{ === + === }
So the bus trip arrived at the destination without any additional problems, but apart from the Avaluggs it wasn't as if we had any problems to begin with.
We, on the other hand, had severe problems keeping our hands off of Sabine's kitty ears. It's a mark of her patience that she didn't just tell us to stop right off the bat.
Eventually she got tired of us messing with them and threatened to set her Mightyenas onto our face if we didn't stop. Since we wanted to have our face attached to the rest of our head we stopped like a good little boy.
Now that we're here though…
Sabine is the first to bounce off of the bus.
"Oh GOD this is cold!" She screams then tries jumps back onto the bus, but Elenda blocks the way.
"It's unseasonably cold." Elenda shrugs. "The forecast said so. C'mon, we got a walk ahead of us."
Anna follows her down and then immediately shivers from the cold. "Can we…I don't know, grab something hot before we go?"
And so we stop at a…café? I think this is a café. Smart people, building a café right next to a bus stop.
It's a slight walk, maybe a minute or so.
Small town, small café. Cozy place…it's built to look like a log cabin on the outside and inside, and it would actually work as a theme if there wasn't this huge clear window letting us see outside.
Note that I've had zero say in any of this so far and I'm still footing the bill.
Well, Lysandre is footing the bill.
"This is great! We should never stop doing this." Anna grins and sips her hot…cocoa thingy.
I spaced out when they were ordering. It's very clear outside…the plants are very green, the sky is very sunny, and everything is bone-chillingly cold.
For the past fifteen minutes or so it's been the girls talking and us keeping off to the side.
"Hey. Axel." Sabine taps me on the shoulder, "You listenin'?"
"No, not really." My mind comes back to earth. "What's going on?"
Sabine sighs theatrically. "Really? We're gonna wait in here until it gets less…bad, outside."
I look outside.
It's sunny. Not a cloud to be seen. The weather is absolutely perfect if we take the temperature out of consideration.
I look at Sabine.
"You know what I mean." Sabine grumbles.
"Yeah…sure." I roll my eyes and shake my head, and get a punch to my arm as a reward.
…
We claimed a table near the window so we could stare outside at the deceptively sunny weather.
…
"I didn't think it would be this cold when it's summer." Elenda mutters as she glares outside.
If she's angry enough maybe the cold will get scared and leave.
I think that's Sabine's territory though.
"It's unseasonable…it's weird." Sabine muses. She then throws me a glance. "And here I thought we'd have to worry about burning to death."
"Around here? Please. It's never THAT hot." Anna huffs.
Elenda sighs into her drink. "I regret my decision! But we're pressing on."
Sabine glances at me again. "Axel, do you like warmer weather?"
…Is she trying to cue me in on something?
"Well...sure. Swimsuit season and all that." I say as nonchalantly as I can manage.
Anna makes a 'bleh' face.
I grin. "What? It's a natural thing to be interested in."
Ding. Brain has finished processing.
Sabine thinks this unseasonable cold is caused by the Plasma folk.
If that's the case then Elenda has probably come to the same conclusion.
…
We sit around for another five minutes before we all get bored and go "fuck it" and leave.
The reason being this was one of the cafés that had a strict 'no Pokemon' policy. I don't really blame them though: the place didn't have the floor space needed to set small Pokemon loose.
As such, if all we could do was sit and drink (and all we wanted to do was move on) then naturally we pick the latter option.
"Why are you ok with this?!" Sabine demanded of me after about…oh, ten minutes of walking?
"Ok with what?" I'm not sure what's going on.
"Why are you not cold?!" Sabine, it should be noted, is shivering.
Well…uh, "It's…not that cold." I say, while wearing extra layers of clothing…compared to all three of them who are wearing skirts of some kind.
Well, skirts plus something else…they're not anime enough to go all skirt and nothing else.
Either way, I bundled up like a true nerd preparing for the dangers of the 'outside'.
"He's wearing a lot more than us." Elenda said, as she cheats by using the Vulpix's inherently high body heat to warm herself up.
The Vulpix is snuggled into her purple overcoat and it has its cute little paws hanging onto her collar. It's facing outwards so it can see something other than Elenda's chest while she's holding its bottom so it doesn't hang itself on her clothes.
Sabine glares at Elenda. "You traitor."
Elenda shrugs modestly. "A trainer has to be prepared."
Anna…makes puppy eyes at me.
…A little bit uncomfortable. "What?"
"Lend me an Eevee?" Anna pleads.
Er…
That's actually not a bad idea.
"Unleash the Eevees!" I call as I send out three Eevees.
They stare at us, a little bit confused (but still in their secret service getup).
"We're borrowing you for your body heat, c'mere." I grab one of the Eevees and give it a hug. "It's cuddling time."
…
Using the Eevees didn't really make all of the cold go away (after about twenty minutes of the wind blowing into my face my nose felt like it was going to abandon my face) it did make the entire trip bearable. Especially since their fluffy warm bodies were curled around our necks and were perfectly ready for head scratches at any time.
…
I gotta say…I would enjoy this trip a little more if it isn't getting progressively colder…and if things were actually happening around us.
Like this is the part of the story that usually gets skipped because it's just mostly walking.
Look on the bright side; we're not going UP the mountainside.
We're travelling on a (badly damaged) piece of highway that apparently has been abandoned for some time.
"Some time" is enough time for shrubs and trees to have grown through the asphalt road.
I'm assuming this is an old highway since it's actually built into the mountain rather than magically hovering above the ground…well, ok, the trees growing through the ground is a bit of a giveaway about the condition of the road, but still.
