Author's Comment: First off- WOW. I really did not expect to come by my account so many months later and find these reviews. Thank you all so much for your interest, you are the main reason I've decided to come back and continue this epic!
I didn't really want to add any author's comments to this fic originally (even with the amazing responses I've gotten!), but just the same my hand is forced because of the pairing list that I had originally put up.
"EliteFourShip & NeoEliteShip in distant future; DragoniteShip, PotentialShip, TrickyShip, & MasqueradeShip as possible teasers" is just as it says. Teasers really. The only substantial pairings involving Lance are EliteFour and NeoElite. I might even take Masquerade and Potential shippers out because they don't hold much importance to the story.
There are other shippers involved throughout the story (even SweetnessShip) but the only ones worth mentioning might be this: SeiryuuShip, PoliShip*, InfluenceShip, SnapshotShip.
This is not meant to be a love story, so I have removed the teaser ships entirely from the description. I'm sorry if it has mislead you. =\ I love romantic or cute moments between characters just as much as the next person, but this an adventure fic with a side of fluff. So please enjoy~
Core
2
The whole mess started 7 years ago. By the whole mess, I mean, globally. For some enterprises and regions, it was a total shut down of civilization all at once, but for the most part, the events unfolded one at a time neatly into our lap. And they called it Global Warming.
There were a lot of pokemon that have died or become rare as a result. Not only were their homes being destroyed, their livelihoods became more dependent upon a predator-prey relationship. The Safari Zone in Fushia, for instance, suffered greatly as the peninsula became an island and the Illex Forest became overrun with stranded Rattata from the grasslands. Professor Oak in Kanto headed off a movement to help save them or create hospitable places for them. Not sure where he went off to after Pallet Town was demolished, the result of Cinnabar's catastrophic eruption, but I assume the effort lives on.
It was ironic at the time when the environmentalists announced their own conclusion of Global Warming, as it made the headlines right next to the news of a city in Sinnoh, believe it was called Snowpoint, getting nailed in an ice storm. Not just any kind of ice storm apparently, it completely caked the city in over 5 inches of solid sheet ice and stayed there. Spring never came to those poor people. Industrialists used their case study as an argument against such findings, but it never held much water. The extremities all over the world were undeniable within the first year of the changes, cold and hot regions both became brutal.
However, the politics behind it became a heated war. Everyone wanted to know why and what to do to stop it, but it just turned into a finger-pointing match with the ultimate goal of defacing the opposition. I got sick of reading about their senseless, verbal battles in the paper because they long lost sight of what we needed; an answer to the problems.
Now after all of this, we still only guess and hope for the best. It makes me mad as hell.
I thought a long time about what and why Pryce said what he said to me. Not yet was I entirely convinced that Bill pressed him into doing it, for Bill paled in comparison to Pryce's negotiating skills. Controversially, it would bring joy into Pryce's life again to see a new age where Ice pokemon can adapt to the warming climate and bring even more of an upper hand to the battlefield. However, it could end in failure, or even cause more suffering on the pokemon's behalf. I decided the old man found me because he felt he needed to, not because anyone pressed him to.
I think what might have really happened was he saw in me what I sought to find in myself. Maybe I've been too cautious, too reluctant to decide upon a course of action that seemed chancy. Maybe that is why they blame me for the League's closing.
My room is dark most of the time, what windows exposed to the outside world often smothered by heavier, dark curtains. It's nowhere near as expansive or impressive as my throne, as Karen had called it, within the League, but its what I've always had to myself. There is no light, yet I cannot sleep as my mind wrestles with today's events... and tomorrow's. Laying curled up on my side and staring at the wall, I sighed and sank deeper into the blankets.
The deal I laid for Bill was logical and concise. We'll cruise through the trail as long as we can, laying low on Dragonite, then ascend to the peak. If Dragonite falters or if any situation were to occur, we turn back. No exceptions.
