The Fourth Island of the Sevii Islands.
At the Lorelei family villa.
"Slowww!"
By the water pool, the red Slowpoke let out a sudden cry, its eyes flashing with a strange light.
A burst of vivid, colorful energy shot out and slammed into the surface of the pool.
BOOM!
The pool exploded, sending cold water spraying across the entire courtyard.
"What was that? What's going on out there?"
Inside the living room, Caster and Lorelei had been talking casually when they heard the noise and rushed outside to find thin wisps of icy mist curling up from the pool.
Caster already knew the bottom of the pool was lined with Never-Melt Ice, Icy Rocks, Ice Stones, and even Eternal Ice, which was why the water stayed so piercingly cold year-round.
He walked over to the edge and asked, "What happened?"
The culprit, Slowpoke, sat beside the pool with its little head held high and a deeply satisfied look on its face. Through telepathy, it said, "Trainer, Elder Slowking just taught me a new move. I already learned it!"
"Wait, what?"
Caster blinked, then quickly pulled up Slowpoke's stat panel.
Sure enough, a new move had appeared: the Psychic-type move Psybeam.
He stared at the screen with a puzzled expression. "You already picked it up? Just now?"
He used TMs regularly to teach his Pokémon new moves and boost their proficiency, but he knew better than anyone that learning a move from scratch was genuinely hard.
Even straightforward moves with strong type compatibility could take a Pokémon three to five days to nail down. If things went poorly, it might stretch to ten days or two weeks.
Moves with poor type compatibility were a whole different situation. The timeline was completely unpredictable.
Pikachu was proof of that. Outside of evolution, the little guy had never picked up a single new move on its own.
So how long had Slowpoke actually taken?
From the moment it started working with Slowking to right now, barely an hour had gone by.
And it had already learned it?
"I wouldn't say it was easy, exactly. But Elder Slowking did tell me I have a real gift for this..."
The little Slowpoke lifted its head, making no effort to hide how pleased it was with itself. "I'm planning to stick around and learn a few more moves from Elder Slowking while I can. Get even stronger. Hehe!"
Caster couldn't help giving it a thumbs-up, then said, "Learn everything you can from Slowking. When you're done, I'll get you a big Energy Orb."
Most of the TMs Caster picked up came through fishing, and since his catches were heavily Water-type, the moves he got were mostly Water-type, with a smaller selection of Ice-type and Normal-type moves thrown in.
Moves of other types were much harder to come by.
Psychic-types were especially scarce. Pokémon with that typing were rare and valuable, and they almost never ended up on his line.
Yet Slowpoke's move list was stacked with Psychic-type moves, especially a whole collection of Psychic-type utility moves: Psychic Terrain, Skill Swap, Trick Room, Magic Coat, Wonder Room, Imprison, Amnesia...
Every single one was a move with serious strategic value, the kind that could flip a battle in ways the other side never saw coming.
Watching Slowpoke trot off happily to keep training with Slowking, Caster rubbed his chin. "Is Slowpoke just that naturally talented? Or is Slowking an incredible teacher? Or both?"
Either way, he had no intention of letting an opportunity like this go to waste. His mind was already made up: "The Lorelei household is great. I need to stay here as long as I possibly can."
With that thought, he snuck a glance at the tall, attractive Lorelei standing right next to him.
The good news was that Lorelei had agreed to let him stay as a guest.
The not-so-great news was that she didn't live alone. Her parents were home.
When they got back that evening and found a young man in the house, they lit up immediately, jumping straight to the conclusion that their daughter had brought home a boyfriend.
Once they found out Caster and Lorelei were just friends, they exchanged a very pointed look.
Then they learned he was only eighteen, and the excitement drained right off their faces.
The message was clear enough: too young.
The night passed without any drama.
The next morning, after breakfast, Lorelei found him and said, "Come on, let's go to Icefall Cave. You said you wanted to fish there, right? I'll take you."
"Absolutely!"
Caster's face lit up. He grabbed his fishing gear and followed Lorelei out the door.
Icefall Cave was a strange place. The mountains around the entrance were covered in lush green vegetation, yet the cave mouth itself was sealed behind a thick wall of ice that breathed out a deep, bone-cutting cold.
Even from a good distance away, Caster could already feel the chill seeping into him. He pulled his jacket tighter.
Lorelei, meanwhile, was still in heels and a short skirt, looking completely unbothered.
Caster sniffled quietly and wondered if he was just getting soft.
"Icefall Cave has a lot of wild Pokémon. You should let your Pokémon out to keep watch before we go in, and stay sharp once we're inside."
Lorelei gave the warning as they reached the entrance, then tossed out a Poké Ball.
In a flash of red light, a humanoid Pokémon appeared.
It wore a long red dress that covered its feet entirely, with white arms ending in purple hands, a purple face with pink lips, wide dish-like eyes, and long flowing golden hair.
It was Jynx, the Ice and Psychic-type Pokémon.
Whatever anyone thought of its appearance, there was no question that Jynx was Lorelei's strongest Pokémon.
"Got it."
Caster gave a firm nod.
"Pika-pi!"
Pikachu's expression sharpened as it locked into full alert.
"Jynx!"
Jynx moved to the front and took point. A subtle, sweeping wave of psychic energy spread outward from it, pulling virtually everything in the surrounding area within its awareness.
Caster and Lorelei walked side by side, following close behind Jynx as they moved deeper into the cave.
The light faded as they went, the interior growing noticeably darker.
But ice crystals embedded throughout the walls caught and scattered what little light there was, giving them just enough visibility to navigate if they paid attention.
"Jynx!"
After only a few steps, Jynx picked up something and pointed toward a nearby rock formation.
From behind the frozen stone came faint sounds of shuffling and scurrying.
"There's a Pokémon behind that rock!"
Caster tensed up immediately, shifting into a cautious stance.
Then he remembered that both Jynx and Lorelei were right there, and he relaxed.
"Swinub, swinub!"
A soft, high-pitched sound rang out, and a small Pokémon waddled out from behind the rock. Its body was wrapped in thick, brownish fur marked with dark stripes, hiding its legs almost completely. Nothing was visible but a tiny pink snout poking out from the front. Its eyes looked permanently half-shut.
"That's a Swinub!"
Caster recognized it right away.
The Swinub had apparently been looking for food. Startled by the sight of them, it let out a frightened squeak and scrambled off deeper into the cave on its stubby little legs.
"This is the entrance zone, so the temperature is at its warmest here. Even with all the ice, certain plants can still grow, so the Pokémon that live in the cave often come up to this area to find food."
As they walked, Lorelei pointed out patches of greenery scattered along the walls and explained how the cave was laid out.
The deeper they went, though, the sparser the plant life became, and the cold kept dropping.
Along the way, Caster noticed that wild Pokémon were showing up more frequently. Sneasel with sharp claws and watchful eyes prowled nearby; Seel slid across the ice with carefree energy; Delibird fluttered through the air each with its bag in tow.
Some moved alone; others traveled in groups.
The Sneasel traveled together in a tight pack. The Weavile at the front had a cold, calculating look that made it obvious it wasn't something you wanted to mess with.
Even so, they clearly recognized that Lorelei was the bigger threat. They gave her one careful look, then quietly peeled off and disappeared without pushing their luck.
The group moved on without any real trouble, and before long they reached the innermost part of Icefall Cave: the Unfrozen Lake, the exact destination Caster had come all this way to find.