On November 14, in the year 198 of the Alliance dar, the Paldea region experies first heavy snowfall of the season.

  The snow fell steadily for a full day and night. When it finally stopped, a breathtaking winter wondernd stretched as far as the eye could see.

  As soon as the snow ceased, the Pokémon, curious aed to explore, asked Naoki to help them tie on scarves for warmth. Naoki obliged, and soon, with scarves ed around them, a rge group of Pokémon burst out the door and into the snow.

  In an instant, the untouched snow was dotted with small, plum blossom-shaped footprints.

  Right in the middle of the otion awmot, who, filled with excitement, actally tripped over a rock hidden uhe snow. With a soft "plop," he tumbled face-first, leaving an imprint shaped like his body in the snow.

  Seeing this, the other Pokémon paused and gathered around to make sure Pawmot was okay.

  Pawmot, covered in snow and looking a bit dazed, grinned a out a cheerful "Pamo…"

  Naoki and Arven followed behind, smiling as they watched the se unfold. "Take it easy!" Naoki called out.

  "Pamo!" Pawmot replied with a happy bark, quickly scrambling up from the snow.

  Seeing his enthusiasm, the other Pokémon joined in, ughing and pying, running through the snow like children experieng it for the first time.

  Beside Arven stood Mabosstiff, watg the lively se with a hint of longing in his eyes.

  Naoki noticed this and enced, "Mabosstiff, you're wele to join them!"

  "Woof?" Mabosstiff looked up, surprised.

  Arvely patted his head, smiling. "Go on and py with everyone! I'll be right here, don't worry."

  With aed bark, Mabosstiff's eyes lit up.

  Naoki then called over Alcremie, askio py alongside Mabosstiff.

  The cheerful and lively Alcremie agreed happily, leading Mabosstiff over to joihers.

  Watg Mabosstiff, Naoki turo Arven and asked gently, "Has Mabosstiff always been with you?"

  Arven replied sincerely, "I've never really been alone. Mabosstiff has been there for me all along. My parents gave him to me. He's been by my side ever since I was born."

  Hearing this, Naoki hinking to himself that it made sense. No wonder, in the game, Arven had traveled across Paldea in search of a cure for Mabosstiff.

  A child like Arven must be deeply seal.

  "Have you always lived in Mesagoza?" Naoki asked.

  Arven replied holy, "Not always. Sometimes my parents would take me to the Area Zero Research Lab, and I'd stay there for a while."

  "I see!" Naoki paused, then suddenly remembered something. "By the way, you'll be te year, won't you?"

  Arven looked over, surprised. "How did you know?"

  "Don't you remember? The professor mentio st time you came here," Naoki said with a smile.

  Arven thought bad, after a moment, recalled it.

  Naoki tinued, "So, what are your pns for year? Will you set out as a Pokémon Trainer, or maybe attend Paldea Academy?"

  "I… I'm not very good at Pokémon battles," Arven admitted hesitantly, "and I'm not really sure what I want to do."

  Naoki paused, holding back a grin. Here was Arven, who, in the game, could battle with six Pokémon above level 60—g he wasn't very good at battling! What would he be like if he actually tried?

  But Naoki also remembered that Arven's true dream wasn't to bee a powerful Trainer; he wao bee a chef who could create nutritious meals to invigorate Pokémon.

  Was this what they called "a chef who also battle"?

  Suppressing a ugh, Naoki enced him, "If you're uain, you could try Paldea Academy. Maybe you'll find your ahere."

  "Yeah!" Arven nodded early.

  By this time, the Pokémon pying in the snow had begun building snowmen uhe leadership of Koraidon. However, Koraidon's teique left something to be desired—its snowman had a giant head and a tiny body.

  Seeing this, Naoki approached with Arven, chug. "To do this right, the snowball on top shouldn't be too big…"

  As he eaking, an image of Calyrex, the King of Bountiful Harvests, popped into his mind.

  Naoki paused, then quickly ged his approach. "Or actually, it be big! You could even make shat look like different Pokémon."

