"You've used the Gears, Luc, what am I supposed to do?"
Lucario looks through the contents of their new pack - a standard old explorer's bag easily hidden under his cowl - and takes a quick sip of Aspear Wine before stuffing it back away. Seeds, a couple berries, two Wonder Orbs given to them by her truly. It's enough for a good dungeon run. They didn't need these to brave the Glacial Frontier, both explorers were fortunate enough to have resilience to cold, but it was a welcomed weight off their backs. Figuratively, of course. The pack is a bit heavy.
He looks over at The Typhlosion fiddling with the gear. Masters flips it over, examines it, tries everything except bashing it against something.
The sky is overcast, and a small layer of snow blankets the hills around them. The last pokemon they saw were merchants from Lapis Town heading southwards. Where they are right now seems a bit like the middle of nowhere. It feels like nothing else exists right now other than the snow trickling down overhead and the two pokemon sitting in the middle of it.
"I don't know. Both times I had one I'd see weird things, and I kinda…" Lucario rubs his temples, trying to remember. "I kinda just thought about it and the gear did its thing. Have you tried, you know, not forcing it? Maybe you're giving it stage fright."
Masters looks at the black gear, frost having built up in the same hand he holds it in. He shuts his eyes, places both his hands on it, takes a deep breath. Nothing happens. He thrusts it out.
"Gearin' Time!" Masters shouts, trying once and then trying again. "In the name of time, I shall punish you! Go Time Gear!"
"Stop that!" Lucario grabs hold of the Typhlosion's arm. "You're making yourself look stupid and it's clearly not working! Put that thing away before you wake up the ferals."
"What ferals?" Masters blinks.
"Exactly, 'M. We don't know if we're surrounded, and we won't know if we've entered a dungeon till we're too deep to get ourselves out! Don't go shouting stuff like you're some kinda hero or something. If you're gonna play with your gear, do so when we're camped on your own time."
"Own time?" Masters laughs, putting the gear back around his neck. "We've been travelling for days Luc, can't I get a moment or two to try something out, train a bit? Surely you understand keeping yourself in prim and proper shape, you're a fighting-type aren't you?"
"Sure, train all you want, just don't shout to the world you own a time gear, okay?" Lucario grumbles, staring at the thing dangling by the Typhlosion's neck. "Look, if you wanna figure out what your gear does, then just give it to me and I'll give her a whirl."
"Not happening" Masters states. "You have yours, I have mine."
"Then don't yell about it, okay?"
There is nothing wrong about training, there is nothing wrong about beating other pokemon to the brink of their life with powerful, earth-shattering moves. Everything about fighting each other is normal, it's what people were built to do. What is not normal is telling everyone you own one of the most coveted artifacts of your time and using it like it's some kinda magical rod which it both sorta is - and most certainly not. Lucario wants to swipe the thing from Masters here and now, but his hands are too busy with a map.
"Oh, I understand." Masters lets out a sigh, dragging his feet through the snow as Lucario leads the path, peeking over at the paper. "How close are we? What exactly is out there in the middle of nowhere?"
"The person we're looking for." Lucario glances back at Masters. "You wanted someone on board to give us rides, the very same friend who gave us the pack and some money for a house over our heads gave us a map leading us to them. They're out in the wastes somewhere, at some place outside of Lapis Town."
"Which friend?"
"The ghost from Calico Town." Lucario answers, stuffing the map away. "She's helping me, I'm helping her. She's got some kind of sixth sense like you do, and she pointed us to a guy stuck in ice somewheres. Said it was a Rapidash."
"Oh, really?" Masters skips ahead, keeping in pace with Lucario. "You're still friends with her? I didn't say it earlier but she really gives me some bad vibes - suspicious vibes if I do say. She's obviously helping you, but what does she want?"
Obviously she wants the gears. Maybe the Typhlosion's looking to hear it from the mouth of Lucario himself to confirm his suspicions. Lucario's willing to oblige.
"She's looking for the Gears, she's covering us in terms of money, and resources. You can keep your gears, I don't care." Lucario grunts. "Do you have a problem with this?"
"Not at all, as long as you're getting your dues then there's nothing wrong in turning in your prizes to someone else. I can't help but keep on wondering what she wants these gears for, because if it's money you'd have just turned them in. I've heard some rumours about supposed anti-gears in my past, and what you and I have found seem mighty close to this legend.
"Legend?" Lucario raises an eyebrow.