"This is a nature hike trail, actually." Elenda explained when I asked her about this path. "This used to be an old highway but as you can see it's been abandoned for forever. Nowadays it's a hiking trail, and there are small paths like that one" she points to a dirt road going up the mountain "that lets you go deeper into the wilderness…supposedly there are rare Pokemon on the mountaintops."
…That last bit sounds familiar. "Did you find any rare Pokemon the last time you were here?"
She didn't speak to us for the rest of the trip.
…
Soon enough, we came to the edge of…Snowbelle? City.
Just thirty minutes of walking. Good thing it was a straight road through the hillside.
This city is pretty nifty, seeing as it's literally surrounded by mountains and is perfectly flat…ok, I can't really tell if it's flat from here because it's a city and it's really big and I have bad eyes, but it feels like it's perfectly flat. All the more amazing since the mountains surrounding it are snowcapped.
On further examination the city is kind of hilly towards its center…it looks as if the city is built around the center.
If I remember Snowbelle right (and I probably don't) the gym is in the center of the town in-game. All I remember is getting lost in it a few times because I was stupid.
…
There is one problem though. If we use the amount of traffic (in either cars or Pokemon) that Santalune gets as reference, then Snowbelle might as well be a ghost town.
Considering how bad our sight is that may or may not be a gross exaggeration.
"Uh…Snowbelle isn't deserted, is it?" Elenda frowns.
It should be mentioned that Snowbelle is a town, where people live. Compared to the rest of the cities we've seen so far there doesn't seem to be much of a skyline around here; most of the buildings are quite short compared to their neighbors and there is a distinct lack of huge high-rises in the center of the town.
There's no snow in Snowbelle, mind. None at all.
Which means the place is depressingly boring to look at from up here. We should've come at night to see all the pretty colors instead.
"Well…it's nothing a close up view can't handle." Sabine mutters and unleashes her two Mightyenas.
…
…
Fortunately, once we went closer to the city it turns out that we might've just watched too much television; the city is still alive and well, though I still think the foot traffic is less than it should be for a city of this size. I mean…Santalune was bouncing compared to this.
Anna let out a disappointed "Darn" almost immediately upon seeing the city unharmed by whatever we thought was the problem.
We kind of glance at her as if to say 'what did you think was going to happen?'
"What? I thought it would be fun to have a mystery." Anna had said very matter-of-factly.
None of us dispute the point.
…
We hurried to the nearest Pokemon center.
"I'm a little annoyed that no Pokemon showed up on our walk." Elenda says after we've warmed up under the gaze of the great god that is space heating. "I mean…I thought we'd at least see a Bergmite or something."
A what?
"Bergmite, the basic version of the walking iceberg you saw before." Elenda explains after catching my puzzled look.
Ok, Gen 6 defensive ice sponge that I never used. Got it.
"Then again I guess if there's no ice anywhere they don't really come down, do they…" Elenda corrects herself. "Oh well."
"Oh? Do we have Trainers here?" Someone really loud says…from the direction of the entrance.
We turn to look, since except for the staff we're the only trainers in here.
…uh...let's see, large guy, white hair, jacket cape…
"Who are you?" Sabine asks, a bit rudely.
The guy who is definitely Wulfric laughs. "Well, someone here is very spirited." He walks up to us with a huge grin. "You girls might be the first visitors for the past two weeks…and boy."
So whatever is causing the sudden temperature change happened very recently…and it's been here for a while.
"It's too cold." Anna grumbles. "I can see why nobody wanted to visit."
Wulfric chuckles—do they really not recognize him? His face is on TV and stuff. "A little cold doesn't hurt anyone…especially anyone from Snowbelle."
"Why is it so cold though? And why is there no snow?" Sabine demanded. "I wanted to ski."
"And why did we need to walk here?" I muttered.
"I don't know, I don't know, I do too, and the major tunnels are congested." Wulfric responded to every question (and one comment) in sequence.
Congested… "Congested with what?" I ask.
"Do you know any good skiing places?" Sabine asks.
"Some Avaluggs are trying to herd their Bergmites through the tunnel and got scared." Wulfric chuckled. "So we're taking our sweet time getting them out safe and sound." He then turns to Sabine. "There's a nice little place west of here; it's a bit of drive though and the roads aren't open."
I don't understand. "Why are the roads not open? There's no snow."
Wulfric's gaze is a little intimidating. "You've never met a Froslass, have ya?"
Er… "No, I can't say I have."
"Well, boy…the Froslass around here love ice and hate tires."
…
So the Ice Ghost Girls are slashing tires?
"Looks like you're not from around here at all." Wulfric observed. "Spend some time here and learn about the ice Pokemon; it'll do you a world of good."
"I'll uh…take that into consideration; thanks." Though I'm not sure if getting to know a gaggle of Froslass prone to petty acts of property damage is a good thing.
Maybe they're all misunderstood.
…
Hmm, so… "Ok, just to double check. The Froslass slashing tires is NOT normal behavior." I feel like this is an important point to clear up.
Wulfric raises an eyebrow at me. "No, it isn't. They're usually friendlier."
Friendlier by how much?
We wait for Wulfric to continue.
And he does. "Well…normally they keep to themselves, and if you bother them they'll pelt you with ice, but that's about it." Wulfric shrugs. "It's usually not bad. They're all good girls most of the time."
I…I have questions about the type of people that live in a town populated by ghost girls prone to violence. It seems like it is just a little bit unsafe.
At least nobody is being openly murdered by the ice people.
"Well…that sucks." Sabine summarizes for us oh so nicely. "Glad I didn't drive then."
I should look into getting a driver's license. I don't think my Earth license counts out here.
"Indeed it does." Wulfric agrees. "Well, it's nothing the gym can't solve, so don't worry your pretty little heads about it."
Elenda snaps her fingers. "Speaking of that: is the gym open to challenges right now?"
