Chapter 414: A Childhood That Slips Away in the Blink of an Eye

The little blacksmith ran very fast.

In the blink of an eye, it had nearly reached the flat plains area to the east.

On this plain, Houndours with bone-like objects on their backs were playing carefree.

Meanwhile, the slimmer Houndooms, covered entirely in bone-like structures and looking like hellhounds from the underworld, guarded the surroundings with watchful eyes.

The atmosphere seemed harmonious, but the moment the little blacksmith burst in with the Salandit, everything changed completely.

Almost instantly, the playing Houndours froze, and together with the Houndooms, they glared viciously at the little blacksmith and the Salandit, low threatening growls rising one after another.

The Salandit, blinded by its desire to claim credit, also stopped chasing the little blacksmith; its hot blood cooled rapidly as reason returned.

It stiffly turned its neck, looking terrified at this gang of bully Pokémon resembling hellhounds, realizing something was wrong and wanting to retreat.

But how could the little blacksmith, which had expended so much effort to bring it here, allow all that work to go to waste?

A hazy metallic gleam lit up on its small hands.

Using every trick in its book, the little blacksmith leaped with extreme agility in front of the Salandit and swatted it with a claw, sending it flying toward the Houndooms and Houndours.

The Salandit was completely stunned.

By the time it traced a graceful parabola through the air and landed with a plop right in the center of the Houndours, seeing the fierce hellhounds surrounding it, the sweating Salandit instinctively unleashed its most proficient attack move in self-defense.

Acting ruthlessly, the Salandit managed to spit a mouthful of venom onto one of several attacking Houndours, causing it to let out a cry of pain.

This action undoubtedly fanned the flames of anger among the Houndours and Houndooms.

The brilliance of their moves immediately engulfed it completely.

A moment later.

Relying on its agility, having pushed the Salandit out as the spark of conflict while all the Houndours and Houndooms focused their attention on it, the little blacksmith, which had darted into the bushes and hidden, now quietly poked its head out.

Watching the groups rushing toward the Salazzle's territory, carrying that unconscious Salandit in their mouths as if intending to seek justice, the little blacksmith finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The plan to divert disaster eastward had apparently succeeded.

Next, while the Salazzle and the Houndooms fought each other, it would seize the opportunity to slip into that small hill and find the nest of the Corviknights with many feathers.

The little blacksmith happily ran to the spot where it had previously buried the feathers, cherished them by hugging them tightly, and cautiously hid in the bushes, waiting for a chance.

League Year 798, August 29.

Less than one day remained before the opening of the Summer Ice Sculpture Competition.

As for Luo Mu, his progress had nearly reached the intended finish line.

Inside the ice cellar.

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's great sword of flame danced with extreme fluidity.

Ever since learning the sword techniques from those Iron Valiants, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's own swordsmanship had gained a touch of delicacy and skill; aside from changes in battle, this finesse allowed the quality of its sculptures to reach a higher level.

If the Sandslash couple needed their large hooks to carve out the rough shape of the ice block, then the work assigned to Cangyan Cangyan Rengui was to perform more detailed shaping of the ice.

To use an analogy, it was like transforming a crooked rectangle into a winding dragon body.

Mimikyu's work was the same; its Shadow Claw precisely shaved away ice chips, revealing a lifelike, winding dragon body.

Once their work was finished, Luo Mu, holding professional tools, would take the stage to perform the final procedures, from scales to expression and various details.

A moment later.

The dragon-shaped ice sculpture, barely a meter long, was completed.

Luo Mu looked at Lei Guan Wang, who was riding Calyrex-Ice.

Lei Guan Wang nodded slightly, stepped forward, and used that move.

A moment later.

Looking at the dragon-shaped ice sculpture, which loomed hidden and visible within the "clouds and mist," showing its head but not its tail and full of mystery, Luo Mu wore a smile of relief.

The only voice echoing in his heart told Luo Mu: "This is the one."

In Luo Mu's expectation, this white mist combined with the Aurora Veil should produce an excellent effect.

The miniature version was a success; tomorrow, when participating in the competition, he would be confident in creating the enlarged version.

A giant dragon-shaped ice sculpture dozens of meters long could only be completed in this world by relying on Pokémon power, unless people cooperated with one another.

He looked forward to the official unveiling of the ice sculpture.

Thinking the time was about right, Luo Mu asked Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and the others to rest first, then approached Lei Guan Wang.

"How does it feel?" Luo Mu asked.

Lei Guan Wang answered honestly: "There are no problems with the external details, the appearance isn't awkward, and it possesses aesthetic beauty... however, it is still far from being as lifelike as the wooden carving made by Oranguru."

