I woke up rather early, despite the busy day we had just had. I walked out of my room and headed first to the camera room. I was amazing how they had every part of the restaurant covered, but I hadn't seen any camera's yet. I sighed. I was the only one up and about so far.

I went to the bottom floor of the restaurant and started checking it out. While there was the usual things you would find in a restaurant, such as tables, rags, glasses, plates, and silverware, there was a lot of things out of place, such as a laptop case with a pineapple in it, a blue streamer and some ballet shoes, and a neon green GameCube controller.

"It's weird, isn't it?" I jumped as Elric walked over. I hadn't heard the panel come down. "We didn't put any of this here. We found it all when we found the place. It makes you wonder if it has a purpose. I would have suspected you to sleep longer."

"I had gotten enough sleep during the day."

"Yes, we don't really have a natural sleeping schedule. Missions tend to be at random times, mostly to throw off any attackers, and since we aren't fans of waiting around." He started towards the door. "Come on. I can use your help with something."

"What is it?" I asked as we left and started down the street.

"We are going to go get information on the Glacial Tower. An old friend of mine lives in the north side of town. I have a feeling she assisted in the construction of it."

We walked in silence through the damaged streets of the city. It was very apparent why people left. Nobody remembers exactly how the city got destroyed. Everyone just called it "the apocalypse." All the buildings were damaged, some were destroyed, there was little plant life, and roads were usually cracked or filled with potholes. What had happened?

As we got closer to the north side of the city, the air started to get colder. We arrived at an old factory, and the cold air was coming from it.

"So who is this friend of yours?" I asked.

"See for yourself." He pushed the door open, and cold air washed over us. The inside was coated in a fine layer of ice. The assembly lines had empty boxes on them, which probably once had something in them. in the middle of the room was a huge mound of pillows, and atop of that was a large blue dinosaur pokemon. She looked like she was asleep.

"Aurora, wake up," Elric said, nudging her face with his paw.

Her left eye lazily opened. "Oh, hello Elric. What do I owe this visit?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

She yawned and stood up to her full height, which was close to eleven feet tall. She poked two pillows, and the ice on them broke off. After pushing them over two us, she resituated herself on her pile. "Well you might as well make yourselves comfortable."

I sat on the pillow, expecting it to be freezing, but it was only a little cool. Aurora smiled at me. "Well now I've never met you before. Are you a new member of the gang?"

"Yes," I said weakly. "I'm Hydra."

She chuckled. "I'm guessing you've never seen an aurauros before?" I shook my head. "Well, that isn't entirely surprising. Most of us are extinct. Not to mention we are native to the Kalos region. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one not living there."

"Where is the Kalos region?"

"Oh, far away from here. I was left here when my last trainer ran from the apocalypse. But that's okay, since I find it quite peaceful here."

"I hate to interrupt," Elric said, "but we do need to ask you something. Did you help build glacial tower?"

"Oh, yes. It's such a nice building, isn't it? I was given a room there, but I just couldn't leave this place. The reason I've been so tired lately was because of building it. It took up a lot of energy."

"Can you think of anyone who lives in the tower who would want to join our gang?" I asked.

"Well," she thought for a moment, "I'm not sure. I only met the people who helped build it. I'm not sure who all is there now. Auroc might help you, but I warn you, he's not the most social person."

"We can't get in, though," I said. "We acidentally blasted the front door with fire."

"Ah, I bet Ita got in your way, didn't she? Well she'll let you in on my request." She stood up. "Shall we be going?"

We exited the building, and started to make the trek back to Jis, which, unfortunately, was on the south side of town. We crossed through our territory, but we didn't go by the restaurant. It was fully light out when we reached the tower. Or, at least, as light as it gets when it's cloudy. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty that we weren't following Lilly's plan.

Ita was there immediately. "Aurora! What a pleasant surprise! Have you come to-" She cut off when she saw me. "You!"

"Now Ita," Aurora said, "these are friends of mine, and are permitted into the tower at any time. They are looking for new members for their gang, and are permitted to talk to anyone."

She crossed her arms. "Do you find it wise to let gang members into such a place? Not to mention I still feel an evil presence nearby."

"Well then we best not let anyone else in right now." Ita huffed and went back inside. Aurora turned to us. "I'm going to wait outside. This is your gang. If I go in, everyone will want to join because you know me."