Wulfric raises an eyebrow at her. "You've got your priorities figured out, don't ya? The gym won't be open for a week or so while they figure out how to solve the Avalugg problem, so sit tight 'til then."
Elenda rolls her eyes. "Of course…at least it'll give me a chance to prepare, I guess." She brings out her Vulpix.
Her green colored Vulpix.
Wulfric stares at the Vulpix. "Is that little guy always sick?"
The Vulpix sticks her tongue out at Wulfric in response. In retrospect that might not have been the best counterargument.
"Nah…she's just that color." Elenda pets her Vulpix (who leans slightly into her hand while glaring at Wulfric). "I'm sure we'll be able to handle the gym together."
Wulfric shows us his massive grin. "Looking forward to it, girly."
…
We make some more small talk for a few minutes before Wulfric excuses himself.
I still don't know if the three of them caught on.
"So…what should we do?" Sabine asks after a few minutes of silence. "The Trainer houses should be pretty free if the whole 'first visitors in a while' thing is true."
So that's a 'no' to the identity thing.
"We probably should look for a house, though I think there's a difference between not having visitors and having empty houses." Elenda replied. "Come on, Anna."
Anna looks around. "What? Why me?"
"Because Sabine looks like she's been waiting for a chance to talk to Axel for a while." Elenda grins as Sabine rolls her eyes in a very 'whatever' kind of way.
Anna…plays along? The two girls bounce towards the Pokemon center front gate and then stop short.
"Weren't you leaving?" Sabine asks snidely.
Elenda sighs, and hugs her Vulpix close to her chest.
The two girls bravely step out into the cold. I hear squeals of unhappiness right before the gate closes.
Sucks to be them.
"That was Wulfric, wasn't it?" Sabine asks me as soon as the two girls stepped out. "That kind of personality is hard to miss."
So at least she found out. "I think so, yeah."
Sabine sighs. "Great. Let's hope that El doesn't find out until challenge day."
That sounds interesting. "Why?"
"El is…a softie, despite her whole 'cool and distant' persona." Sabine grins. "Bet you didn't know that."
I…well, in retrospect. "No, I didn't. It makes sense, though." And if I knew before I forgot by now.
"El has always been a softie." Sabine frowns just a tiny bit. "Anyways, one of her huge problems when it comes to trainer matches is that she tends to hold back some if she knows who her opponent is."
Um?
"I think it's because she doesn't want to hurt them?" Sabine ponders. "But after getting to know her opponents she stops holding back…stops doing it unconsciously, I mean."
Huh. "So if she knew that was Wulfric she'll hold back during the boss fight?"
"Boss fight?" Sabine…gives us a sassy little stare. Best way I can describe it. "Nerd." We roll our eyes. "I've told her about it a few times before but it never helped, so I don't think she knows how to stop it."
Hmm…
Maybe that's why she did poorly against…uh…roller skates lady?
We are amazing at remembering names. Also I don't think the two met? At least if they did I don't remember it, or was never there for it.
"So…do you think she knows?" I ask.
"If she did she didn't show it." Sabine sighs. "Oh well. I'll cover for her if she screws it up, so we have that going." She stretches. "Ugh…this sucks. I'm gonna go with them because I don't TRUST" (she jumps up to her feet) "El's sense of decoration."
I stare at her.
"She loves frills too much." Sabine shakes her head. "Later."
I feel like that's a mild case of the pot calling the kettle black. Also Sabine's exit into the cold weather was met with much swearing.
Well…both of them look good in what they choose to wear, so I don't see a problem.
…
I should probably tag along just so I know where I'm sleeping.
…
We walk outside.
Yep. Still cold.
"Yo."
JESUS CHRIST
We jump really hard and turn around sharply.
Wulfric is hanging out on the roof of the Pokemon Center. How did he get up there?
He chuckles. "Looks like I surprised you, sorry about that." He hops down.
The guy is huge and he landed on the ground without…uh, causing a crater.
But "Why were you up there?"
"I had a vested interest." He doesn't stop chuckling. "Now then…boy, what does Lysandre want with you?"
…
What? "Has he been in contact with you?"
"Who can say?" Wulfric stares into my eyes.
…
Dude that was a shitty lie and you know it.
We stare back. "I have a vested interest in making sure nothing burns to the ground."
"And to protect the girls, eh?" His stare makes me uncomfortable…even though he's making a joke.
As expected, we don't really respond to his joke. "Yeah, that too." …In a non-verbal way. C'mon man, play along.
Wulfric eventually stops the stare. I suppose he eventually found a reason to stop.
"Hm. Come with me." He says suddenly.
Ok let's be frank this is an extremely bad way to recruit peop OH ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS
Wulfric has a van. A beaten down and weathered van that just screams sketchy. It also has treads instead of tires.
Alright, I have to admit the treads make the van less creepy, but still. "Why do you have a van? And why does it have treads?"
Wulfric opens the Van's back door and jumps in.
"Can't slash a tire that doesn't exist." Wulfric grins. "Now come on in, you look like you're freezing to death."
We're shivering a bit.
I really don't want to get into the back of a van.
But we jump in after him anyway.
Whoa, it's really roomy in here. Probably more Trick Room shenanigans though.
There's a fridge and chairs. It's very reminiscent of a Limousine instead of, y'know, a sketchy halftrack van.
"Alright, now that we're here…" Wulfric presses a button attached to the floor and we begin to move. He then takes a seat on a fluffy looking chair. "Now, as you might remember Lysandre wasn't the most favored person in Kalos."
That's putting it a little lightly. Also does this count as travelling incognito? I feel like this isn't travelling incognito.
Hiding in plain sight, more like.
