Chapter 25

As Hiccup and the gang was heading out of Petalburg City in order to head to Fortree City so Hiccup can compete go get his sixth gym badge, Fishlegs decides to pull out the rock plate that he received from Regirock, something he had been doing just about every day since he got it, to Snotlout's annoyance.

"Fishface, do you really have to keep looking at that thing?" Snotlout asks. "It's just a bunch of rocks with dots on it."

Fishlegs rebuttles, "Hey, this was a very special gift given to me by Regirock himself. I cannot do anything more than to cherish it."

"And cherish it you must. It is quite a valuble treasure." That last sentence came from a voice familiar to the original trio, making them look up and spot the grey haired scientist they've helped a number of times before.

"Scott!" Hiccup says. "Good to see you again."

Scott nods. "Likewise. I'm actually glad I caught you, I am actually in need of help again."

Snotlout rolls his eyes. "Let me guess, some boring science Tauros crap."

Astrid elbows him on the chest. "What do you need, Scott?"

Scott replies, "Well, I am currently on my way to Route 105, actually, because I heard rumors that, somewhere on that route, the legendary Pokémon Regice rests."

Astrid's eyes widen. "Regice? You mean the legendary Pokémon made entirely of ice? It's on route 105?"

Scott nods. "Indeed. You see, I was looking through some of my old textbooks and discovered that, somewhere in the waters of route 105, there's an island that has a cave that is completely coated in ice. To me, it's a no brainer that that's where Regice, or at least a clue to Regice, would lie. I figured that, since you three helped me find Regirock, you should also be able to help find Regice as well."

Snotlout asks, "So, you're saying we should just drop what we're doing just to find some ice creature? Big deal. Now, if you're telling me we're looking for, say, Regifire, well then I'm all ears."

This time Fishlegs elbows Snotlout. "There's no such thing as Regifire, and we'd be delighted to help. In fact, we know someone who could help us get to the island."

Hiccup's eyes widen. "Oh yeah, Gobber. I'm sure he'd love to help us out again."

Scott smiles even wider. "This is splendid. Let's get going immediately!"

With that, the gang and Scott head through the Petalburg Woods where Hiccup and Astrid first helped him out by getting his research back from Team Aqua. Once outside, they spot Gobber's boat where he was lying down on with his Wingull, Pecko, on his shoulder. "Ah, such a lovely day, eh Pecko?"

"Gull!"

Gobber looks up and sees Hiccup and the gang approach. "Oh, Hiccup! So good to see you again! How's your journey going?"

Hiccup replies, "Going good, Gobber. Just defeated the Petalburg gym leader and got my fifth badge."

Gobber smiles. "Ah, you beat Stoick, excellent. Stoick and I go far back, actually. We used to be the closest of friends. Of course, now that he's a gym leader I hardly ever see him anymore but, hey, that's life."

Hiccup nods. "Yeah, I suppose. Hey, Gobber, you mind helping us out? We need to go along Route 105 and look for some sort of ice cave."

Gobber's eyes widen. "Oh, yes, the Ice cave. I know exactly where that is!"

This makes everyone else's eyes widen. "You do?" Hiccup asks.

Gobber nods. "Well, sure. I first went there by accident when I got lost at sea for a moment, it's actually where I first met my Pecko. Back then he was just a lonely Wingull drifting along. Nowadays I go there sometimes to cool off a little, especially on hot summer days.

Hiccup asks, "Have you noticed anything…particular about the cave?"

Gobber thinks for a moment. "Well, not really. It's quite dark in there so I really can't see much beyond the entrance, but I can take ya there, if ya like."

Scott replies, "This is splendid. Thank you very much, Mr. Gobber."

With that, the gang hops on the boat and they head off. The ride was about 20 mintues long and along the way, Snotlout was just leaning against the rails of the boat saying in a sing-song voice. "I am booored. I am booooored. I am b-o-r-d boooored." in a repeat pattern.

Obviously the others tuned him out as Gobber neaded to focus on the water and Scott was showing Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs the research he collected on Regice. "So, if our encounter with Regirock tells us anything, Regice will likely be locked in a tomb with a braile message telling us how to unlock it. Also, Regice might not be too happy with intruders so you all might want to have your Pokémon ready."

Hiccup nods. "Well, if Regice is ice type then my Combusken or one of Snotlout's Pokémon might help us out."

Astrid smiles. "Look at you, talking like a real trainer."

Right after Astrid says this, Gobber announces, "We're here!" They all look to the bow of the boat and see a cave which, on the inside, seemed to be lined with ice. Hiccup leaves his egg on the boat with Gobber as he was certain the cold wouldn't be good for it. The gang and Scott hop off the boat and proceed to walk inside.