"I thought so too." Luo Mu shook his head helplessly, wearing an expression of reminiscence, "Especially at the moment Oranguru carved the eyes onto the wooden sculpture, I even felt as if I were once again facing that Rayquaza."

"Adding the pupils to bring the dragon to life' is nothing more than this."

Luo Mu was very clear about where his limitations lay.

No matter how talented he was, a mere week or so could not possibly transform him from a layman into an ice sculpture master.

In fact, precisely because he had handed over most of the preceding procedures to the Sandslash couple, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Mimikyu, and the others, he had been able to focus on learning detailed carving alongside Oranguru.

Even if he could not achieve an aura of spirit, through various clever ideas and designs, he could bring the level of the ice sculpture infinitely close to the works of those masters.

After chatting with Lei Guan Wang for a while longer and heeding some of its suggestions, Luo Mu, thinking the time was about right, waved to it, "I'll be counting on you all tomorrow."

The Pokémon accompanying him to participate in the Summer Ice Sculpture Grand Meeting had also been completely determined.

The Sandslash couple, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Mimikyu, Vulpix, Regice, and Lei Guan Wang, who could restrain Calyrex-Ice.

Luo Mu felt that this lineup of his should be one of the best in the Grand Meeting.

Lei Guan Wang nodded slightly, "No problem; I am also curious about how lively human-held events will be after so many years."

Just as Luo Mu intended to turn and leave, Calyrex-Ice suddenly spoke: "Ice—ssshhh-wuu!"

Luo Mu paused his movement, while Lei Guan Wang wore a helpless expression and translated the meaning of Calyrex-Ice's cry for Luo Mu.

"Calyrex-Ice says that Vulpix should only do what is within its power, not push itself too hard, as ruining its health would not be worth the gain."

Luo Mu was stunned, a smile appearing on his face. "I know; I was thinking the same thing."

He looked at the Ice Rider with considerable surprise.

He hadn't expected this temperamental old horse, whose fuse was so short it could be lit by a single spark, to have such a gentle and meticulous side; truly, one cannot judge a treasure by its appearance. Even as Luo Mu walked far away, he failed to notice Ice Rider looking at Lei Guan Wang with an expression of disbelief.

Noticing Ice Rider's gaze, Lei Guan Wang patted its head, revealing a helpless smile like that of a family head encountering an immature child, and said, "Dear horse, I merely spoke the words in your heart; being hypocritical is not good."

"Besides, if Vulpix hears you tell it not to overestimate its abilities, it might feel hurt."

Ice Rider's expression instantly became extremely stiff, and its confidence immediately wavered.

Luo Mu took the opportunity to arrive at the open ground.

Though it was nearing dusk, the training here was still proceeding in full swing.

During this period, with the help of the special tutoring Luo Mu provided, Tropius's accuracy with Razor Leaf had finally improved considerably.

Aiming at a target ten meters away, basically every flying leaf could be guaranteed to hit within the fifth ring; occasionally, if luck was slightly better, it could even strike the bullseye dead center.

Compared to its previous "outline-marking marksmanship," Tropius's progress could be described as enormous.

Currently, Tropius was facing three fluffy balls of cotton, continuously using Razor Leaf in an attempt to breach what appeared to be a soft defense but was, in reality, extremely difficult to break through.

According to Luo Mu's requirements, the Bai Pengpengs, who maintained the cotton defense continuously, occasionally forced themselves to hurl harsh words at Tropius.

Phrases such as "Have you eaten?" or "Please, you're really weak," were used to moderately employ verbal provocation and stir up Tropius's emotions.

Since accuracy had improved, the next step in training was naturally to increase the move's power.

Razor Leaf was not considered a high-power move, but as a technique for Tropius to build a foundation—training accuracy, honing energy manipulation skills, and practicing the application of force—it was just right.

Over these past few days, with precious resources ranging from nutritional supplements to flavorings, the strength of Tropius and the others had changed almost every single day.

Tropius had also naturally comprehended several moves; whenever it grew somewhat bored of using Razor Leaf, Luo Mu would allow it to use its newly learned moves for a while to satisfy its craving.

The simple-minded Tropius had no idea how deep a trainer's schemes could be; it foolishly added extra practice sessions yet still felt very happy.

After observing Tropius's training for a while, Luo Mu corrected a few of its issues, interacted with the Bai Pengpengs for a short time, and, not forgetting his main business, finally walked toward the area on the other side where Vulpix was training.

Even though it was now dusk, the stifling heat of midsummer had only slightly alleviated.

However, the temperature here was far cooler than on the other side.