"And as you might know, he wasn't exactly insane, despite all of our…beliefs, to the contrary." Wulfric sighs.
Whrrrrr ding. Remember how Professor Sycamore got into trouble because he knew Lysandre?
"So some gym leaders supported him?" I ask.
Wulfric glares at me for a fraction of a second. "Sharp, aren't you?" He then nods slowly. "Yeah, some of us agreed with him…of course, once he decided to unleash a doomsday weapon we couldn't continue providing support, but before then the gym leaders were certainly divided in our opinions of him." He chuckled. "Guess which side I was on."
Since Lysandre was a well-intentioned extremist I'm going to assume that "You were on Lysandre's side."
"You got it…well, I've heard a lot from him recently." Wulfric glares out the windows of the back door. "And I heard about the potential threat to Kalos…as well as his recommendation of you." Wulfric glares at me again. "I don't see why you have his attention, kid."
Well excuuuuuse the fuck outta me.
I feel the halftrack van come to a stop.
"We're here, now let's go." Wulfric jumps out of the van.
Here is where exactly?
We hop out after him…right in front of the gym.
…in retrospect I should've expected this.
"Now come on." Wulfric opens a side door and slips inside.
I'm not sure if we should use "slip" to describe a man of that size.
Eh…it works, so whatever.
We follow him, and behind the door is a dimly lit staircase spiraling down into the darkness.
Ok, this? Super Sketchy. Like, maximum sketchy. Like "if people found out about this staircase Wulfric's PR People would all quit immediately" sketchy.
And yet we follow it down.
After our eyes adjust to the lack of light the staircase is actually navigable.
But it's still Maximum Sketchy.
…
Eventually, we arrive on the bottom floor.
We also experienced that weird little sensation where your foot hit the floor but you expect another step of the staircase, so it's like 'whoa'.
The place has been getting progressively brighter as we descended down the stairs…everything I see has a soft, blue hue to it.
We follow the light.
…
"What…what the hell is this?"
We exclaim as we come upon this…thing.
"This? Your guess is as good as ours, boy." Wulfric grunts and taps the…crystal? Ice? Thing?
"Oh, if it isn't Axel." The other person down here says pleasantly…a person dressed in a lab coat with very well groomed hair. "It's been a while."
Professor Sycamore gestures to the thing. "As you can see…there is something interesting going on here."
Yes, Captain Understatement, that certainly seems to be the case. "What is it?"
It looks like a Glalie?
But…it has four horns. It looks like someone molded a Glalie into a shape of a Shuriken. Alternatively it looks like someone painted a Glalie's face onto a Shuriken. Either way, it's entirely encased in this crystalline-looking ice pillar that reaches from the ground to the ceiling…about ten feet up. It's ten feet high and I'm pretty sure if I hugged it my hands wouldn't go reach the way around...halfway, maybe.
Sycamore stares at the thing. "Well…we're not entirely certain either; it certainly appears to be a Glalie in terms of chromatic characteristics, but we know little beyond that."
"How long has this been here?" I ask as I tap the ice...weird.
"Who knows?" Wulfric replies. "We first found out…oh, right when the team rocket cell near Cyllage was busted."
"To the best of my knowledge," Sycamore amends as I almost break my neck from whipping around so fast. "There is no sign of Rocket involvement with this site…if we were to assume that this pillar is the only thing here, that is."
Site, he says…there's just a plume of ice and a deformed Glalie.
…Hm?
The floor underneath the ice plume seems to be discolored…well, apart from the whole being frozen business. It looks like there's a hole there?
"Is there a hole in the middle of that?" I ask and point to the hole.
"Really?" Wulfric peers into the ice column, following my finger. "I don't see anything." He says after a while of squinting.
"If there is we certainly haven't found one." Sycamore taps a few buttons on a tablet computer he pulled out of nowhere. "Then again, our scans have been far from comprehensive, due to the innate secrecy of this site."
Why is it a secret though?
We pose the question to the two people in attendance.
"Following the exposure of the Rocket cell, discovering something like this would've caused…well, incredible amounts of panic." Sycamore explained. "It was my idea to keep this under wraps, so don't blame Wulfric." He laughs a little bit. "Given Wulfric's identity as the ice-type gym leader it was my belief that he would be unfairly blamed for something like this."
Well, it makes sense. I re-focus back on the ice pillar thing.
We put our palm onto the ice.
Hmm…so what haven't we tried so far?
…Psychic power? I dunno.
DoubleVee, you listening? I could use a little help.
…
DoubleVee?
"This place is shielded from psychic contact from the outside." Sycamore says, looking down on his tablet. "I didn't know you were activated, Axel."
"Yeah, well…I could use a few pointers on how to use it." I mutter.
"Focus?" Wulfric grins. "Hey man, you unlocked the doors, it ain't my problem." He adds after I throw him a dirty look.
Doors?
Focus on the task at hand.
Fine, fine…
We have our hand flush against the crystalline ice. It's not cold, it's not wet, it's not…anything.
I'm looking at my hand on the ice. I'm very damn sure I'm actually touching it. But my hand doesn't feel like it's pressing onto anything.
Let's…try pushing.
…Uh…
This is weird.
I'm pushing. I know I'm pushing. But I don't feel anything.
"This is a strange, strange substance." Sycamore nods. "It seems to eliminate…well, all forms of contact made with it. I've even tried hitting it with a hammer, and nothing happened."
He gestures to the sledgehammer sitting against the wall next to him.
"We've both tried hitting the ice with that thing." Wulfric adds. "Nothing doing…hell, it feels like we just lose our sense of touch when we hit it."
Yeah.
We put both hands on the ice.
…Still nothing. I can see my hands pressing onto the ice and I can feel my arms pushing, but…bleh.
