Alliance dar Year 198, Wih

  With the arrival of a cold wave, the Paldea region officially ehe depths of winter.

  Although snow had yet to fall, the temperature had dropped enough to ate bundling up in long johns. When Naoki awoke that m, a yer of frost covered the yellowed grass outside, and the north wind howled mournfully through the valley.

  "It's really cooled down!" he remarked, pulling the curtains closed.

  A weather advisory from a few days ago had accurately predicted the sudden drop in temperature, urging residents to prepare for the chill ahead.

  After closing the curtains, Naoki settled onto the sofa to catch up on the m news. The room was fortably warm, thanks to the lively red fmes crag in the firepce.

  The cold weather had made the Pokémoant to vedoors. Led by his Cyclizar, a group of Pokémon huddled he firepce, basking in the warmth. Even Pawmot y sprawled on the floor.

  Naoki chuckled at the sight.

  Just then, the elder Indeedee sibling approached and inquired, "Ai Ai?"

  Naoki, mung on a handful of melon seed crisps, responded casually, "Go ahead."

  The Indeedee asked again: "Ai Ai?" (Master, when are you leaving for the Gar region?)

  The Indeedee seemed ed that snow might plicate Naoki's departure.

  "I've told you—just call me Naoki," he said with mild exasperation.

  The Indeedee gave a polite nod but clearly had no iion of ging his ways: "Ai Ya." (Uood.)

  The look on his face suggested he'd do the same thiime.

  Naoki let out a small sigh, knowing it was a battle he wouldn't win. The elder Indeedee sibling had always taken his role as housekeeper very seriously, carrying himself with the air of a seasoned butler.

  Switg topiaoki added, "I'll leave soon. I ordered some scarves from town to keep the Psyduck. Once I've distributed them, I'll head out."

  The Indeedee nodded in aowledgment.

  ...

  That afternoon, the scarf shop's owner personally delivered a box of scarves to the ranbsp;

  After signing for the package, Naoki immediately set off to find the Psyduck by the river. Carefully, he tied eae with a cozy scarf, watg as their faces lit up with joy.

  "Psyduck!" the group quacked happily, admiring their new accessories. They hopped up and down by the water's edge, basking in their snazzy new look.

  Naoki couldn't help but smile at the sight. The scarves made the Psyduck even more adorable.

  "This must be why people enjoy dressing up their Pokémon," Naoki mused. He recalled hearing that beauty salons for Pokémon had bee popur in major cities, catering to trainers eager to pamper their panions.

  Waving at the Psyduaoki called, "Enjoy yourselves, I've got some more errands to run. See you ter!"

  The Psyduck waved bathusiastically with their tiny arms, "Psyduck!"

  , Naoki headed to the orchard, where the fruit trees—though no longer bearing fruit—remained lush and green. Unlike ordinary trees, which stood bare in wihese fruit trees seemed untouched by the season.

  Naoki remembered reading about these trees in a gardening book:

  "Fruit trees are blessed by nature. Their growth cycles are remarkably short, and with enough of them, they provide for the needs of all Pokémon in the forest."

  "Fruit trees don't wither in winter, but they stop produg fruit. Some schors believe that wiriggers nature's rest phase." Naoki recalled the lines from a book he'd read.

  "But o worry—when spriurns, the trees will bloom and bear fruit once again."

  Naoki khese trees could live extraordinarily long lives, thriving unless affected by natural disasters, deforestation, or powerful Pokémon attacks. He remembered a tale about an a forest where explorers discovered an enormous fruit tree. It was said to have existed for at least a thousand years, bearing endless fruit and sheltering numerous Pokémon.

  "Magical," Naoki murmured, imagining the se.

  He pictured a colossal tree, taller than three Koraidon stacked together, with a trunk so wide that three adults couldn't their arms around it. Braretched out, heavy with ripe fruit, and lush greenery surrouhe base.

