Operation Snover
"Snove, Snover!" An unusual colored Snover raced through the icy tundra, hoping to lose it's pursuers as a blizzard started kicking in. The Grass/Ice type Pokemon had a look of fear and anxiety across it's face as it kept glancing back, the heavy stampede of pawprints hitting the snow seemed to have died out so Snover decided to take a quick moment to rest up and catch his breath, panting heavily while the blizzard obscured his view of something flying high above him.
"'ight, that beauty of a Snover is all mine!" A man grinned as he activated his visor's heat sensor modification, his eyes now locked upon the shiny Pokemon as he aimed his robotic arm at it, the robotic hand turned into a cannon and fired off a golden blast of energy, striking Snover where it stood and turned the Pokemon into a golden statue where it would be safe until a buyer was lined up for it.
"Crikey, just look at the power level of this thing!" Pokemon Hunter R smirked shortly after Salamence landed on the ground. "You've got quite the unusual power level for a wild Pokemon, you're sure to catch me a few million at least! I wonder how you got so strong though," He glanced left and right as if hoping for an answer before eventually shrugging. "Ah well, I guess we'll wait out here until the storm settles and I can fly my ship out. We've got a large shipment I can't afford to lose, those blasted twerps already set me back and ruined my flawless reputation. I ain't about to go tarnishing it further by crashing into a glacier and falling into the sea!"
"Oooh, it's cold!" Chloe's teeth chattered, her body shivering as she stood on the deck of the ship.
"Well it is called Glacier Island, kind of a clue!" Zach rolled his eyes lightly before removing his hoodie and handing it to her. "You can borrow this until we find a place to buy you warmer clothes."
Ash was also shivering, a mixture of excitement for his upcoming battle with Glacia and simply being cold. He didn't have much need for heavier clothes back in Alola due to it being so hot all of the time so he got out of the habit of packing a winter coat.
"Well I guess that'll be the first stop, seeing how Glacia is an Ice specialist I've got a feeling that she likes to battle outside in the cold just like Melony does. Don't need you two freezing to death." Marnie spoke up, it appeared that she and May were the only one wearing coats.
"No time, we've got a battle to wi-"
"Pika!" Pikachu lightly slapped his trainer, wiggling his finger in a scolding manner.
"Y-You're right... winning won't do much good if I freeze doing it." Ash chuckled lightly. "So let's go grab some coats once we get ashore!"
"This will do nicely!" Ash glanced down at his body after putting on a winter coat with a blue and black color scheme.
"I think I'll go with this pink one!" Chloe excitedly spoke as she tried on a pink coat only to wind up frowning upon seeing the cost. "Oh... I don't have much on me." What little she had when she'd set off on an adventure with them was practically gone due to failed attempts at battling other trainers with Eevee.
"Don't worry Chloe, I'll get it for you! I'd probably just waste the money on more Pokeball variants anyways." Zach offered. It was the complete opposite for him, he'd been working and training real hard to make sure his team was prepped to take on Nessa and Kabu upon the return trip to Galar so he'd taken to challenging anyone he came across and won a majority of the battles. Unlike Chloe and Ash he didn't have a coat, seeming pretty set on simply wearing his hoodie. Though he did have a matching pair of blue scarves in his hand, Lucario taking one after they were paid for with a happy growl.
"Really? T-Thank you!" Chloe rushed over and hugged him in a friendly fashion before backing up and placing her coat on the counter.
"Well that was nice of him, you sure they don't have a thing for each other?" May turned to Marnie as she asked that with a questionable expression.
"Huh? Zach and Chloe?! As if!" Marnie laughed, quickly shaking her head. "No, I saw her checking out Hugh. I think she's into bad boys while Zach definitely just likes her as a friend."
After they finished paying the group left the store and began asking around town for directions to Glacia's place or wherever it was that the Elite Four member hanged out at during the day.
"Wait a moment-Why don't you just pull out your Rotom Phone and use the World Championship app?" Zach suddenly asked Ash after a few unfruitful attempts at locating her.
"That's... that's actually a good idea!" Ash mentally facepalmed as he withdrew his Rotom Phone and within a minute the Pokemon World Championship was up and running though according to the device no competitors were on the island at all! "That's weird, she's not here."
"Maybe she's like Zach and doesn't care about that stuff." Marnie spoke up with a light shrug. "After all you can't honestly think that every Elite Four member is participating in that. They've all got different views just like we do!"
"She does have a point, some coordinators just win one Grand Festival and call it." May added on.
"I'm sure Glacia's still accepting challengers though, she's just probably not as used to it as Drake is." Zach stated while placing his hands into his hoodie pocket.
"Hopefully she does, it's freezing!" Chloe shivered while Scorbunny edged closer to her and began rubbing her paws against the girl's legs to help warm her up.
"You guys are looking for Glacia?" A man with a muscular build and grizzled hair stepped out of a nearby cabin, a Beartic following him out. "What'cha want with her?"
