Following the map's guidance, Natsui and Sabrina spent two days finally crossing the dense, vast forest.
Two days of sleeping in the open, walking for so long in the complex terrain of the forest, and defeating many harassing Pokémon along the way had left them physically and mentally exhausted. But fortunately, their destination was now within sight. They just had to cross a few more large mountains to reach Blackthorn City.
Originally, Natsui could have easily flown over the forest on Charizard, but he chose not to.
The joy of travel lay in advancing hand in hand with his Pokémon, overcoming difficulties while also enjoying the scenery along the way and strengthening their bond.
If he were only concerned with speed and convenience, how would that be any different from Gary's fast travel?
Leaving the forest, the two continued east. But they hadn't gone far before Natsui suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sabrina asked softly.
Natsui lifted his chin, and Sabrina followed his direction to look ahead. In the clearing before them, there were two diverging paths.
Two paths, one winding around the outside of the mountain, the other extending into the mountain.
After studying the map for a while, Natsui said, "Although both of these paths lead to the same destination, the situations are different. The first one goes around the outside of the mountain. Although it's a bit longer, the road is easier to travel. The second one goes through a cave in the mountain called the Ice Path. Although it's covered in ice and snow and is very cold, it can save a lot of time and leads directly to Blackthorn City."
Sabrina thought for a moment and pointed to the path on the right. "Let's take the shortcut. The sooner we get to Blackthorn City, the sooner we can take a hot bath."
For her, not being able to bathe for two days was undoubtedly an uncomfortable experience.
"A hot bath… maybe we don't have to wait until we get to Blackthorn City," Natsui said, pointing to the Ice Path on the map. "From the looks of the map, there seems to be a Pokémon Center in this Ice Path. We can stay there for a night."
Sabrina was taken aback. "There's a Pokémon Center in a cave?"
"That's right," Natsui nodded. "It seems that because many people pass through the cave to get to Blackthorn City, the League, for safety reasons, built a Pokémon Center there for people to rest midway."
Since they had decided on their route, the two of them didn't linger and entered the mountain.
At first, the mountain was a scene of lush greenery. But as they got closer to the Ice Path, the temperature dropped noticeably, and the trees and vegetation began to wither and die.
Finally, when Natsui stood at the entrance of the cave, a cold wind blew out, making his body shiver.
Compared to other places, the entrance to the cave was already covered in a layer of solid ice.
"It's so cold. To avoid catching a cold, we should change our clothes."
Sabrina naturally had no objections. The two took thick clothes out of their luggage. Since they were like an old married couple, they had no reservations and simply had their Pokémon stand guard while they changed right there.
After changing into their winter clothes, they immediately felt much warmer.
But after entering the cave, the cold wind still felt a bit biting. To keep warm, Natsui had to summon Charizard. With its constantly burning tail, he finally no longer felt the cold.
Although the official name of this cave was the Ice Path, the locals preferred to call it the Ice Cave.
Just like the other ice caves Natsui had entered, the surroundings here were covered in smooth, crystalline ice walls, and many Ice-type Pokémon also appeared, fleeing deeper into the cave at the sight of intruders.
Creak…
Under their feet, the ice layer made a soft sound. As they went deeper, the ice became thicker.
Seeing Sabrina walking cautiously, Natsui quickly took her hand. "Be careful, it's very slippery here. Don't fall."
Just in case, Natsui also called out Gengar to be ready to help at any time.
Illuminated by their flashlights and the firelight, Natsui continued deeper into the ice cave.
Because there was only one main path, although there were occasional forks leading to the sides, they were all small caves half a person's height, which humans couldn't enter. This meant that Natsui, who was here for the first time, didn't have to worry about getting lost.
And perhaps because many people had walked this path, Natsui even saw the footprints of previous travelers.
Following these footprints, they walked for over two more hours and finally arrived under a huge ice dome.
Sunlight shone down from the ice dome above, passing through the ice and into the cave, reflecting a soft light and bringing brightness to the place.
And on the ice surface ahead, they could even see a three-story building.
Although she saw it with her own eyes, Sabrina was still a bit surprised. "I can't believe there's really a Pokémon Center in a place like this."
What she found most incredible was that, judging by the lights coming from inside the Pokémon Center, it was clearly still open for business.
"Alright, don't overthink it. Let's stay here for the night."
Recalling Charizard, Natsui took Sabrina's hand and walked into the Pokémon Center.
As the automatic doors opened to the sides, a gust of warm air blew over the two of them.
And this made Natsui feel as if the frozen blood in his body had finally come back to life.
"Phew, excuse us!"
Hearing someone enter, a Jynx in a nurse's uniform walked out from a side door.
Huh?
The helper Pokémon here isn't a Chansey, but a Jynx?
In Natsui's impression, the helper Pokémon in the Johto region's Pokémon Centers had always been Chansey. He never thought he would see a Jynx here.
But it had to be said, a Jynx in a nurse's uniform was a real eyesore.
"Jynx, jynx!"
Jynx opened its mouth and said something to them. But since he couldn't understand the Pokémon language, Natsui could only turn his head to his Gengar.
"What is it saying?"
Gengar, acting as the translator, shrugged. "Nothing, just greeting you."
"I see…" Natsui looked around but didn't see Nurse Joy. "Hello, Jynx. Is Nurse Joy in?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Nurse Joy herself walked out from behind the door.
"Good afternoon, you two."
Natsui nodded at her. "Hello, Nurse Joy. We're here to stay for the night."
"No problem, there are plenty of rooms here," Nurse Joy said with a smile, making a welcoming gesture. "It must have been a long journey. Please come in, have something to drink, and warm up."
Following Nurse Joy into the dining area, they were surprised to find a man and a woman already there.
At that moment, they were sitting at a dining table eating dinner. Hearing Natsui and Sabrina's footsteps, the man and woman also turned their heads.
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