Orihime has managed to win her fourth star medal. She's now eligible to enter the Ultimate Talent Star, but they're making some sort of detour first.

"Rukia, wait up!" Ichigo called, but Rukia was far ahead of the others. She was running with excitement because there was somewhere she wanted to go. "What is she running for?"

"I don't know, but it looks like she wants to get there as soon as possible." Orihime said. Rukia kept on running until started hitting a snow-covered land. That caused the others to stop in their tracks and shiver from the cold.

"Rukia, where are you going?!" Ichigo shouted as he was getting annoyed now. Rukia didn't let the snow stop her. She kept running until she stood in front of a lake.

"I finally made it! I made it to Lake Frost!" Rukia said as she was so happy to be here.

Pokemon

No time to question my moves

I stick to the path that I choose

Me and my friends are gonna do it right

You'll never see us runaway from a fight

To be a master is my dream

All I have to do is believe

(I believe)

I'm on a master quest

(Master quest)

I'm on my way to victory

I can be a champion if I just believe

I'm on a master quest

(Master quest)

I want the whole world to see

(I believe)

I'm gonna be the very best

Cause all I have to do is believe in me

Pokemon!

(Ichigo's voice) That's Not Ice

Rukia was excited to be at this lake, but the others were miserable from standing out in the cold.

"You could have warned us that we were going to be in a winter wonderland." Ichigo said. "What is this place? Why are you so excited to be here?"

"This is Lake Frost." Rukia said. "Just have a look around." All of them had a look around to see all kinds of pokemon around the lake, and they were all one type.

"They're all ice-type pokemon. Now it makes sense. Rukia loves ice-type pokemon. No wonder she wanted to be here so much." Chad said.

"There's that, but it's also because I heard many great things about this place. It's like a paradise to ice-type pokemon." Rukia said. "On top of that, this place is beautiful. Ever since I heard about this place, I always wanted to come here. For trainers like myself, this place is simply amazing."

"That's all good, but this place is freezing. We don't have any coats or anything to keep us warm." Ichigo said. "What are we going to do about that now?"

"Wait. Look." Orihime said as she pointed down the lake and they could see a pokemon center ahead. "We're in luck. There's a pokemon center here."

"And look who I see." Chad said. They all looked down the lake and spotted Nurse Joy at the lake as she was running a few experiments on the lake.

"Perfect." Ichigo said as they hurried over. "Hey! Nurse Joy!" He called and managed to get her attention.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Please do. We're freezing out here." Ichigo said.

"We're sorry to bother you while you're working right now, but we just got here and we had no idea this place would be covered in snow." Orihime said. "Can you please help us?"

"Oh my. Of course I can." Nurse Joy said. She looked towards Absol and was amazed. "Oh my! An Absol! I'm so use to seeing so many ice-types around here." She reached out and petted the side of Absol's head. "You're freezing yourself. All of you better come inside and try to get warm."

"Absol..."

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Ichigo said as they all moved inside. Once they were all inside, Nurse Joy treated all of them to hot chocolate and blankets.

"Thank you so much for this." Orihime said.

"It's my pleasure." Nurse Joy said. "I do have to say that it was rather reckless of you to come here without proper attire. You could catch a cold or maybe pneumonia."

"It's my fault. I was just so excited to come here." Rukia said.

"No argument here." Ichigo said. That caused Rukia to kick him in the shin. While they were all getting comfortable, Orihime looked inside a room and saw some ice-types resting and being treated by a bunch of Wigglytuff.

"Do you take care of all these pokemon?" Orihime said.

"Of course. It's my responsibility to take care of all the pokemon in the area." Nurse Joy said. "There are many ice pokemon around here, but ice can be hazardous."

"While we're here, we should make sure all of our pokemon are in great shape as well." Ichigo said. "I need to make sure they're all ready for when I find my next gym battle. Do you think you can, Nurse Joy?"

"Of course. I be happy to look at all your pokemon." Nurse Joy said.

