Chapter 2 - Uno, Dos, Tres - Part 1

Finn woke up early the next day. His conversation with Sonia replayed in his head over and over again. He wasn't particularly interested in joining her quest. However, once she asked him about his experience going missing as a child, it brought back memories that had mostly been repressed.

He unenthusiastically got dressed, brewed a coffee, and then left his house. He couldn't believe it himself. He was going to intentionally go talk to Sonia. Not to help her but to maybe get some answers for himself. He put on his grey bobble hat and left the house.

He fought his way through the snow until he reached the inn. The lobby was tiny, and the elderly man who worked the counter routinely fell asleep. Finn didn't feel the need to wake him, so he made his way down the narrow hallway. He stood in front of Sonia's door. Slowly, he raised his hand to knock.

But, he couldn't do it. Every time he talked to Sonia, he got a headache. He loved coming back home and relaxing. Why would he get involved in a hunt for something that was likely not going to exist?

He had lived in the Great Tundra his whole life. Surely, if it was crawling with legendary Pokémon, he would have already seen one?

He paused and looked at the wooden door in front of him. He read the number carved into the door, 3.

Maybe he'd already seen one. That was why he stood in the narrow hallway of the inn.

That decided it. He knocked.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited for what seemed to be an eternity.

And to his dismay and slight relief, there was no answer.

He waited momentarily and then knocked again. He couldn't hear any commotion in the room. Maybe Sonia wasn't there?

"Maybe it's a sign," he whispered to himself.

"Just the boy I was looking for!" a loud, deep voice called from the side. Had the voice been Sonia's Finn would have reacted. Instead, he lowered his arms and sighed. He put his forehead against the door and groaned.

"I said, just the boy I was looking for!" the voice repeated.

This time, Finn cocked his head to look at the source. To his surprise, the sentence was directed toward him, but he did not recognize the man that stood before him.

He was a large man with grey hair and green eyes. He wore a thick orange coat and matching bottoms. He had laid a massive grey backpack on the ground, as he wouldn't be able to fit in the hallway if he wore it.

"C-can I help you?" Finn asked. He genuinely had no idea who the man was, but he had an air of familiarity to him, which made Finn doubt his own memory, something that was starting to bother him more and more.

"Yes, you can! My name is Peony, and I've come to the Crown Tundra in search of rare legendary Pokémon!"

Finn's shoulders slumped. "First off, all legendary Pokémon are rare. Secondly, I don't think I'm the guy you're looking for."

"You're exactly who I'm looking for! You are Finn Denholm, the prince of the Crown Tundra, correct?"

Finn put his hands on his hips. "You can't just say that nickname and think that flattery is going to work on me."

"I recognize you from television! If you help me, I'll make it worth your time. I'm just on the search for something," Peony said, his tone now much more serious. "I have a couple of other young trainers helping me out, so at the very least, you'd make a few new friends!"

"You recognized me from television, yet you're still asking for my help?" Finn asked. "Mate. You do realize that I got chumped out in that tournament, right?"

Peony cocked his head. "Tournament? I'm talking about the news! I saw that you battled with that gigantamaxed Garbodor! You really know how to handle yourself in stressful situations. Someone like you would be perfect for what we're doing."

"A large legendary Pokémon and a gigantamaxed Garbodor are two completely different beasts. I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline."

Finn would have then made his exit, but standing in his way was the large man. He stood there awkwardly, hoping that Peony would move.

"Please, allow me to explain one more time," Peony said, much to Finn's dismay. "We're not looking for any particular legendary Pokémon. In fact, to this point, the Pokémon that we have encountered have all been random. They appear to all be illusions of sorts."

"Wait, you've actually already fought with them?" Finn wondered.

"Nearby is the Slippery Slope. I assume you know it well," Peony said, getting a nod from Finn. "A few miners had discovered an abundance of Galar particles. If you enter, you find yourself fighting a gauntlet of raid battles with dynamaxed Pokémon. With a few successful victories, we've encountered a legendary Pokémon or two. However, we are yet to win a battle with any legendary Pokémon."

"Crazy," Finn muttered.

"Maybe all of the battles are illusions, but they feel real. We're investigating it to find out. Now, if I may ask one more time, will you join us?" Peony said while he held out his hand.

Finn looked at the door and then to Peony's hand.

"Maybe it can't hurt to try once."

On the other end of the Crown Tundra, Ethan crawled through the grass. It was the warmer area of the Crown Tundra, but Ethan still needed his black hoodie and trackie bottoms. He kept his Rotomdex pointed at the ground. Its camera was detecting tracks. Each marking that he found was illuminated by blue energy. Whatever was leaving the tracks was something special. He was sure of it.

