Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

The sound of ice and fire colliding rang out.

Layers of white mist enveloped the summit of Snow Mountain.

Tetsuya summoned Blaziken's Zero Panel.

"Item carried: Unknown rock."

Effect: Increases the power of fire-type skills by 20%, improves the quality of flames, and slightly increases the wielder's strength.

Tetsuya blinked.

This was the first time he had ever heard of or seen that carrying items could provide a three-fold boost.

He nodded in satisfaction.

He casually tucked away the remaining fire-type items and materials from the equipment: "Articuno, can I trouble you for one more thing?"

The Articuno's tail feathers twitched; it had a feeling something was amiss.

Tetsuya pointed to the instrument: "Give it a freezing effect."

That's right, after hoarding all the materials for the instrument, he was going to hand the pot over to Articuno.

Team Rocket did indeed carry an unknown item, but Articuno took it. How could a mere "elite trainer" like him possibly interfere with what Articuno was doing?

It's a miracle they didn't treat him like an enemy and turn him into an ice sculpture too.

Those Rockets players who lost their lives are the best example.

He managed to protect the equipment with great difficulty.

Tetsuya nodded again, thinking to himself, "That's right, that's exactly it."

If he had originally planned to hand over the instrument along with the red square rock to the Alliance, he has now changed his mind.

This was his spoils of war—no, not spoils of war, but a chance find during his adventure.

As long as the rock is still inside Blaziken, no one will notice anything amiss. At most, they'll just think Blaziken is very talented and carries a 20% charcoal.

At first, he felt he couldn't handle the core, but after seeing the results, he felt he could.

It's just a little risk, the League can't really send someone to Mount White to question Articuno, can they?

During this sensitive period, it would be strange if Articuno didn't destroy them; it's not worth it for some unknown gadget.

In comparison, Tetsuya felt that the billion-odd fire-type items were a minor issue.

Then, when you're at your wits' end, tell Lance and the others that you're broke, and also let them know that Blaziken has already reached Elite Four level. Wouldn't that be a perfect reward for the mission?

This is an investment in the future of the alliance.

Articuno had no idea what he was thinking; it simply nodded when it heard about it.

It was also very dissatisfied with this instrument; if it weren't for it, it wouldn't have been in such a sorry state.

It took a deep breath and prepared to work on the instrument.

"Wait, wait, wait," Tetsuya suddenly called out, stopping its movements.

Articuno finally understood why Blaziken had been so helpless earlier.

It let out a chilling burp and said impatiently, "What is it now?"

Tetsuya then took out the fire-type materials he had just collected and had Blaziken extract the rock from its body.

After reinstalling these items onto the instrument, Tetsuya ran more than ten meters away, found an angle, raised his wristwatch, and took a few photos.

"It's alright now."

He looked at the somewhat blurry photo on his wristwatch and nodded in satisfaction.

This way, he could both shift the blame to Articuno, ask Cynthia about the exact origin of the stone, and also report back to the League.

It's killing three birds with one stone.

Even if Articuno is stupid, it would realize something was wrong by now.

"What are you doing?" it asked.

Zheye remained calm and composed: "It's nothing. It's a requirement of human scientific research. You wouldn't understand."

As for technology, Articuno thought about it and realized that it was something they didn't really understand.

Seeing that the instrument was now completely bare again, Articuno asked once more, "Can I start now?"

Tetsuya smiled and nodded.

"call"

A blast of cold air froze the instrument solid.

After a busy cleanup of the battlefield.

"Then I'll take these troublemakers with me, along with these Pokémon." Tetsuya said goodbye to Articuno and prepared to leave the scene.

Articuno paused for a moment.

"I'm planning to breed the next generation of Articuno in the coming years. If possible, I'd appreciate it if you could pass this on to me."

I don't want to see any humans appearing on the mountainside or higher for the past five years.

It felt that although this human was strange, he was still trustworthy.

At least the other party's eyes didn't show any desire for power.

Then he probably wouldn't care about his own child.

Tetsuya, riding on the giant rock monster, raised his arm and waved to indicate that he understood.

This is only beneficial to him and has no drawbacks.

At least this way, there's no need to worry about how to explain where the stone went.

As for the possibility that Tetsuya took it.

He said he couldn't just make things up. What if Articuno was thinking of using it to mutate its offspring? He said if he said they took it, they should at least provide some evidence.

Tetsuya, who has people both above and behind him, remains completely unfazed. If they suspect him, let them suspect him; if they have no evidence, let them go play around.

