Following the map, Xia You and Sabrina spent two days finally making their way through the vast, dense forest.
After two days of sleeping outdoors, walking for so long through the forest's difficult terrain, and defeating many Pokémon that harassed them along the way, they were exhausted in both body and mind. Fortunately, their destination was already close at hand. They only had to cross a few more mountains to reach Blackthorn City.
Xia You could have ridden Charizard and flown easily over the forest, but he had chosen not to.
The joy of traveling lay in moving forward alongside Pokémon, overcoming difficulties while enjoying the scenery along the way and strengthening their bonds.
If he only cared about speed and convenience, how would that be any different from Gary's fast-paced travels?
After leaving the forest, the two continued east, but they had not gone far before Xia You suddenly stopped again.
"What's wrong?" Sabrina asked softly.
Xia You tipped his chin forward. Sabrina followed his indication and saw that the clearing ahead split into two paths.
One path wound around the mountains, while the other led into them.
After studying the map for a while, Xia You said, "These two paths lead to the same destination, but the conditions are different. The first goes around the mountains. It's a little longer, but the road is easier to walk. The second passes through a mountain cave called the Ice Path. Although it's covered in ice and snow and very cold, it can save us a lot of time and take us straight to Blackthorn City."
After a moment's thought, Sabrina pointed to the path on the right. "Let's take the shortcut. The sooner we reach Blackthorn City, the sooner I can have a hot bath."
For her, going two days