Hey! Thanks a million for reading! I'm happy you guys are reliving your childhoods again! It's been an honor and a pleasure to have you as my readers!

EDIT (11-13-16): Edited format, grammar, word choices

Previously...

Newbie Trainer Tamaki Suoh has lured an indifferent trainer, Haruhi Fujioka, into going along with him on a Pokémon journey! Tamaki just won a battle at the Haninozuka Gym, along with helping out the Haninozuka brothers' strained relationship (not really)!

With one badge down and seven more to go, how will Haruhi and Tamaki fare? Or will the dreaded, eccentric Team Zuka hunt them down once more?

Route D: Double Trouble

Haruhi looked around, seeing that it was getting colder and colder. The fact that five minutes ago she didn't even think that a colder climate was possible was blown out with the wind and over the mountains.

Mountains... That's right... She should probably try looking for those.

But alas, try as she might, all that enlightened her vision was the cold, icy whirl of snow.

Not giving up just yet, she tried to think back to what landed her into this situation, knowing that for some reason, she alone was the one to blame.

"Tamaki-senpai." Haruhi said as the blond haired rich boy huddled over the map.

After leaving the Haninozuka Gym, it was almost dark, but they had still journeyed on instead of staying at the Pokémon Center. Now they were a bit farther than the hills that surrounded the Haninozuka's town and area.

"Alright, Haruhi," Tamaki began, ignoring her call, "I think I've figured it out. Look here."

He pointed at the map as Haruhi looked over his shoulder to see.

He was pointing at an abandoned castle.

'Wow.' Haruhi thought. 'Maybe he actually realizes what I was about to say.'

"This castle is one of the Ouran Region's most impressive, oldest landmarks and wonders. I think that after such a hard battle, we should stop here for a tourist break."

Haruhi sweatdropped.

Okay... Maybe he didn't realize...

"Tamaki-senpai, I have something that I'd like to suggest."

Tamaki gave her a look that told her to keep on talking.

"I think it would be wise to steer clear of the Morinozuka Gym for a while." She said.

Tamaki tilted his head like a confused dog.

"Why exactly is that, Haruhi?" He asked.

Haruhi waved the guidebook she had in her hand.

"According to the guidebook, the Morinozuka Gym is easily one of the toughest in all of Ouran. Most of the easy gyms lie on the other side of the mountains." She informed him.

"So are you suggesting that after we visit the castle, we ignore the other two gyms close by and journey over the mountains towards the other gyms?"

Haruhi nodded.

"I know it seems like a wasted opportunity, but..."

She didn't want to bring up how Tamaki insisted on visiting an empty castle, so she ignored it.

Absently, she wondered if he knew that the castle lay resting in the snowy region of Ouran. The northernmost mountains, half of the northern lake, and the area of the abandoned castle were all the main parts of Ouran's snowy territory. Next to the snowy terrain were a wasteland to the west and a warm, tropical climate to the east.

It was funny how two gyms lay in each of the opposite terrains.

Tamaki nodded slowly as he realized how much sense it made.

"Agreed!" He said at last. "After the castle, let's either try finding a way across from there or go back south and journey through the snowless mountains!"

Haruhi nodded in response.

So from their camping spot, the two journeyed on towards the abandoned castle.

Since Tamaki had woken up at dawn along with waking Haruhi up shortly after, the two had made a surprising amount of progress.

They had already begun getting marauded by the icy cold wind and the dropping temperature. The snow had made itself seen, slowly but surely, and by early afternoon the two trainers were trotting through the snow.

"Look, Haruhi!" Tamaki cried, pointing ahead. "A Tram car!"

Sure enough, about a yard ahead of them lay a tram car station, one of the small abandoned ones that could be used for free.

As they got closer and finally inside the station, Tamaki read the sign next to the car.

"It says here that this tram will take us close to the castle! We'll only have to walk a little ways afterward!" He excitedly yammered.

Haruhi sighed.

She was glad the tram was there. She was freezing and exhausted from wading through the snow. Afterall, she only had a scarf, hat, sweatshirt, snow pants (purchased before they journeyed into the snowy territory), and gloves to shield her from the cold, plus the weather and terrain had zapped her stamina.