So what if I psychically activate the ic-ahahaha I have no idea what I'm doing.
"Perhaps we should invite our resident Psychic Gym leader to help." Sycamore muses.
"She'd kill us." Wulfric laughs. "She would definitely kill us."
WHOA
The ice and the Glalie thing vanished suddenly and we fell forward into the hole.
…
Ow ow ow.
"Axel!" Sycamore yells somewhere above me. It doesn't sound like he's particularly far.
Push up, sit up. "Yeah, I'm alive." A little bruised though. Let's see…
…
Uh…
I suppose I can describe what I see in front of me with one sentence.
Screw this shit, I'm outta here.
"Are you alright?" Wulfric asks.
Snap to attention. "Yeah, I'm…I'm fine. It doesn't look like it's too far of a drop."
"Hang on." I hear a click above me and turn to see a beam of light from the sky. "I'll go first, Wulfric."
Sycamore hops down here into this…weird…icy crystal hellhole with his flashlight.
"Alright, now move." Wulfric…uh…crashes, down after him. He's not really a light person. "Looks like the ground is made of a similar material like that ice." He mutters and punches the ground. "I feel a small amount of resistance."
"Wulfric." Sycamore warns, and Wulfric looks up to look at what we're looking at.
"What…what the hell is this?" Wulfric breathes.
In front of us…is a huge, empty, glowing room.
It is populated with Team Rocket members, all encased in that strange glowing ice.
Instead of the ice pillars, the Rockets are rooted to the ground with layers and layers of that ice…and judging by the body language of these…are they actually corpses? Jesus…judging by the body language, the Rockets were trying…trying very, very hard to run away from something.
Obviously, they failed.
Whatever killed them is obviously very, very bad news.
Sycamore gets a closer examination of one of the Rocket's faces.
"Judging by his expression…" Sycamore sighs. "Whatever attack hit these guys hit them extremely hard, and extremely fast. There's no trace of agony at all." His head follows the spread of Rocket Corpse Popsicles towards a large, glowing hole in the wall. "I suppose whatever froze them is still in there."
"Well, whatever's setting off the Froslass is in there." Wulfric mutters, and pulls out a Pokeball. "If we're going in, might as well go in for a fight."
"I suppose you're right." Sycamore agrees and pulls out a Pokeball.
The two of them unleashes a Beartic (Wulfric) and a Raichu (Sycamore). The Beartic makes sense, the Raichu…not so much.
I unleash El and HeroVee.
"Once again, I don't see what Lysandre sees in you." Wulfric sighs. El snaps at him in response.
"Ah, that reminds me." Sycamore snaps his fingers and…where is he pulling those things from?
Sycamore pulls out what looks like harness.
"I completed a prototype model for your temporary evolution gear." Sycamore explains and hands the harness to me. "As you might realize, this thing only works with Eevees. It'll automatically adjust to the Eevees' change in body mass when they evolve."
Huh…nifty. "HeroVee, come here. Let's try this on."
HeroVee obligingly walks over, but she doesn't seem to be too taken with the harness.
Fortunately she lets us put it on her…uh…
Let's see.
We snap this…here, and HeroVee's paw goes…here…and…here…
Adjust these straps to make it snug here…
Nice. HeroVee looks like an action adventurer Eevee now. Like…an American Secret Agent plus Belts.
"I guess we need something from the ice cave to actually evolve into a Glaceon right now." I mutter. "This'll do for now. How does it feel?"
HeroVee…really? Really?
HeroVee flops to her side like a cat wearing clothing. She then jumps to her feet because the floor is weird and icy.
"Well…does it make it hard for you to walk?" I ask.
HeroVee glares at me and rolls her eyes. She then takes a few ginger test steps…and she even walks like a cat that just got new clothes, wow.
Complete with greatly exaggerated steps.
"Are we done playing around?" Wulfric growls. "Let's get a move on."
I shake my head and stand up. "I don't know. Icy cave of death or Eevees…tough choice." El heels, with HeroVee sulkily following us a few steps behind.
About the only good thing I can say for this situation is: I'm very, very glad that the only thing between us and the cave is human popsicles, and that is very, very weird.
Imagine if there was a gentle slope upwards. We'd never get anywhere.
That being said we have some pretty good traction on our shoes, so it's not really a slippery journey on a sheet of ice…plus we're using the human popsicles to help keep ourselves upright.
Unlike HeroVee who just slid into one of them face-first.
With a soft *thunk* as her head hit the ice.
She's so mad at the ice too! She glared at it and then kicked it.
And then lost her balance again since she's wearing something she's not used to.
I picked her up and pet her head because I'm pretty sure this would go on for a while if we just let her do whatever she wanted. Plus she's soft and cuddly.
Honestly we only picked her up because of the soft and cuddliness.
While we were busy screwing around the other two arrived at the cave entrance.
"This must be man-made." Sycamore mutters as he raps his fingers on the walls of the entrance.
"Probably those guys." Wulfric jerked his thumb towards the human popsicles. "I just want to know what they hit." His Beartic growls its agreement.
"Whatever it is…" Sycamore shakes his head. "Well, no point making conjectures now. Axel, are you coming?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." I say as HeroVee sulks in my arms and Stormer (Not El, I forgot I renamed her) sulk at my heel.
"Alright, here we go." He shines his flashlight deeper into the cave.
…
…
[3rd person camera]
…
…
While Axel and company were busy exploring the subterranean ice level, the girls were above ground shopping for a house. Kind of, sort of.
Elenda and Anna were sitting inside an office with both of them pouring over large brochures while seated at a comfortable-looking table. An Azurill also sat on the table and tried vainly to get the two girls' attention.
"Hey, Sab." Elenda greeted distractedly as the girl in question jumped onto her from behind.