Dragonite isn't the only pokemon I will bring, but he is the only one I trust to get us there. He is my strongest, my pride and joy. Sucking on my chapped lips, I played it in my mind once more. I have the money to buy some repellant, but it hasn't been available for a long time. The vendors have enough troubles with thieves, bandits, and aggressive pokemon as it is, one can't expect much these days to come from afar. Basic travel supplies- food, water, first aid. I can't exactly wear gloves if its gusting, I won't be able to grip onto Dragonite well.
There's one other thing I usually bring... but I can't seem to remember. It's slipping my mind every time I focus on what it was for.
Rubbing my eyes with the tips on my fingers, I roll over and stare blankly at the shape of my ceiling. I feel tired and restless all at once, which is partly why I fear something bad is going to happen. This shouldn't trouble me so much, it's not as if I've never made the trek before. There's nothing wrong with this task, just fly in and fly out. No trainer engagement or paparazzi. A simple task.
But it really isn't.
In the morning I quickly prepared for the journey, just after sunrise. I secured my pack and slipped out of the manor before Clair would finish her routine down in the Den, making a beeline down the compacted snow streets to Bill's house at the west edge of the city's limits. He stood there waiting properly, but looking somewhat anxious; just the same, I was relieved to find him ready. His Eevee spotted me first, pressed against his leg.
"Vee!"
"Morning," Bill smiled, showing off his most eager face. I continued my pace, touching Dragonite's pokeball and expecting him to follow as I stepped by.
"Let's go then."
We passed over the bridge, weighed down with snow and watched as residents worked their early shifts clearing the streets. The air was quiet and wind calm, the silence between us and the waking city reassured me. I set Dragonite out, looking over our destination as I mounted him swiftly. Bill shifted uneasily, eyeing Dragonite's backside as I extended a hand to him.
"How exactly do I ride him...?"
"If you can't grip Dragonite's scales, just hold tight onto me then." He sighed, obviously not much the adventurer, and reluctantly tried to slip onto Dragonite's backside behind me. After a foiled attempt and some discomforted fidgeting later, Bill secured his arms around my torso and poked his head over my shoulder.
"I think I'm ready now..."
"You should learn how to Fly on a pokemon sometime," I admonished and touched Dragonite, setting him off the ground with a reverberating beat of his wings. Bill clutched at me and Eevee squirmed inside of his jacket, paws pressing into my back as he was pinned between myself and his trainer. Dragonite pointed his body upward, shooting up and breaking through the first low-lying cluster of clouds; Blackthorn disappeared with only a moment, and ahead was the mountainous range with Mt. Silver obscured in the distance. "Is this your first time flying like this," I tried to talk to him behind me as the wind whipped my voice.
"Umm, kind of, at least like this."
"You have to speak up, Bill, the wind is too strong up here!"
"Sorry! I said this will be the first time on a Dragonite!"
"Then you have flown before."
"Yes!" I felt Bill's head turn slightly to look out over the clouds and the mountains, a sea of white and obscured forms. "It was so long ago though, back in Kanto! There had been rumors that the Cerulean Cave was causing a psychosis in a few sensitive individuals within the city... because of some mysterious pokemon that had moved in." I listened with half an ear, directing Dragonite past a few lower lying plateaus. The wind was getting harsher by the second and I could see precipitation up ahead. "You ever hear 'bout any of that?"
"No, but I was pretty preoccupied back then, and never heard about any of this in the League. So you went flying out to investigate this rumor?" Bill laughed, though not necessarily a humored one.
"Of course not, I lived on the cape! There was no way I was going near the cave if there was a pokemon like that, on my own at least. Misty became concerned enough that she told Red, and he asked if I could run some scans on the place while his Charizard flew us over."
That sounded just like something Red would do. He was an curious kid to a fault, but not as impulsive as he seemed. He was always practical when it came to the welfare of Pokemon...
"What did you find?"
"Those rumors certainly had some spine to them. I don't know what Red did about it, but he fixed it up somehow."
"That's Red for you," I rasped, perhaps too quiet for Bill to hear. The cold atmospheric air was already cracking my throat, and I knew what it would be doing to Dragonite's thin membraned wings. "Let's pick it up Dragonite!" He let out a cry, folding his wings inward and catching the wind towards the mountain tops.