  "Agh—gah!" Koraidon seemed to catmediately.

  It began to enthusiastically scoop snow with its rge paws.

  The other Pokémon joined in, and soon, a series of strange, uniquely shaped snowmen dotted the snowy field.

  Naoki sighed, amused, but gave in with a smile. "Well, they're Pokémon after all. You 't expect perfe."

  Naoki looked around the snowy ndscape, his gaze falling on the Indeedees nearby. An idea sparked in his mind as he remembered a beautiful hedge maze he had once seen at a grae, where Pokémon pyed hide-and-seek within its winding paths.

  A thought struck him—what if he created a small ice maze here for the Pokémon to explore?

  Excited, he approached G, who was quietly watg the other Pokémon pying in the snow with a serene smile. To G, who had grown up in the snow-covered Frost Mountains, this winter sery was nothing new.

  As Naoki approached, G turs head, eyes curious. "Booey?"

  "Got a moment? I have a favor to ask." Naoki grinned, expining his idea for an ice maze.

  G pohe pn for a moment, then nodded eagerly. "Bu-yi!"

  "Perfect! Let's give it a try, shall we?" Naoki asked, already feeling the thrill of setting the idea into motion.

  With aed nod, G followed Naoki to a wide, open area.

  "Alright, G," Naoki said, stepping back to give it space, "start by using Ice Beam to create a wall of ice!"

  "Bu-yi!"

  G responded with enthusiasm, taking a steady sta opes mouth and unleashed a frigid beam that swept across the snowy ground, instantly f a solid, ice-blue wall wherever it touched.

  "Fantastic! Just like that!" Naoki cheered, seeing how smoothly the first wall formed. "Now, let's ect more walls to shape the maze!"

  With a determined "Bu-yi!" G tinued, precisely aiming its Ice Beam to create walls that stretched across the snow, se by se.

  Starting with four outer walls, G outlined a rge, square area. Then, with Naoki's guida added a work of smaller walls of varyihs, building pathways and turns within the space.

  Soon, the entire maze took shape—a grand ice maze pyground with two entrahe twisting paths ected, though only orue route led to the exit.

  As soon as G finished creating the maze, a crowd of Pokémon gathered, gazing i the t walls of ice that rose from the ground. Naoki was equally impressed by the impressive structure G had mao create; the ice walls even stood taller than him. Clearly, the creamy smoothies G enjoyed all summer had fueled its energy well!

  "Great job, G!" Naoki praised, gently patting G's head. He then turo the gathered Pokémon, expining the rules of hide-and-seek with excitement.

  "Alright, everyone, here's how hide-and-seek works," Naoki announced. "Oeam hides, and the other team has to find all the hiding Pokémon."

  "If the seekers find everyohey win. The first Pokémon caught will bee the seeker in the round," he tinued. "Does everyone uand?"

  Some Pokémon nodded eagerly, while others looked a bit puzzled. But soon, Pawmot's eyes lit up as it excimed, "Pamo!" It uood!

  H a little off the ground, Pawmot called out to the others, "Pamo!" It was volunteering to be the first seeker!

  Naoki chuckled but raised a hand to stop it. "Hold on, Pawmot. No flying or using special moves while you're seeking."

  Pawmot's face fell, surprised by this rule. 'No flying? Then how would it find everyone?!'

  Naoki grinned, "You'll just have to rely on your eyes, Pawmot."

  Pawmot paused, sidering this. After a moment, it nodded fidently.

  Seeing no objes from the other Pokémon, Naoki cpped his hands. "Alright then, everyone, you start hiding! When Pawmot ts to fifty, it'll start looking for you. Try not to get caught too soon!"

  The Pokémon scattered, each darting into the maze with excitement. They weaved through the icy pathways, searg for the perfect hiding spots. Even Koraidon, usually calm and posed, was swept up in the excitement, rushing into the maze to hide.

  Closing its eyes, Pawmot began ting aloud in Naoki's instructed way.

  "Pamo!" (One!)

  "Pamo!" (Two!)

