Parcly Taxel: I next woke up at six in the morning, gorging on a bagel with salmon and vegetable fillings for breakfast paired with a large coffee cup. The snow banks outside had only thickened from the night's snowfall, while sunlight began to run over the higher peaks and reflect a brilliant white.

Spindle: Parcly had signed up the previous night with a mountain guide for a walk in the snow beside Taishō Lake (大正池), formed after an eruption of the nearby Mount Yake (焼岳) blocked a river. The simmering volcano and nearby mountains, of which Mount Hotaka (穂高岳) is the largest, contribute to a prefectural border and a good chunk of the 100 "famous Japanese mountains".

Parcly: It was very far from the Raisho though – I ended up flying for just over an hour behind the guide, through two curving and minimally lit tunnels beside occasional vehicle traffic, after traversing a 10 km stretch of National Route 158. Of course this was a necessary prelude, since the whole area is itself part of a national park.

Then the two of us waded into a field untouched by any hoof since last night's snowfall. I got a set of four hinged snowshoes and a ski pole; notwithstanding the differences in body weight between creatures, the point of the first piece of equipment is to distribute weight across a larger area of snow and thus let the pony (or gryphon or kirin or similar) sink less.

Spindle: After fitting the shoes Parcly's whole frame sank one hoof-length, but she got into a rhythm quickly. Her reward was a view of the Kamikōchi (上高地) range, including Mounts Hotaka and Yake, so sweeping and clear and intricately decorated that she planted her face in the snow trying to comprehend this sledgehammer of beauty.

Parcly: Light winter breezes chopped up the lake's reflection of white-top soil punctured by dense forest all along the mountains later in the morning, though, so I moved on. My guide showed me footprints of little critters in the fresh snow, and I followed one such trail into another open part of lakeside, where the responsible critter was awaiting.

It was a Glaceon.

Fluttershy: Having lured Parcly with its charming gait, the Pokémon pointed intently at a lone barren tree, insinuating by charade that it would race her to there. Half-nervous at the proposal, the alicorn ultimately agreed and set off herself… only for one snowshoe to partially dislodge halfway through, trapping her slanted. The Glaceon then purred beside holding paw to mouth, completing the embarrassment.

Spindle: Already out there for about 1.5 hours, Parcly and the guide decided that they were deep enough and drank hot lemonade before retracing their path, through the same tunnels and same majestic scenery. Mental gaps were filled with the new perspective, giving both of us a coherent and fond memory of the place.

Parcly: For us Raicho was a bed-and-breakfast; we had already packed our luggage before the lake excursion, so only needed to check out before descending the mountains towards our next accommodation.

Spindle: Down the 158 and then the expressways we went, a journey taking pretty much as long as the two-way time for the lake trip. Even under direct sunlight the winter chill kept piercing Parcly's body, being harsher on this side of the mountains than in (say) Tokyo. (In fact the mountain range we stayed in the previous night is alternatively called the Japanese Alps.)

Parcly: I had lunch on the expressway, once again sandwiches and drinks as a time-saving measure. By coincidence I also arrived at the Wellies hotel in Karuizawa (軽井沢) around sunset at 5pm, where namesake Wellington boots were lined up near reception. This was a subtle hint for the sequel…

Octavia: Surprise, surprise. I happen to run this hotel alongside Vinyl, and had my say in the decor of this "British" place: hearth, table lamp, lavish furniture, dozens of paintings, moose head, Beatlemania, even a gramophone in every room out of Vinyl's insistence. I had welcome tea with the slightly less refined but still agreeable princess Parcly – not that being refined is a virtue to any degree.

Parcly: Afterwards I went to the local outlet mall, a veritable sprawl of cookie-cutter shops surrounding some green spaces now decked with blinding Hearth's Warming lights, blue or otherwise. We found a food court there, but decided to have dinner at Kawakami-An (川上庵) instead, a proper restaurant meal of hot soba and assorted cooked food (including oden) to end the day.