Chapter 34: Land of Snow and Ice
Franky the Gyrados swam with all his might. While traveling to the next Gym in Snowpoint City, his Trainer Lucas had stopped by the underground lake in the bowels of Mt. Coronet where he was born and lived as a Magikarp. While his Trainer and several other humans were looking for a wild Milotic said to live here, Franky wanted to find the Feebas who was his only friend in the violent waters of the mountain water source. After several days of searching and calling, he and his Trainer and finally spotted the Milotic. Now the Gyrados was chasing after it, hoping it might know something about the fate of his friend.
"Please wait!" the Gyrados begged with a mighty roar, the other water-type showing no signs of slowing down. He exerted himself further, but he was growing fatigued, his stamina for swimming lessened by his travels in a Pokeball. "I don't want to hurt you! I just want to know if you've seen my friend!"
The Milotic finally stopped and turned around to face the other serpent-like Pokemon, "What friend?"
"I was born in these waters and I had a friend who was a Feebas. I know you've been watching me for several days now so maybe you might know something about her. I left her here many years ago, scared that if I stayed here I'd die. I regret that very much, I regret not taking her with me. Please let me know if she's still here, that she's okay. Or if she found a nice Trainer that'd make me happy too," Franky explained earnestly.
"A Magikarp who became a Gyrados, just like he always dreamed. You seem very nice for a Gyrados. I remember all those promises of revenge and havoc in that small rock cave," the Milotic replied dryly.
"I've had a kind Trainer, I have no reason to be angry. Lucas is the most wonderful human I've ever encountered," Franky stated. Suddenly a realization dawned on him, "Wait, the rock cave. Does that mean..."
"It looks like we both got our dreams," It was her! Without another sound Franky wrapped himself around the Milotic and embraced her with all his might.
"It's you! It really is you! I've missed you so much! I'm so sorry I left you behind! You were always my only friend! I'm glad I found you!" Franky nuzzled the overwhelmed water-type's face. After a moment he released her, "I don't understand, why did you run away all those times? Why not just show yourself? Were you really that angry at me?"
"Not at all," said the Milotic, "I wasn't angry at you, I never was. You were right to try to leave. I was just too scared come with you and go to the outside world. You didn't abandon me, at least I never saw it that way. I didn't approach you because at first I wasn't sure if it was you or not, and with all those humans around...they are very scary with their sticks with strings,"
Franky chuckled, "They are trying to catch you,"
"What if I don't want to be caught?"
"Not all humans are bad. Like I said, Lucas is wonderful. If you became his Pokemon I know he would be very kind to you. And you'd never have to be scared again, he'd protect you. He always defended me, he'd defend you too," Franky explained happily.
Lucas paced the crumbling shore of the underground lake while the Fisherman wildly cast their lines. He was cursing himself for not figuring out what was wrong with his Gyrados sooner, wishing right know he knew if his Pokemon was okay. He felt his heart jump when he looked back to the water. Franky was swimming back! And swimming along side him was the wild Milotic.
"There it is!" One of the Fisherman screamed as he reached for a Pokeball, "Go Seaking!"
A hand caught the Fisherman's wrist before the ball could be thrown. "Not so fast," Lucas warned, "You aren't going to attack that Milotic,"
"Just because it's swimming by your Pokemon? That's not how the capture system works, kid. They aren't even fighting," the Fisherman snapped back. Lucas twisted the man's hand and the fisher let out a yelp.
"Anyone who goes after that Milotic is going to have to face me. I don't care of I have to battle you or get in a fist fight, but no one is touching it, got it?" Lucas was getting more serious now.
"Hey kid, who do you think you are!" One of the Fisherman barked back.
"You don't see it, do you? I;m not trying to catch the Pokemon for myself. They aren't fighting because they must like each other. That wild Pokemon must be my Pokemon's friend. And if my Gyrados has a friend I won't allow anyone to separate them." Lucas saw it immediately when Franky came back to the surface. The Gyrados no longer looked upset or wistful, he was fully back to his normal sweet behavior and nudging the Milotic playfully every few strokes. Realizing the teen boy was right, all the Fishermen backed off, giving Franky and the other Pokemon a chance to come to the shore. Lucas smiled at his Pokemon, "You had me worried pal. If you were looking for an old friend you just had to ask." Using the Pokedex the Trainer deduced something else, "Ah, she isn't just an old friend is she? She's your ladyfriend,"
Franky let a sound out of his throat in confirmation.