As soon as they were inside, they noticed that Gobber was right about it being dark and they all started shivering. "Man, it's freezing in here." Hiccup comments.

Snotlout then says, "Need some fire? I got you covered. Charmeleon, go!" He tosses a Pokéball and out pops the red lizard with a flaming tail. The hot flaming tail did prove to be the perfect amount of heat and light for all of them.

Astrid comments, "Huh, for once you actually did something nice for us. Thank you, Snotlout."

Snotlout smirks. "I'm always here to give my fire, Astrid."

Astrid rolls her eyes. "Kept it up as long as you could, couldn't you."

"Look." Fishlegs says, pointing to the back of the cave where, just like with Regirock's cave, there was some braile writing.

"Ah, excellent." Scott says as he goes to read it. 'Stop and wait. Unmoving until time passes you twice.' "Hmm, what could that mean?"

Hiccup's eyes widen. "Exactly what it says. I think we just need to stand completely motionless for two minutes."

Astrid comments, "A record for Snotlout, I would say."

Snotlout shrugs. "I'd be mad but she's right."

Fishlegs adds, "Alright then, let's do it."

With that, the gang pauses moving, making themselves look like they're frozen. At the two minute mark, the cave shakes a little and it opens. Inside showed a tall ice statue of sorts with seven yellow dots in a cross pattern on it's face.

"Regice!" Scott exclaims with pure joy.

Hiccup pulls up the Pokédex. "Regice, the Iceberg Pokémon. Regice's entire body is made of solid ice that cannot be melted, even near lava. It is said to have been made during the Ice age."

Hiccup comments. "Wow, it really is…cool to see up close like this." Even Charmeleon groaned at the predictable pun.

Suddenly, Regice moves down as if trying to look at the humans and Charmeleon that just walked in and, just like with Regirock, it raises it's arms and proceeds to fire a blue beam towards the gang, that they all quickly dodge.

Scott comments, "Damn, guess I was right about Regice not liking intruders."

Hiccup looks to Fishlegs and says, "You managed to calm down Regirock, you think you could try doing it to Regice?"

Fishlegs's eyes widen. "I'm a Rock type Trainer, Hiccup, not ice!"

Snotlout comments, "We have fire types, why not just try to take this thing out?"

Scott replies, "It's not enough. Regice is one of the most powerful ice type Pokémon, if we're not careful then we're going to end up frozen ourselves."

Hiccup replies, "Well, we gotta try something."

A few more Ice Beams were shot from Regice's room's entrance, when suddenly Astrid yells, "REGICE!" and just like that, the beams stopped.

The rest of the gang look and see Astrid standing in front of Regice, staring it down. "Astrid? What are you doing?" Hiccup asks.

Astrid looks back and says, "Something crazy." before turning back to Regice. "Regice, you have to listen. We are not here to harm you, we just came here because we wanted to observe you and learn about you. I know there are people who would want otherwise, but we are far from those guys." Regice still seemed suspicious, but then Astrid got an idea. "Fishlegs, hand me the rock plate."

"Oh, right." Fishlegs says as he reaches into his backpack and grabs the rock plate that Regirock gave him and hands it to Astrid.

Astrid holds up the plate and says, "See this? Regirock managed to trust us enough to give us this plate…and I think you can do the same…please Regice."

Regice thinks about this for a good moment. What Astrid said seemed to strike a cord in Regice's mind, so it kneels down in front of Astrid expectantly. Astrid's eyes widen before she holds out her hand in front of her. Regice takes a moment before leaning in and touching Astrid's hand with its forehead, making Astrid smile.

Scott comments, "Amazing. Regice seems to have formed a bond with you just like Regirock did for Fishlegs."

Hiccup smiles, feeling more proud of Astrid than ever. Regice then stands and plucks a chunk of ice from the cave walls and firing a small Ice Beam that seemed to sculpt it a little. it hands the plate to Astrid, showing a hexagonal plate with Regice's face on it.

Astrid smiles wider. "An ice plate…wow. Thank you, Regice, for being so understanding."

Astrid turns around and walks out of the cave with the rest of the gang in tow. Scott pats Astrid on the back and says, "Ah, I knew you'd be of great help to me today. With that Ice plate we are now that much closer to understanding how Pokémon like Regice live and we also may be even closer to disovering Regigigas as well."

Astrid nods. "Thank you, Scott. I'm glad I could help."

Hiccup pats Astrid on the back and says, "You really are something, Astrid. I'm proud to have you as a friend."

Astrid smiles before hugging Hiccup tight. "Thank you, Hiccup. I'm glad I can come on this journey with you."

With the ice plate in Astrid's hands, the gang takes Gobber's boat back to the main land, bid Scott a goodbye as he heads back to the weather institute, and continue on their way to Fortree City.