9 The Boy from the North

Yoh and Manta find an Ainu traveler called HoroHoro passed out by a snowman (though it's summer) and take him home, where Anna allows him to stay provided he helps keeping the house. Later, HoroHoro reveals he can also see spirits and that he's come to Tokyo to fulfill his dream of creating a vast field of petasites where the koro-pok-guru, spirits of his people's folklore, could live. He used to sell Ainu handicraf for a living, but he had all his pieces stolen. Anna worries that he might be a shaman trying to eliminate opponents before the start of the Shaman Fight. When they attempt to investigate, HoroHoro goes missing. They find him outside fighting a group of Kyonshii with his koro-pok-guru guardian spirit, Kororo, embodied in his snowboard. Yoh joins the fight and HoroHoro finishes them off. Later, he explains he suspected they had stolen his things and tracked them to Yoh's house, where he watched them from afar until he passed out due to hunger. However, Anna explains they were simply sent by the Tao family to kill Yoh. HoroHoro later finds his belongings at a police station where he learns they were confiscated so they would not block the sidewalk. Still having nowhere to go, he returns to Yoh's house.