Everyone missed Red. The prodigy and hero of Kanto, who destroyed- no, obliterated Team Rocket single-handedly. Not without his partners, that is to say.
Before I even met Red, I had read about him the papers. The league had already been discussing the rise of this star before he even stepped foot into the Plateau. Back then, there was tension and political disputes as the border between Johto and Kanto was not united within the league, but split by the league itself. If they hadn't been screwing about, we could have assisted him, but as it turned out, Red was such a special individual that he needed none of our guidance. In the Elite Four, he was already a commended hero.
Well, despite Agatha's adamance that is. She came around eventually, as she had been only bitter because of Oak's influence in his life.
But they say all good things come to end sometime. The party disputes between Johto and Kanto's convergence of one league left one stone unturned in Red's path: Mt. Silver.
Was that really it? He conquered the gyms, traveled the nation, defeated an evil empire, befriended legendary pokemon such as the trio of birds, crushed the Elite Four and rose up as the champion- but this last task he falls to? He simply could not ascend Mt. Silver? His disappearance never made sense to me, I couldn't accept it. None of us were able to find him again, not a trace of him nor his pokemon.
It's just one of those mysteries that bother me deep down, and I would give and do just about anything to find the truth behind it. But what is left to find, he's been gone for a decade now and is all but just a fond memory to the people.
We had come up into the mountain side and found ourselves deep within an ongoing blizzard. It was just as I imagined, as Dragonite fought hard against the elements.
"So at the top," Bill yelled towards me. "I should let Eevee out then?" I looked at him in the corner of my eye for only a split second.
"I'll tell you when!" The air is so frigid and dry it feels like every breath is drained from my lungs before I can even inhale. I rubbed my numb hand up along the side of Dragonite's neck. "You're doing great Dragonite! We'll be done shortly!"
"Arrouughhhr!" Suddenly he took a spiraling dive to the side I hadn't expected, leaving the two of us reeling. Clutching Dragonite tightly, I scanned for the cause of his evasive move. Up ahead on the mountain side stood a large Ursaring on hind legs, looking rather confrontational.
"Wh-What's going on?"
"Ursaring! Good job Dragonite, evade it's attacks, do not strike back!" He beat his wings, making an attempt to fly past but the irate pokemon fired off another hyper beam, forcing Dragonite to double back over in a loop. "It's not letting us through!"
"L-Lance, don't we attack it back then or something! I don't know how much I can hold on with stuff l-like that!" Dragonite blasted through the snow, swiping past the Ursaring as it recharged, but just as soon as we cleared past, the bear shot another hyper beam straight into our path. The small resulting avalanche pushed us back once again.
"Wait Dragonite." He did as asked, taking a moment to catch his own breath. "Bill, I'm not wasting Dragonite's energy on fighting a wild pokemon. This Ursaring is a female, she surely has cubs."
"I can't even SEE through this, how are we supposed to...!"
"Just hold on! I'll take care of it!" Though, my mind was racing to find some solution. Ursaring drew in closer to strike again as I looked down to my friend, waiting silently for me. "Dragonite, circle Ursaring in the snow and use your wingspan to bury it!" He didn't waste a moment, taking off again and cutting up against Ursaring's side, slicing his wing into the snow. She shot hyper beam once again but he deftly twisted and arced his body over the beam, dipping down again into the snow to round up Ursaring's side. I could tell Bill was having a hard time with this ride as it felt like he might crush my lungs with the grip he had around my torso.
For a moment, it looked like my plan worked as Dragonite slashed around her once more and threw snow up over her, but she was quick to plow through, charging up at us with arm drawn back and claws extended. "Dragonit-" He reacted to my voice instinctively without words, grabbing ahold of Ursaring's arm thrusting forward with a crush claw and throwing her with full body strength. Ursaring landed a few feet away deftly, and I made my decision, standing up and reaching back.
"Lance, what are you-!"
