Chapter 37:

Do the Twist

Location: Mistralton City

Since going up a snowy mountain wasn't fun, I had packed some Tomato Berry bars and some hot water bottles, along with some warmer clothes just in case.

Bianca was taking on Skyla; she understood that she was a bit behind. But honestly, the three of us had done so much overtaking of all of us that we felt it proved our worth as rivals. Today though I needed to prove my worth as a mountaineer, something that I have no experience of doing.

Location: Twist Mountain Ext.

Outside the entrance I stood. The breeze from up the mountain blowed down to my level, giving me a chill throughout my body. Cheren already caught a cold once; I was worried he might catch one again.

Enough talk; it was time to go up.

Location: Twist Mountain

I had to go through a small cave to get to the first outdoor section. The cave wasn't too bad, the only thing I encountered was a Woobat.

Upon entering outside, I could see that construction work had been halted because of the snow. On Route 4, construction always has to go on despite of the sandstorms. But with season work, yeah. Things can get a bit hectic in Winter so they have to stop for a bit.

The snow had an advantage. It gave me slopes to access other areas. The snow wasn't soft so my concern of falling right through it didn't come to fruition. I didn't use it then though; the next door was along the wooden planks that line the cliff as a path.

This cave was slightly bigger, but it also felt like to Driftveil sauna compared to the outside. Not that has much to do with the size of it.

I walked and came across a new Pokémon. It was small, white, furry and cute. Well, cute except for the booger hanging from its nose.

Cubchoo (クマシュン)

119

Ice Type

Chill Pokémon

1'08" (0.5 m)

18.7 lbs (8.5 kg)

Its nose is always running. It sniffs the snot back up because the mucus provides the raw material for its move.

"Aside from maybe Darumaka and its poop clothes warmer that is the most disgusting thing you've ever told me Pokédex. Anyway, Excadrill! I choose you!" Excadrill came out and immediately made the ground shake. Cubchoo couldn't keep balance; it was down in one.

"Earthquake!" I yelled. "Excadrill! That's a very strong move you've just learned! Let's use this to our advantage!"

As I walked through the cave, a Hiker noticed me.

"Tell you what, you have guts to come up here during these times!"

Hilbert Vs. Hiker Darrell

"Woobat, go!" Darrell shouted. A Flying Type would be easy to dispose of.

"Excadrill, go!" I shouted. "Rock Slide!" Excadrill made rocks fall from the ceiling. They all fell on Woobat, knocking out the Flying Type instantly.

"Boldore, go!" Darrell yelled. The three-legged rock monster was sent out.

"Excadrill, Earthquake!" Excadrill made the ground shake, almost finishing Boldore. It held on with Sturdy.

"Boldore, Explosion!" Suddenly, Boldore went boom! Boldore fainted and Excadrill took a lot of damage. If it wasn't for a resistance to Normal Type moves, it would have been good as down.

"Gurdurr!" shouted Darrell.

I recalled Excadrill and sent out Gothorita to take on the Fighting Type. "Use Psychock!" Gothorita fired psychic balls at Gurdurr. It didn't quite do it in one.

"Rock Slide!" Gurdurr made rocks fall from above. Gothorita was buried, but fine.

"One more Psyshock!" A blast from Gothorita was all it took to finish Gurdurr.

"Well, a Trainer like you does have guts! You really need them for what's coming up though."

I asked Darrell what he meant, and he got up a forecast from the Weather Institute.

"This is Gabby, coming to you live from Unova's Twist Mountain. As we can see, storm Junichi is heading towards the mountain today. Any climbers will need to take cover. Thank you. I said thank you. Ty that means stop rolling."

"Then I better get through this mountain fast," I said.

As I came out of the cave, I saw a big black cloud. Light snowflakes started falling, signalling for me to get a move on. All I just needed to do was get down to the bottom and take one of the cave entrances. Then it would be inside all the way. To do that, I would have to descend through another cave.

I went into the cave and started making my way downwards. It was weird thinking that time was of the essence; I would be waiting for hours if I didn't beat the blizzard.

"Hey!" shouted an Ace Trainer. "You wanna battle?"

"NO!" I said.

"Nice try," he replied. "There is no running from a Trainer battle. You don't have a choice!"

He was right. I told him to make it quick.

Hilbert Vs. Ace Trainer Jordan

"Krokorok, go!" Jordan shouted.

"Go, Samurott!" I replied. "Razor Shell!" Samurott took a scalchop and swiped Krokorok, doing a lot to it.

"Krokorok, Crunch!" Krokorok jumped towards Samurott, and bit down on its leg.

"Razor Shell again!" Samurott took another scalchop, and swiped Krokorok off its leg. Krokorok let go and hit a wall, fainting.

"Palpitoad, go!" Jordan shouted. A Water Type vs. a Water Type was interesting, but I wanted to make it quick.

"Foongus, go!" I yelled as I switched in my sea samurai for a literal mushroom.

"Palpitoad, Muddy Water!" Palpitoad made a large wave of brown water that hit Foongus.

"Giga Drain!" Foongus sapped a lot of health from Palpitoad. I knew this was going well.

"Use another Muddy Water!" Palpitoad created another wave that swamped Foongus to similar results of damage. In that, it didn't do much.

"Another Giga Drain!" Foongus did one more draining, and Palpitoad was down.

"My final Pokémon, Klang!" The final Pokémon was like Klink. However, instead of two gears, it had one big gear behind a singular Klink.

Klang (ギギアル)

106

Steel Type

Gear Pokémon

2'00" (0.6 m)

122.4 lbs (51 kg)

By changing the direction in which it rotates, it communicates its feelings with others. When angry, it rotates faster.

