"Cold Feet in Hot Springs!", the headline declared, scribbled across the the notebook page, and the writer, a dark haired and heavily tanned young woman regarded her work. For a moment, Robin really considered using it, gnawing the end of her pencil as she tried to imagine it plastered across a webpage, or maybe even on an actual newspaper in large, bold print. Then she crossed it out, adding another entry to her growing list of rejected titles.
She leaned back in the cheap hotel office chair, which squeaked in complaint, and stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to be here, really. Not stuck in Lavaridge Town, which was a dull town unless you were a pokemon trainer or an old geezer. Of course, there was something happening now, but it was about as boring as the rest of the place. Sure, it was weird that the hot springs were running cold, wreaking all sorts of havoc on the city's tiny but important tourism industry, but did she really need to be out here reporting on it?
Sometimes, Robin wondered if the editor held a grudge against her. Sure, she had eclectic tastes when it came to news stories, and he'd given her a hard time ever since that one time she'd gotten lost on Mt. Coronet, but she'd always gotten her stories in. Even if they did tend to be a little sensationalist...
The room suddenly turned cold, and Robin snorted and sat back up. "Back already, Joey?" she called, spinning the chair around so she was facing the bed. The haunter hovering above it grinned blue at her and waved one disembodied hand. The other hand held a cheap disposable camera that Robin remembered buying as a cheap emergency spare. "...were you taking pictures again?"
"Ter," the haunter responded with a nod, and floated towards and through Robin to set the camera on the desk. He pointed at it, declaring "haun haunt-ter!" in a rather proud tone of voice before floating over to the door and poking his head through it.
"Filled it, huh?" She checked the indicator, and surely enough, it looked like Joey had used up all the camera's shots. Probably more candid camera shots - he'd taken a liking to suddenly appearing at people and taking pictures of their scared reactions. He had an entire album now that Robin had bought him so he could keep them neatly instead of scattering them all across her house. "You know I bought this for me to use, right?" she said, a tone of amusement in her voice.
"Haun haunter hauuun." Joey replied, his voice clear despite the fact that his face was on the other side of the wall. It was one of those weird ghost-type things.
"I know I have my own, but I can't take it everywhere. Silph cameras are expensive, you know." She set the disposable camera on the desk and made a mental note to take it in for development. Sometimes Joey got some good shots. Maybe one day he could even help her out on her job.
She heard a faint yelp through the door, and Joey pulled away from the door, snickering. Robin sighed. Maybe not.
Robin looked back down at her desk, looking over her notes. She'd spent most of her day questioning anyone who was willing to stop and talk about the hot springs. Mostly she'd gotten old people, who seemed more interested in complaining than giving her useful information, but there was one lead that she was interested in pursuing.
She'd gotten it from a trainer, a rather typical looking scruffy kid who probably didn't even care about how hot the springs were but was quite interested in rumors. "I heard that there's a rare pokemon around here," he had announced, "something that no one's seen in Hoenn before!"
A pokemon making the springs run cold? Hoenn had nothing on her home region when it came to myths and legends, but it had its own share of interesting tales. Wasn't there supposed to be some mythical pokemon that controlled ice?
"Hey Joey, how do you feel about another late night adventure?"
It had been dark for hours now, but the air of Lavaridge was still quite warm, a testament to the power of the nearby Mt. Chimney. She felt almost uncomfortable in her quilted vest, but the last thing Robin wanted to do was overestimate her cold tolerance levels. Joey bobbed above her, his ghostly blue light illuminating the area - in this case, the rocky wall that Robin was currently working to scale.
"Haunter haun?" he asked, hovering worriedly above Robin as she sought out another handhold.
"Yeah, I'm -oof- fine. A little lower behind me, the shadows are making it hard to find where to go next." Joey moved as she requested and she quickly took advantage of the new perspective, advancing further up the wall.
Robin wasn't a pokemon trainer, not anymore. She'd run around Sinnoh for a couple of years and she had the badge collection to prove it, but after awhile she had moved on to more adult things and traded most of her pokemon off to breeders or more dedicated trainers. She still had Joey though, and even now she still retained most of the physical skills she'd developed as a kid. Like the ability to climb rock faces.
"Almost... there..." She reached up, stretching until she felt the edge of the ledge she'd been aiming for, and with a loud grunt she pulled herself up and over it. She took a moment to sit and rest, rubbing the soreness out of her arms while Joey explored the level area. From here they had a good view of the hot springs as they bubbled and steamed below. If there were any rare pokemon visiting them, then she would be sure to spot them from here.
"Okay, so here's the plan," Robin said once she'd caught her breath. "We'll keep an eye on the springs from up here. If we see anything strange, you go down and grab them. I'll slide down this ledge and catch up with you." She looked down, reminding herself that she used to do this all the time, and that it wouldn't be as scary as it looked. It almost helped.
"We might be out here for a bit, so you might as well get comfortable. And don't you go running off! This plan's going to fail if you're busy spooking the tourists."
"Haaaunter..."
"Good. Okay then, let's start..."
