"A New Beginning Part 1: A Never Ending Winter"

Winter sat on a large boulder in the clearing at the center of a large forest. He was in a land newly discovered. It was called Vatonage. The cold wind blew by as he continued to sit still, waiting. His ice-like eyes scanned the forest around him and his ears pricked at each noise. Suddenly a girl ran from the left, nearly running into the boulder. She looked up at him with eyes that were pleading for help. Winter jumped down from the boulder and stepped in front of the girl as a group of people dressed in odd outfits approached.

"Glacier! Ice beam!" Winter called, throwing his poke ball. His Glaceon, Glacier, popped out and used Ice beam, directing the attack just ahead of the enemy, giving them a warning. They all looked at each other before quickly making the decision to run back into the woods.

"Thank you so much… uhm…" the girl told him, trailing off when she realized she didn't know his name.

"Winter. My name is Winter. And don't worry about it; I did what anyone would do." Winter smiled, offering a hand to the girl.

"Thank you, Winter. My name's Dawn." Dawn smiled, shaking Winter's extended hand. She looked around confused. She had no idea where she was or how she got here, but she didn't want to tell Winter that. Winter stared skeptically at Dawn, making her blush out of nervousness.

"You're dressed like its summer. It's winter you know. It's always winter in Vatonage."

"Vatonage? What…? Well now that you mention it, I am a bit cold…" Dawn muttered, rubbing her arms. Winter smiled to himself and took off his jacket, placing it around Dawn. He only had a short sleeved shirt on underneath it, but he was used to the cold. Dawn wrapped the jacket around herself gratefully and was surprised at how warm it was.

"You're new here. Come on, let's get to town… You're going to need warmer clothes if you're going to be here." Winter said with a smile. He looked around for his Glaceon. "Glacier! Let's go!" he called. Glacier ran up to him and walked on his left side, as Dawn walked on his right. They were headed for the town of Valor, Winter's home. The land only had a few towns since it was new, but the town of Vengeance was becoming city-like. Winter explained all the details about Vatonage, the cold weather, the small towns, and the kinds of Pokémon. "There's a legend about the weather you know. It's written on the walls inside the Cave of Valor, which is obviously near the town Valor. They say this land was fought over by all of the legendary ice-type Pokémon, and because of all their fighting it was permanently incased in ice. Or, something like that, I honestly was never one for paying attention in history classes." Winter rambled on.

Dawn was very interested in this land. The legend seemed mysterious. Why would the ice-type Pokémon fight over this land? Maybe it had secrets hidden in it. "History classes?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, you know, classes about the past? History? My mom makes me go to school, wants me to be a scientist or something. I'm not the smart-type though."

"Oh… Is that Glaceon the only Pokémon you have?"

"Yeah, it was an Eevee hatched from an egg. My dad left it behind when he went on a search five years ago about the Ruins of Vatonage… he never came back."

"Oh…" Dawn murmured, biting her lip a bit and wishing she hadn't asked that. She was curious about Winter, there seemed to be something… different… about him. She wondered how long they'd been walking. Everything looked the same, trees and trees and still more trees. And snow. There was a lot of snow. "How big is the forest?" she asked.

"Very big." Winter replied quickly. He was lost in thought. Something to him seemed odd about Dawn. He knew that she had no idea where she was or how she got to this land. He knew something was wrong. Why wasn't she saying anything about it? Who were those people after her? Glacier made an agitated sound and glanced off to the left. Winter followed his Pokémon's eyes and saw someone hiding in the trees. "…Summer? Is that you?" Winter called to the figure.

"Darnit! How do you guys always see me?" Summer's voice called, though in her anger she slipped from the trees and fell to the ground. "Owwww!"

Winter laughed hysterically. "It's because you're so easy to spot, Summer." He said as he tried to hold back his laughter. A girl appeared from the trees, she had long, golden hair, and green eyes that reminded Dawn of the grass back home. Her face was flustered and she was obviously angry at Winter's reaction to her fall.

"You're such a jerk!" she whined, punching him on the shoulder. "Who's this? Your new girlfriend?"

"What? No! She's new here, her name's Dawn!" Winter replied, acting a bit defensive.

"Winter has a crush on the new girl!" Summer sang teasingly.

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Uhmmm…" Dawn broke in. "Nice to meet you… Summer…"

"Oh, yeah, nice to meet you too, Dawn." Summer said in a rushed way. "Anyway…" Summer said, turning back to Winter, "I wanted to tell you your mom's real mad that you've been skipping school."

