"Yes, I'm particularly interested in that aged Never-Melt Ice," Terrance said.
"For your Ice-type Ninetales and Castform?" Lorelei smiled and said, "Come with me."
Lorelei's actions left Terrance puzzled. Did she know where the Never-Melt Ice was?
The caves of the Seafoam Islands were quite distinctive, with many of them interconnected. After following Lorelei into the Seafoam Islands cave, Terrance suddenly felt a bit lost.
"Master Lorelei, are you taking me through a maze...?"
Terrance frowned. He tried to remember the route they had taken, but the interior of the Seafoam Islands was just too complex, and for a moment, he felt disoriented.
Walking in such a complicated ice cave without any cold-resistant clothing, Terrance was already feeling the chill seeping into his body.
"Generally speaking, it's impossible for outsiders to completely explore the interior of the Seafoam Islands," Lorelei said. "Actually, Articuno never left the Seafoam Islands. It just hid deeper inside."
"You mean you know where Articuno is?" Terrance asked in surprise.
But the next moment, Terrance's heart skipped a beat. He quickly tapped the Poké Ball at his waist. With two flashes of icy light, a Golbat's wings were instantly covered with frost and it crashed to the ground.
The Pokémon that used Ice Beam were Terrance's Ninetales and Lorelei's Cloyster. Lorelei's reaction was even faster than Terrance's. Before Golbat could launch its attack, the freezing light had already sealed its movements.
Looking at the Golbat on the ground, Terrance was puzzled and glanced toward a crack in the ice cave.
"Be careful. Zubat and Golbat in these caves aren't afraid of the cold. They like to hide in cracks, using the temperature to conceal themselves, and then hunt their prey," Lorelei warned, glancing in surprise at Terrance's Ninetales. She hadn't given him any warning on purpose, but didn't expect Terrance's reaction to be so sharp.
"Golbat that aren't afraid of the cold?" Terrance said in surprise, watching as the frost on the Golbat's wings quickly melted and it fled.
"Having lived in the ice cave for so long, the Golbat here have developed this trait. Not only are they unafraid of the cold, but their endurance and aggressiveness are also very high. So, what do you think, want to catch one?"
"I'll pass," Terrance shook his head. "Back to what we were talking about, Master Lorelei—"
"Shh." Lorelei put a finger to her lips and smiled slightly. At the same time, as things quickly quieted down, Terrance perked up his ears and immediately heard an ear-piercing sound wave. It seemed the earlier Golbat had called its companions.
"Cloyster, Supersonic," Lorelei said calmly as she noticed a large group of Golbat approaching.
In the next moment, Cloyster opened its shell, and from its strange face a bizarre soundwave spread out, traveling along the ice walls in all directions. After a while, all the dense Supersonic sounds vanished.
"Amazing," Terrance looked at Cloyster, surprised it had this ability.
Imitating Golbat's Supersonic to send out a special signal and interfere with them as if it were their companion. What a shameless tactic... but much better than having to fight them all.
After driving off the Golbat, Lorelei said, "Come on, I'll take you to see Articuno."
As soon as Lorelei finished speaking, Terrance's eyes lit up. She really did know where Articuno was.
Quickly following close behind Lorelei, Terrance wanted to see what she was up to. She wouldn't have brought him all the way here just to let him see Articuno and the Never-Melt Ice. That would be too simple.
"The passage ahead is dangerous," Lorelei said, turning back to Terrance and Ninetales after they had walked a while.
At this depth, Terrance and his group couldn't see anyone else. Now, three paths appeared before them, but without any hesitation, Lorelei walked straight down the middle one.
"Cloyster, Ice Beam."
Standing in front of the fork, Lorelei gave a decisive order.
Boom!!!!!!!!!!
As the icy beam was fired, the sound of shattering came from beneath the fork, as if countless layers of ice were collapsing madly, making what lay beyond the fork seem all the more mysterious and eerie.
"It's empty ahead?" Terrance and Ninetales walked forward.
Lorelei nodded. "There's no way ahead. Below, however, leads to the lowest level of the Seafoam Islands. The ice here is very thin due to the terrain, so if you step directly onto it, it'll definitely collapse. That's why I built an ice ladder."
After she finished, Lorelei signaled for Terrance to keep close and, together with Cloyster, stepped onto the ice ladder first.
"Is this really safe..." Terrance looked at it skeptically, but fortunately, with Ninetales' psychic powers, at least he didn't have to worry about dangers like falling.
The lower they went, the colder it became. Following behind Master Lorelei, Terrance shivered and looked at her. She was still wearing a short skirt. Incredible. Was it not just Master Bruno whose physique was better than him, was Lorelei a martial arts master too?
Walking on the ice ladder created by Cloyster, the two of them and their two Pokémon made a few turns and arrived at a path of black ice.
"I'm feeling a little dizzy," Terrance said.
From the entrance to here, even though he had walked the path himself, he'd already forgotten the route. Everything inside looked so similar, it was impossible to tell directions just by memory.
"Once we cross this ice path, we should reach Articuno's habitat," Lorelei said, pointing to the winding path ahead.
"Articuno..." Terrance exchanged a glance with Ninetales. They were about to meet the Ice-type Legendary Pokémon. He couldn't help feeling excited.
"Let's go," Lorelei said at last.
The two of them continued down the path. After a while, they were blocked by a wall of ice.
"This is something Articuno uses to conceal its habitat. Behind it is a cave," Lorelei explained. With that, she had Cloyster carve out an opening, and walked right in. Terrance took a look, then followed closely with Ninetales.
Whoooooosh—
"Cough!"
The moment he entered, Terrance abruptly halted and swiftly raised his arm to shield against the raging icy wind, preventing the shards from striking his face. Through the gaps between his fingers, Terrance finally caught sight of Articuno.
A crown made of three deep blue, diamond-shaped feathers, a long, banner-like tail, and those wings said to be made of ice. This large, ice-blue bird Pokémon seemed to have taken them for intruders.
Terrance remembered that Altaria had once sculpted an Articuno ice statue at a Pokémon Contest, but compared to a statue, the living creature was far more imposing, magnificent, and noble.
"What the..."
Terrance, who had been ready to fight back, watched as Lorelei slowly walked forward and gently touched Articuno's feathers. His lips couldn't help but twitch. So they knew each other?
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