middle of a training battle.

Blaziken stood nearby, arms crossed, his eyes following Greninja's movements.

The Weavile leader sat on a tree branch, munching on a Berry. Its cold gaze swept the surroundings.

The other Weavile were doing the same.

They were on alert.

"Natsume, look over here."

Diancie, seeing Natsume come out, stood up and pointed excitedly at a snowman beside her.

"I learned this from a TV show."

Natsume looked at the snowman made of two snowballs and praised, "Not bad, but it feels like it's missing something."

Natsume thought for a moment, then waved his hand. The charred remains of the campfire flew out of the cave.

He drew a mouth, added eyes, and finally stuck a piece of charcoal in the middle for a nose.

"Now it's complete."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Diancie exclaimed. "It looks like a real snowman now."

Natsume smiled, then turned to the group of Pokémon around him. "If everyone's rested, we should get moving."

The Weavile leader jumped down from the tree and approached Natsume.

Natsume looked at the Weavile leader and asked, "Weavile, we need to find those Frosmoth from earlier. Do you have any leads?"

The Weavile leader nodded.

While chasing the research team, it had seen the direction the Frosmoth flew off in.

"Then we'll need you to guide us again."

The Weavile pointed toward a distant snowy mountain.

The Frosmoth were there.

However, that area was already part of the Frozen Bear League's territory.

But who cared?

Natsume had no reservations as he followed the Weavile toward the mountain.

This snowy mountain was connected to Towada Lake.

In fact, they were essentially the same place.

Natsume checked the teleportation portal from Farm Story and found that even here, he could activate the teleportation array.

"This makes things much easier. At least we don't have to go back first."

Natsume had learned from the Weavile that this region had become quite dangerous, so it was best to be prepared.

Now that he could activate the teleportation array at any time, Natsume felt more at ease.

After all, the big dog back home was always eager for something to happen.

With these thoughts in mind, Natsume rode on Mamoswine, following the Weavile as they slowly made their way toward the snowy mountain.