"I don't care about school. I don't want to be a scientist." Winter muttered angrily. He walked off and Dawn and Summer followed. They still had a long way to walk, and he really didn't feel like talking anymore. His ears pricked at an odd noise further up and he returned Glacier. He ran ahead to the top of the hill on which the path was on. He looked down the hill and saw three people wearing the same odd uniforms from earlier. One of them seemed to be a higher rank than the other two. He quietly let Glacier back out. "Stall them." He told his Pokémon, jerking his thumb back at Dawn and Summer. His Pokémon seemed a bit confused, but ran back to stall the girls.

Winter took a deep breathe and slid down the hill. The three men at the bottom looked up at him. Their expressions clearly said "What is he doing?". Winter charged at the one who looked higher-up in the ranks and gave him a good punch to the jaw. He swung around down low with one leg out, tripping the other two. He turned back to the man he'd punched and kneed him in the groin, before head-butting him. He looked back at the two he'd tripped and whacked them both unconscious. He dragged the three bodies into the trees and walked back to the top of the hill. "Are you guys coming?" he called out, Glacier ran back to him and Winter returned him.

"Glacier was acting real strange." Summer told Winter, but Winter just shrugged. The three of them kept on walking. Dawn was growing suspicious of Winter. Something about him bothered her. She couldn't figure out what it was though. After they walked for hours they finally appeared at the edge of the woods. In front of them was a small town, Valor. Dawn glanced around at the small buildings covered in snow, and the people going about their daily lives. It was an interesting place to be. Summer said goodbye to them and headed off towards her house, where she had chores to do. Winter looked at Dawn and smiled, though she could tell something was troubling him. He led her to a shop, and they walked inside. Dawn gave Winter back his jacket and bought some warmer clothes for herself, changing into them in the changing room. Then the two of them walked outside. "Better?" Winter asked.

"Much better." Dawn replied. She looked around and saw some kid with hair that looked like grains of sand approaching them.

"Hey! W.D.! Where ya been man? You've been outta town for days."

"Hey Sandy." Winter grumbled irritably. "I've been in the forest. On the boulder."

"The whole time?"

"Of course."

"You're crazy man." Sandy shook his head, then his ocean blue eyes fell on Dawn. "Who's she? Your new girlfriend?"

"No. She's not. Why do you people ask that? Her name's Dawn and she's new here." Winter retorted, even more irritated.

"You don't gotta be so defensive, W.D.! "

"I'm not being defensive! And stop calling me that, you know I HATE it!" Winter said, his right eye twitched for a moment and he clenched his fists.

"Man, you're so irritable lately. Something's up with you bro, and you know you're gonna hurt someone bad."

Winter turned and walked away, his fists clenched so hard his dull nails cut the skin and drops of blood fell onto the snow. Dawn watched Winter go, not sure if she should follow him or not. She was thinking about what Sandy had said too. What was wrong with Winter? She didn't know him well, and hadn't known him in the past, so she wouldn't notice any change in behavior… but Sandy seemed to know him well, and Summer too. As she thought about it, she began wondering why everyone seemed to look and act like their name. Winter had ice-like eyes and hair that looked like a small animal's winter coat. His personality had a cold edge too. Summer had golden hair like the sun and life-filled green eyes. Her personality seemed cheery too. And Sandy had a laid-back personality with grainy sand-colored hair and ocean-blue eyes. It seemed strange. She'd spent so long thinking, Sandy and Winter were both gone. She was alone in the town Valor and she had no idea what to do. Then she heard the loudest yelling in the world.

"WINTER DUSK FALLS! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN YOUNG MAN?" a woman's voice boomed, echoing through the small town. Everyone seemed to ignore it, like it was something normal. Dawn followed the sound and peeked around the corner of a house to see a woman, who was most likely Winter's mom, yelling at Winter.

"I told you! I don't want to be a scientist! You can't make me! I hate this place!" Winter yelled back, punching a tree next to him. The trunk smashed to his blow, making a hole inside the large, solid tree trunk. His mother took a step back, but did not give up yelling at him for skipping school and being out of town for so long. "I'm just here to get my things. I'm leaving. I'm leaving and you can't stop me!" Winter yelled, pushing his mother down and running inside, locking the door. Dawn was shocked at what she'd just witnessed. The strength he had. The anger inside him. Sandy was right, he could really hurt someone.

