I caught a Pokémon

Perhaps it has some legends behind it.

Perhaps there are still some places worth exploring.

But for them now, these are just 'stories' that Makomo shared with them after finding out about these things.

This is one of the benefits of traveling with Makomo.

As a scientist, PhD, and scholar, she is very meticulous and well-prepared. Wherever she goes, she will thoroughly research all relevant information when no one is watching.

This is her personality, and also her habit.

It also brought a lot of convenience to Xia You and his companions' trip.

Amidst their laughter and chatter, the journey became anything but dull. Before they knew it, darkness had fallen, and they had already crossed the highest peak and begun their descent.

Further ahead, Snowflake City came into view at the edge of the horizon.

Of course, as the saying goes, "looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death," meaning that in terms of actual distance, it's not something that can be reached in a short time.

What's amazing is that after crossing the highest peak, the area suddenly warmed up, and when the group looked around, they realized they had arrived at a volcanic area.

Moreover, judging from its temperature, it is an active volcano!

Upon seeing the volcano, Xia You was reminded of some unpleasant memories.

After all, he had encountered volcanic eruptions more than once before.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly throughout the journey.

After traveling for more than an hour, they arrived at a bustling town called Dongge Town.

This wouldn't have been a big deal. They replenished their supplies, such as food and water, in the town, and then planned to have lunch before leaving.

But while the group was having lunch at the Pokémon Center, the conversation of several trainers nearby also caught his attention.

"Have you heard? The East George Fighting Tournament is being held here next month!"

"The East George Fighting Tournament?" one of my classmates asked in surprise. "What's that?"

"Idiot, you don't even know this?!" The first person's eyes widened. "Of course it's the fighting tournament organized by Mr. George of the Fighting Club!"

"You're the idiot! Everyone knows Mr. Dong George!?" the man muttered in dissatisfaction. "I mean, what is this fighting tournament? Is it a gathering of all the Mr. Dong Georges from various clubs to determine who is the strongest?"

"How could that be? Of course, it's organized by Mr. Dong George here, with fighters from all over participating and competing. The characteristic of the competition is hand-to-hand combat, pure hand-to-hand combat. How could it be Mr. Dong George and his ilk fighting each other? But now that you mention it, it sounds quite interesting. If they could really have a match, that would definitely be a sight to behold!"

Xiao Guang, who was eating across from Xia You, noticed Xia You pricking up his ears and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "What? Brother Xia You, are you also interested in fighting competitions?"

Before Xia You could even speak, Xiao Guang started counting on his fingers: "But what Fighting-type Pokémon do you have? Let me see... First, Lucario, then... then..."

But after thinking for a long time, she couldn't recall any other Fighting-type Pokémon that Xia You might have.

Seeing this, Yami added with a smile, "There's also Blaziken and Infernape."

Xiao Guang's eyes lit up: "That's right, there are these too! That makes three Fighting-type Pokémon, enough to participate in the Fighting Tournament. What do you think, do you really want to give it a try?"

“How could that be?” Xia You shrugged. “Didn’t you all hear that the fighting tournament isn’t until next month? How could I possibly wait here forever?”

"If you really want to participate, can't you come back in a month?"

Instead of answering Xiao Guang, Xia You was thinking of someone else, someone more suitable to participate in the fighting tournament than herself.

If you were to ask who is the most popular, most famous, or strongest Fighting-type trainer, everyone would likely have a different answer.

After all, there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's hearts.

But for Xia You now, when it comes to Fighting-type trainers, the first name that comes to mind is always the same—Cai Dou.

It's been so long since I've seen her...

In fact, the two had made an agreement that Bea wouldn't need to travel all over the world; she could just focus on training in her own gym. Xia You would act as her eyes and ears, recommending any strong trainers she encountered on her journey so she could challenge them directly, thus saving a lot of exploration time.

Unfortunately, trainers who specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon are extremely rare, let alone the truly skilled ones; they are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

This also makes him seem less than competent as an informant.

