Chapter 33 – Some Icy Additions
The next morning, after breakfast, May, Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, along with our Sneasels and me all followed Martin, Slash, and Kat out of their secluded hideout and back into the naturally illuminated caverns of the Ice Cave. They led us into a cavern that sloped downward. "Be careful! It's slippery!" he warned us. We could clearly hear Lapras song coming from the caverns below, in the direction we were heading. I was very excited about the prospect of capturing a Lapras, but at the same time, a little down-hearted, because I knew I would have to switch out one of my Pokemon from my current, strong team in order to include it in battle. My 6 Pokemon and I were like a close-knit family, so it wouldn't be an easy decision who to switch out. Anyway, we all walked down several caverns, until we reached one that was nearly a mile under ground! May asked Martin, "Is it much further?" He held out his arm, indicating for us to stop, then quietly said, "There's one just up ahead!" We all peered around an icy wall and we could see a lake, with a beautiful, giant blue and white Lapras swimming around in it! She began singing again. "It's so beautiful to hear up close!" May said. Then she turned to me and said, "It seems a shame to capture her. Maybe we should just leave her alone." I replied, "I don't know. Maybe you're right. But I'd hate to have come all this way without even trying to catch a Lapras!" Martin said, "Hey, it's up to you, but if I were you, I wouldn't let this opportunity slip by! This is one of the few areas Lapras migrate to regularly. Only a small number of people that I trust know about it!" I thought about it for a minute, then said, "I'm gonna do it! And I have the perfect Pokemon for the job!" I took out Jolteon's pokeball and released him. He materialized by Flamefox, Firestorm, and Amber. I asked him, "Are you all rested up and ready to battle again?" He excitedly replied, "Jolt jolt!" Then I said, "You all wait here! Jolteon and I have a Lapras to catch!" and we both walked around the corner. The Lapras, still swimming around, stopped her singing and turned to look at us. Her size, alone, was intimidating, and her head towered high above us on her long neck. But her face had such a gentle demeanor. I started to have second thoughts about battling her – that is, until she launched an ice beam at us! Jolteon and I jumped back and the attack missed us! "Hey!" I shouted, as she began to swim off. I could hear Martin laughing at us! "Jolteon, use thunderbolt!" I ordered. He launched his electric attack at Lapras, and it was a direct hit! She was shocked, but still continued to swim full speed ahead. "She's getting away, Joe!" Martin shouted in a pretentious tone. I gave him an angry glare, then yelled, "Jolteon, you can keep up with her! Go!" Jolteon ran along the icy cave floor along the lake, keeping up with Lapras. I ran after him, and was soon joined by Flamefox, Firestorm, and my Sneasel, who was now running alongside me. I looked at him and asked, "Maybe… maybe you can help?" He replied, "Sneas sneasel!" It occurred to me that I wasn't too familiar with any Sneasel attacks, except the ones I saw Martin's use. "Um… shadow ball?" I asked him. He nodded, then held out his claws in front of him and he manifested a ball of dark energy, which he then thrust at Lapras, and it hit! Lapras turned around and came charging at us in the water! "Uh oh" I said. As we all ran the other way, she hit all four of us with a powerful water gun! Then she resumed swimming away from us, seemingly unthwarted! May, Amber, her Sneasel, Martin, Slash, and Kat all ran over to us! "Are you guys okay?" Martin asked. "Yeah, fine! A little wet, but fine!" I replied. May said, "Just let her go, Joe. It's not worth all this trouble." I replied, "No way! If my individual Pokemon can't beat