Hearing that Wayne was planning to skip work that afternoon to explore the back mountain, Fumie cautioned him with motherly concern. "Be very careful when you go to the back mountain. I've heard there are many powerful wild Pokémon living there."
For this entire recent period, Wayne had absolutely no personal free time at all while working to establish the Breeding Center's reputation.
Not only did Wayne have to film and edit his tutorial videos, he also had to craft many Energy Cubes every single day—sometimes even custom-made batches according to individual Pokémon's specific taste preferences.
Besides all of that, there were also numerous customer orders for Pokémon essential oil care treatments, fur management services, and various other specialized grooming requests.
In the evenings, he also had to make dedicated time to spend with Feebas, trying to help it heal, and continue learning advanced breeding knowledge.
Now there was also a traumatized Arcanine with severe psychological issues requiring his attention.
Even if Wayne could somehow split himself into eight separate people, it still wouldn't be enough time to handle everything.
Fumie sometimes genuinely worried that Wayne would overwork himself to the point of exhaustion or illness.
As a concerned mother, Fumie observed everything carefully. So as soon as she heard Wayne wanted to go for a relaxing stroll in the back mountain, she agreed without any hesitation.
Wayne smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry at all. With Lucario and the others accompanying me, everything will be completely fine."
"Then I'm entrusting Wayne's safety to you three—Lucario, Arcanine, and Metagross!" Fumie said to the Pokémon.
Lucario nodded with solemn determination.
(Please leave his protection to me!) Lucario communicated through Aura.
"Woof!" Arcanine barked confidently. (This mighty one will also protect our Trainer!)
"Meta!" Metagross chimed in with equal commitment.
This location was in the eastern suburb of Jubilife City, where vehicle and pedestrian traffic was extremely sparse, and even fewer people specifically chose to hike up the mountain.
Lucario had visited the back mountain many times for training and was already intimately familiar with the optimal routes.
Wayne rode comfortably on Arcanine's back. The wind whistled loudly in his ears, and the surrounding scenery rapidly receded behind them like a blur.
Lucario and Arcanine were both advancing at absolute full speed, moving like streaks of lightning across the landscape.
In just approximately ten minutes, they successfully arrived at the mountain's base.
This area was no longer within the protected boundaries of the Breeding Center's property, so climbing the mountain meant Wayne could no longer ride Arcanine. He would have to climb using his own physical abilities.
This mountain was officially named Mt. Mistveil on detailed Sinnoh region maps, and it remained shrouded in clouds and thick mist throughout the entire year.
The peak wasn't particularly high—only about seven hundred meters elevation—making it an easy climb for someone with Wayne's enhanced physical condition.
Wayne glanced at his system's radar display. As Wayne physically approached the two rare Pokémon's location, the display range on the radar automatically narrowed and became more precise.
Through careful comparison of the radar data and the actual mountain terrain, Wayne successfully pinpointed the search range to Mt. Mistveil's main peak area.
However, he could only narrow it down to the general main peak region. The rest of the search would have to be conducted manually by Wayne himself.
This meant that these two mysterious Pokémon could be located literally anywhere on this peak—and it wasn't impossible for them to be living underground in caves or tunnels.
This was especially likely considering Pokémon like Larvitar and Gible, who were naturally skilled at digging extensive tunnel systems.
"Lucario, Lucario!" Lucario called out helpfully.
(The terrain here is very gentle and gradual, making it very suitable for climbing safely.)
Lucario had been climbing this mountain once every afternoon recently, which counted as additional physical endurance training for him.
If they happened to encounter wild Pokémon along the way, then they would battle for experience!
With abundant resources available recently and Lucario's naturally high self-training awareness, his combat strength had improved dramatically.
His power level had steadily progressed from Gym Leader Junior rank all the way to Gym Leader Advanced rank. Just one more advancement would reach the prestigious Master Level.
From the time Wayne had first awakened the system until now, barely two months had passed total.
Above Master Level was the truly Elite Class tier.
Master Level and Elite Class wild Pokémon were extremely rare to encounter, as it wasn't easy at all for wild Pokémon to consistently acquire the resources necessary for such growth.
With Lucario present as his guardian, Wayne didn't have to worry about safety concerns whatsoever.
It was currently winter season, and the trees covering the mountain were blanketed with a thin layer of pristine white snow, making the entire landscape look like a beautiful silver-clad world.
While steadily climbing upward, Wayne heard the distant sound of a waterfall. The area was perpetually shrouded in mysterious mist here—perhaps this was due to the pervasive water vapor from the falls?
This was actually Wayne's very first time visiting Mt. Mistveil personally.
Attempting to find specific target Pokémon on such an extensive mountain would normally take several days of searching.
However, Wayne had significant advantages. He had Lucario, who was already very familiar with the mountain's geography, and more importantly, he had a systematic search method planned.
