The confrontation at the top of Mt. Silver begins here. Will Blake and Ayame be able to get out safely? Things don't look good for our heroes, unfortunately. Remember to review!
Pokemonking0924: Assuming Gwen can actually understand that context of course. She's not the most perceptive sort.
KedharS: Ichigo and Orihime huh.
BRADICISMUS: All your spamming huh, still reviews either way I'll just ignore it.
Rosealine gold: Not sure when, but it's coming.
Aquahaze675: It is sad, but the story still has a happy ending.
JoshGamerV: Yeah I'm just ignoring them.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 420
The air outside Mt. Silver was freezing cold, but within the mountain it felt even colder, somehow. Every step Blake took further into the mountain's depths brought a feeling like the chill was seeping even deeper into his veins. It made sense, after all. Blake remembered Mt. Chimney, and the Oracle buried deep into the center of the volcano, heating the entire mountain. It had been hot to the touch, exuding heat all on its own. Thus, it came to no surprise that the Oracle for ice types would be found somewhere like this, a place so cold that Blake felt like no amount of bulky coats would be enough to keep him from freezing to death.
The cold wasn't the only reason that his footsteps were heavy. Blake knew that, when they reached the chamber where the Oracle was hidden, that would be the end. He and Ayame would be violently forced apart, and he would probably never see her again. So if he could push that moment back even by just a few seconds, he would do whatever it took.
I'm sorry, Aya, he silently apologized, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of her footsteps echoing behind him.
But in the end, no matter how slowly he walked, every path had a destination, and it wasn't long before they reached the end of their road. Blake slipped through a crack in the wall and stepped out into a massive cavern covered in ice. The room was far larger than Blake imagined was possible inside of a cave, it was larger than his father's entire house. The walls and floor were covered with glittering ice, illuminated by the sunlight shining in from crevices above, multiple pathways opened in the walls for people and pokemon to slip in through. The floor was nearly flattened like an ice skating rink, something Blake didn't even think was possible to occur naturally. But the most notable part of the room was the shrine in the far back, with a stone the size of a tennis ball embedded in the mouth of a dragon. Blake could see the blue glow from afar, and could feel the icy chill emanating off of it. Even without harmonia he could feel it.
"There it is!" Rui was the first to shout out, though Preya, of course, had sensed it first. Rui pushed past him, running across the ice with an astounding amount of grace, considering Blake could barely move forward without slipping on the slick surface.
"Wait, what?!" Rui gasped, pulling to a stop about halfway through the chamber. At first, Blake wasn't sure what the issue was, but as he squinted a little closer, he figured out what the problem was. In front of Rui, so clear it could barely be seen, was a wall of ice that divided the chamber in half. Rui banged her hands against it in frustration.
"It's a barrier," Preya said, reaching out. He slipped off his glove and ran his pale fingers across the ice, drawing them back. "It's freezing. Solid ice." Preya rapped his knuckles against the wall, but it didn't shake for a second. "I can't believe how thick it must be. A meter deep, at least, maybe even more. It would take hours to dig through."
"Then how are we supposed to get through to the Oracle?!" Rui demanded. "I certainly don't have any fire pokemon!"
Blake hung back, not sure what he should do. His eyes scanned the cavern, looking for an exit that he and Ayame could use to slip away if the opportunity arose. He should be focusing on getting the Oracle and keeping it from them, but what was more important right now was Ayame's safety.
"Don't bother," Val's voice hissed into his ear. "You wouldn't get far before we stopped you."
Blake flinched, stepping aside as Val carefully moved over the ice, joining the other two. Blake glanced at Ayame, who was watching warily from a distance. From the pallor of her face, Blake could tell that she was completely worn out. He couldn't say he blamed her. He didn't know what time it was, but he knew that they hadn't eaten since dinner last night. They were both exhausted, that was for sure.
"Aya…" He said weakly, Ayame looking away from him.
"Not long now," she murmured. "We only have until they get through that ice, I guess."
"You guys are being blocked by some crummy ice?" Val snorted. She glanced at Rui with a smirk. "Aren't you supposed to be an ice master? How pathetic!"
Rui growled in frustration.
"Well, rest easy," Val crowed, parting her coat and retrieving a pokeball from her belt. "I have come to save you ungrateful louts. Sindra! Tear this damn thing down."
