The weather had been changed. The sparse snowflakes that had been drifting down were swept away, and rolling heat waves began melting the snow piled around the battlefield!
"Of course, in battle, Sunny Day doesn't actually affect Ice-types all that much."
Hikaru spread his hands.
"Sure, the snow melting looks intimidating, but the truth is, only Water-types get suppressed by harsh sunlight. For Ice-types, the only real change is that they won't get frozen."
"But freeze is hard to trigger in the first place, so that effect is basically nothing."
"Ice-type moves still hit at full power, and even Blizzard's accuracy doesn't drop."
"So you don't need to worry about anything."
"I know that," Grusha said as he drew a deep breath. As someone who lived and breathed Pokémon battles, he obviously understood the relationship between Sunny Day and freeze.
It really was just as Hikaru said. It looked scary, but it didn't matter.
But…
"It still matters," he added.
"Aqua Break gets suppressed."
Grusha let out a quiet snort.
If he could solve everything with Ice-type attacks, that would be ideal, but Larvesta clearly wasn't the kind of opponent you could handle that way.
Larvesta also had a 4× weakness to Rock, but Cetitan didn't have any Rock-type moves!
"Switch. Fourth Pokémon!"
"Beartic!"
Grusha decisively abandoned the idea of keeping Cetitan in, and sent out his fourth Pokémon instead—Beartic. It looked just like a polar bear.
When Hikaru saw Beartic, his eyes lit up slightly.
On Grusha's team, Beartic was just one member. But in Unova, to Brycen, Beartic was his ace.
Well, his ace for filming movies, maybe?
Technically Brycen's ace was Cryogonal, but no matter how you looked at it, that thing didn't feel stronger than Beartic.
"Stone Edge!"
Beartic roared. Jagged boulders hammered down like a storm, smashing toward Larvesta!
A 4× Rock weakness—one clean hit meant it was over!
And yet Larvesta didn't dodge at all. It wrapped itself in flames and charged straight through the volley of rocks!
Grusha's pupils trembled. "It didn't go down?! No—wait, it's—!"
Hikaru said, "Charti Berry. When hit by a super-effective Rock-type move, it halves the damage."
"Now then. The next move…!"
The power of the flames surged up in an instant!
Flare Blitz!
Larvesta slammed into Beartic with its strongest Flare Blitz, blasting it straight into the melting snow!
Rocks exploded outward. Under harsh sunlight, Flare Blitz's power was boosted even further!
"Me-la!"
The little bug lifted its head proudly.
One down!
"Beartic is unable to battle."
Rika flicked her hand. Grusha pressed his lips together and recalled Beartic.
So it lost the moment it hit the field.
His heart pounded hard.
Altaria and Cetitan hadn't fainted, but both were injured, which meant he only had one fully healthy Pokémon left.
Hikaru said, "Larvesta, Morning Sun."
Grusha looked back at the field. Larvesta turned toward the sun as if praying, and intense sunlight poured down over it, restoring its stamina to full.
Then wasn't Stone Edge completely wasted?!
"I thought today was supposed to favor me… but it's the opposite," Grusha thought.
But when he considered it more carefully…
Was it because he still hadn't used a single Ice-type move so far?
Yet Larvesta resisted Ice-type attacks. Using Ice moves anyway would just be reckless, wouldn't it?
"Frosmoth, Snowscape!"
Snowscape—starting from the turn it was used, the weather would become snow for a set duration. Ice-type Pokémon would have their Defense raised by 1.5×!
Solar Beam and Solar Blade were reduced to half power.
Synthesis, Morning Sun, and Moonlight would restore only one-fourth of maximum HP.
And Blizzard… would never miss!
"You don't really believe in that Pokémon," Hikaru said. "You think it'll get forced off the field quickly, so you've been keeping it in the back, haven't you?"
"Honestly, you should've sent it out from the start."
Hikaru could see what was going on. Grusha was still focused, but when he pulled out Frosmoth, there had been a clear hesitation.
That was normal. Frosmoth was his usual lead in everyday battles—meaning it wasn't the strongest member of his roster.
Typically, it was just used to test challengers. Putting it in the back meant he hadn't intended to bring it out at all.
