x-x-x

Episode 37: The Cold Shoulder!

I awoke the next morning, to again see Kyle watching the tv. The league competition was on, showing Cynthia with her blonde hair waving wildly in the wind.

"And now," The announcer blared. "Cynthia will face our challenger! This young man has come very far, and defeated the elite four, but can he face up to the our champion? Oh! Here he comes now." The camera panned to the large door to the stadium. A shadowy figure appeared, just as I turned off the tv.

"Hey! I was watching that." Kyle turned all the way around to look at me.

"We need to get going." I said, grabbing my purse. "I promised Candice I'd be there bright and early."

"I'd just turned it on too! I didn't even get to see the new challenger." Kyle pouted.

"Don't worry." I slung my bag over my shoulder. "Cynthia will win. She always does."

"Well then." Kyle stood up, ruffling my hair a bit. "You might want to look in the mirror before you leave."

I walked into the bathroom, seeing my reflection. My hair was normally frizzed up on top, but today it looked almost like a Tangela. I laughed. "Wow. Pretty bad."

Kyle chuckled, sitting the key beside the sink. "I'm going to go see what everyone's up to. See you in the lobby later?"

"Yep." I leaned in to gently kiss him on the lips. "I'll be there."

He smiled sweetly before leaving the room.

I pulled out from my purse a miniature hairbrush, and began combing through my thick hair. I suppose a normal woman like Jane would have been ashamed for the object of their affections to see them with such tangles. But it was no big deal to me. It probably was, when I first started traveling with him back in Kanto, but now I didn't even think about it. Kyle had seen me at my best hair days, and my worst.

The brush bumped against my glasses, making them fall to the floor. I leaned down to get them, and stared at the tv on my way up. What would he do once this league was over? Would he try to find other leagues to compete in?

I put the hairbrush away, glasses on my face and smiled. What he didn't know, was that whatever he does, I plan to stick by his side, no matter what. Even if it meant having to leave my position at the day-care center. From now on, I want to always be with him.

x-x-x

I walked out into the lobby, feeling much better about my hair. Kyle and Hope were talking about something, and Jane and Charlie were huddled by the center's phone.

"What's going on?" I approached Hope.

She smiled sadly. "They're expecting a call from the news station."

Almost as if on cue, the phone rang. Charlie and Jane literally fought over the phone. Their hands grabbed at it greedily, before Jane gave Charlie a look to make him back down.

"Hello?" Jane held the phone in both hands pressed against her ear. "Yes Boss?" Her hands started trembling. "Seriously?" A big smile appeared on her bright red lips. "Yes of course! I understand. Right away sir!" She hung up the phone, and turned to us. "He said he loved the exclusive. He wants me and Charlie back to work right away!"

"That's great Jane!" Charlie rushed to try and hug her, but she ran to Kyle's arms.

"Thank you so much Kyle! You got my job back!" She tried to throw her arms around him, but he gently shoved her away.

"It was my idea." I muttered. "Where's my hug?"

Jane glared at me.

"Well!" Hope laughed. "I vote we all go watch Shonna's gym battle to celebrate." She turned to a Chansey. "You can take care of the place for a while right?" She placed a beeper in the pokemon's chubby pink hands. "You press this button if any emergencies come in."

"Chan-sey!" Chansey danced and twirled.

"Sounds like a deal!" Hope giggled, grabbing her coat.

"I'd love that!" Charlie jumped up. "I remember seeing a gym battle once! It was really cool!" He paused. "For some reason I feel strange about it though… like I didn't like it much at the time."

I felt bad for him. What if his fear of pokemon came back?

"Well anyway, I'd love to go." Charlie smiled.

"I'd like to as well." Jane grinned.

"You're just looking to score another interview." Kyle glowered. "Well I've got no comments today."

"Yeah besides that Jane," Charlie twisted his ball cap around on his head. "I'm not bringing the camera today. I want to enjoy this."

"Fine whatever." Jane sulked.