"I aim to challenge her to a Pokemon battle!" Ash excitedly proclaimed. "Got any idea where she might be?"
The man tilted back his head and let out a hearty laugh. "Do I got an idea where? Boy I'm her husband of course I know where she is! She always goes out to the tundra every Friday to check up on a friend that lives out there, which just so happens to be today! She doesn't go too far out though if you're willing to try and find her, I wouldn't recommend it though as a blizzard is going through the northern half of the island."
"I've never let a bit of a storm stop me!" Ash pumped his fists while everyone else glanced at one another unsurely. "Where exactly on the tundra is she?"
After getting instructions from Glacia's husband the others made an attempt to stop Ash from going out there, all of them seeming concerned about the storm but Ash's excitement for the possible upcoming battle had his mind up in the clouds, after realizing that it was pointless trying to fight as he was too stubborn they decided to go along with him just in case he got lost.
Chloe started shivering more and more the further they got from the town, Zach noticed out of the corner of his eye and felt sympathy for her figuring that she'd likely never dealt with temperatures of this degree before. He unraveled his scarf and silently handed it to her, Chloe took it with a nod of acknowledgement and stopped for a moment to put it on as the blizzard started kicking in and blinding the vision of the group.
"Everyone hold onto somebody so we don't get separated!" Marnie called out as she grabbed Ash's hand causing him to tense up for a brief moment, the snow made it impossible to see his reaction though.
Zach felt around blindly before grabbing May's arm, his hand soon making it's way to hers as he grabbed blindly with his other hand and grabbed Lucario's paw. Scorbunny leaped up onto her trainer's shoulder so she wouldn't get lost while Chloe was struggling to get the scarf fitted around her neck, eventually managing to do so but anxiety began kicking in as she realized that the brief stop had caused her to lose track of her friends!
"Zach?!" Chloe shouted out only to hear the words coming right back at her due to the strong wind. She glanced towards Eevee as she narrowed her eyes to prevent snow from hitting them. "Eevee can you sense them nearby? I-It's probably not safe out here." Eevee's ears twitched in response as she began listening in for nearby movement and soon picked up on something close by. She pointed with her paw and nudged Chloe's shoulder lightly to indicate the direction of the sound, Chloe soon started walking off in that direction unaware that they were heading the wrong way!
"Where is he?" An older woman, appearing to be in her late forties or early fifties by the look of her graying blonde hair, stood on a clearing at the edge of a forested area within the tundra. A worried look across her face while her dress fluttered about due to the cold breeze, she began tapping her heel impatiently against the ice while flickering her eyes back and forth. "He's never been late before, where could he be?"
Twenty years ago a much younger Glacia ventured through the tundra, she had recently just earned the title of Elite Four and after all that hard work she sought some solitude and relaxation, returning home to escape the fame and seemingly endless wave of trainers requesting a battle. She just needed a break from it all! As she was walking along she heard a cry as a large flame shout up into the sky nearby! Glacia's face changed to that of shock and surprise upon seeing the attack, hardly anyone ever came to the island to capture Pokemon due to it being so far off compared to other places Hoenn trainers could capture Ice type Pokemon and the wild life was always rather peaceful so she wasn't sure what was going on. She put on a serious expression and quickly made a run for the area, hoping to investigate the source and put an end to any trouble that may have arisen.
"Magmortar!" The fully evolved Fire type was firing off blasts of fire as a smaller Pokemon could visibly be seen waving it's arms about in a frantic manner and crying out as the fire grazed his body at several different points! A male trainer with a dark skin tone and long red hair stood nearby watching with a smug look across his face, his hands were hidden in the pockets of his red leather jacket which matched his red pants and red boots. It appeared that the man had a clear love for the color as he was wearing a pair of shades with a red tint to them along with his choice of Pokemon.
"Get that Snover, Magmortar! S acts all high and mighty because she's so successful but let's see how my sister reacts to me being the first Pokemon Hunter to nab a shiny, hahahah-ah!" A large wave of water splashed down onto him causing him to start shaking and shivering as the cold environment and his wet clothes didn't mix well. "Who did that?!"
"I did." Glacia revealed herself as she and a Walrein stood a few feet away from the man. "I don't know who you are but you made the unfortunate mistake of assaulting wildlife on my turf!" Glacia's expression was that of anger and disgust as she pointed at the surrounding area. Snow had melted into slush, some trees had caught fire but her other Pokemon were taking control of that situation and the ice beneath Magmortar, the hunter and Snover had started visibly cracking and looked unstable as if it could break at any second!
"Who are you?" The Hunter replied with an annoyed tone. "Some stuck up witch?"
"I'm Glacia of the Elite Four." Glacia replied coldly, narrowing her eyes at the man.