Tamaki was probably freezing as well, or so she figured. He had an unzipped, puffy gray vest on, a black long-sleeved shirt on underneath, a snow hat like Haruhi's that matched his vest, snow pants, gloves and boots. His long yellow scarf that matched Haruhi's was wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Alright, let's get inside then." Haruhi said as the two entered the car.

Tamaki clicked the button signaling their leaving and the car slowly began to leave the station. Once out, Haruhi and Tamaki looked down upon the winter wonderland that lay below them. The only sounds were of the wind outside and of the car moving along the thick wire above.

"I'm glad we found this." Tamaki said as he looked down. "I can't see anything below us. It's all white."

Haruhi nodded.

It seemed that the storm was getting worse.

Tamaki looked away from the window, pouted, and then sighed.

"What's wrong, Senpai?" Haruhi asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just hoping that I could see some snow Pokémon." He admitted.

"Oh, right. It's kind of strange that we haven't seen any..." Haruhi expressed.

Tamaki nodded.

"I bet their instincts told them that a bad storm was coming, so they hid away in their homes."

Haruhi looked out the window again.

"Makes sense..." She said quietly.

"But, oh well, maybe on our way down we can see some Pokémon." Tamaki said with a smile.

"I bet there's tons at the castle." Haruhi guessed. "It's abandoned after all."

Tamaki's face paled and Haruhi shot him a quizzical look.

"What's wrong?"

"It's...abandoned..." He said slowly in a fearful voice.

"Uh, yes, Senpai, but I thought you already knew that..." Haruhi replied, confused.

Tamaki slowly nodded.

"Well, yes I did... But I'm just realizing now that it's...abandoned." He emphasized.

"Tamaki-senpai, what's wrong with the castle being abandoned?" Haruhi asked.

Tamaki began to write or trace something on his palm. He sighed again as he continued his actions.

"Well, Haruhi... When there's an abandoned building... Eh..." His voice became small and hesitant, as well as a bit fearful. "Ghost Pokémon tend to live there..." He elaborated.

Haruhi sweatdropped.

Everyone knew that! But did Tamaki have some sort of issue with... OH.

"Ah... Tamaki-senpai, you wouldn't happen to be afraid of ghost Pokémon, would you?" Haruhi asked.

"Well..."

Haruhi sighed at his response.

"And Tamaki-senpai?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"What exactly are you doing?" She asked, sweatdropping as she continued to watch him trace something on his palm.

"Oh, this? Well, I'm writing the word 'beauty' on my palm."

"And why?"

"Oh! It's something you do when you get nervous!" He explained, quickly looking up from his palm to stare at her with an earnest gaze.

Haruhi sweatdropped again.

"Right..."

After that, a large silence overtook the car for quite a while, until Haruhi broke it.

"Tamaki-senpai?"

"Yes?"

"After we visit the castle and cross the mountains, what gym should we head toward?" She asked, getting her map out and looking it over.

Tamaki got a thoughtful expression.

"Hm, well, I don't know. What gym is closest to the mountains?" He asked.

"Well, the Orange City Gym lies almost right across the river on the other side of the mountains. However, if we cross the northern lake that lies ahead of the castle, we can go to the Kasanoda Gym. The hardest gym lies the farthest away- the Ohtori Gym."

Tamaki remained silent for a while, thinking it over.

"Hm... Can we decide at the castle?"

Haruhi narrowed her eyes in irritation.

"I mean, it depends on the weather right? If there's still a storm, it'd be an issue to try crossing that lake." He finished.

Haruhi blinked.

'Since when does he think of these things?' She wondered, amazed that despite his idiotic nature he actually offered sound advice at times.

Haruhi shook her head of her thoughts.

"No problem, Senpai. That'd be smart to do."

"Oooh! Haruhi, look! We're almost there!"

Haruhi ignored the fact that Tamaki had bypassed her compliment and looked out the Tram's windows to see that they were getting lower to the ground. Ahead, she barely made out the shadow of what she figured was the other Tram Station.

"That felt unusually fast..." Haruhi commented as the car approached the station.

She looked at the weather around her.

"Senpai," She began, earning the rich boy's attention, "I think the storm has gotten much worse."

Indeed, it looked like the car was stuck in a white vacuum.

"Hm, do you think it would be safer to stay at the station for a while?"