"Then I'll lead the way!" I headed out the center's doors. "To the Snowpoint Gym!"

x-x-x

Candice tapped her foot impatiently as we flooded into her gym. The kids started to act up, asking all sorts of questions about the new members of my group.

"We're here!" I yelled across the gym.

"I see that." Candice beamed. "And I see you brought some friends." She walked circles around us, inspecting. "We've got the pokemon master, Nurse Hope, the missing reporter, and her doting cameraman."

"Doting?" Jane winced.

"I'm ready for my battle!" I jumped a little in excitement.

"First," Candice pointed to the children in the stands. "Apologize."

"Oh yeah." I hung my head a bit as the rest of the group, besides Candice and me, took to the bleachers. "Well, I'm sorry for last time. You all really should stick with school for as long as you see fit. I know I didn't enjoy it, but I did learn some very important facts about pokemon that have benefitted me not only in training, but also at my job at the day care center. Thanks to all my experience and book learning, I know almost every species of pokemon out there. So whenever I encounter a new one, I don't have to consult a guidebook or one of those expensive pokedexes. For that, I'm very grateful."

Some of the kids nodded in agreement and whispered to their fellow classmates.

I turned to Candice, who'd walked to the opposite end of the stadium. "That good?"

"Perfect." She said. "Now let's get this battle started!" She twirled on her heels again. "Three on three okay?"

"Fine by me." I opened up my purse to be ready for whatever she threw at me.

"Go Medicham!" She called, tossing the fighting type onto the icy stage.

"A medicham?" I was confused now. "But that's not an ice type."

"As long as it has a move qualified as ice, any pokemon is allowed for a gym leader, with special permission. And I can only have one in my party like that." Candice turned to her students. "Did you get all that? It will be on the test!"

All the students suddenly looked nervous as they dug out their pencils and notebooks.

I remember being like that, young and studious. I turned back to the battle, touching each pokeball in my purse. Medicham's part psychic type. So Lucario's dark move would be great. Not to mention, if Medicham has any fighting moves to use against him, they won't be very effective. Then again, same goes for me. "Eh, alright. Go Lucario!"

He bounded out of his pokeball and onto the slippery stage. He slid a bit, but caught himself and skidded to a stop. I was suddenly very glad we'd taken the time to train on that frozen lake.

"Medicham!" Candice called. "You know what to do."

Medicham stood on one foot, looking very reflective. It closed its eyes as power surged through him. I waited for its move, but none came.

"Mom! You know what he's doing right?" Lucario turned to me, sending me mental pictures of our fight back in Veilstone with a meditite.

"Ack. You're right Lucario! It's meditating! Get in there and stop it!" I screamed.

Lucario took after him, force palming him to the ground. Medicham smiled, as if it had accomplished what it needed to.

"That was dumb of me." I whispered. "That was the same opening move Maylene had used. But I wonder how they knew. Couldn't be coincidence." It clicked with me then. "Hey Candice, you're friends with the gym leader in Veilstone right? I remember now. Maylene told me to say hello to you!"

"That's true." Candice grinned. "She's one of my best friends. We've known each other for a long time."

"Well, it shows in your batting." I smiled. "Lucario! Bone Rush!"

Lucario formed his club and began slamming it against Medicham, but it matched each blow for blow with a defensive kick or punch.

"Wait for it…" I whispered, watching as Medicham drew closer, trying to get a strike in. "Now! Dark Pulse!"

I heard Lucario growl as the violet energy surged out of him in a powerful blast. It flew out in all directions, knocking Medicham backward, and into the air.

"That hurt." Candice winced. "Hi Jump Kick now Medicham!"

"Dodge it!" I called.

Medicham twisted in the air, kicking off the icy rock it was about to smash into. It leaped forward, slinging its foot toward Lucario. Lucario waited until the last possible second, and leaped away, sticking the club he still clutched out and tripping Medicham. It flew into the ice, sliding into a rock.

"Yes!" I cheered. Medicham laid on the ground near Lucario, looking defeated.