"I never heard of you, I'm from Unova-aaah!" The ice cracked beneath the man as he fell right in, the ice beneath Snover and Magmortar as well as all three went falling into the icy water! A red beam could be seen beneath as the man likely returned the Fire type to his confinement.
Glacia let out a sigh before pointing at the water. "Walrein fetch that hunter, he may be a villain but he's still a human being." She then took a quick dive herself as she went to find Snover, her other Pokemon being too busy attending to the fire to help her. It was hard to see beneath the ice but thanks to her upbringing she had an unusual level of resistance to the cold, enabling her to survive longer than a normal human could and giving her enough time to spot the Snover, grabbing onto it's arms before swimming up to the surface and dropping it onto the snowy surface. Walrein stood nearby with the Pokemon hunter at his feet, the man shook and shivered as Glacia threw a warm blanket around him from her bag.
"Y-You saved me... why?" From the tone of his voice Glacia felt as if the man had never experienced any sort of affection his whole life.
"Because it was the right thing to do," Glacia replied before turning her attention to Snover, knowing that the Pokemon Hunter was too physically weakened to put up a fight. "Hello there little guy, he didn't hurt you did he?" Snover shook his head but his eyes flickered nervously towards the Hunter, his body was lightly scorched from the attack so Glacia reached into her pocket and withdrew a potion. Snover saw her getting ready to spray him and stumbled backwards with a frightened look across his face.
"Relax it's only going to hurt for a minute, you'll feel loads better once it's over with!" Snover still had an unsure look but decided to take a chance, tensing up as Glacia began to spray him and sure enough he started to smile a few moments afterwards as the potion took effect.
"Sno..." The Pokemon reached out and hugged Snover. Glacia couldn't help but smile as she returned the hug. It was at that point she took note of his unusual coloring, no doubt why the Pokemon Hunter was pursuing him.
"You know... more Hunters will likely show up looking for you. It'd probably be good to teach you some proper self defense, if you're game for it. Nobody would be able to mess with you again if you learn powerful techniques such as Blizzard!"
"S-Snover!" Snover lightly nodded his head in agreement, liking the sound of the idea as his gaze once again flickered towards the hunter.
For months the two had trained together, Glacia putting in time to meet Snover once a week for training sessions or occasionally just hang up with the Pokemon and share some berries with it that weren't native to the island. They had formed a close bond over the brief time. Glacia never bothered turning the Pokemon Hunter in despite his defeat, leaving him in a confused state. He remained on the island and she was aware of him watching her at times but oddly enough didn't worry, if he meant her harm he'd have tried something by now. Her suspicions were proven correct one day as the man knocked on her door early one morning with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a nervous look across his face.
"G-Glacia I know that we didn't get off on the right foot but I was wondering if... you'd go out with me?"
Glacia laughed lightly and decided to take pity on him, he was cute after all. The date went well and the two started seeing each other more often with the Pokemon Hunter officially taking up residence on the island and leaving his old name behind him.
"Pokemon Hunter F is no more!" He declared, throwing his old uniform and shades into a bonfire. Now wearing a flannel jacket and a pair of blue jeans. His hair had turned back to it's natural shade of black. "From now on the world will know me as Finn!"
"Finn eh? I like it!" Glacia smiled before wrapping an arm around him, the two kissing afterwards.
Within the year the two had gotten married and neither let that affect her friendship with Snover, she still went out every Friday to check up on him. Eventually it became clear that he was strong enough to handle himself but he still had a fear of Fire attacks. Glacia had tried her best but could never help conquer it, Finn had helped with his Magmortar but that seemed to do more harm than good. But as it had been so long since Finn arrived and no other trouble had arisen since it became clear that Finn stumbling across Snover was just plain dumb luck and nobody else knew it was there. Some phobias couldn't be conquered and unfortunately it appeared Snover's fear of fire was one, she put an end to the training exercises but they continued meeting and hanging out to this very day!
She was soon brought out of her thoughts due to the sound of arriving footsteps, Glacia quickly turned as she wondered if it could be Snover finally arriving only for her look to turn to that of disappointment as she could see that it was just a bunch of trainers possibly coming to ask for a battle. "Greetings," She spoke, acknowledging them and preparing to shoot down any battling requests. She noticed that one of the male trainers in the group had slowed to a halt and began looking around as if he were looking for something before beginning to backtrack the way they'd come from.
Ash however noticed Glacia's saddened tone causing him to temporarily drop any intention he had of battling her as he tilted his head in concern. "Something wrong?"
Glacia felt a light sense of relief that he wasn't challenging her immediately, growing a bit of respect for him as she shook her head. "Probably not, it's just that... my friend should be here by now! He's never been late throughout my entire time of knowing him." Her eyes landed on Pikachu, her eyes showed some sign of recognition but she didn't say anything. "You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a Snover with blue leaves on the way here did you?"