Haruhi nodded to her companion's suggestion.

"Well, looks like we're stuck here. Do you think it's safe to get out? We are in the station after all, and if we're lucky they'll have delicious refreshments awaiting us!"

Haruhi deadpanned at her friend's naivete, especially considering the fact that there was no one at their previous station.

"I guess it's safe." Haruhi said, looking out the window and trying to see whether or not it was safe to exit the car.

Tamaki stood up, clicked the opening button, and exited the car followed by Haruhi.

Tamaki shivered.

"W-wow, it's...p-pretty c-cold.." Tamaki commented through chattering teeth.

Haruhi shivered as well.

"T-tell m-me ab-bout it." She said.

The two of them, having nothing to do, sat around on one of the station's benches for at least an hour.

Tamaki spent his time singing, reading, and shuffling through his Pokedex.

Haruhi spent her time shivering, brooding, shivering some more, and analyzing the situation and environment.

"Ah, Haruhi look!"

Haruhi's head jerked up and she snapped to attention.

'Ugh, I was dozing off there...' She thought.

"Yes, Tamaki-senpai?" She asked, looking around.

"The storm is letting up!" He said, jumping from the bench with joy and heading toward the door.

"Is it?"

Haruhi followed Tamaki to the door. She arrived by his side in time for the intelligent blond boy to open the doors. A large gust of icy, freezing wind and snow entered, layering Haruhi and Tamaki. After that act, Tamaki wisely closed the doors and began copying Haruhi by shaking the snow off his person.

"Well... I thought it was." Tamaki said sadly.

Haruhi glanced at the outdoors safely through the door's windows.

"You weren't wrong, Senpai, look."

Tamaki returned to the entrance and looked out the window of the other door on Haruhi's left.

The blond squinted.

"There's something...shadowy...in the distance..." He said, trying to make the object out. "A giant Pokémon?" He asked.

"No, Tamaki-senpai, that's the castle!"

"It looks close!" Tamaki happily realized. "Once the storm lets up some more, we can finally go!"

"Senpai, I think we can make it now." Haruhi said, a decision she'd later regret.

The cold must be getting to her head!

Tamaki looked hesitantly at the girl.

"Are you sure, Haruhi? The storm's still pretty bad."

"Don't worry. It looks pretty close. We can try it. We'll rest once we get to the castle!" Haruhi pointed out.

Tamaki still looked hesitant as he glanced from the castle's outline to Haruhi.

"I suppose..."

The two then grabbed their bags and headed out of the station. Immediately after they left, they were bombarded by snow, ice, and a chilling wind.

"Haruhi! Are you sure this was a good idea?" Tamaki yelled above the blaring wind.

"What?"

The two continued trudging on.

"I said, are you sure this was a good idea?"

"..."

"Haruhi!"

Tamaki looked to his right where Haruhi had been.

Only a white blur greeted him.

"HARUHI!" He yelled.

Nothing.

Haruhi was gone.

Haruhi shivered almost convulsively.

She wanted to slap herself for her stupidity as she remembered her dumb idea.

'It's only a snowstorm, Tamaki. We can make it, Tamaki.' Haruhi mocked herself inwardly.

She remembered that Tamaki was trying to tell her something as they fought onwards but then he disappeared.

Great.

Not knowing what to do and barely able to move forward due to the opposing, blowing blizzard, Haruhi hoped that Tamaki would do what she was attempting to do: Heading toward the castle.

Though everything was a white blur, she was somehow able to occasionally make out the shape of the large building ahead.

Haruhi continued attempting to move forward, but this time her bones seemed glued and frozen. The castle's figure seemed to be looming over her, indicating that she was so close! She couldn't afford to get frozen now!

Haruhi fought to stand her ground against the wind and snow blowing at her. Against her will, her body gave out, dropping her to the ground and reducing her to a crumpled, soon-to-be snow pile.

Her vision began to die and her eyes shut.

Her sense of hearing only heard the whirl of the wind and the buffeting of the snow.

However, before she was out completely, she swore she heard two voices.

"Hey, is someone there?"

"I think so. I bet it's some kid. Let's go back inside."

"I think we should grab him. If it were a normal snowstorm I'd agree, but this one is pretty bad."

