"Can I interest you in some MooMoo milk?" There were a surprising number of people in the town, enough to support a market like this one, or at least enough travelers passing through. But, Everest had to admit, the offer was tempting. After all, it did have healing properties.
"I'll take four please." Everest wanted to visit the different stands before they began to explore the rest of the town, apparently the market was only open four days out of the week. The man smiled at her, and passed her the four glass jugs.
"2,000." Nearly faltering, she passed him the money, and stuffing the jugs in her bag. Damien watched her with disinterest, merely following her as she led them to the next stall.
"I'm telling you, he was totally hassling you, looked like the hassling type." Ignoring his whiny voice, she next found a stall full of winter gear."Finally something we actually need." Shooting him a pointed look, he quickly shut up, instead examining the tables full of jackets, scarves, hats, boots and the like.
"You two look like a lovely couple." The woman behind the stall cooed, much to their surprise. Shocked to silence, she took that as the chance to continue cooing. "Oh young love, I miss the days when I was chasing after my next boy. Oh, those were the days." Everest struggled for words, and Damien looked like he was about to faint. They were twelve and fourteen for Arceus' sakes, they really weren't thinking about that.
"Um, we're just traveling together. Friends. Could you tell us what we will need for a week in the Frost Cavern?" She sighed dreamily as she gestured to the jackets hanging up.
"To be young again." She didn't even look that old, maybe 35, at the oldest, so they sat there uncomfortably waiting for her to continue talking. After brushing her hands over the fabric a few times, she grabbed a dark green coat, and a purple coat. "These will do fine for you two, waterproof, but warm enough for the wind below the surface." They each made a separate stack, guessing she was about to load them up. "How about gloves or mittens? Mittens are warmer, but gloves move easier, then we have an ice pick, I would recommend at least one for the pair of you. That way if you fall down a cavern you can save yourself, or if one of your limbs is frozen by a Bearatic," Spoken as if she was talking about the weather, they made eye contact, was this still worth it? Of course.
"And, what about those?" There were a few ropes hanging on the wall, golden thread intertwined through the fibers. Everest's question was suddenly cut of by Damien asking about pokémon in the tunnels, which the lady answered, seemingly forgot about Everest's question.
- - ESIBS - -
By the time they walked away from the stand, they had made a deal for the jackets, gloves, thick pants, scarves, an ice pick, and a set of thermoses. Karen, the woman's name, promised they could return if they weren't happy with the merchandise.
"What were those ropes?" Damien pushed his supplies into his pack, thanks to the similar technology to pokéballs, practically anything and everything could fit. He looked around for a few moments before tapping Ezra's pokéball.
"If you have a pokémon that knows Dig, you don't need an escape rope. But, in a town like this? One that finds its revenue from the cave, they exploit pokémon like that. I've heard stories of pokémon 'wandering' off all of a sudden, never to return. If it hadn't been for the recent events, she would say Damien was overly cautious, but who knows now. Anyone could be a rocket, they didn't need to have the stupid R on their chest.
They remained silent, carefully watching their peripheral, as if Rockets would suddenly emerge from the crowd, demanding Ezra or they would demolish the town. As unbelievable as it sounded, it seemed to grow more likely by the day.
Two more stops, then they could leave. Even if civilization was a relief, because that meant they could receive care and their friends, but after weeks of only them, being around this many people was a little weird. They needed medical attention just to ensure everything was okay after the Rocket situation, even if the Litwick and Lampent seemed to fix everything. The other? Food. Plenty of food for the pokémon didn't equate to food for the humans.
"Up ahead, that looks like a trainer stop." One of the stands had a sign in front of it, only a picture of potions and food provided the advertising, but it was good enough for them. It seemed to be a permanent stand with a back room. As they got closer, they could hear a huge commotion behind the walls. Angry yells and shouts were indecipherable, as at least three separate voices were arguing.
"No! You can't leave yet! Get back here you brat." A man's voice yelled, hidden behind the walls, an embarrassed woman stood at the front counter, clearly uncomfortable with the shouting behind her.
"Hi, how can I help you?" In order to be heard over angry yelling and items falling in the back, she practically had to yell. Everest looked at the merchandise, flinching as what sounded like glass shattered behind the walls.
"Um, can I have-" A loud scream followed, nearly bursting their eardrums, and they had to cover their ears in order to remain sane.
"Shut up the pair of you!" With the cashier's yelling, all went silent, including the market place around them. Slowly, the door to the back room swung open, revealing a tired looking man. He had a few scratches along his face, a nasty looking bite on his hand, as well as a few bruises scattered along his exposed skin.
"Ah, my apologies. I recently got a feral pokémon, it isn't quite comfortable around me yet." He sighed, brushing some dust off his shoulder. "Come on out little guy." Everest nodded, most were never as easy to capture as hers were, especially at high levels. Most had an attitude problem if they couldn't find respect for their trainer.
An disgruntled growl followed, before a small, purple pokémon came waddling out from the backroom, clearly uncomfortable with the bandages wrapped around its torso. It looked more like an awkward Delibird, struggling to walk on its own two feet. It hissed angrily at the man, shrieking as he tried to escape the bandages that gave him a mummified look.
"Drac." Damien breathed, stunned. Wide eyes turned to the two trainers, as the Gligar froze before screeching even louder. Everest shed a tear at the sight, smiling softly as their lost friend didn't turn out to be dead. The stumbling bat barely managed to get out of the stand to meet Damien without falling as he tripped over his tail. Damien picked him up, hugging him to his chest. Gligar let out a string of screeches, each as incomprehensible as the last, but she had a feeling it was along the lines of 'You're not dead!'