"Ice Punch!" Candice yelled.

I was surprised, since I assumed she was going to recall him. Suddenly Medicham leaped up, and into Lucario, striking him on the chest. I could see Medicham cringe from touching the long spike on Lucario, but then a shiny blue crystal formed around the spike. "Oh no. No!" Nothing I could say could stop the onslaught of ice that engulfed Lucario. He was frozen solid.

Candice's chuckling echoed through the room. "I bet you thought my pokemon was down and out, but now it looks like we've turned the tables on you."

Medicham looked weak, but thrilled to have won.

I glared at her, before glancing down to Lucario's frozen body. "We're not done yet."

x-x-x

Kyle smiled watching her from the stands. He'd been very impressed with her all along, but every time he watched her battle, she impressed him even more.

"Well, that's one's through." Jane leaned back, looking bored.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Kyle pointed to Shonna. "Just look."

"What is she doing Kyle?" Hope leaned forward. "It looks like she's concentrating really hard on something."

"She's speaking to Lucario." Kyle answered.

"What really?" Charlie leaned forward now as well. "She can do that?"

"Yes." Kyle nodded. "She can speak telepathically with him."

"That's so cool!" Charlie watched in awe, along with Hope.

Jane opened one eye to watch the battle, still pretending to be bored.

"Hey Mister." A little girl behind Kyle tapped his shoulder. "Can she really talk to her pokemon, even through ice?"

"Well," Kyle laughed. "I'm not sure she's ever tried." He could see Shonna whispering something, but it was impossible to make out from this distance.

"Cham?" Medicham stepped back, looking nervous as a tiny crack appeared on the frozen statue.

"What? No way!" Candice leaned in to try and see better.

Then, Lucario used dark pulse to burst out of the ice, making ice crystals fly in every direction. He continued his attack by hitting Medicham in the gut hard with his bone club.

"Chammmmm!" Medicham flew backwards, sliding across the ice. He was knocked out before he even hit the rock formation behind him.

"Great. So you can will your pokemon out of a frozen state with no items." Candice recalled Medicham. "That's just wonderful."

"I just have a really good relationship with my pokemon, that's all." Shonna said sheepishly.

"Hmph." Candice tossed out another pokeball, releasing a Froslass. "So do I you know."

Kyle watched Lucario. He looked a little cold, but otherwise in good spirits. He pushed his paws together, destroying his aura club. This probably meant that Shonna planned to recall him soon. As he thought this, she zapped him back to his pokeball.

"That's so cool." A little boy sitting nearby sulked. "I hope someday I can talk with my pokemon like that."

"Hey now." Kyle turned to him. "Even if your pokemon can't learn the human tongue, you can still talk with them. They make great listeners, and honestly Arcanine and I can understand each other just fine."

The boy smiled, taking down some notes. "Thanks Mister Pokemon Master."

Kyle turned back to the battle. Shonna released Luxray onto the stage. Luxray growled, using his intimidate ability to the fullest. The Froslass flew backwards a bit in fear. Luxray's eyes gleamed red.

He looked down to the ground now. Red eyes, just like someone else he remembered. Ricky was dead. There was no way he could have been back here in this town. Someone must have found out about his story, and used it to try and get close to Shonna. That's the only possible explanation.

He clinched his fist tight, slamming it against the seat. Hope turned to him, giving him a concerned look. Kyle looked away, back to Shonna. She stopped to wave at him. She was taking this much better than he was. He knew though, that for as much as he didn't want to, he'd have to tell her the whole story eventually.

x-x-x

I waved at Kyle who sat in the stands. He put on a very fake smile. I frowned, looking back to the battle. Luxray was skating around the rink gracefully, awaiting my order. "Luxray! Start out with a Shock Wave!" Luxray charged up and released its electricity. Froslass squirmed in the grasp of the unavoidable attack.

"Lass!" The pretty pokemon twirled under the electricity.

"Use our Confuse Ray/Ice Beam combo Froslass!" Candice looked excited now. "Then take cover!"