"I'd really miss you, but if you want to stay with her you're more than welcome," Franky was the first Pokemon Lucas ever caught. He remembered the day like it just happened. The Magikarp on the dock that he caught with his last Pokeball. The teen stayed a week at the lake to catch the Milotic just like the rest of the Fisherman, but to Lucas, his Pokemon's happiness meant more to him than anything else, even himself. To his surprise however, Franky moved forward, showing he had no intention of leaving his Trainer. More shyly and skittishly, the Milotic took half a movement behind the Gyrados, "Oh, now I get it. She wants to come with us, instead. That's totally fine by me. It's nice to meet you, Franky's lady. You really are a beautiful Pokemon, he's lucky to have you,"
The Milotic slowly got over her fear. What Franky had told her was true. Despite his funny looks, this human seemed gentle, and was even willing to release the Gyrados for her sake.
Lucas pulled out a Pokeball from his bag and offered it forward. With the tip of her nose she touched the button on the ball and was pulled inside. The ball rocked back and forth five times until it stopped moving, finalizing the capture. The teen smiled to his Gyrados, "You got a real looker, ladykiller. She definitely deserves a nice name. Let's call her Bernadette,"
It took almost three more days to finally leave the dark and confining caves of Mt. Coronet. As Lucas left the darkness he was almost blinded by the shining light of the sun reflecting on the snow. Almost immediately it began snowing again, large, hard flakes pelting the teen's still tender face and the cold feeling like a raking slap.
The teen wasn't used to snow. Johto had a very temperate climate, especially in the southern beach city of Cherrygrove. Falls were cold and crisp with chilly winds and winters brought cold rain that lasted for days, but snowfall was rare. Lucas struggled to throw on his coat and new, thicker pants and as already numb fingers pulled out his metal piercings so they wouldn't freeze on his face, before putting on his gloves. Even with his warmer clothing, the blowing snow still seemed to chill him from the inside out. The teen much preferred snow to rain, but he wasn't sure that preference was going to last. Cynthia warned him traveling in clear weather would take several days to get to Snowpoint City, and in this blizzard he would have to tack on much more time.
Just coming down off the side of the mountain to the snowy fields that made up the foothills took a day, a distance that horizontally would only cost him a few hours. The ice beneath the snow made the ground dangerously slick and Lucas didn't buy any new shoes in addition to his other winter clothes. Trainer attacks were also frequent, the cold and snow injuring his team almost as badly as his opponents. So he was most grateful that there was a rest house at the bottom of the mountain.
The rest house was for humans and not Pokemon, there was no staff on hand to heal his team but the fire and warm beds helped him recover his own body. Some of the staff warned that this house was the last place to rest before getting to Snowpoint, and suggested he stayed until the blizzard stopped. Lucas knew this would do no good. He had already spent several days at the rest house and blizzards could last for days, it could be as little as a few hours between the end of one storm and the beginning of a new one. He would have to risk the weather. Though he was in no rush to challenge the Gym, he needed to be within distance of a Pokemon Center in case of emergencies.
Wished good luck by the staff and other guests of the rest house, the young man headed back out into the cold. The going was slow and tiring. The snow was far deeper than on the side of the mountain, trapping the teen's legs up to his knees and causing him to fall on several occasions. Just as Lucas thought he was making progress, the storm kicked up to whiteout conditions.
Making camp in the snow was difficult and dangerous. His sleeping bag got immediately wet and he had no tent to block out the wind. Worst of all he couldn't make a fire. He tried to rely on Hotrod's burning tail and warm body, but the snow was damaging to his Pokemon. Lucas was not about to allow his Pokemon to get hurt just so he could keep warm. With conditions as they were, he would have to keep going, no matter how tired he was. If he fell asleep in this weather without proper shelter, he would more than likely freeze to death. The teen pulled out his Pokevice, the map leading him to Snowpoint blinking on the screen, though ice crystals quickly built up on the glowing surface.