"Hellooo what are you reading?" Sabine asked, pressing Elenda into the brochure.
One of Sabine's Mightyenas jumps off of Sabine's back, having been released by Sabine just for the sake of bothering her best friend.
"Trainer houses. Owch." Elenda rubs her forehead. "Where's Axel?"
"No idea; probably playing with his Eevees." Sabine replied happily as she picked a seat at the table.
Her Mightyena stole the last seat, sitting in it almost like a human with its two paws on the table and panting happily.
Anna laughs. "You abandoned him?" The Azurill wanders over to her and she gives its cheek a tiny pinch, earning an adorable squeal of delight in return.
"He seemed like he was preoccupied with something." Sabine shrugs. "What about this one?" She points to a house on Elenda's brochure.
"Too far from everything." Elenda replied. "Preoccupied with what, the weird old guy?"
I guess she doesn't know? Sabine wondered. "Probably. I don't think Axel's used to the idea of Froslass being as temperamental as they are."
"I don't think Axel's used to anything. He's weird." Anna remarks as she continues to play with the Azurill. "What do you think, Elenda? I think you know him the best."
"Well…I'm in the same boat as the rest of you. He's weird." Elenda shrugs. "But at least his Pokemon are comfortable with him."
Sabine chuckles. "So does that make him a heart trainer? Sheesh."
"He hasn't actually had any, like, real issues, right?" Anna asks, and continues when Sabine shoots her a quizzical look. "I mean…there hasn't been a time where he and his Pokemon were both in mortal danger."
"That's…true, I think?" Elenda puts her brochure down. "Well…at the very least there's never been a time where he was entirely alone."
"That we know of." Sabine amended. "I don't know, but he seems to be the kind that likes keeping secrets." Like that little detail of Kalos burning to the ground. She thought.
Elenda had to stop herself from smiling at that little observation…for different reasons than Sabine.
"Oh! Speaking of him, look!" Anna put a Pokeball onto the table, and out popped an Aron. "Isn't he adorable? I have a girl one that I was supposed to give to Axel but forgot." She releases another Aron.
"Uh…sure?" Sabine rubs Anna's Aron on its little metallic head. "But why did you remember now all of a sudden?"
"Probably because this is the first time we've actually talked shop." Elenda sighs. "So…why Arons? These guys aren't really common around these parts."
Anna recounted the story of how they met the scientist guy.
We forget, too. Just believe that it happened.
Elenda and Sabine share a slightly worried glance after Anna's story was done. "And it didn't occur to any of you that this guy might be trouble?"
Anna shrugs. "I'm pretty sure if he was trouble we would've been dead. That place had a lot of the Aggron family around, y'know?" She pets her Aron's head. "I'd like to see him carry one of these around in his arms." She added, referring to Axel.
"An Aron is 60 kilos, Anna." Sabine sighed. "I think Axel weighs less than that."
Also known as 132 pounds. That little thing is very dense, which makes the table it's sitting on quality, quality construction.
"So…what, did the man give you two a breeding pair?" Elenda asks.
Anna shakes her head. "I think they're brother and sister, but I'm not sure…I don't think it matters."
"It matters to someone." Sabine grins, and gets a headshake of despair from Elenda. "What? I think it's true."
"Wear this and then tell me who he goes after." Elenda pulls out Sabine's cat ears (that she had taken off some time during the walk to Snowbelle) from Sabine's bag.
"What about this one?" Anna points to another house on the brochure, causing sudden mood whiplash.
…
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
…
Uh…that cave wasn't very long.
But it was gently sloped upwards and everything was ice covered, so actually getting up there was a pain in the ass.
Wulfric's Beartic ended up using its massive claws against the ice to create small purchases for us…it wasn't too effective.
Whatever properties that shielded the ice against all forms of physical contact didn't protect it against actual physical damage…or something. I'm honestly not sure if we actually dug through the ice or if the ice was pushed back into the earth, since I didn't see cracks appear when the Beartic hit the ice with its paw.
Either way, tunnel was short but slopey so it was really hard to navigate. But we made it here now…
"Here" being a small clearing with a pedestal of some kind…Small doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? It's a pretty spacious area, at least two stories high…maybe half the size of the Santalune gym floor? It's hard to estimate areas when the light is so dim.
Sycamore's flashlight doesn't reflect too well on the ice, but it does reflect, and it just throws off my sense of scale even more.
It's also really misty down here for some reason.
"This mist feels oppressive." Sycamore observes. "Something is definitely here."
His Raichu's cheeks crackle with electricity as it scans the clearing.
"Yeah…I haven't felt this kind of tension in a long time." Wulfric nods.
His Beartic growls softly, flexing its massive claws.
I uh…I mean…I can read the mood well enough to know that something is supposed to be down here and whatever it is would just scream 'bad news', but I don't feel anything.
…
NOPE NEVERMIND HOLY SHIT
"Axel!" Sycamore shouts as our knees hit the floor.
The mist in the room swirls and gathers onto the pedestal, condensing into an opaque, circular cloud.
I'm still conscious, god dammit!
We force ourselves to our feet.
Is this a side effect of being psychically active? Because right now my body thinks that it's drowning, and it's trying to throw up the nonexistent water from the lungs even when I know I'm perfectly fine.
"Are you alright?" Sycamore asks me as his Raichu shines with electrical power.
I think if I open my mouth I'll hurl, so I just nod.
"Whatever's in there has Psychic powers, that much is certain." Wulfric growls. "Hell, even I can feel it."
DoubleVee, if you're listening, I can use some help right about now.
…
No?
Dammit.
Sycamore and Wulfric have avoided attacking the ball of gas so far, probably to avoid suffering the same fate as the Rockets.