Froslass's icy blue eyes captivated Luxray, and a ray of violet hit him hard. Luxray shook his head in recoil. By the time he looked back up, Froslass had already formed a ring of ice around him, and floated behind it. Without command, it used Double Team to form all sorts of images of Froslass floating behind the reflective surface.

I looked closely. I could pick out the real one, but in Luxray's confused state, I doubted that he could tell this any different from a house of mirrors. "Luxray! Iron Tail!" I knew he had about a one in ten chance of getting it right.

Luxray tried to shake off the confusion. His tail turned silver, as he struck an area in the wall. It wasn't the right one. The real Froslass popped over the ice, shooting an ice beam at him, freezing his tail before he could jump away.

"Darn. That's going to weigh him down." I twisted a piece of my hair nervously.

Candice laughed. "Froslass! Use Hail!"

"Lasssss!" Froslass twirled mid air, as chunks of ice began falling all around the stadium. Luxray closed his eyes as he got pelted by pieces.

If he tried to strike each chunk, it'd never work. But as I watched Froslass and Candice twirl in unison, an idea came to me. "Luxray! Twirl on the ice! Tail up!"

Luxray's confusion was starting to wear off. He nodded, doing something along the lines of break dancing on the ice. His ice-covered tail held high, disintegrating any ice that neared him. It served well to protect him, and once the hail subsided, the ice around his tail cracked off. He jumped up with a grin on his face, looking pleased with himself.

"No way! I must say I've never seen anything like that." Candice laughed. "Froslass! This time try to get all of it with your Ice Beam so it can't dance its way out of it!"

"Lass!" Froslass opened its mouth, taking aim.

I watched happily as Luxray skated effortless across the ice, staying just out of reach from the Ice Beam that followed him. He took shelter behind one of the gym's many icy rocks along the edge. "Get in there and use Thunder Fang!" I called, knowing he'd know just how to go about it.

Froslass continued to shoot out ice beams, making the ice grow. From the other side, Luxray extended his claws, crawling and climbing high up the structure, staying just out of reach from the beam. When he was just as high up in the air as Froslass, he swung an Iron Tail into the ice, breaking it into large chunks.

"Lass?" Froslass stopped its ice beam in surprise as Luxray leaped from one flying chunk of ice to another.

"Rayyyyy!" Luxray roared, opening its electrified jaws. It grabbed Froslass midair, bringing it down with a powerful charge.

"Lassssssssss!" Froslass cried out in pain.

Candice readied her pokeball, knowing it had knocked it out.

Once he'd landed, he scratched his claws against the ice, bringing himself to a stop. He looked sort of guilty as he set the Froslass down gently on the ice.

"Froslass return." Candice held her pokeball as it zapped inside. "Great job."

"Is it okay?" I yelled across to her.

"Yeah. She'll be fine. I think you scared her more than anything."

Luxray gave her a funny look. I don't think he realized just how intimidating he was now. I chuckled at him.

"I must say. You're doing really well today!" Candice beamed. "But I didn't expect any less from one of our school's own." Candice grinned, holding out her new pokeball. "But I'm not playing the defensive card anymore. It's all offense from here. Go Abomasnow!"

A familiar sight, the monstrous pokemon stood tall on the ice, roaring at me.

"Well, it can't hurt to try this." I returned Luxray and tossed out my next pokeball. "Go Grotle!"

x-x-x

"She's done for." Jane said smiling a bit. "That's a grass type. And grass against ice will never work."

"You think?" Charlie looked at her.

"Yep. Not to mention it's so heavy. It will never be able to maneuver around the ice quick enough to avoid its attacks."

"You know a bit more about pokemon than I thought Jane. I'm impressed." Kyle said calmly. "I'll admit it's a bad matchup, but Shonna must have a plan."

Jane blushed, turning away. "You just have too much confidence in her, that's all."

"I don't know." Kyle stared up at her. "I've seen her in a lot of battles. She rarely loses, and she knows how to get herself out of a tight spot, which helps a lot."