But it had been a couple of hours since he had found anything new. He had crawled through the grass the entire time, and he only had sore knees and elbows to show for it. He sat up, stretched out his lower back, and put his backpack to his side. He unzipped the top and pulled out an eco-friendly container with a sandwich inside.

He took in the view of the southern Crown Tundra. There were many green hills and long grass. Pokémon walked about freely, unafraid of any potential trainers. A few miles out was a full-fledged city. It was expensive to stay there, and that's why Sonia chose the small inn of Freezington. Also, she believed that if there were any legendary Pokémon around, they would have probably intentionally chosen to avoid the city.

He took a bite of his sandwich and turned around. What he saw almost made him drop his jaw and effectively the food in his mouth. He had spent his entire time looking down. He hadn't realized anything going on around him.

But what stood behind him was the largest tree that he had ever seen. Its bark was dark brown. Its leaves were red. It gave shade to a lot of the hill. Ethan just so happened to not notice.

Ethan put the leftovers of his sandwich back into the container and then into his backpack. He stood up and stretched out his legs before sliding on his bag.

There was no sign of anything in the tree, and Ethan wanted to get closer. He pulled out his Rotomdex and started to take pictures. Even if he found nothing interesting his entire time on the Crown Tundra, he could at least enjoy the large tree. As he got closer to it, he could feel an energy not too dissimilar to the energy that he felt during Pokémon battles.

His eyes sparkled with wonder. It was as though he was discovering a part of the world that no one else had ever seen. "Mint," he muttered to himself. "This is so sick!"

Suddenly, he shivered. Wind blasted against him that was as cold as the inn he was staying at. He could feel something looming over him. He turned, and his eyes became wide. A large avian Pokémon with indigo wings flew overhead, and it glared at Ethan, sending chills down his spine. Then suddenly, its eyes started to glow. It blasted two purple beams from its eyes, which collided with the ground in front of Ethan, freezing the grass.

Ethan stood in shock. He wanted to scream and run, but his muscles wouldn't let him. The Pokémon slowly floated in closer, and its eyes began to glow again. It prepared to attack, but Ethan couldn't bring himself to move.

Ethan felt something tackle him. He was finally forced out of his stunned position, and he started to roll down the hill. When he stopped rolling, his savior pushed him off with no grace. He was a teenager, probably no older than Ethan with bright red hair, green eyes, and well-toned muscles. When he stood up, he was much shorter than Ethan would have thought. He cracked his neck and then placed a straw hat on his head. He wore a checkered green and black collared shirt and jean overalls. He looked back at Ethan through green eyes.

"You alright?" he asked. His accent was from overseas. Ethan recognized it from old cowboy movies. It wasn't Unovan though; it was something stronger. It reminded Ethan of one of his favourite video games, where he would play as an old former outlaw. "You got Pokémon? Can ya battle?"

"Yes-yes." Ethan scrambled to stand up. "I can battle."

"Then, let's do this! Go, Miltank!"

"C'mon out, Inteleon!"

The stout and round Normal-type appeared alongside the long and thin Water-type. They eyed one another, unsure of where the other came from.

"Miltank, be careful! That Articuno has crazy cold attacks!" the other boy warned.

"Articuno?" Ethan thought. "Is it shiny?"

The Pokémon floated in closer. Its eyes started to glow once more, but this time, before it could unleash its terrible beams, something came barreling in from the side. The Articuno was blasted into the ground, making way for another Pokémon Ethan was vaguely familiar with.

This Pokémon stood on the ground rather than floating in the air. It had long legs, a long beak, and brown feathers. Its eyes were deranged, and Ethan could feel his heart sink into his stomach when the Pokémon turned its attention to them.

"Oh," the red-haired boy groaned. "I was out here campin' for days to get a good look at these Pokémon. Don't'cha know not to get close to the Dyna Tree?"

"Uh," Ethan murmured. He struggled to grasp the words coming out of the boy's mouth.

"That Zapdos right there is crazy violent! Watch out for its legs!"

Electricity crackled around the Pokémon's leg, but once it started up its attack, the purple Articuno struck. The two Pokémon squawked as they exchanged violent blows.

The boy looked at Ethan. "Look, we can run. I had some confidence that we could fight one, but two? No way."

Ethan nodded and then waved for his Inteleon to come back. He turned, and he could feel himself get woozy. Another Pokémon, this one with what appeared to be black flames emitting from its wings, swooped in. It blasted dark aura at the ground, dividing the Articuno and the Zapdos.

