Snowpoint City lies at the foot of Lake Acuity, one of the three great lakes. Temperatures here remain below freezing year-round. Surrounded by the sea on two sides, it is also home to the largest port in the Sinnoh region—Snowpoint Harbor.
The city's most famous landmark is Snowpoint Temple, located north of the city. However, it is not open to the public, and no one knows when it was originally built.
According to legend, hundreds of years ago Snowpoint City was merely a settlement at the base of a high mountain. Then, a sudden tectonic shift caused half the mountain to collapse.
A massive avalanche buried the entire settlement. Snowpoint Temple, which had originally stood high on the mountain, also fell and was buried, leaving only its summit exposed.
The people of the settlement were split into two factions. One group chose to relocate and rebuild elsewhere, while the other insisted on staying, unwilling to abandon the land their ancestors had lived on for generations.
Modern Snowpoint City was formed by those who stayed behind, rebuilt, and gradually developed the area over time…
Lumiere was standing in a snow-covered park near Snowpoint Temple, holding a tourist guide he'd snagged from the Pokémon Center, staring at it blankly for quite a while.
"So after all that, your most famous attraction isn't even open to visitors? I was hoping to go inside and take a picture with the Toilet King!"
The morning before last, he had departed from Jubilife City, passed through Oreburgh City and Eterna City, and spent nearly two days on buses before finally arriving here at dusk, staying overnight at the Pokémon Center.
There was no helping it—he was too poor. No money to fly from Jubilife City, no money to take a ship from Canalave City. All he could do was ride a long-distance bus, swaying nonstop along mountain roads, to the point where he nearly got shaken to death.
After Eevee learned Sizzly Slide, it could rely on its fur to resist the cold. Rowlet, after changing into its Flareon outfit, wasn't afraid of the cold at all either.
Only Lumiere had cheaped out on the roadside and bought a green military coat to make do. As a transmigrator, being this poor was honestly impressive…
"The Toilet King really has it rough. There's not even a single record of it anywhere."
Lumiere searched online for information about Snowpoint Temple, only to find that there was no record at all of Regigigas.
What was funny was that records of the smaller "toilets" all existed—and not just one of each type.
Brandon, the Battle Pyramid Tycoon of the Hoenn Battle Frontier, had even captured all five of the smaller Regis.
He had gone so far as to collaborate with Hoenn TV to film a tokusatsu series called Regi Squad: Giant Rangers, which was hugely popular with kids.
Meanwhile, the Toilet King himself didn't even have a single mention. Wasn't it supposed to benefit from its kids' fame? Five of them, and yet nobody even knew their parent existed…
"Slow Start really means you deserve to be bullied, huh? Wait till its good buddy Weezing shows up—then you'll all get slaughtered!"
Lumiere muttered his complaints, folded the guidebook, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his coat. He had to admit, the coat was pretty warm.
Since Snowpoint Temple couldn't be entered, there was no point going there for now. He might as well stroll around nearby, enjoy the scenery, and look at the snow.
There was still more than half a month left—no rush. A city this big, and Candice wasn't exactly easy to find.
Just as Lumiere was about to leave, he felt something icy brush against his face with the cold wind.
He raised a finger and touched it lightly, feeling a bit of moisture, then looked up.
The dim sky above was filled with snowflakes that sparkled like stars in the night sky, dancing in the wind as they fell.
Seel rolled ashore from the sea. Snover emerged from the forest. Spiky shapes bulged from the snow, shaking off the accumulation before hopping out, and Snorunt joined them, all enjoying the snowflakes landing on their bodies.
Looking at the shimmering snow, Lumiere said happily, "Ice Crystal weather? I'm pretty lucky."
According to the guidebook, Ice Crystal weather was a special phenomenon seen only in Snowpoint City.
It had an extremely low chance of occurring during snowfall, lasted only a few minutes each time, and might only be seen a handful of times a year.
The snow transformed into star-like ice crystals that fell from the sky and drifted with the wind. In Snowpoint City folklore, Ice Crystal weather symbolized the arrival of good fortune.
Snapped out of his brief daze by the beautiful scenery, Lumiere quickly let Rowlet and Eevee poke their heads out of his coat to look.
"Eevee~"
"Goo~"
After just one glance, both Pokémon were completely captivated.
