Disclaimer: I own neither Pokémon nor its characters
Chapter 25: A Bird of Ice
After breakfast, we headed towards the water. "If the map is right, then we need to go through Seafoam island to get to Cinnabar island, which is where the next gym is" Leaf said.
"If I remember correctly, Seafoam Island is where Articuno lives" Zain said
"Then we should probably try to catch it" Red replied. We got to the water, and me and Red let our Blastoise out to surf.
We got to the island with the sun about half way up the sky, and I saw a ring glinting in the light. This one was just like the one I found outside of the power plant, except the stone was light blue. I picked it up and put it on without the others noticing, then we went inside.
It was freezing in there!
"Man it's cold!" Leaf exclaimed, hugging herself for warmth.
"Didn't you say Articuno lived in a cold cave?" Red asked
"I didn't think caves could get this cold, especially so close to the entrance" Zain said.
I was too cold to say anything, but Aqua seemed fine "you guys are such babies, I've been in colder" she said
"Says the girl who ran from Pokémon tower at the first sign of danger" Zain retorted
"Wait, what do you men you've been in colder, I don't think it's possible to survive colder than this" Red said.
Now I had to intervene "w-we w-went s-swimming i-in a i-ice l-lake" I said, not being able to stop myself from shaking
"Wow, your taking this worse than any of us" Leaf said, forgetting about Aqua's statement.
I stayed silent "maybe you should stay back" Red suggested
"Or we could use a Charizard for heat" Aqua said. She let her Charizard out, and the area warmed up.
I sighed "thanks Aqua" I said
"Come on, let's go find Articuno" Aqua said, jumping down the ladder.
With the warmth and strength of the Charizard, we got through the cave…and arrived to an empty area.
"This looks like the place" Leaf said
"So where's Articuno?" Red asked
"Maybe someone else got it" Aqua suggested
"No, it would be warmer in here…at least, that's what legend says" Zain said
"Well, where is it then?" I asked
"How should I know?" Red snapped at me
We all looked at him in surprise, then I saw Leafs expression turn to anger "it was a question, you don't have to snap at him!" she said
"It was an obvious question" Red retorted
"He didn't know!" Leaf yelled back. I felt very awkward being the source of their argument
"He's figured out harder problems!" Red yelled
"Really? Finding a legendary is easy?" Leaf retorted
"ARTICUNO!"
We all ducked as the bird barely missed us, then landed in the middle of the clearing. "And that is how you attract an ice Pokémon" Red said, now calm. Me, Zain, and Aqua stared at the two in amazement.
The bird had light blue feathers that glittered in the light, like ice. The feathers seamed hard at the tips, but there weren't any other noticeable features.
"So, who wants to test its anger first?" Leaf asked. Ok, this was really weird.
"I'll go" I said, stepping up to the Pokémon. I picked up a poke ball, making sure to flash my ring. Looking into its eyes, I saw an iciness in it, similar to the sparks in Zapdos.
"Articuno!"
"Go Gengar!" I called, throwing the poke ball
"Gengar!"
I snapped a mini poke ball into the indentation, noticing the gem was the exact color of Articuno's feathers. "Gengar, shadow ball!" I called. Articuno dodged it, but didn't attack. "Shadow ball again!" I called. This one missed entirely.
Articuno didn't stay still though. It shot an ice beam. Gengar tried to move out of the way, but Articuno seemed to know exactly what the next move was, and Gengar was knocked back.
"Gengar, Sneak attack!" I called. Gengar obliged, and Articuno was knocked back…and stayed down.
I threw a poke ball at it. Just like with Zapdos, the others held their breaths as the poke ball shook and shook and shook…and finally clicked. I looked at my ring, and saw that the poke ball was replaced with an Articuno indent.
"That was amazing!" Aqua said, hugging me.
We left, with the others still cheering me on. We emerged on the opposite side of where we came in, and set up camp.
"So, you and Aqua really went swimming in an ice lake?" Red asked
"Yea…not the brightest idea" I replied
"How didn't you freeze? Or get hypothermia?" Leaf asked
"I don't know…" I replied
"I'm more curious about where you found a lake that cold in Kanto" Zain said
I was about to answer, but Leaf jumped in "did you go to Floe island?" she asked
"Huh?" I said confused
"Icefall cave, that's what she meant" Red said
"No, we had been in another region" I said
"You know the Sevii islands count as another region, right?" Zain said
"No, I didn't" I said
"Well, what region was it?" Leaf asked excitedly.
I didn't want to lie, but there was no way around it without a really long story they wouldn't understand. I remembered there was a region with a lake in a snowy region, but I couldn't place the name "I…don't remember…" I said
"Oh…" Leaf said disappointedly "well, is that where you're from?"
I didn't know what to say, but Aqua jumped to my rescue "no, we're from an isolated region" Aqua said
"As in, so isolated you don't know the name?" Red said
"If it even has a name" Aqua said. I could tell she didn't like hiding the truth, but she realized the risk now.
"Maybe they're from the Fiore region" Leaf suggested "that's pretty isolated"
"It would make sense" Red said with a sigh.
Zain had walked off to find food, and soon came back with a bucket full of berries. I went to bed right after Dinner, still trying to warm up from the cold.
Another chapter done, yay! Sorry for not updating earlier, I was really busy. Anyways, remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!