"We won't be too long," Elric said. We walked into the tower.

The first thing that struck me was how monumental the place was. This thing had to be at least forty to sixty stories tall, and was completely made out of ice. What was even more impressive was the fact that none of it looked melted at all. Everything was as solid as metal.

We walked up the stairs. "So who are we going to talk to?" I asked.

"I would start by finding Auroc. Aurora said he might help us."

We looked around for anyone who could help us find Auroc, but no one seemed to be on this floor. What made this worse was we couldn't find the stairs. We were lost on a single floor.

"Are you two lost?"

We turned, relieved to finally have found someone. The pokemon who had addressed us grinned. "You've been by my pool of water about seven times now."

We stared, slightly awestruck by the pokemon. He was a milotic, but was a different color. His tail was orange and yellow, and the hair that came from his head was silver instead of red. He was a shiny pokemon.

Elric was the first one to speak. "Yeah, we're lost. Do you know where we can find the stairs and someone named Auroc?"

He looked puzzled. "How do you know his name?"

"Aurora told us," I said.

He nodded. "I see. Well I hate to disappoint you, but he isn't here right now. What do you need him for?"

"We were told he would want to join our gang," Elric said.

"He might." Then he smiled again. "I can't believe how rude I'm being. I'm Zura, one of the creators of the tower."

"I'm Elric, and this is Hydra."

"Do you know when Auroc is getting back?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. I do know of someone else who might be willing to help you. He was another one of the founders of the tower. He doesn't use his real name. Most of us call him the Ice Prince."

"Can you take us to him?" I asked.

He floated out of his pool of water. "I suppose. He isn't a fan of visitors, so I'm not sure how he will react."

He led us to the stairs, which had been nearby the whole time, and led us very high up. We stopped at the third to last floor. "Ah, there he is," Zura said, pointing his tail at the figure down the hall.

I wasn't even entirely sure if he was a pokemon. He wore a long cape that was wrapped around his body, which also had a hood that covered his head. He was walking rather fast. I wondered vaguely where he was going.

"Ice Prince," Zura said, "we have visitors who would like to speak with you."

The Prince made his way to us and stopped. "What do you need?"

"We don't really need anything," I said, "but we wanted to ask you a question. We are a part of a new pokemon gang, and are looking for more members. Zura said that you might be willing to join."

He looked at the milotic, then back at me. "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you." He walked away without another word.

"I thought he might do that," Zura said. "Well there are still plenty of other people in the tower. Why don't we start with this hall?" He and Elric started walking down the hall, talking about the different pokemon that might want to join. I looked back at the stairs, which the Ice Prince had taken. I ran to the stairs, hurrying to catch up with him.

"Wait up!" I said.

He stopped and turned around. I caught my breath when I reached him. "Do you know anything about someone named Auroc?"

There was a pause. "I do. How do you know about him?"

"Aurora told me." Something was starting to bother me. "Why is it strange that I know his name?"

"He's not around much, and when he is around he doesn't talk much." He continued walking down the stairs. "So what does one do in a pokemon gang?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, since I just joined myself. At the moment we are trying to get enough members to enter in the gang tournament. We only need one more member and we'll have enough."

He nodded. "I see. What is the tournament for?"

"It's to determine the leader of the gangs. Should a good gang rise to power, then the city could become less violent, but if a bad gang wins, then there will be a revolution."

"A risky move. Who came up with it?"

"I don't know." We were about halfway down the stairs now. I stopped. "Do you hear that?"

He listened for a moment. "Get back!"

There was a loud crash, and steam filled the room. When it cleared, the Ice Prince was in front of me, a shield of ice protecting us. The shield shattered, revealing the large hole in the wall. "What was that?" I asked.

To answer my question, multiple ground and rock type pokemon flooded in from the hole, some running up the stairs and some running down. Then a nidoking came in last, smiling cruelly while holding a spear in his hand. I knew who he was. He was War, leader of the Geoaxes.

"Good day, Ice Prince," War said. "I'm glad you're looking well."

"Go away, now," the Ice Prince said.

"You know, I don't think I want to. So how's life? Enjoying the lie you live every day?"

An icicle sprang out of the ground, ready to impale War in the chest, but he moved out of the way. "I struck a nerve, didn't I?"