her, then we'll just have to use a team effort!" Martin advised, "Have your Sneasel use screech! That'll help lower Lapras' defense." I said, "Thanks!" and then continued to pursue the Lapras on land, along with Jolteon, my fire foxes and Sneasel. Lapras was far ahead of us now! "Sneasel, use screech!" I ordered. My Sneasel let out a high-pitched, ear shattering sound, and the Lapras slowed down. "Now, Jolteon, try using thunder!" I commanded. Jolteon released the powerful lightning attack, and Lapras was hit! She stopped swimming, turned around to face us, and looked very angry! Next came the biggest shock of all – literally! Lapras hit all four of us with a thunderbolt, and we all fell to the ground. "Joe! Are you okay?" I heard May shout as she ran to us. "Yeah" I said, still shaking from the jolt. Martin said, "Whoa, I've heard that Lapras can learn thunderbolt, but I've never seen one use it before! If you caught her, you'd have one very handy Pokemon!" Now I was more determined than ever to catch her! But Jolteon was getting worn out, Sneasel was too young and inexperienced to do any real damage, and my fire foxes were no match for a Lapras! As I watched Lapras swimming away again, I had an idea! "Firestorm, use hyper beam!" I shouted. My Ninetales released the powerful beam of energy from his mouth and the attack struck Lapras, finally knocking her out! I watched as her unconscious body began to sink under the water. "Hurry, Joe! Throw a pokeball!" I heard May shout. It occurred to me that I had the perfect pokeball for Lapras – the lure ball Kurt had made for me! I tossed it at Lapras just as her head was sinking below the water, and the ball opened up, collecting Lapras in a bright light! It floated there for a minute, shook back and forth a few times, then stood still, and just floated in the water. "Yes, we captured a Lapras!" I shouted to my Pokemon, and we group hugged. The ball dematerialized and was transported directly to Professor Oak's Pokemon sanctuary. May said, "Good work, Joe!" Martin said, "That was quite a catch! I'm impressed! But who are you going to switch out in order to include her in your party?" I couldn't answer, because I really had no idea. I finally said, "I don't know yet. All I do know is that now, my Pokemon are in no condition to battle your father. I'll have to wait another day now." Martin said, "Well, I'll treat your Pokemon for you again, and once they're rested, they'll be perfectly ready for battle when we all go back to Mahogany Town." May and I looked at him, and May asked, "We?" He answered, "Yeah. I haven't been down there to visit my father in a while, so I decided I'll go into town with you." I asked, "Do you have a Pokemon that you can ride there?" He answered, "Oh, yeah" and he opened up a pokeball to reveal an Arcanine! He said, "Arcanine, here, is very helpful in catching ice type Pokemon!" and his Arcanine barked. I asked, "Hey, how come you didn't use him in our battle?" He answered, "If I remember correctly, I didn't exactly need to use him to beat you", still gloating over his victory against me. We all returned to the upper caverns and watched as Martin and Kat opened the secret door to their hideout, each one pulling on their individually-sized rocks. He treated my Pokemon and we all spent one more night in the Ice Cave.
The next day, we all left the Ice Cave and followed Route 44 back to Mahogany Town. I rode Tauros with 2 passengers – Flamefox and Sneasel. I knew that if I put Sneasel in a pokeball, he'd be transported directly to Professor Oak's. May rode Fierymane with her Sneasel and Amber, and Martin rode on the back of his large fire dog, along with Kat and Slash. It seemed like the return trip to Mahogany took less time than our trip to the Ice Cave had taken! As much fun as we had, I was glad to be out of the cold mountains and back into a town with green grass!