"Still, she won't last in a battle against you in the league competition, so why is she even trying to get the badges?" Jane yelled loudly, making some of the children turn to look at her.

"Don't say that." Kyle glared. "She'll mop the floor at that competition."

"Or just clean it up for you." Jane grumbled.

x-x-x

Jane was loud enough that I could hear her comment about me and the badges. I sighed, turning back to Grotle. Why was I doing this?

"Not going to make a move?" Candice grinned. "Then I will. Abomasnow Wood Hammer!"

The wooden mallet appeared in its hands as it ran toward Grotle. Grotle instinctively withdrew into his shell. Abomasnow struck him, turning the battle into a sort of hockey game as Grotle's shell flew across the ice. When it was safe, he popped his head out to look at me.

"Grot! Grotle!" He growled, trying to get my attention.

"Yeah!" I shook off my dismay. "Get him Grotle! Use Rock Climb!"

Grotle's claws extended off his flat feet, digging into the ice. He took off, moving swiftly on the slick surface. Abomasnow threw its hammer at him in an attempt to stop him, but Grotle dodged. And as he continued his pursuit, I noticed him envelope himself in white light. The shrub on his back grew to the height of a small tree, and his eyes looked sharper. He was now a Torterra.

"Yes!" I cheered. "I knew that was going to happen soon."

"What?" Candice looked shocked. "Abomasnow! Stop it with a Blizzard!"

"Aboma!" Abomasnow roared, whipping up a wind of ice and snow. I huddled in my coat as I watched ice form on the branches of the tree on Torterra's back. Despite this, he kept running forward. Instead of going straight on, he moved to the left, climbing up a rock with his claws, and once he reached its apex, he leaped off, smashing into Abomasnow's side.

"Snow!" Abomasnow reeled from my spiky pokemon's blow.

Torterra landed, cracking the ice around him. He was so heavy, I'm surprised he didn't sink through. "Hey!" A lightbulb went off in my head. "Now there's an idea."

"Abomasnow!" Candice tossed back one of her long black pigtails. "No more kidding around! Use Sheer Cold!"

The same giant deadly icicle I remembered formed in Abomasnow's mouth. Torterra wouldn't be fast enough to avoid it at this close range, so there was only one choice. "Torterra! Earthquake!" I prayed the new move I was teaching him would pull though.

"Terra!" Torterra lifted up its front feet, slamming them back down on the ground. Nothing happened. Abomasnow readied its attack, taking aim, when cracks ran on the ice below it. I had to grip onto the railing of my side of the gym. The place was shaking! Some of the kids started screaming. Abomasnow was just about to deliver the final blow when the ice crumbled below him. His attack went flying into the air, causing ice to form on the ceiling.

"Snow!" Abomasnow struggled to swim in the pool. His soggy fur weighed him down.

"Déjà vu." Candice rolled her eyes.

"Razor Leaf!" I knew it wouldn't do much, but I didn't know what else to do really. Torterra stood from his undamaged part of the floor, shooting leaves at Abomasnow.

"Blizzard!"

Abomasnow whipped up another blizzard that froze his leaves mid air, making them drop into the water. The cold attack was super effective against Torterra, freezing his feet to the floor. Abomasnow climbed out of the pool, standing over him, letting out an icicle.

"Oh no!" I tried to find Torterra's pokeball, but it'd slipped to the bottom of my purse. Abomasnow released Sheer Cold on Torterra, encasing him in ice instantly. He was knocked out and frozen.

"Just try and talk your way out of that one." Candice grinned.

"Can't do that." I laughed. "Return Torterra." I held the pokeball in my hands. "You did great. I'm so proud of you."

"Get to fixing the gym back!" Candice called out. Abomasnow began pouring snow on the broken portion of the gym.

"Lucario! I need your help again!" I tossed out his pokeball. "You're the only one agile enough for this."