"She won't let us go without a fight, so if I must." In a flash of light blinded by the snow, Charizard emerged from his pokeball. "Charizard-" His neck cocked back to me to stare me with his green eyes. "I don't want to hurt this pokemon! Use flamethrower to melt the snow around it!" He reared back with a sharp inhale, razing the area with his fire. Ursaring brushed past the fires, dashing at him head on and leaping up to strike him with crush claw. "Dragon Claw," I shouted out but my voice must have been lost in the gust as she struck Charizard in the jowl, reeling him back with a cry. I felt frustration take over me for a moment. "Get away from her!" He beat his wings, taking into the air and scorching the rocky earth awash with ice once again. "Dragonite, stop her with ice beam! Don't let her move again!"
Dragonite drew back, the icy flash spouting from his mouth to the melted ground, freezing up everything within seconds. The Ursaring was immobilized from the waist down, roaring out with frustration and slashing at her frozen encasement. I took a moment to breathe out in relief, a mistake. Ursaring's eyes flashed with anger and launched a hyper beam at us in close proximity. Dragonite acted fast, falling back to miss the shot but was caught in the explosion of pure energy meeting solid ice and earth. "Everyone okay," I asked, recovering from the sudden impact with the ground. Bill coughed as Dragonite rose back up and shook the ice off of his antenna. He was okay, for now.
"Y-Yeah," Bill stammered, shaken but not injured. His Eevee still cuddled up within the front of his jacket piped in as well.
"Then we keep moving." I cast a glance at Charizard, still monitoring Ursaring as she recharged her energy from the last blast. "Charizard, come along to escort us. Who knows what other pokemon might interfere." The two took back off into the air, following up along the mountainside.
"Lance," Bill called out, just loud enough for me to hear.
"Yes," I tilted my head back. The air was getting colder by the second.
"Back home you said if anything happened..." We would turn back. I shifted my gaze back up to the mountain we were flying alongside to the top amidst the flurrying snow.
"I did say that."
"We're going to go through with this no matter what, then?" I let his words hang in the air for a few minutes as I mulled over the irrationality that had gripped at me suddenly. Was I really going to force my pokemon, my closest friends, through this task even if I lost control of the situation? Even though I dragged my feet to this point? Asking myself this, considering all of my possibilities. I affectionately rubbed Dragonite's skin from the thin coat of snow that was developing, his head snapping up with assurance in his eyes.
"Lance?"
"Would Red turn back," I asked him and silence overtook us again.
Blackthorn changed too, though not so long ago. The summers through the area became unbearable. Hundreds of people died in the city from prostration, while even more flocked in as refugees. The homeless rate went up 30% as everyone struggled to cope with the influx. The icing on the cake was really the earthquakes nearby Mount Silver that toppled many structures. Apparently, the landmass that is the continent crunched together, it was something about tectonic plates. I'm not into the science behind it, but it pushed up the earth and created an even more jagged passage to the south and east of the city.
It just happens to be where our destination lies. The highest peak of this mountainous valley, laying parallel on the landscape alongside Mt. Silver. There has been some talk in town of naming the mountain, but seeing as how no one journeys anymore, it has simply become another anonymous monument to our new, ever-changing world.
It had taken us an hour of nothing but plowing through the blizzard to finally reach this point. The wind was more vicious than I've ever felt like some powerful pokemon was using a never-ending razor wind across the mountain tops. Bill was shivering, but I couldn't help but appreciate the extra body heat he was sharing with me through this. I only hoped it helped Dragonite out a little too. Charizard became weaker exponentially as the gale continuously tried to snuff his tail flame, watching a new gust nearly force him out of the sky gave me my resolution.
"We should land. Then we can try to work with Eevee."
"T-The snow," Bill's teeth were chattering. "It's going to be s-so deep down there...!" And he certainly had a point.
"Let Eevee come out now, and we'll look for a place to land." Bill reluctantly opened his jacket, gently taking the bundle of fur out. It let out a cry of aggravation, fur bristling more in the elements.
"This is it Eevee, this is what we came out for!"
"Eeiiveh eeiiv!"
"When you evolve into a Glaceon, you won't feel cold anymore Eevee! Everyone is going to be so proud of you, just imagine," I listened as he reassured his pokemon and relieved the stress the small creature was probably feeling.
"Veeeh!" It's voice sounded much stronger as I smiled inwardly.
