The sky began to snow, white snowflakes covering everything, blurring the distant scenery.
The blizzard raged on, with visibility less than ten meters. Naoki and Koraidon hadn't walked far before they found themselves disoriented in this snowy landscape.
"Which way is east, which way is west..."
Naoki kept rubbing his hands, trying to determine the direction by observing the position of the sun.
However, in this weather, the entire sky was gray; forget about the sun, he couldn't even see the road ahead clearly.
Naoki immediately felt a bit overwhelmed, and the surrounding temperature was so low.
Having lived in a warm and humid environment, he found it hard to bear after being here for just a short time. How did Calyrex manage to live here?
"Azi...?"
Koraidon shook the snow off its head with force and looked at Naoki worriedly, as if asking him what to do next.
The cold wind howled through the valley. Naoki glanced at the road ahead buried in snow and said to Koraidon:
"We might have already deviated from our original path."
"Azi?"
"We can't go on like this." Naoki shook his head and thought that if they continued, Koraidon would be fine, but he might not withstand the environment and something could go wrong.
After a brief moment of thought, Naoki directed his gaze towards the nearby steep cliffs.
"Let's go over there, walk along the mountain, and see if we can find a cave. We'll set out again after the snow stops!"
"Azi!"
The two immediately ran to the base of the cliffs and began exploring along the icy mountain.
Perhaps they were fortunate from eating a few Lucky Puddings earlier; it wasn't long before Koraidon discovered a snow-covered cave entrance ahead.
Koraidon's eyes immediately lit up and hurried ahead, standing at the entrance waiting for Naoki.
Naoki quickly followed, cautiously observed inside, and seeing no trace of other Pokemon, he led Koraidon inside.
The cave wasn't deep, and there was nothing inside. It didn't look like a Pokemon's lair but rather a natural mountain cave.
Snow fell heavily outside, with occasional cold gusts sweeping in.
Naoki breathed a sigh of relief, shook the snow off himself, then quickly set up a simple campfire and pot from his travel backpack, pouring a small bag of Charcoal to start a fire.
He then, with frozen fingers, pulled out two bottles of drinking water and a bag of noodles from his pack.
Koraidon sat in a position closer to the entrance, using its large body to shield Naoki from the wind and snow.
Naoki warmed himself by the fire while waiting for the water to boil, telling Koraidon, "Just a little longer."
"Azi～"
Soon, the water was boiling.
Naoki added the noodles, seasoning them with portable spices. After waiting a few minutes, a fragrant aroma began to fill the air.
"All set!"
Naoki took out two bowls, served the noodles evenly, and poured the broth, completing a simple hot noodle soup.
Naoki lowered his head to observe, and the effect of the hot noodle soup appeared in his mind.
[Hot Noodle Soup (B-): A simple dish, yet a cozy choice to warm the stomach in the cold winter.
Cooking Effect: Cold Resistance lv2, effectively resisting severe cold, warming the body upon consumption for 2 hours.
Rating: Slight.]
"2 hours..."
Despite the effect of the hot noodle soup being somewhat reduced due to simple ingredients and rough cooking methods, two hours was still pretty good.
Naoki looked up to see Koraidon already tilting its head back, sipping it in.
He too swiftly finished his small bowl of soup, feeling his body gradually warm up, letting out a comfortable sigh.
"Finally, it's not as cold anymore."
The blizzard outside no longer affected them at all.
Naoki thought about seizing the opportunity to explore outside, maybe finding the location of Freezington Village.
But after thinking carefully, the snow might last for an unknown duration, and the anti-cold effect of the hot noodle soup only lasted 2 hours.
If the effect wore off midway and they hadn't found Freezington Village, that would be problematic.
After much consideration, Naoki decided it was better to stay and wait for the snow to stop.
He and Koraidon sat by the fire, warming themselves.
Time ticked away, and the sky outside remained dim and gray, making it impossible for Naoki to determine whether it was noon or evening.
He could only gauge the passage of time through the duration of the hot noodle soup's effect.
When the first round of noodle soup's effect wore off, Naoki cooked two more bowls.
This time, he used enough ingredients and cooked more carefully, increasing the Cooking Effect from lv2 to lv3 and extending the duration from two to six hours.
The snow outside had not stopped.
"Looks like we'll have to spend the night here!" Naoki sighed helplessly.
"Azi～" Koraidon had no objections.
And just then, there was a sudden rustle of footsteps amidst the heavy snow outside.
Naoki turned his head and saw an elderly man, bundled up like a big bear, holding a lantern, quickly approaching the cave entrance from outside.
The old man's lantern illuminated the dim cave, immediately spotting the human and Pokemon inside.