Snowy Valley.
Naoki and Calyrex's first stop on their journey was here.
The icy stream tinkled, meandering through the snow-white land, where the valley was serene and the scenery tranquil,
Naoki and Calyrex stood together beside an empty field.
Naoki crouched down, using a shovel to dig out a handful of soil, carefully checking the differences between this soil and that of his ranch.
"It feels very hard, it must be due to the climate here, frozen solid, unlike the loose soil on the ranch."
Naoki sniffed it and then tasted a bit:
"Hmm, it just tastes like regular soil, but with a very strong scent of Ice Type energy."
Feeling the icy breath escaping from his mouth and nasal cavity, Naoki spat out the soil and rinsed his mouth with mineral water, pondering:
"There's more Ice Type energy on this land than I imagined, is it because of the Ice Type energy?"
The abundant Ice Type energy caused the normal carrot seeds to mutate, the energy fused into the carrots, transforming them into snow-white radishes.
At this moment, Calyrex asked, "Have you discovered anything?"
Naoki nodded and shared his hypothesis with Calyrex: "…I'm wondering if, in other places, injecting a large amount of Ice Type energy into the soil would cause the carrots to mutate and grow into white radishes."
Calyrex didn't quite understand these things, but still supported: "When I ride Glastrier, I can use Psychic Power to condense the ice breath on its body, then we can attempt to inject the ice breath into the ground together."
"Hmm." Naoki nodded.
Glastrier stood beside them, entirely indifferent to their conversation, attentively focused on the land in front of it.
Seeing that Naoki was slow to plant white radishes for it, Glastrier impatiently scraped the ground with its hooves, snorting two streams of white breath from its nostrils.
Seeing this, Calyrex seemed a little helpless: "My beloved horse has been this way for a long time."
Naoki chuckled, then took out several packets of carrot seeds from his backpack, and together with Koraidon, they planted these seeds into the ground.
After the last seed was planted, Calyrex floated to the edge of the field and activated its power.
Instantly, a blue glowing tide erupted throughout the farmland.
When the tide subsided, the field was already filled with a bounty of white radishes.
Glastrier snorted happily, trotting over to the farm's edge to start eating the icy radishes in the ground.
On the other side, Spectrier saw this scene, its heart stirred, and a look of envy appeared in its eyes.
Naoki looked at these white radishes, thought slightly, then stepped forward and pulled a radish from the ground, examining it carefully in his hand.
The white radish was completely snow-white, just like the pure snow, feeling icy and cool to the touch.
Naoki took a bite and was surprised to find that the radish's flesh was also icy, with a very peculiar texture, and indeed it carried the aura of Ice Type energy inside.
This discovery further confirmed his previous hypothesis.
But more experiments are needed.
After Glastrier finished eating all the white radishes in the field, Naoki and Calyrex rode Spectrier and Koraidon, heading towards their next destination, the Ancient Tomb.
Not all places in the Crown Tundra are cold snowfields; in the southern part of the tundra lies a vast, open wilderness.
At three in the afternoon, they traversed the boundless snowfield, arriving at this place full of grass, trees, lakes, hills, and caves.
Standing atop a hill overlooking the distant south, Naoki vaguely saw an immensely tall tree, at least fifteen meters high,
There was also another meadow in the south, with a huge light-red berry tree.
Even though he had anticipated it, Naoki couldn't help but be astonished upon seeing that giant tree.
The awe inspired by a real giant tree is beyond what a game can convey.
Calyrex's gaze also turned in that direction.
"That giant tree has been there for a long time, the berries it bears have nurtured the Pokemon of this land, and in the past, powerful Pokemon were drawn here, resting on the trunk."
Hearing this, Naoki's heart was moved.
Was Calyrex referring to the Galar form Legendary Birds?
He remembered that in the game, Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos had visited this giant tree.
Aside from them, there were other Legendary Pokemon.
Like Registeel, Regirock, Regice, Regieleki, and Regidrago.
They continued forward and soon arrived at the front of an ancient stone ruin.
Looking at this ruin, Calyrex spoke softly, "Here lie the slumbering giant Pokemon from ancient times, they have been sleeping here for a long time, and the ancient humans referred to this place as the Giant's Bed."
The slumbering giant Pokemon...
Referring to Registeel?
Naoki's heart was eager: "Can I open the ruins and take a look at them?"
Calyrex thought carefully for a moment, then said, "I would not advise you to do so, the five giant Pokemon have been sleeping here, guarding this land, abruptly disturbing them might provoke the giants' wrath, which could endanger the nearby Pokemon."
"You're right." Naoki nodded, thus abandoning the idea of unlocking the five pillars.
"We've arrived, and ahead is the land where you can grow Shaderoot Carrots." Calyrex cast its gaze forward.
Naoki looked up and saw an overgrown, desolate field between the graveyards.
All around the field were scattered and incomplete gravestones, shrouded in a gloomy, ominous atmosphere, giving off a haunted feeling.
Ancient Tomb... The people buried here were likely ancient humans, Naoki thought.
He silently apologized in his heart for the intrusion, then proceeded with his Pokemon to observe.
Gazing at the land before, Calyrex asked, "Do you wish to taste?"
Naoki shook his head without hesitation: "… better not, humans can't sense the aura of Ghost energy."
Calyrex nodded: "I see, then how do you wish to investigate?"
Naoki took out the remaining carrot seeds from his backpack: "First, let's try if this land can grow Shaderoot Carrots."
"I understand."
Once Naoki and Koraidon had planted all the carrot seeds, Calyrex floated over and activated its power.
In an instant, from the pitch-black soil emerged dark purple carrots, their color appearing very eerie.
Naoki looked at Spectrier and said to it: "Eat!"
Spectrier glanced at him, then snorted softly, calmly stepping forward, it approached the field and lowered its neck to start eating the shaderoot carrots from the ground.
Its manner of eating was unlike Glastrier's roughness, calm and composed from start to finish, seeming to thoroughly enjoy the experience.
Naoki glanced at Glastrier, then at Spectrier.
So here's the question, for next year's horse racing tournament, which horse should he ride?
The places Glastrier passes automatically become icy surfaces, it possesses incredible strength and formidable destructive power, yet it's also fiercely proud and very combative.
Spectrier, on the other hand, is calm by nature and doesn't interfere with other creatures, stepping lightly on a fantastical, elusive purple mist, looking very handsome and elegant.
Naoki found himself caught in a dilemma, it's really hard to choose!