Chapter 123: The Ninetales Mother and Daughter
Within the raging blizzard, Ninetales's form flickered in and out of sight.
Its chilling gaze was fixed directly on the intruders, a clear warning to stay back or face the consequences.
However, Lorze and the others completely ignored the Ninetales's warning.
They walked brazenly to the very edge of the blizzard barrier, locking eyes with the creature inside.
As the distance closed, Little Xue (Xue Yi) finally got a clear look at the Ninetales's physical form.
Compared to the regal and opulent Fire-type Ninetales, this Alolan variant was more slender and cold.
It looked like an icy, untouchable goddess—breathtakingly beautiful.
Xue Yi was instantly captivated from the very first glance.
Faced with such a stunning Pokémon, she had only one thought left: she had to capture it!
Xue Yi already possessed an innate affinity for the Ice-type.
She naturally gravitated toward Pokémon with this high-cold, elegant temperament.
Combined with Ninetales's legendary beauty and this never-before-seen Ice typing, no Trainer could resist the temptation.
"Wufuuuu!"
At that moment, the Alolan Ninetales sensed the threat and realized these humans were not friendly.
For safety, it immediately summoned an even more violent blizzard.
Its silhouette vanished completely into the whiteout.
Lorze and the women were instantly swallowed by the storm.
A bone-chilling wind lashed against them, rapidly draining their body heat and conveying the Ninetales's fury.
In an instant, the temperature plummeted to nearly -70°C, cold enough to turn a human into a frozen statue.
Fortunately, aside from Anna Lee, no one here was an ordinary person.
Mother Xue's and Xue Yi's internal auras provided some level of thermal insulation.
Specifically, Xue Yi, with her Ice affinity, didn't actually feel that cold.
But -70°C was still a lethal extreme, so Lorze quickly pulled his beloved Anna into his arms.
The girl immediately felt the warmth of her boyfriend's protection~.
Then, Lorze ordered Kirlia to expand a Telekinetic Barrier around them all.
This barely managed to isolate them from the blizzard, making the ambient temperature much more bearable.
At this point, they realized the true extent of this Ninetales's power.
A standard Snow Warning Ability couldn't possibly generate a storm this localized and intense.
This blizzard had completely rewritten the local weather patterns for hundreds of meters.
The sky, which had been clear, was now totally eclipsed by the snow; this was a feat of altering nature itself.
It was clear that this Ninetales was on an entirely different level of strength.
"That's a powerful blizzard; this Ninetales is going to be a nightmare to handle," Lorze muttered, frowning.
It took Kirlia's full concentration just to keep the barrier stable against the passive Ability.
If they actually started fighting, they would likely be overwhelmed in seconds.
"This Alolan Ninetales has incredible talent; to reach the Master-class (S-Rank) in the wild is rare."
Mother Xue narrowed her eyes, sensing the energy fluctuations.
She was an expert at gauging power levels and easily identified the creature's rank.
A Master-class wild Pokémon was a true rarity on Earth.
It would make sense if they were in a Secret Realm where resources were abundant.
But this was the base of Mount Everest on Blue Star.
The resources on this planet were a joke compared to the Realms; wild Pokémon rarely had the materials to grow this strong.
For this Ninetales to reach S-Rank, it either recently escaped from a Secret Realm or it was a genetic prodigy.
Regardless of the reason, it presented a major problem: it was too powerful for a rookie Trainer.
"Master-class?" Xue Yi's heart sank with disappointment.
Every experienced Trainer knows that you shouldn't capture Pokémon that are already too powerful.
The golden rule is to hatch an egg and raise it yourself from birth.
Egg-hatched Pokémon feel unconditional love for the first person they see.
Wild Pokémon, especially high-ranked ones, are warriors who have survived a thousand life-or-death battles.
They are feral, proud, and notoriously difficult to tame—they view all strangers with extreme hostility.
In the wild, Pokémon live in a brutal food chain where it's "eat or be eaten."
If you don't want to be someone's dinner, you stay on high alert.
The "peaceful gathering of species" seen in cartoons was mostly a fantasy.
