Chapter 478: We’re Good People—I Have a Model Student Certificate

"Froooos... Fros... lass..."

Eerie cries drifted through the heavy snow, faint at first but steadily drawing closer. The ghostly voices carried strangely through the wind, enough to make several members of the expedition tense as pale shapes began emerging from the whiteout.

Aaron narrowed his eyes until he finally recognized them.

"Froslass?"

More than thirty of them had surrounded the expedition. The Ice/Ghost-type Pokémon floated silently above the snow, their white bodies almost disappearing into the storm.

Their flowing sleeves and mask-like faces gave them an elegant, ghostly appearance, while the icy horns on their heads caught the pale light from the castle behind them. Judging from their auras, their strength ranged from Advanced to Elite.

Aaron's gaze swept over the group with recognition.

Froslass had always had a surprisingly devoted fanbase; its graceful, petite appearance made it especially popular among certain collectors and otaku. Some friends had even slipped a few rather questionable Froslass fanbooks into a stack they once gave him.

Naturally, Aaron had been far too busy studying to look at any of them.

Obviously.

The Froslass watched the expedition closely but made no move to attack. If anything, they seemed more interested in keeping the humans away from the castle than starting a fight.

Aaron raised both hands. "Ladies, relax. We don't mean any harm. We're good people."

Nothing happened.

He thought for a moment, then brightened. "Actually, I can prove it."

Grant immediately looked suspicious.

Aaron reached into the System Backpack and pulled out a bright red certificate. He opened it with a flourish and held it up proudly for the Froslass to inspect.

"See? Model Student Certificate."

Silence.

Grant stared at him. Ryan stared at him. The expedition members stared at him.

Even the Froslass stared at him.

For several long seconds, the only sound on the mountaintop was the wind sweeping through the snow. Humans and Pokémon alike seemed united by the same question.

What the hell is he doing?

Who brought a Model Student Certificate into an unexplored secret zone this dangerous? More importantly, did Aaron seriously expect a group of Froslass to know what a Model Student Certificate even was?

Grant's cheek twitched. Ryan looked away as though reconsidering several of his life choices.

If they were not worried about how the Pokémon League might react to someone slapping an Honorary General across the face, at least one person in the expedition probably would have done it already.

The Froslass, somehow, looked even more confused than the humans. Several floated closer and studied the red certificate with surprising seriousness.

They clearly had no idea what it was, but Aaron looked so absurdly proud of it that they could only assume it must be important.

That left them in an awkward position. They had only wanted the humans to leave, and Froslass were not naturally eager to resort to violence. Aaron's bizarre attempt at diplomacy had completely thrown them off.

Aaron carefully tucked the certificate away. "See? Completely trustworthy."

Grant closed his eyes.

Ignoring him, Aaron pointed toward the ice castle. "We just want to take a look inside. If there's nothing dangerous there, we'll leave right afterward. We're not here to cause trouble."

"Fros! Frosslass!"

The reaction was immediate. Several Froslass shook their heads urgently while others gestured toward the castle, their earlier confusion replaced by obvious anxiety.

They called out one after another, clearly trying to explain something important.

Aaron listened with complete concentration for several seconds before nodding solemnly.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're saying."

A familiar presence materialized beside him. Corviknight's spirit appeared silently, still invisible to everyone else in the expedition.

"Aaron," she said, "they're saying you can't enter the castle. Their queen is sick and resting inside."

Aaron's expression changed immediately. "Their queen is sick?"

Corviknight nodded.

That was all he needed to hear.

He reached into the System Backpack again.

Grant noticed.

"No."

Aaron kept searching.

Grant pointed at him. "Whatever you're about to pull out, no."

Aaron produced another certificate.

Grant slowly looked up at the sky.

With the solemn expression of someone presenting official credentials before a medical board, Aaron held the document out toward the Froslass.

"This is my Pokémon Doctor License."

Everyone stared at him.

Aaron continued without the slightest hint of shame. "Your queen may be seriously ill, and I might actually be able to help her. Think about it—maybe us showing up right now wasn't a coincidence. Maybe this was fate."

Grant's eye twitched.

Aaron pressed on before anyone could interrupt him. "If you refuse to let me even take a look and her condition gets worse, you'll spend the rest of your lives wondering whether I could've saved her."

The Froslass exchanged uneasy glances.

Behind Aaron, Ryan happened to notice the stamp at the bottom of the certificate. He leaned forward, squinted, and went completely still.

OFFICIAL BARGAIN SHOP SEAL

He slowly turned toward Grant.

Grant had already seen it.

One of the technicians followed their gaze and stared at the document, then at Aaron, as if he had just discovered an entirely new species of Pokémon.

What else does this guy keep in that backpack?

The Model Student Certificate had already been ridiculous enough. Now Aaron had produced a fake Pokémon Doctor License bought from a bargain shop—and apparently thought nothing of bringing both into one of the most dangerous unexplored secret zones in Hualis.

Grant could not decide whether that counted as incredible foresight or evidence of a serious problem.

Probably both.

...

The Froslass continued examining the certificate with complete seriousness. They had no idea what an Official Bargain Shop Seal meant, which worked greatly in Aaron's favor. From their perspective, the strange two-legged creature had just shown them proof that he knew something about medicine.

He had a certificate.

They did not.

That was apparently persuasive enough to make them hesitate.

What if he really could help their queen? And what if they turned him away only for her condition to worsen?

The Froslass gathered together and discussed the matter in a chorus of soft cries. After a while, they finally reached a decision and stepped aside.

"Fros... lass."

Aaron glanced toward Corviknight.

"They'll let you enter," she translated. "They said that if you can cure their queen, they'll give you something valuable in return."

Aaron's face immediately lit up. He turned toward the expedition and tapped the System Backpack where he had stored the certificate.

"See? Credentials open doors."

Grant's expression went completely flat.

"Come on," Aaron said cheerfully. "They're letting us in."

He followed the Froslass toward the castle as though everything that had just happened were perfectly normal.

For several seconds, no one else moved.

Ryan was still trying to process the scene. "Grant... did Aaron just understand what those Froslass were saying?"

"Don't."

"And he's apparently a Pokémon doctor?"

"Ryan, I said don't."

"But—"

"I don't know." Grant rubbed his temples. "I stopped trying to understand that kid several hours ago."

The two technicians nodded in agreement. That seemed like the healthiest approach.

Grant sighed and waved everyone forward. "Come on. We're going in."

The expedition finally followed Aaron and the Froslass toward the enormous ice castle, disappearing one by one through its crystalline entrance.

...