Aside from their daily, unwavering good morning greetings, the two now communicate very little.

just now…

It seems like an opportunity!

Thinking of this, he reached under the table, took out his phone, found Cai Dou's contacts, opened it, and edited a short message.

"A fighting tournament will be held in Dongge Town, Unova Region next month. You can participate if you're interested."

After confirming that everything was correct, Xia You clicked "send".

Seeing that the message had been successfully sent, Xia You was about to put her phone away.

After all, in her impression, people like Cai Dou have very regular schedules. At this time, if they are not eating lunch, they are either playing games or training, and they shouldn't be looking at their phones much.

But to my surprise, before I could put the phone back, it immediately vibrated.

Surprised, Xia You checked her phone again and saw that it was indeed Cai Dou who had replied. The message, too, contained only one simple word: 'Okay.'

Chapter 1366 The Masked Ice Warrior

Snow Flower City, nestled among mountains and surrounded by several small but crystal-clear lakes, is known as the "Snow Flower Shining in the Sky."

It is said that the entire city, along with the surrounding area, will be covered in a silvery-white world for a long time due to the thick snowfall in winter.

It's just that since it's not winter now, Xia You and her group are destined not to see that kind of scene on their trip to Snowflake City.

This also made Makomo feel sorry.

After all, compared to the others, Makomo rarely goes out, let alone comes to a place like this. Therefore, compared to Xia You and the others who often encounter heavy snow that closes off the mountains, her experience is undoubtedly much less.

Of course, this only refers to the aspect of travel.

In the fields of science and research, she is miles ahead of them.

Geographically, Snowflake City is located at the northernmost tip of West United, surrounded by mountains, including numerous snow-capped peaks, which creates favorable conditions for its unique environment.

Moreover, Makomo also discovered beforehand that most of the buildings in the city were built on higher platforms to avoid being buried by heavy snow.

Because of this, you can see many wild Pokémon in this city, especially on snowy days. Those clever creatures will hide under human buildings to escape the cold winter, and some smaller Pokémon will even survive on food provided by humans.

In short, here you can not only see Unova Ice-type Pokémon, but also witness the harmonious coexistence of people and Pokémon.

As soon as they entered the city, Xiao Guang instinctively shivered.

"It's so cool here. Isn't it only summer? How come it's so cold? Is it the mountain breeze?"

“It’s not just the mountain wind.” Makomo’s gaze returned from the distant lakes, and she pushed up her glasses. “It’s related to those lakes. During the day, they absorb heat, and when the wind blows, it also blows the cold air from the lake water toward the city.”

"No wonder it gets covered in snow in winter." Xiao Guang nodded as if suddenly realizing something. "With such a natural air conditioner, it's impossible not to freeze in the winter!"

As they spoke, the group entered the city completely.

Since it was still early, they didn't rest but headed straight for the Snowflake Dojo.

The official gym here is the Snowflake Gym, and the gym leader is Hatchling. As people subconsciously assume, his specialty is Ice, and he is proficient in various Ice-type Pokémon.

Like many gyms, Snowflake Gym was not built in the city, but in the suburbs, at the foot of a low hill.

In other words, this is a dojo built inside the mountains.

After passing through the magnificent and towering mountain gate, the group entered the interior of the mountain, which is the main hall of this martial arts temple.

Upon entering, I could feel the atmosphere drop two degrees.

It's no wonder it's an Ice-type gym; the temperature feels like an icebox.

Perhaps it's to make the Ice-type Pokémon here feel comfortable, but for humans, especially women, it's not suitable to stay in such an environment for long.

Upon seeing them enter, a male staff member wearing a down jacket approached with a professional smile on his face.

"Welcome to Snowflake Gym. Are you here to challenge the gym?"

Xia You nodded: "Yes, I want to challenge Mr. Hachiku."

The staff member's smile faltered slightly, then an apologetic expression appeared.

"I'm very sorry, Gym Leader Hatchku is not at the gym right now. He went to the ice lake on the mountain for special training this morning and will probably be back in a few hours."