Lucas pushed forward, now crawling in the blowing wall of frozen liquid that was constantly knocking him over. Now matter how slowly, he kept moving, hand in front of hand, knee in front of knee, ignoring his increasing exhaustion and numbness of his toes in his steel-toed boots. He kept brushing the ice off of the Pokevice's screen, following its directions to Snowpoint, relying on its powers to guide him to safety. Lucas stopped when his head bumped gently into something ahead of him. He forced himself to stand to examine the object. It was a large boulder coated with a thick coat of crystal clear ice.
"Oh no," He said to himself, "This is the Icy Rock,"
The Icy Rock was the partner to the Moss Rock, the place Lucas had found Gizmo abandoned. It was a place Trainers could use to train their Eevee to evolve to the ice-type Glaceon. It also meant that Lucas was way off course. The map showed a blinking dot indicating he was less than a mile from Snowpoint, but the Icy Rock was in fact almost two miles east of the point shown on the map. The teen was almost entirely lost. His choices were slim. He could either fly all the way back to Celestic Town, meaning he would have wasted all the time it took him to get to Snowpoint, and especially when he was so close, or he could stay lost in the frozen wilderness and possibly die. Lucas sank his head in frustration as he reached into his coat to pull out Hotrod's Pokeball when he heard a sound behind him in the blowing wind.
"Wudju! Wudju!" the noise almost sounded like one of the funny calls used in the old Three Stooges films, one of the few things Lucas and his brother John shared a common interest in. The teen turned around to come face to face with an odd-looking Pokemon that looked like a living Christmas tree. Lucas pulled out the Pokedex to discover that this was a grass and ice-type called Snover. It waved its arms frantically up and down and called out again, "Wudju! Wudju!"
Now that it had Lucas' attention it started walking away. It took a few steps forward and looked back. Seeing the teen Trainer was still standing the in the same spot, it ran back, waving its arms and calling out again. After repeating the process two more times, Lucas finally realized what the Snover wanted, "I get it, you want me to follow you, right?"
"Wudju! Wudju!" the Pokemon cried happily. Lucas figured he had nothing to lose by following the Pokemon. He still had Hotrod in case he needed to fly out, and if the funny little creature knew of some shelter, the more the better.
The Snover could move much faster in the snow than the boy could, but did its best to slow down or retrace its steps so the human could catch up. Though it was hard to tell in the blinding snow, it seemed as the sun was setting, meaning it would get even colder than it was now. Finally in the haze ahead, Lucas could make out lights. The Snover stopped moving, its final destination now within reach. As the Trainer got closer, he could see the lights were coming from a cabin in the middle of the snowy field. Now that Lucas was in front of shelter, the Snover let out a cheery cry and ran off into the darkness of the quickly falling night. The teen knocked hard on the door when a pale woman with black hair opened the door a crack and barely peeked around it
"Listen, I really don't mean to bother you but I took a wrong turn and got stranded. It's freezing out here, could I please stay with you?" the teen was worried that this seemingly timid woman might turn him away. But no one could be that cruel, right?
"Of course," the woman said hollowly. She opened the door fully and let the teen boy inside. The cabin was small, but homely, with a roaring fire in the fireplace. Lucas let the exhaustion finally take him as he let himself fall into a chair at her table. The woman closed the door and hobbled over to sit next to him, "I'm afraid you startled me when you knocked. I don't get many visitors out here,"
"Right, I can understand that. I was on my way to Snowpoint and I got on the wrong path. I thought I could beat the storm but it was way worse that I anticipated," Lucas explained as he took off his wet snowy outer clothes and rubbed his hands in front of the fire.
"The cold can be very dangerous," the woman nodded in agreement, "Are you a Pokemon Trainer?"