Lucario bounded out of his pokeball, taking stage once more. He looked back at me with vigor. "Should we try that one move?"

"No." I whispered. "Not the aura sphere. You haven't got that down just yet." I grinned, looking toward him. "Get on the ice blocks!"

Lucario leaped for a floating pedestal of ice, turning toward Abomasnow.

"Abomasnow! There's still a chance!" Candice cried. "Sheer Cold!"

"Snooooow!" Abomasnow threw one large icicle after another. After each one, Lucario would leap to a new iceberg, effectively avoiding the attacks. If anything, Abomasnow only made the icebergs bigger, making it all that much easier for him.

"Lucario! Now! Dark Pulse!" I screamed. "And for good measure, a Force Palm afterwards!"

"Rarrrrr!" Lucario growled, releasing all that pent up dark energy. It hit Abomasnow hard, making him fall on the ice. Lucario rushed in close, smacking him across the face with aura. When Abomasnow's head stopped bobbing, his eyes closed and he fainted.

"Return!" Candice returned him swiftly. "Very good. You won, just as I thought."

"We both did great." I rushed over to the other end of the gym to meet her.

"Congratulations." She pushed something into my palm. "Here's the icicle badge."

"Awesome." I rubbed my finger across its shiny surface, then held it up for everyone to see. All the kids cheered, and everyone with the exception of Jane, clapped for me.

Kyle, Hope, Jane and Charlie all ran down to us.

"That was so cool!" Charlie yelled.

"You did well Shonna." Kyle nodded.

Jane didn't speak.

"You did so great Shonna!" Hope threw her arms around me. "That was so exciting! I'm going to have to come watch trainers battle here more often! If I can that is…"

"We'd be happy to have you." Candice beamed. "Besides, it saves me the trouble of having to come to the center later!" Candice placed three pokeballs in her hands. "Will you please?"

"Of course." Hope let go of me and pocketed the pokeballs. "I'll head right back and heal them. You can come back and pick them up anytime."

"Great." Candice turned to the students. "Did you guys have fun?"

"Yeah!" All the kids yelled in unison.

"Good! Because when we get back to the school we're having a quiz on it."

Now there was a groan in unison across the bleachers.

"Hehe." I giggled, looking to Kyle. "Well, there's not much more we can do here."

Charlie turned, looking sad. "Are you leaving already?"

I looked down at the floor. "It seems like we've been here forever, but we really need to move on…"

"One more night." Kyle looked at me. "One more night won't hurt."

"Cool." Charlie turned to Jane. "One more night of no chasing after them for interviews then, okay?"

Jane mumbled something inaudible.

"That's great!" Hope smiled. "Let's all head back to the center then."

And that's just what we did. We spent another night watching some old movie from Hope's collection. I noticed it got even a chuckle out of Jane, who sat unusually closer to Charlie. I found time to waste the rest of the film on my camera, just on us goofing off. I couldn't help but think that by some chance, we'd all become friends in this town. Jane and Charlie included.

After that, I asked Hope to take a look at Staraptor. She brought me back to one of the rooms in the back where it was quiet. I released Staraptor onto a table.

"Everything looks like it's going according to schedule. Some more rest in her pokeball will do her good." Hope moved her wing around in the splint.

"Star." Staraptor winced a bit. I pet her head, calming her.

"Yep. More rest. That's my order."

"Thanks Hope." I recalled her. "I'll make sure she gets it."

"I know you will." She looked down. "So you're really leaving tomorrow?"

I looked down as well. "Yeah."

"I'll miss you. I can't thank you enough for all you've done."

I smiled. "Don't worry, there's always video phone. Can I have your number?"

"Sure!" She scribbled down something on her clipboard before tearing the paper off and handing it to me. "It's the number for the center."

"Thanks." I stuck it in my purse. "I'll be sure to call you when I can."

"I'd like that." Hope smiled warmly. "You have a great journey Shonna. I'll be rooting for you in the league."

"Thanks." I laughed. "I'll need all the help I can get to beat Kyle in battle."