Winter mumbled as he packed everything he needed. She was never his mother. She would never be his mother. She didn't know anything about him because she only cared about herself. He put his pack around his back and jumped out the window of his room. He landed right next to a surprised Dawn. "Dawn? What're you doing here?" he asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw his mother over to them, she was too busy trying to open the door. Winter grabbed Dawn by the wrist and dragged her away from the house. They stopped at the edge of town, by the forest. "Now you can answer."

"I… was looking for you."

"… I thought you went with Sandy. You didn't follow me, so I thought you either followed him or left."

"No, I was wondering if I should follow you or not, but I got so lost in thought I wound up alone."

"I… I guess you saw what I did then…" Winter muttered with a flinch. "Sandy's right. You should just walk away before you get hurt." Winter continued as he started to walk away into the woods. To his surprise, Dawn followed him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, catching Winter completely off-guard. No one had ever asked or cared about him. Never asked what he wanted, what he minded, or what was wrong with him. They only talked about it like it was something in a fairy tale, a legend that no one really believed or cared about in the end.

Winter stopped walking and Dawn stopped too. Winter stared into Dawn's eyes and Dawn stared back. Winter broke down and started to cry. "No one's ever cared…" he sobbed. Dawn bit her lip and hugged Winter reassuringly. Winter continued to cry as Dawn held him close.

"It'll be okay…" Dawn reassured, though she wasn't sure what was wrong in the first place or how it would get better. Dawn held Winter's hand and they started to walk again. Winter told Dawn about how no one ever asked him what he wanted or how he felt. He told her that no one knew him for who he was, but for who they wanted him to be. He told her how every word they said had a hidden insult thrown at him. He was nothing to everyone else. They didn't care.

"I care…" Dawn offered after Winter had finished telling her about it. He looked at her with a weak smile. It wasn't much, but it was something. "I care." She said again, squeezing his hand. They continued to walk and talk and they learned a lot about each other. That's when Dawn realized something. "My Pokémon! They're gone!" she exclaimed, surprised she hadn't noticed.

"The people who were after you must have it. I wonder why they brought you here…" Winter supplied his most reasonable answer, followed by his biggest question. "If you want your Pokémon we're going to have to find them."

Dawn nodded, she knew Winter was right. She didn't know who those people were. At first she'd thought they were Team Galactic, but when she realized their uniforms were different she'd become completely confused. Those strangers abducted her for a reason, but what reason could that be? And why did they take her Pokémon? Had they kidnapped her because of her Pokémon or solely because of her? So many questions she couldn't answer. Dawn felt her head spin and actually started to fall from dizziness. Winter noticed dawn falling and quickly caught her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes." Dawn replied, blushing when she realized Winter was holding her. Winter realized he was still holding her and blushed too. He let go of her and scratched his head.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay, really! I mean… I mean…" Dawn reacted oddly, not sure what to say or where she was even going. The two of them stood awkwardly for a few moments before they started to walk on again. It suddenly became very awkward between the two. Winter seemed to be lost in thought, and would always wind up staring at Dawn while he was thinking. Dawn noticed this, but said nothing, lost in her own thoughts.

"Hey Dawn…"

"Hmm?"

"Where are your friends? Do you think they're looking for you?"

"I doubt they'd look here… they'll probably look for a while around Sinnoh, but they'll probably continue on their adventure." Dawn replied with a fake smile, pretending everything was okay. They both knew everything was not okay.

"Am I made of glass 'cause you see right through me…" Winter muttered in a singing voice. He'd been to the REAL world. He'd heard very interesting music. The odd thing was that he'd never been a main character, or even in the show, it had never occurred to him that he'd be replaced just for being an extra. He was glad he'd been saved.

"What's that?" Dawn asked.

"…Dawn… Sinnoh's gone isn't it? You're lying. You've already been replaced, right? You were really just trying to find a place in Isshu." Winter said, seemingly emotionless.

"You've been replaced…?"

"I was an extra… I didn't even know I could be replaced. I was just walking around the forest when BAM! I was all of a sudden at Pokémon USA. I'm sure you can guess the rest."

"So that was music from the real world you were singing?"

"Yeah… They've got good music there."

