Nathan couldn't help but press harder on the throttle. He was already far too eager to see the legendary Frostline Region with his own eyes.
Finally, just as the sky was beginning to dim into twilight, a long stretch of white land appeared on the sea's horizon.
The Frostline Region!
But Nathan didn't let excitement override his judgment—he didn't rush straight toward the ice-covered continent.
He had been traveling for over a dozen hours now. His body was drained, utterly exhausted.
If he attempted to set foot on the Frostline Region in his current state, and something unexpected were to happen, it could end very badly.
Instead, he chose to rest for a few hours first—to allow himself to recover and return to peak condition before venturing onto the land.
As for the distinction between day and night, Nathan had stopped paying attention to that two days ago. With every passing hour bringing him closer to the Frostline Region, the duration of daylight had grown shorter and shorter.
Of course, Nathan understood the reason behind this.
It was nothing more than the position of the sun—it hadn't risen north of the equator. That was all.
He could only blame himself for arriving at the wrong time of year.
Still, night had its own benefits, just as day had its own. There wasn't much point in worrying about it.
Unless he could somehow arrive at the Frostline Region exactly when the sun was positioned over the equator, there would always be this imbalance. Either the days would be longer than the nights—or the nights longer than the days.
Lying flat on his jet ski, Nathan looked up at the sky where shimmering auroras danced across the darkness. Yet, even such a magnificent sight had begun to wear thin for him.
The first time he had seen these auroras, they had indeed taken his breath away—an ethereal, sublime beauty that felt like it didn't belong to this world.
But after seeing them repeatedly over the past two days… they had begun to lose their magic.
Eventually, beneath the flickering curtain of lights, Nathan drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
------------------
By the time Nathan woke again, the sky was already beginning to brighten faintly.
Seizing the opportunity while it was still daylight, Nathan grabbed a quick bite to eat and immediately headed toward the Frostline Region!
With glaciers growing closer by the minute, and the surrounding temperature steadily dropping, Nathan couldn't help but feel a bit of nervousness building in his chest.
This was his first time entering such a place—a forbidden land for humans.
Upon reaching the edge of the glacier, Nathan abandoned his jet ski and summoned Flygon to carry him onto the icy land.
He then pulled out the map he'd received as a reward from the system.
The Frostline Region now covered an enormous territory—roughly half the size of a continent.
What he needed now was to pinpoint his location—to determine exactly where on the map he currently stood.
After Flygon gained altitude and gave him a clear view, Nathan quickly located his position.
He was currently at the very southern tip of the Frostline Region—right at the bottom edge of the map.
Once he had confirmed this, Nathan gave up the idea of flying straight toward the marked objective on the map aboard Flygon.
Instead, he opted to proceed on foot.
It wasn't that Nathan didn't want to move quickly. But the truth was—the Frostline Region was far too dangerous.
Flying was, of course, much faster. But it also made him an easy target.
If a high-level Pokémon were to lock onto him while flying—then he would basically be delivering himself on a silver platter.
While not all Pokémon were aggressive by nature, most of them had a strong territorial instinct.
Marching boldly into another Pokémon's territory like this would be nothing short of suicidal.
Nathan changed into a thick down jacket, strapped on tinted goggles, and began marching toward his target based on the map's directions.
"Wait a second… this place wouldn't happen to be one of the poles, would it?"
Nathan murmured in surprise as he compared the terrain with the details on the map.
Every planet had two poles.
And those two poles were the coldest places on the entire planet—no exception.
Now that the sun was positioned south of the equator, this place was even worse than usual.
Had it been north of the equator, perhaps the temperature would have been a bit more forgiving. But only slightly.
The poles were regions where sunlight reached for the shortest amount of time throughout the year.
And now, with the sun currently in the southern hemisphere, the polar region in the Frostline Region was engulfed in darkness all day long, without a single trace of sunlight.
"System, if you ever give me another map to the southern pole, I swear I'll kill you."
Stomping across solid ice, Nathan couldn't help but complain aloud to the system.
But as usual, the system gave no reply.
As for whether it would provide him such a map in the future—Nathan had no idea.
----------------------
After walking for several hours, Nathan still hadn't seen a single living creature.
No Pokémon. Not even a small animal.
This made him uneasy.
Usually, if you encountered weaker Pokémon in a region, that was actually a good thing—it meant the area was relatively safe.
But when not even weak Pokémon showed up…
"…Damn."
Nathan's eyes fell on a giant footprint before him, and his heart sank.
