A bone-chilling wind had blown with blinding snow falling across the Derecha Mountains as two young Pokemon would try to brave the elements. With only tattered robes to shield the two, they would trod through the blizzard, very slowly progressing on their hike.
"Colin, are we theeeeere yet!?", the smaller Pokemon complained. She was a Pachirisu, a unique one whose points atop her tail spikes and ears were concave.
The taller one had replied, "Not yet, Karen! Don't worry, we'll get there!". This Pokemon was a Buizel, also unique to his species due to the usual fin-like strands on the top of his head being three strands branching out in different directions.
"Ugh... Come oooooon! How much longer!?", Karen continued to complain.
"We haven't reached the peak yet... We still have a bit..."
"This is insaaaaane!"
The Buizel was kind of annoyed and turned back at the squirrel Pokemon, "I'm sorry, but you agreed to come along with me!". He would slightly calm himself before continuing, "We have to brave through this together... If we want to look for answers..."
The Pachirisu had snapped out of her stubborn ranting, frowning a bit, "...I guess you're right...", then they would continue to trek through the blinding snowstorm a ways.
After much time of struggling to wade through the snow during the driving snowstorm, the two had come across a welcome sight; a cavern entrance. At the sight of it, Colin yelled, "Hey look! It's a cave!". The Pachirisu had rejoiced, "Yay! Finally, some shelter! I'm freezing my tail off!". The two would slowly trod toward the entrance until they had gotten inside the cave. The cave was small, but had more than enough room for the two to settle down for a break. With that, Colin gathered some of the sticks and twigs lying around in the cave and proceeded to start a little fire. The two would then sit close to the fire to warm up. "Damn, does it feel good to feel heat again!", the Buizel happily declared. "Got that right!", Karen replied as she was just as happy to finally be out of the bitter cold.
After some time passed warming up near the flame, Karen muttered as she turned to Colin, "So you think we'll find stuff out when we get there?".
"We can only hope... It has the best reputation of all the guilds and our fathers even worked there! If there's any place to look, it would be there.", Colin would reply.
Karen turned to the fire, "I see..."
Some more time would pass before Karen turned to the Buizel again "Colin?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think we would make good explorers like our dads?"
With some enthusiasm in his voice, Colin answered, "Of course! All those times of playing Explorers as kids will certainly pay off!"
Karen was a bit concerned, "But those were just kiddy games... the real thing will be much tougher."
"Well yeah, but..." Colin's confidence faded a bit, "Well, I guess you have a point..." Then after a bit of an extended pause, he would assure his friend again, "But we'll bui fine! This journey to the Guild will certainly test us! If we can make it, maybui we'll have what it takes!"
Karen's expression sorta lit up, her confidence boosted a bit, "You're right!"
The two would sit there, staring into the fire, thinking of why they were taking this journey. Memories of that very day that changed their lives, the day those four Rank X outlaws attacked their village. Karen being thrown against a tree by one of the Pokemon's punches, Colin rushing to her side and prepared to defend her even if it meant certain death, then the image of those outlaws assembled together as they announced the message they aimed to deliver later that day... they would think on it as if it had just happened the day before, though said events had occurred 5 years prior.
"Karen?"
"Yeah?"
"We have to know more about them... we must pursue them... we can't let them hurt any more Pokemon!"
The ele-squirrel Pokemon nodded in agreement, "Right! Collie... Let's never give up!"
The Buizel would confidently nod, "You got that right!" The two would then stay in the cave, camping there for the night.
As the sunshine of the next day dawned outside the cave, the two would awaken. The Buizel checked outside and he was delighted to see the blizzard had passed.
"Hey look, the snow stopped!", he pointed out to his companion.
Also being happy with this development, Karen would cheer, "Yay! All that nasty snow and wind is over!".
"This will certainly speed things up!", the Buizel announced, "Let's continue up the mountain, we still have a ways to go."
Though she still wasn't thrilled with the thought of continuing the climb, the Pachirisu was happy the biting wind and driving snow was a thing of the past, "Alright, let's get this over with!", she would reply. With that, the two would continue their hike through the snow-covered mountain path. As the day went on, they would progress further up the mountain. The two robed Pokemon would eventually come to a point where there was a steeper incline in front of them with what looked like a snow-covered stairway in the middle.
"Huh?", the Buizel wondered, "A stairway? Way up here in the mountains?". Plagued with curiosity, the two would climb the stairway. As they reached the top of the stairs, they would be met with the sight of an old building. "Woah, a building up here in the mountains!?", the Buizel was astonished as the two approached the structure, "Looks like it might bui abandoned..."