"Then Eevee, you should move up here with Dragonite." Bill handed him over cautiously and Eevee clambered on top of Dragonite's head, large eyes squinting into the face of the blizzard. I crooked my neck, catching some of Bill's hair in my mouth as his face was still pressed close against me. "Pft-Charizard! How are you managing?" I knew he couldn't be doing well but nonetheless he let out a determined roar, swooping alongside Dragonite like this was nothing at all to him. That was one thing about every Charizard I've ever known, the look of pride in their face was unmistakeable.
"He's looking great!" Bill took the gesture too literally and I looked away back to our destination.
"Don't overdo it, Charizard. We're almost at the peak, let's-" Just then, something silver caught our eyes ahead. Or reflective at least, as the snow all around us was blinding. I thought it over, there was no way something man-made would be out here, so what else in these mountains could it be... I realized what it was all too quickly as I caught a flash of red diving through the air for us.
Didn't someone once say if something could go wrong, it would? Yeah, that's exactly how I felt.
"What is that," Bill asked warily. I gripped hard onto Dragonite, he pulled up from flight to assume a defensive stance as it drew closer. Eevee almost slipped right off but grasped it's paw onto Dragonite's horn.
"Charizard, be ready to strike! It's a-"
"Skaaaahhhhrr!" Skarmory flew up alongside us, wings glimmering with steel and bringing them inward to slice Charizard and Dragonite at once. Dragonite beat his wings, drawing back to avoid the blades as Charizard countered the strike with his own iron tail. The clash of steel resonated as Charizard opened his mouth, spitting out a blast of fire but not before the iron clad bird broke contact.
"Focus on bringing it down as quick as possible," I barked out but held back my surprise when Bill leaned forward into me, stabbing at the air with a finger.
"Lance!" I followed his finger to two more Skarmory coming from the northeast. The two split paths on either side of Dragonite and I swore under my breath.
"Dragonite, hit the one on the right with Thunder Wave first!" There wasn't time to strike individually, and they weren't close enough to hit both. "Bill, can your Eevee fight!"
"Y-Yes but I-" Eevee may not be trained under a trainer, but I wanted to kiss whoever bred Bill's pokemon as he opened his mouth and black sparks of energy gathered. Bill seemed even more shocked at the initiative than I was. "Eevee-!"
"When I say, fire a Shadow Ball at the Skarmory on the left," I ordered as the dark form took a glowing shape before him. Dragonite's antenna had sent out an electrical ring, attracting to the steel in the Skarmory's body and channeling the paralyzing pulse as it cried out. The other wild pokemon flew under us, spiraling up with a drill peck. "Now Eevee!" He leaped off of Dragonite's head, firing the blast into the side of it's head and setting it's drill peck wide off course. "Finish it with Ice Beam!" Dragonite reared back, exhaling the beam and freezing the Skarmory on the spot, crashing into the snowy ground. Eevee grasped clumsily onto Dragonite's tail, catching itself from falling as well, and Bill scooped him up in a moment.
"Eevee! I never knew you were so talented!"
"We're not done," I reminded him with a harsh tone as Dragonite turned towards the paralyzed Skarmory, struggling with it's status affliction but still moving in towards us no less. "Use Ice Beam on this one too!" Dragonite took a deep long breath but hesitated painfully and I knew I went too far. "Never-mind, Dragonite, let's move it!" Skarmory seemed to break free from it for a moment, and without any warning slammed into us from the side with an elusive aerial ace maneuver. Everything happened so quickly, I didn't have time to recover and re-adjust to the events.
"Eevee," Bill's distressed voice pierced me. Eevee was flying forward in a brown blur, from the slam we had received, tumbling uncontrollably towards the vicious bird. Skarmory rose up, flashing it's bright red blade wings and bearing it's sharp talon's at it's helpless prey. Then- Bill was there!- grabbing onto Eevee and clutching his pokemon- his friend- for dear life.
And Skarmory's talons got him.
It happened so fast in the blur of pelting snow that I almost believed I imagined it for a split second. Dragonite faltered in the air from the hit, exhaustion starting to take it's dreadful toll. The bird's claws dug into Bill's arms and supported him in the air as he cried out in pain, Eevee squirming in his grasp to free itself. Finally I broke myself from this trance, watching as Skarmory fidgeted with his unintentional capture.