"Right. While he's out we can play a prank on him." The second voice gleefully said.

"Baka! As good of an idea as that is, we shouldn't chance it. What if he works for Ohtori? We already get into enough trouble. If he works for them too, that's why we should save him. You don't want to get killed for leaving an Ohtori worker out here, do you?"

"Fine."

Haruhi snapped back to reality, fighting the numbing sensation throughout her senses and body.

"Who's there..." She weakly asked, also due to the snow muffling her mouth.

"Huh. Hey, this kid's still alive."

Haruhi miraculously felt the tip of a shoe nudge her ribs.

"Good. C'mon, let's get him inside." The other, nicer seeming, voice said.

Haruhi then felt herself being picked up by the two voices' owners and carried somewhere.

"Where are we headed?" She mumbled, though she was sure she knew the answer.

"Castle dead ahead." The nice voice said.

"Good." She mumbled. "Have you seen a blond?"

She didn't know, but she had the feeling that the two guys carrying her looked at each other.

"Blond?" The second voice asked.

"Yeah. I got separated from him in the storm..." She explained, realizing that Tamaki was probably isolated somewhere.

"Nah. Haven't seen a blond. I'm sure he'll show up." The same voice waved off.

"Hey, you said a blond right?" The nice voice asked.

"Yes..."

"I think I found him."

Haruhi couldn't tell, but the two guys carrying her saw an anxious-looking blond standing outside of the doors to the castle.

"Hey! You!" Tamaki looked up at the call.

Immediately, he felt relieved.

"Haruhi!"

The two boys approached with her.

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Same to you, Senpai..." Haruhi groaned, freezing and numb.

Tamaki turned to the boys.

"If you're planning on going in there, don't bother trying; it's locked."

The two boys set Haruhi down, ignored Tamaki, walked past him and up to the doors.

"Well duh. That's because we locked it, stupid." The mean voice ridiculed.

"Yeah. In these weather conditions, the wind could knock the doors right open!" The nice voice explained.

The large doors opened and the four rushed inside. The two boys expertly forced the doors shut with a bit of work.

"Phew. Glad we're out of that." The nice voice said.

His companion nodded. Haruhi was now in the position to see that they looked like twins.

"I'll go start a fire." The nice boy said, heading across the large room to where a fire place sat.

Tamaki looked around. The castle's floors were cement where they were standing and cobblestone elsewhere. Certain parts with furniture had rugs or carpet, but for the most part it was concrete. Talismans hanging from the walls were common, usually a shade of burgundy or royal blue accompanied by a gold fringe.

The furniture looked unused and old, though he was a fan of antiques so it didn't phase him. The windows were large and rectangular, spanning from almost the top of the ceiling to nearly the floor. However, what might have been a beautiful view was blocked by the snow stuck to it.

"Do you two come here often?" Haruhi asked the twins. "Oh, and thanks for saving me." She added.

"Nah. We've been here a few times before, but it's not like we live here or anything." The meaner twin said.

"That reminds me," Tamaki began, "Shouldn't there be a tourist staff here? For tours?"

The boy arched an eyebrow and frowned.

"No... Didn't you see that sign earlier? It was posted in a few places. The tours are closed for today because of the bad weather." He explained.

"Fire's ready!" The other twin's voice called.

The three rushed across the room to see a warm, flickering fire. They all sat around it gladly.

"We've been here a few times, but we still have trouble finding the AC and heating unit." The nice twin said.

"Yeah. I was thinking that we should rewire the system or something." Said the other twin to his brother.

'I wonder what these two do if they can rewire a castle's system...' Haruhi thought.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." Tamaki said. "I'm Tamaki Suoh, this is my friend Haruhi Fujioka. Who might you be?" Tamaki introduced, though his introduction seemed like a sappy play.

"We're the Hitachiins." The two said.

"I'm Hikaru." The 'mean' twin said.

"I'm Kaoru."The 'nice' twin introduced.

"Hm... Hitachiin, Hitachiin..." Tamaki repeated, thinking out loud as if trying to remember something.

"What is it, Senpai?" Haruhi asked as she scooted closer to the fire.

"Sounds familiar..."

"Of course it does." Hikaru said. "Our name is on everything!"

"What?" Haruhi asked, curious at what he meant.

