They ran as fast as their feet would carry them. The smoke was coming from a car just outside of town, its entire front end encased in ice, must have flipped half a dozen times from the look of the wear and tear of the metal. The entire top was torn, and Damien and Everest tried to ignore the bloodied shapes within the car.

"What the…" Stunned into silence, the pair walked into what looked like a war zone. All of their pokémon were out, and without command, they rushed to check for survivors.

Everest didn't think she had ever ran so fast in her life, even with her roller skates on, she wasn't fast enough. She barely saw Damien fly past her on his own skates, down the sidewalk, trying to get to their destination. Dendemille. As they grew closer to the city, they slowed down, and Everest didn't bother holding back tears.

"Spence. Try… try to thaw him out." Everest fell to her knees, looking at the frozen man. She couldn't tell most of his features, as the ice was too disorientating, but, it was clear, there was a human within the ice. Frozen. The Zoroark obeyed, and began a light dusting with flamethrower, or, light for a powerful move like Flamethrower. As it melted, her hope faded, until the poor man was lying on the street, unmoving and pale. In a last ditch effort, she moved his head, feeing for a pulse she already knew wouldn't be there.

"Come on. Maybe it isn't too late." Damien breathed, his hand on Everest's shoulder, and slowly, she stood up. They ran to the city, the middle of the city, but with a little less hope in their hearts. Especially as they ran past the giant R scorched into the earth. Team Rocket.

**ESISB**

"Hi, I'm not sure if all of my fellow citizens of Kalos know me, but, my name is Diantha." Everest frowned at the television screen, shivering in her seat. Damien sat beside her, warming up his hands with a cup of hot tea. Burn sat on her lap, she gladly pet the warm fur. "I am the champion of this region, and I would like to make an official statement of what happened in Dendemille Town." A stack of note cards were obvious on the podium she spoke at, lights were flashing as the reporters caught pictures of the champion.

The few people in the center stopped and watched the screen, silently waiting for her to tell them how she was going to fix this mess, because it was much more than a disaster. It was horrifying. The streets filled with ice, people frozen solid, others impaled by falling ice.

"Three days ago, a couple travelers came upon the small town. It was encased in ice, killing all of the people currently residing there, bringing the death toll to a very frightening number, 284." Spencer sat at the door of the center, standing guard in case anyone decided to return. "There were no survivors to give us the estimate of how many wild pokémon invaded the town, but according to pokémon specialists, they were angered by the noise the windmills created." A heavy weight sunk in her stomach, no way.

"Don't tell me-" Damien breathed, clutching the side of the table.

"This was not an act of terrorism, instead it is due to human encroachment onto the powerful pokémon residing in the Frost Caverns. As a peaceful species, we humans need to reconsider our effect on natural habitats of our fellow creatures." The champion gestured to the Gardevoir beside her. "Now for questions. Yes, you there in the hat."

"What about the rumors that this is because of Team Rocket?" A male reporter asked, and a disapproving glare came from Diantha before she straightened up and smiled brightly. "Not to worry, the Elite Four and I have been very busy defending our region from the Rockets, and they are simply not a threat to us. They are only in regions not powerful enough to fight them off. But, with our amazing infrastructure and powerful trainers, such as yourselves, we are protected by every citizen standing amongst us. There are no Rockets in Kalos. Next question?"

Everest slammed her fist down on the table, sniffling back a sob. Tears poured out of her eyes. How could someone so strong be so ridiculous? Damien seemed to agree, as he angrily pushed the tea cup out of the way before storming off. After that, the TV seemed to fade out of existence.

"Don't worry Burn, we'll show everyone how dangerous she is, how dangerous they all are." It was true, they would. Everest and Damien, as well as their pokémon, plus allies they pick up long the way. They were going to show them all, they will take the world by storm. But, that was still a ways away, some time from now. And that gives Team Rocket plenty of room to cause more destruction.

**ESISB**

"That's where all the ice pokémon went. The Rockets." Everest and Damien were still in shock, or at least, it felt like what she guessed shock was. This was so much worse than everything. Everything she had seen. All the atrocities, the death, the abuse. It made her sick to her stomach, and across the room, Damien wasn't doing well either. Perhaps before her adventure, she might have questioned why Damien was crying silently into Ezra's flank. Or, as well as you could with a Vibrava. But his pokémon around him were comforting him, just like Everest's were. "They collected them, for an attack on Dendemille." She briefly wondered what might have happened if they had managed to catch that huge Beartic. If it was released on the world, under how ever Team Rocket controlled them… Dendemille most likely wouldn't have been the only casualty.

A sudden knock came from the door to their room. This was their last night in the pokémon center before they were going to leave this dead town. Damien was the first to gather enough strength to stand and answer the door. Drac was draped over his back, finally free of the bandages, and in a very protective mood it seemed. And, no one found it a surprise.

When the to-be ground-type expert opened the door, he opened it wide enough for Everest to see who was behind the door. At the sight of the familiar man, she stood, and Spencer was wrapped around her as an Eevee, with her other pokémon trailing behind her.

"Hey there." The ranger sounded tired and stressed, but, so was everyone else. This was who responded to their call, for rangers come in to investigate. Pokémon Ranger Howe. "I know it's late, but, I have a favor to ask." Too tired to even question it, they both nodded, and the ranger sighed, before searching his pockets, before revealing a pokéball.

"I told you before dude. Drac isn't a good trade, he'll make you go deaf." Damien chuckled, and like that, the mood was improved, if only just barely.

"As much as I like your Gligar, it isn't a trade. You both are powerful trainers. Hell, you have a dragon under control." Howe began, eyeing the Vibrava wearily, but Ezra wasn't gonna hurt anyone. "And, to top it all off, you train ground types. Our research team really should keep an eye on the ice population around here. Making sure whatever the Rockets used on them won't reactivate." The wild pokémon for the most part had retuned to their natural habitats. At least the living ones had. Or wandered into the forest and would make it back to the cave eventually. But… what was Howe getting at? "This pokémon, it was found trapped in a convenience store. Must have scented food and went there, instead of a full blown attack. But, since Diantha has ruled it an accident, the research labs can't fund a project to keep an eye on pokémon. Like this little guy." Stomach churning, Everest wanted to puke again. Their scientists couldn't even monitor them? She was shaken, as she watched Howe speak directly to Damien. "I need you to train this Swinub, and if something happens, report back to me."

Damien took the ball carefully, eyes wide as he looked down at what held part of the destruction of Dendemille. They didn't blame the pokémon, of course they didn't. It hadn't been their fault, the Rockets somehow corrupted them. But… holding one, having one of them? That was terrifying.

"I understand if you don't want the respon-" Damien held up his hand, looking one last time over the pokéball.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on it. And besides, before all of this happened, I wanted a Swinub anyways." With that, Damien accepted the Pig Pokémon. It wasn't a lie, Damien had wanted a Swinub since he first saw their Pdex entry. And, this little one was going to blow his expectations out of the water.

/AN: How is everyone? I know the last few chapters have been exceedingly dark, but it will be okay and turn around in the near future. And also a note on Icee and her evolution. I am aware that isn't how Eevee actually evolve into Glaceon, but I thought that this was a cool difference. For the universe, I would say that Icee was an exception, and the other Glaceon in the world would have had to find the Ice Rock in the caverns. Thank you! -Zoroark