"A fairytale. Your boss up said these gears exist to distort time, their counterpart - found on the grass continent - keep time in check. So any fancy tricks you're doing to age creatures or any abilities we see in our eventual future, they're all possible due to the gears messing with time."
"And messing with time's not going to just ruin everything for everyone?" Lucario taps the gear hidden beneath his cowl. "If I use this thing, space is not gonna blow us up and stretch us into noodles or something, right?"
"These are Time Gears, not Space Gears." Masters laughs. He doesn't sound the least bit worried about the temporal artifact around his neck. "Say, how long ago did you first find one of these things? Three weeks?"
"Yeah, three."
"Then that's plenty of time to have watched and made sure nothing wrong is gonna happen from you or I using these. We'll be fine, use 'em to your heart's content. Your other ex-boss said I was an infinite fountain of years, so you can age others and fix yourself for as much as you like so long as I'm right by you." The Typhlosion elbows him lightly. "And I never abandon anyone."
Somewhat reassuring coming from the mouth of someone who's supposedly way more experienced than anyone else on his continent. Lucario stares off for a moment, then sees the Typhlosion lift the Time Gear from under his cloak.
"You wanna hold this and try using it?" Masters asks, exposing his gear to the fresh air. "If you yoink on it I'm gonna pull it back. Tell me if you feel anything."
Lucario reaches over his shoulder, rolling his eyes as his fingers touch the cold metal. He waits and waits, awkwardly walking alongside his companion, hoping something of interest to arouse from the gear. After seconds, then minutes, Lucario feels nothing. There's no changes in his perception, no sudden rush of power, just a sort of dull feeling from holding this glacially cold object in his hand.
With a flick, he surrenders it back to the Typhlosion, a look of disappointment across his face.
"I don't feel a thing holding that." Lucario sighs. "So maybe yours is just broken, who knows? Maybe it's because you're a ghost?"
Lucario mutters, interrupting himself. "No, can't be."
"You saw a ghost use these?" Masters' face lights up with surprise. "Wait a second, she was over in Halfway rock and you actually-"
Lucario palms down his face. Oh he's done it now - let him know he's giving scary mysterious ghosts time gears for free. A foul feeling of doubt begins to rise inside his throat. He should've taken that other deal, dammit all.
"I gave it to her and she wanted to keep it okay? She gave me a choice, between the two options I went with the one which lets me keep on traveling with you. I let her hold the gear for a second and she used to make me a little rope out of her weird silk." Lucario pulls down his cloak, flashing his shoulder to Masters. "She's paying for my bounty, and I'm helping her out."
"You're gonna give her these Time Gears, which as we've established, got these fancy powers?" He sounds more worried than angered. "She didn't say she wanted them for the money back in Calico Town, is she gonna use them? Lucario, you can't be giving these things to just anyone you know."
"Because collecting them all does something, she said it can nudge the world in a direction, so I think you can just use them to wish for whatever - nothing big. If they could make you, me or anyone into super powerful deities, I wouldn't have handed them off to anyone. I would've kept mine all to myself, and we would've been floored by a power-hungry lunatic long before we got to be pals, okay?"
Lucario's cheeks are flushed with frustration. They're so hot, they turn the snowfall hitting their face into steam.
"Are you sure she's not lying to you?" Masters raises an eyebrow, leaning towards the angry hound. "You got duped once before. It's how you ended up like this."
Lucario glares right back at The Typhlosion, his anger hiding the doubts and questions whirring inside his mind. What is Masters trying to do? Aren't they all on the same page?
"I can't be sure." Lucario restrains himself from shouting, balling his hands into tight fists. "I got my freedom for now, but it's not going to last forever. I want those Time Gears, I want to use them so no one could get in my way ever again. I'm not power hungry, I'm not some kind of villain you'd hear in those kiddie guildie stories. I want to be free, to do what I want, and never be bothered again by the likes of Honchkrow or the rest of this world's crazies. We have a reason to want to help eachother."
"I'm not betraying you, I'm not betraying her." Lucario shies away from Master's gaze. "I trust you because you saved me, I have to trust her."
Several seconds of silence pass, glacial winds howling in their ears like the ticking of a steady clock. Masters backs away, a quiet, somber look coming across his face.
"No." Masters sighs. "I want the gears for the same reason you do, for their combined power. In the myth, they spoke of these gears as a counterpart to the ones which caused so much strife fifteen years ago. It was said these gears would let you do something beyond time and space."
