Chapter 17: The Seeker of Myth, Wang Zhi

The ruins of Shindou are a considerable distance from the village, deep within the high mountains.

Dokken Qiao spent the entire journey swinging its blade at the air; it had acquired strange sword techniques yesterday, and out of curiosity—and believing itself a sword prodigy—was now diligently practicing.

Before leaving, it also visited the village to greet the old herbalist, and when Jiu Lu heard Guang Tai was heading to the Shindou Ruins, he first blinked slightly, then smiled:

“Don’t worry—though the ruins are far from the village, we have a Delibird that delivers goods. Just ride it there.”

“So… since you’re going to the Shindou Ruins, could you deliver some goods along the way?”

Delibird? Right, the village did have a delivery Delibird.

Delibird is a common riding Pokémon, resembling a two-headed kiwi with short feathers that make flight difficult; instead, it has powerful legs said to run at 100 kilometers per hour.

“Deliver goods?” Guang Tai frowned. The old man nodded: “I mentioned this before, right? On the mountain where the ruins lie is a small cabin. Inside lives an elderly man everyone calls Mountain Elder.”

“He keeps a Kecleon, and sometimes outside investigators and explorers stay in his cabin. The cabin sits in Snowy Great Valley, where snow never melts, forming thick snow walls. Only two and a half months a year are snow-free—extremely cold.”

“He’s the guardian of the ruins. Every summer we deliver supplies to him. This year’s time has come—summer is the only season you can walk straight into the valley. In autumn or winter, we leave the goods outside, and Kecleon uses Psychic to retrieve them.”

Guang Tai understood. The old man’s description matched closely what he’d seen in the game.

There really was an old man in the mountain cabin, along with a Kecleon capable of long-distance teleportation, and a Lianwang computer. Oddly, even this remote ruin site had internet access—not just the village, but the cabin too—yet no signal towers were visible nearby.

The power of science is truly great!

Guang Tai also remembered that the mountain cabin should have another peculiar guide who constantly said “Oya oya,” but since his default appearance was a mountaineer, he didn’t know who he really was.

Jiu Lu had mentioned this guide before—a merchant with yellow hair and a large backpack. Still, the image didn’t differ much from the mountaineer.

Was the yellow-haired one the Alolan-style mountaineer who wore a green hat?

“Thank you so much! With Delibird, the round trip will be much faster!”

Guang Tai accepted Jiu Lu’s request to deliver goods. The old man and Guang Tai stepped out of the herbalist’s shop and called out to a villager preparing to deliver goods.

This Delibird was unusually large, and looked somewhat fat—unlike the normal ones.

“Hah! This kid’s strong, right? It got lost looking for food and wandered into the village. With its huge appetite and the village’s abundant food supply, it just stayed here.”

“Because it’s so sturdy and bigger than other Pokémon, it can carry a lot of cargo.”

The old man patted Delibird’s body, and its two heads let out happy cries.

“Duduo!”

Free food and lodging, no worries about wild attacks—just deliver some goods and live peacefully. Of course this was a good life!

Dokken Qiao flew up to Delibird and greeted it:

“Hey!”

Though inferior to the royal steeds he’d seen before, its size was still adequate—it’d make a great helper!

Dokken Qiao evaluated itself, while Delibird tilted both heads, expression puzzled, its round black eyes filled with confusion.

Then, out of curiosity, it pecked Dokken Qiao !

“Oyoyoyoyo~!!!”

Dokken Qiao was pecked and immediately let out a meaningless scream, even slipping into ancient dialects—it was angry!

So rude! Does everything need to be pecked to be examined? Haven’t you ever seen a flying sword before!

Delibird: “Dud?”

How are these words even combined?

Guang Tai heard Dokken Qiao ’s sounds. Though the villagers didn’t understand, he sighed helplessly again.

“Alright, alright, let’s go.” He grabbed Dokken Qiao ’s hilt, mounted Delibird, and the cargo was tied securely to both sides of its fluffy body and its rear, fastened with a “bird saddle,” while ropes were tied to its two beaks by the villagers.

Guang Tai found this setup familiar—he quickly remembered.

This was exactly the look of Yellow’s Delibird!