Upon reaching the Mahogany Gym, we each recalled our riding Pokemon and entered the building. "Well, back to the cold again!" I said, as I once again felt the chill of Pryce's icy arena. "Just the way I like it!" Martin replied. "Is that you, Martin?" I heard Pryce's voice ask. "Yes, father. I've come to visit. It's good to see you again" Martin said. Then Pryce said, "I see the young friends I sent to visit you must have found you." Martin replied, "Obviously! But you know I don't like visitors!" Pryce said, "You can't go through life completely avoiding people. You need some social interaction. I was just trying to help." Martin said, "Well, that's okay. I challenged Joe, here, to a battle, and I won. I also decided to give each of them a Sneasel." Pryce replied, "I see that. That's very generous of you. But I still think you should go to Professor Elm with your discovery. These wonderful Pokemon shouldn't be kept such a secret." Martin said, "Well, I'm not here to discuss that right now. I just came to visit, and to watch Joe battle you for a badge." To that, Pryce looked at me and said, "Are you ready for your battle now?" I answered, "I'm ready if you are!" So, we entered Pryce's icy arena. Pryce said, "This will be a three on three battle, as promised. For my first Pokemon, I'll use Dewgong!" I took out my first pokeball and released Jolteon, as I stood at my end of the battle field with Flamefox and Firestorm. May, Martin, Amber, and the Sneasels stood at the sidelines to watch the battle. "Dewgong, use ice beam!" Pryce commanded. I shouted, "Use agility, Jolteon!" Jolteon leapt out of the way before the ice beam could hit him. "Good work, Jolteon! Now use thunderbolt!" I ordered. He launched the electric attack and it directly hit Dewgong! "Good hit, Joe!" Martin said to me. I was amazed that Martin was rooting for me! "Dewgong, use take down!" I heard Pryce shout. His ice seal came at my Jolteon quickly across the ice, and he was struck! Jolteon was sent sailing through the air, but landed on his feet. "Jolteon, use thunderbolt again!" I shouted. "Dewgong, use endure!" Pryce responded. "Dew gong gong!" he replied, and when Jolteon's attack hit him, he was not knocked out! "Now use double team, Dewgong!" Pryce commanded next. Dewgong made it appear that there were several of him. "Um… Jolteon, use pin missle!" I ordered. My hope was that the pin missles would hit the real Dewgong and go through the illusion doubles. It worked! The real Dewgong jumped back from the hit, and countered the attack with a headbutt, at Pryce's command. Jolteon was knocked to the ground, but stood back up. "Jolteon, thunder wave!" I ordered. He released the paralyzing electric attack and Dewgong couldn't move! "Now finish him off with a thunder attack!" I shouted. Jolteon released the powerful lightning attack, and Dewgong had no choice but to feel the attack full force! This time, Dewgong was defeated! "Dewgong, return!" Pryce said, and recalled his fainted Pokemon back to his pokeball. "Good work, Jolteon!" I exclaimed to my electric dog. May said, "Way to go, Joe!" and Martin said to Pryce, "You're losing your touch, father!" Pryce glared at him and said, "I'm not through yet! Go, Jynx!" and he released his female human form Pokemon. I recalled Jolteon, and said to Flamefox, "You're up!" He responded, "Vulpix!" and entered the battle field of ice. With Jynx, there were 2 important things I had to watch out for – attract and psychic! Right off the bat, Pryce ordered, "Jynx, use attract!" I quickly responded, "Flamefox, close your eyes!" He did so, and Jynx continued swaying back and forth, in her hypnotic dance, but Flamefox remained unaffected! Suddenly, Pryce ordered, "Jynx, use ice punch!" Before I could react, she'd made a fist and she punched at Flamefox! He took the hit point blank and went flying backwards, airborne, towards the wall. I had an inspiration! I shouted, "Flamefox, use your back legs to thrust yourself forward from the wall!" Just as he reached the wall, his rear paws touched the wall, and for a split second, there he was, suspended in the air, crouched