Still don't own it!
Chapter 13
Frozen Wasteland
Cyndaquil couldn't stop thinking about how he was going to have a terrible time in the Frost Area. Going there was the last thing he would've wanted to do, but his friend was trapped somewhere in there.
"Cyndaquil, do you know anything about the Frost Area?" Mew asked, curious.
Cyndaquil replied, "Not much, just that it's very cold and snowy there all year round. Which is why I don't really want to go there."
"Yes, yes it is. But why not? As a fire type, shouldn't you have resistance to the cold…?"
Cyndaquil thought hard, wracking his memory for any reason as to his dislike of the cold, despite being a fire type, but found none. "Yes, I should. But for some reason, I don't like the cold. I never really have."
"Curious…. In any case, the thing I wanted to tell you is that the beginning of the Frost Area is nearly devoid of life. Very few pokemon wander through this section. Another thing, you could easily become lost without a map, as there are almost no landmarks, and everything looks the same for as far as you can see. All that is there is a lone cave in a hill somewhere. I have a feeling that that's where Chikorita is. What we're going to want to do is find the cave, get Chikorita, and then hurry to the Glacier Temple. The Glaceon elder should be able to rest you there for the night."
"Sounds like a plan, Mew. How much farther is it?"
"Not much farther. See? It's already getting colder, and the trees have started becoming a mix of pine trees and other varieties."
"Oh, I hope to Arceus that I live through this. And I hope Chikorita's not too miserable in this cold…."
"I'm sure both of you will be fine, Cyndaquil." The air was getting ever colder, which bothered Cyndaquil greatly, and the trees were slowly disappearing into pine trees, while the grass either seemed to be disappearing entirely, or turning a maroon color. The colder it got, the more Cyndaquil just wanted to head home after getting Chikorita out of there, yet at the same time, he knew that if he did that, he'd be letting all of the Stellar Region down.
Soon enough, the maroon patches of grass faded to patches of snow, and the pine trees were dusted with it. Still getting colder, Cyndaquil was really feeling upset about going to the Frost Area now: It was already colder than he thought it would be, and they weren't even there yet! Still heading north, more snow seemed to be appearing with every step they took, until there was a blanket of it on the ground and it covered the trees completely. After a long walk through the frozen forest, they finally reached the Frost Gate.
"Is this it, Mew?" Cyndaquil asked, having been tired of the cold for a long time now.
"Indeed it is, Cyndaquil. This is the Frost Gate, built on the border of the Frost Area, to let pokemon know where the Temperate Area ends, and the Frost Area begins."
"Wow. I could've sworn the Frost Area started, I don't know, back where the snow was covering everything in sight. Well, let's get this over with….." Cyndaquil trudged through the snow into the gate, finding it slightly warmer inside. But he still felt very cold, so he decided to just head right through to the other side of the gate, and head out into the Frozen Wasteland.
"Okay Cyndaquil. The cave we're looking for is east of a group of four pine trees in the shape of a diamond. Remember, there are few land marks, so once you start heading in a direction, do not change your direction until you see something , as doing so could easily get you lost. And with your strange dislike of the cold, that would be a very bad thing."
"You don't have to tell me twice. Which way, Mew?"
"The four trees are somewhere to the north or northeast, the cave is east of there, and from the cave, we'll head northwest to the Glacier Temple, which is conveniently located at the edge of the Frozen Wasteland."
"Alright, north or northeast? I'll try northeast. Let's go, Mew. I want to finish this as quick as possible." The two pokemon headed off to the northeast in search of the cave so they could find Chikorita. It was quite a ways away, but they were heading in relatively close to the right direction, so they'll find it eventually.
Meanwhile, in the Solar Eclipse Village Colosseum, which is now Dark Mew's Palace…..
In what appeared to be a completely different world, there was the colosseum floating amidst a purple horizon, with the palace of Dark Mew rising out of the center. At the top of this palace was Dark Mew himself, gleefully floating around his throne chamber. He had yet to receive word of it, but he was almost certain Cyndaquil was dead, having been killed by one of the Dark Regi.
"I wonder how Dark Arceus will reward me. Perhaps he'll let me engulf other places in darkness. Hmm, I wonder what's taking so long with the news… And what shall I do with that partner of his? Dark Arceus refuses to let me kill her… Perhaps I should make her my slave…" Just then, a dark Eevee came into the throne room. "Ah, Dark Eevee. What's the news? Is he dead, or what?" Dark Mew asked hopefully.