"Bill!"
"Help," But just as he pleaded weakly, the paralysis overtook Skarmory again, dropping Bill to stay afloat itself. Our reaction time was perfectly in synch with each other, as Bill plummeted from the sky, Dragonite rushed into a dive and I clutched onto him. As we grew nearer the ground I unhooked my cape and flung it out to him, Bill grasped it and slowed his descent with it... long enough for me to grab onto him and pull him back into our flight. Dragonite pulled up sharply, wings beating against the fallen snow and kicking up the crystals into our face. Bill let out a relieved sigh as I held him wrapped inside my cape. Charizard returned next to Dragonite's side, a little worse for wear from dealing with the first Skarmory, but determination just as strong as ever.
"Will you be okay," I asked, finding a break in the pace to look down at him. Both of his arms had long, drawn out slashes into them but were not bleeding profusely nor seemed deep, as I saw no muscle or bone exposed. He caught my stare and covered them with my cape.
"I'll be fine, let's finish this." Eevee seemed torn to stay by Bill's side but he shook his head at his pokemon. "Eevee! We still need you, they're risking their necks for you!"
"You're the one risking your neck," I scolded. "Don't do that ever again." Bill withdrew into my arms, defeated as Eevee squirmed out of his to stand on Dragonite's head once again. The Skarmory raised it's voice shrill, a screech I suppose now that it is the one who is outnumbered. "Charizard, I want this bird taken out now! Flamethrower!" Flames burst from his mouth, chasing after Skarmory with terrible force. The pokemon ducked and dived through the air, the harsh wind streamline against the blade feathers.
So that's why they were out here on the offensive. They have a great advantage at camouflage and speed in this weather and atmosphere, and in desperate times I suppose they went through desperate measures to survive.
I pulled away from my thoughts as I saw a single feather spark from the ongoing paralysis. "Dragonite," I looked down at the two pokemon, waiting expectantly. "Hit it with Thunder Wave for another good measure, and Eevee, make a Shadow Ball in the time it buys you." They started on it right away, Dragonite's antenna shot out the weak electrical field as ominous energy gathered around Eevee's mouth.
"What is your plan," Bill asked quietly, though there wasn't much need even if Skarmory could hypothetically hear him in this vicious storm.
"I'm going to trigger it's paralysis and then hit it with high energy blast. We need to get out of here." As I spoke, Dragonite's thunder wave did just that, immobilizing Skarmory once again in the air.
"Skkkraaaarrr!"
"Charizard! Blast Burn now, and combine it with your Shadow Ball Eevee!" Charizard took a deep rasp of air, the flame on his tail doubling in size and spitting out a fireball as big as his body in a scorched blast. Eevee shot off his Shadow Ball and the two energies collided, hitting Skarmory dead on. Light and fire flashed as the steel wings began to reshape under the intense change of temperature and the blast exploded, sending Skarmory careening into the ground several yards away.
"That was great," Bill began to sit up but paused. "Uh-"
"What?" I looked with surprise as Eevee's body took on a bright light, growing taller and changing shape. Instantly, a part of me realized that Eevee could be changing into an Espeon, like the one Red had, but I quickly detached myself from cynical thoughts. "Is he going to be a Glaceon?" When the light flashed and revealed a form I had never seen before of the Eevee line, I sighed in relief that our mission was a success. Bill didn't answer directly, he instead pounced from my arms and took his new pokemon in gratefully, laughing and petting him.
"Glaasssiee!"
"This is fantastic! Marvelous! And you're so darling too, just imagine how happy everyone will be to see you like this, Glaceon!"
"Not to spoil your fun, but we need to leave. NOW." Both of my pokemon were exhausted from the mountain, even Charizard stopped wasting energy with his facade. My stern voice must have sobered Bill up as he recoiled back to me again, not able to shift positions to where he originally was. "We have to go back the same way we came, down the mountain side and the across the valley back to Blackthorn. We can't deal with another encounter."
That much was clear.