Pokémon lived in factions, and the small ones only huddled together to survive the big ones.
The core of their existence was conflict and survival.
This meant an S-Rank Alolan Ninetales was a seasoned veteran.
Would such a creature ever be willing to submit to a high schooler like Xue Yi?
Would you be willing to become a stranger's dog?
Even in the games, high-level Pokémon ignore their Trainers; in reality, it was ten times worse.
If the Ninetales were only at the Elite (B-Rank) level, Xue Yi's Ice affinity might have won its trust.
But at the Master-class level, its guard was too high; it would never recognize someone as weak as her.
Did we really come all this way for nothing?
Well, not "nothing"—they had spent days fucking Lorze into a stupor, which was worth the trip.
Besides, just because Xue Yi couldn't handle it didn't mean her mother couldn't.
Though it was still a bit of a tragedy for the girl.
"Don't worry. This Ninetales is burning its stamina to maintain a blizzard 24/7 for a reason."
"There's only one logical explanation: it has a child to protect," Lorze said, comforting Xue Yi.
Wild Pokémon usually conserve their energy. For Ninetales to be this wasteful meant it was guarding a nest.
This Ninetales was almost certainly a mother.
If they couldn't take the mother, they could just steal the baby, right?
Hmm... that sounds incredibly villainous when I say it out loud.
Whatever. If stealing the child was "wrong," they'd just steal the mother too.
That way, the family wouldn't have to be separated.
Perfect!
Alolan Ninetales: I'll show you 'perfect,' you bastard!
The Ninetales grew increasingly uneasy; it could sense that these humans were targeting its body.
If they discovered its daughter...
Just as the Ninetales was worrying, the child from Lorze's deduction showed itself.
A tiny, adorable creature, several sizes smaller than the adult, poked its head out.
Although the blizzard obscured its features, one could easily visualize an Alolan Vulpix.
The little Vulpix seemed curious about why its mother had suddenly intensified the storm.
It poked its head out of the cave, letting out a tiny, high-pitched "Wuuuu-yuuu!"
Hearing that sound, Xue Yi's heart skipped a beat.
The voice was soft and milky; it was definitely the child. She still had a chance!
Xue Yi looked at her mother. Only the Matriarch could "persuade" the mother Ninetales to surrender its child.
"Zoroark, go."
Mother Xue nodded. She was also quite fond of the Ninetales.
Since there was a mother and a daughter, it was only fitting that they each took one home.
She signaled her housekeeper. Zoroark nodded and stepped out into the freezing storm.
Its pace was calm and measured, acting as if the sub-zero temperatures and wind were a summer breeze.
Furthermore, with every step Zoroark took, its aura caused the blizzard to falter and warp.
In the footprints it left behind, a searing black fire began to roar.
The flames spread rapidly across the snow, melting everything in their path.
The frozen wasteland was being transformed into a literal hell on earth.
Even the dark sky was dyed a blood-red as massive fireballs materialized out of thin air.
They fell like a localized Draco Meteor, slamming into the ground with thunderous booms.
They created craters of molten lava, and the sheer volume of the impact triggered a massive avalanche in the distance.
This apocalyptic display of power made Lorze and the others turn pale.
Yet Zoroark simply kept walking forward, its passive pressure alone making it hard for the Ninetales to breathe.
"Is this an illusion?"
Lorze carefully checked the ambient temperature. It wasn't hot like the "hellscape" suggested.
It was still freezing cold; the apocalyptic scene was just a god-tier Night Daze-powered illusion.
Illuions are purely visual; no matter how shocking they look, they can't change the physical cold.
But that didn't make the illusion "useless."
Even if you knew the meteors weren't real, would you dare to stand there and take it?
How could you tell which meteor was fake and which was a real Flamethrower hidden in the light?
Zoroark's illusions could hide the trajectory of its moves and its own position perfectly.
You would never know where the real attack was coming from until it was too late.
Zoroark's ability to deceive was so high it could even fool high-tech machinery; it was beyond broken.
However, Zoroark didn't attack immediately.
As the saying goes: Civility before force. They would try to negotiate the surrender first.