"Yeah… it's an interesting place…" Dawn muttered, grabbing Winter's hand again and squeezing it tightly. She was nervous. And she was scared. She wanted to change the topic. "Your mom… when she yelled your full name… Your middle name is Dusk?"

"Yeah. Dusk. The opposite of dawn." Winter replied, aware of Dawn's fear. He wished he could explain that everything would be okay. He wasn't allowed to though. They shouldn't even be talking about replacement, though it was probably safe in Vatonage. Then again… they'd found him… Only one person had been caught twice, but that had been his own fault. He'd tried to confront the CEO. Big mistake. But was that really a relevant thing to be thinking of? Oh well…

They walked for a long while and soon ended up at the town Verity. Dawn began wondering why everything seemed to start with a "v" but there were more important things to be thinking about. Winter grew a bit nervous as they walked through Verity; it was a bit bigger and busier than Valor. Dawn was used to the busier towns and this still was nothing like busy to her, but to Winter, who had never left Valor, this was insanity. "M-maybe we should… find a different town…" he muttered nervously.

Dawn laughed at his nervousness, his body was shaking. "It's okay Winter, this is barely busy to what I've seen. You'll be fine. Trust me." Dawn marveled at the people in this place. She basically knew everyone's name. There was a girl with yellow hair, not as golden as Summer's, and bright orange eyes with a slight tan and a sunny personality. Her name was Sunny. Everyone was just like that. They were their name. It was fascinating. Winter didn't seem to share Dawn's fascination, obviously because he was used to it. It didn't take long for them to find a suspicious looking building. It was quite obviously a hideout, and a sinister one at that.

"You think they're in there?" Winter asked Dawn as he glanced around nervously. He had the feeling he was being watched and he hated it. It was most likely just paranoia, but still. Dawn noticed him glancing around as if they were being watched and began to realize she felt it too.

"Probably." She replied. "Shall we go in?"

"Yeah. Let's do that." Winter replied quickly, anything to get away from all the people. The two of them walked up to the door and knocked on it.

"What's the password?" a gruff voice asked from the other side of the door. Dawn was disappointed. Password? How could they get in if they needed a password? Winter seemed to be thinking about it as if he knew the password.

"Dawn." He said, pushing Dawn into the bushes. The door opened as Dawn was hidden. He'd gotten the password right. It was pure luck, really. He hoped Dawn didn't think he was apart of this group. The man who'd opened the door led him inside, locking it afterwards. He was a middle-aged man, he had a gruff looking face to match his voice, and it looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"You must be a new recruit. Welcome to the hideout of Team Vigor."

Dawn had been paralyzed in shock after Winter had pushed her down after using her name as the password. He had been right. Had it really been luck or was he apart of the group? Then again, why would he have pushed her out of sight? Why would he have helped her back when she was being chased? Maybe he was just gaining her trust… Maybe it was all a lie… Dawn hated this. She hated thinking badly of someone who seemed so lost and was kind deep down. She knew it had been luck, a guess, they were after her, so why not make it the password? It had just been logical thinking that had gotten him in. She could hear the man's gruff voice through the wall. "You must be a new recruit. Welcome to the hideout of Team Vigor." Team Vigor? Now she'd heard everything! Why did everything start with a "v"?

Winter listened intently as the man told him all about the hideout, where everything was and how to get there. He was told about secret passages and about prisoner holding cells. He was told where Pokémon from prisoners were kept. He was told everything. Everything but the one thing he wanted to know. He did not learn what they needed from Dawn. "I guess you're one of those 'undercover' recruits since they didn't give you a uniform. Honestly, I think it's just an excuse because we're out of uniforms, but don't tell the higher-ups I said that."

"Don't worry, sir, I won't." Winter replied. He was told to go look around town for any signs of someone who seemed like a foreigner in Vatonage. He said he could do that easy and left; the door was shut tight behind him. He glanced around before pulling Dawn out of the bushes. "Well, I learned everything except what I wanted to know. Let's get the heck outta here." He told her, before pulling her by the arm as they ran off. They found a coffee shop and sat at one of the tables inside. They ordered hot chocolate because they were both really cold. "They didn't tell me what they needed from you, but I know where your Pokémon are being kept, and a bunch of secret passages to the building. I know basically everything but the one question we both want to know the answer to. Too bad, huh?"

"Yeah, but at least we can get my Pokémon back." Dawn replied as she drank the hot chocolate. She was still a bit skeptical about how Winter had gotten in and she knew that he knew it.