"I told Minstrel my story. In exchange for him being able to write songs about it, I had him promise me if he found anything resembling a kind of twisted time gear, to beckon me. He upheld his promise, and that's how we've bumped into each other."
"Everytime you trust or befriend someone, you give up a piece of yourself to them. They decide what they can do with it. They can nurture it, or let it rot. I trust you, Rei.
A lick of fire leaves Masters' mouth.
"I don't want the gears for the money. I wish I could tell you why."
He wouldn't use that name if he did not mean it. Masters has been on this hunt long before it was ever a thought in his boss' mind. A journey like this has its toll. He doesn't have it in him to start coddling a fully grown man for feeling bad, it's not in his blood. For as cruel as it seems, maybe Masters appreciates him for his bluntness.
Lucario keeps his proverbial arms to himself, opening up a map. Wherever they're looking for is right inside of a glacier somewhere in the wastes.
Pass Lapis Town - where they had passed a few hours ago - is the Glacial Frontier. It is an overwhelming mass of cold eating up the north of the dusk continent like a tooth cavity. When the Dark Season approaches, it becomes a sea of Darkness, Snow, and Distortions wrought by the numerous mystery dungeons.
Only a fool would brave a front like these. Fortunately, there are plenty of fools to go around. They call themselves explorers, they make their living off these wastelands. Their Destination, Spinal Glacier, isn't a dungeon in the traditional sense. The ghost simply said it's a place where people pilgrim; where many more never leave.
Frozen in the walls of this dungeon is where they will find their ally.
"When you mentioned a Glacier, I didn't know what to expect."
Masters stares in awe at what's before them. Nestled deep in a valley is a gigantic block of ice, looking as though a colossal creature had lifted it out of somewhere and dropped it here. A massive entryway, big enough to fit a cart, has been carved into the base of the valley. Fire rages outside, tents are gathered round, and ancient-looking, stone structures flank the great enterance while a statue perches above it glaring at the masses below. What in the world have they stumbled on out here?
"She did mention people taking pilgrimage, is this…" Lucario stares bewilderedly at the map, before deciding it's all but useless, stuffing it away. "Hey what do you know about the big guys, Legendaries, deities whatever you call them?"
"I've met a couple, I think."
Lucario spits out a non-existent drink.
"You've met a couple? You've met Legendaries before? You never told me?"
"My memory's foggy anyways." Masters rolls his eyes. "Their personalities vary like everyone else, don't fight them alone - trust me, it's a bad idea. You're not weird if you worship a few of them, just don't pick a bad one."
"There are bad ones?"
"There are bad pokemon. Legendaries are deific beings, but they're pokemon. Pokemon can be bad and can be good-" Masters snaps himself out of it. "How old are you? Do I need to tell you this?"
"No, you don't, I just don't like thinking there's stupidly strong pokemon out in the world who can start making us dance if he wants to." Lucario looks down into the snowy valley, trying to get a look at the statues through the fog of a light flurry. "If I were still a stupid little Riolu, I'd be having nightmares about Articuno smashing down my window because of you."
"Nightmares? Wait until you hear about-" Masters looks around like someone's watching them. "Actually no, let's not invoke him. Any idea what those statues are down there?"
Invoke? What was he about to do, summon someone? Lucario shrugs.
"I was going to ask you the same thing, 'M. That's why I asked in the first place, and I don't wanna make assumptions about their gods to what are probably priests down there."
Lucario looks down at the slope in front of him, a clear, long descent to their destination. The pokemon below seem utterly oblivious of the two scoping them out. He turns behind them. There's something sticking out at the edge of the forest, an overturned tree. Lucario raises an eyebrow.
"Hey, wanna try something stupid?" Lucario says, staring at the log. "Grab that log over there."
"Huh?" Masters swivels around. His face lights up, glancing back at Lucario and the buried thing."You're thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oh yeah."
It takes a but a few minutes of hauling this thing out of the snow with their collective might, scoring off some bad pieces, punching holes into it fists and abilities to turn this upturned log into a doom-sled of idiotic size. It looks like a canoe a water-allergic Charmeleon would make and nearly drown in after trying to row it. Both pokemon get in with barely enough room for the both of them. Winds blow in their face as they peek over the sloped precipice. Only now does it occur they could probably get seriously hurt for this, yet neither of them seem keen on backing down
Lucario, heading at the front, can feel the heat of Master's flame as it flares nervously. "That's uh…" Master hums.