Val flung the pokeball into the air, and from within it, a large pokemon covered in red and black fur emerged. The pokemon was feline, but standing upright on its hind legs, arms corded with muscle flexing as it approached the wall of ice.
"Incineroar!" The pokemon roared, punching the wall with all her might. Not even a shake.
"So, it's quite bulky, then," Val smirked. "No problems at all. Sindra, why don't you add a little fire to your punches?"
"Incineroar," the Incineroar snarled, pulling back her fist. Flames leapt up around it, and she punched the wall a second time. It barely made a dent, but it still, at least, made a dent this time.
"With firepower like that, we're going to be here all day," Preya judged, Val shooting him a murderous look.
"Now listen, I didn't ask for your-"
Before she could finish that sentence, a chunk of ice hit her in the face, and she let out a bloodcurdling shriek of pain.
"THE FUCK?! THE FUCK?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?!" Val shouted bloody murder as she clutched the side of her face, blood seeping through her gloved hand. Her other eye scanned the room with wild fury to figure out what had just hit her, before landing on the culprit.
The pokemon who had wounded Val was not a large pokemon. It stood perched atop a large chunk of ice overlooking the chamber, glaring down at them with cold blue eyes. It had been hard to spot at first, its fur a mixture of shades of blue that had nearly let her camouflage with the icy features of the cavern. The only signs otherwise were the old scars that broke out from the pokemon's coat, demonstrating years of long struggles.
"Glaceon," the pokemon growled. She whipped her head to the side, the long fur extensions in front of her ears swinging, and fired a beam of ice at the Incineroar. The fire pokemon withstood the attack easily, but it was enough to draw her attention, turning angrily upon the ice pokemon.
"No way," Ayame gasped, her face brightening for the first time that day. "Shirayuki?"
Blake blinked.
"Shirayuki?"
"That Glaceon… she's Shirayuki, I'm certain of it!" Ayame said, her face brimming with joy.
"You… you know her?" Blake asked, glancing at the ice pokemon, who had leapt down from her perch to attack the Incineroar.
"When my mom was a pokemon ranger, her partner pokemon was a Glaceon," Ayame said quietly. "Her name was Shirayuki. But after she married my dad and retired from her ranger duties, Shirayuki didn't come with her. Mom always said that she had chosen to stay on Mt. Silver to continue protecting it the way that they had together."
Blake realized that this pokemon was what Hiromi had meant at dinner last night about the mountain having a protector. Shirayuki must have been fighting to protect the Oracle all this time.
"We have to help her," Ayame whispered. "There has to be something we can do, right, Blake?"
Blake wanted to help if he could, but he wasn't sure how. He bit his lip, watching the Glaceon as she danced away from the Incinderoar's fire punches.
"Rrrgh! Sindra, calm down!" Val snarled, wiping the blood from her face. The cut in her forehead was already oozing again, and she tore a long shred of cloth from her scarf, wrapping it around her head to staunch the bleeding. "Forget about that dumb ice pokemon! Just focus on getting through this wall, first!"
"Incineroar," Sindra nodded in agreement.
"And you two!" Val barked, turning on Preya and Rui. "What are you doing standing around like a couple of idiots? Send out your pokemon already and take care of this fucking Glaceon!"
"R-right," Rui said, nodding. "But… but my pokemon are ice types, too, and if I send out my Abomasnow then he'll just create a hailstorm, and-"
"Just send something out!" Val cried, holding her forehead in pain.
"Not a problem," Preya growled. "Dokuro!"
Preya sent out his Tentacruel, the menacing pokemon rising up on her tentacles as she glared at the Glaceon standing on the ice ahead of her.
"Glaceon!" Shirayuki growled.
"Go, Val," Rui said, sending out a pokemon of her own. The massive Avalugg hit the ground and let out a roar, surprising the other Val in the room.
"You named that thing after me?" She growled, Rui glancing away, resisting the urge to smirk.
"What can I say, she's a frigid bitch herself," Rui cackled. "Val, use surf!"
"Avalugg!" Val stomped on the ice, a wave of water swirling around her. It began to crash towards Shirayuki, but the Glaceon wasn't perturbed in the slightest.