"I-I wouldn't know, the blizzard made it nearly impossible to see." Ash spoke, rubbing the back of his neck with an apologetic look. He wished he could have been of help but perhaps he still could! He'd helped plenty of trainers reunite with lost Pokemon before, why stop now? He could just up and leave but if something had happened to Snover then he'd like to help!
"Yeah, I didn't see anything." Marnie shook her head.
"Nor me." May chimed in before looking to her side as if expecting Zach to be there. "Zach?"
"Over here!" Zach was quite a distance away due to his attempt at backtracking and finding Chloe but he'd noticed a conveniently shaped hole in a nearby snow blanket that appeared to once be in the shape of a Snover, the snowstorm had covered parts of it up. Broken twigs and stray blue and white leaves remained within the hole though which seemed to confirm Snover's presence.
Glacia rushed right over and let out a gasp at the sight, picking up a leaf and taking a close look at it before scanning the area. The tips of trees looked scorched as a bit of flame remained while some tree tips appeared to have been sliced clean off, almost as if something with big powerful wings had flown through them and fired off a fire attack! Slush streaks went off in a direction that let to the north of the tundra, a place where the blizzards got stronger and the ice was rather dangerously unstable. One misplaced step could lead to disaster! Ice Pokemon could handle it just fine but if a human or a stressed out Pokemon like Snover went out there without a clear mind...
"Pokemon Hunters." Marnie spoke up with disgust.
"What like J and R?" Ash asked as his thoughts quickly turned to the two sadistic trainers, anger quickly boiled up inside of him. Pokemon Hunters were some of the meanest and cruelest trainers he'd ever met, shooting Pokemon and turning them into statues which according to Pikachu and Meowth was quite agonizing and painful while also auctioning Pokemon off like common tools or property instead of treating them like friends!
"Indeed," Glacia spoke. She had a feeling that whoever it was happened to have a stroke of luck like Finn, or perhaps he had bribed some local or tourist with a ridiculous amount of cash for a location of a shiny or rare Pokemon. However it happened didn't matter, she needed to put a stop to this now and rescue Snover! "I'm going to track them down and put an end to this."
"I'll help you!" Ash immediately offered his assistant. "I can't stand when people treat people the way Pokemon Hunters do, I'm not about to stand by and let your friend get sold so don't even try and stop me!"
Glacia's eyes widened for a moment as she fully placed him in her mind, no doubt it was the Ash Ketchum that Drake and Norman had talked to her about. The Pikachu and the kind heart, always ready to step up and fight for justice no matter where he might be! He was definitely very noble.
"You're not going without me!" Marnie immediately spoke up, grabbing onto Ash's arm. "We need to stick together remember?"
"That sure worked out for Chloe, she's missing!" Zach exclaimed while beginning to backtrack once more. "I'm off to find her, with luck she's probably back in town sipping cocoa but she could just as well be lost somewhere!"
"Hold up!" May dashed after him. "We don't need you getting lost on us too, we've got to stick as a group!"
"Wait-Chloe?!" Marnie glanced back and felt shame that she didn't notice Chloe had gone. The blizzard only let up twenty minutes ago but she really should have noticed.
"Chloe!" Ash felt ashamed as the excitement for the battle had blinded him to the fact that his friend was missing, he stepped forward to help but Marnie held a firm grip on him.
"Relax, they'll be fine. May's a powerful and talented trainer while Zach... well he's a survival. They're sure to find her, besides Glacia's husband said that the wildlife was peaceful. Not like she's in danger."
Ash thought for a moment before Glacia spoke up.
"Finn's right, the Pokemon Hunter's the only threat and the trail leads this way. The Pokemon here actually help lost travelers, every one we've heard of made it back thanks to the wildlife. I'm sure your friend is fine..." Normally Glacia would find help a burden but she was getting older and a lot of Pokemon Hunters hired out crews, meaning it was possible for her to get outmatched if the Hunter himself was strong! "You two head straight to town and grab a rescue Noctowl if your friends not there, they never fail to find rescuers!"
"On it!" May called back before disappearing with Zach over the hilltop.
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Chloe had her back up against the cavern wall of a nearby ruin, she had stopped to take shelter from the storm and meet up with her friends only to wind up coming across a bunch of men and women wearing what appeared to be black hooded cloaks with large red R's painted on the front of the outfit! "Team Rocket is here!" She hissed out to Eevee who shook from fright as they watched from the shadows, trying their best to not breath too loudly lest they give up their location.
"Everything all set?" Courtney asked as she pulled down her hood and gave her crew a good look over.
"We've deciphered the code, ma'am and it appears that this is indeed Hoenn's Regice chamber." A grunt spoke up while adjusting his glasses.
"Grrr..." One of Courtney's admins spoke up, the man being identifiable due to his hood having a bit of red and purple on it. He pulled down his hood to reveal a pair of pale eyes that lost their coloring, signifying that he was blind yet his head appeared to be aimed right where Chloe was. "We got company."