"Our mother is the famous fashion designer and our father deals with technology." Kaoru explained.

"That's it!" Tamaki exclaimed. "That's where I knew it from! Clothes and technology!"

"Yeah. We're mostly known for clothes..." Kaoru said.

"Anyways, why'd you two come to this castle?" Hikaru asked, looking at the two. "Even if you wanted a tour, this place isn't very interesting."

"Yeah, it's pretty lame around here." Kaoru agreed.

"Is not!" Tamaki cried. "Just look at all this history and the magnificence of the furnishings! This place was built for a king! It feels as if a royal figure might turn around the corner at any second!" He fantasized, jumping up and walking over to a nearby corner behind the twins for emphasis.

He turned away from facing the group to look around the corner.

Instead of being greeted by a regal plutocrat, the rich blond boy was face to face with two large eyes.

Tamaki screamed and ran back to the twins and Haruhi, horrified.

"What? Was there a mirror around that corner?" Hikaru sneered.

"How pathetic... Crybaby." Kaoru added.

Haruhi rolled her eyes as the twins began mocking Tamaki and got up to investigate. She hadn't even made it to the corner when a pair of floating eyes made their way toward her.

"There, there!"

Tamaki pointed to Haruhi's direction as the twins turned around to see what was there.

"That's it?" Hikaru asked, disinterested.

"It's a floating pair of eyes! What do you mean, 'that's it?'" Tamaki exclaimed.

"It's just a Shuppet." Kaoru pointed out, looking excessively bored.

And so it was. The ghost Pokémon gleefully made its way toward the trio by the fire.

Tamaki was shaking.

"Haruhi, keep it away from meee!"

Haruhi sighed and walked back to Tamaki.

"Senpai, look, it's harmless."

Haruhi emphasized her statement by gesturing to the happy-looking ghost. She then pulled out her Pokedex to get more information on the ghost.

"Shuppet, the Puppet Pokémon. This Pokémon roams about deep in the night seeking such negative emotions as grudges and envy. It retreats to its nest when the sun begins to rise."

"It's creepy!" Tamaki exclaimed.

"At least you made it happy." Kaoru said, poking the fire with a random metal stick.

"How?" Tamaki demanded.

"It enjoys scaring people." Hikaru said as he laid down on his back with his arms behind his head.

"It doesn't bother us at all, usually." Kaoru remarked as he sat by his brother facing Haruhi and Tamaki.

"Probably because it can't scare us."

Haruhi and Tamaki frozenly stared at the twins' creepy, delighted looks on their faces.

What do you know, people weirder than Tamaki.

"Shuppet, shuppet!" The Pokémon said happily to Tamaki.

"Go awaaay..." The boy whimpered, trying to hide behind Haruhi.

"Shuppet!"

"Nooo..."

"Ooohhh... ooooohhh..."

Haruhi, Tamaki, and the Shuppet looked around.

"Hey, where did Hikaru and Kaoru go?" Haruhi asked, noticing their absences.

"What's it now?" Tamaki asked, referring to the voices.

"Huuummaanns..." A chillingly soft voice whispered.

"We have cooommmee foorr yyoou..." It, along with another voice said.

"You will feel us poking your back to see if your meat is tender enough for our old, dead bones..." The solo voice whispered gently.

Tamaki shivered, both from the cold and from fear. Haruhi, however, looked around, skeptical.

The two then each felt small touches up and down their back.

"Eep!" Tamaki squealed. "Haruhi, they're going to eat us!" He silently panicked.

"If your flesh does not please us..." The second voice began. "We will kill you anyways..."

"That doesn't sound like a good bargain." Haruhi said as she continued attempting to find the voices' owners and to figure out what was touching her back.

The happy Shuppet had worriedly flown over to Tamaki, causing the boy more panic.

Haruhi found it strange. Each time she touched the top of her back, the touches were on her lower back. Each time she touched her lower back, the touches reversed to her upper back.

"I know!" Tamaki yelled, standing up with confidence. "Antoinette! Help!"

With that, the fluffy Growlithe emerged from her pokeball.

"Antoinette, get that thing off of Haruhi's back!"

Haruhi stopped feeling her back.

"What? What thing?"

However, before her question was answered, she was tackled to the ground by a loyal Growlithe. Haruhi looked up and saw a small, red and crème-colored Pokémon tumble to the ground ahead of her.