But the situation had taken a sudden nosedive.
Sunny weather began getting overwritten as Snowscape tried to replace the harsh sunlight—yet Frosmoth seemed to be struggling to fully seize control.
It stared at Larvesta in disbelief.
Even under the snowfall, sunlight still pierced through and spilled heat onto that spot.
It couldn't win the weather war?
Hearing Hikaru's assessment, Grusha said nothing, but he knew it was true.
Frosmoth looked like it was meant to mirror the legendary Volcarona… but in reality, its power was nowhere close.
Still, a Pokémon's strength was determined by its Trainer. He couldn't just dump the blame on the Pokémon itself.
"It's my own lack of strength," Grusha said softly. "But not anymore."
"Winning and losing is like a snow mountain. Both can change in the blink of an eye."
"I won't use Frosmoth as my starting point this time… because I'm going to use it as the turning key that flips the outcome!"
Grusha doubted himself for only an instant—then shattered the chain in his mind. He rapidly organized Frosmoth's battle plan and mapped out his strategy.
So Ice-types would be favored today?
Then he'd test it.
"Aurora Veil!"
For a set time, damage your side takes from both special and physical moves is halved!
It can only be successfully used when the weather is hail or snow!
"Then—Quiver Dance!"
A mysterious, beautiful dance performed with light steps. It raises the user's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed!
Hikaru's expression turned serious as well.
Frosmoth had plenty of weaknesses, but there was one thing you couldn't deny.
It really did share two major traits with Volcarona.
One: a massive base 125 Special Attack.
Two: the god-tier move Quiver Dance.
Aside from Frosmoth, the rest of Grusha's team were basically physical attackers. As for Altaria, it was a low-power mixed attacker at best.
"If it gets Quiver Dance boosts, that's going to be a headache. The little bug still can't use that move. Quiver Dance is basically a stronger Calm Mind."
"Then show me what your training has produced."
"Spin up. Use Heat Wave!"
Larvesta began spinning wildly!
It blasted scorching air at its opponent to attack. Sometimes it even burns the target!
It hit all opposing Pokémon on the field!
The blazing wind melted the snow—then instantly evaporated it. The steaming heat, hammered by the clash of hot and cold air, burst apart into scattered ice crystals.
Larvesta's firepower hit its peak. The intense glow resisted the advancing snowstorm!
Grusha immediately ordered, "We'll do it too!"
"Blizzard!"
In his mind, Grusha calculated.
Frosmoth had Quiver Danced twice—its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed had all risen sharply. With Aurora Veil up, all incoming damage would be halved!
Even a 4× Fire weakness didn't have to be feared!
"Use the strongest Blizzard. Gather the entire snow mountain's power into one!"
"Mo-ra!"
Frosmoth's antennae vibrated violently.
Rika said, "...Its antennae can sense shifts in airflow. It mixes cold air into its scales and scatters them like falling snow. Its wings are at minus 180 degrees. It flies around with those freezing wings, creating blizzards to punish anyone who looks down on the mountains."
"This cold can't be underestimated. Without matching power…!"
With absurd Special Attack and two stages of boosting, Frosmoth's Blizzard howled out from its wings, and it began pushing Larvesta's Heat Wave back.
By type matchups, Fire-type moves should have an overwhelming advantage against Ice-type moves.
And yet now, the Ice was pressing back the flames!
So today really would favor Ice-types?
It really would?!
Grusha's eyes grew brighter and brighter. His focus tightened until he stopped hearing the wind and snow around him.
He sank into that cold. Using Frosmoth as his springboard—if he won this, he would finally see the future outcome waiting for him as a Gym Leader…!
"I want to see the result! Even if type matchups are against me, a gap in strength doesn't change!"
Frosmoth had already boosted.
Blizzard pressed forward, gaining momentum.
"Crush it!"
"Mo-ra!"
The bitter wind could crush anything. Larvesta's Heat Wave couldn't melt fast enough to outpace Blizzard's freezing. The heat was forced back step by step.
Grusha stood with fists clenched, face taut, while the little bug poured everything into its flames.
That was enough.
Time.
GX Power — Great Heat Wave!
Boom!