"We do?" Courtney narrowed her eyes as she glanced around, even looking upwards before turning to him. "Alright Shade, where are they?" The man pointed at the shadows and Chloe let out a scream as an Alakazam grabbed her. Eevee's body became encased in a red flame as her body filled with rage at her trainer being grabbed, headbutting Alakazam and causing him to cry out from surprise as Chloe was dropped. The girl quickly shot up and started to run only, only no matter how much she pushed it seemed like she was running in place... that was when she realized that she was being held by a psychic energy, it wasn't Alakazam though as the Psychic type was still recovering. Her gaze turned towards the Rocket agent whose eyes were glowing bright blue as he held her in place.
"Foolish girl..."
"Shade she's just a teenager, we should let her go. By the time she can warn anyone we'd be long gone and have Regice, I don't intend on keeping prisoners." Courtney addressed as she looked Chloe up and down. "Strange that she's here though, she doesn't look native to the region. Weak too yet that Eevee seems to irradiate unnatural of strength..."
"I must have it..."
"No, the mission is to summon Regigigas! He can succeed where Groudon failed! Matt perished by going off the books and I'm not risking compromising our mission by going after a non-priority target!" Of course Matt was still very much alive but she hadn't heard from him in weeks and Jackie was back in action so she could only assume something had happened to Matt as he wasn't even listed in prison registries!
Shade turned his head and let out a light growl. Courtney then released a Camerupt and began blasting down the icy ruin's walls with a powerful flamethrower attack, the ice quickly melted as water started to also drip from the ceiling on account of the raised heat. Going unnoticed by all but one member as a light smirk spread across the blind admin's face.
The icy wall melted away and revealed a small icy chamber that housed a strange looking creature that appeared to be living ice, Chloe had never seen anything like it before, she tried to break free of Shade's psychic grasp but the man kept a firm grip on her while Alakazam held Eevee in a similar stasis.
"Regice!" Courtney had a smug look as she threw out her arm. There was a slight error in her calculations but all was going to plan within a few moments Regice would be hers! "Flamethrower!"
"Camerupt!" The camel Pokemon opened his mouth as he shot off another powerful stream of flame, the Ice Pokemon's eyes shot open while letting out an incomprehensible cry. The Ice type fired off it's own beam as a orange/yellow burst of energy came flying out of his mouth, blasting right through the remaining flames and knocking Camerupt back.
"You're putting up more of a fight than your brother did," Courtney's gaze flickered towards her belt and the Pokeball containing Registeel. "But I'm afraid that this ordeal must came to an end, we've got a schedule to hold!" She reached for her Mega Ring and activated it, preparing to say the needed phrase only for her to get interrupted at the right second as the words "Surf!" echoed throughout the cave. Chloe's expression turned to that of hope as she saw Alola Raichu floating on past her before raising up his arms and letting off a little chant as a wave began to form beneath his feet. Raichu then rode the wave and crashed it down upon the Team Rocket members and Camerupt, all of them letting out shrieks as their bodies quickly became cold due to their now soaking wet uniforms. It was enough for Shade to lose his grip on Chloe and Alakazam's grasp on Eevee as well, both being set free as Zach and May stood in front of Chloe in a defense stance with Lucario, Scorbunny and Blaziken standing beside their trainers with battle ready expressions.
"How on earth did they find her?!" Courtney growled out, losing her calm and calculative tone partly due to the uncomfortable feeling she was now feeling thanks to the cold.
"That Lucario, he must have had it follow her aura." Shade calmly responded as Alakazam stood up. "He's quite resourceful but not a threat, too weak. The girl however is the threat, I suggest you take her on while I deal with Regice."
"A-Are you seriously giving me orders? I'm your superior officer, this is my carefully constructed plan!" Courtney shouted at Shade only for him to turn his back to her and begin fighting Regice as he and Alakazam began tag teaming the Ice type by repeating lifting it up and bashing it hard against the ground. Courtney narrowed her eyes at the sight.
"I-Is that guy using psychic?" Zach had a mixture of fear and shock at the sight. He heard that some Psychic specialists were gifted in the ability but he always assumed that was bogus.
"Looks like it." May reached for her Mega Ring and activated it. "Go save Regice, I'll handle her!" She was the superior in rank so surely she was the most powerful? "Blaziken let's show these Rocket members the power of friendship with Mega Evolution!"
"Blaziken!" Blaziken's body became engulfed in a bright pink light right as Courtney activated Camerupt's, the two Mega Evolved Fire types began duking it out with Blaziken delivering a powerful Sky Uppercut to the Camerupt while the camel Pokemon countered with Eruption, Blaziken swiftly dodged but the attack continued the cavern's melting state as more of the ceiling support began melting away due to the intense heat the two Pokemon were giving off. Chloe stayed behind May, not daring to come out and try to assist as she knew she'd just get in the way.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Rai rai!" Raichu's cheeks sparked briefly before giving Alakazam a shock, the Psychic type groaning out from the pain but it appeared to hardly put a dent into it!