"A big drop?" Lucario hocks a glob of spit down the way. It instantly vanishes it before it can hit the men below. Who knows if they can see these two playing with death above them. "We'll be fine, the worst thing that can happen is I perish and become a ghost."
"It doesn't work that way-"
Lucario digs his hand into the snow and shoves them towards their doom. The air bursts out of Minstrels lungs as he shrieks, plummeting with Lucario down into the valley with a trail of snow blazing behind their crude log-mobile. The cold, icy air blasts their faces, punishing them for ever having thought this was a good plan. It was too late to stop. They are two souls in a log-shaped coffin.
"We're going too fast! Steer, steer!" Masters yells into his ear, it's like he's suddenly forgotten he is already dead. "Come on, Luc!"
"We're fine!" Lucario turns back, grinning in his face. "We're fine! Just hold on tight till we-"
A bump rattles their sled, knocking them off to the side. Both pokemon grip onto the edges of the edges of their hollowed out seats, then at once, yank their bodies right - putting them back on track to careen into the camps below. At this point, they can see the tiny durant-sized figures below beginning to notice the big purple fire blazing towards them. Some, youngsters by the sounds of them, cheer the duo on. While those with half a brain make way for the missile careening their way.
They keep going, faster and faster, Lucario can't keep his eyes open anymore. He shuts them tight, holds onto his cart, then hopes for the best.
PPFT!
Their sled careens into a mound of plowed up snow in the valley. The idiots riding the cart are sent flying into the earth. By sheer luck, they don't hit something hard and break their backs. They just fly out, then crumble somewhere in the "street" leading out of the glacier.
His ears are pounding, his face feels frozen into this perpetual, terrified grin. Masters on the other hand gets right up, burning the snow around him in his panic. They are instantly surrounded by a mass of onlookers, the majority of whom wearing these silly, icy-blue robes. One such creature is a pipsqueak of a Snorunt who breaks through the gathering crowd.
"Hey! That was cool-cool, not just cool but icy cool, glacial cool!" The accented, robed Snorunt snorts in a high-pitched voice. "Are you two okay?"
Lucario, feeling his pack still on his back, pulls out a bottle of Aspear. He swallows down a quick drink of the bitter burning juice before he speaks. There are about four, maybe five pokemon looking at him. One he recognizes as a miniature Beartic back from Halfway Rock, while the others are these tiny robed Ice or Water-type strangers.
"I'm fine, 'M?"
Masters raises a hand, panting.
"Yeah, okay! I just need a moment for my fire to light back up - you're not smart for recommending this, you know?"
"You would've said to do the same thing, you and your kid's toys." Lucario groans, his arms feeling like icicles as he slowly gets onto his feet. The Snorunt keeps staring at him like he is someone who fell out of the sky. "What's wrong with you, eh? We're here for a reason. Can you get us into that big glacier of yours?"
"Oh no no no! You're cool but unless Elder says you're cool, then you're not Winter-cool, dig?"
"You know what's cool? Shutting your mouth!" Lucario rustles his cloak, the snow sagging off of him like dust. "Can you get us into the Glacier or not? I don't care about being cool, 'dig'?"
"Wow! You have no fear of authority! That's so cool of you!"
"I said shut your mouth snowflake, or you're about to see what my fists do to Ice-types!" The crowd of Ice-type children, all except for the Snorunt, scurry into their blue tents. "Can we just go walk into the glacier? Huh? Do I need your Elder's permission, huh? Tell me!"
"W-Well you do n-need a pilgrim's permission, coolio!" The Snorunt shivers in fear, a sound like icicles clattering together permeates from their body. "You're here on pilgrimage right, here to speak with Winter?"
The second mention is what it takes to slap sense into Lucario. His eyes go wide open, and he turns his head to the three statues overlooking the glacier's entrance. While two of the statues lie in disrepair, one is made of an illustrious lapis and blue glacier ice - a huge, regal avian. A mane of slick feathers flows behind their head like wind, while crystals crown their head like royalty. Even if he had no idea what the pokemon behind the fabled name was, one look at the statue could invoke a sense of reverence in the most jaded of pokemon.
There she is. Winter's Wind, Articuno.
Masters rises, walking up to a Lucario who stares in utter disbelief at the thing in the distance. The Typhlosion clears his throat then nods at the snivelling, shivering Snorunt.
