Chapter 140: Living in a Cave Together with a Snover

But regarding this operation, Hunter J was highly confident.

The person who commissioned her was a long-time client; having completed numerous transactions between them, they had already collected quite a few rare Dragon-type Pokémon, so the other party had no reason to leak any secrets—

After all, doing so would also land them in prison.

Considering her strict confidentiality measures, the target location being the rarely inhabited highest peak of Glaseado Mountain where at most a few insignificant mountaineers might be found, and the client's astronomical reward,

although she felt a certain unease in her heart, Hunter J still chose to trust in the strength she had accumulated over many years, her confidence in her equipment, and the leeway that even if something went wrong, she could abandon this group of easily replaceable subordinates and escape riding her Salamence.

Thinking of this, Hunter J's eyebrows, hidden beneath her high-tech monocular glasses, lifted slightly; she waved her large hand and said, "Continue advancing toward the Paldea region; deploy the airship's cloaking device just before entering its territory to prevent detection by Paldea's monitoring systems!"

"Yes!"

"Also, keep an eye out for any human traces on Glaseado Mountain; after all, the Paldea region recently issued a blizzard weather forecast, advising mountaineers not to ascend the mountain lightly."

"Once any unidentified personnel are detected active on Glaseado Mountain, do not hesitate to turn back immediately!"

"Yes!"

Late at night, as they were about to approach the highest peak of Glaseado Mountain, snow began to fall from the sky.

Pure white and beautiful snowflakes drifted down in profusion, yet to Luo Mu and the others, such a scenic view was like a life-taking scythe; high in the air, both the snowflakes and the biting cold wind accompanying them were things capable of depriving humans of their lives.

Without sufficient cold-weather protection, having one's body temperature gradually stripped away by the beautiful snowflakes and the ensuing cold wind, slowly losing sensation and consciousness, felt as terrifying as torture.

Fortunately, with the experienced Tron leading them, before mounting the backs of the Corviknight, he had used readily prepared items to simply craft an anti-slip saddle fixed onto the Corviknight, and their cold-weather clothing had been prepared without any omission.

Although they would still feel cold, at least it would not affect their condition.

These Corviknight possessed considerable strength, capable of carrying three people to the vicinity of Glaseado Mountain's highest peak in such weather; if Luo Mu had let his Dragonite fly, he could easily accomplish the same, but it would inevitably affect their condition for the battle with Hunter J, who might appear at any moment.

From the perspective of conserving stamina, it was all thanks to the Corviknight that Luo Mu and the other two were able to reach the highest peak of Glaseado Mountain in perfect condition.

"You've worked hard; hurry back and reunite with your flock."

When facing Pokémon, Tron's smile was never sparing; it was precisely this loving heart that had made him a Ranger.

Mimicking Tron, Luo Mu waved goodbye to the Corviknight, then looked behind him.

In fact, the location where the Corviknight had landed them was still quite a distance from the highest peak of Glaseado Mountain, but Tron had mentioned that the very summit of Glaseado Mountain held nothing; that empty place had only a wooden sign standing there.

Staying directly at that location would be tantamount to blatantly telling Hunter J that something was amiss, very likely causing her to weigh the situation and choose to abandon the operation, thus causing their encirclement plan to fail.

Therefore, their hiding spot needed to be sought below the highest peak of Glaseado Mountain.

Tron tightened his clothing, turned around, and said, "Let's go; the wind and snow are gradually intensifying; we must find a shelter; in a place with almost no cover, camping is impossible; we can only search for some caves."

Lila nodded; just as she was about to say something, Luo Mu suddenly interrupted, "Leave the matter of finding a cave to me; Luxray."

At Luo Mu's call, the Poké Ball opened automatically, and Luxray's agile body appeared amidst the wind and snow.

At this moment, Luxray's gaze was like a torch; even though the night was dark and the wind and snow obstructed vision, it could still clearly perceive the surrounding environment.

Following the prompts from the system in his mind, Luo Mu leaned close to Luxray's ear and whispered a few words; although Luxray felt puzzled, it still pretended to sniff carefully at the snowy ground, leading the three of them to a spot beneath a tall pine tree.

"Meow-ao."

Luxray looked at Tron and pointed its paw at the snowy ground beneath the pine tree.

Tron looked closely and murmured, "These are Pokémon footprints; this shape... it should be those of a Snover."

"If it is them, perhaps we can use the Capture Styler to borrow their cave to evade the possible incoming blizzard."

Following the footprints, they pressed forward.

Occasionally, they encountered a few wild Pokémon active outside, but all were easily driven away by a single Thunder Shock from the Luxray beside Luo Mu; Lila's eyes sparkled repeatedly, her heart filled with curiosity about Luxray's strength.

As an International Police officer, she was actually still a Trainer; at least, Lila admitted to herself that she could not make a Pokémon easily drive away wild Pokémon capable of living near the highest peak of Glaseado Mountain.

The harsh environment had forged these wild Pokémon into possessing formidable strength, making them unbeatable by non-elite Trainers.

Yet, such wild Pokémon were easily repelled by Luxray; was this the strength of a Champion-level Trainer?

The trio's luck was good; before the wind and snow grew heavier and obscured the Snover's footprints, under the guidance of Luxray and Luo Mu behind the scenes, they successfully saw the end of the tracks—

A cave hidden within the snow mountain; the space was not large, but more than enough to squeeze in three people, with room to spare for some belongings.

The only thing that surprised the three was that there was indeed a Snover inside the cave, but its parents, who should have been protecting it, the Abomasnow, were not inside.

Furthermore, this Snover's condition seemed somewhat poor; it looked malnourished, clearly having been hungry for a long time.

The Snover also displayed fear at the arrival of Luo Mu and the others; its lively green eyes overflowed with regret; these uninvited guests had obviously come by following its footprints.

It suddenly recalled that after going out to forage this time, because it had found no food at all, in its excessive hunger, it had forgotten to use a move to conceal its footprints.

To the Snover, Luo Mu and the other two did not seem to possess much offensive capability.

On the contrary, regarding the Luxray beside Luo Mu, even though Luxray was just standing there quietly, the Snover felt as if it were being crushed by the pressure of a top-tier predator, unable to catch its breath.

Luo Mu also noticed the Snover's discomfort; he glanced inside the cave to confirm there was no trace of an Abomasnow, ruling out the possibility that an Abomasnow would attack them to protect its child.

Luo Mu had Luxray retreat behind him to avoid further stimulating the Snover's nerves; under the puzzled gazes of Tron and Lila, who had originally prepared to use the Capture Styler to soothe the Snover's mood, he skillfully took out an Energy Cube from his person and employed his usual move—

The Food Soothing Method!

(End of Chapter)