Chapter Sixteen - Snow Warning
"I'm sorry Rosa, I'm afraid I don't know anything more about Touko than what Bianca told you. The police kept it a secret to prevent widespread panic – after all, the region was still trying to recover from Team Plasma's ambush on the league – but there's a chance she left on her own. I didn't know the girl well, I only searched for her to try and keep the league together. After Alder took his position back, I returned to my gym and left it to the police department. But even after all this time, the situation has remained a mystery for everyone."
Even being cloaked under the shadows of her LED neon-striped lights, Rosa could see the lines of frustration pressed into gym leader Elesa's porcelain forehead. Her battle against the model to obtain her fourth gym badge had gone shockingly well (despite Zaveid's vexation at being left out of the electricity-filled match), but her fight for information was as fruitless as her ability to find Team Plasma.
Quite honestly, Rosa wasn't even sure why she felt obligated to try and find Touko. She desperately wanted to find Plasma's base, in the very least so she could help Hugh avenge his Pidove, but aside from her suspicions that the girl had been kidnapped, she had no real connections to her.
"And you don't have any idea where Team Plasma may be hiding now?" Rosa asked, not even bothering to hide the dismay that colored her voice.
"I'm afraid not."
Elesa's downy fur coat tightened around her arms as the young women tossed a long lock of raven hair behind her shoulder. "I know you're disappointed, but I really don't have anything else that can help you. Well, aside from this gym badge. You've earned it, so please accept it and go forward with strength and determination."
The Nimbasa gym leader opened one side of her fluffy coat and pulled from the inside pocket a glossy lightning bolt-shaped badge. Its golden paint shimmered under the lights, and as Rosa accepted it, she ran her fingers over its polished surface.
At least she knew she was progressing in some way.
"You are a shining example of a trainer, Rosa. I'm sure that you'll find what you're looking for if you continue down this path. You'll find the next gym in Driftveil City. Oh, and don't forget to ride the Ferris wheel while you're here – it's Nimbasa's main attraction, and the view from the top is quite breathtaking."
After tucking her new badge into her case and thanking Elesa for the battle, Rosa made her way back to the entrance of the gym and exited into the sunshine. The sun was already setting in the western sky by the time she stepped onto the mosaic-patterned concrete, and she was determined to finish a training session in the next route before dark.
She stopped by the local Pokemart to purchase supplies (the desert had drained her provisions dry), then slung her bag over her shoulder and traveled through town to the vegetation-dense forest of route 5.
There was a stillness to the air, despite the wind. Aged branches on ancient trees creaked as wild Pokémon scampered across their weathered bark, and as Rosa stepped off the marked path and wandered further in the maze-like jungle, she embraced the soggy earth that hugged her shoes and filled her senses with foliage and organic decay. It was easy to sink into the rhythm of rustling leaves and woody incense. Pine needles crunched under her trainer shoes, but the wildlife didn't seem to mind the noise, and neither did Rosa.
She belonged in places like this.
Regardless of the growing chill from winter's silent approach, Rosa slipped off her jacket to catch the last rays of sun. She'd roamed far enough into the woodland's realm that other trainers shouldn't bother her. "Alright, Anna." She whispered, pulling her Lucario's pokeball from her belt. "Time to get down to business."
Days passed, and as they did, Rosa and her team spent almost every waking hour mowing down route 5's collection of Pokémon residents. She wasn't particularly worried about her next gym battle against the rugged cowboy Clay, but as she monitored her team's progress with her pokedex, she found herself feeling anxiously unsatisfied.
"Level thirty-two, Sven."
She forced a smile as she tucked her Pokedex back into her pocket. Sven yapped enthusiastically and scrambled away from his fainted opponent to spring into Rosa's arms, and as she caught him, she scooped the pup up and buried her face into his orangesicle fur.
"When are we going to find you a firestone, hmm?"
He squirmed in her grip, and she dropped him back to the forest floor. The Growlithe wasn't satisfied with the meager amount of affection, however, and immediately twisted around to rub his fluffy head against her leg.
"If you were an Arcanine," Rosa mused, "I wouldn't have to worry about you so much. And you'd be able to carry me around on your back – wouldn't that be fun?"
Sven's charcoal eyes flickered up to meet hers, and she bent down to ruffle the whip cream tuft on his head. "Don't give me those accusing eyes. You're not weak, but I'm looking forward to your attack stat skyrocketing. Then you can chew Clay's Pokémon up and spit them out."
The Xtransceiver on her wrist buzzed, and Rosa settled into the grass. Sven whined loudly and scurried into her lap, but she allowed it as she pressed the answer button. "Hello?"
"Rosa! How is your training going? Did you win your fourth gym badge?"