The dark Eevee just had a look of disappointment on it's face. "N-no, sir, I'm sorry. Even all four of the dark Regi failed to obliterate him. Apparently he turned all black and destroyed them in a heartbeat. Dark Regigigas told me that just before I lost my mental connection with him. Due to our mental connection power not having the ability to cross into this dimension, he asked me to relay this message to you."
"Wh-what? That's impossible! One pokemon, no matter how strong, shouldn't have been able to survive their attacks! I purposely gave them absolutely incredible strength so they WOULD be able to kill him!"
"I-I'm sorry, sir, but it appears as if Cyndaquil has unnatural strength. At least when he's angry, or possibly in a dire situation. They weren't sure which it was, since he was incredibly angry, yet close to dying at the time he transformed."
"Interesting… I should try to research this. Perhaps if we were to study his strengths in this state, we could find a way to overcome it. Inform all troops to observe Cyndaquil in this 'super state,' should he acquire it again."
"Yes, sir." The dark Eevee left the throne room, leaving Dark Mew there to think about his next plan to dispose of Cyndaquil.
Back in the Frozen Wasteland, where Cyndaquil and Mew were still looking for Chikorita…
They had been searching for hours. They had found four pine trees, but they were not in the shape of a diamond. Then, from there, they headed northwest, but only found a large rock covered in snow. They headed southwest from there, and found a large pit filled with snow. And from there, they just went off to the northeast at a different angle. Cyndaquil was getting aggravated. "Okay, why are we just wasting our time? When we found those four pine trees arranged in a line, we should've just went back to the gate and went back at a different angle! But instead we've just been wasting our time running around looking in places, hoping to find the trees! We're lost, aren't we Mew."
"No, we are not lost, Cyndaquil. I happen to know exactly where we are," Mew said, looking over Cyndaquil's shoulder.
"Where are we, then? I'd like to find my friend and find a nice warm place to sleep for the night!"
"Look behind you, then. And please, calm down. I don't need you going off into your Onyx state right now."
Cyndaquil turned around, and was greeted with a pleasant surprise. He saw a cave. Not just any cave, but the cave with Chikorita inside of it. "FINALLY! Okay, so how should I go about getting her out of there? There's obviously a guard, and I'm in no condition to fight right now."
"Well, how about you cause some sort of distraction with your ember attack?"
"Alright, worth a shot." Cyndaquil fired off a volley of embers, which made contact with the wall of the cave. Dark Pikachu, curiosity getting the better of him, went outside to see where it came from. Cyndaquil and Mew had went around the back of the cave and to the other side, so when Dark Mew came out, he went over towards where they'd been moments earlier. They rushed into the cave and went to the back. They found Chikorita asleep in the cage. Cyndaquil went over to the door, but of course, it was locked. "Okay, that's just great. Where's the key?"
"Shh, he's coming back. Hide behind that rock. I'll distract him, then you attack him, quickly!" Cyndaquil hid behind the rock as told. When Dark Pikachu came back in, he saw Mew, and immediately started firing off thunderbolts. Mew flew to his other side, and when he turned around, Cyndaquil jumped out and fired off a flamethrower, which scorched Dark Pikachu.
"What the…" Dark Pikachu fell to the floor, unconscious. Cyndaquil picked up his key and unlocked the cage, then went over to his friend.
"Chikorita? Chikorita, wake up. It's me, Cyndaquil." Chikorita opened her eyes slightly, annoyed at being disturbed from her slumber. But as soon as she saw Cyndaquil looking back at her, her face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Cyndaquil! Oh, thank Arceus you're okay! I thought I might never see you again! I was so worried!" Chikorita shouted with joy.
"You were worried about me? You know how well I can handle myself, Chikorita. I was more worried about you! As soon as I woke up in that cavern, I was looking around frantically for you! Oh, and before I forget…" He pulled out one of the Iron Pendants. "This is for you. It's an Iron Pendant, and will let you become a steel-type." He handed it to Chikorita. "Now, let's get out of here before he wakes up," he said, motioning towards Dark Pikachu. Chikorita stood up, and followed them out of the cave.
"Well, this explains the cold wind coming from the mouth of the cave," Chikorita said upon seeing the Frozen Wasteland. "Where do we go from here?"
"The Glacier Temple should be not far northwest from here. We'd better get moving, it gets even colder here at night," Mew said, noting Cyndaquil's hatred of the cold. They headed northwest, passing more pine trees, as well as a pit of snow, but not much else occurred on the way.
"So, what exactly happened to you, Cyndaquil?" Chikorita asked.