"That would be great." Rukia said as she reached for her pokemon. "I've got a Dewgong, Cryogonal, and a Jynx. I would love for them to get checked out."

"Huh?" Nurse Joy said as she seemed nervous. "Aren't all of those ice-type pokemon?"

"Yeah. Ice-types are my favorite. I know they would really like it here." Rukia said as she held out her pokeballs. "Here. I'll let you have a look."

"No! Keep those pokemon in their pokeballs!" Nurse Joy said as she backed away from them. This confused all of them. She's acting different than how she did before.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked.

"I'll tell you what's wrong! I'm terrified of ice-types!" Nurse Joy said. This was a surprise to all of them, especially Rukia. They've never met a Nurse Joy that was terrified of pokemon before.

"I don't understand. You hate my pokemon? You haven't even seen them." Rukia said.

"It's not just your pokemon. I don't like ice-types at all." Nurse Joy said as she was acting scared. Rukia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"How can you be terrified of them? We just saw you working outside." Ichigo said.

"I was just checking the water temperature. I was making sure it was stimulated for the pokemon to live in." Nurse Joy said. "I know I work with ice-type pokemon, but I always make sure I'm wearing something to make sure I don't actually touch them. As long as I know they're healthy, I stay away from them. Please, Rukia, keep your pokemon in their pokeballs."

"I've never seen a Nurse Joy that was scared of any pokemon before." Orihime said. "How come you're so scared?"

"It all goes back to when I was younger." Nurse Joy said as she remembered an experience that haunts her. "I was just playing around with the pokemon..." Nurse Joy as a child loved playing in the snow and loved playing with all the pokemon. When she was playing with a Spheal near the lake, Spheal grabbed her by the coat and yanked her in the water. Nurse Joy flailed around the water and was scared out of her mind. None of the pokemon helped her either. They all thought she was playing and they played with her. If she hadn't pulled herself out of the lake, she would have drowned. "The Spheal thought we were playing, but I was scared out of my mind. Ever since that experience, I've been terrified of ice-type pokemon."

"That sounds rough." Chad said.

"No joke." Ichigo said.

"Well, if that's how you feel, I don't understand why you're a nurse." Rukia said as she seemed rather upset.

"I hope you don't think I let my fears get the better of me." Nurse Joy said. "I try my best not to let my fears get in the way of my work. As long as I don't have to actually touch them, I should be fine. I would still be happy to look at your pokemon, Rukia. I can run a scan of their pokeballs to see how they're doing."

"Forget it." Rukia said as she turned away from Nurse Joy and was rather annoyed. "I think I'll take them to a Nurse Joy that isn't scared of them."

"Rukia, I promise you that I won't let my fears stop me from making sure your pokemon are well and healthy." Nurse Joy insisted.

"Could you show us what you mean by that? If you're afraid of them, how do you do your job?" Orihime asked.

"Of course. I need to check on a couple of the pokemon anyway." Nurse Joy said. She took them to the room where all the ice-types were resting. She walked over to a couple Wigglytuff that were working with a sick Snorunt that refused to take its medicine. "I see Snorunt is still being stubborn. Get me my equipment."

"Wigglytuff!" Wigglytuff all moved and handed Nurse Joy everything she needs. She wore gloves, a bulky suit, and a scarf to ensure she doesn't feel the ice-types or the cold.

"Does she really need all that stuff?" Ichigo questioned.

"I guess so." Chad said.

"Okay." Nurse Joy said as she walked over and lifted Snorunt in her arms. She did her best to try and remain calm as she took a spoon of medicine. She tried to soothe Snorunt into taking the medicine. With a little help from Wigglytuff, she was able to feed Snorunt its medicine. "That's a good Snorunt." She placed Snorunt back down to sleep and felt a huge relief.

"I see. As long as she doesn't actually have to tough them, she has no problem doing her job." Chad said.

"But she's facing her fears, right? I still don't get why she's afraid?" Orihime asked.