She jerked her arm away from her ear at Curtis's warm voice, and Sven's ears flickered. "Geez Curtis, you're going to deafen me. Why are you yelling?" A shrieking guitar solo mixed with a young female voice played behind him, and Rosa's brows furrowed. "Is that . . . is that a pop concert behind you?"
He made a noise, and in a boyish tone he exclaimed, "No! I uh, no! It's just my music. I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so loud. I'll turn it off."
"You're listening to pop music at work?"
There was rustling as Curtis moved around, and Rosa rolled her eyes. He was an awful liar, but for whatever reason, he was determined to keep his job a secret. She didn't pry – if Curtis wanted to play Mr. Mysterious, she'd let him – but she often wondered why her finding out concerned him so much.
The background behind her friend quieted, and then he was back. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to shout. So, are you doing well? I'm betting you're already training for Clay's gym."
A dry smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and Rosa nodded although he couldn't see. "Yeah, I've been working my team over to get them ready for Driftveil. Elesa's electric types were easy enough to beat, but I won't cross Clay's welcome matt until Sven and Anna have reached level thirty-five. I don't feel properly prepared otherwise."
"I think you worry too much." He replied. "You work harder than any trainer I've ever met, but even if everyone else can see how capable you are, you won't belong in the league until you decide you do. Have a little faith, Rosa. You're going to do wonderfully."
"Thank you, Curtis."
He hesitated, and in a smaller voice, Curtis asked, "What's bothering you, Rosa? You seem off lately, and you haven't insulted me once this entire conversation. I'm starting to get a little worried about you."
Was her concern so obvious? "I don't really want to talk about it." She murmured, her smile slipping as her eyes fixated on the trees. A ghostly fog covered the distance edges of the forest, and as the sunlight faded, shadows drew cobwebs over the dense vegetation. "There's not a whole lot I can do to change it at this point, so I'm just trying to focus on training."
Her answer didn't satisfy him. Not in the slightest. "You're always focused on training. It isn't good to bottle your feelings away, you know. I'm okay with sharing some of the weight, if you'll let me."
Rosa shrugged, and on her lap, Sven shifted so his nose was in her stomach. He whimpered like he felt her pain and wished to remove it, but she wasn't sure she was willing to pass her worries on quite yet.
"I'm fine, Curtis. You have work to do, don't worry about me."
He wasn't willing to give up. "Come off it, Rosa. I'm never too busy to hear what you have to say."
It was difficult battling the comfort that washed over her when she was determined to keep her problems to herself. To give herself something else to think about, she tugged at the grass. "Have you — " She broke off, reconsidering her decision to confide in him, but then tried again. "Do you know anything about a group called Team Plasma?"
Curtis was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "I've heard of them. They tried to take over the Unova region a few years ago."
"Yeah."
"Rosa?"
"Yeah?"
"Did something happen?"
". . . No, Curtis. Nothing happened. I should probably go; I need to get back to training."
"No, wait! Hang on-"
She pressed the "end call" button, then leaned back into the grass so she could stare at the darkening sky. Through the trees, she could see an army of gray clouds gathering, dotting out the remaining patches of blue.
On her stretched-out lap, Sven grumbled.
"I don't want him involved, Sven." Rosa sighed as her puppy pressed his flat paws onto her stomach and clambered up to her chest. His wet tongue licked her cheek, and despite her gloomy mood, she giggled.
"Stop that, you big lump. Can't you see I'm trying to be upset?"
Sven grunted and ran his rough tongue over her nose and eyelid, and she laughed again before extending her slender arm to shove him off. "Okay, I get it. You want me to talk to him. And maybe you're right, with Curtis's job, maybe he would have an idea where Plasma's base could be. But it seems unfair to drag him into this when he's so busy already. Not everyone should have to deal with my personal war against Team Plasma. It just bothers me that I don't know what artifact they stole from Juniper. Or why they wanted a bunch of trainer records. Or how this fits in with Touko. These people don't make any sense!"
Sighing, she pulled herself into a sitting position and ran a distressed hand through her hair. She should be worrying about beating the league and leaving Unova. That was her dream, wasn't it? To travel the world?
"Then why do I feel so obligated to find out what they're doing? It isn't even my problem!"
A drop of rain slipped through the covering of protective branches and dampened her neck, and she again tilted her head towards the heavens.
"We're going to have to set up the tent tonight, Sven. It's going to be chilly."
A flash of lightning turned the sky an angry yellow as Rosa finished assembling her flimsy one man tent and ushered her Pokémon to go inside. Wind thrashed against the trees, scattering autumn leaves and whipping up bowls of loose pine needles and dust. Wild Pokémon fled to their dens and nests to escape the soft rain that saturated the earth. Small pellets of water decorated Rosa's numb hands. Snuggling her jacket closer around her, she kicked off her shoes and followed her Pokémon into their shelter.