And in terms of size, Yellow’s Delibird was also on the larger side. By contrast, the one in the anime belonging to Green was small, almost underdeveloped.

Guang Tai rode Delibird, while Dokken Qiao was tucked into his backpack—distantly, he looked like a swordsman riding a fat two-headed bird. A strange sight.

Delibird’s speed was astonishing. The scenery ahead rushed backward rapidly; its two legs pounded the ground, and the wind from its high-speed run forced Guang Tai to crouch low.

Soon, the village vanished, replaced by vast stretches of brown and white snow. The temperature gradually dropped.

Entering the mountain range, rocks and trees were covered in thick snow, while snow on the ground melted into streams and puddles. But the closer they got to the ancient Sacred Peak, the more snow-covered terrain appeared.

Though the sun still shone high in the sky, the mountain snow showed no sign of melting. Yet the snow-covered areas were colder; when snow melted, it absorbed vast amounts of heat from the air, further lowering the temperature—that’s why melting snow feels colder than falling snow.

So entering deep snow zones felt less cold than the areas where snow had just melted.

But Delibird showed no discomfort. Though normally a Normal/Flying type, Delibird is weak to Ice, double-damage. Perhaps its down provided insulation, or perhaps this Delibird was simply… too fat to feel cold?

Around noon, the mountain path flanked by two massive snow walls finally appeared in Guang Tai’s view!

Ice Walls, Snowy Great Valley, Blizzard Zone.

Legend says ancient Sinnoh seafarers met with ancient Johto migrants who had moved northward. After exchanging knowledge, they built a special temple to worship the “Great Lord of Sinnoh.”

“That’s the Shindou Ruins.”

Guang Tai saw the wooden cabins. Unlike in the game, there were several here—but all seemed vacant. There were also fields, free of snow, clearly tilled.

Hmm, farmland in the blizzard zone? Guang Tai recalled a similar village: the Frozen Village in the Crown Tundra of Galar—a place in the snowfields where crops could still be grown, thanks to the Fertility King’s modifications.

But after the Fertility King vanished, the land gradually lost its vitality.

Guang Tai stared at the distant temple. The small cabins were farther from the temple than in the game; one had to walk farther, turning a high ridge beyond the snow wall to see the flat-roofed temple, its appearance nearly identical to the Arceus Ruins in Johto.

But outside stood four massive pillars, broken like spears.

And a polished stone tablet marking the ruin site—just like the informational steles commonly found at ruin landmarks.

“Ah! Hello! It’s freezing here~! I’m going to die of cold~!”

“Oya oya! You’ve come to explore the ruins? Summer is the easiest season to enter here. Huh, you picked a good time.”

A light, slightly deep voice came from behind Guang Tai. One of the wooden cabins opened, and a man stepped out—dressed like a mountaineer, or perhaps a backpacker.

No, though he looked similar, his clothing—

Guang Tai’s eyes widened slightly, but he quickly masked his expression. Fortunately, they were still far apart; the man didn’t seem to notice his reaction, instead gazing at the Shindou Ruins with longing and regret.

“It’s impressive you’re interested in the Shindou Ruins at such a young age!”

“The fusion of Sinnoh and Johto civilizations is evident in the design of the stone pillars at the Shindou Ruins~”

“Oya oya! How rude of me—I’m standing here talking. Let’s go to the mountain cabin ahead. We can talk at length there~”

The mountaineer wore thick blue clothing, with a front-and-back apron-like chest covering, a large brown travel pack on his back, a blue-and-yellow hat, bright yellow hair, and one eye obscured.

“Since summer began, you’re the first visitor. The last group of ruin investigators left some time ago… hmm, they seemed to come from Johto.”

Guang Tai said nothing, but his mind reeled.

This mountaineer had long been speculated about—his speech was strange, nothing like a normal mountain man; he sounded like a philosopher, and appeared in this remote ruin site, even telling the protagonist myths about Sinnoh and Johto.

After the release of *Legends Arceus*, speculation about this mountaineer gradually pointed toward one specific character. Now, Guang Tai hadn’t expected the guess to be confirmed.

The man before him, whose appearance closely resembled Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, was named Wang Zhi!

(End of Chapter)