"What do you want?"

"A fight. Take off the robe. I may not know you, but I know about you. You are nothing but a coward."

They had been so busy focusing on each other War didn't notice I had started to attack. My trump card hit him square in the chest. He doubled over and I stepped in front of the ice prince. "You use real weapons while fighting and you dare call him a coward?"

He growled at me. "That was a big mistake." He stomped his foot on the ground, and white rings appeared above me. Rocks started to fall. Rock slide. I didn't have time to be scared. I had to react. I dodged the rocks, some only narrowly missing me.

After the attack was over, War's smile got bigger. "Not bad, kid. Now let's try round two." He lifted his spear up, and a wave of black sludge rose in front of him, coming to crash down on me. Sludge wave. I wasn't going to be able to dodge it.

The Ice Prince was in front of me immediately. His arm flew out from under his robe, and he punched the wave of poison, his fist glowing blue. It froze instantly. Ice punch. His fast movement had caused his hood to fall off. He was a lucario.

He pushed the cape over his shoulders, revealing the rest of him. "If you want a fight, that's what you will get."

"Oh, I want a fight, but killing you quickly would be so much easier." His eyes flashed red, and both my body and the Ice Prince's went rigid. Disable.

"I know of your power," War said, circling the Ice Prince. "Yet you try so hard to hide it, just like you hide behind that tough guy act. All you are is an anti-social loser, and I can't wait for you to perish." He brought his spear back, ice forming around the tip, and he stabbed the Ice Prince in the side.

"No!" I screamed. I was immediately able to move again, and both War and the Ice Prince were frozen. Psyche scream. "Go away!" I screamed at war. He vanished in a flash of blue light. I then turned to the Ice Prince. "Unfreeze!"

He stumbled and fell to the ground. "That hurt." Blood was everywhere. I had used Psyche Scream fast enough that he hadn't been completely impaled, but it was still really bad. I had to do something.

He weakly lifted his hand to the wound. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Ice spread across the wound, sealing it up. "Go find your friend and get out of here."

Just as this was said, Elric came running down the stairs. "Hydra! We have to go! The Geoaxes are here for us! If we leave, they leave!"

I got my head under the Ice Prince's arm. "I got you. Let's get you back to our base. There is a flareon there who can help you, and we know a Meganium who is a really good healer."

"I'm fine, really," he croaked, clutching his side in the effort it took to speak.

"I'm going to get help!" Elric said. In a yellow flash, he was gone, having run down the stairs.

I started slowly pulling the Ice Prince to the hole in the wall. "Hey, I'm sorry."

"For what?" I didn't really see what he could be sorry for, but he looked like he wanted to fall asleep, which I wasn't going to let happen until I knew that he was okay.

"War was right. The Ice Prince is a lie, a mask I put on to make me feel stronger. I am Auroc. You probably already guessed that." To be honest, I did. If Zura hadn't been surprised that we had known his name, I probably wouldn't have figured it out.

"Well we were told you might want to join our gang. Do you accept?"

He chuckled weakly. "Since the Ice Prince has been defeated so easily, I have nothing left to remain here for. I will gladly join." He flinched in pain and clutched his side. I needed help fast.

"Look, down there!" A voice called. I looked up in horror as the other members of Geoaxe came running down the stairs at us. I tried to move faster, but I just couldn't. I closed my eyes, waiting for them to reach us.

Then, everything was quiet. I opened my eyes to find that we were now in the bottom floor of the restaurant. Everyone was around. Absolum, Lilly, Eriff, and Elric picked him up. "Let's go! Glacier!" The panel lowered, and we rushed Auroc to the infirmary.

Eriff quickly started tending to the wound, breaking the ice off and starting to stop the bleeding. "What on earth happened?"

"Hydra and I went to get information on Glacial Tower," Elric said. "One of my old friends was able to get us in, and the Geoaxes attacked."

"Well you couldn't have mentioned you were going?" Lilly said. "Lucky for you that isn't important right now. Right now we need to focus on this lucario."

Eriff's eyes widened. "No. We have a major problem."

"What?" Mark asked.

"His skin is freezing, and is starting to turn a little blue. He must have been stabbed with something ice related and by a poison type, because he's gotten arctic poisoning, and if we don't get Gani here soon, he will most likely die today."