Winter Growlithe Are So Cute

To get from Blackthorn City to Mt. Silver, one had to follow Route 45 southeast all the way through. However, the forest east of Blackthorn City was completely uninhabited, with no villages or settlements.

There was only endless forest.

According to Clair, driving through the valley would take more than five hours if one could not make it up the mountain, while taking the mountain road would take four. The one-hour difference was because the mountain was more dangerous.

Ten times more dangerous than the valley.

The farther one went from civilization, the more groups of Pokémon one would find. And these were not groups of seven or eight, but dozens or even hundreds.

To put it plainly, Houndoom packs, Ariados colonies, Beedrill swarms, and the like—the sort Bai Xue and Heiduo had encountered in the wild before—were everywhere. Solitary Pokémon were the truly rare sight.

Even Ursaring, famous for being solitary Pokémon, usually appeared in groups of two or three. Or rather, moving around in groups of two or three was how they were meant to live.

As Heiduo passed through a stretch of flat ground, he saw two Ursaring clutching huge chunks of wood dripping with honey as they ran for their lives. One or two adorable Teddiursa sat on each of their shoulders or heads.

The three Teddiursa were rolling stones as large as their own heads between their paws and hurling them desperately at the Beedrill swarm chasing after them.

The Beedrill pursued them like mad, murderous intent radiating from their bodies, looking as though they were ready to devour the bears alive. They did not fear being struck by stones; unless their wings were damaged, they would take off and resume the chase less than three seconds after hitting the ground!

The dense, buzzing mass