against the wall – then he pushed against the wall with his hind legs and thrust himself forward in the air, and landed on the ice, on all fours, sliding towards Jynx very quickly! "Flamethrower!" I shouted. As he slid past the surprised Jynx, he launched his powerful fire attack, and the close proximity made it a critical hit! Jynx fell to the ice, defeated! "That was awesome!" Martin exclaimed. All May could say was, "Wow!" I shouted, "Excellent job, Flamefox!" as he slid to a stop at the other end of the ice rink and he gave me a "thumb up" with his right paw! Pryce recalled Jynx and said, "Good thinking, using the results of Jynx's ice punch against her. You were just lucky it worked! But you'll need more than luck to defeat my final Pokemon! Go Cloyster!" and he released the big, spiky-shelled clam-like Pokemon from a pokeball. This one would be tough! I called Flamefox back, and released the toughest Pokemon in my party – Tauros! My big tan and brown buffalo stood ready to battle! "Tauros, use horn attack!" I ordered. As he charged at Cloyster, I heard Pryce order, "Cloyster, use withdraw!" Cloyster's hard, spiky shell closed up, covering up the soft body inside. Tauros hit Cloyster with his horns, but only succeeded in knocking the closed shell over. I shouted, "Keep trying, Tauros!" He kept knocking Cloyster around with his horns, tossing him in the air, flipping him, sending him crashing against the wall, crashing against the ground, but seemingly, to no avail. "This isn't getting anywhere!" I said. Martin replied, "No, you're wrong! Every hit Tauros makes whittles down Cloyster's HP!" May interjected, "He's right! If Tauros keeps up the horn attacks, he might just win!" I watched nervously – Tauros was strong, but I wasn't sure how much more damage he could dish out before he got wiped out, himself! I looked over at Pryce and I could see that he was just as nervous as I was. Tauros continued batting Cloyster around with his horns. "I never expected his Tauros would be that strong!" I heard Pryce say to himself. Tauros gave it one last horn attack, then they both just stood still, at opposite ends of the ice rink. This battle was really getting drawn out, and Tauros was getting tired. I ordered, "Tauros, use stomp!" He charged at Cloyster, who was still closed up in his shell, and kicked him hard with his front hooves, sending him sliding backwards across the ice and crashing into the wall. "No!" Pryce shouted. Cloyster finally reopened his shell to reveal his eerie black face. I ordered, "Tauros, use take down!" Tauros began charging across the ice in Cloyster's direction! Pryce shouted, "Cloyster, use supersonic!" Cloyster let out a high-pitched tone, and Tauros became confused! In his confusion, he lost his footing and slipped on the ice. But he had gained so much momentum before he fell, that he was sliding across the ice on his belly just as quickly! "Cloyster, get out of the way!" Pryce yelled, but it was too late. Tauros crashed into Cloyster and the 2 of them continued sliding until they reached the wall, and Cloyster was crushed between Tauros and the wall! Cloyster fell over, swirly-eyed, defeated! "I can't believe it!" Pryce shouted. "Neither can I! He lost to me, but won against you! Remind me, who's the gym leader here?" Martin sarcastically replied. Tauros kept trying to get up off the ice, but he was still confused and just kept slipping back down onto his belly. It was such a pitiful sight to see my noble buffalo trying to stand up on the slippery ice in his confused state, that I just recalled him to his pokeball and said, "Nice job, Tauros!" May said, "You did great, Joe!" Pryce recalled Cloyster and said, "Yes, you certainly did! Here is your Glacier Badge!" and he handed it to me. "Thanks!" I responded. Martin patted me on the shoulder and said, "Not bad, kid!" He seemed content that I had beaten his father! I think he quite enjoyed gloating over the fact that his father couldn't best me, but he could! Pryce then said, "Come on! Let's all go over to the Pokemon Center now." I replied, "Good idea. I have a call to make, anyway."
