"Abra, defeat that guy!" Red ordered.
As soon as his voice fell, Abra immediately used Teleport, leaving Red's arms and appearing on the icy surface, cautiously observing the battle-ready Cloyster not far away.
Although displeased that its opponent wasn't Snorlax, Cloyster didn't show obvious dissatisfaction. In its view, as long as it defeated Abra, Red would naturally send Snorlax out to battle it.
'Hmph!'
Abra snorted unhappily, thinking Cloyster was underestimating it.
A bone-chilling cold radiated from Cloyster's body. Soon, hail began to fall in the surrounding area. While not deadly, it continuously drained the opponent's stamina.
"Weather tactics, huh? Not a bad idea, but unfortunately, Abra's Ability…"
Just as the hail was about to strike Abra's head, something shocking happened in Cloyster's eyes. A barrier suddenly appeared around Abra, completely blocking the hail's damage.
This was the power of Abra's Magic Guard Ability—it would not be affected by any weather damage.
As for Snorlax, Red had already used his psychic power to shield it at the start of the battle between Abra and Cloyster.
After all, Red wasn't going to let Snorlax suffer endless hail damage while just watching the fight.
The battle erupted instantly. Five icicles shot toward Abra in succession—Cloyster had used Icicle Spear and, luckily, triggered all five hits.
A deep blue glow flashed in Abra's eyes as it used Confusion to seize control of the five icicles. With a light flick of its finger, it effortlessly sent them back toward Cloyster.
Seeing this, Cloyster immediately used Razor Shell. A pale blue light covered its spikes, forming a sharp blade. Swinging the energy blade, it shattered all five incoming icicles into pieces.
Just as Cloyster was about to mock Abra's weakness, it realized Abra had already vanished from its original position, leaving only a trace of residual warmth.
As Cloyster frantically tried to locate Abra, something eerie happened. Its body suddenly felt weightless, and its perspective flipped in an instant.
While it panicked over the sudden change, Abra appeared floating in midair behind it, using psychic power to repeatedly slam Cloyster into the ground.
During its struggle, Cloyster used Ice Shard Crash, controlling a massive icicle to fiercely smash toward Abra. Fortunately, Abra used Teleport in time to evade the attack.
"You are nothing but a stepping stone on my path to becoming stronger. Sink into the despair of weakness!"
As the words fell, a powerful psychic force burst from Abra's body, followed by a dazzling light of evolution.
When the brilliant white light faded, Kadabra appeared before Red.
Kadabra had long, pointed ears, a red star-shaped mark on its forehead, and a fox-like face with a narrower snout, along with two whisker-like tufts of hair.
Its eyes opened, deep-set with narrow sockets. Its torso resembled armor-like golden shoulder plates, with a chest piece and a triangular abdomen marked with three red symbols.
Behind its abdomen extended a thick, long tail with a golden ring marking.
Its limbs were segmented at the joints, each hand and foot having three clawed fingers. In its right hand, it held a silver spoon—its most iconic feature.
Unlike ordinary Kadabra, Red's Kadabra had a silver-white body, with sacred golden armor covering its skin.
Having grasped new power, the excited Kadabra immediately launched an attack. Waving the silver spoon in its right hand, it materialized psychic waves to strike Cloyster.
Cloyster quickly shut its shell, blocking the incoming psychic impact.
Just as Cloyster was about to breathe a sigh of relief, an even stronger psychic force instantly seized control of its entire body. Using Psychic, Kadabra repeatedly slammed Cloyster against the ice walls.
After a short while…
Noticing the pleading look in Cloyster's eyes, Kadabra finally released its psychic hold and turned its head toward Red for instructions.
"Let it go for now. After all, we barged into its territory uninvited, and it's already been beaten up by you and Snorlax—it's had a rough time," Red joked.
[Ding! Successfully stacked the Synchronize Ability onto Kadabra!]
"Pokémon: Kadabra (Shiny: Silver)
Type: Psychic
Primary Ability: Magic Guard
Secondary Ability: Synchronize
Moves: Teleport, Confusion, Kinesis, Psybeam, Disable, Reflect, Psyshock, Psychic…
Nature: Optimistic and upbeat, with a contrast of aloofness and chuunibyou charm…"
"Synchronize's status transfer combined with Magic Guard's immunity to damage… not a bad combination…" Red said with a slight smile, as if he had discovered a special tactic.
Perhaps news of the earlier battle had spread among the other Ice-type Pokémon. Along the path ahead, neither Red, Snorlax, nor Kadabra encountered any more obstacles, and they soon reached the lowest cave level.
A biting cold wind rushed toward them. Fortunately, Red was constantly protected by his psychic power and Power of Viridian. An ordinary person would likely suffer frostbite in such conditions, even while bundled in thick clothing.
Red, however, remained in his usual outfit—a black sleeveless shirt, a red jacket, black training gloves, blue pants, and white sneakers—showing no signs of being affected by the cold.
'There seems to be the aura of an icy abyss ahead!' Kadabra said cautiously, completely unaware of Snorlax's strange expression beside it.
(Is that Pokémon language? Why can't I understand a single word?)
Snorlax scratched its face in confusion. Had Pokémon language evolved while it was busy working out?
(No, that can't be. Even ancient Pokémon language should be understandable to me. Evolution like that shouldn't happen.)
Sounds of battle came from ahead. Realizing something was wrong, Red rushed forward, with Kadabra and Snorlax quickly following behind.
"Articuno, I mean no harm—please calm down!"
A voice as clear and soothing as an icy spring came from ahead. The speaker seemed to be trying to calm the restless Articuno, but to no avail.
What appeared in Red's sight was a beautiful, glasses-wearing mature woman. She had long red hair tied into a ponytail. Though wrapped in a thick coat for warmth, it couldn't conceal her stunning figure.
Especially her ample chest—many men couldn't help but stare, even if it meant being arrested by Officer Jenny for indecent behavior.
Some even claimed it was "worth it," joking that being escorted by Officer Jenny included a free "massage."
Fortunately, Lorelei was kind-hearted and paid little attention to such gossip.
"The Ice-type Elite Four Lorelei? Finally, it's not that workaholic Lance again," Red sighed in relief. At last, he could meet another Elite Four member of the Kanto Region—otherwise Lance would probably nag him again about always running into him.
Lorelei was battling Articuno using her Slowbro, but it was a one-sided struggle. Since she didn't want to harm the emotionally unstable Articuno, Slowbro could only try its best to block the attacks.
"Kadabra, Snorlax, help that rampaging Articuno 'calm down,'" Red said calmly.