Her plan, in theory, was something that would end in excitement. In reality, it mainly involved trying not to fall asleep as the night stretched on and the starts shifted slowly overhead. Robin wrapped her arms around her knees, using them as a headrest as she watched the hot springs bubble away. They looked warm from up here, but she could only feel vestiges of their heat, and the stone she was sitting on remained resolutely cold. She would've liked to be in her bed now, which was warm and comfortable. Even a sleeping bag on this ledge would be nice. Robin yawned and closed her eyes, telling herself that she just needed to rest them for a minute...
"Haunter! Haunt!"
Robin snapped away, momentarily disoriented by the dark and the stone surrounding her. Then her mind cleared, and her fatigue suddenly fell away from her. "Joey! Where are you?" she hissed, looked around before her eyes fell to the hot springs. Some strangely shaped silhouette was standing at the edge of the springs, and as she watched it lifted two oversized arms and plunged them into the spring. As she watched, the steam around the creature began to condense into cloud of fine snow, and the water around its arms started to freeze. She watched as Joey snuck up behind the creature, his glow dimmed almost to nothing and a wide grin on his face. He tapped the creature on the shoulder, and as it turned around he clenched one hand into a fist and punched the creature into the water with a splash.
Robin moved into action, dropping off the ledge and sliding down. It was a rough trip, and her landing left her feet and knees aching, but adrenaline was in full force now and she ignored the pain as she ran towards the spring. "Good job, Joey! Keep on it!"
"Haun ter!" Joey replied with a salute, and he floated over the spring. The pokemon bobbed in the water, flailing its arms in an attempt to keep afloat. "Sno! Snoooooooo!"
The cries were familiar to Robin, but it didn't really sink in until she reached the edge of the spring and she got a good look at her mystery pokemon. It was a rotund white creature, with a pointed hat and long green limbs. She recognized it instantly.
"A snover?" she said, surprised. Those were Sinnohan pokemon! What was one doing here in Hoenn?
"Snoooooooo!" it cried out one more time before dropping below the surface entirely. Joey seemed proud, but Robin felt otherwise, She took off her vest and her sandals and jumped into the water. She winced as she made contact - the water was cold - but ignored it as she waded over and grabbed the snover. For a moment she had to duck her head underwater herself, but she came up moments later, the waterlogged snover on her back. She carried it to the edge of the springs, and Joey helped her lift it - her, judging by it's markings - onto dry land.
"Joey, I need you to go to the hotel and get me a potion. And some towels," she added, shivering in her waterlogged clothing.
"Haun!" Joey replied, nodding before he shot off towards the hotel.
Robin sighed, and looked down at the snover. It looked like she'd found the truth behind the mystery of the cold hot springs.
She wished it had been a more exciting truth.
"Snovers are part grass type, so it would like the mineral waters of the spring, but they don't like heat, so it was freezing the springs so they would be a more comfortable temperature," Robin announced to the crowd gathered in the pokemon center. The snover stood behind her, twisting her hands in a surprisingly human display of embarrassment. The people in the center stared at the treelike pokemon, which just made her squeak and attempt to retreat further behind Robin.
"This girl was probably abandoned by her trainer, which is how she ended up this far from home. Isn't that right?" Robin said, looking behind her. The snover blinked up at her and slowly nodded.
Robin nodded back, and turned to the crowd. "The pokemon center will send her back to Sinnoh and get her back where she belongs. You shouldn't have any more problems with your hot springs."
The crowd sighed in relief and started to talk amongst themselves, losing interest in Robin. She sighed and smiled wearily, and turned to the snover. "You caused a lot of trouble for these people. I hope you learned your lesson!"
The snover looked down. "Veeeer..."
"Good. Now, let's go and teleport you back to Sinnoh, okay? There's a nice trainer who'll get you back with your friends once you're there." Robin started to walk towards the counter, only to be stopped by the snover grabbing her shirt.
"Sno!"
Robin stopped. "What's wrong? Are you scared?"
The snover shook her head and let go, and started to wind her hands together again. "Sno... snover sno snover sno!" she suddenly blurted.
"Huh? You... want to go with me?"
The snover nodded.
Robin scratched her head. It seemed that in the short time they had been together the snover had grown attached to her. She wasn't sure if she had the time to take care of another pokemon, though. She wasn't really a trainer anymore...
"What do you think, Joey? Think we should give her a trial run?"
The haunter appeared suddenly from the floor, and the snover squeaked and fell backwards. Joey laughed, and after making a quick circle around the snover he gave Robin a thumbs up.
"Really? Well then..." She helped the snover onto her feet. "I guess that settles it. You can join our crew. For now."
The snover clapped its hands together, its eyes sparkling. "Snover!" it cried happily.
Robin smiled, and gestured for the two pokemon to follow her. She'd have to figure out a nickname for the pokemon, and then there was the matter of writing her story; she already had an idea for where she wanted to take it. Sure, there hadn't been any particularly rare or legendary pokemon behind it all. It was still by all means a simple and boring story. But the story of a pokemon carelessly abandoned in a region far from home? That would definitely spark some debate.
With a new bounce in her step, Robin walked out into the Hoenn sunlight, and decided that maybe Lavaridge town wasn't so dull after all.
Author's Note: I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while. Think it started with the title, really. And since I've been hitting some blocks in writing Debugging Kanto, I decided I might as well try to get my brain working with some other things. This silly little one-shot is what resulted.
Thanks for reading!