An Exceptional Hunter

As Aoki expected, during the afternoon break, the feeling of being watched reappeared.

This time, Aoki kept an eye on it and let the Slowpoke leave a psychic mark on the bottle containing the Miltank's milk. As long as the distance was not more than ten kilometers, the current teleportation ability of the Slowpoke allowed it to sense the orientation of that mark.

Although it couldn't be moved directly and instantly, as long as they knew the location, they could always find it.

Leaving the milk on the ground again, he took the Slowpoke and watched from a distance.

This time, Aoki didn't have to wait too long. After tasting the sweetness once, the Pokémon appeared almost immediately after Aoki and the others disappeared.

Aoki lifted the load on the Murkrow, so even if it lost track due to the terrain, at least there was a general orientation. When Aoki and the Slowpoke arrived, they would always be able to find it.

Forty minutes later, the Murkrow returned to Aoki, who was far behind.

This time, it didn't lose sight of the target completely. After being fully liberated, the Murkrow's speed improved again, and with the assistance of Tailwind, it closely followed the Pokémon.

But to avoid startling it, once the Pokémon stopped, the Murkrow immediately came back to inform Aoki and the others.

Under the guidance of the Murkrow, Aoki and the others gradually approached the place where the Pokémon had stayed.

It was very close to the iceberg, and Aoki felt his body trembling unconsciously. The air exhaled from his mouth had a hint of white.

He had been too busy exercising earlier to feel it, but when he stopped, his body was instantly jolted by the cold.

Quickly, he took out the thick clothes he had prepared in advance and put them on, feeling warmth return.

It also had to be said—the physical gap between humans and Pokémon was truly huge, as this temperature change had almost no effect on the Murkrow.

"Slowpoke, can you sense it?" Aoki exhaled, rubbing his hands together to warm them, and asked.

"Yah, dong!" With blue light glowing in its eyes, the Slowpoke used its psychic power to sense the mark it had left earlier and nodded.

In order to find the Pokémon before it discarded the bottle, Aoki and his team avoided fights along the way. Instead, they either repelled or fled from encounters to prevent delays.

As they got closer, the Slowpoke's perception became stronger. When it pointed in the direction, it did so almost instantly, without needing to carefully sense it.

Clearly, the Pokémon had stopped. As long as Aoki and the others were fast enough, they could find it before it left.

Although Aoki had already made some guesses and was fairly certain of the outcome, he still needed confirmation.

If this was truly the Pokémon he suspected, and if it had decent talent, Aoki admitted he was a little tempted.

Shaking his head, he set those thoughts aside.

He hadn't found it yet, so there was no need to overthink.

Ten minutes later, Aoki tracked the bottle's position and unknowingly arrived at the foot of the iceberg.

It was called an iceberg, but in reality, it was a massive rocky mountain. The mountainside was covered in thick snow and ice, giving it the appearance of an iceberg.

Upon closer inspection, some rocky surfaces could be seen beneath the snow, partially hidden by large trees.

At the base of the mountain, numerous cracks and small caves dotted the landscape. According to the Slowpoke's perception, the psychic mark's coordinates came from one of the caves.

When he reached the cave entrance, a cold wind rushed out, making Aoki tighten his coat instinctively.

A Pokémon that preferred this kind of environment… Aoki was now even more certain of its identity.

Walking deeper into the cave, the air grew colder. Aoki felt like he was inhaling ice with every breath, and his nose became stiff.

Even though he had prepared for the cold, he hadn't expected the cave beneath the iceberg to be this frigid.

Even the Murkrow and the others were slightly affected.

Though it wasn't a major issue, Pokémon that didn't favor cold environments wouldn't like this chill.

The cave wasn't large, just enough for three people to walk side by side.

The ground had layers of ice, accumulated over who-knew-how-long. One had to be careful walking on it to avoid slipping.

Fortunately, Aoki had prepared boots suited for icy terrain.

Slowpoke and Miltank weren't as well-suited for the slippery ground, but the Slowpoke used its psychic power to create a thin, telekinetic film under their feet to stabilize them.

As they ventured deeper, the cave widened, and the icy ground thinned, revealing rocky surfaces.

The narrow passages near the entrance created wind tunnels, causing ice buildup. But once inside, the airflow settled.

There was no time to admire the scenery. Under the Slowpoke's direction, Aoki carefully controlled his footsteps.

Finally, after some time, Aoki saw the Pokémon that had been watching him and had taken such a liking to Miltank's milk.

A Pokémon about one meter tall, mostly black-furred, but with one red ear and a red-tipped tail. The limbs had white fur at the ends.

"It really is this Pokémon. My luck is amazing," Aoki thought, sighing inwardly.

Sneasel!

A dual-type Dark and Ice Pokémon.

It was a Pokémon Aoki had loved using in games back on Earth—a natural "dragon slayer!"

Dark and Ice was not the best type combination, as it made Sneasel weak to many types.

It took 4x damage from Fighting-type moves, meaning that at equal levels, a single Fighting attack could easily knock it out.

Additionally, it took 2x damage from Rock, Bug, Steel, Fire, and Fairy moves.

Out of eighteen Pokémon types, Sneasel had one 4x weakness and five 2x weaknesses.

But this Pokémon also had major advantages.

First, as a Dark-type, it was immune to Psychic moves, making it a natural counter to Psychic-type Pokémon.

Secondly, it dealt 2x damage to Ghost, Ice, and Dark-types, giving it advantages in specific matchups.

Thus, a Pokémon like Sneasel wasn't suitable as a team's main attacker, but it was excellent as a counter specialist.

For example, against Psychic-types… or against Dragon-types!

Sneasel was a natural assassin, with high attack and speed but low defense and HP—a textbook glass cannon.

Even when it evolved into Weavile later, its original strengths wouldn't diminish but would instead be further enhanced. From birth, its growth path was set.

Sneasel had a cunning and fierce personality. It loved stealing wild Pokémon eggs, poking small holes in them with its claws, and drinking the essence inside.

It had fixated on Miltank's milk because the raw milk's slightly fishy scent resembled the egg whites of broken Pokémon eggs.

Mistaking the milk for its favorite food, it had taken the bottle away the first time Aoki left it behind. After tasting it, it was hooked—the milk tasted even better than egg whites.

That's why it kept watching Aoki and the others afterward.