Author's Note: Merry Christmas! Here's a wintry chapter sure to send shivers down your spine.

Chapter 10: Subzero Investigation

Graham's fur stuck up straight, the Girafarig equivalent to goosebumps. His teeth chattered and he wrapped his hands around his chest, trying to keep as warm as he could. The lightly furred and oddly shaped Pokemon was just not made for subzero temperatures and coats that didn't entirely compromise his two-headed body. He stuck as close to Sophia and the other members of her family as he could, not straying even once. He had hoped that the detectives would bring their Growlithes to track down the Princess' scent--dog Fire Pokemon that were nice and warm. But it was not to be.

Lady Valkyrie, a few of her handmaidens, and Goliath were outside waiting for Dr. Flarison and the detectives when they arrived. "Welcome, gentlemen, Sophia," Lady Valkyrie personally greeted. "We'll show you to the area outside my daughter's window."

"Hang on a second, ma'am," one of the detectives, a Rhydon, sheepishly called. "I and a few of the other detectives have to go back to headquarters for a moment; I'm a bit embarrassed to say we accidentally left our Growlithes back there." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his hard neck with his powerful hooved hand, drill horn spinning about nervously.

Lady Valkyrie replied with a face so cold it could have frozen a pool of hot chocolate ten miles away. "Sir, what do you mean you left the Growlithes? I don't want Growlithes, they are a waste of time!"

"Well, I, uh..." The detective looked at the snowy ground in shame. "Ma'am, I thought... Well, the Growlithes are what we use to sniff out people..."

Lady Valkyrie looked like she was going to explode again, so Dr. Flarison quickly intercepted the conversation. "Don't you trouble yourself, my lady, I'll explain it for him. Dan, it is true, I know, that forensic officers are generally trained for using Growlithes; but in cases like this where days or weeks of snow have come and stayed or melted, their noses just aren't cut out for the job. What Lady Valkyrie was getting at was that in cases like these, Swinubs are the answer."

"Of course!" another detective--a Roselia--cried, smacking her forehead. "How could we have forgotten? The chief detective did mention that there was a special reserve of Swinubs back at headquarters a few days ago, we should get them!"

"Oh yeah..." Dan whimpered. He continued to look at the snowy ground, though Graham and Sophia swore he was closer to Dr. Flarison now, as if he was afraid of being left alone with the Jynx governess. He rubbed an arm and swished his impossibly heavy stone tail around in the snow. "Kind of an odd sort of personality for a Rhydon," Sophia whispered into Graham's ear. "Normally they are so temperamental."

"Well, I suppose everybody has a right to be different," Graham whispered back.

Graham, Sophia, and Danny were for the most part left out of the investigation, though it was understandable considering they had no part of it in the first place. Lady Valkyrie, having shared her dark secret with Graham and Sophia, did occassionally pass by and idly ask, "Hm, do you suppose she might have gone towards the pine trees over there?" or some other question that she hoped Sophia or especially Graham would have an opinion on. But in the meantime, Sophia and Danny settled into building a snowman in the shape of a Magneton, Graham following them wherever they went so as to keep warm. It was especially cold in the presence of Lady Valkyrie and Goliath, and he was desperate to put a stop to his shivering. The Magneton snowman was, of course, a failure, so they decided to make one shaped like a Hitmonchan instead. Every so often, though, he snuck a glance at the curious investigation.

With the exception of Silver Version, he had never seen a Swinub before. They were, in his opinion, very Earth-like in their appearance. There was an incredible contrast between the way he and more specifically his non-humanoid species looked compared to the little Swinubs, wooly Pokemon that looked like a cross between musk oxen and pigs. It was almost like looking at suitcase-sized masses of pure brown hair, with squinting eyes and a very pig-like nose. Only at the rarest of moments did he glance their tiny hooved feet, buried underneath their fur; it was a small reminder that of all the Pokemon he had seen in the Rocky Mountains, these Swinubs were his closest relatives other than the Stantler.

They even sounded like pigs; the moment they were released from their Pokeballs the sounds of grunts and oinks filled the frozen air. Sophia explained to Graham that Swinubs were master smellers, particularly skilled in digging up truffles and other underground treasures. They were sometimes used by detectives and paramedics in the mountains due to their massive advantage over Growlithes when it came to sniffing things out through mounds of snow. Swinubs were almost as skilled with their noses as Smoochums were with their lips.