"Yeah, I am. I'm on my way to get my seventh badge. I'm going to try for a Championship," With the feeling returning to his hands and feet, the teen offered out his hand to his host, "I'm Lucas, by the way,"
"Maria," the woman replied. Despite the warm fire the woman's hand seemed very cold. Lucas couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this woman was very odd. In addition to being pale and having a hard time moving, her eyes were very deep set with dark circles and her expressions and emotions are a bit off, "I'm afraid if you want something to eat I don't have anything ready,"
"Like you said, you don't really expect visitors. It would be silly to constantly have a pot on the stove because one day someone might come out here," Lucas reached into his bag and pulled out some of his supplies, "It's no big deal though, I can make something for myself. I can make something for you too, if you want. As long as you don't mind me using your dishes. I promise I'll clean them after I'm done,"
"I don't mind. Use whatever you need to. But don't worry about me, I'm not hungry," Maria smiled weakly. Lucas went to the business of preparing his own food and after eating felt a lot better. As he cleaned up his dishes the teen noticed a row of small toys lined up on the sink, "Ah, these are those Pokecapsule toys, aren't they? The chocolate Pokeballs that had different toys inside,"
"I used to collect them," Maria replied, a tone of sadness to her voice.
"I never collected them, collected them. But whenever I got one I hung onto the toys for whatever reason. I've still got a small box of them in my bag when I moved out of my folks' house. Most of the ones I have are doubles of yours, but I think I've got one or two you don't," Lucas put the dry dishes away and reached into his bag for the small collection of figures that he tucked away along with his Lumpy doll, "You can have them if you want. After all, you were nice enough to put up with me. I mean, I know people that would scream and slam the door on someone who looks like me on their doorstep,"
Maria looked up at Lucas with a strange expression, one like she just about to break down sobbing. With a shaky voice she said, "Yes, I would like that very much,"
The rest of the evening Lucas told Maria about his home in Cherrygrove and his Journey through Sinnoh. Maria said little in reply but was obviously listening intently, and seemed happy to have the company. When Lucas was just too tired anymore to keep his eyes open, he went to sleep on the woman's couch.
He slept for a long time, and only woken up in the morning by the feeling of intense cold. Maria had let the fire go out to cinders that were now completely cool, and ice was forming on the inside of the windows. Her bed was made, but there was no other sign of his hostess. Lucas packed up his things and waited for several hours. When he couldn't wait any longer he wrote a note to the woman thanking her for her hospitality and wishing that he could have said goodbye to her in person.
The snow had slowed down considerably, only down to gentle flakes instead of the wall of white, making traveling much easier. Strangely, Lucas found no footprints on his way from the cabin until he ran into a Hiker navigating his way between the firs on cross-country skis, "Hi there young fellow!"
"Hi! Have you seen a woman around here? Black hair, kind of pale?" Lucas called back.
"Nope, I'm afraid not, you're the first person I've seen all morning. That blizzard last night was bad even for here's standards," the Hiker explained.
"I know, I got caught in it. Luckily I got to the cabin a little while from here,"
"Ah, that cabin. Shame what happened to the previous owner," the Hiker said sadly, "Woman who lived there was always all alone. She was so painfully shy she couldn't live in town, sad part was all she ever wanted was a friend. She froze to death last winter, wasn't til the spring letup that anyone found her,"
"Wow, that is really sad. So when did Maria move in?" Lucas asked as he still worked out a rhythm for moving through the snow.
The Hiker paused, a confused look on his face, "The previous owner's name was Maria,"
"What are you talking about? I stayed with her last night," Lucas gave a puzzled look to the other man.
"The cold does strange things to a man's mind," the Hiker shrugged.
Lucas said his farewells to the man and turned back to the cabin. His note was still there, and at second glance it looked like no one had been in the cabin for months. Shelves were covered with thick coats of dust and old newspapers from over a year ago were scattered on the floor. It wasn't possible. From one of the windows Lucas noticed a large bump near a grove of pine trees. The teen went back outside and trudged to the bump. With his gloved fingers he dug until he uncovered what the snow was hiding. It was a simple gravestone with the name 'Maria' engraved in block capitals. The strangest part, however, was that the two Pokecapsule figures he had given the woman he met last night were laid in front of the headstone.
"No, it just isn't possible," Lucas said to himself. The situation too bizarre and surreal, too impossible to believe. But either way he was alive and back on track to Snowpoint City. If he hadn't spent the night in the cabin he probably been forced all the way back to Celestic, or even worse, would have died. Whatever really happened that night didn't really matter. But just in case, he knelt reverently on the ground and put a hand on the tombstone, "Thank you for everything Maria, and goodbye,"