"All right, Mewtwo, try activating your defenses now."
"Which ones?"
"Just the auxiliary ones. The main shield will drain too much stamina for this exercise."
"Gotcha. Anything else?"
"Nope; we just need the others to be ready."
As Mewtwo started up his suit of armor, Steph scanned the snow-covered area, checking to make sure everything was properly in place. The borders of the forest were marked off, all equipment was set, and all other variables were checked for consistency and accounted for.
Steph reached for her belt and pulled out a Pokéball. She grinned, took a short breath, and released the Pokémon within her grasp.
"Glaceon!" Steph squealed with excitement. "We're finally back to having some action out in the field! It has definitely been way too long since we've had an opportunity like this."
An enthusiastic outcry resounded from Glaceon. The two took a moment to hug and embrace; clearly, they had been separated for quite some time. Glaceon's eyes met Mewtwo's, immediately filling him with a slight chill. Mewtwo felt captivated by Glaceon; he sensed the surrounding air drop in temperature, and her eyes perplexed him. Eyes as cold as ice, yet they seemed to be yearning for something out of reach. Glaceon's pale, crystallized fur glistened against the sun's rays. A true Ice type Pokémon stood before him.
"Mewtwo, allow me to introduce you to my partner, Glaceon. She's definitely a one-of-a-kind; I couldn't ask for a better Pokémon to perform research with."
Mewtwo smiled politely, and, despite the natural bitter-cold gaze, Glaceon seemed pleased to meet him. She did not speak, but there was no sign of hostility in her actions. Curious as to the lack of communication from Glaceon, Mewtwo was about to ask about it when Bryce and Tobuscus re-joined the group. Interestingly, Bryce was leaving normal footprints in the snow while the other totally melted it wherever he trod.
"Steph," Bryce said to the addressed, "Tim and Squirtle will be performing numerous other tests together on the outer edge of the forest, so I was told to pass on the message that we are free to start without them. As for Gengar, he noted that he would join us in witnessing Mewtwo's field test shortly."
"Ah, all right then," Steph answered as she faced Bryce. "Are we all set to begin then?"
"I believe so," said Bryce. "What did you guys decide to start with?"
"We were thinking about testing his defense in conjunction with the armor first," said Steph. She walked over to her bag, which was sitting in a dry patch of grass, and opened it to withdraw her notepad. She rifled through and added, "After that, we can test his offense, but I'm not entirely sure how we can proceed with that."
"Hmm," said Bryce thoughtfully, raising a hand to his chin and looking around for inspiration, "that's a good question. I don't think—"
He was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Tobuscus spoke up and said, "I can help with both his offense and defense, if you need assistance."
From the corner of his eye, Mewtwo glimpsed Glaceon nodding vigorously in agreeance.
"You sure?" asked Bryce with a skeptical expression, looking between his Blaziken and Glaceon. "We're not certain what could happen. Someone might get injured…"
Tobuscus shook his head and brushed off the warning, saying, "I trust you guys. If I doubted anything about that suit, I would abstain from offering help. But I don't doubt the craftsmanship your team poured into its making, and I have my confidence in the Pokémon wielding its power right now. I'll take hits for the sake of science; just don't knock me out," he finished with a cheeky smirk.
Mewtwo raised an eyebrow and mirrored Bryce's quizzical face, though nobody saw it behind the blacked-out visor of his helmet. If Tobuscus really wanted to help, he was in for quite the rude awakening. Mewtwo guessed that nobody notified him of what happened in the Cerulean Laboratories back in October, because if he had, Mewtwo was certain Tobuscus would be second-guessing himself right now. Mewtwo took a step toward Tobuscus and drew his attention.
"I don't want to beat a dead Rapidash here," Mewtwo spoke from behind his helmet, raising and waving his hands slightly, "But are you sure you don't mind putting yourself on the line? I've proven before that I'm not a star test subject. You know that, right?"
Tobuscus's smile faded away, but he didn't look angry at the inquiry.
"I'm certain," he responded with a strong voice. "I've had my skills strained to the limit more than once before now. What's one more time?"
"Well… all right…" said Bryce a little resignedly, "but what about Glaceon?"
Steph and Glaceon quickly glanced at each other. Within a moment, Steph said, "Glaceon would like to help Mewtwo shape up his defense, but she'll sit out on the offensive part. She's good, but not quite strong enough for Mewtwo's attacks."