"Please, mind my friend." Masters continues for Lucario, smiling. "He may be rude from time to time but I assure he means well. He and I are here on Pilgrimage to this very site. We've heard of this blessed place from travellers abound, so we came to visit. Pardon our rude entrance of course, we just wanted a little fun before we get here."
The Snorunt stops shivering.
"Cool, cool! Very cool! There's nothing wrong with having a little fun sledding, I do it all the time!" Snorunt's smile is massive and beaming. "I can go ask the Elder, and he'll let me know if you're allowed! He's pretty cool, so he'll probably let you in! We just keep an eye on people because Winter is scared of strangers, you cool?"
"I'm cool, very cool." Masters nods along. "I'm cool with anything, long as we get in there and see what we've been travelling all this way for. Don't wanna make this journey for naught, do you?"
"Never in a million years, cool!" The little creature chirps, before plodding off towards one of the huts gathered round.
Once out of sight, Masters instantly turns to Lucario.
"You could've gotten your way earlier if you just played along." Masters grumbled, him too shaking off the snow on himself. "You're lucky this kid doesn't know better or else the whole camp would be on us for threatening their young. Are you uh…"
"I'm not stupid." Lucario bemoans, folding his arms. "Stop calling me stupid, we both wanted to do the dumb slide thing, so just - just don't okay?"
"Will do."
He looks to whence the Snorunt fled, and watches as moments later this titan of an ice type comes shambling out of the tent they hurried through. The gigantic ice type resembles the very same glacier they stand towards, shaking the snowy earth with each step of their four powerful legs. Bright blue banners dangle from their body. The Snorunt hops alongside them in tune with their powerful steps.
"These are the two cool guys I'm talking about who came right down the mountain! The Snorunt smiles, pointing at the two strangers with gleey "You totally should've seen them, Avalugg! They're cool, cool-cool!"
How many times can the runt say cool? As it approaches Lucario puts on a smile, trying his best to greet the gigantic Elder warmly.
"My name's Lucario."
"And I am Masters." The Typhlosion next to him also smiles.
The giant thing stops shy of arm's reach, observing each of the two strangers with its yellow, and purple eyes. Down its neck are a series of icicles dripping from their chin like a beard of ice. This guy seems old, about as old as the block of ice.
"I am Elder Avalaugg, maintainer of Winter's abode. Pleasure to have met you two. I would offer thy a hand but a smile is good enough" The living hunk of icer raises its chin at them. "I welcome you to Spinal Glacier, home of Winter's Wind and all of its followers. What brings you two to our palace?"
"We're pilgrims." Masters steps forth, taking the reins from Lucario. "We're here to step foot in the glacier, and catch a glimpse of Winter for ourselves. We've traveled far, starting all the ways from Calico, through Halfway Rock, and now here. We are as exhausted as we are dedicated."
Master's improv skills are on point because the Elder seems to absolutely buy it. The cherry Snorunt nudges the block of ice, cheering him on.
"The Dark Season is upon us, man of Flame." The avalugg glances at the flames flickering from under Masters' hat. "She would have you consumed by the winds if she did not want you here. I welcome you two to our abode. Shall I bring you to our glacier?"
Before answering, Lucario steals another swig of Aspear from his pack. When he points the bottle at Masters, he politely declines.
"Most certainly, Elder." Masters clasps his hands in prayer of some kind. "We have come far, a tour of her abode would make our evening."
The avalug's mandibles clack and crack against their ice flesh as they laugh.
"Then I shall not waste a second longer! You and Lucario, follow!"
Elder spins around, earth shaking with each movement of their legs, and leads them down the short slope leading to the entrance of Spinal Glacier. The Snorunt hops alongside them, smiling all the while, loving every second of travelling alongside these "cool-cool" explorers from lands afar. Master grins at the two, then leans in towards Lucario, whispering quietly.
"Who are we looking for?"
"A four-legged pokemon, like Rapidash or Zebstrika. She said they're gonna be frozen in ice, when we see them you'll know."
"Then what?" Masters whispers back, Winter's statue fading overhead. "Do I just thaw them out? It can't be difficult, I'll just fire off Eruption at them then call it a day."
"Eruption?"
The so-called pilgrim glances at the two ahead of them as they enter a sapphire-blue hallway of ice, carved out by all the pilgrims before them. A four-way intersection lies ahead, and when stepping into it, the Elder leads them straight left through a pair of icy, gigantic doors.