Each detective brought a Swinub; one, an Arbok, brought a Piloswine too. He said it helped keep the Swinubs in order. The littlest was Dan's. Dan was the timidest, meekest Rhydon Sophia had ever seen. Rhyhorns and Rhydons had infamous reputations as being violent, destructive, and quick to anger. Nobody ever crossed paths with a Rhyhorn having a bad day. It was just simply out of the question--even the humanoid ones would succumb to their natural instincts and blindly rampage at individuals. When she was a Charmander Sophia once was almost hit by a grumpy Rhyhorn at her town's zoo; so naturally, she was baffled everytime she saw this humble hunk of rock. Dan avoided Lady Valkyrie as best he could, doing his best to subtly keep Dr. Flarison between himself and her without hurting her feelings. He could visibly feel her cold, penetrating stare; he looked like he might have even preferred a paralyzing Glare from his Arbok partner. Nonetheless, Sophia took a liking to Dan, whose demeanor eased Sophia's bad memories of the Rhyhorn line and made her eager to befriend one.

Dan was perfectly happy being called away from his work to help Sophia with a large mound of snow. It was too big for her to push even with Strength, yet it was to be the large head of the Hitmonchan snowman so it was necessary. "Sure, young lady, I'll help you with that," he pleasantly smiled. With the strength of, well, a rhinoceros made of stone, Dan picked the snowball up with his two hands and skillfully placed it on top of the snowman without toppling the frail body. "There, all done!" he huffed, wiping his hands together. As he turned around though, his hulking tail accidentally hit one of Hitmonchan's legs and the snow came falling down. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" He was back to his sheepish self, looking at Sophia with hope that she wouldn't hurt him (though really being a Rock/Ground Pokemon he had the full advantage over her).

Though Danny made a frustrated sneer, Sophia just waved her hand and shrugged. "That's alright, I almost expected the head to topple down anyway." At that moment, Dan's Swinub waddled over, leaving his partner's Piloswine and Swinub to go join his owner.

"Hello, Gossamer," Dan smiled, bending down to pat his Ice Pokemon's furry body in welcome. "Couldn't bear that control freak of a Piloswine, or did you just miss me?"

"Hey!" the Arbok playfully called. "Careful, or you'll go an' hurt ma Pilosssssswine's feelingssssss!"

Dan looked up at Sophia and almost in apology offered, "Would you like to pet him? Gossamer's nice, he won't hit you with a Ground attack or anything." Sophia nodded in gratitude and kneeled down to give Gossamer a good scratch with her claws. Gossamer was warm and soft under her coarse scaly hands, and putting her hand on him gave Sophia a very comforting feeling. His brown fur coat, lined with dark brown stripes, reminded her almost of fine chocolates one would by in a fancy chocolate shop. Gossamer snorted and sniffed Sophia's leg to try and figure out who or what she was. Satisfied, it let her continue scratching it for a short while before scampering away to search for more clues. "Gossamer and I go way back," Dan continued. "He's been one of my best friends ever since I was a young Rhyhorn."

"You mean he isn't from the forensics headquarters?"

"Nope, both my partner's Piloswine and Gossamer are our own Pokemon. Gossamer and I had similar problems in our youth; I was always picked on for being the wimpiest Rhyhorn in the family, and Gossamer was picked on by his brothers and sisters for being the family runt. I was wandering home from school late in the spring, all sad over how this one Sneasel girl had treated me, when I ran into Gossamer, who was being chased and teased by his own family. I chased them off--a rare thing for me to do, despite what my species was--and we befriended each other. That was back when Wes and I planned on being Pokemon Trainers, so of course I caught it. Wes later caught one himself, but now its a Piloswine."

"And Wes, I'm assuming, is your partner?"

"Yes, he's that Arbok over there. The two of us have been close friends ever since kindergarden. I'm still surprised we're still so tight; in high school Wes evolved into an Arbok and was for a while one of the most popular kids in the school. But as much as he loved the fame and glory we stuck together all the same."