"Fair enough," said Bryce, inclining his head towards Glaceon. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinions and feelings. Can't force them otherwise."
Steph smiled, but it wasn't in a friendly manner; rather, it seemed like she was reminded of something that annoyed her. But she didn't press the subject.
"Okay!" said Bryce, noticing nothing, "Now that that's figured out, are we set to begin? Mewtwo?"
Mewtwo nodded in affirmation.
"What would you like to start with? Offense or defense?" asked Bryce.
"Defense sounds good," said Mewtwo. His suit's protective shields were all primed and ready to be tested presently. He couldn't wait to see what his armor was capable of.
"Cool," said Bryce. "So, let's see what your shields can do."
"According to our notes, calculations, and predictions," Steph said, reading off of the notebook in her hands, "All incoming attack damage should be cut by a factor of at least five. Depending on the type of attack used, it will feel different; for example, super effective moves could still deliver a bit of a punch, but the shields will block the worst of its effects. Attacks that damage normally will be weakened considerably, and attacks that aren't very effective to start with become non-effective. Of course, this is just theory. Now is the first time it's being tested in real conditions, so you'll have to tell us if it holds true."
"Will do," said Mewtwo with a nod of his head. "Who gets to be first?"
Tobuscus and Glaceon traded an odd glance. Given this exchange, it looked like they had just been asked to poke a sleeping Dragonite in the eye, and neither looked too pleased at the prospect. However, Glaceon straightened her head, stood upright and proud, and moved into the open, clearly indicating that she was willing to take the initiative. Mewtwo was taken by surprise; he expected Tobuscus to be the first one up given his known level of skill. But Glaceon? He wasn't sure what to expect.
Neither, apparently, did Bryce.
"Erm…" he started uncertainly, "are you sure, Glaceon? I mean, Tobuscus is much more—"
Glaceon turned and looked straight into his eyes, giving an ugly stare that silenced Bryce at once. Interpreting this correctly, he held his hand out invitingly and retreated, gesturing for her to proceed. Glaceon resumed her pose and eyed up her target; her face was set. Mewtwo stanced himself, ready for whatever she was going to throw at him. He didn't know her skill level or what she was capable of, but he was confident his armor's shields would do their job. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?
Glaceon gave a grin that stretched ear-to-ear, and several things happened very quickly.
The sky, which only a moment before was a clear, bright blue, turned dark and dusk-like, as if a thunderstorm was rolling in. Simultaneously, the wind picked up to a blisteringly high speed, taking the finer and drier snow with it so that it began to drift across the ground. The cold sliced at Mewtwo's exposed skin like daggers, making him shiver uncontrollably and forcing him to crouch. Though his attention was focused on the Pokémon in front of him, he could see everyone else ducking and trying to shield themselves from the terrible wind. The snow around Glaceon was turning to long shards of ice, surrounding her like some strange outcrop of rocks. Mewtwo caught a glimpse of a strange, blue aura glowing around Glaceon's body before a total whirlwind of snow engulfed everyone.
"What the—?"
It was horribly cold; the temperature must have been sub-zero. In Mewtwo's vision, a whole host of alerts was filling up the left side of his HUD. The largest and boldest text was flashing bright red, proclaiming, "BLIZZARD DETECTED." The other alerts almost exclusively pertained to the active shields. Mewtwo, his head ducked against the terrible attack, read these notices one after another as the appeared. Thankfully, the shields appeared to be doing their job; the notices were reporting a percentage of what was blocked by the shields, what Mewtwo was feeling in response, and a sea of other data. One interesting line caught his eye in particular; it read, "Freezing resisted."
The wind howled and raged on for what felt like several minutes. Mewtwo was certain he would soon become deaf from the noise. He was reduced to curling into a ball face-down on the ground, trying to do anything he could to avoid the blistering cold. Clearly, he underestimated Glaceon's powers.
From what seemed like the opposite end of a football field, Mewtwo heard someone screaming, "STOP!" over and over again. It wasn't a command from Steph; it was a plea from Bryce.
Gradually, the wind eased and the snow began to settle. He sensed the temperature rise back to normal and felt safe enough to lift his head. His neck felt exceedingly stiff and hard to move, as was the rest of his body. He labored to uncurl himself out of a ball and did his best to stand up straight.