"Think of it as a move that blows out all of the Fire-Type energy in me at once, like an explosion." Masters whispers, keeping an eye between the Avalugg and the walls around them. "It hurts, and I can only do it when I'm not hurt. I would've used it on the Murkrow if I didn't want to incinerate them, it's my third trick after Infernal Parade and Thunderpunch."
Lucario shudders. Thunderpunch, right, the same electric move which tore through him at the bottom of basalt peak. Thinking about it makes his body shudder with dread.
"What's your fourth?" Lucario asks, eyeing the walls around them. They're separated by large segments of non-ice, each "square" housing a pokemon frozen in ice. "I have Aura Sphere, Bone Rush, and Bullet Punch. My fourth's Dark Pulse, it's just throwing out a raw angry Aura at people - it's not special."
"My fourth is just Smokescreen, friend." Masters smiles at him. Turning back to Avalugg, they stop them before one of many pokemon trapped in the ice. It's some kind of bipedal electric type, maybe a Heliolisk?. "What's this? A prisoner of our lord?"
"Oh yes, indeed." The Avalugg points its jagged head at the dark metal plates on the Heliolisk's shoulders. "Do you see the metal up there? Only the Knight's quarter wore such armor, legendary warriors whom Winter preserved for all us to learn from."
Masters looks between it and masters. The helmet on their face barely hides the fear in the eyes.. It's as though they were struck down, then plastered along the walls in the very same pose as their demise. Their eyes are frozen in time, trapped in a state of unfiltered horror.
"Learn?" Masters ponders aloud. "I don't think there's much to learn from this statue here other than to fear Winter. Do tell, what am I supposed to take away from such a grizzly sight? Admiration?"
The posh voice Masters puts on grates on Lucario's ears, but Avalugg and Snorunt continue to suck it up like it's honey.
"Reverence is all our lady wants! She is the guardian of this Continent, more effective than the knight ever claimed he was." Elder Avalugg slowly raises one of its gigantic limbs, poking the electric creature trapped beneath all the ice. "She has protected us from all manner of interlopers. Care to see her greatest catch?"
"Oh please show us!" Masters indulges them, and the walking iceberg waddles ahead, leading them down the circular hall until another gruesome frozen sight hits them.
This time, it's an armored Luxray frozen in ice, and beneath them is a four legged, unusual looking creature. Its mane is a bright pink and blue, giving off a light which betrays its lifeless form. Trapped in a prison of ice, it hangs there lifelessly, eyes bloodshot and staring in horror at the armored behemoth underneath it. Both Avalugg, and the pipsqueak leading them through the circle smile at these frozen creatures.
"The equine beast before you." Avalugg gestures its head as its mane, and both "pilgrims" see this unusual, diamond-shaped badge clipped to their hair ."They have the badge of an Outsider, creatures who all these armored soldiers once defended us against. And Winter, acting in the absence of the Black Knight, froze them for all eternity."
"She works wonders to protect us from the terrors outside our world, imprisoning those awful outsiders here in her home." Avalugg pokes his chin up at Masters, smirking. "You and your companion are thankful for such protection."
"Indeed we are." Masters humors him.
That badge. This is the pokemon whom Mismagius foretold of. There's not going to be any other equine pokemon here as notable as the one frozen before them. The question is, how are they gonna get them out?
"I like the pony up there, very cool." Lucario eyes the hunk of ice, trying to imagine where he'd punch to cause the wall to tumble. "And I don't think I've ever seen a pokemon in armor, they look kinda silly but I guess it's cool."
"Cool, cool." A voice squeaks from behind.
"She has plenty of these warriors." Avalugg stomps up, nudging them forwards with its flat head. "Come on, there's more to show you. We haven't even gotten to the spring here, or the commons!"
"Commons?" Masters speaks up. "You have a cooking place here?"
"Well, what home wouldn't? We tend to prepare our meals cold here, we have all sorts of frozen berries, meats too." The Elder smiles. "Come, I can get you seated in the commons - it's just up around the bend, these dungeon halls go in a big circle you know?"
This place is not a mystery dungeon, it is just a plain old dungeon where bad pokemon go. Except of being stuck in a cell, they are trapped in a wall until someone comes along whois dumb enough to bust them out.
"Oh, can you just go prepare it and have the boy here fetch us when it's done?" Masters says, nudging Lucario. "My friend here's a huge fan of the Knight and his original quarter of friends, we just wanna stay here to look at guy's armor if that's okay?"