Several people looked at each other.

"Not here again?" Xiao Guang blurted out, his tone filled with undisguised disappointment. "I knew it wouldn't go this smoothly! Why does it feel like the gym leader is never here whenever we challenge a gym?"

Yami gently patted her shoulder and comforted her, "You can't say that. Didn't the challenge go smoothly back in Fuki City?"

"That's true..." Xiao Guang muttered, but he couldn't hide the disappointment on his face.

The staff member maintained an apologetic smile and added, "I can register you for you. We will contact you as soon as the curator of Hatchku returns."

Xia You thought about it and realized that this was the only way.

He took the registration form from the staff member, wrote his name and contact information on it, and then handed it back to him.

“Okay, Mr. Xia You.” The staff member glanced at the registration form and confirmed that the information was correct. “We will notify you as soon as the gym leader returns. It usually won’t take too long; he usually returns to the gym in the afternoon.”

"It's troublesome."

The group turned and left the dojo, walking out of the tall mountain gate and back into the sunlight.

The temperature outside the mountain was much higher than inside the dojo, and Hikaru couldn't help but take a deep breath and stretch his body.

"Phew—it's so much more comfortable outside." She glanced back at the dojo gate embedded in the mountainside and sighed, "Another wasted trip."

“It’s not a wasted trip,” Yami said gently. “At least we registered our information and are just waiting for our notification. Besides, it’s still early, so we can explore Snow City first. It should be quite interesting.”

“That’s right.” Makomo pushed up her glasses, the lenses reflecting a ray of light. “Compared to the situation where the Fanba Dojo simply closed down, at least they left their contact information here, which is an improvement.”

Xiao Guang thought for a moment and nodded: "That's true... Back in Fanba City, when we first visited, we couldn't even get inside."

Memories of the Fanba Dojo sent a chill down her spine—this time, not because of the cold.

As the group slowly walked back along the path they had come from, the conversation naturally turned to the curator, whom they had yet to meet.

“Speaking of which,” Makomo suddenly said, “I did some research on the way here, and this Hatchku Gym Leader seems to be quite famous.”

"Really?" Hikari became interested. "Besides being a gym leader, is there anything else special about you or what your identity is?"

Makomo's tone carried a seriousness characteristic of someone obsessed with research: "He was also known as the 'Ice Masked Man'."

Perhaps Xia You had a bad impression of the city hero from before, so she now felt a strong distrust when she heard about these masked heroes.

and…

Why are there so many city heroes in the Unova region?

Could it be because it's located next to Pokémon Hollywood and people watch too many superhero movies, thus being influenced by this?

Beside him, Xiao Guang blinked: "Masked Hero? Why is he called that?"

"Because he used to be a movie star." Makomo flipped through her notebook, looking at the densely packed information. "He mainly acted in action films, specializing in ice skating scenes. His representative works include..."

She cleared her throat, as if reading a list of movies.

“The Bear Fight in the Snow, The Frozen Bear Crossing the River, Ice Martial Arts, and Frost Games”.

Xiao Guang was stunned: "These movies... have such interesting names, especially 'Ice Martial Arts,' it sounds like a fighting movie with ice-type Pokémon?"

“You could say that,” Makomo nodded. “He did most of his own action scenes in the film and rarely used a stunt double, which was very popular at the time.”

Xiao Guang listened, and a sense of curiosity arose in his heart.

After all, there must be some story behind a movie star suddenly becoming a dojo owner.

Sure enough, Makomo continued, "But he suddenly retired from the entertainment industry at the peak of his career."

"Why?" Xiao Guang immediately asked.

Makomo closed her notebook, looked into the distance through her glasses, and her tone became serious.

"Because of a filming accident."

"Accident?"

"Yes, during the filming of a movie, an accident occurred on set, and Hachiku was seriously injured and hospitalized for a long time. It was during his hospitalization that he met someone."

"Who?"

"It's Mr. Adek."

"he?"