Naoki paid the money, and Kora effitly directed a Machamp to load the peion facility onto the truck. She then climbed into the driver's seat and called out to Naoki, "You go ahead; I'll follow you!"

  "OK!" Naoki responded, hopping onto his Pokemon and heading back to the ranch.

  After a short while, Kora arrived at the ranch with the equipment. Machamp unloaded the peion unit from the truck, and Kora looked around the property before asking, "Where would you like this installed? It should ideally be ected directly to the main power supply."

  Naoki led the way, "Follow me!" He po pce the geor iility room at the back of the house, where the power box was located.

  Kora, dispying impressive expertise, began installing the peion facility and eg the wires with ease. Naoki watched her work, surprised by her skill. "I didn't expect you to be so skilled at this," he remarked.

  Kora expined with a shrug, "I've lived alone since I was a child, so I had to learhings over time."

  Naoki hesitated before asking, "Where are your parents?"

  Kora's expression remained calm. "They passed away twenty years ago. They were carpenters iown, so it was only natural for me to take over the business when I grew up."

  Naoki felt a pang of guilt and apologized, "I'm sorry."

  Kora shook her head with a small smile. "Birth, aging, illness, ah are all part of life. There's o apologize for something so natural. I'm doing well now. I run a store with my own hands, and I have Machamp to help me. I think if my parents were still around, they'd be proud of me. Their daughter turned out pretty amazing!"

  Naoki was slightly taken aback by her resiliend nodded in admiration, "Yes, you are amazing!"

  After the instaltion was pleted, Kora stood up and walked over to the cave where Naoki had been growing mushrooms. She gnced inside and then turo him, "Do you still hese mushroom culture dishes? If not, I recycle them for you."

  "Recycle?" Naoki asked.

  Kora nodded. "Yes, I take them off your hands. While it won't fetch the same price as when you bought them, it's better than leaving them here to collect dust."

  Naoki sidered it for a moment. Mushrooms required very specifiditions to grow, and with the cave being verted into an ice celr, there wouldn't be any suitable pce left on the ranch for them. "Alright, I'll give them to you," he agreed.

  Kora smiled, and with Machamp's help, she began moving the mushroom culture dishes into the truck. Ohey were done, Kora pulled out her wallet from the driver's seat and handed Naoki a few Poke Dolrs as payment.

  "See you ter!" she called, driving away with the truck.

  Naoki began preparations for his trip to Gseado Mountain with Koraidon. He pced the lunch he had prepared earlier in the refrigerator and asked Cyclizar to distribute the food to the other Pokémon at noon.

  Cyclizar nodded, agreeing to the task.

  Satisfied, Naoki packed his cold-weather gear, along with some juid Milk to restore his energy, into his backpack. The enviro at Gseado Mountain was harsh, and the temperature there would likely be very low.

  As he sidered the uping trip, Naoki suddenly recalled the first dish he had made after arriving in this world—hot soup noodles. 'That might be just what we need in such a cold pce,' he thought.

  'If he remembered correctly, the effect of that dish was just cold-resistant, which would be of great help in the pce they were goi,' Naoki thought.

  With that in mind, Naoki put down his backpack again, catg Koraidon's puzzled gaze, and headed to the refrigerator. He took out the relevant ingredients and started cooking.

  He cut the green onion into ses, prepared two poached eggs in advahehe pot on the fire, waiting for the water to boil before adding the noodles. He sprinkled a yer of chopped green onions on top, pced the two poached eggs in the bowl, and finally added a few drops of sesame oil.

  Soon, a plete bowl of hot soup noodles was ready.

  Naoki looked down at the steaming bowl, and the effect of the hot noodle soup emerged in his mind.

  [Hot Soup Noodles (B+): A simple dish, but a good choice to warm the spleen and stoma a cold winter day.

  Cooking effebsp;Cold resistance prote level 3, provides the ability to withstand severe cold. After drinking it, the body will bee warm, and the effect sts for 6 hours.

  Evaluation: omitted]

  'Sure enough, if the ingredients and toppings are plete, the cooking effect will be improved,' Naoki thought.

  A B+ rating was a full level and a half higher than the inal C-. The duration of cold resistance had increased from level 1 to level 3, and the duratioended from 30 mio 6 hours.

  "Try it?" Naoki asked, pg the bowl of noodles in front of Koraidon.

  Koraidon, sniffing the rich aroma, couldn't resist swallowing a bit of saliva. "Raao?" Koraidon wondered, 'This bowl of noodles seems different from st time?'

  Under Naoki's encing gaze, Koraidon picked up the bowl and quickly devoured the soup and noodles. Immediately, it felt warmth spreading through its entire body.

  'So, this is the magical effect of this bowl of noodles,' Koraidon realized, feeling the warmth protect it against the cold.

  Looking at Koraidon swallowing the food without a sed thought, Naoki felt a bit speechless.

  He quickly finished his own bowl of hot soup noodles, then took out two lucky puddings from the refrigerator—one for himself and one for Koraidon.

  'I hope we're lucky enough today to enter the Ice-type Pokémon we're looking for,' Naoki thought as he prepared for their journey.

  Once everything was ready, Naoki mounted Koraidon, and they headed tseado Mountain.

  Koraidon was quite familiar with this road, having apanied Naoki on a fishing trip at the end of this path just two months ago.

  There y Casseroya Lake, with Frost Mountain—known as Gseado Mountain—located to the east of the ke.

  Gseado Mountain is the highest peak in the Paldea region, and due to its high altitude, the temperature remained low year-round. Snowfkes tinually fell from its summit, c the expansive mountain range in a thick yer of snow.

  This weather had a profound effe the lifestyle of the people living nearby. The town was even named Monteown, symbolizing a pce of eternal snow and tranquility.

  The unique geographical enviro of the mountain also fostered a special Pokémon ecosystem, with most of the Pokémon inhabiting the area being Ice-type.

  Koraidon moved swiftly, its scarlet silhouette slig through the sky as they soon arrived at ke.

  Naoki looked up at the mist-shrouded mountain in the distand asked Koraidon, "Are you scared?"

  Koraidon shook its head fidently, "Raao!"

  "Very good, let's keep going!"

  Koraidon quied its pace, rushing into the mountain. Its scarlet figure stood out starkly against the vast, white expanse of snow and ice.