A ferocious blaze erupted from Larvesta. Heat from some ancient time surged forward out of nowhere, igniting violently. Blizzard and blazing waves collided head-on.
And the flames—somehow—seemed to become more alive.
They could have stood toe-to-toe with Blizzard, even destroyed the storm outright… yet instead, the fire and heat were using the bitter cold to push their temperature even higher!
"Keep going—Quiver Dance!"
Grusha couldn't believe two Quiver Dances still weren't enough to suppress the flames of an unevolved Pokémon. In the instant Blizzard faltered, he demanded Frosmoth dance again!
Third boost. Fourth boost!
"You're not doing anything at all," Rika said, staring at the now-boosted-to-monsterhood Frosmoth. "Quiver Dance has gotten ridiculous. How are you supposed to deal with that?"
Then the even more strengthened Blizzard arrived as promised.
Hikaru felt the heat rolling around them and looked at the little bug unleashing everything it had.
"Go further. Keep spraying the fire outward, and in the end, swallow it all completely."
"When the sky is surrounded by a mountain's wrath, the sun appears, saving those suffering in the cold."
"Larvesta's favorite thing is flame. It appears wherever fire burns fiercely, and it devours those flames entirely."
"Me-la!" Larvesta stopped spinning and turned to look at Hikaru.
Then it rubbed its little hands together.
Heat wrapped around it, so Blizzard couldn't bite its way in.
Larvesta was actually pretty satisfied with how it looked right now.
But if it evolved…
If it went further…
It wouldn't be able to lie beside its Trainer yawning, or eat tasty treats anymore.
It would grow wings, fly in the sky, and become like Volcarona.
It didn't want to lose how it was now.
If it had the choice…
It never wanted to grow up.
"All the good memories you've lived through, and all the pain you've endured, will become a hardened shell that wraps around you. And from inside that hard shell… what will emerge?"
"So eat the fire. The fire you swallow will become the strength of rebirth."
Hikaru nodded at Larvesta, and at the same time, he comforted it silently.
In the Pokémon world, de-evolution did exist.
The most famous case was probably Slowbro. Supposedly, if Shellder let go of its tail, Slowbro would instantly revert to Slowpoke.
That was a special case, but in some side-story manga, there had even been two unusual stones.
One was called a "Return-to-Original Stone," which could de-evolve Pokémon that had evolved via evolutionary stones.
The second was a "Red Stone," which could de-evolve Pokémon that evolved normally—and even let them choose a different evolution afterward.
In Pokémon Adventures, Red's experimental Eevee had also possessed the ability to evolve and de-evolve freely.
And in the TCG, there was an item called Devolution Spray. In the Mystery Dungeon series, there was a treasure called the "Regression Orb."
In short: if you really wanted to revert, it was extremely difficult… but not impossible.
"But staying in your original form forever means you'll never truly grow. I know growing up might not be a good thing."
"But it can teach us a lot."
"Life goes from simple to complex, and in the end, from complex back to simple. May we keep our初心—our original heart."
"Me-la!" Larvesta's gaze burned like a furnace.
...Fine. Since you're saying all that.
Then I'll release everything I have.
For you, I'll complete this evolution.
I'll become a god!
"Me-la!"
Golden flames completely swallowed Larvesta.
Grusha froze.
Swallow the good and the painful, form a hardened shell, wrap yourself…
Then call down rebirth?
He saw Hikaru speaking—yet watching him, too.
Right. Larvesta was changing.
The burning little bug was wrapped fully in flame, and those flames twisted like threads, weaving into… a brilliant ring of fire.
Hikaru said, "Frosmoth doesn't have an intermediate stage when it evolves, right?"
"But Larvesta does. When it evolves, there's a stage in between."
"On especially powerful Larvesta, that stage appears. In legend, it's called—"
"The Cocoon of Fire!"
"Don't overthink it, Grusha."
Grusha stared at the golden fire cocoon on the field.
His mind went blank again. His old life—the life where he chased championship results—and his new life as a Pokémon Trainer seemed to overlap and reflect within the flames.
His past effort hadn't been wasted. It had been accumulating in silence, slowly, waiting for the moment of transformation to arrive.