The reason for this was the hail weather summoned by Vulpix, which was now drifting in the air.

Just like Politoed's "Drizzle," Vulpix's "Snow Warning" could summon hail weather; hence, Vulpix's evolved form often appeared as a member of weather teams.

Furthermore, the move Aurora Veil was an important defensive technique for Ninetales to protect themselves from threats during battles.

Over this period, Vulpix's progress in training "Aurora Veil" had not been ideal.

Because there was no reference object for the move Aurora Veil, and since even Lei Guan Wang, Ice Rider, or Regice did not know this technique, Luo Mu could only rely on his imagination, trying various methods as much as possible to let Vulpix draw inferences from one instance about Aurora Beam and thereby learn the move Aurora Veil.

Luo Mu's idea was to have Vulpix activate its Ability, and then, while using Aurora Beam, manipulate the energy as much as possible to cause the energy constituting the Aurora Beam to disperse and merge into this hail weather, allowing the hail and the Aurora Beam to echo each other from afar, forming that protective curtain of light.

However, he discovered that when actually implementing this, achieving the anticipated results was unexpectedly somewhat difficult.

The primary issue among them should be that Vulpix's techniques in energy control were still too clumsy.

Luo Mu had naturally also utilized his connections, asking two Ice-type experts he knew, Lorelei and Grusha, about this problem.

Their answers were surprisingly consistent.

Luo Mu's ideas and train of thought were not wrong, but "Aurora Veil," as an Ice-type move with both effects and learning difficulty that were truly outstanding, expecting to see results within just a few days was still somewhat too fanciful.

According to their experience, every Pokémon capable of learning "Aurora Veil" possessed extremely strong control over its own energy and had already attained a certain level of strength.

Vulpix happened not to fall into this category.

The time it had spent participating in training was still too short.

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon the center of the hail, onto that faintly visible snow-white figure.

At this moment, Vulpix was striving to open its small mouth, doing its best to release Aurora Beam in a dispersed manner, attempting to make it merge into the hail weather.

Unfortunately, after dispersing, the Aurora Beam escaped Vulpix's control and dissipated into the air, still far from merging into the hail.

Another failure.

Vulpix stopped its action; feelings of frustration had long since been felt and passed. Its large eyes sparkled with an unwillingness to give up as it recalled the way its mother had used Aurora Veil in the past, then lifted its head again, intending to try once more.

At this moment, Luo Mu stepped forward and halted Vulpix's action.

Meeting Vulpix's puzzled gaze, Luo Mu stroked the tuft of fluffy fur on its head and smiled, saying, "It's about time to rest; tomorrow morning we have to go to Glaseado Mountain, and what follows is a prolonged battle lasting two full days, so we must conserve our energy properly."

"Mwu..." (But, Aurora Veil still hasn't...)

Vulpix lowered its head, somewhat afraid to meet Luo Mu's eyes.

It still hadn't succeeded in using Aurora Veil; it wondered if Luo Mu would look at it with disappointment.

No translation was needed; Luo Mu understood what Vulpix was thinking just by looking at its expression. After softening his voice slightly, Luo Mu spoke gently, "If you can't learn it now, then you simply can't learn it yet."

"Mwu?"

Vulpix raised its head, looking at Luo Mu in confusion.

Lifting Vulpix up in his arms, Luo Mu said in a cheerful tone, "Have you forgotten? We joined the ice sculpture competition to enrich our life this summer."

"Victory or rankings are not important; we are going to relax our minds, with happiness as the main theme. Once you exhaust yourself, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?"

"The days ahead are still very long; perhaps, after you evolve, you will naturally learn Aurora Veil?"

This round of heart-to-heart talk from Luo Mu struck straight at Vulpix's heart; it blinked its eyes, thinking, so that's how it is.

Luo Mu could feel that Vulpix's originally slightly tense body immediately relaxed.

That was the right approach; whether training or participating in the ice sculpture competition, these were merely parts of making life more colorful and varied.

Vulpix was still very young; in the entire farm, apart from the unborn offspring of the Sandslash couple that had not yet hatched from their eggs, it and its companions were the youngest Pokémon.

The life he wanted to provide for it must surely be a happy and joyful one.

Childhood, after all, passes in the blink of an eye.

Once relaxed, the physical fatigue that had previously been ignored suddenly surged forth.

Drowsiness attacked like a tide; in no time at all, Vulpix could no longer resist the sleepiness, closed its eyes, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep in Luo Mu's embrace.

Gently stroking the six-tailed fox's body, Luo Mu's lips curved slightly upward as he murmured, "Have a good dream."

(End of Chapter)