Chapter 301: Want Some Power of Viridian? Yeah, Now We’re Talking!

The video continued playing.

Eevee’s four tiny legs churned through the snow at incredible speed, leaving Hina panting as she chased after it.

They hadn’t gone far when Eevee stopped in front of an enormous stone monument.

It began frantically digging at the ground with its front paws, its tail wagging like a helicopter rotor.

Hina crouched down and brushed the accumulated snow from the monument, revealing a line of ancient writing.

She pulled out her Pokédex and scanned it.

The translation appeared: [Snowpoint Temple. Constructed in ancient times. A legendary Pokémon slumbers within. Entry prohibited.]

"Eevee, you want to go in there?"

Hina asked quietly.

Eevee grabbed the leg of Hina’s pants in its mouth and tugged.

Then, without waiting for her, it darted straight through the nearby entrance.

"U-Um..."

"I’ll just go in for a little while and come right back out..."

Seeing that Eevee had already disappeared inside, Hina had no choice but to follow.

The underground passage was surprisingly warm.

Faint blue light flowed across the rocky walls, like countless glowing rivers running through the stone itself.

After walking for around ten minutes—

The path suddenly opened up.

The main chamber of Snowpoint Temple.

Hina’s breathing stopped for half a beat.

Right in the center of the chamber an enormous Pokémon was lying sideways on the floor.

One hand propped up its head while the other rested across its stomach.

It looked exactly like someone had casually thrown an enormous action figure onto the ground.

Regigigas.

Hina edged half a step forward.

"H-Hello?"

One of Regigigas’s fingers moved.

Extremely slowly.

From lifting the finger to lowering it again took approximately five full seconds.

The rest of its body didn’t move at all.

Shaymin poked its head out of the backpack.

"Is it..."

"Is it stuck?"

"I think that’s the Legendary Pokémon Regigigas."

Hina explained softly.

"Dad told me about it before."

"Regigigas has an Ability called Slow Start, so it moves pretty slowly at first."

"Oh."

"Then if it’s been lying here this whole time, maybe it saw where Eevee went."

Shaymin immediately perked up.

"Hina, try the Power of Viridian!"

Hina nodded.

She crouched down and placed her palm against the floor.

The Power of Viridian slowly flowed from her hand, traveling across the ground until it reached Regigigas.

The very next second—

Regigigas violently shuddered.

Then it sprang upright as stiffly as a Magikarp thrown into a frying pan.

"GIGAS!" (OH, NOW WE’RE TALKING!)

Hina instinctively took one step backward.

Regigigas crossed the distance between them in one enormous stride.

Then its entire body lowered straight down like an elevator.

"Giga-giga!" (Please, I insist—give me another dose! I can take more! I haven’t reached my limit yet!)

"Uh..."

"Okay."

Hina placed her palm against Regigigas’s enormous hand again.

The Power of Viridian surged into it like a rising tide.

Regigigas first released an extraordinarily satisfied sigh.

Then—

Like a gigantic bouncy ball whose remote control had been repeatedly switched to maximum speed it began ricocheting around the main chamber.

"GIGAS, GIGA-GIGA!" (THAT’S IT! I’M ALIVE! I’M ALIVE AGAIN! THIS FEELS EVEN BETTER THAN WHEN I WAS FIRST CREATED!!!)

"E-Excuse me..."

Hina waved toward it.

"Did you happen to see an Eevee run past here?"

"GIGA!" (I’ll take you there! That power just made me three thousand years younger! Now let me show you what true Extreme Speed looks like!)

The moment it finished speaking Regigigas placed Hina on its shoulder.

Then spread its legs.

The next second—

The entire floor of Snowpoint Temple began shaking.

Hina desperately clung to Regigigas’s head.

Her long blue hair streamed horizontally behind her beneath the sheer wind pressure.

Shaymin bounced so violently inside her backpack that its voice sounded like it was trapped in a washing machine on the rapid cycle.