"Dokuro, add your sludge wave as well," Preya ordered, the noxious miasma of harmonia around him surging up, increasing his Tentacruel's destructive power. The toxic venom mixed with the waters from the surf attack, forming a torrent of poison that threatened to engulf the small ice type, and hit Blake and Ayame right behind her.
Shirayuki still didn't seem bothered.
"Glaceon!" She snarled, her fur glowing a bright blue. The water struck her, and then turned back, the Glaceon sending the poisonous water right back where it had come from with a powerful mirror coat attack.
"Shit!" Preya cursed. Rui jumped out of the way as the waves struck her Avalugg, passing right past her and hitting Preya and Dokuro, as well as slamming into Val, knocking her into the ice wall.
"Incineroar!" Sindra howled, the poisoned water especially damaging to him.
"What the hell are you doing, firing harmonia-boosted attacks like that?!" Rui exclaimed, glancing at her weakened Avalugg. "Val's special defense can't handle something that strong!"
"Your fucking water is the problem," Preya growled.
"You fucking trash, you're both to blame," Val growled, stumbling to her feet, still a little woozy from the blood loss. "Sindra, fucking done yet?"
"Incineroar," Sindra grunted, punching the wall again with his fire punch attack. He knocked off another chunk of melting ice, working a decent-sized hole in the wall.
"We might have not seen that mirror coat coming, but that's a situation that can be easily rectified! Dokuro! Use your poison jab!"
"Tentacruel!" Dokuro snarled. She lumbered forward, raising her tentacles to try and take down the Glaceon with physical attacks, unwilling to risk the pain that would come from a special attack.
"Glaceon," Shirayuki cried, nimbly dodging the tentacles with such swift and graceful moves it was like she was dancing.
"Yeah! Go, Shirayuki!" Ayame cheered, pumping her fist in excitement. Blake could see the light of hope shining brightly in her eyes, and it made his heart skip a beat. He could really imagine it, sitting here, seeing how skillfully that Glaceon was fighting, it made him wonder if the two of them could actually make it through this intact.
Blake really needed to learn to stop feeling so hopeful. Shirayuki landed on the ground and her foot slipped on some water left over from the surf attack, causing her to lose her balance. In that moment, the Avalugg took the opportunity to open her mouth and fire an ice shard that hit her right in the face, knocking her over. There wasn't much power behind the move, but it was enough to completely throw Shirayuki off, much to Blake's horror.
"Shirayuki!" He cried, the Tentacruel bearing down upon the prone pokemon with her poison jabs ready to strike.
Fortuitously, though Shirayuki had fallen, she was far too experienced to let herself be taken down so easily. As the Tentacruel swung at her, without even bothering to stand, she opened her mouth, and fired a blast of cold air out.
As the freezing cold hit Dokuro's tentacles, they began to ice over. The ice clung to the water pokemon's body and began to creep up, spreading rapidly until the pokemon was frozen completely solid.
"Dokuro!" Preya gasped. The chill striking him caused him to double-over in pain, his heart nearly stopping as he almost collapsed.
Seeing Shirayuki so successfully fight off both pokemon, Blake wished so badly he had one of his pokemon to help. It was possible, wasn't it? Now, there was a glimmer of hope. If they could knock out Rui's pokemon, and Val and Preya's pokemon, then they might have a chance… but right now, there wasn't anything he could do to help.
"That was freeze-dry!" Rui gasped.
"Freeze-what?" Preya turned to her, annoyed.
"It's an ice move that's super-effective against water-type pokemon," Rui scowled. "That's why it did so much damage."
"Dokuro is frozen solid," Preya said, trying to reach out to his pokemon, but the poison pokemon was unable to be reached. He could connect his harmonia to her, but there was no way to break her out of the ice. Preya raised his pokeball and recalled the frozen pokemon, feeling his body begin to heat up again as his connection was severed. "Does that stupid pokemon think that will be enough to stop my team? Beedra!"
Preya through another pokeball into the air, which a yellow and black Beedrill emerged from, the bug pokemon's wings buzzing at her lunged at Shirayuki, raising his spears to pierce the pokemon's hide. But as fast as the bug pokemon was, Shirayuki was faster.
"Val, use ice shard to impede her movements!" Rui ordered. Val opened her mouth, and fired a chunk of ice at the other ice pokemon. Shirayuki was having difficulty avoiding both the ice and the attacking thrusts, but her quick attack allowed her to dodge out of the way, leaping up and hitting the Beedrill in the face with her legs, kicking him back.
