The next day, Sara found herself clinging to Star like her life depended on it. Star wasn't happy; she didn't fly very well at all with a free-loader on her back. Sandsinger hummed ahead of them, she was actually able to support the weight of Drake and Elvina on her back.
"How much farther?" Star croaked as she flaps hard to stay aloft.
The Fire Plains stretched out below them, leading up to the ever tall Black Ice Peaks. They'd already covered over eight miles in this way, it was far quicker the walking. Elvina heard what Star had asked, so she turned around, grasped Drake's shoulders, and bellowed back at her. "Not much farther! Hold on Star!"
"Hold on Star…" She repeated, fuming. "Ow, ow, ow! Those are my feathers…" Sara had grasped a fistful of Star's chest feathers in her want not to fall off.
"Sorry." Sara mumbled, fingering a feather she had taken off. "You have nice feathers." Star clicked her beak at that.
Twenty minutes and two miles later, they had set down a little ways up the Black Ice Peaks and Star had gotten the rest she duly deserved. "What's the matter with you?" Sandsinger chirped at Star when she had collapsed on Sara's shoulder with her wings hanging limply by her sides.
"You try flying with… oh wait, you did. Never mind then." Star grumbled. The wind had picked up now; it howled all around as the trio set off up the mountain path, which had been crudely carved out of the middle mountain. The path was steep, but level enough that they didn't need to use climbing gear.
The first half of the climb went very well, even though Drake had accidentally stepped on a Geodude once and got himself clobbered. It started to snow, to Sandsinger's upset pleas, Sara had to return her. Flygon don't like snow very much.
The snow soon turned into a blizzard, as none of them could see anything; they brought out Blaze and Vulpix. Vulpix nearly set Sara's heavy wool coat on fire in her want to help.
With the fire types leading, they all ascended the rest of the mountain without much of a problem. At the peak of the Black Ice Peaks, there was a coating of what was black ice. It began to crack after moments of being stood on, making them have to race to get to the other side. Twinkling lights had come into view on the other side of the mountain. Cobalt Strip had come into focus, as it was build into the side of the mountain.
They descended the narrow path into Cobalt Strip, where they rushed first into the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy, who looked exactly the same as the other Joys they'd come across, was busy with a pair of arguing boys, both tall and heavily freckled. At one look, Drake attempted to drag Sara and Elvina back, to no avail.
"What's wrong?" Sara asks as she catches sight of the panicked look on Drake's face.
"Let's go, let's go!" Was all Drake said as he kept on pulling Sara away, Elvina had broken away from him and walked up to the two boys. They kept on arguing, not noticing her at all.
"…I'm telling you, he'd probably have a Saldreth by now!" One of them, the one with long red hair had exclaimed.
"Why? Just because he's got some big-shot trainer for his partner doesn't mean he'll be powerful!" The other boy, with short mousy brown hair responded.
Elvina cleared her throat and Drake cowered behind Sara, whispering, "Don't notice me, don't notice me…" But Sara was too small; the two arguing boys turned and saw Drake anyway.
"Hey look, it's ickle Drakie!" They had both grabbed him, and Drake was standing in the middle of the two taller boys, looking quite gun-shy.
"Not in front of my friends." He had whispered to them.
"Oh-ho! Drakie's got friends!" The red haired boy exclaims, walking up to Elvina and grinning. "Do you, by any chance, have a sister?"
"Huh, no." She growls in reply. Star tweets on Sara's shoulder in her want to have attention as well. But she was ignored.
"Drakie, how about you introduce us to your little friends?" The other boy asks with a less then friendly nudge.
"Right." Drake grumbles, scooting away. "This is Will…iam." He points to the red haired boy, who waves at Elvina. "And this is Hunter." The other boy grins as he points to him.
"They're my twin older brothers, but don't let that get to their heads."
"I see… the family resemblance." Elvina stammers out as she looks Will over, "But what about their hair?"
"Hair dye." Will responds, "I had to be different."
"So, little brother, do you have a Saldreth yet?" Hunter asks with a slightly evil grin on his face.
"No."
"Ha! I told you!" Hunter exclaims at Will, who snorts and looks away.
"You have nice brothers." Sara whispers sarcastically to Drake as Hunter and Will begin to yell at each other about Saldreths.
"I know, wonderful, aren't they?" Drake responds, voice dripping with sarcasm. Elvina had begun to edge out of the Pokemon Center, which looked like a good idea, so Sara follows with Drake at her side.
Once they were out of range, Sara turned to Drake and asked, "What's a Saldreth?"
"The evolved form of Dorovi." Both Drake and Elvina said at the same time.
"They've been saying that I'm either going to fail with flying colors at being a trainer, or become something the Drencos family can be proud of." Drake continues.
"It appears the lateral is what you're headed for." Elvina replies quietly.
"Right. Now come on Drake, let's go win the next badge, and maybe they'll be gone by the time we get back to the Pokemon Center." Sara says, and it was her turn to grab Drake's arm and pull him away.
The Cobalt Gym wasn't hard to find, even if the falling snow did obscure their sight a bit. It was, as it normally is, the tallest building in the area. It was a normal Gym, with a loud and large crowd sitting on benches to watch the battles. Elvina joined the crowd on the bench closest to the battlefield.
It was a two on two battle between the Gym leaders, who used only ice types, and Drake and Sara. Vulpix had burned through three Pokemon already, with only one Pokemon left on the Gym leaders' side when Will and Hunter arrived.
"Don't tell me you started without us!" Will exclaims as he whacks Drake heartily on the back.
"Uh, will the two newcomers please step away from the challengers?" The man with the microphone said. Will and Hunter exchanged looks before going to sit on either side of Elvina, who looked quite uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"Vulpix, don't mind them! Use Flamethrower!" Sara growls to her Pokemon, who shoots a torrent of flames at the last standing enemy Pokemon, a Glalie. He lets out a shriek, but stays in the battle with many scorch marks.
Upon orders, the Glalie used crunch on Dorovi, who was already injured. The attack nearly knocked him out, causing Will and Hunter to gasp in excitement, but he stayed in and slashed at the Glalie with Crush Claw. The battle was over then; to upset boos from Drake's twin older brothers.
They got their Cobalt badges and literally ran away from the twins, Elvina in the lead. Vulpix had chosen to balance on Sara's free shoulder, as Star almost always did. This time they got to the Pokemon Center first, just as Nurse Joy was closing it down for the night.
Drake, Sara, and Elvina all made funny faces at Will and Hunter as they were too late and the doors had been safely shut and locked.
"My brothers are real pains." Drake growls as he hands over his Pokeballs last. "They'll never leave me alone. My mum says they do it because they're jealous."
"Why would they be jealous of you?" Elvina asks as she fluffs her pillow.
"Because I'm a Pokemon trainer and they're not."
"Why aren't they? It's really fun…" Sara had gotten into her sleeping bag and was gazing up at the ceiling.
"I dunno. It was their choice, and they decided not to be trainers." Drake responds with a yawn. "Good night."
"'Night."
"'Till tomorrow then." Elvina mumbles, "Good night."