Half a day later, Ethan returned to the Nosepass Secret Kingdom through the passage in the Secret Kingdom fracture.
And then, through that Nosepass Secret Kingdom, he returned to the Everfrost City region.
"Everest and Mount Coronet... they really form an extremely dangerous area."
Standing at the foot of the great snowy mountain, Ethan gazed into the distance at Everest, which rose among the clouds, and could not help but sigh.
One was the tallest mountain in the real world; the other, the highest peak of Sinnoh in the Pokémon world. The highest summits of both worlds overlapped here perfectly.
And, at the same time, both Everest of the real world and Mount Coronet of the Pokémon world were places of extreme danger, so when the two combined, the level of risk had multiplied countless times.
If it were not because Melmetal, as a Mythical Pokémon, mastered the power to open passages in the fractures of the Secret Kingdom through its spatial magnetic field, probably very few people would be able to touch the secrets of Mount Coronet.
After all, the Secret Kingdom fragments of Mount Coronet were scattered across different points of Everest, and ever since Everest had become a paradise for Ice-type Pokémon, fewer and fewer people had been able to explore it.
"The next time I come, I'll conquer this place again."
Ethan took a deep breath and looked at the Poké Ball he carried in the backpack on his back, letting a smile appear on his face.
After exploring the Piloswine Secret Kingdom, he did not continue with any more exploration.
One of the reasons was that he had not made preparations for a long-term expedition.
The environment of the snowy Secret Kingdom was hostile and supplies were scarce, so for prolonged exploration, provisioning was absolutely essential.
Right now, he had already gathered a large amount of Ice-type resources in that unexplored snowy Secret Kingdom and, in addition, had captured a large number of Piloswine. With that, he already had more than enough.
The other reason was that Stonefield Town was still in the middle of its development phase. Neither the construction of the laboratory nor that of the gym could advance without him, and besides, Professor Harris and Professor Reynolds were also waiting to research Melmetal, so time simply did not allow it.
"This Secret Kingdom exploration was hard on you."
Ethan spoke to Vibrava, who was behind him, and to Litwick, who floated at his side.
Inside the Secret Kingdom, Vibrava had to take care of carrying Ethan and, at the same time, protecting him.
Litwick, for its part, had to use its flames to keep Ethan warm, so both of them had spent a great deal of energy.
"Viiibbrraa!"
"Littwwiikk!"
Both Vibrava and Litwick shook their heads.
Then, Vibrava flapped its wings and carried Ethan away from the great snowy mountain.
...
Only a few weeks had passed, and Stonefield Town could be said to have completely changed in appearance.
Thanks to the care of a large number of Grass-type Pokémon capable of using the move Grassy Terrain, the former sandy land had once again filled with life.
Now grass could be seen growing on what had once been barren land, and the river of yellow sand in front of the town had also recovered its transparency.
"The town like this... really looks good."
Ethan could not help but feel moved when he saw it.
Looking at that beautiful scene, which was already beginning to take shape, he felt that everything he had done had been worth it.
While enjoying the scenery, which was already starting to form, he slowly advanced into the town.
When he reached the entrance, he suddenly saw that a large new arch had been erected.
On it, written in large elegant characters, were two words: Solaria Town.
"Has the League's planning for Solaria Town already been approved?"
"In that case, then my gym application should also have been approved, right?"
Something stirred inside Ethan. When he submitted the application for the gym, he had also included plans such as the gym's characteristics and the development of Solaria Town.
Since the name "Stonefield Town Gym" sounded somewhat awkward, and following Alex's suggestion, Ethan changed the name to Solaria Town Gym, making it fit better with the town's development.
It could be said that, at that moment, the construction of the Solaria Town Gym and that of Solaria Town were completely linked.
If the construction of Solaria Town had already been approved, then the review of the Solaria Town Gym had surely also passed.
Entering the town, Ethan began to observe its development.
Besides the general beautification and reforestation, the structure of the entire town had improved tremendously.
Many buildings that had previously been somewhat deteriorated had been completely renovated, and their walls, painted in a uniform color, gave off a very fresh and clean feeling.
Very soon, Ethan arrived at the temporary laboratory, located not far from the entrance.
At that moment, that laboratory had already undergone a certain degree of remodeling.
Once the new laboratory finished being built, that temporary laboratory would be converted into a Pokémon Gym.
Now, Ethan's Solaria Town Gym had already been officially approved.
During the following period, the League would send special evaluators to examine it.
Only if he passed the qualification test as a gym leader would he be able to participate in the final competition for the gym leader position.
"Ethan, you're finally back."
As soon as Professor Reynolds saw Ethan entering the temporary laboratory, she immediately approached.
During that time, she had already completely organized the data from Melmetal's evolution.
And now she was waiting precisely for Melmetal to cooperate with her in the next experiments.
"I kept you waiting too long, Professor Reynolds."
Ethan smiled and released Melmetal.
At the same time, he also took out Slowking, so that it could help Professor Reynolds with the research.
He still knew very little about Melmetal's specific situation.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, he wanted Professor Reynolds to help organize and complete all the information about Melmetal.
And, based on that data, he himself would be able to design a much more scientific training plan for Melmetal.
(End of chapter)