"Moltres?" Ethan wondered.

The boy looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "You can speak! And, you're smart!"

The three legendary birds circled one another, their eyes glaring hatefully.

Ethan felt weak. His heart hammered in his chest.

They possessed the power to obliterate the surrounding area. Ethan and the other trainer included. All it would take were a few misplaced attacks.

Ethan gasped. He struggled to breathe. He had to hold onto the other trainer's shoulder to stop himself from falling.

Zapdos' feathers sparked with electricity. Articuno's hardened with ice. Moltres' ignited into flames. They opened their mouths.

They're about to kill each other, Ethan thought.

Their piercing cries cut through Ethan. His knees wobbled. With a groan, he dropped to the ground. He thought he was going to faint like a defeated Pokémon. He lay on the floor, unable to move.

Ethan heard the flapping of wings and a sudden whoosh of air.

"Yee! Hallelujah! That was too close!"

Ethan managed to turn his head. "Ugh, what happened?"

"We got lucky. They flew off. Must've figured they'd wipe themselves out."

Ethan breathed heavily while his Pokémon came to check on him. The boy pet his Miltank and then withdrew her quickly. He rubbed the sweat from his forehead and let out a sigh of relief. He walked to Ethan and held out his hand.

"Name's Seamus. It's nice to meetcha, bud."

Ethan stared up. Straw fell from Seamus' battered hat. Ethan blew out the bits that hand landed in his mouth. He took Seamus' hand and tried not to grimace, as he was yanked back to his feet. The boy had an iron grip comparable to a Pokémon's strength. He curled, uncurled his fingers, used them to brush through his long hair, and straightened his headband. "Ethan. Ethan Patricks."

Seamus laughed and then jabbed Ethan in the chest. "Oh, you don't gotta do that Galarian movie introduction with me! I see you bein' a sly dog with that Inteleon of yers."

"You sound like a cowboy."

"I am a cowboy."

Finn could see a red glow deep into the cave, something that he was uncomfortably familiar with.

"Okay, Finn. This is our team!" Peony said as the two walked into the cave.

Peony motioned to two teenagers, both around the same age as Finn. One was a short girl, standing no taller than five feet. She had deep, inky black hair that was braided, and her skin was light. She had a calm look in her brown eyes. She wore an olive green cardigan, black slacks, and some fancy traveling shoes. She did not look prepared to be in a cave.

The boy was about half a foot taller. He had lightly tanned skin, short cherry-blonde hair, and blue eyes. He wore a thick black coat, black cargo pants with more pockets than Finn could count, and a white and blue baseball cap with a green Poké Ball insignia on the front. What interested Finn was his left hand, which had a large scar from the base of his middle knuckle to his wrist. Around his wrist were two bracelets, a Z-Ring and Dynamax band. From that alone, Finn knew that he wasn't getting involved with chumps.

"This is Liliane Cain Desjardins. She's essentially Kalosian royalty, but she likes to go on adventures, so she's here," Peony explained.

Liliane slightly bowed at Finn. The boy's usual pale skin turned a slight hint of red.

"The boy is Henry Nelson, from Galar. I brought him in as our chef, but as it turns out, he's a great Pokémon battler."

Henry stuck out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, chap!"

Finn shook it. "Yeah."

"Liliane, Henry, Finn has agreed to join us on one raid. I say that we have a ton of fun this time around. I want to bring Finn back, and if this is a terrible or traumatic experience, he won't want to out and play," Peony said while he gave Finn a cheeky grin. Finn grabbed at his forearm and tried not to think about the last time he fought a dynamaxed Pokémon.

"We've done this a few times before," Lilian said with a gentle smile. She looked at Finn's arm and then cocked her head. "There's no need to worry."

"And when we're finished, I'll make us something to celebrate the successful raid!" Henry exclaimed.

Peony slapped Henry on the back. "Regardless of if we win or lose, that's what I'm paying for! Finn, you ready?"

Finn looked past the three and at the red glow of the cave. He sighed. I'm probably going to regret this. He reached for a Poké Ball. "I guess."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I've now introduced the five main characters for this story. Finn and Ethan will be the leads while Seamus, Liliane, and Henry will all be supporting characters. I've definitely written this story way too late, as three of the four people who submitted these OC's are no longer active on the website. But, this is my thanks for making my first two years back on Fanfiction a great one! Here's to another great two or three!

REVIEWS:

Cappage Boy - "I like it so far. I look forward to future chapters." - Thank you! Thank you! I hope I can write a faster pace!