  "That'd be the perfect spot for a treehouse," Naoki mused, a smile tugging at his lips. He wished he could grow a tree like that on his ranch, though he k would take turies—unless, of course, the fruit trees mutated under some strange influenbsp;

  As Naoki ehe orchard, a Greedent tumbled happily from the wooden hut, its cheeks stuffed with berries.

  "Gre! Gre!" it chirped iing.

  Naoki pced a box on the ground, chug as he gave the Greedent's head a fond pat. Hearing the otion, other Pokémon poked their heads out of the hut one by one. Soon, a lively crowd gathered around Naoki:

  Mineargle, Tandemaus, Wattrel, Petilil, and Foongus all shuffled forward eagerly.

  As expected, the Skoth remained absent—probably still napping somewhere cozy, Naoki thought with a grin.

  Sihe fire that devastated their former home, the Pokémon had slowly recovered, growing more fortable with each passing day. Naoki k down, pulling various scarves from the box. Each scarf was a different size, tailored to fit eaon perfectly.

  As he tied the scarves around their necks, the Pokémon's expressions brightehe soft fabric shielded them from the chilly wind, providing a f warmth.

  Seeing their curious looks, Naoki expined with a gentle smile, "These are scarves. They'll help keep you warm by blog the cold wind. With these, you'll stay cozy all winter."

  The Pokémon's eyes shimmered with gratitude. For a moment, the memories of the devastating fire weighed heavy—how it had takehing: their homes, friends, family, and nearly their own lives.

  Luckily, the Pokémon were rescued by Naoki, who not only provided them with food but also built them a cozy . His kindness didn't stop there—Naoki even promised to help them rebuild their homes iure.

  With winter closing in, Naoki distributed scarves to ehe Pokémon wouldn't suffer in the cold. The thoughtful gesture moved eveoughest among them.

  Without his help, these Pokémon would have struggled to survive through the harsh season, vulnerable to hunger and freezing temperatures. Some of the Pokémon's eyes shimmered with uears—not tears of sadness but of deep gratitude.

  Naoki patted Mino on the head with a gentle smile. "Don't cry. Stay safe here. If you need help, e to me. If I'm not around, find Indeedee to take care of you."

  Mino gave a decisive nod.

  Naoki's gaze nded on a pair of Tandemaus, a Pokémon duo known to live together as families. To his surprise, he noticed something small hidiween them.

  Behind the father stood a tiny, white Tandemaus, peeking out cautiously.

  "Well, well!" Naoki excimed, raising an eyebrow. "Looks like you tarents now!"

  The two Tandemaus chirped proudly, nudging their child forward to show it off. The little Tandemaus remaiimid, casting curious g Naoki.

  The joyful arrival of new life spread cheer among the other Pokémon. Even the cold breeze outside couldn't dampen the festive spirit. Naoki smiled warmly before handing a scarf to a sleepy Skoth, ensuring it was tucked in snugly.

  ...

  Ba the house, Naoki began pnning his long-awaited jouro the Gar region.

  inally, he had inteo depart in November. However, with the weather growing colder by the day, Naoki figured it would be better to leave sooner. Curling up by a firepce with his Pokémon and enjoying the snowy sery sounded far more pleasant than waiting too long to travel.

  He flipped through the dar thoughtfully.

  "Tomorrow it is," Naoki murmured.

  With the departure date set, Naoki carefully sidered whion t on the jouro Gar. After some thought, he decided on two panions:

  Koraidon and Cyclizar.

  This time, Naoki's trip to the Gar region was different from previous adventures, like their expedition to the Area Zero Pit in Paldea. There was along too many Pokémon just for battle safety—this journey wasn't a vacation, and Tundra would be freezing cold.

  He g his Dragonite, knowing it wouldn't enjoy the snowy wilderness. The poor thing would probably retreat into its Poké Ball the eime. It was better foo stay behind at the ranch, delivering fresh Moo Moo Milk to the townsfolk.

  Likewise, the Gogoat trio had to stay for milking duties. Every Pokémon had responsibilities to maintain ranch life

  "I'll bring everyone aloime when we go on vacation," Naoki thought with a smile, closing the list of Pokémon staying behind.

