"Here, Victor, this is the Junior Extreme Ice Badge."
Aaron took out a delicate snowflake-shaped badge from his pocket and handed it to Victor.
"Thank you, Master Aaron," Victor said, accepting the badge with both hands.
"Victor, if I may ask, is this your first badge?"
Aaron's expression showed genuine curiosity. The alliance system only confirmed Victor's qualification for the Junior Gym Challenge but didn't display the number of badges he had collected.
Living in the secluded Icepeak Mountain, Aaron rarely communicated with the other seventeen Gym Leaders and hadn't heard any news about Victor.
Dennis and Alice, standing nearby, also glanced over curiously, eager to hear Victor's answer.
"No, this is my second badge. The first one was from Master Jasmine of the SeawindCove Gym," Victor replied calmly.
"Ah, already your second?" Aaron said, impressed. "Then I look forward to seeing the day you earn four badges."
"I'll do my best to meet your expectations, Master Aaron," Victor responded humbly.
"Victor, earning your second badge in such a short time... it seems you might qualify for university early, even before next year!" Alice said, clearly impressed. Dennis nodded in agreement.
"I'll do my best to make that happen," Victor replied with a small smile.
---
"Now it's my turn to battle!" Alice declared with enthusiasm. She turned to Aaron and added, "Master Zhao, I hope for your guidance!"
"I recall that you and Dennis are here for the Intermediate Gym Challenge, correct?" Aaron asked.
"Yes, Master Aaron," they replied in unison.
"Alright, let's get you registered."
Aaron led them to the crimson Alliance terminal nearby and quickly began the registration process. Despite his age, he handled the system with surprising skill, completing the process in no time.
"Registration complete. Who will go first?" he asked.
"I'll go first," said Alice.
"She'll go first," Dennis said at the same time.
The two paused and looked at each other, realizing they had the same idea.
"Alright then, let's begin," Aaron said, unfazed by the simultaneous responses.
---
After Roger took the stage again and read out the rules of the game, both sides released their Pokémon simultaneously.
This time, Aaron sent out two late-stage elite Pokémon: Cloyster (Water/Ice-type) and Crabominable (Fighting/Ice-type).
Alice also sent out two late-elite Pokémon: Chandelure (Fire/Ghost-type) and Blaziken (Fire/Fighting-type).
Her Blaziken's aura was strong, and she had a vague sense that it was about to break through to the professional level.
As the battle started, Blaziken jumped high and attacked Cloyster, while Chandelure engaged Crabominable in close combat.
As the battle progressed, the injured Chandelure successfully defeated Crabominable with its exclusive move, Hex, but was struck and knocked down by the overwhelming Rock Blast from Cloyster, which Blaziken was busy dealing with.
In the end, Blaziken, covered in countless scars, barely avoided the overwhelming attack from Cloyster using its Speed Boost ability, finding a gap to narrowly defeat the Shell Pokémon.
---
After Alice's battle, it was Dennis's turn. Aaron sent out two late-stage elite Pokémon: Abomasnow (Grass/Ice-type) and Cryogonal (Ice-type).
Dennis's Pokémon were also elite: a second-stage pseudo-legendary Metang (Steel/Psychic-type) and an Aegislash (Steel/Ghost-type).
At the beginning of the battle, Abomasnow, summoning hail with its Snow Warning ability, swung its massive icy arms to strike Aegislash, which was defending Metang. Meanwhile, Metang bombarded Cryogonal with Meteor Mash.
Cryogonal swiftly closed the gap to Metang, gathering ice energy to form a blade of frost, striking Metang.
Aegislash switched to its Blade Forme and used Sacred Sword to block Cryogonal's attack. However, once in its Blade Forme, Aegislash's defenses were weakened, allowing Abomasnow to hit it with Blizzard, leaving Aegislash unable to fight.
Meanwhile, Metang's long-charged Iron Head took down Cryogonal.
In the final 1v1 battle, Metagross used its superior physical abilities as a pseudo-legendary to defeat Abomasnow and secure Dennis's victory.
---
All three of them received their badges, said goodbye to Master Aaron while it was still light, and followed Roger down the mountain.
Their descent was faster than the ascent, and they had covered a quarter of the journey in a short time.
As they laughed and discussed reaching Frostwind City before dark, the sky suddenly darkened without warning. Snowflakes flew across the sky, and the biting cold wind howled like a sharp sword.
"Why did a blizzard suddenly appear!? I checked the weather forecast before setting off; there wasn't supposed to be any blizzard today!" Roger's shocked voice was barely heard over the howling wind.
"Everyone, secure yourselves and prepare for the cold! Don't wander off!" Roger yelled, but the blizzard was so strong that the four of them unknowingly scattered.
---
Victor was quiet as he tried to use Aura to locate his companions, but the strange energy in the snowstorm blocked his Aura, reducing its range to just a few meters.
"Could it be... the Articuno that lives on Ice Feather Mountain?" Victor thought, relying on his strong body to move forward, hoping to find his lost partners.
Unfamiliar with mountaineering, Victor didn't realize the need to secure himself in a blizzard. He didn't hear Roger's warning either.
Victor pulled out warm clothes from his system backpack and put them on, as the temperature dropped sharply in the snowstorm.
While dressing, he didn't notice that his snow boots were stepping on a patch of snow that was much thinner than the surrounding snow, covering an empty space.
"Uh-oh..."
With a cry, Victor fell through a hole just large enough for an adult to pass through.
"Ouch!" He landed with a thud, hitting the icy ground at the cave's entrance.
"...that hurts." Victor rubbed his sore bottom, grateful for his improved physical condition, or else he might have been seriously injured.
"Where am I...?"
Looking around in the darkness, Victor released Incineroar to create flames, illuminating the ice cave around him, revealing smooth ice walls.