Avalugg stays still, yellow eyes flickering between the duo and the pint sized pokemon. Thinking nothing of it, they smile, beckoning the Snorunt to hop along with them to the kitchen. As they round the corner out of sight, Masters instantly turns to Lucario.
"I hate deceiving people." Masters whispers. "But I think they've bought it. What's your plan, Luc?"
"Would you be angry with me if I said I didn't come here with a plan?" Lucario sees the color drain on Masters' face as he speaks. "She - the ghost told me we weren't going to have a problem with this. I think she knows this place, she's probably seen this Rapidash before. We get them out, feed them the Aspear we've got saved, then we're out of this place."
"Then, a second question, if I may. Do you expect our new friend to be in any condition to run away with us?" Typhlosion stares up the frozen pink horse. "Who knows how long they've been stuck up there, their legs might not even be working."
Lucario puts a hand to his chin, his ears poking through his Murkrow hat flicker as the sound of clashing cutlery echoes down the hallway. Those two ice-types are working fast for their esteemed guests. The time for thinking was before he ever set foot in here.
"We're up high in a valley, there's a long way down from here. We'll just haul them out, strap them to the log, then we leave, sound good?"
"No actually, it sounds terrible. But we don't have the time to take a better one. Rapidash are fire-types, right?" Masters keeps shooting his gaze between Lucario and the odd looking pony, anxious. "Right?"
The clattering stops, tiny little footsteps begin to skip down the hall, followed shortly by the earth-shattering stomps of a living ice block. There's no sense of urgency, the idea someone would be so foolish has never crossed their mind. Is Winter's Wind here? How is she gonna react to them making off with her prisoner? Is she even a player in this game of gear nonsense?
Who can say? There's only one question he can answer now.
"What do you think 'M! Of course they're fire-"
Masters lifts off his hat, revealing a head of raging purple fire. In on emotion he bows and unleashes what Lucario can only describe as a sun. Chunks of fire spew out, showering the wall of ice like fiery hailstones, decimating the prison with a gigantic Eruption. Chunks of ice clatter down, cracks rip across the surface of this once pristine palace. When the shroud of ghostly smoke settles two barely conscious pokemon splash down into the pool of glacier water, and a mortified howl echoes down the hall.
"What did you two do?!" The Avalugg barges around the bend, their stumpy legs clatter and splash on the watery floor. They sound terrified. "Oh no, Oh no!"
Lucario looks around, seeing a partially submerged Rapidash stir from their slumber. He pulls out the bottle, opens it up, then smushes it right into the pony's face.
"Drink, It's Aspear. Come on!"
He sees Masters throw his hat back on and dash towards the exit, passing by the Heliolisk on the way out. After finishing most of the bottle in a single long swig, the Horse stands. Instead of a fire, their mane instead explodes into a brilliant shade of purples and pinks. The diamond badge clipped into their hair barely keeps them from draping over their face.
Their voice was something Lucario couldn't expect.
"Aboard, sire!" The glittery horse commands in a dignified, manly voice. "I owe you my life for my freedom, or a ride at the very least!"
Tall, pink, and talking he had been cut out of a storybook. He has Outsider, or at least weirdo written all over him. He is also Lucario's ticket away from here. Lucario hops on, and the Rapidash immediately books it, his hooves clacking on the icy floor. They aren't the only ones racing out of here. Looking back reveals a frightening sight.
The Luxray is right behind them, the segments of Iron armor moving in tandem with their every step. Strands of golden lightning streak behind them as they bolt past the Rapidash towards the frozen Heliolisk. Their fangs glow red hot as they begin tearing through the ice, ripping what is likely their comrade free.
Did he unleash a thousand year old menace back in the world in the form of whoever the Knight's followers were? Probably. It would not be the first mistake of today.
Rapidash careens around the corner, barely managing to stop on the icy floor, and dashes out into the snowy light. Masters is waiting outside with a hoard of confused masses wondering what sort of nonsense these two got up to.
Masters holds up a hand, Lucario grabs it, swinging the Typhlosion on the back of their sparkly savior. Anyone smart enough scurries away upon seeing them barge out of the glacier, forming two lines of ogling onlookers who watch them glide down the valley. The speed at which this eccentric equine carries them to safety could make a Swellow take pause.
On the hooves of this strange man the duo, now a trio, vanish into the infinite white of the Dusk Continent's Glacial Frontier. Masters' fire fades in the flurry while Rapidash's mane glistens like a beacon.