Not that they would've needed, since the gas cloud eventually…condensed…? Into something that looked reasonably four legged and…large.
What Pokemon do we know that is four-legged and has massive, massive connotations to mist, ice, and general crystal-ness?
Please, please PLEASE do not be an angry Suicune.
The vaguely four-legged misty creature immediately solidifies into the form of Suicune, complete with its hexagontal thing on its head.
…
At least…at the very least, it's not angry. Also, this relentless pressure is insane.
"Such an oppressive, immense power." Sycamore says through gritted teeth. "So this is Suicune..."
Wulfric seems to fare better against the pressure than either of us. "But what is it doing here in Kalos?" He growls. "Or, more appropriately, why did it choose to appear here, of all places?"
Suicune stares at us with its bright red eyes.
"It didn't choose to be here." Sycamore deduces. "The Rockets back there should be proof of that."
I can sense the massive, overwhelming power that's before me. Hell, I can do it even without the psychic sense.
But I do have my psychic senses now, and every part of me wants to make contact with that overwhelming power.
But the part of us that govern the art of self-preservation wants nothing to do with that huge mass of energy before us, because the odds of us getting damaged from exposure to that kind of power is pretty much 100%.
But I override my sense of self preservation and…reach out? That's what it feels like. It feels like I'm reaching out into the mass of power as if I'm extending a hand…with my mind. That sounds a lot less amazing once you realize how hands are usually extended.
So we reach out…and immediately it feels like water is being shoved into every part of our body. To put it mildly…it sucks.
Our active mind can't really react right now since it's in a state of utter and total sensory overload…it can't reack to anything. Not to the Suicune, not to the other two men trying to get him to 'snap out of it', not to HeroVee nipping at his neck to get his attention, nothing.
…
[3rd Person Camera]
…
The girls were inspecting one of their potential houses when they felt it: a feeling like suddenly being dropped into a cold river enveloped their feet and legs.
"What the hell just happened?!" Elenda demanded as her Vulpix barked towards the ground.
"Uh…" Anna looked around for something to stand on. "We're not gonna suddenly drown, are we?"
Sabine glared at the ground (along with her Mightyenas) as if trying to dispel the feeling through sheer thoughts of violence.
She didn't keep it up for very long. "Ok, I'm actually scared right now; what's going on?" She asked with a bit of panic in her voice.
"I wish I knew." Elenda growled…as she gingerly stepped onto the nearby couch with her Vulpix perched on her head.
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
This power is ridiculous.
Suicune isn't a hugely overpowered legendary in game, but right now it might as well be god himself.
Suicune stares at us, and…
Humans, for what reason did you come here?
Gee I wonder who said that
I do not speak, child. I simply form thoughts.
Thoughts that I'm simply receiving on my end, I suppose…geez, I get a migraine with every word.
Judging by the looks of it, Wulfric and Sycamore are receiving similar messages, judging by the sheer focus in their faces and how hard they're staring at Suicune.
For what reason did you come here?
Uh…because we…were curious.
Curious…about your fellow humans?
The ones back there…yeah.
The…Rockets, as you address them…attempted to harness my power against some unforeseen threat, a threat presented by other humans.
We're assholes, get to the point.
We're rapidly losing the willpower fight against the sheer Pressure Suicune is exerting.
Hmph...you're quite blunt, I see. Those who have tried to harness my power failed, it's as simple as that.
And…ugh. Dammit.
End of the line for us.
…
…
…
Pop. We open our eyes to a very non-crystalline ceiling.
Shit. Did I pass out? I think I passed out.
Damn!
We sit up very fast. By the way? Don't sit up too fast.
Oh…ok, that was stupid. My head is now spinning.
See?
"Whoa, careful there, kid." I feel a large hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"
No, my head feels like its exploding. "Yeah, I'm alright. What happened?"
"Apparently the Rockets were trying to borrow Suicune's power to make some kind of mass…freezing machine?" Sycamore said. "Unlike you, we didn't have a psychic connection…which might have been a blessing, all things considered."
Considering I apparently passed out and was…where are we? "Are we out of the cave system?"
Sycamore shakes his head. "Just about; we're at the…well, look behind you."
I lie back down and…it's the Glalie pillar, totally untouched, except the only ice here is the pillar itself.
"I don't think we hallucinated all of that." Sycamore muttered. "But at this point I'm not entirely sure myself."
"So the Rockets knew about Team Plasma's plan?" Wulfric growled. "Why didn't they just tell us instead of trying something this stupid?"
"Would you have believed them?" Sycamore asked.
Wulfric put his left fist into his right palm. "After a few minutes, I might have."
Sycamore shook his head. "Right, right…Axel, can you keep this quiet?"
"I can try." Oof…standing up is hard. "HeroVee?" I feel waterlogged.
HeroVee walks up to me and licks my face. I pet her head in return.
"You've got an interesting Eevee there." Wulfric grins. "The little girl tried to charge Suicune when you went down."
And she was ok? I stare at HeroVee.
HeroVee stares into my eyes with a bored expression, as if to say "I could've taken him."
"Suicune stopped her charge with a wall of water." Sycamore explained. "I suppose it's good that it was not directly responsible for killing the Rockets…"
"But what did they do?" I have to ask. I mean, I have guesses, but…
"If I must say…I suppose they were trying to condense Suicune's power as a form of coolant?" Sycamore adopts a thinking pose. "Obviously something went wrong…did it explode?"
"If it blew up we certainly didn't hear it." Wulfric grumbles. "I wonder if their experiments have anything to do with the Froslass going crazy…god knows that the Suicune wasn't responsible for it."
"I don't think they are." Sycamore shakes his head. "Or at least there's no immediately observable correlation."