"Scorbunny use Flame Charge! Lucario use Bone Rush!" Scorbunny's body became coat in flames as she rushed through the icy cavern, ice and snow started melting and turning to slosh, flying through the air behind her as she charged at Alakazam before ramming into him which was quickly followed up by Lucario smacking the Psychic type upside the head with a bone club made of aura energy! Zach smirked as he thought that was for sure to have done it only for Shade to start cackling as Alakazam turned to face them with hardly a mark on his body.
"Foolish child, you really thought you could take me? Oh you amuse me but enough games!" Shade waved his hand and Alakazam sent Zach and his three Pokemon flying into a nearby snowbank before the pair turned their attention back to Regice.
"We're not strong enough..." Zach breathed out as he laid in the snow bank beside his team, cursing the fact that Obstagoon wasn't there as he'd have likely helped even the odds. He turned his gaze towards May who seemed to be evenly matched with Courtney as neither side looked right to fall, his gaze turned back to Regice as the Ice type was on his knees and letting out a pained sounding cry despite it's words being incomprehensible. Zach clenched his fists as he tried to think of something that could save Regice before it hit him, he had six Pokemon so if he caught Regice before Shade did then Regice would get transported away! He quickly reached out in his bag for a Dusk Ball and hurled it across the cave, Shade's gaze seemed to follow the ball as he sensed it flying past him as the ball soon made contact! Regice got absorbed in the ball in a red beam of light as the ball hit the cavern floor and started shaking. The Regice must have been through too much pain to put up much of a fight as the ball chimed, Zach felt his Rotom Phone coming to life within his pocket as the ball started glowing white as the transfer progress began.
"Oh no you don't!" Shade reached out and grabbed the ball, the ball instantly cancelled out the process as Shade clipped it to his own belt before turning his head to face Zach. "You really thought that would work? Kid I've been around long enough to know how Pokeballs work, cancelling the transfer process was easy. It was admittingly pretty smart and would have worked on somebody with an inferior intelligence but one such as I won't lose so easily!" Zach growled and tried to stand up only to quickly trip and fall back into the snow bank while Shade laughed at his misfortune before turning to his gaze to meet Courtney who was still thick in the midst of a battle with May.
"Eruption!"
"Camerupt!" Before Camerupt could utilize the attack Alakazam hoisted the camel up against the icy ceiling as the Fire type's back soon erupted with flame. Snow began quickly falling down from a large hole that had formed as a result and the cave began shaking due to the support getting messed up. The walls and ceiling started caving in everywhere as Courtney looked around at her crew with an alarmed expression.
"You absolute idiot why on earth would you do that?! We're still in here and the cave is literally in a mountain, we'll all die!"
"Then I suppose those that went to live should head to the chopper." Shade responded with a smug look, Courtney growled out before returning Camerupt to her ball.
"I really hate that prick... men, move out now!" Courtney waved her arms before rushing right past Chloe and May on the way out as the Rocket members quickly made way to the escape helicopter!
"W-What will happen to the town?" Chloe stammered as May ran over to help pull Zach out of the snowbank, Raichu's eyes glowed as he pulled himself and the other Pokemon out.
"I'm not sure, if they caused enough of an avalanche then the snow might destroy it." May replied.
"Unless... we fight it off with fire, after we get there. Blaziken and Scorbunny could possibly make it stop!"
"It's worth a try I suppose. So how do we get out of here?"
"Rai Rai!" Raichu waved his arms.
"What's that?" Chloe blinked before quickly picking up on it. "Ooh, I think he's saying he can surf through the air and carry us back with Psychic!"
"Rai rai!" Raichu nodded.
"Well three people is already a risky move... you two mind going in your Pokeballs for just a few minutes?" Zach turned to Lucario and Scorbunny who immediately made a face at the idea, Lucario because he wasn't out to protect him and Scorbunny cause she hated the ball but the two were willing to put up with it as they retreated in red beams of light. Raichu's eyes soon glowed blue as surrounded the trainers with psychic energy while May returned Blaziken and Chloe kept a tight hold on Eevee. Raichu then quickly flew out of the cave and began surfing along the snow, heading downhill towards the town while keeping a tight hold of his trainer and friends. Several of the townspeople had gathered at the center of the town and pointed upwards towards the massive avalanche heading down the mountain, sheer terror spread across their faces as Blaziken and Scorbunny were sent out. Blaziken used Overheat while Scorbunny fired off as many Ember attacks as she could! The attacks did a bit of work as the avalanche had started slowing down but it was still coming and Scorbunny and Blaziken were both already worn out from facing Team Rocket earlier.
"Flamethrower!"