The ele-squirrel Pokemon, just as surprised though much more curious, would quickly exclaim "We should take a look inside! It would be nice to get out of this cold!"
Colin nodded in agreement and the two would enter the building. As they walked out of the cold and into the abandoned structure, the cold air they were plagued with as they ascended the mountain seemed to vanish from their senses; it seemed quite warm inside the building.
"Damn, does it ever feel great to feel warmth like this again!", the Buizel sounded out.
The Pachirisu would wholeheartedly agree, "Yeah! It feels so much better in here!"
"Well, while we're in here, we should look around. It's rather odd that a place this old and run-down is still so warm this high up and in the cold! Plus, it seems like this place is in our way", the Buizel explained, "We might have to pass through here to continue onwards."
"Yup, agreed!", the Pachirisu said with a nod before the two pressed on.
They would look around, catching sight of some clues as to what this place was. There was no hiding the fact this was an old structure; there were cracks here and there along the walls and even some holes. There were holes in the wooden floors as well. There were a few stone tablets, either hanging on the wall or broken on the floor. Colin approached one and tried to read it but much of it was faded away, though there were vague mentions of "the Original One" and prayer in what could be read. They then went on into a hallway, met with much of the same structural decay. There were aged or broken pots along the corners. Paintings on the walls of this hall caught the two's eyes, partially faded but what could be discerned were images of worship toward a holy Pokemon, one wearing a yellow cross-like wheel. It became obvious what kind of place this was; it was an old temple of worship, presumably for the Alpha Pokemon Arceus. Something else that caught their attention, perhaps more than the paintings, was the torches lining the walls and the fact that they were lit.
"These torches… they had to be lit recently!", Karen pointed out.
"You're right… it's possible there could be someone else here…", Colin responded, getting a feeling that they're not alone. They reached the end of the hallway, a door now sits in front of them with crumbled statues sitting on both sides beside it. This door was very slightly open a tad; someone was definitely here, they thought.
The two Pokemon looked at each other, then resolved to proceed to opening the door and into the room behind it. A few rows of pews lined both sides of the aisle before them, a few steps leading to a lectern at the other end of the room just after the pews, faded and/or torn decorations lining the wall across from them, lit torches here and there, an organ on the corner of the room; this was the chapel of this temple. Not long at all after they entered the room, they noticed a figure on the other end of the room behind the lectern. This Pokemon was looking the other way before it soon turned its head a bit. "It's been a while, you two."
The two perked up, a familiar voice? The figure turned around and would take a few steps forward, around the lectern. As it approached, the two would look surprised.
"No way… You're…" Colin began.
"Lenny!?", Karen finished.
The figure approached the Buizel and Pachirisu, his features would reveal in the light of the torches as he got closer. A Grovyle that towered the two, one that seemed to be familiar with them, had shown himself with a bit of a smirk, "Heh, I'm glad you both remember me…"
"Of course we remember you! You're our friend, we grew up together!", Colin exclaimed.
"Heheh, yeah. I suppose you're right!", Lenny responded happily.
"Hey, you look different… did you evolve!?", Karen questioned curiously.
"Yes… I have gotten quite a bit stronger in these past 5 years…", the Grovyle answered.
Colin looked on then blurted out, "Hey, you don't have your big tail anymore!", a statement that sorta annoyed Lenny. "You'd definitely be better at Explorers now, that's for sure!", the Buizel laughed a bit.
Lenny would reply, keeping his cool, "Pfff, I have no time for kiddy games like that anymore, dear friend."
Colin would nervously laugh, as would Karen. Then after a bit Lenny grew a bit of a grin, "However…" The Grovyle would brandish his arm leaves toward the sea weasel Pokemon. "I think I have some time for this!", he said before his acted out a false swipe toward Colin, prompting him to jump back a bit. Karen was caught off guard too, shrieked a bit in surprise as she stepped back as well. Colin was surprised as well before recovering from his reaction. He would think a bit on what just happened before realizing, "A sparring match…?", followed by him wearing a determined grin, "Heh, bring it!" Both Colin and Lenny seemed to be eager to show off each other's strength. Karen stepped back a bit more, watching in a bit of awe to see this.
A sparring match right off the bat… these two are psyched to see each other for sure! How will this turn out? Why is their old friend up here in a place like this? What of the details of Colin and Karen's journey? Lots to find out, lots to look forward to as their journey continues!
A/N: Got around to fixing typos and revising some stuff pointed out by a reviewer back when I first posted this chapter. I'd like to thank the reviewer for their input and would like to say that I encourage constructive criticism as I'm kinda new to writing stories overall.