"That's so sweet!" Sophia grinned. "You were very lucky!" She looked over at the Arbok and his Piloswine. Wes looked like he was from the Wild West, that was for sure. She guessed almost as much just from hearing his Western accent, but she was certain he was from the western part of the country after seeing what he wore. Being cold-blooded didn't seem too much of a problem to him, because his long, thick, heavy purple tail was completely bare. His brawny chest though was covered in what she judged as being three layers, the top layer being a light brown fleece lined on the inside with wool. The Poison Pokemon's head was topped by a brown cowboy hat. He bore the laid-back facial expression a stereotypical cowboy typically bore, and he rested his arm on a fence as his Piloswine did some rummaging around in the snow. The frightening patterns on his cobra hood was the only thing about him that was intimidating. If one only saw his head, the only sign of ferocious energy in him was the rapid speed in which his heat-sensitive tongue darted in and out of his mouth. Sophia felt, though, that he could be unbelievably scary when he got angry. It was the way of the Arbok.

"And now we're partners in the forensics department. It all worked out pretty well, except Gossamer is dead jealous of Wes' Piloswine. From what I can tell, that Piloswine is quite the braggart; and on top of it, Gossamer was the runt after all." Dan yawned, his rhinoceros mouth opening wide and showing his many teeth. "Well, I probably shouldn't be standing here chatting. I could get in trouble with the lady if I loiter around." Dan sighed a deep, melancholy sigh and tromped over towards Wes. "It was a pleasure to meet you, young lady!" he waved back.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too!" Sophia called. "And my name's Sophia Flarison, Dr. Flarison's daughter!" She watched for a moment while Dan and Wes started talking about the case. She turned around and walked almost straight into Graham. "Woah, I forgot you were there for a moment!" she jumped.

"Yep, we were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd follow you all day," Graham sarcastically replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Well sorry..."

The two, having nothing better to do, just sat and talked. "You know," Graham remarked as he scratched an itch on the back of his main neck, "I've had a strange feeling all day."

"Since before we got here?"

"No, definitely not before we got here."

"Do you think it's the princess?"

"Well... I don't know. I've just had this strange feeling in my two heads, I dunno if Tail feels it but it's been bothering me."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Sophia put a hand to her cheek, resting her elbow on her knee. She was always curious about Graham's psychic hunches, and always felt she had to bring those feelings out before Graham could make a real conclusion on them. She probably could have guessed the voice in his head was the princess right away, she thought.

"It feels like... Oh, I don't know... As if there's something, something very near. Some Psychic aura, almost, maybe left behind by the princess or somebody else. I lose touch with it whenever Lady Valkyrie comes near, so...maybe it really is some Psychic aura." Graham looked longingly at his tail, who returned it with a look that reflected his frustration. "I wish we could actually communicate, Tail," he quietly grumbled towards his black companion. "I'm sure your senses are much keener than mine."

"Tomatoes," his tail nodded, equally annoyed and equally wishing he could communicate with his other head. "Black Friday gives me the creeps."

A clump of snow was kicked into the air, startling both Pokemon. Graham's tail looked around and saw Gossamer kicking up snow. "Oink oink!" he cried (fortunately, Graham's tail was capable of making logical sounds). Graham stood up and flipped around, seeing the Swinub as it dug into the ground.

"Quick, let's go get Dan!" Graham exclaimed. "Looks like Gossamer's found something!" He was about to run off when Sophia grabbed his arm.

"Wait a minute, Graham!" she snapped quietly. "Why don't we see what it is ourselves? I'm so tired of hanging around bored like this, and if we let the adults find everything that's all we'll ever get to do! Did you see the progress we made with our own investigations?"

"Are you serious? They're professionals, whereas we are amateurs who know very little about working on cases like these."

"I'm dead serious. Now come on." Sophia pulled Graham's arm, gesturing toward the Swinub. Not seeing any way out, Graham just sighed and surrendered. The two crossed the snow towards Gossamer, who was now stuck in its hole. Sophia bent down and popped the ball of fur out of the hole. "Hey there, little guy, what'd you find?" she asked, giving Gossamer a smile.