Klink -Lv 38- Klang

"Scraggy, you're up!" I shouted. "Hi Jump Kick!" Scraggy run up to Klang and kicked it hard. It was a hit! However, Klang had the Focus Sash which prevented a one hit knock out.

"Klang, Gear Grind!" Klang went up to Scraggy. It put its head into the gear, and it started turning hurting Scraggy in the process. Multiple times in fact.

"Counter with Payback!" I shouted. Scraggy turned black and hit Klank, knocking it out.

With no time for a losing quote, I ran off. I took out some Max Repels and started spraying them all over the place. I was not going to be dealing with, anything honestly.

Despite all my efforts though, when I got to the bottom floor, the blizzard had arrived.

"No," I said. "No, I can't of not made it in time!"

Jordan walked up behind me. "Everything alright? What's wrong?"

I pointed to him. "You! You're what's wrong! That battle delayed me, so I couldn't make it through in time to beat the blizzard! You slowed me down, and now I'll never get to Icirrus City."

"STOP A MINUTE!" Jordan shouted, grabbing my shoulders. "As far as I and many sensible Trainers are concerned, I did you a favour. That blizzard was coming in too quick. Even if you were using Extreme Speed, you wouldn't have made it. It will fly over in a couple of hours; we can wait in here. You will make it, but just delayed."

I looked outside at the blizzard. Knowing there was no way of getting through it, I agreed. "Okay. But let's keep ourselves warm. Litwick, go!" Litwick was sent out to create a miniature campfire. And yes I'm aware that its spirits are burning, but Litwick knew better than to burn mine.

"So, what brings you up Twist Mountain?" Jordan asked.

I got out my Badge Case to show him my Badges. "I'm on a journey. I have two Gyms left. Icirrus City and, wait let me check." I got out my Town Map. I followed my finger along Route 8 and 9, then found my next destination. "Opelucid City! Hey, that's where Iris is from!"

Jordan tilted his head to the side.

"Oh, yeah. She's a friend of mine and Bianca's from Opelucid City. She helped me retrieve a Pokémon of hers. Maybe she'll battle me over there."

"You like to get things done quickly. What is with you?"

I looked out at the blizzard again. "My friend Cheren and I had a battle yesterday, and he won. He went through this mountain early, meaning he's officially ahead of me."

"And?" Jordan asked. "What do you think being a rival is all about? Yes, you should try and outdo each other. But doing it as quickly as possible? Not a good idea bud. You'll get yourself in all kinds of trouble, like getting hypothermia for instance."

Speaking of rivals, I decided to call Bianca. I rang her up on the C-Gear.

"Hiya Berty!" she said.

"Very funny. Listen, did you win?"

She showed her Badge Case through the C-Gear. "Ta-da! We're on equal measures! Okay, should I start heading through Twist Mountain?"

I told her to look up at it.

"Oh. Okay. I'll give it a day. Say good luck to Cheren for me!"

I sighed.

"So those are three of yours friends. Do you have any others?"

Immediately I thought of N, but after what he had been saying, I wasn't sure if he qualified anymore.

You know, in the three hours that it took for the blizzard to die down, spending time with my Pokémon and Jordan just talking was some of the most rest we had had on this journey in some time. We joked around, talked about our progress and future plans. The time flew by.

"Well, looks like we're clear!" I said. "I'm gonna head out. Oh, and sorry about blaming you."

Jordan saluted. "Good luck. And hey, take things easy every so often okay?"

""I will!" I said, walking out the cave and through the crunchy snow to the next cave.

I was almost at the exit. Icirrus City was almost in reach. I was now in the final room, but a confrontation was going on.

It was Cheren, and a Team Plasma Grunt.

"If you want to liberate Pokémon so badly, then why don't you just release your own?" Cheren asked. I was going to defend him, but realising this wasn't my argument, I kept my mouth shut.

"We have a purpose for using ours. You just want to have glorified boxing matches, which I find unethical!"

Cheren showed his Badges, now having seven. His next Badge looked like a bunch of icicles. "I have seven Badges. Don't even try to deal with me. Me and my Pokémon worked together to obtain them."

The Grunt stomped a bit in anger. "Fine. But mark my words, Plasma will prevail!" He stomped off passed me.

"Cheren," I said. "Congrats man!"

Cheren wasn't in the mood. "Team Plasma. What is their deal? In my mind, they are just a bunch of overambitious hypocrites."

I guess he was right. "Let's just head out. I've had enough of the cold."

Location: Icirrus City

With mother nature completely ignoring what I just said, snow littered the ground of the old-fashioned village. The houses looked old timey compared to the rest of Unova and windmills dotted the quaint village.

"I've had some time here, including getting the Freeze Badge," Cheren explained. "It's located next to a Marshlands, which is frozen over at this point in time. But the main attraction is that." Cheren pointed to a large stone tower that looked like it was crumbling apart a bit. "Dragonspiral Tower. The oldest structure in the Unova region. They say it has ties to the Legendary Pokémon. Tomorrow I'm going to have a look inside. That should give Bianca plenty of time to arrive so we can all catch up."

I put my thumb up. "But for now, I need a hot bath!"

I am now at the destination of my seventh Badge. The snow just won't leave me alone, but I need to be fired up. Despite all I've said, I am proud of Cheren. He's someone who when knocked down, he gets back up again. (You'll never see him down!) Until then, Cheren has also booked me for a Gym battle tomorrow. I wonder what the Gym Leader will be like.