Wayne directly used his phone to search for reference images of promising Dragon-type Pokémon and their evolutionary lines from every known region.
Dratini, Larvitar, Bagon, Gible, Axew, Deino... all the way to the most recent discoveries like Dreepy and Frigibax.
Wayne showed Lucario the comprehensive image collection. "Have you seen any of these species here on the mountain?"
"Lucario!" Lucario responded immediately with recognition.
(Yes! I've definitely seen one of them!)
"Perfect! Take me to find it. Let's go to where you saw it first," Wayne instructed eagerly.
"Woof~~" ┗|`O′|┛ "Woof~~" Arcanine howled with excitement.
(Charge forward!!!)
Arcanine suddenly shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
However, Lucario quickly pointed in a completely different direction.
(To actually go up the mountain properly, we need to take that path over there!)
"..."
Arcanine's head tilted in confusion, completely stunned and frozen in place. After a few seconds of processing... the Fire-type started snapping wildly at the empty air, seemingly wanting to devour the space directly in front of Lucario.
(Why didn't you tell this mighty lord earlier before I ran off!)
Since locating the Pokémon wasn't an urgent emergency matter, Wayne and Lucario climbed at a comfortable, steady pace without rushing.
Along their journey up the mountain, they encountered many different wild Pokémon species.
Snorunt, Froslass, Snover, Swinub, and various others... From this diverse population, it was abundantly clear that the mountain's ecological environment was quite healthy and thriving.
Most of the wild Pokémon actively chose to avoid confronting Lucario when they spotted him approaching.
This was because most of those who had previously dared to challenge Lucario in battle had already been soundly defeated by him during his training sessions.
The mountain didn't exclusively house Ice-type Pokémon populations. It was simply that during winter season, many other species either hibernated underground or temporarily migrated to warmer regions.
After approximately one hour of continuous climbing, they reached the halfway point of the mountain's elevation.
"How much farther do we still have to go?" Wayne asked, slightly winded.
(At our current pace, about another half hour. They're located at the highest accessible point,) Lucario reported through Aura.
Wayne murmured thoughtfully to himself, "The highest point..."
In any given region, the specific terrain occupied by wild Pokémon generally served as a reliable indicator of their relative strength level.
For Pokémon to successfully occupy the highest point on Mt. Mistveil's main peak, the probability that one of them was a fully evolved final-stage Pokémon was relatively high.
The mountain path remained quiet and peaceful, and the slope gradient was gentle and manageable. Wayne deliberately didn't climb too quickly, so when he finally reached the highest accessible point, his breathing remained very steady and controlled.
The thin mist surrounding the mountaintop didn't dissipate as they climbed higher. Rather, it seemed to grow increasingly thick and mysterious.
This wasn't the mountain's true summit peak. It was actually a surprisingly flat plateau area on the upper peak. Climbing any higher without the ability to fly would be extremely difficult and dangerous.
Wayne had absolutely no intention of recklessly courting death, and besides, he had already reached his intended destination.
What genuinely surprised Wayne was discovering that there was an actual building structure here!
Because it remained hidden and concealed within the clouds and thick mist, Wayne only vaguely made out the silhouette of an ancient building when he climbed the very last few steps to the plateau.
Lucario pointed directly at the mysterious ancient building and communicated to Wayne telepathically. "This is exactly it. This is where I saw them."
The structure was an old-looking two-story wooden building with a distinctly dilapidated appearance. Despite its age, the main entrance door remained tightly closed and secured, and a thin layer of fresh snow had accumulated on the slanted roof.
There should be absolutely no human inhabitants here currently.
Lucario had specifically mentioned that he'd visited this location many times during his training, and he had never once encountered any people.
Wayne's first immediate reaction was pure confusion: who would possibly be bored enough to construct a small building on such a remote and difficult-to-access mountain?
His second reaction was even more puzzling: the two rare Pokémon, though technically unowned, were actually living inside such a human-made building?
The system's scanning function had included a special notation: it would only detect and display unowned rare Pokémon within a hundred-mile radius.
This definitively meant that these two Pokémon absolutely did not have a registered Trainer.
For them to be unowned yet living comfortably in a man-made structure truly baffled and confused Wayne completely.
"Woof!!!" Arcanine barked suddenly.
Without warning, Arcanine dashed forward impulsively, clearly about to charge directly into the ancient building.
"Wait a moment! Stop!" Wayne called out urgently.
However, Arcanine was exactly like the legendary phrase "let go and gone"—already entering the ancient building's entrance before Wayne could stop him.
"Never mind, it's too late now. Let's go in after him. Lucario, use your Aura to find their exact location inside!" Wayne instructed.
"Meta!" Metagross acknowledged, floating forward.
"Lucario!" Lucario called out with determination.
(The power of Aura lies within my heart! I'll locate them!) Lucario declared, his eyes glowing with Aura energy.