"Well, after we fell into Dark Mew's trap, I was knocked unconscious upon hitting the floor of the cavern. When I woke up, I saw total darkness. Then I heard some voices, and then the cavern brightened up, and I saw Dark Regice, Dark Regirock, Dark Registeel, and Dark Regigigas in front of me. We quickly got into a battle, one it looked like I was going to loose, but then I started thinking about all the stuff that's happened over the past couple of days, including everything they said about you being trapped, and I realized it made me angry. Angry enough to turn into my 'Onyx' form, as Uxie put it. Oh, that reminds me, Uxie said that if I ever turn into that form again, you should call my name, because it'll pull me out of it. Anyway, I blasted Dark Regirock, Regice, and Registeel with my super ember attack, then hit Dark Regigigas with a ruby flamethrower. And by some miracle, he lived. Then he hits me, and I take him down with another one. From there, I went up to Dialga's temple, where I got the Iron Pendants and the Pendant of Time. Then I came here to get you."
"Wow. Sounds like you had it rough. All I did was sit in a cage, waiting to find out what would happen to me. How much further to the temple, Mew? It's getting too cold for me to handle."
"Well, you should be able to handle it. Cyndaquil's been having problems with the cold since before we even ENTERED the Frost Area. Anyway, you can relax now. It's right there." They walked up to the temple and entered it, and looked around. This temple looked similar to the others 3 that they've been in, but the stone was a light blue, and there was a large mass of ice in the middle. While this room was still cold, it was noticeably warmer than it was outside. A Glaceon nearby took notice of them and walked over.
"Greetings, my friends. Welcome to the Glacier Temple. My name is Flurry, and I am the Glaceon elder. Is there anything I may do for you?" Mew hovered over to her. "Mew? What are you doing so far north? You don't usually come up here, is something wrong?"
"Well, no, nothing's wrong, exactly. I am here because Cyndaquil's friend was brought here by Dark Mew. I needed to accompany him to this point, because we cannot take the chance of him becoming lost. These two need a place to stay for the night. Can you supply them with a room?"
Flurry smiled, then responded, "Of course we can. The Frost Area becomes quite cold after sunset, making for terrible travel conditions, much less sleeping conditions."
"You're kidding me, right? How could it POSSIBLY get any colder than that outside?" Cyndaquil, having experienced the lowest temperatures ever in his life, just couldn't see anything being colder.
"Well, without the sun to warm the land, the temperature drops several degrees at night. However, it doesn't get much colder in here. But what should you worry about the cold for? Aren't you a fire-type?"
"Yes. Yes I am. But for some strange reason, I can't stand the cold."
Flurry frowned at that comment. "Well, that certainly is unfortunate. But don't worry, you should be fine tonight. Anyway, follow me, I'll show you to your room." Flurry turned around and began heading into another room. Cyndaquil, Chikorita, and Mew followed after her. In the next room, there was a set of stairs leading downward. Flurry descended the stairs, as did Cyndaquil, Chikorita, and Mew. Flurry continued down a hallway, and eventually stopped next to a door about halfway down. "Here we are. This floor is much warmer than it is upstairs. If you still feel cold, however, feel free to set up a fire in the fire pit in the middle of the room. Please, enjoy your stay here."
Cyndaquil replied, "Thank you, Flurry." As he, Chikorita, and Mew entered the room, he asked, "Hey, Mew, are you staying with us?"
Mew shook it's head. "No, I am sorry, Cyndaquil. I will be leaving to return to the Temperate Area momentarily. However, if you are to scale Mount Snowfall and meet with Articuno, it should offer you passage back to the entrance of the Frost Area. Good luck out there tomorrow, you two. Get plenty of rest, you look terribly exhausted."
Cyndaquil, now realizing just how tired he was, responded sleepily, "Alright. See you, Mew."
"I will see you both again soon. Farewell, for now." Mew flew out of the room and the Glacier Temple, while Cyndaquil placed a log into the fire pit, and set it alight with an ember attack. He walked back over to where he was moments before, and threw himself down onto the floor.
Chikorita looked over at her friend. "Hey, Cyndaquil?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for saving me. I don't know what I would've done if I had been stuck in there for too much longer."
"No problem. Hey, friends have to stick together, no matter what, right? If I don't look out for you, who else will?" Cyndaquil responded.
"I guess you're right. Well, good night, Cyndaquil." Chikorita also set down, and the two of them quickly fell asleep, resting up for the adventure they would have tomorrow.
To be continued…