"You think I'm a part of them? I'm not! Really! It was a lucky guess… something inside me just knew it." Winter said in a wince. He didn't want her to think he was a liar. She was the only true friend he had.

"I never said I thought that…"

"You didn't have to say it… you were thinking it…"

"I'm just a bit skeptical is all, but I believe you… I know you're not like that." Dawn told him confidently. She knew deep down he wasn't bad. She was afraid that because they thought he was their new recruit, there would be a misunderstanding and she would stop believing him. Like in stories. She knew she'd regret thinking about that, because it would just make it happen. But you can't change the past, so oh well.

Winter sighed and finished his drink. He wondered what they were going to do now. Should they go and get Dawn's Pokémon? What if they'd known he wasn't a recruit and it was a trap? He didn't want Dawn to get in trouble. She was already in danger, that much he knew. "Dawn… I think you should hide and I'll get your Pokémon. What if they knew I wasn't a recruit? It could be a trap…"

"I don't care if it's a trap or not, I'm going with you."

"No, please, if it's a trap you'll probably get caught and who knows what they're going to do. I don't want to put you in danger."

"I'm already in danger since they're looking for me. I won't let them catch me, okay?"

"You don't know for sure that you can just escape…"

"I'm going. That's final."

Winter sighed, if there's one thing he knew about women, it's that when they say "That's final" they mean it. There is no changing their mind after that. He looked outside the window their table was next to. People were walking by every now and then. There were some ice-type Pokémon walking along the streets too. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew something was going to go wrong. He just knew.

Dawn stared at Winter for a moment before dragging him outside. "Alright, how do we get in?" she asked. He sighed, shook his head, and then began leading her through the town. They stopped in the center; there was a giant stone tablet. It had ancient writing on it. There was nobody nearby so Winter kneeled down and pressed a rock near the tablet. It slid, revealing steps going down. The two of them rushed down the steps as the tablet slid back into place. There were torches lit revealing a stone hallway. It was a passage from ancient times. Though Winter did not find history fascinating, he was always a bit intrigued by the ancient signs of civilization. What had happened to these locals? No one knew. They made their way through the hall, it was cold and the air was thick and hard to breathe in.

Dawn clung to Winter out of nervousness. She was starting to feel like she was buried alive. What if the passage collapsed? What if they got stuck? They would be stuck underground with no one to save them. Winter didn't seem to care about that or even notice it. He was focused ahead of them. He was worried about what might lay ahead of them. He was worried about a trap. Soon they came to a dead end, just like the man had said. Winter pressed a stone in the center and the wall quietly slid to the side. Winter glanced around before emerging from the passage way. No one was there, so he motioned for Dawn to follow. Dawn got out of the passage way gratefully; she took a few breaths, finally able to breathe right.

Winter grabbed Dawn's wrist tightly and led her down the chamber to where her Pokémon were. He had a firm grasp so he wouldn't lose her. He didn't want to lose her. He thought he heard Dawn mutter about him hurting her, but he wasn't really paying attention. They got to where her Pokémon were. There was still no sign of anyone. Dawn picked up her pokeballs carefully. No alarm. Something was up. Winter glanced around nervously. What was going on? Was it really that easy?

Dawn noticed how nervous Winter looked. He was obviously scared that something bad was going to happen, but Dawn was feeling quite confident. She was sure they'd gotten away with getting her Pokémon back. Dawn started to walk back to where Winter was when the floor opened up beneath her and she fell deeper underground. The last thing she head was Winter screaming her name.

Winter saw Dawn fall through a trap in the floor. "DAWN!" he yelled after her, starting to run towards the hole, but it was already closed. He'd had no idea that there was a floor even deeper underground than this one. He had no way of knowing… What was he going to do now? He had to rescue her. He HAD to.

He heard a clapping noise behind him. "Well done young man. You brought the girl to us. A very interesting plan you had, making her believe you were helping her get her Pokémon back. I'm amazed you pulled it off."

Winter cringed and spun around. He knew it would be best to agree, to make them believe he was still their agent. He could do that. But they would tell Dawn he'd led her to them. She might stop trusting him. She might leave him all alone again. She might get hurt. He knew the best chance he had at getting Dawn out was to make them believe he was their agent. "Y-yes… sir…"

"Don't be so nervous lad. I know I'm your boss, the leader of this fine organization, but you don't have to be afraid of me. Especially since you did such a good job!"