"Plusle! Plusle, plus, plus, plusle!" It angrily chattered at Antoinette.

Tamaki then felt whatever touched his back stop. A small blue and crème Pokémon jumped off his shoulder and headed for the other Pokémon that Antoinette had just gotten away from Haruhi.

"Minun! Minun mi!" It worriedly asked its friend.

Then, the two Pokémon glared evilly at Haruhi and Tamaki, causing them to inch back from the crazy Pokémon.

"Aw... They found out."T amaki screamed as Hikaru and Kaoru appeared behind him.

"So you really were those voices." Haruhi murmured as the two Pokémon ran to the twins.

Minun hopped up on Kaoru's shoulder and Plusle on Hikaru's.

"Those two are yours?" Tamaki asked, petting Antoinette for reassurance.

"Yep. They're pretty fun!" Hikaru said.

However, the group's attention was then caught by their fire going out and strange noises coming from the chimney.

"What's going on?" Haruhi asked, about to walk over and inspect the chimney.

"Weird." Kaoru agreed.

"Don't worry, I'll just have Antoinette light us another fire, right, Antoinette?"

The Growlithe happily agreed.

Before Antoinette could light the fire, though, the sounds of something, or someone, landing came from the fireplace.

"Who's there?" Hikaru demanded.

Haruhi saw Plusle and Minun's cheeks sparking with anticipation.

"Ugh. I'm freezing! Why did we ever wear this?" A familiar voice lamented.

"Don't worry, we made it in, didn't we?" A deeper voice asked.

"I'm filthy!" A high-pitched voice declared.

Even in the dark, Haruhi and Tamaki knew who was there.

"Team Zuka!" They exclaimed.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared from the fireplace.

Benio was holding a large, LED flashlight and was wearing a light green snowsuit matching Chizuru and Hinako's, but with pants instead of a skirt and with less fluffy trimming. The three were also covered in soot.

"Correct! We're here to save you, Young Maiden!" Benio declared, pointing at Haruhi.

"Get lost, Drag Queen." Hikaru ordered. "This place is ours."

Benio scoffed and the other two Zukas looked mortified.

"How dare you address Lady Benibara as such! Filthy boy!" Hinako screamed. "Let's go! Seedot, show 'em who's boss!"

"Don't forget me!" Chizuru happily said. "Come on out, Roselia!"

The two Pokémon took their places in front of the fireplace.

"How annoying. Leave this to us!" Hikaru and Kaoru said, their Plusle and Minun jumping to the floor.

"Looks easy. Minun-"

"Plusle," Hikaru joined in.

"Use spark!"

The two Pokémon then electrocuted the two grass Pokémon, immediately knocking them out and sending them back to their trainers' arms, thus causing Team Zuka to get electrified as well.

"This is bad for my hair!" Chizuru screamed before she and the two others miraculously were sent back up the chimney and out of the castle.

"That was easy." The twins declared.

"Um, thanks." Haruhi said, standing by the two and soaking in their easy victory.

"No problem." They said.

With that, the four trainers then set to starting another fire, which Antoinette gladly made for them, ignoring the event that had just transpired.

Fun day! Getting lost in a snow storm, nearly freezing to death, meeting ghost Pokémon, two crazy twins, and beating Team Zuka sure sums up an average day for Haruhi and co.! (Co. implying Tamaki and Antoinette? O.o)

Anyways, next time! The castle may have been loads of fun, but just wait 'til Tamaki takes a tiny detour from his route to the next gym! What other insane characters await our heroes? Until next time! And hey, Team Zuka was so upset this time that they didn't even say their motto! *gasps* CRAZY!

:::Pokédex Entries:::

Plusle: The Cheering Pokémon. It has the trait of cheering on its fellow POKéMON. By shorting out the electricity it releases from its paws, it creates pom-poms for cheering.

Minun: The Cheering Pokémon. Minun loves to cheer on its partner in battle. It gives off sparks from its body while it is doing so. If its partner is in trouble, this POKéMON gives off increasing amounts of sparks.

P.S. Prepare for trouble, make it double~!

Come on, I'm not the only one who remembers that song.

Review if you'd like!

Thanks for reading!