After a teary reunion, (Everest pretended not to see the tears in his eyes) Damien turned to the people who must have rescued his Gligar. Holding the purple pokémon, he couldn't hold out his hand or anything to the surprised duo.
"Thank you so much, we had thought he died." The man smiled brightly, before a small frown appeared on his face as thy watched the small Gligar, who continued to screech, just a little quieter this time.
"We found him on a fishing trip, little bugger only survived as long as he did because he managed to stick his tail on a log. How did he get caught in a poacher's net?" After a quick exchange of looks from one trainer to the other, then down at Gligar, who seemed much smaller without use of his wings, Everest decided to speak up. She recounted some of the details, but remaining vague about the saving, just admitting both she and Damien passed out, and by the time they awoke, Gligar was long gone.
"Those damned Rockets are like a plague, spreading everywhere, killing everything." The woman spit, turning up her nose in disgust. "A group of 'em passed through here a couple weeks back. Took a whole colony of Bergmite from the cavern. By the time some of the rangers arrived, they were long gone." Everest frowned, thinking over the situation, disgusted by the idea. Ice types in particular didn't repopulate quickly, so taking a colony from the Frost Cavern? It could damage the eco system forever.
"What would they want with Bergmite?" The man shrugged, sneering in disgust. Everest's question went on unanswered, the group stood there, mainly watching Gligar as he relaxed into his trainer's hold.
"Well, I am happy to see he didn't loose his trainer. We had tried to capture him to make transportation faster. When it didn't take, we grew worried." The man patted Damien on his shoulder before making eye contact with the Gligar. "Young man, you are very lucky to have such a loyal Gligar. Every second he was trying to get out there to find you. And you," Drac screeched, listening to the man. "are lucky to have a trainer who will put up with your shit." Everest burst out in laughter, and Damien chuckled too, petting Drac, who was screeching at the implication.
"How are his wings?" Drac shrieked, struggling to prove just how fine he thought his wings to be. The trainer held him fast, not letting him try and bite the material.
"When we found him, they were pretty torn up. The nurse at the center recommended about another week from now you can take the bandages off. There wasn't much she could do, if she rushed the growth process, his wings would be too brittle." They watched their companion as he whined and shrieked half-heartedly, clearly wanting to take to the skies.
"Thank you, so much. You don't now how terrified we were." Everest thanked him before turning to the cache of foods stuff. "Now, could we have some of the instant mashed potatoes-"
- - DEDR - -
That night, Everest and Damien were sharing a room in the Center, nearly jumping for joy at their most recent discovery, not to mention the next phase of the adventure would soon be underway. Everest sat on a chair, surrounded by her friends, meanwhile, Damien sat one of the beds with Reina and Ezra sitting beside him. They had yet to reveal the miraculous appearance of Drac.
Shawn was nearly asleep, leaning against Everest's stomach as he examined the room, watching the rest of the pokémon finish their food. Icee was sharing a bowl with Reina, they had recently come to some sort of alliance, which included tag teaming against Burn. The Flareon was eating quickly, scarfing everything down in sight, and Ezra would have done the same, had he actually had big enough of a mouth. Spencer had begun to eat even more than usual, and Everest was betting her friend was about to go through a growth spurt.
"Okay, guys, when we were in town today, we found something." Damien began, and all attention turned to him, his hand was hidden behind his back, no doubt holding the ball. "It was a complete surprise, a very good one." With that, red flashed through the room, and a very glum looking Drac appeared.
A huge commotion, loud chittering, barks, buzzing, and growls followed, as they all surrounded the bat. Drac looked uncomfortable being incapacitated in front of the others, as he shuffled with the bandages. The first one to make it to Drac, was surprisingly Shawn, who licked the bandages, nuzzling him. Then, it was Ezra, who Drac didn't recognize at first, but when he did, it was hysterical. His mouth fell open, and the Vibrava just buzzed in return, who then let Reina join the fray. The Nidoran sniffed a few times, before feigning indifference and walking away.
Spencer lovingly licked the tuft on his head, which seemed to annoy the Gligar, but didn't do anything about it. Icee and Burn were the last to walk up to him, they nuzzled him happily, sharing a few words before they all sat, watching Gligar.
"Alright guys, you guys can catch up for now, we leave in the morning." With that, the lights were turned off, casting the room in darkness, except for their permanent nightlight: Burn. Soft pokémon whispers followed, indecipherable to the trainers, who were lulled to sleep by the soft noises.
- - ESIBS - -
The town was utterly beautiful, huge windmills spun slowly, powering everything around them. A soft layer of snow covered the ground, not more than an inch, but enough to expect the huge range of mountains behind them, where the snowcaps were surely much deeper. All the roads and paths were hand placed cobblestone, each placed with care by the countless pokémon and humans who must have worked on it decades prior. Sleepy houses were built into the mountainside or the forest, like they were literally growing from nature herself. It had an air of peace and beauty, one they could appreciate as it had been something Damien and Everest hadn't had in a long time.
Following the cobblestone path, the town slowly melted away, fading into a frost covered forest, with a sign before them. FROST CAVERN AHEAD. It was old and worn, but still readable, probably only due to constant repainting and repair. The black paint was fairly new, and two broken pokéballs laid at the bottom of the sign.
"This is a better warning than at the Resort." Damien muttered, brushing off the thin layer of snow off of the pokéballs in respect for the fallen. Even if Drac turned out to be alive, he could still feel the dread that lied in his stomach for days.
"Do you suppose that's because it is much more dangerous?" Everest examined the terrain, one that held mystery and danger, a chill hung in the air, one that would haunt them for weeks to come.