The four of us walked to the Center, accompanied by the fire foxes and Sneasels. After all the Pokemon that had battled were treated, I made a call on the video phone to Professor Elm. As always, he was distracted with his research and didn't look up at the screen. "It's good to hear from you again, Joe. How are things going?" he asked. I said, "Great, Professor! I just won my seventh badge!" He said, "That's terrific! You've really come a long way since you started out 10 months ago!" That just about knocked me over! With all the travelling, trainer battles, wild battles, and gym battles, I had really lost track of time. I couldn't believe it had been that long! He said, "It won't be long before the Johto League Finals, only about a month and a half! Make sure you get your 8th badge within the next few weeks if you want to compete!" May jumped in and asked, "Professor, how is my Typhlosion?" He answered, "Your Typhlosion is doing great! We're learning a lot of new things from him. You did an excellent job raising him!" I interrupted, "Speaking of new Pokemon, I have a question, Professor. Our new friend here, Martin, has discovered a new ice Pokemon called a Sneasel. He's been breeding them and gave one to me and one to May." Professor Elm looked up from his research. "Did you say Sneasel?" he asked. I replied, "Yeah. Have you heard of them before?" He answered, "I've heard rumors about them for years, but so far, there's no proof of their existence." I excitedly replied, "Well, there is now!" and I held my Sneasel up to the screen. Professor Elm fell backwards on his chair! He stood back up and shouted, "I can't believe it! This could be the Pokemon research discovery of the decade!" I continued, "Well, my question is, if we don't use our Sneasels to battle, can we keep them in our parties, even though we each already have 6 Pokemon?" He answered, "I'm sorry, guys, but the League rules for trainers are clear! Only 6 Pokemon are allowed on your person at a time, unless you're a breeder, gym leader, or just keeping Pokemon as pets!" I replied, "But I'm going to be a gym leader someday!" and May replied, "I'm going to be a breeder!" He said, "I'm sorry, but the rules are the rules, and you're not gym leaders or breeders yet!" I said, "That's a bummer!" Then he excitedly said, "But I would be more than happy to take care of your Sneasels for you in the meantime! If I can learn enough about them, I can at least include them in the Johto Pokedex! Eventually, they could be made official and be allowed in League tournaments!" Martin jumped in and said, "Excuse me, Professor, but before you get too full of yourself, let's get one thing straight! Sneasel is MY discovery! You can study Joe's and May's Sneasels while you are caring for them, but I want full credit for their discovery, as well as all research on them e-mailed directly to me! I want credit in the pokedex, all merchandise royalties – the works!" Professor Elm said, "Consider it done! In fact, I officially name you my Sneasel contact. I will direct all questions to you and you will be my exclusive partner in all research on the subject! You will get all the credit for their discovery, royalties – as you put it, 'the works'. Anything you want, just name it!" Martin replied, "That's more like it! I look forward to hearing from you on a regular basis, Professor!" Professor Elm was ecstatic! He said, "And I look forward to hearing from you, as well! I would love to stop by and see your Sneasel breeding center!" Martin said, "That'd be fine! Anytime, Professor!" With that, May and I bid farewell to our Sneasels, and they were transported directly to Professor Elm! Over the video phone screen, we could see him holding them, and they were all having a blast! Pryce said to Martin, "I'm so proud of you! Of course, you realize you will be rich and famous now!" Martin said to May and I, "Yeah, and I owe it to you guys! Thanks to both of you, I will be a very rich man!" Pryce said, "Well, just don't let all the fame and glory go to your head! And don't forget your old man!" Martin laughed and said, "I could never forget you!" We all left the Pokemon Center after that, and May and I prepared to leave Mahogany Town. She mounted on Fierymane and I mounted on Tauros. Martin released Arcanine and said, "Well, I've got a lot of work to do. It was nice meeting you both and I hope we meet again someday. Thanks for everything!" He then got up onto Arcanine with Slash and Kat and shouted, "Goodbye, Joe and May! Goodbye father!" as Arcanine ran them back up Route 44 to the Ice Cave. We shouted, "Goodbye, Martin! Thanks again for the Sneasels!" Pryce said, "I want to thank you for helping my son become a little more sociable. Hopefully, with this new window of opportunity that's opened up for him, he'll be more easy going." I replied, "We were glad to help!" May said, "Yeah! I hope Martin gets all the success he deserves as a great Sneasel breeder!" Pryce said, "Well, good luck to you on your journeys!" With that, we rode off on our Pokemon, accompanied by our fire foxes, continuing our journey through Johto, wondering what kind of adventure awaited us next!