There might not have been any living creatures so far—but here was proof of one.
And it wasn't a small one, either—the footprint spanned over ten meters in length!
"Damn it. I knew it. If I walked this long without encountering a single Pokémon, that definitely meant some powerful monster had claimed this place."
He cursed under his breath.
Just as Nathan was contemplating whether or not to take a detour, a sudden, heavy BOOM echoed through the air.
Upon hearing the sound, Nathan didn't hesitate—he immediately dove into a nearby ice crevice to hide.
Boom. Boom.
The sounds continued—steady and rhythmic.
Nathan was certain—it had to be the owner of that giant footprint.
"This is bad. I just hope that thing isn't too strong…"
Listening to the approaching footsteps, Nathan muttered a silent prayer.
As long as it wasn't a Legendary-level Pokémon, he'd be willing to risk pressing forward.
But if it was a Legendary… then he'd have no choice but to keep hiding—or make a run for it.
He kept his eyes locked on the space outside the ice crevice.
Then—a massive leg stomped into view.
----------------
Seeing that thick, heavy hoof, Nathan slowly, carefully poked his head out a bit farther.
And in that moment, he saw a pair of amber-colored eyes staring directly at him.
Two enormous eyes—each the size of a lantern—locked onto him.
Nathan, in turn, stared back at their owner.
It was a Avalugg—the Iceberg Pokémon.
A species known to inhabit extremely frigid environments.
Among all known Pokémon, the Avalugg line was one of the largest in terms of physical size.
This particular one was Elite-level.
As for its full size—Nathan couldn't see it clearly from this angle.
But if just its eyes were this massive, then its body couldn't be anything less than gigantic.
Although it is only a elite-level Pokémon, Nathan is not worried that this Avalugg will attack him and even though it hadn't shown any aggression, the implication was still worrying.
This was the very outer rim of the Frostline Region.
And already—Elite-level Pokémon were appearing.
What did that mean for the central zone?
Would it be full of Champion-level Pokémon roaming freely?
"Uh… hello there.."
Nathan greeted the Avalugg cautiously.
The Iceberg Pokémon stared at him for a long moment, eyes filled with curiosity.
Which made sense, really.
After all, who knew how many years it had been since a human had set foot in this land?
If anyone were to encounter a completely foreign species in their own territory, they'd probably be just as curious.
"…What are you supposed to be?"
Thanks to the Viridian Power flowing through him, Nathan could understand the Avalugg perfectly.
But… why did its voice sound so aggressively rude?
"I'm a human…"
Nathan replied, exasperated.
If any other creature had spoken to him like that, he probably would've slapped them across the face on the spot.
But considering this Avalugg might have never seen a human before, Nathan decided to let it slide.
"Could you… possibly take me deeper into the Frostline Region?"
Despite the creature's somewhat crude tone, Nathan still asked politely.
He actually knew a fair bit about the Iceberg Pokémons.
In extreme cold regions, it wasn't uncommon to find Pokémon riding on Avalugg to travel across the land.
You could say that Avalugg were like vehicles in the Pokémon world.
Vehicles with built-in navigation, no less.
It was just a shame that Avalugg could only survive in freezing environments.
Otherwise, if they appeared in warmer places—they'd probably be immensely popular.
"I can, but I can only take a short distance in. I can't go too deep,"
the Avalugg replied, shaking its huge head.
Hearing this, Nathan was genuinely overjoyed.
He quickly climbed out of the crevice and stood fully before the Pokémon.
Only now could he see the true size of the creature.
It was easily as big as an aircraft carrier.
Compared to its body, those two enormous eyes now looked almost tiny in contrast…
Such a massive form—and yet such disproportionately small eyes. Nathan couldn't help but wonder just how such a creature evolved this way.
Maybe Avalugg's Gigantamax form disabled its eye size?
With both hands and feet, Nathan scrambled up onto the Avalugg's back.
Its body was surprisingly flat—almost like a moving platform.
And with the Avalugg's help, Nathan began advancing deeper into the Frostline Region.
-----------------------
Along the way, he chatted with the Avalugg, asking about the region.
Unfortunately, this particular Avalugg had spent most of its life living on the outer edge of the Frostline Region.
So, it didn't know much.
Still—Nathan managed to learn one useful thing:
Between the outer ring and the inner zone, there was a glacial canyon.
This canyon acted as a natural border between the outer and inner regions.
That explained why the Avalugg had said it could only take him partway.
And even though it moved at a sluggish pace…
(End of Chapter)