They jumped out of the coat and landed in the snow, the two little cuties happily playing around, adding a lively touch to the picture-perfect scene.
Smiling, Lumiere took out his phone and snapped a photo of them, saving it as a keepsake—to look back on years later.
Ice Crystal weather didn't last long. After a few minutes, it reverted to ordinary snowfall, and the two little ones gradually lost interest.
Just as Lumiere was about to leave the park to check out other attractions, Rowlet suddenly flew up and tugged at his hair.
It seemed to have spotted something interesting and wanted to show him.
"Hm?"
Curious, Lumiere followed Rowlet toward the other side of the park, into the forest. As he got closer, he could hear something slicing through the air.
But just as he approached, a blue sphere of energy suddenly burst through the snow-laden trees, spinning rapidly as it flew straight toward him!
It was fast. Lumiere's heart jumped, but he reacted instantly, ordering Rowlet to use Protect to block it, narrowly avoiding getting blasted away.
Once he recovered, he immediately cursed, "Damn it! Who fired that Aura Sphere?!"
At the sound of his shout, the strange noises in the forest abruptly stopped, followed by a flurry of panicked footsteps.
A handsome, large canine Pokémon leapt out of the woods, carrying in its arms a petite, pink-haired girl dressed in thin athletic wear, with a bandage across her nose.
"???"
Hearing the commotion, Lumiere looked over and saw the pink-haired girl hop down from the Pokémon's arms, shouting apologetically, "I'm sorry! There was a small mistake during training just now—are you hurt?"
After getting a clear look at her face, Lumiere exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, I remember you—you're the genius Fighting-type girl from Veilstone City… Bea?"
"Huh? You know me?" Bea scratched her head, a little embarrassed, and admitted, "Yep, that's me."
"..."
Lumiere glanced at her thin outfit, then at the snowflakes that evaporated before even touching her skin.
The corner of his mouth twitched. This was terrifying. Training like this—was she trying to become an inverted triangle powerhouse?
Then he looked at the handsome dog Pokémon beside her…
〔Pokémon: Lucario ♂〕
〔Type: Fighting + Steel〕
〔Ability: Steadfast (Will not yield to others; when flinched, Speed increases)〕
〔Moves: Aura Sphere, Detect, Hone Claws, Endure, Quick Attack, Quick Guard, Bullet Punch, Bone Rush, Work Up〕
〔Status: Energetic (Training, nonstop training)〕
〔Favorability: 0 (The dog is very wary of strangers)〕
"Lucario… seeing one in person for the first time. It really is cool."
Lumiere nodded excitedly, then asked curiously, "So why is the genius Fighting-type girl from Veilstone City in Snowpoint City? On vacation for summer break too?"
Bea smiled awkwardly and replied, "Not exactly. Candice said she wanted to train her Pokémon, so I came specifically to spar with her."
"You know Candice?"
"We were really close friends back in Pokémon school, and we've stayed in touch since graduating."
Hearing this, Lumiere was delighted. He'd been wondering how to find Candice—and here came the opportunity on a silver platter.
So he probed further. "So you were sparring with Candice just now?"
"No, I was training with Lucario. It fires Aura Sphere, and I close my eyes, sense the flow of air, and dodge them all to improve my reaction speed!"
Lumiere: "???"
Aura Sphere wasn't supposed to miss—so you could dodge it? That was already beyond comprehension… Wait, wasn't this supposed to be Pokémon training? Why did it sound like it was the other way around?!
He held back his urge to complain and continued probing. "Then why are you alone? Isn't Candice here?"
Bea didn't think much of it and answered directly. "Some sightseeing facilities around Lake Acuity seem to be having problems. Quite a few tourists went missing, so she went to handle it yesterday. There's still no result, but I saw that she posted a commission on the Mutual Aid Society."
"So that's how it is… meaning Candice is over at Lake Acuity, huh…"
Lumiere smiled knowingly and nodded. Sure enough, people who only trained their bodies were easy to deal with—you could get information out of them with just a few questions.
"Thanks~"
He waved casually and turned to leave immediately, before she could react.
"???"
Bea stared blankly at his retreating back. After exchanging a glance with Lucario, she returned to the forest to continue training…