"She might be facing her fears, but she's not conquering them." Ichigo said. "Some fears are just too hard to shake off." The others might be understanding, but Rukia still didn't seem to like it.

"See? I might be scared, but I need to put my fears aside to help all these pokemon." Nurse Joy said. "So what do you say, Rukia? Will you still let me see your pokemon?"

"No way." Rukia said as she still refused. "I think it's rather pathetic and ridiculous of you being a nurse that's afraid to help the very pokemon she practically lives with. If you can't get over your fears, I say you should quit being a nurse."

"Rukia, don't you think you're being a little harsh?" Chad said.

"You guys have to understand. Ice-types are my favorite." Rukia said. "I've been wanting to come to this lake for a long time. Now that I'm here, I find out that the Nurse Joy who works here is terrified of ice-types. I want my pokemon to enjoy this place, but if Nurse Joy, someone who all pokemon love and admire, is scared of them, what am I suppose to do? How can I trust the care of my pokemon to someone who might be scared of them?

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Rukia." Nurse Joy said as she does feel bad. "I just can't help how I feel." It is tough when someone hates something you love, but there's no time for that.

"Beartic!" They all looked and saw a Beartic with a cone around it's neck was flailing around.

"Oh my! Beartic, what's wrong?!" Nurse Joy said. Beartic kept flailing it's head around. Nurse Joy tried to get it to calm down, but Beartic swung it's claw and knocked her down with her gear ripping apart.

"Are you okay?!" Ichigo asked as he helped her back up.

"Yes, but I don't think poor Beartic is." Nurse Joy said. Beartic was acting like it was in great pain. It certainly didn't help when Beartic dropped to the ground with his cone falling off. Beartic needed urgent help. "I need to do something."

"Wait. You don't have your protective gear. What about your fears?" Rukia asked.

"I can't let that stop me." Nurse Joy said. She brought all the courage she could. She walked over to Beartic and tried focusing on her job, not her fear. She placed her hand on Beartic and tried to soothe it. "Looks like a fever. This Beartic is suffering from it's neck injury. Wigglytuff, let's get to work."

"Wigglytuff!" All the Wigglytuff helped as best as they could. Ichigo and the others were impressed with how Nurse Joy was working. Nurse Joy continued to work with her bringing the fever down and getting a new cone around Beartic.

"There we go. Beartic should be doing much..." Nurse Joy began to pass out from her fear taking a toll on her, but Chad was able to catch her.

"Wow..." Rukia said as she began to see that she was wrong about this Nurse Joy.

...

Later

Once Nurse Joy did what she could, she helped the group out by giving them some coats they can wear to deal with the cold.

"You all do be careful out there." Nurse Joy said.

"We will, and thanks for all the help." Ichigo said.

"Nurse Joy, I'm sorry about my behavior earlier." Rukia said. "Seeing what you just did for Beartic sold it."

"It's quite all right, Rukia." Nurse Joy said. "I understand how you feel. I might still be afraid of ice-types, but I can't let my fear stop me from doing my job. Speaking of which, you're still looking for a gym battle, Ichigo?"

"Yeah." Ichigo said.

"You're in luck. Tsuguru City is just over that mountain." Nurse Joy said as she pointed towards a mountain. "There's a gym there. You might like it, Rukia. That gym specializes with ice-type pokemon."

"An ice-type gym? Sounds interesting." Ichigo said.

"I like to see that." Rukia said.

"Looks like I know where I'm going to get that seventh badge now." Ichigo said as he was looking forward to this.

Our heroes see what it means when you face your fears. Nurse Joy might be afraid, but she still pushes herself through to do what she must. Now, they have the next destination for Ichigo's next gym battle. What kind of icy fun can we expect from this? Stay tune to find out.

To Be Continued...

Pokemon Question: Here we are, trainers. The answer to the last question is...Staryu. Staryu doesn't mind or get concerned when it's nibbled on my other pokemon because it can regenerate. Here's the next question. What pokemon has been around since the Ice Age and is quite popular in hot regions?