"Thank you, sir."

"What's your name?"

"Dusk." Winter lied, giving them his middle name.

"An interesting name indeed." The man smiled. "Would you like to visit your prisoner?"

"M-my prisoner, sir?"

"You caught her, she's your prisoner."

"What do you mean by that?" Winter asked, he was quite confused.

"You're in charge of how she's treated." the man replied, he didn't seem at all annoyed by Winter's questions.

"Sir, if… if you don't mind me asking, why do we need her?"

"Well, I suppose since she's your prisoner you deserve to know. She is the only one who can open the passage way to the secret the legendary ice Pokémon fought over all those years ago." The man told him, his face growing serious. "I know that's not enough of an explanation to you, you probably know nothing about it, but it is why we need her. Now come, I will show you where she is."

Winter followed the man through a complex series of stairs and hallways until they reached an ancient-looking wooden door. "She's in there." The man said, and then he simply left.

"Wait, sir, do you monitor these rooms?"

"No, why?"

"What if the prisoner overpowers their captor?"

"They won't be able to get out of here unnoticed." The man laughed. "You're very nervous of this girl. Now go on, talk to her. Nothing bad can happen." The man continued to walk away and was soon out of sight.

Winter took a deep breath and went into the room where Dawn was being kept. She was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, hugging her knees to her. Winter knew something was wrong. They had told her something. Something bad. She looked up at him and, for the first time, he saw hatred in her eyes. "What do you want?" she growled. If looks could kill I'd be dead… Winter thought to himself. He felt heartbroken. What had they told her? What could they have told her to make her hate him that much? How could she believe them?

"Dawn…"

"Go away. You're nothing but a liar."

"How… how am I a liar?"

"You were a part of them the whole time! You tricked me…" Dawn spat, she was angry but also heartbroken. She'd trusted him. She'd felt bad for him. All the while he was a monster. Nothing but a monster.

"No. I wasn't. How could you say that? What did they tell you to make you believe such lies?"

"They told me the truth! Get out of here!"

"Did they tell you why they need you?"

"…No…" Dawn muttered, wondering if he was going to tell her.

"They need you… because you're the only one who can lead them to the secret the ice Pokémon fought over all those years ago. That's what they just told me."

"…Get out."

Winter bit his lip and left the room. He slumped outside the door and felt tears begin to form in his eyes. His one and only friend hated him now. He had known this would happen. He had known. Why couldn't he have stopped her? Why couldn't he have saved her? Why did everything have to go wrong? Why…? He could hear Dawn crying through the door. She was in more trouble than ever and it was all his fault. He should've done a better job at protecting her. He was nothing but a failure. He always let everybody down. He always let everybody down…

"Dusk! Get up. I'm sending you on a very important mission!" a voice boomed, startling Winter greatly. The boss was in front of him. Winter stood up and looked at the man. "You're going to the Ruins of Valor. I have a feeling you might be able to find out where the passage is."

"I thought you needed Dawn for that."

"We need her to open the passage, but first we must locate the passage. We need to know where it is so she can get it to open."

"I see." Winter nodded. He began to formulate a plan in his head. All he needed to do was find the passage for it to begin. He headed off with the search team; they had flying Pokémon and were at the site of the ruins in minutes. Everyone began searching around the ruins, but Winter stood still. He closed his eyes and heard a voice coming from inside. He followed the voice and wound up standing in front of a wall with strange drawings and words. "This… This is it." He said confidently. The team walked over and searched it.

"He's right!" one of the exclaimed in fascination. They all seemed excited that their plan was finally working. Winter was excited because now his plan could start. It was only a matter of time before everything would be the way it was supposed to be. Dawn would be free and her Pokémon would be with her. And she'd be back on her way to Isshu, where she could find a place in life. Everything was going to be fine. So long as his plan went the way it was supposed to. He'd gone over it so many times, it seemed flawless. He knew he would be able to do it.

The team returned to the hideout and told the boss that they had found the passage. "Dusk! Go get your prisoner." He told Winter.

"Yes, sir."

"You don't know my name, do you?"

"Uh… no, sir."

"Vincent Vengeance."