Grusha: "M-My past… the result of my past was…"
For someone as obsessed with results as Grusha—someone strict with himself and everyone else—no matter how brilliant his achievements had been, even multiple snowboarding championships…
The final outcome had still been the same.
He retired.
He left the career he loved in a humiliating, failed posture, then became a Pokémon Trainer.
"To me, being a Pokémon Trainer was just a fallback. A choice made because I had no choice—just a road to survive. No matter how much praise I get, it doesn't mean anything."
"'The strongest Gym Leader.' 'A battling genius.'"
"Clinging to the past and fearing the future… was I never thinking about winning, only thinking about losing?"
"Just lose. Then it's easier. It proves I got nothing from this road…"
"Your past effort wasn't for nothing," Hikaru said with a light cough, cutting off the spiral of self-interrogation. Under Grusha's shocked, confused gaze, he gave him a push.
"It's a weird thing to say, but… I think it fits perfectly right now."
"Move forward. As long as you don't stop, the road will keep extending!"
There weren't going to be any black cars or meaningless bullets up here on this snow mountain.
So—
"All you need to do is welcome rebirth!"
"The result you want is right here. Spin your cocoon into a butterfly!"
With the roar of flame, the Cocoon of Fire stage lasted only a short time!
The raging Blizzard was steamed away and vaporized by the erupting fire. That overwhelming aura of flame even made Frosmoth's whole body feel sick with discomfort.
They might have been designed as opposing moths, mirrored in typing and concept…
But in raw power, they weren't even in the same universe.
Within the light and the cocoon, six wings slowly unfolded—curving at first, then blooming fully open.
Crimson firelight blazed like a newborn sun.
And at that moment, dusk ended, and the natural world welcomed a star-filled night.
The night lasted only an instant.
In the next blink—
A new sun rose into the high heavens.
The Pokémon called a god shone upon all things once more!
[So dazzling.]
[Feathers burning brightly.]
[It is Volcarona.]
That brilliant radiance made Frosmoth tremble.
Rika watched the cocoon's transformation, remembering that while Paldea did have some Larvesta out in the wild, she had never, ever seen one evolve with a scene like this.
A weak Larvesta, after training and battle, would evolve directly into Volcarona.
But only exceptionally powerful individuals would pass through the intermediate stage—the Cocoon of Fire.
In that stage, all its flames and all the energy it had accumulated were stored, then detonated all at once as the force of its rebirth!
"That's Volcarona! Honestly, this is my first time seeing a Pokémon like this! And the Cocoon of Fire too—first time!"
"So there's a stage like that?"
"So hot…" Rika lifted a hand to shade her forehead, staring up in shock. "It's like daytime. I can't even feel that it's night!"
"And the weather changed to Sunny Day again! Drought is in a fierce phase! Snowscape is getting overwritten!"
In Paldea, there weren't many true Fire-type specialists.
So it was hard to see a Larvesta raised into something like this.
And raising one was exhausting work, too.
Hikaru looked toward the stars at the edge of the sky.
"Look. The sun set, and night fell."
"But in the next moment, the sun rises as usual!"
"Volcarona, the Sun Pokémon!"
"Since ancient times, it's been worshiped as the incarnation of the sun. In ancient murals found in cold lands, it's depicted as a god of fire!"
"Legend says Volcarona is born from a blazing cocoon of fire. It appears in the bitter winter, and under skies covered in volcanic ash. It saves living beings suffering from the cold!"
"When the world falls into darkness—when volcanic ash and blizzards hide the sun—Volcarona makes its wings glow with flame and replaces the sun's light, illuminating the world!"
"In faraway worlds, it's called an angel of blazing radiance. In art, it appears as a six-winged sphere of light or fire, representing the power of the heavens!"
[Volcarona learned "Fiery Dance"!]
[Volcarona learned "Quiver Dance"!]
[Under training in the sacred flames of Phantom Entei, and influenced by the Prism Star, Volcarona learned a unique move—"Tail Glow"!]
[While sunlight shines, it unlocked a special weather: "Scorching Heat"!]
[Fire-type Pokémon morale rose to maximum; stats increased to 1.1× their original values!]
(End of Chapter)
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