Moreover, given his current strength and demonstrated potential, even if there were evidence, not many people would have any different opinions about him.

Watching Tetsuya roll a group of Team Rocket members down the mountain with his rattan whip, or more accurately, his rattan ball, Articuno's eyes inevitably showed a hint of fatigue.

For a bird whose life was nearing its end, such a battle was simply too exhausting.

Otherwise, the time it takes for it to reproduce should be delayed even further.

The Rockets' appearance reminded it that it was no longer in a good enough position to waste time, nor was it necessary.

If possible, Articuno really doesn't want its future offspring to end up like it.

But there's nothing they can do; that's their job.

With the Great One in a deep slumber and not emerging into the world, each powerful divine beast has its own tasks to perform in order to maintain the normal operation of the world.

The Articuno quickly disappeared into the swirling snowflakes.

"No! No!"

On the way down the mountain, Team Rocket inside the sepak takraw made a sound of struggle.

They demanded that prisoners of war be treated well.

Zhe also turned a deaf ear.

It's good enough that there's a vine-woven ball cage; what more could you ask for? He had originally planned to just drag them down with a vine whip.

However, the snow-covered mountain was full of rocks, and Tetsuya was worried that they might bump their heads on the way.

"Chirp—"

The Serpent urged Blaziken to come a little closer.

Compared to the scorching heat that its own companions could control—enough to kill a snake—this freezing weather was enough to freeze a snake to death.

Fortunately, Serperior, a Grass-type Pokémon, is classified as a Royal Pokémon rather than a Snake Pokémon; otherwise, it would probably have fainted.

Tetsuya nestled on the back of the giant rock monster, found a rock to shelter from the wind, and took out the Flame Orb given to him by the Flame Emperor.

This thing is a great way to keep warm.

Gallade, like Serperior, surrounded Blaziken.

It wasn't that it was afraid of the cold, but rather that it wanted to ask how the triple buff stacking was achieved.

Blaziken says it's easy as long as you have hands.

Amidst laughter and cheers, their figures disappeared into the white.

The Pokémon Center at Snow Mountain.

"Boom"

The door was kicked open, and a sudden gust of wind and snow rushed in.

"Who!" Miss Joy stood up angrily, ready to teach this ungrateful trainer a lesson.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't have hands to open the door. Can anyone lend a hand?"

Tetsuya walked in dragging a huge green sphere, with several heads protruding around the sphere.

This bizarre appearance shocked everyone.

That's some fancy stuff, bro.

"So it's Trainer Tetsuya." Joy immediately regained her composure.

As the highest-ranking person in charge here, and also one of the senior members of the Joey family, she naturally knew what Tetsuya was doing on White Snow Mountain.

Kicking down a door is nothing.

She wouldn't mind demolishing the Pokémon Center as long as it could protect Articuno.

Tetsuya scratched his head sheepishly: "I'm really sorry, but these guys are the remnants of this mission. The rest were all shattered into ice shards."

Joy walked up to him with Chansey: "It's alright, leave the rest to me. Officer Jenny and the others are on their way."

None of the trainers around dared to chuckle or interrupt; you could tell from that they were talking about a formidable person.

It's easy to imagine what shattered into ice shards.

"Here's the room key. Thank you for your hard work. Please rest for a bit."

Seeing Tetsuya covered in snow, Joey handed him a room key.

"Thank you, Miss Joey. I'll leave it to you then."

Zhe casually took the key and put down the green sphere.

It's time to enjoy yourself.

Chapter 424 Communication

Soaking in the warm hot spring, Tetsuya let out a long sigh of relief.

Yes, there are hot springs in this area.

Finding hot springs in the world of elves is relatively easy, as many elves possess excellent related abilities.

For example, the most common type of Pokémon in the snowy areas of the Johto region is the Wild Boar.

They are very good at finding underground springs, especially hot springs, probably thanks to their incredibly strong sense of smell. Many hot spring operators rely on them to find new spring sources.

However, not every trainer who comes to White Snow Mountain for adventure is lucky enough to enjoy the hot springs.

Apart from the open-air public hot spring, only five rooms here have private hot spring baths.

This often leads to people competing for the temporary use of these five rooms through battles.

In the sacred world of Trainer Battles, where anything can be wagered, nothing is too big to be decided in a single battle; and if it isn't, then another battle will do.

Of course, Zhe doesn't need it, because he's a privileged user.

He received special treatment from Miss Joey and was able to directly enjoy the private hot spring pool that everyone was vying for.

I have to say, it was really cool.