With a smile, Shauna skipped out of the changing rooms. "I had to umm, set up a child account" She looked a little sheepish. "It was the only way I could get you your own box!" Ryan smiled, he didn't care how it worked, only that she was kind enough to do all of this for him. A fluffy old blind dog by his side, the large man shuffled into the changing room with a pile of clothes. The booth was small, no-one needed it to be large. A small computer screen and keypad were set into the wall beside a digitizer, a machine to convert material to data to store in the system. Something like this would have failsafes installed to prevent the digitalization of unpurchased materials. To prevent theft. The screen showed the account for one "Shauna" with a little heart instead of the second 'a', and allowed the user access to storage drive 13/13. The vagrant smiled, she had put his box at the end of her list to give herself more space. He didn't mind and was in fact somewhat impressed as he started to digitize individual articles of clothing into the system. Keeping only the black and red 'R' shirt, some thick jeans, and a trenchcoat.
Looking down, Ryan couldn't help but grin as Fyr sniffed the hem of his jeans. Stooping down he scooped the small ball of fluff up into his arms. The inevitable result was a tiny black nose sniffing around his newly shaven face, licking where his beard use to be. "Like it?" He continued carrying the old dog as he reexited the changing rooms. "Fyr seems to like it, so I guess it's okay." The vagrant couldn't help but smile as he carried Fyr with him out of the door. The rest of his pokemon associates followed quite happily, Annwn on his left, the little candle he'd thought he left at the hotel sitting on his shoulder. Embeee the large lion walking behind him with Leveyr cruising above them. Shauna seemed happy, asking for verification that Ryan would be coming with her. "You done enough for me already this morning, of course I will." She seemed to perk up somehow beyond how happy she was, and skipped ahead back toward Brun Way, with the puddle of magma slithering behind her.
The road to Anistar passed through Dendemille Town, a village not far from Lumiose. Brun way, with it's rivers slicing the road into three segments, was quiet and with a cool breeze dispite the sun high in the sky. On the hill to the north stood the old Brun-lit hotel, easily silhouetted against the midday sky. With intent, Ryan looked away from the building. They had not approached the police, having been too swept up, and despite promising her he was not going to go back just for that. "You'd think the authorities would already know" Chuey walked on his right, the left side of her mouth lifted in a thoughtful expression as her lips pursed. "It is a beautiful building, it just shits me that it's been left to get like that" Ryan nodded, watching Shauna as his green-streaked companion continued. It was an hour walk after passing the hotel to Dendemille town, putting it late afternoon once they arrived. Dendemille Town was mostly a set of buildings arranged in a spiral leading up a small hill to a windmill sitting at the peak. Nothing particularly special, though it was a stop on the way to Anistar, and given the distance it was quite likely they would have to rest here the night.
'FROST CAVERN' read a large print sign on the northern exit from Dendemille. The road beyond was quite white and snowy. 'Tours held daily. Dim lights present for trainer activity at all times.' Useful, Shauna commented as she read it aloud. "Looks like it'd be a nice place to play. Right?" She continued, holding up and speaking to a pokeball. "Might even meet a new friend!" It was at this point that Ryan's brain finally caught up to his mouth and he asked why her pokemon were in their pokeballs. Her reply came as she started down the northern road, and he and the entourage followed. "Oh, the woman at the pokemon center told me they got a virus. It doesn't hurt them but I didn't want to spread it to other pokemon so I'm keeping them in their balls unless to battle or sleep or have lunch or dinner" She smiled, skipping through the thin snow. As they approached the well used entry, several people came into view.
"Did you see those guys in red?"
"No, do you think it's them?"
"I've heard they've been causing problems in other places"
"I just hope they're alright"
Ryan knew something was wrong just from what the people were saying. Chuey looked over from admiring a small snake in a shrub to see each of Ryan's pokemon stop and form almost a wall behind him. As the large man took a step forward, an enormous roar echoed out of the cave mouth. Stalactites fell around the opening, smashing into shards about the gaping hole in the snowy rock. As soon as one person stuck their head in to look around the corner inside, they jumped back in fear. Out of the cave rushed a collection of small four legged half-ice, half-rock creatures. The looks on their face was pure terror as the six of them dashed away into the trees nearby. What was that noise? "Abomasnow" One of the people standing nearby commented. "A huge one, it makes it's home in there and usually protects all of these little pokemon from trainers. I guess it's got its hands full" The woman stepped back, pressing her back to the wall in case of any more floods of pokemon.