He saw Glaceon, unmoved in position but drastically changed in appearance. Her fur was no longer crystallized; it now resembled something like razor-sharp needles protruding from her skin by an inch or two. Snow clung to her entire left side, making her look extremely asymmetrical and lopsided. The shards of ice around her feet were regressing back into snow. The blue aura from before persisted, but it too was slowly fading away. As the wind died down, her fur returned to its previous state, glinting and winking in the sunlight that just resumed full brightness. She shook her body free of snow and looked around.
The voice was much more audible now that Glaceon's Blizzard subsided, and the speech Mewtwo heard was making his body shake not from cold, but from fear. Mewtwo turned his neck against the lingering effects of the partial freezing to his right.
"Oh no..." Bryce moaned, "Oh, man—Tobuscus…"
A chilling sight beheld the group. Bryce was crouched beside Tobuscus, his hands around the latter's shoulder. Tobuscus's appearance changed as well, but Mewtwo immediately knew something was wrong.
His entire body was discolored. A bluish-gray shade replaced his fire red torso and legs. A thick coating of ice encased his body, firmly planting him to the ground. His face was contorted from the power of the Blizzard, and, along with the rest of his body, was very still. Tobuscus was frozen solid.
"Oh my goodness," Steph gasped. Her hands were drawn up and covered her mouth in horror, face aghast at the sight. "I thought Fire types were resistant to Ice type moves! I would have never let Glaceon do that if I knew otherwise!"
Steph ran over to Tobuscus, horrified.
"Oh, Tobuscus!"
Steph faced Bryce, a panicked expression plaguing her face.
"Bryce, I'm—I'm so sorry… This shouldn't have happened. I've battled with Glaceon by my side for so long; I know for a fact that Ice isn't super effective against Fire. In fact, Fire is super effective against Ice. Something—something isn't right…"
"What? Then how could this have happened?" Bryce asked, his voice quivering slightly as he spoke.
Steph turned to Glaceon, who had a look of extreme guilt across her entire face. Scanning Glaceon, Steph fell into deep thought. Within ten seconds, Steph's eyes widened with realization.
"Oh my God!" Steph gasped. She ran towards Glaceon, who nervously locked eyes with Steph. Noticing Glaceon's nerves, Steph quickly changed her tone and said gently, "It's okay, Glaceon, it wasn't your fault. As a trainer and researcher, I should have thought ahead of time to remember the items I left on you…"
Reaching behind Glaceon's ears, Steph removed an item fastened tightly to Glaceon. A small pair of goggles lay in Steph's hand.
"These are Choice Specs. A long while ago, Glaceon and I had entered some battling tournaments as a way to strengthen our bond. Choice Specs is an item that increases the Special Attack of one Pokémon by a significant amount. On top of the fact that Glaceon is specially trained in Special Attack, moves like Blizzard are executed at a much higher intensity. Even the strongest of Fire types can fall victim to that kind of strength boost…"
"I don't—but—I…" uttered Bryce. Words simply failed him while he stared at Tobuscus's immobile form. "I've never seen him like this… helpless and defeated… Wh—what do I do? I didn't bring any healing items or anything! How could I be so unprepared? What—"
Steph approached unnoticed, grabbed his shoulders, and swung Bryce around so that they were face-to-face. Though she was several inches shorter, her authority in the situation was undeniable.
"Bryce!" she said to cut across Bryce's rambling. "Don't worry! Freezing is never a permanent affliction! Calm down, won't you? Take a deep breath—come on…"
Bryce obeyed.
"The Blizzard was powerful, but I know Tobuscus is strong enough that he didn't faint," Steph continued, still keeping hold of Bryce's shoulders. "If you didn't bring anything, we'll just have to wait for him to thaw. Okay?"
Bryce nodded jerkily. Steph released his shoulders and walked over to Tobuscus to inspect him. Mewtwo watched on, slightly stunned by how panicky Bryce acted. He always imagined him to be a clearer than normal thinker, but now he was thinking twice about it. Maybe it was the fact that seeing Tobuscus defeated was something Bryce wasn't used to.
Fast-paced footsteps were rapidly approaching the group. Everyone looked up at the noise to witness Tim, Squirtle, and Gengar running towards them. All were out of breath, indicating that they came from some distance away.
"We saw—the weather change—a lot…" Tim panted, "and we wanted—to make sure—you guys were okay…"
His eyes were drawn to the frozen Pokémon some distance away. Shock filtered through his face when the comprehension dawned on what happened.