"Hinaaaaa—"

"Shaymin is going to turn into Shaymin jammmmm—!"

Deep inside the cavern—

Eevee stood before an enormous rock glowing with a ghostly blue light.

Its two front paws rested lightly against the icy surface, its nose almost touching it.

Each breath fogged the ice with a tiny patch of white mist.

Regigigas lowered Hina from its shoulder.

She had just started walking forward when the blue light surrounding the Ice Rock suddenly intensified.

It completely enveloped Eevee.

When the light faded—

Eevee’s body had completely changed.

Its pale-brown fur was gone, replaced by icy-blue fur.

Two long, diamond-shaped strands of fur hung from either side of its head, swaying gently with every movement.

Hina’s eyes lit up.

Then she immediately scooped it into her arms.

"Glaceon!"

"You evolved!"

Glaceon rubbed its cool nose against Hina’s chin and let out a soft, crisp cry.

"Glace~"

Hina looked up at Regigigas.

"Um..."

"Thank you for showing us the way."

"Gigas!" (Don’t mention it! Come visit whenever you’ve got time! After what you just gave me, I won’t need to warm up again for three years!)

[VIP Chat Group]

[Brandon]: ...I’ve spent my entire life searching for Regigigas. I’ve imagined countless ways of earning its acknowledgment. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the Power of Viridian could turn it into... this.

[Clemont]: The Power of Viridian is fundamentally a form of life energy. Regigigas spends extended periods in a dormant state, so suddenly injecting it with high-frequency energy would be similar to connecting a generator to a battery with no charge. It’s perfectly reasonable that it would suddenly start moving.

[Bonnie]: Big Brother, can you explain that in a way the rest of us can understand?

[Clemont]: Hina charged Regigigas’s battery.

[Flint]: Is the Power of Viridian seriously this ridiculous? She turned the king of the legendary giants with Slow Start into "Fast Start."

[Professor Juniper]: It may be because Hina’s Power of Viridian has already undergone an enhancement. Among the users of the Power of Viridian I’ve encountered, very few have ever reached this level.

The scene shifted to the outskirts of Snowpoint Temple.

Hina climbed out of the underground entrance.

Before she’d even regained her footing a rumbling sound came from the slope ahead, rapidly drawing closer.

"Piplup, piplup!"

A snowball came barreling down from the top of the hill.

It grew larger and larger as it rolled—

Until it slammed directly into the stone monument beside the entrance.

Poof!

The snowball burst apart.

Piplup tumbled out from inside.

A small mound of freshly impacted snow sat on top of its head.

Its eyes were completely unfocused.

"Piplup..."

Hina hurriedly picked it up.

"Piplup?"

"Why did you roll down from up there?"

Piplup shook its head.

Then pointed one short wing toward the top of the slope.

Hina followed the direction it was pointing.

Two people were standing at the summit.

More precisely—

Her dad and mom were standing there holding binoculars and repeatedly sneaking glances in her direction.

Hina blinked.

"D-Dad?"

"Mom?"

"Weren’t you two supposed to be training?"

"Um..."

"Mom was just out here looking at the scenery!"

Dawn hurriedly hid the binoculars behind her back and walked over.

"Right!"

"The snowy scenery in Snowpoint City is just prettier than anywhere else!"

"Hina..."

"Did you encounter any... strange Pokémon in there?"

"Yeah."

Dawn’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Did you catch it?!"

Hina shook her head.

"No..."

"It seemed really sleep-deprived..."

"It was full of energy just a moment ago..."

"But then, the very next second, it fell asleep again..."

"Hehe."

"In that case, I win the bet."

Asher leisurely walked down the hill carrying two roasted sweet potatoes.

"Wifey."

"A bet’s a bet."

The corners of his lips curved upward slightly as he handed one roasted sweet potato to Hina and the other to Dawn.

Dawn accepted hers and took an aggressive bite.

Yet a cherry-blossom blush had already quietly spread across her neck.

"I-I know!"

"When tonight comes..."

"I’ll do what you say..."