He knows Pokémon better than me.

"These ice blocks are their cooling masks. They look thick, but they're actually translucent, so you can see the road through them, right?"

Walking side by side, the Mr. Mime raised his phone, Rotom, and translated in real time:

"And the black fur on its head is its radar, which can help it sense and locate objects around it!"

After all, this is its hometown, and the Mr. Mime knows a lot about the Ice Goose.

"I see."

Seeing that these ice-built geese showed no sign of fleeing or attacking.

Ash leaned closer to examine it closely and, sure enough, he could see the flat, oval-shaped head inside through the thick ice.

Well, he had a very plain face, which seemed somewhat empty and lifeless.

But it is said that Galar people like this "melancholy" expression, which makes this Pokémon extremely popular.

On the other side, Hop also arrived at an ice cave. The ice here was very thick, so there was no need to worry about it collapsing and falling into the water.

"Chu-ao, chu-ao!"

The electric dog wagged its tail and barked incessantly toward the ice cave.

In the Galar region, electric shepherds are renowned sheepdogs; often, one electric shepherd is sufficient to direct 50 woolly sheep on a ranch.

Soon, the water rippled, and an ice goose clumsily climbed ashore.

"Wow. Is it a bully?"

Ash couldn't help but turn his gaze over and exclaimed in surprise that this Ice Goose was almost two-thirds larger than the surrounding Ice Goose.

Covered in ice, its expression was obscured, but its personality was clearly not as leisurely as the surrounding ice-covered geese; it adopted an aggressive stance as soon as it landed.

Hep, being a straightforward person, immediately grinned confidently and said directly:
"Ice Goose, let's have a battle! If I win, you can join my team!"

"Chu-ao, chu-ao!"

The electric dog had already jumped in front of him, its tongue lolling out, lightning crackling through its fur, ready to go.

His three Pokémon had just finished a gym battle and were resting, leaving only Corviknight and Electivire available for battle.

As for Corviknight, it usually serves more as a flying partner and its combat power is not high.

In terms of size, they are almost half the size of Ash's Corviknight.

The ice-clad goose in front of him was clearly of a high level. But this was exactly what he expected!
With only one gym left, there's simply no time to start training from scratch. The Ice Goose in front of us is clearly an immediate combat asset that can be captured and used right away.

"Icework!"

The Ice Goose let out a low, defiant cry. As the alpha of this area, it was more aggressive and wouldn't allow a stranger to come up to it and provoke it.

The battle was about to begin, and Ash and Mr. Mime brought out small stools and sat down to watch the show.

"Bari~!"

The Mr. Mime's fingers emitted a chilling aura, quickly creating two snow-covered benches, though they were a bit freezing on the bottoms.

In the center of the icy pool, Hep narrowed his eyes and preemptively gave the order:

"Strike first, use Thunder Fang!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Electivire darted up. Like Jolteon, it was a high-speed Pokémon, and even their shapes were similar.

"Zhu Ao!!"

The Electric Hound abandoned its playful expression, opened its teeth, and instantly formed huge, energy-shaped lightning-like fangs around its mouth. It then pounced and bit its target.

"The trait of strength?"

Ash, with his legs crossed, recognized it at a glance; it had the same ability as his Dracovish.

Crack!
With its formidable power, it even shattered the thick ice on the top of the ice-carved goose's head, revealing its rather dazed-looking head.

However, the subsequent lightning bolts bounced off the Ice Goose, seemingly having no effect. "Ice Goose!!"

The Ice Goose rolled up its wings, covered in frost, and unleashed a powerful freezing punch.

boom! !

A punch landed squarely on the stomach of the electric dog, sending it flying backward, its claws leaving several straight marks on the ice.

"It didn't work?"

Xiao Zhi frowned, somewhat confused.

Beside him, the Mr. Mime typed rapidly, reminding him:
"It's a unique characteristic of the Ice Goose: Frozen Head!"

The ice cube that forms on your head isn't just for decoration; it also grants complete immunity to one instance of physical damage!

"The characteristics of a painted skin?"

Ash blurted out, "Isn't that Mimikyu's Divine trait?"

Of course, the Painted Skin can block all attacks, while the Frozen Head seems to only block physical attacks, so it's not as amazing.
"That's not all~ As long as it snows or hails, the frozen head of the Ice Goose will quickly recover and regain immunity to damage~!"

These words made Ash sit up straight. The reusable ability, in some ways, is already on par with Disguise!
Mr. Mime nodded. In the Galar region, the Ice Goose also has shape-changing abilities.

That is, the "frozen head" state with the ice cube on top, and the "thawed head" state after the ice cube is broken.

And in the center of the arena, the Ice Goose did the same thing.

"Icework—!!"

It let out a loud cry towards the sky, and the previously clear weather suddenly began to be filled with falling snowflakes.

It's not hail that continuously drains health each round, but rather a snowy day triggered by the "Snow Scene" special move.

It won't cause damage, but it can increase the physical defense of Ice-type Pokémon.

Snowflakes fell on the ice goose, forming a thin white film on its body. Even its head, which was originally completely exposed, began to freeze outwards from the base of the black feathers on its head, growing larger and larger.

"It looks like it'll take a few more rounds."

Xiao Zhi squinted and examined it, thinking to himself.

If it immediately reverts to its frozen state after a snowfall, it would be even more overpowered than Mimikyu.

"So, it's working now, right? Electric Dog, use 100,000 volts!!"

The electric dog tensed its entire body, unleashing a violent burst of lightning from a distance.

However, since the Ice Goose is a form of transformation, its abilities and race will naturally change as well.

Slurp—!
Belly down, it slid off onto the ice with incredible speed, successfully avoiding the 100,000 volts.

And it slid faster and faster on the ice, almost becoming a black afterimage—

In its frozen state, the Ice Goose boasts excellent defense and magic resistance, but is incredibly slow.

In thawed head mode, dual protection decreases, but speed instantly surges, even faster than electric dogs!

The ice goose glided at high speed along the ice surface, thick streams of water gushing from its body, as it crashed straight into its target.

Waterfall climbing!!

Hep was already sweating profusely, but his face grew increasingly excited, and he quickly gave instructions:
"Get out of the way! Use high-speed movement!!"

This is the first time I've encountered such a strange Pokémon. But it's really strong!

The electric dog immediately started running quickly on the ice, but even at its speed, it couldn't completely shake off the waterfall climber.

Whoosh!
Clad in a watery cloak, the ice-clad goose relentlessly pursued the electric-chasing dog! (End of Chapter)