"Uh, Sophia?" Graham gulped. "I think you need to see this..." Deep in the ground, a frightening-looking handle was clearly visible protruding from Gossamer's hole. It looked almost like a bone. Sophia's eyes widened when she saw it, both out of intrigue and out of terror. What could lay beneath that dreadful handle?

"Hey Gossamer, do you think you could do me a favor and clear the dirt around that handle for us?" she politely requested. The Swinub jumped out of her hands and started digging up the area around the handle. A sort of hatch or door began to form in their gaze. It was etched with a spooky picture of a Glalie and a few skeletons.

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Graham pleaded as Sophia bent down and pulled on the handle. The hatch creaked as it opened, slow and menacing as it did.

"Yeah... I think I'm sure."

There was an iron ladder in the revealed hole. Sophia wiped some nervous sweat off her face and began climbing down the ladder into the bleak darkness of the chamber beyond. Graham, not wanting to leave Sophia alone, took one last look before following her down.

The trip down the ladder was long and cold, and very very foreboding. As Graham peered up at the vanishing light, slowly but menacingly growing smaller and smaller as they went deeper and deeper, he felt as though with the light his freedom was slipping away. The silence of the tunnel frightened him, and he wished now that he were back in his warm bed. Soon, all the could see was the flicker of Sophia's tail flame. The darkness gripped his lungs, suffocating him with great ferocity. It was harder and harder to breathe, and the tunnel seemed infinitely deep. It went on and on, as if they were going to the very base of the mountain. In the near-pitch black maw he felt his sanity gently slipping away, as if there were no longer any need for the slightesty bit of humanity. Surely, he felt, by the end he'd just be an ordinary Girafarig, one doomed to live forever in the choking darkness. How long would it take, he wondered, before insanity and ferality finally took over? Minutes? Hours? Days?

Sophia was almost thinking these very same thoughts as she decended the ladder below him. She wondered if she'd made a mistake, if perhaps she pushed her investigation a little too far. She wondered faintly if she'd ever see her family again. She hadn't even thought to give Danny a "Good-bye," and she never let her father know where she had gone. If she perished in this dreadful tomb, would her father ever find her? Would she ever leave this place? What terrible fate had she condemned Graham with? Was this really a place for a young princess to run off to?

And then at last, they reached the bottom. Sophia got there first, because she was lower on the ladder. The cold, damp stone floor sent shivers up her leg when she first set her clawed feet on it, startling her and making her let go of the ladder. Fortunately she was hardly a distance from the floor. "Hey Graham!" she called up. "I've reached the bottom!"

"That's g-good to know, Sophia!" Graham echoed back. And soon he too arrived at the bottom, hooves clicking on the floor. "Hey, Sophia? Do you think you could light this place up?"

"I don't know if I--"

"Just light the dang place up!" Graham yelled on the edge of madness.

"I can't, Graham!" Sophia roared back, her roar a mix of a dragon's snarl and a girl's terror. "I've already tried!"

"What do you mean?"

"Queen Duck plays what?" cried Graham's tail in despair.

"Don't you think I've already tried!?" Sophia cried, frightened for both her life and Graham's. "This darkness is impenetrable! It's thick as it is even with my tail flame! Flash did nothing! I don't know why, but this darkness is like a phantom, refusing to hinder at all!"

"Aw, Sophia, I'm going to go mad if I have to stay here any longer! I'm sorry, but I have to go back!"

"I think you're right, Graham, I think you're right..."

Graham stopped suddenly. "Wait a moment. Where's the ladder?" That was the match that lit the flames of their terror. Sophia wagged her tail flame everywhere, but they couldn't find the ladder, not a trace of it.

"Oh no, we're lost! We're lost!" Sophia cried in anguish. The only thing either of them could see was the orange glow of her tail. Sophia could hardly tell where she was, and Graham was covered in complete darkness that he couldn't tell where he was at all. Both fell silent, muted by their own hysteria. Surely, they realized, it was only moments before they went mad. And then it was that they heard the sound.

It was a bloodcurdling roar, far off but very real. Neither Sophia nor Graham could tell what it was that had made the sound, but they both suddenly felt very vulnerable. "Oh my gosh, there's something in here!" Graham frantically whispered in horror. "There's something in here!" He grabbed Sophia both to protect her and to comfort himself. "My god, there's something in here!"