The wind sharpened as Cyrus pushed deeper into the crystalline valley, a narrow channel carved between towering walls of ancient ice. The sky overhead was a wash of pale silver, the kind of dim daylight that felt more like the world was simply reflecting the glow of the frozen ground.
His breath curled around his face, swirling into the frost already clinging to his scarf-ditto. Meltan hovered close to his shoulder, metal body humming with alertness; Charcadet marched beside him with embers flickering faint blue from the chill; Tyrunt hopped from footprint to footprint so his toes didn't freeze; and Gengar—well, Gengar looked like he was in heaven, drifting lazily through the mist like it was his natural habitat.
The readings from his tablet pulsed steady but strong.Stronger than yesterday.Stronger than an hour ago.
Something was reacting to his approach.
Something awake.
He paused at the mouth of a shallow basin. Frost-laden trees—gnarled, hollow, almost petrified by centuries of cold—circled the clearing. It was quiet. Too quiet.
The kind of quiet that screamed trap.
Gengar let out a soft, warbling chuckle.Yeah. He felt it too.
Cyrus swallowed and stepped forward.
The temperature plummeted.
A sudden swirl of ice lifted from the ground, coiling upward like a blizzard born from nothing. Meltan screeched, magnets spinning defensively. Tyrunt braced himself, claws digging hard into the crusted snow.
The storm twisted once… twice…
Then it exploded outward.
And from the heart of it came Glalie.
A jagged sphere of ice and fury, jagged horns gleaming with frost. Its eyes burned like twin glaciers catching light.
Right behind it, drifting with eerie stillness, pale as moonlit snow:Froslass.
Cyrus took a slow step back.
"Guardians," he muttered. "Right. Should've known the path wouldn't be easy."
Glalie roared, a guttural rumble that rolled across the basin like an avalanche breaking free.
Froslass simply raised one ghostly hand—almost beckoning.
"Gengar, you're up!"
Gengar shot forward, his laughter thick and distorted as he flickered in and out of existence. Glalie responded instantly, blasting a beam of ice so cold Cyrus felt it in his teeth.
"Shadow Sneak!"
Gengar vanished into the storm—then erupted from Glalie's shadow, slamming into its side with a wraithlike swipe. Glalie spun, cracking through a nearby frozen tree. But it didn't stagger.
If anything, it looked amused.
From above, shards of glittering ice rained downward.
Cyrus's eyes widened. "Gengar—dodge!"
But the path was already cut off. Gengar stretched himself thin like a sheet of shadow, slipping between falling crystals with unnatural smoothness. He popped back into shape with a thumbs-up and a grin.
Glalie lunged.
"Counter with Hypnosis!"
Purple rings spiraled from Gengar's eyes, rippling through the air—but Glalie shattered them with sheer momentum, blasting straight through the attack and headbutting Gengar so hard the ghost-type ricocheted like a skipping stone across the ice.
"Okay… that's new," Cyrus muttered.
Gengar wobbled upright, teeth rattling inside his body.
The monster wasn't just strong.It was ancient-strong.
Froslass drifted closer, her movement so smooth it barely looked real. Frost gathered at her fingertips—delicate, dangerous.
Cyrus's breath hitched."She's not attacking Gengar… she's coming for me."
The realization hit just as a ribbon of freezing mist curled toward him.
"Tyrunt—Crunch! Now!"
Tyrunt sprang forward with a sharp cry, jaws glowing a deep, icy-blue steel shine—the cold variant of Crunch he'd learned on the island. He bit straight into the wave of frost, shattering it like brittle glass.
Froslass tilted her head, intrigued.
Then she flicked her hand.
Snow spiraled into dozens of razor-thin shards, orbiting her like a halo.
Charcadet stepped in front of Cyrus, flames sputtering but stubborn against the cold. His fire burned low but hot—a defiant ember refusing to die.
"Charcadet… Flame Charge!"
Charcadet sprinted forward, fire igniting brighter on each step. The snow around him melted in streaks beneath his boots. He slammed into Froslass like a comet.
The collision burst into a plume of steam.
Froslass drifted backward, surprised—but not defeated.
From the fog she emerged again, eyes glowing.
The storm closed in from both sides. Cyrus realized they weren't trying to overwhelm him—they were forcing him into a specific direction.
The ice beneath him began to glow with faint, geometric lines.
Regi lines.
Cyrus tightened his grip on the tablet.
"Okay… I get it. You're testing whether I'm supposed to reach them."
He stepped forward.
Glalie growled but did not stop him.
Froslass lowered her hands.
Together, they drifted aside—forming a narrow corridor through the frost.
The storm parted.
A deep, resonant pulse shook the valley.
Not violent.
Not hostile.
Meltan buzzed excitedly, tiny bolts sparking from its body. Gengar floated closer to Cyrus, eyes wide for once. Tyrunt pressed against his leg. Charcadet stood tall, flames steady.
The path led into a cavern of pure blue ice, its walls etched with runes that pulsed like breathing.
Cyrus stepped inside.
The air grew warmer.The light grew stronger.
And at the far end of the chamber, standing like titans carved from primordial elements—
Two silhouettes waited.
One was sharp-edged, plated in glacial metal, steam rising where its frozen armor met the warmer air.The Ice-Steel Regi.
The other rippled like sculpted water locked inside a shell of translucent ice, glowing gently like a heartbeat.The Water-Ice Regi.
Both lifted their heads as he approached.
Then—The chamber pulsed.
Once.Twice.In the exact harmonic pattern he had been tracking for days.
Cyrus swallowed, breath trembling.
"…I found you."
The Regis responded in unison—
DOOOOM.
The ice trembled.
The meeting had begun.