Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

Wang Yao followed the glowing Picosi and the slowly moving armored rhinos through the passage.

Ding——click!

There are small puddles under your feet formed by melted snow... When you step on them, they make a splashing sound.

"It seems like the surroundings have become a little warmer..."

Shizuka followed behind Wang Yao, carefully avoiding puddles.

Her boots weren't completely waterproof and would be very uncomfortable if they got wet.

"Maybe there's a hot spring ahead~"

Wang Yao guessed.

After all, Mount Silver itself is an active volcano.

After walking through the winding passage for more than ten minutes, Wang Yao and Joey finally saw the destination of the armored rhinos.

"……here it is?"

Wang Yao walked out of the passage, and what appeared before his eyes was a strange landscape.

This is a circular basin surrounded by towering crown-shaped rock walls.

The surrounding rock walls isolate it from outside interference, making it like an independent little world.

However, most of the area of ​​this small world was covered with snow, and only the exit of the passage where Wang Yao was still maintained with a small amount of green vegetation.

“Is this a meteorite crater?”

Wang Yao looked up and saw that this ring-shaped basin looked like it was created by something.

The afternoon sun shines through the clouds and into the basin.

But this ray of sunlight did not bring much warmth, but instead made the snow even paler.

"——Ayao, look there!"

Shizuka pulled Wang Yao, who was still in a daze, and ran towards the direction where the armored rhinos were gathering.

In the only remaining grassland in the small world, eight armored rhinos returned from the cave and reunited with their fellow tribesmen.

"Moo~"

The leading armored rhinoceros walked up to its companions, lowered its head and pushed the armored rhinoceros lying on the ground with its horn.

"Moo..."

But the one-horned rhinos in the small world all looked sick.

"What's going on... they seem to be in low spirits?"

Shizuka ran up to the group of armored rhinos and checked their condition.

"...these armored rhinos all showed signs of malnutrition and seemed to have not eaten adequately for a long time."

As a Pokémon nurse, Joy quickly determined why the Rhynos were so listless.

"Are you hungry?"

Wang Yao also walked forward curiously.

There are about twenty or thirty armored rhinos in this small world, all lying together in a huddle.

Probably because they were hungry, they all stayed still to save energy.

"Please, Jigglypuff!"

Shizuka has released the Jigglypuff.

"Lucky~"

The nutritious eggs produced by Jilidan are very good supplements.

"Wait a minute... Using the egg-laying skill continuously will put a lot of pressure on the Chanterelle, right?"

Wang Yao stopped Jigglypuff.

In order to subdue the Swamp King just now, Shizuka's Chansey has already consumed a lot of energy.

If we want to feed these armored rhinos with nutritious eggs...even drinking the juice of the Jigglypuff eggs won't be enough.

"…Jelly Egg will take care of those little armored rhinos."

Among this group of armored rhinos there were several newly hatched baby rhinos, none of which were even as tall as Wang Yao’s knees.

"I still have a lot of finished Pokémon rations in my bag... you can share some of them."

Wang Yao took out a few bags of specially formulated armored rhinoceros feed from his bag.

This is nutritious feed specifically for ground-type Pokémon, made according to Sakaki's breeding book, "The Secret of the Earth".

The Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Tokiwa Gym usually eats this after training.

"You have a lot of food in your bag?"

Shizuka took the feed bag and looked at Wang Yao's small backpack curiously.

"But your rations are too dry...you need to soak them in warm water."

Shizuka opened the bag, took out a handful of feed and squeezed it in her hand.

These armored rhinos haven't eaten for a long time, so it would be best for them to eat some softened food first.

"Well then - Picosi, go collect some ice and boil some water."

Wang Yao took out the stew pot and handed it to Picosi.

"You cowards, stay and help too!"

Wang Yao casually threw out a few Poké Balls and asked them to stay and help Shizuka.

"I'll go outside and take a look..."

Wang Yao always felt that the terrain here was suspicious.

……

rustling...

After walking a few steps out of the green space and stepping onto the snow, Wang Yao discovered the problem.

After walking a few more steps, we came to an area where the snow was a little thicker.

"really……"

Wang Yao bent down and dug away the snow with his bare hands, revealing the withered yellow grass underneath.

Pulling off a handful of dry grass, Wang Yao crushed its roots in his hands.

"…These grasses have just died."

Wang Yao looked back at the small green area where the armored rhinos lived.

Perhaps just a few months ago, this whole little world was still green and lush.

But something unknown happened that caused it to lose its ability to resist the cold, causing the vegetation in the basin to be gradually eroded by the wind and snow from the Baiyin Mountain.

There are no other Pokémon here... Maybe they froze to death, or maybe they escaped from the snowstorm...

Or maybe there are only the Iron-clad Rhinoceros tribe here.

But no matter what, in the end, all that was left was that small piece of green land and that group of armored rhinos.

"So...it's the one-horned rhinoceros in the cave who found new food."

"Only they are blocked from getting home by fast-growing vines and moss?"

Wang Yao speculated while looking at the dry grass in his hand.

Climate change during this period should be a slow process.

If it was frozen instantly, then the grass under the snow should also be green.

“—Is it because of that?”

Wang Yao threw away the dead grass, clapped his hands, and then looked at a dead tree in the center of the basin.

It was a charred dead tree, obviously having been attacked by a fire.

Although the branches have been completely carbonized, the trunk of the tree is still intact.

boom--!

wow...

Wang Yao kicked the tree trunk, and the snow on the branches fell down.

Click!

One of the carbonized branches broke off and fell onto the snow.

"It's just a burnt tree, nothing special."

Wang Yao picked up the broken branch on the ground.

"Um...Aji, did you find anything?"

The Poké Ball belonging to the Zapdos on Wang Yao's waist suddenly moved.

boom--!

Zapdos took the initiative to run out of the Poké Ball.

"Fu~"

It sensed the breath of its mortal enemy from the charred tree trunk.

"You mean this tree was set on fire by the molten bird?"

Daidai's wise voice came into Wang Yao's mind.

Taking out the locator again, Wang Yao looked at the location of the red dot.

"Molten's hiding place is not here, but it's very close."

Wang Yao compared the positions of the red dots.

"There should be another cave above our heads...on the cliff."

Wang Yao turned around and looked towards the cliff where he had just come out.

At this time, Shizuka was still taking care of the malnourished armored rhinos.

The stew pot has been set up, and the little fire horse is actively spraying fire to shorten the boiling time.

"Come on—take me up there and have a look!"

Wang Yao raised his hand, grabbed the Zapdos' neck, and flipped over to sit on the bird's back.

“Fuu——!”

The lightning bird flapped its wings and flew up to the cliff hundreds of meters high in the blink of an eye.