"Magma!" A Magmortar appeared before them, blasting out powerful streams of flames from his arms and helping out the two Fire types. The avalanche continued slowing down before eventually coming to a halt. Scorbunny and Blaziken collapsed in a heap, breathing and panting heavily while May and Zach turned to see whose Magmortar that was only to see Glacia's husband. Finn gave the two younger trainers a thumbs up before retreating back to the village. The three trainers soon collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted from the day they had experienced while a black helicopter flew over them, signaling that Team Rocket had gotten away.
"You got the goods?" A shady looking man in a black and red parka asked Pokemon Hunter R as they stood in the midst of the tundra on the northern end of the island, far away from prying eyes.
"You really have to ask? I'm good for it." Pokemon Hunter R tapped a button on his robot arm as several Pokemon appeared in a golden statute-like stasis, his fingers tapped another button as body parts became briefly unfrozen in order to give the buyer a good view of the shiny Pokemon and prove that they were what he said they were. "A shiny Snover on top of the shiny Gardevoir, Swellow, Altaria, and Raticate!"
"Hm... I'll take them all!" The buyer smirked and clapped his hands as a man with a suitcase full of gold stepped out from the shadows and kicked the case to the Pokemon Hunter.
R reached down and bit one of the bars and smirked, Gardevoir's body shook from fright at the sheer thought of being sold to the man however she soon caught wind of a familiar presence which was confirmed as Ash came swooping down on the scene atop of Charizard's back. The faithful Fire starter letting out an angry roar as Ash hopped off his back and pointed angrily at the Hunter and his buyers.
"You!" R spoke first as he grabbed hold of the ball containing Salamence.
"Oi what the heck is this? You said you were coming alone!" The buyer quickly covered his face with his hands.
"Yeah what he said!" The muscle spoke.
"You think I wanted him here?!" R growled as he turned to face them. "I hate that kid! Kid how many bars will it take for you to leave my sight?"
"None." Ash looked offended at the suggestion.
"See? Most trainers would look the other way!" R growled, grabbing onto the briefcase as he summoned Salamence. "Let's go Salamence!"
"Sala!"
"We're ready for you this time, Dragon Pulse!" Charizard opened his mouth and blasted Salamence with a bright green/purple blast of energy while a loud roar emitted from his throat! Salamence let out a painful grunt and collapsed on the ice causing it to crack around Hunter R before quickly giving way as he and Salamence sank right to the bottom along with the gold!
"My money!" The buyer shouted before him and his muscle were suddenly shot with an Ice Beam as Glacia arrived on the scene with Walrein. Glacia quickly took notice of what happened and dived down after R while Ash attended to the Pokemon. R had returned Salamence and was holding onto the briefcase but it was just too heavy for him to pull up! He frantically hit the teleport button on his robot arm only for it to malfunction and give him a light shock! He seemed relentless in his attempt at pulling up the gold and didn't stop until the air left his lungs and he passed out. Glacia grabbed hold of him not long after and pulled him to shore.
"Don't worry I've got you all!" Ash reassured the Pokemon as he one by one ran around and pressed the buttons to deactivate their stasis prisons. Gardevoir and Snover were soon free but unlike the other Pokemon they didn't scatter and free, they chose to remain behind. Gardevoir turned her attention to Ash and seemed rather focused on him, Ash didn't pick up on the fact that it was the same Gardevoir at first but Pikachu did.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu pointed at her before waving.
"Wait-That can't be... can it?" Ash raised an eyebrow in confusion before Gardevoir slowly nodded in confirmation. "What are you doing all the way out here? Don't you have a trainer or somebody looking out for you?" She must have awful luck getting caught twice like that. Gardevoir shook her head resulting in Ash frowning before a lightbulb went off in his head, quickly reaching for a spare Pokeball before holding it out. "You know if you join me, you'll never have Pokemon Hunter problems again. It's completely up to you but you'd still get to see the world, I'm working to become the Pokemon World Champion and I could always use an awesome Pokemon like you on the team! I bet we'd make great friends outta one another!"
Marnie's gaze darted between the two, it felt like the sequel to a episode that she had missed so she stayed out of it but she had to admit as Gardevoir reached out to accept the ball that it was rather admirable how easy Pokemon bonded with and chose to go with him. Other trainers such as herself had to battle wild Pokemon and catch them the old fashion way but Ash seemed to have a knack for gaining trust in both people and Pokemon!
The Pokeball absorbed Gardevoir in a beam of red light and the ball shook within his grasp before chiming to announce the capture! "Alright, we just got... Gardevoir!"
"Pi Pikachu!" "Charrr!" The two Pokemon cheered as another addition was made to Ash's ever growing roster.
Pokemon Hunter R soon woke up with a loud gasp, quickly looking around before backing away as Glacia stood over him. "Y-You saved me...?"
"I did, you may have hurt my friend but I wasn't about to let another human drown before my eyes. I met a Pokemon Hunter just like you twenty years ago and saved his life, he's reformed and become one of the most loyal trainers that I know and a great friend/husband. I'm offering you the same chance, if you forfeit your role as a Pokemon Hunter then you're welcome to stay on the island with us..."