  …

  "Pamo!" (Thirty-five!)

  "Pamo!" (Thirty-six!)

  Its voice echoed loudly, reag every er of the maze, and all the Pokémon hiding within could hear the tdown growing closer to fifty.

  As the tdown s end, the Pokémon hiding in the maze felt a surge ency.

  Ihe maze, Alcremie gnced around in a mild panic, searg for a pce to hide. Suddenly, it noticed the thick yer of snow bing the ground and had an idea. With a sparkle in its eye, it burrowed into the snow, hiding its body pletely—though it failed to notice the trail of little footprints left behind.

  ...

  In a hidden er of the maze, Cyclizar crouched low, pressing itself tightly against the wall. It nervously gnced around, vihat by curling up and staying perfectly still, it could blend in and avoid dete by Pawmot.

  ...

  "Pamo!" (Fifty!)

  The tdown plete, Pawmot eagerly ehe maze, ready to track down its friends.

  Pawmot was a clever Pokémon, and it quickly noticed the trail of footprints in the snow. "Pamo!" (I found you!) it announced, pretending to be on to something.

  Following the prints, it traced the tracks all the way to a dead end, where a suspiound of snow y ahead.

  "Pamo…" Pawmot approached carefully, then gave the snowy mound a pyful pat with its paw.

  The sed, a startled cry erupted from beh the snow.

  "Mree!"

  ...

  "It seems Alcremie was the first Pokémon found by Pawmot," Naoki chuckled as he listeo the muffled squeal from the maze.

  Leaving the Pokémon to enjoy their game, he stretched and gnced over at the greenhouse, thinking it was a good time to che the bees and their honey brewing.

  "Would you like to join me, Arven?" he asked.

  Arven shook his head. "No, Mr. Naoki. I want to stay here."

  "Alright," Naoki replied with a warm smile. "If you get cold, just head back to the living room. The firepce is still burning; it'll warm you up in no time."

  "Thank you!" Arven said gratefully.

  Naoki nodded and then headed off toward the gss greenhouse.

  Notig that Calyrex wasn't around, Naoki figured he might be expl the areas surrounding the raniliarize himself with the new enviro.

  After greeting Butterfree as he passed, Naoki approached the bee hive.

  The hive's hoores were low, and the bee looked drowsy ahargiaoki guessed they might be like certain Pokémon that o serve energy in the winter, being less active during the colder months.

  This erfectly natural for a Pokémon like bee.

  Seeing their low energy, Naoki went back to the house and took out some honey he had set aside earlier, intending it as a reserve to help the bee get through winter. Carefully, he pced it ihe hive.

  Just as he finished, Calyrex returned, materializing in the greenhouse. With a dignified air, he addressed Naoki:

  "I sensed a deep stillness on the mountain—an absence of life. What has happehere?"

  Naoki quickly realized what Calyrex was referring to. With a serious expression, he expined:

  "Before you arrived, there was a terrible fire on the mountai burhrough the pnts, and sadly, many Pokémon didn't survive."

  He gestured to the orchard area nearby. "The Pokémon living here are those who mao escape. I brought them to the ranch, and I promised them that e spring, we'll repnt grass, flowers, and trees on the mountain to restore their home."

  "I see…" murmured Calyrex softly.

  Hearing of the many lives lost, the passionate Pokémon King appeared deeply saddened.

  "If only I had been here sooner, I could have used my powers to guide them to safety," he sighed, his tone heavy with regret.

  Naoki sighed as well, nodding. "All we do now is help the survivors rebuild."

  Calyrex closed his eyes in solemn silence, m the Pokémon that had perished. After a moment, he opehem again, his gaze resolute.

  "In that case, I will lend my strength to aid in the restoration."

  "Thank you." Naoki nodded gratefully, mentally noting to gather supplies like saplings and grass seeds.

  The fire's impact had extended beyond the ranch. Some Pokémon had been rescued by the Paldea League and were currently rec at a shelter in town.

  Wheime came to begiing, Naoki was certain the Paldea League would send help as well, w together t the forest back to life.