  Traveliween regions always es with a choice of transportation. Sinon could only swim or fly so far, trainers had three options:

  Ride a Pokémon, take a ship, fly on a pne.

  Naoki scratched the first option off the list. Even though Koraidon could manage cold weather, traveling by air through freezing winds wasn't practical. The cold would batter them the whole way there!

  As for pnes...

  "Koraidon 't fit in a Poké Ball, so there's no way he board a flight." Naoki sighed. Airpnes prohibited rge Pokémon from being outside Poké Balls, and Koraidon—with his impressive bulk—would make it impossible.

  That left only oion: traveling by ship.

  Unfortunately, Naoki couldn't book tickets online. In Paldea, the only way to catch a ship to anion was by visiting a port city in person.

  Looking over his map of Paldea, Naoki quickly realized that the only major port city was Levincia—a bustling hub on the eastern coast, known for its high-tech markets and vibrant trade se.

  "Of course," Naoki muttered, "Levincia is all the way oher side of the region." His town was located at the westernmost edge of Paldea, with aire ti between him and the port.

  Naoki groaned, rubbing his temples. "At least Koraidon is fast—we'll get there soon enough."

  With his p, Naoki started gathering everything he'd need for the jouro Gar.

  He packed warm clothes to prepare for the icy tundra, along with campis, fire kits, cooking supplies, and thikets. A sturdy kettle and water bottles.

  At this moment, there was a series of crisp banging sounds in the pasture, as if someone was hammering iron.

  Naoki stopped what he was doing and listened carefully for a long time, but the sound did not disappear.

  fused, he walked out the door and headed in the dire of the sound. Soon, he found the culprit behind all this in a remote meadow.

  Looking at the little Tinkatuff who was hammering the iron with his hands, Naoki was a little surprised.

  At this moment, theTinkatuff also noticed his arrival and immediately turned around in panic.

  Naoki saw clearly that the piece of iron that was hammered into a mess was made up of several iron nails. It seemed that they had been hammered for a long time and had been fttened.

  "Making a hammer?" Naoki asked.

  Tinkatuff nodded cautiously: "Woo..."

  Its hammer was lost before, and during this time it has been trying to collect iron filings and nails from the ranch's garbage dump, trying to make a new hammer.

  As if it was afraid that Naoki would misuand it as stealing something from the ranch, it quickly said, "Woo-wah!"

  'The iron was collected from the garbage dump! It was not stolen!'

  It observed for a long time before realizing that the things in the garbage bin were all discarded by humans.

  Of course, Naoki knew, he had already seen that those rusty nails were the ones he had removed and thrown away from the old house.

  Seeing the nervous look of the little Tinkatuff, Naoki couldn't help but said, "Don't be so nervous, if you want to make a hammer, just make it. I just heard the noise and came to take a look. Okay, it's okay, you tinue hammering!"

  Hearing this, the Tinkatuff breathed a sigh of relief.

  It turned around carefully and wao tinue f iron, but found that Naoki had not left yet.

  The Tinkatuff was stunned for a moment and turned around.

  Naoki said curiously, "I just want to see how you make the hammer."

  Making hammers is an innate ability of Pokémon like Tinkatuff.

  Before they evolved, they were very weak and o swing hammers to protect themselves.

  But this is still not enough, because some Pokémon that like to eat metal will specifically snatch the hammer that the little Tinkatuff has worked so hard to make a it.

  Seeing that Naoki really wao see, the Tinkatuff hesitated for a moment, then turned around and tio work hard on hammering the iron in front of him.

  Naoki looked at this se.

  He thought the little Tinkatuff was f iron with his own hands, but the reality was somewhat different from what he imagined.

  To be precise, the little Tinkatuff was usial cws with steel properties to tinuously hammer iron filings to make a hammer.

  ...

  PS: If you're ied, you read up to chapter 375+ at patreon./Keepsmiling818