The tension was palpable as the large man's hand on one person's shoulder gently eased them out the way to allow him to move beyond. Leveyr, the large crimson bird, settled on a tree branch as the rest of the troupe entered the cave mouth, it's head tilted to the side. At the vagrants heels toddled a little fluffy old canine, guided to be behind him by gentle prodding from the man sized, man shaped fox behind it. Among the footsteps rang a little sloshing sound, which brought up the rear even behind the young girl. At the fore of the group walked a lioness with flames licking out the side of her mouth to light the shiny, icy walls for all to see ahead of her. While the next roar had not been unexpected, the shape of the tunnel echo'ed it thrice to the party. Rain fell on the floor around them, the frozen roof and walls melting gradually around the immense heat source. The passage weaved and forked often, though very easily navigated by only waiting at each parting for the inevitable roar to echo from one. At one point the teacher apologised to his student, that this was not fun, and she was not meeting new friends. But she seemed okay with it. She set out to make memories, and she wasn't in a hurry to forget this.
It was around the fifth, perhaps sixth corner, that the group found themselves at what might be described a dead end. Before them stood three very large white creature's. Their haunches were as high as the vagrants chest. Their white fur glistened with the ice around them, as did their claws. Their drool as they snarled would freeze in stalactites out of their mouth creating sharp tusks, or in one case a razor sharp beard. The three creatures roared at the group. Their roars being drowned quickly by that that was deeper within. The paws of just one of these things was as big as the large man's face, and their bodies looked to be beyond the word muscular. It took a moment after rounding on this sight for Ryan to notice the wall the creatures were backed up against as they began swiping at the group. The passage he needed continued past them to one side but they appeared unwilling to let them through. He spread his legs slightly to solidify his stance and, pointing at them, prepared to call a volley.
One can imagine then, the look on Ryan Cabberin's face when, before he could order his pre-emptive attack; Shauna dropped into the feotal position and began to cry. The crying was strange. He'd never heard a human girl cry like that, a wailing almost infant cry of fear. He could only stand there, staring from the ball of girl on the ground to Chuey. Chuey, to his great relief, looked just as baffled as he was, and interestingly to the vagrant; so did the large creatures. The five 'adults' simply looked amongst each other and to Shauna in a strange silence. Until one of the large creatures took a couple steps past Ryan's group to lower itself and tenatively sniff the crying girl. She continued to cry loud and frightened; a wailing cub, until the creature licked her cheek. At the feel of its cold tongue she quietened some but continued to show significant signs of fear. The creature that had checked her looked back to the other two, and as a group they walked away from the situation. It was a stunned silence only occasionally rocked by the echoes of roaring deeper within the cave. As suddenly as she had begun the wailing, Shauna stopped. Standing, she brushed herself off and wiped her cheek with an enormous grin. "See, no-one got hurt Mr. Cabberin. They were just scared right?" He blinked for a bit before he understood exactly what she meant. They had come around the corner and backed these creatures between two possible aggressors. They were only lashing out because they felt cornered; threatened. So Shauna became a crying and frightened cub. She diffused the situation by making everyone stop to access both the situation and each other. Perhaps she'd learnt a lot more than she was letting on in this little journey.
The passage finally opened into a large chamber, the shape of an egg and the size of a volcanic caldera. A hole in the ceiling let light and snow drift in, and wind from outside whipping down could easily create a heavy internal storm who'se evidences have been left cut into the rock walls. In the center of the room was a creature bigger than any Ryan had seen of it's kind. An abomasnow; Something like the bears before crossed with a human being. Perpetually bipedal and at least four times as tall as the vagrant himself. Vine like tendrils form it's fingers and the long thorns or claws from them. The vines about it's body grip it's fur and and stem like veins across its skin from the neck to the creatures extremities. The creature's roar seemed most justified now, as Ryan was able to see no less than twenty horned black canines in a circle around it. Belches of fire kept it within it's ring as the people in ugly red suits attempted to restrain it with ropes that the creature's vines easily snapped each time they were laid upon it. "HEY" The large man yelled to the group after the next roar, which came as the creature attempted to swat at one of the black dogs. The humans looked suddenly around at him. "Back the fuck off from it!" He continued, though several laughed at him for it. Shauna whispered quietly behind him that fire isn't great against fire. "True, but these are Houndoom. There is a fifty percent chance that any given Houndoom will be immune to fire. And-" He spoke a little louder, to ensure the people could hear him as he guided his group of the path to the exit.
"-Our group is immune to fire. Fifty percent verse one hundred. Do you think they'll take the chance?" Annwn nodded at Ryan's next thought, drawing his wand and holding it in front of him. "LEAVE" he shouted again, only to be greeted by a wave of fire from all twenty canines. Though no fire touched them, shielded as they were by a massive shimmering wall of light centered on Annwn's stick. "Gimme fire, There!" He yelled, pointing at one of the dogs as his own wave of heat shot at the single canine that could not avoid it and was knocked across the room by what amounted to a rocket blast. "One failure! How many more will there be?" He yelled, grinning as another wave came at them. "Shield" No sooner was the fire near them, than it was peeling away from the shimmering wall of light. "Volley, there" He pointed to another random one, who while unharmed by the fire was launched hard into the rock and ice wall by the sheer force of the blast. "Shall we keep going?" There were a few flashes of red light, and the more that were withdrawn, the more would be withdrawn. Until the people were the only ones left facing them, though quickly they fled back down the passage.