"A-Are you crazy?! You left gold down there! You know how much gold that was?! I could have retired to someplace warm and live out the rest of my days, forget this place!" R turned her down before diving back into the water like a madman.
"Some people just aren't redeemable." Marnie spoke, placing an arm on Glacia's shoulder. "Not everyone can change, some people are just born evil plain and simple."
Glacia let out a sigh. "I'm just an old fool..."
"Snove..." Snover watched Ash catch Gardevoir which gave him an idea, he waddled over to Glacia and began tugging at her dress before pointing at some empty Pokeballs on her belt.
Glacia looked down at Snover and tilted her head before smiling as she grabbed hold of a ball. "I was hoping that this day would eventually come, welcome to the team Snover!" Snover smacked the ball and disappeared in a beam of red light, the ball chiming instantly to announce the capture. "Come on, let's bring the other two to the authorities and get some cocoa back in town!"
"So Team Rocket has Registeel and Regice?" Glacia spoke with a concerned tone.
"That's what I heard them say, Zach actually caught Regice but had it stolen!" Chloe exclaimed.
"I didn't want to, I was trying to get it away. I didn't know that the Rocket guy had some tech that cancelled it from transporting! I was going to release it once we found a different Icy region to safely leave him." Zach spoke with a guilty expression, he felt like he was to blame for Regice getting captured.
"That was actually rather smart, I've never heard about technology like that! Though granted I've been out of the life for twenty years." Finn added on.
Glacia stroked her forehead and let out an agitated sigh. "I'm sure that you've come for a battle, Ketchum but I'm afraid I must refuse. With them having three of the Regi titans all they need is Regirock and they can let out... Regigigas. I'm going to work with Sidney, Phoebe and Drake to try and find Regirock before it's too late!"
"No it's alright, I understand." Ash let out a light sigh, expressing disappointed. He understood why but it was still rather disappointing he wouldn't be facing the rest of the Hoenn Elite Four anytime soon. That really put a dent in his plans.
Glacia placed an arm on his shoulder and gave him a supportive smile. "You'll be a great Pokemon Master someday and I hope we get to face off before then, come on Finn time's a wasting!" Glacia stood up from the table as she and Finn prepared to leave and warn the other Elite Four members.
"So what will be do now?" Marnie asked shortly after they had gone.
"Well we could go ahead and return to Galar, get Zach set up with his second badge. We were going to head there after I battled the Elite Four anyways, after that... well let's see where the wind takes us!"
Zach walked on outside without speaking a word, leaning his back up against the building's wall as he stared up at the starry sky. "I failed Obstagoon, I failed Regice... do I even deserve to call myself a trainer?" That was twice now that he'd suffered a loss recently and he hadn't had any wins before Obstagoon had left to heal his injuries. Sure he gained a new friend in Raichu but could that even be considered a win?
May stepped out and stood by his side for a moment as she looked to the sky with him. "You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened you know, that guy he... he was something else. I doubt he'd even give trainers who particiated in the Pokemon League itself a hard time! What happened wasn't your fault, if Chloe didn't get lost we wouldn't have found it and they'd still have gotten Regice. The one thing that would not have happened if we weren't there though, we did stop and that was thanks to your quick thinking! You're a great trainer, you're smart, you care for both people and Pokemon a great deal and have the makings of a great champion, I'm sure you'll succeed at the Galar League!"
Zach paused for a moment before a smile finally returned to his face. "You're right... I've really come far since I've started off!" His win against Milo flickered through his mind. "I just need to set my sights on my goal and get stronger and I'll do so by beating Nessa!"
"That's the spirit, I wish you luck on your journey."
"Wait-you're not coming with us?" Zach looked confused, it had been so long since May had joined that he pictured her as a fifth member. It felt strange leaving her behind.
"Nope, I've got to continue working on my routine plus I'm doing a guest judge role at a contest fairly soon! I'm sure you'll all do great without me and we'll likely meet again eventually!" May exclaimed before wrapping her arms around him and soon pulling away. "Besides I bet you're eager to face your next gym battle, why keep you waiting?" She laughed, Zach couldn't help but snicker lightly in response as his mind drifted towards Nessa and Kabu. Two of Galar's most famous trainers and one of them the biggest hurdle in the Galar League competition.
"Heh, yeah... won't be long until I have badge number two!"
Finn actually didn't exist originally but I had to retype this whole damn thing as I accidentally exited Word without saving... and if you guessed it, he's named and modeled after Finn from Star Wars. Don't like the sequels but Finn was always cool!
And yeah, Shade's like Sabrina from the OS. He's blind as I felt that made him a lot more menacing and scary, using his psychic abilities to sense where people are. His story will be told further along
Regice is also getting released, I really only let him get it to show that 'just capture the legendary' doesn't immediately save the day!
Anyways next time: Whatever happened to Porygon?