Hmm... "So what do we do now?"
"Now?" Wulfric sighs. "We get out of here and never speak of this again. Whatever Suicune was doing down here…I don't think it'll stay here for too long. If the Rockets are aware of the Plasmas burning my country to the ground, then they're technically, technically, allies."
"Wulfric." Sycamore said warningly.
Wulfric held up a hand. "I know." He then stared at the Glalie. "If the Rockets are willing to do something like this, however, then I'm still going to kill them if I see them."
I hope that's an exaggeration.
"Axel, you keep doing whatever it is that you were doing; the last thing we need is some greenhorns butting in." Wulfric says to me…entirely justified, since I didn't do all that much. "Same goes for your girlfriends too."
Sycamore raises an eyebrow at me and I shrug in response.
"And I'll continue to investigate in any form of abnormal activity around Kalos." Sycamore says. "Although if all of their installations are in subterranean locations such as this it may prove to be quite the time consuming task."
…
…
We left the cave and marched up the set of staircases in a relative hurry, and now I'm stuck trying to find the girls again.
If the cave system did one thing…I suppose the air around here doesn't feel as painfully biting anymore. I don't know if that's because of Suicune doing something or if it is just because my senses are duller than normal…or something else. I don't know.
DoubleVee!
You called?
Yeah. I got some news.
…
[Exposition]
…
That's…strange. Suicune's last sighting was years ago.
What was it doing?
I don't know. Excuse me.
Waiting…waiting…
Supposedly the last time Suicune was awakened it was due to Ho-Oh and Lugia, although I don't have the exact details.
Hmm…
Sounds like the last time they saw Suicune it was due to the events of Pokemon Silver.
I've also heard of the Froslass's assault on Snowbelle's mobile infrastructure, however, I don't think they pose a threat to humans at the present.
At the present…so they can be a threat in the future?
Possibly, though unlikely; they're Pokemon, not monsters.
We had to smirk for that one.
Pocket Monsters are not Monsters. Got it.
I suppose you had something to do with that massive energy discharge I felt a few hours ago?
Wait, wait. Hours ago? How many hours?
Two.
…Ok, that's not as bad as I thought.
The sky is still blue, the hell are you worried about?
Yeah, I might have poked Suicune a little.
You are a fool.
No kidding. So what does AZ think?
He thinks you're a fool.
Eyeroll. No, about the other thing.
At this point we've started to walk towards the nearest Pokemon center, which isn't very far, considering how good business would be near the town's gym.
AZ does not trust the Rockets to operate in the best interest of Kalos, and thus advises you to avoid utilizing them.
Well…can't say I'm surprised.
Also, the mechanism used to condense Suicune's power should be destroyed at earliest opportunity.
As far as I remember the cavern system was devoid of any mechanical components, so I think that part is handled.
How's it going over there?
We are slowly making progress. It seems like Team Plasma has moved their activities to beyond Kalos's borders, making them hard to track.
…Really? I thought it was nothing but wilderness beyond those borders.
The Pokemon League does not recognize the areas outside of their established borders as under their jurisdiction, per the requests of those areas. Plus, the Pokemon that lives in the wilderness will respect the actions of humans so long as they respect the Pokemon in return.
Noted…I think.
Maybe they have an N-like character in their midst? I can't imagine Plasma having enough good credit among Pokemon to go anywhere unscathed, and of course I can't imagine N being allied with them now.
In a way, it makes it easier to track any major movements, since it will have to be made across the borders. Most towns in Kalos have seismic sensors to protect against the accidental Onyx intrusion, so any movement underground will be easily detected. Rest assured, and focus on your task at hand.
So says 100% of the people we've talked to so far.
We've talked to, like, three people, and one of them is an overpowered Eevee.
Ok, got it, DoubleVee, keep safe out there.
The same to you.
…
While I was busy talking to DoubleVee in my mind, our feet carried us into the Pokemon Center…a Pokemon Center busier than normal.
The first center we reached has almost zero foot traffic, while this one is busy enough to make walking around a little hard.
Well…I need to find a terminal first. I need information.
…We can also do a little bit of eavesdropping, too.
Let's see…
According to the loudmouth lady with the…Kalos Showdog thing—I don't know the name—there was a massive energy burst from the ground a while back. Nothing new.
According to that Ace Trainer sitting at the nearby table, most Pokemon were spooked by the burst. Also nothing new.
According to his…girlfriend? Friend? They're really clingy—it felt like being swallowed by a tide of water. Again, nothing new, though it tells me that I wasn't the only one to feel the whole water business.
According to their buddy the Froslass temporarily halted in their tire-slashing antics for a while after the rush of power. Interesting…but I'm not sure if it's significant.
The Froslass could've stopped attacking simply due to the overwhelming presence of power, as opposed to any sort of specific influence from Suicune.
I can't hear anything else interesting after that…interesting to me, I mean; there's a lot of talking to be had but most of it is either repetitive or stories of other people's lives…which is nice, but not very useful to me.
Suddenly we feel a weird, clammy calmness descend in our head.
A feeling followed almost immediately by a red-eyed little ghost popping out of our head to stare into our eyes…a red-eyed ghost wearing a tiny cat-like smile.
"Hello, Anna's Misdreavus." I whisper, and the thing twirls in joy. "Can you lead me to the girls?"
It nods affirmative, and floats into our head.
It feels like I have a very benign head cold…complete with a stuffy nose. Considering how cold it is this feels totally reasonable to have a stuffy nose right about now.
In any case, the Misdreavus maps out the path I should take, and we follow it out of the Pokemon Center.
.
.
.
{ === + === }
Author Notes:
My right eye is jumpy and I don't know why. it's weird.
What does that have to do with the story?