"Yes, sir, Vengeance, sir." Winter mumbled awkwardly, walking off to go get Dawn. As he walked through the halls and up and down the several staircases, Winter continued to go over his plan. He looked down at his belt, where his pokeball was. There were now two. One of them was a bomb. It was slightly different from Glacier's so he wouldn't use the wrong one. He opened the old wooden door and entered the room where Dawn was. She was asleep on a pile of hay on the floor. She jumped awake when she heard the door. "Come on then, time to serve your purpose." Winter muttered miserably.

Dawn scowled at Winter, but she got up. Winter grabbed her wrist as tightly as he could so she couldn't get away, it made Dawn wince, but if she wanted to bee free she'd have to deal with it. Winter dragged her back to where the boss, Mr. Vengeance, and the search team, along with the higher-ups, were waiting. They tied her wrists together and then pushed her above a helicopter that the boss was flying in. Winter and the rest used Pokémon to get there.

They all walked to the spot where the passage was once they had arrived. Dawn was place in front of the spot and all of the members surrounded her. The rope that tied her wrists was cut, and she was told to open the passage. She stood their confused. She had no idea what to do, but when she closed her eyes her hands start to move on their own. She started to write on the wall with her fingers in the same ancient writing everything else in the ruin had. The wall glowed, then disappeared into thin air. Stairs made out of ice led downwards to the hidden chamber where the secret was. They all walked down the steps. They reached the ground, it was made of ice. They were in a cave made of ice. A giant block of ice shaped like a tablet was in the center. It had writing on it. They would have to translate it. The walls of ice had pictures of the Pokémon fighting carved in them.

"Dusk. Dispose of the girl." Vincent told Winter with a dismissing wave of his hand. Winter said nothing and grabbed Dawn by the wrist, leading her up the stairs. Halfway up he turned around, grabbed the bomb and threw it at the ice tablet. It exploded and the cave started to shake and crumble. He started to run, pulling Dawn with him. They made it out safely, though out of breath. "I was never a part of them." Winter said coldly.

"Winter-"Dawn started to say, but Winter simply turned around and started to walk away. Dawn bit her lip and followed him. Winter didn't want to talk, he was glad Dawn followed him though; it was part of his plan to get her back home. They walked and walked and walked some more, in absolute silence. Finally, they reached the port town, Verification. Winter walked past the path that led to boarding dock and sat on a flat rock underneath a tree, Dawn sat on a different flat rock nearby. Winter took something out of his jacket pocket. He gave it to Dawn.

"A ferry ticket?"

"To Isshu." Winter replied. "It'll be leaving in a while." Winter said. He took out two sandwiches from his bag that were in plastic bags. He gave one to Dawn and opened the other one for himself. He let out Glacier and fed him too. Winter stared off at the sea while he ate. Dawn wasn't sure what to do. Then she got an idea. She looked through her bag and found paper, a pen, and an envelope. She wrote a note to give to Winter, since he obviously didn't want to talk. She took off her hat and scratched her head, placing the hat on the rock she'd been sitting on.

"Winter, I have to give you something."

"What's that?" Winter asked, seemingly not paying attention.

"Uh…" Dawn muttered, starting to have second thoughts about the note. "I must've misplaced it." Dawn muttered nervously, turning around and slipping the note into her hat.

"Hmm… Okay, but that reminds me I have something to give you." Winter said. He opened his bag and gave Dawn her Pokémon back. The ferry sounded. It was time for people to start boarding. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Goodbye… and thank you…" Dawn murmured. She started to walk away. "Everything will get better, you'll see." She told him before continuing to walk towards the boat. She got aboard and it took off soon after. She waved to Winter and Winter waved back.

Winter and Glacier watched Dawn leave as the ferry took off for Isshu. Winter was sad. He knew he was all alone again, no matter what she said, nothing had changed, and no one would care. He glanced to his left and noticed she had forgotten her hat. He grabbed the hat and wrapped it in the plastic bag his sandwich had been in before diving into the water to swim after the boat. It wasn't going too fast, he could catch it. Glacier jumped in after him, swimming circles around him as he struggled through the water. When he finally caught up to the boat he clung to it. "Dawn!" he called. He kept calling her name until she came over to the edge of the boat and looked down.

"Winter? What are you doing?"

"You forgot your hat!" Winter called back. Dawn jumped back in surprise, hoping Winter hadn't noticed what was inside her hat. She called over some of the sailors and they helped Winter and Glacier get aboard the boat. Winter handed Dawn her hat and she thanked him. Dawn turned around and looked inside her hat. The note was still there. It was still closed. It would never be opened.

(To be continued…)