Her sleeping bag was already rolled out, thanks to Anna. Her other Pokémon had gathered on the sides of the tent, eyes tense as they waited for their trainer to come inside. Tossing her shoes and bag aside, Rosa scrambled into her damp sleeping bag and did her best to keep her teeth from chattering. Of all the supplies she'd bought in Nimbasa, a winter coat was not one of them.
"It's not supposed to get that cold tonight, despite the storm." She assured them, wrapping her arms around herself. "We'll sleep fine."
An untamed crack reverberated through the landscape as thunder rolled across the sky, and Rosa unconsciously shrunk deeper into her sleeping bag. The wind yanked ferociously at their tent, testing its durability, and as if on cue, the rain picked up its pace.
Rosa heard a zipping sound, and soon felt a pair of soft arms wrap around her. Breath hitching, her chocolate eyes opened to meet Anna's crimson ones.
The Lucario had unzipped her sleeping bag to join her.
Anna tightened her grip around her trainer's waist as she pressed her head into Rosa's chest, and immediately, her heart rate lowered to a reasonable speed. Zaveid joined them, taking a spot on the other side so he could rest his head on her stomach, and Sven curled into a ball near her hair so his body heat would keep her face warm.
Her Xtranceiver beeped. Frowning, Rosa lifted her wrist to her eyes and tapped at the notification displayed across the front of the screen.
Your current location – Route 5 Snow Warning
"You guys can't sleep with me tonight." She managed to whisper through her chattering teeth. Another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, temporarily revealing a snapshot of the heavy rain beating against their shelter, and she cuddled closer to Anna. "I guess it's going to be cold after all. You'll all sleep better in your Pokeballs – especially you, Sven. Your body needs to maintain a high temperature to stay healthy. I can't risk you getting sick."
She tried to sit up, but all her Pokémon protested at once. Anna grumbled and tried to keep Rosa pinned with her arms, Zaveid snarled and tossed her a dirty look, and Sven let out a long, panicked whine.
Against the sleeping bag's pillow, Rosa shook her head. "Absolutely not, you guys do not have a say in this. You're returning to your pokeballs, and that's final. Anna, hand me my bag. Don't give me that look, hand me my bag!"
Anna growled, refusing to move.
"Anna, so help me, if you don't give me my bag this instant, you will be running laps through the snow tomorrow. I'm not messing around. Zaveid, what are you doing?"
Shifting from his usual spot, the water otter climbed up her stomach, then forcibly sat on top of her. Rosa struggled against him, trying to move, but despite him only weighing upwards of thirty pounds, between him and Anna, she was stuck. Near her head, Sven burrowed his fluffy head into her neck and rumbled cheerfully.
The little punks.
After several failed attempts to free herself, and a few even sadder attempts to toss her Pokémon off so she could snatch her bag, Rosa thumped against her sleeping bag and grumbled fervently. Like a choir, her Pokémon purred around her, completely smug, and she huffed through another roar of thunder.
"You know what? Fine. If you guys want to freeze to death, then that's your problem. I don't even care. I'm going to sleep."
"Rmmmmm."
The deep rumbling sound that reverberated from Anna's chest caused Rosa's entire body to vibrate. Still irritated, her eyes flashed open and narrowed on her stubborn Lucario. "What, Anna?"
"Rmmmmm."
"You think I'm going to reward your impish behavior by singing? No way."
"Rmmmmm."
"Forget it. Just go to sleep."
A low grumble built in Zaveid's chest as well, and near her ear, Sven's high-pitched cry pierced the hammering rainfall. Their hum of protest filled the tent, growing loud as the outside thunder, and under their loving objection, Rosa's resolve crumbled to dust.
She really had no control over her Pokémon.
"Ugh! You're a bunch of punks, the lot of you! You'd better be satisfied, because sick or not, you're running laps first thing tomorrow. Now stop groaning so I can sing and go to sleep."
She felt Anna grin against her chest, but the grumbling quieted. Air filled Rosa's lungs, and as the first lines of Lavender Blue filled the atmosphere, the howl of rain drifted away into calm serenity.
Well, you guys aren't going to believe it, but I actually tried to update for you on Wednesday, and the site corrupted it! I know, I didn't even notice until I tried to upload chapter seventeen a few minutes ago! Basically hates me, but luckily I love you guys, so I'm giving you one chapter tonight, and another on Sunday. Sound okay with everyone? I'm really sorry about that guys, I'll be sure to check next time. Have a great weekend everyone, I'll see you soon!