Beedra tumbled through the sky before righting himself, lunging at Shirayuki. Preya focused his powers and directed them towards Beedra's speed and power, preparing the pokemon to pierce his enemy full of holes. But Shirayuki was already factoring in her opponent's movements.
"Glaceon!" Shirayuki opened her mouth, and immediately a giant blizzard swept its way through the cavern, hitting the enemy pokemon head-on.
"Beedrill!" Beedra gasped, withstanding the freezing power as best as she could. Val was having it a little easier enduring the ice, but her low special defenses meant she was still taking a decent chunk of damage, just as Shirayuki wanted.
"Val, it's fine," Rui called out. "If that Glaceon thinks ice will be our downfall, she's got another think coming! Use recover!"
Val began to absorb the ice and snow from the blizzard into her bulky body, her health beginning to recover.
"Glaceon!" Shirayuki opened her mouth, an orb of darkness building up in her mouth. She fired a shadow ball at the ice pokemon as she healed herself, hitting the Avalugg in the face. The ghostly energy exploded outwards, knocking the specially weak pokemon unconscious.
"Val!" Rui cried. She reached out to return her Avalugg to her pokeball.
Shirayuki took the initiative to turn her attention upon the charging Beedrill, firing an ice shard of her own at the bug type, piercing into the pokemon's wings and shooting him out of the sky. Beedra wasn't very injured due to Preya's harmonia keeping him strong, but he wasn't able to keep airborne. He hit the ice, and Shirayuki fired an ice beam attack that hit him directly.
"Urgh!" Preya grunted, shielding his face from the painful cold striking him directly, stumbling backwards. He recalled his Beedrill, utterly shocked that the wild pokemon had been able to take out two of his pokemon pumped with harmonia.
"DONE!" Val's triumphant voice rang out, the entire cavern falling silent. Shirayuki whirled her head around, her eyes widening as she stared at the large hole that Sindra had managed to punch through the ice barrier.
"Glaceon!" Shirayuki dashed frantically towards the fire pokemon, Val rolling her eyes dismissively as she crawled through the hole.
"Sindra, show those two fools how you ACTUALLY take care of a hero, if you would?"
"Incineroar!" Sindra nodded her head, turned, and opened her mouth, creating a massive orb of scarlet flames in her mouth. She spat the stream of fire forward, but not at Shirayuki. It was heading straight for Ayame and Blake.
"What?!" Blake gasped, turning his body so that he was shielding Ayame, terrified that the flamethrower attack would hit them both.
"Glaceon!" Shirayuki turned and dashed in front of the two. Her body began glowing blue, and the flames pushed back, turning back on Sindra. Val smirked, slipping to safety behind the ice wall, Sindra ducking in after her, the flames bouncing off the barrier.
Preya and Rui glanced at each other and slipped through the barrier as well before the flames could get to them. The flames bounced harmlessly off of the ice, extinguishing itself.
"There it is, just perfect," Val said, yanking the Oracle free from where it was embedded. "Now, to take Blake back, and dispose of that girl…"
Val turned back to the ice wall, and her eye twitched.
Irritation.
The hole that they had climbed through was completely frozen solid. Sindra would have to dig through it again.
And even more frustrating was the fact that the chamber on the other side of the wall was completely empty.
"They got away!?" Val exclaimed, her anger causing her blood to boil so hot it actually spurted out a little bit through her makeshift bandage. "Fucking fine! Sindra, burn through this barrier, and we'll go after them!"
"Wait!" Rui gasped, just as Sindra began to strike the barrier with her fire punch. The ice had begun to shake, and then ice and snow rolled down from the far wall on the other side of the chamber. Before she had fled with Blake and Ayame, Shirayuki had buried that side of the chamber with an avalanche, and only the ice wall had kept them from being buried as well.
Val stomped her feet and screamed, pounding her fists against the ice. Pursuit would not be an option for quite some time.
So Val and the Children of the Oracles did get ahold of the Oracle, but on the plus side, Blake and Ayame managed to get away. Thanks to the Glaceon, they're safe. Will they be able to get down from the mountain safely and make it back home? Will things be okay for them when they get there? Hopefully, Val will be put on ice for quite some time.