"Oh my—" he gasped. Tim rushed to Steph's and Tobuscus's side, still clutching a stitch in his side and bent over. "What happened? Is—is he frozen?"
"Yeah…" Bryce said a little dazedly. The recent events left him a little slow on the uptake. "I think… I think Steph can explain why…"
Briefly, Steph described her mistake of not removing the Choice Specs before commanding the Blizzard upon Mewtwo, and the subsequent damage it did to Tobuscus.
Now that Tim and the others had recovered, Tim made his own inspection of the frozen Blaziken while the other Pokémon joined Mewtwo.
"Is he going to be all right?" asked Squirtle to his guardian, glancing concernedly at Tobuscus.
"I hope so," muttered Mewtwo. He kneeled to Squirtle's level and lifted his helmet up so that he could talk properly.
"What happened to your eye?" Gengar asked, recoiling slightly. Squirtle, who wasn't looking, turned to see and mirrored Gengar's slight retraction.
"Something I'd rather not discuss," Mewtwo said shortly, twitching and feeling the bruised, swollen skin with his fingers. A half-glance in Tim's direction did much to give away the reason for the black eye; Gengar saw where he was looking and caused a small frown to crease his mouth, but he made no additional comments.
"Wouldn't it be horrible to get frozen, though?" asked Mewtwo to the small group. "I nearly did, and it hurt to move. I can't ever imagine not being able to move at all when you know full-well what's going on. Can you?"
"Don't—" Gengar shuddered, "Don't say… that scares me just thinking about it. And don't ask Tobuscus either, okay?"
"S—sorry," Mewtwo mumbled, "I won't."
The conversation issuing from the research team floated over to them, and they all listened in.
"...definitely frozen. Don't worry that you're not carrying heals, because we can take him to the Valley's Pokémon Center if he needs it."
"Okay…" replied a trembling voice.
Suddenly, a high-pitched whistling pierced the air, sounding like a kettle issuing steam. It grew louder and louder from Tobuscus's direction. Everyone looked around at the sound's origin and quickly closed in when it became apparent what was presently happening.
Copious steam poured from all over his body. The splitting and shattering ice cracked through the air like whips. The water was running down his body in streams, sliding down the ice before falling to the ground. The ice was still extremely thick, but a dull red color was radiating from underneath. Mewtwo could feel the temperature steadily increasing the longer he stood transfixed at the thawing process.
"Guys…" Bryce said slowly, "You might want to back up. Like, right now."
Everyone obeyed without question, hurrying backwards at least twenty feet. The red hue surrounding Tobuscus intensified into a dazzling yellow. Without warning, the ice covering Tobuscus broke completely, and fire engulfed his body instead. His screams of pain from trying to thaw his way out of his encasement echoed around the forest.
The flames were short-lived. Tobuscus fell onto all fours, heaving and shivering violently. His body was still discolored, but large spots of black now joined the mucky blue on his skin. He was obviously in unendurable agony. The group drew a collective breath when they saw the full picture unfold.
"What's happened to him…?" breathed Mewtwo.
"That's frostbite!" shouted Bryce. "Oh my God, what's going—TOBUSCUS!"
Tobuscus collapsed, shivered uncontrollably in the snow, drawing breath with extreme difficulty and fighting back tears of pain clinging to his eyelashes. Newly crystallized ice stuck around his beak, eyes, nostrils, and various other areas of his body. It looked like he had expended all his energy trying to thaw himself, and was now incapable of generating heat. Bryce dashed forward, letting his knees sink to the ground beside the fallen Pokémon. He took hold of him and said, "Tobuscus! Are you okay? TOBUSCUS!"
The addressed didn't respond and continued his shivering on the ground. Tim rushed to his side and shouted, "Bryce! You need to take him to the Pokémon Center right now! Fire Pokémon aren't meant for their body temperature to drop this low! If this frostbite persists, it's going to cause permanent damage!"
In a flash, Bryce unclipped a Pokéball from his belt and withdrew Tobuscus. He stood up, shaking nearly as badly as Tobuscus was, and stumbled forward a few steps before running pell-mell out of the forest. Steph hurriedly collected her bag of possessions and called out, "Glaceon! Follow me!"
Glaceon raced behind Steph, and the two gave chase to Bryce. They disappeared from view in no time at all. The remaining individuals stared transfixed where the previous three vanished over the sloping path.