Glaceon, Weavile, and Shinx
Sinnoh was sometimes called the land of four seasons. There was the warm and sunny southern portion that often seemed like summer, with its beaches and the dry region near Oreburgh. There was the spring-like color and wind in the western area of Floaroma and Eterna. Over to the east, there were the autumn-esque chilled rains and trees that tended to turn color early (and stay colored late) around Veilstone. And then there was the northern area of Snowpoint, almost constantly snowy.
It was the official start of winter by the calendar, but Snowpoint had already been cloaked in snow for months. Those who lived there for long enough got used to it, wearing sweaters and snow pants all the time. Except for the local Gym Leader, Candice, who often wore haut couture fashions that were usually more suited for hotter climates. Like today's outfit of a blue gingham mini skirt, a sleeveless white blouse, and a pale blue scarf. A silk scarf, at that. It was quite distinctive and cute on her, but it should not have been appropriate for the ice rink of a gym she ran.
'Someday, I'm going to find out her secret,' Tracy thought. She was a Trainer of the Ice Gym, had been one for ten months now. She wasn't quite as hardy against the cold, so she came to work in various colored parkas or patterned sweaters. While she did her best to put together things that looked good, it wasn't nearly as daring as anything that Candice wore.
Near the end of the day, she was checking over her two Pokemon, a Glaceon named Purdita and a Weavile named Gabriel. There hadn't been many challengers today, so they didn't seem too tired. She and the other Gym Trainers were in a room in back, preparing to close the building for the night.
But the others were gossiping about something. "Yeah, it roams the forests between here and Lake Acuity," one boy said. "We saw it last night, a strange flash that's here and gone."
"But are you sure it's a ghost?" another boy asked. "It could be a Ghost Pokemon."
"Of course it's a ghost. Haven't you heard the story of the girl in white? She was drowned in Lake Acuity over a hundred years ago when her jealous boyfriend pushed her in. Her ghost flickers across the forests in brief flashes, just like me and my brother saw. It is her."
"Creepy," a girl said.
"Isn't the girl in white supposed to be wearing a white dress?" Tracy asked. "You just said it was a low flash along the ground. It's probably some Pokemon."
"I can be the girl in white," Purdita said, swishing her tail smugly.
"No you can't," Gabriel said. "I'm more human shaped than you."
"But I can be!" the Glaceon insisted.
"You could go find out," Candice suggested. "There is an Ice typed Ghost Pokemon which could be mistaken for a girl's ghost. If it is a ghost, you might have an interesting discovery on hand. That is, if you're not too scared."
"I'm not scared," one of the boys insisted. "I'll get proof of that ghost."
Tracy considered the informal challenge. Different Pokemon did come out at night. But it would be so much colder too. At any rate, Gabriel would be able to see in the darkness, so she was less likely to get lost. "You two want to go out for an hour or so?" she asked her Pokemon.
The Weavile smiled and nodded. "Finding a ghost ought to be fun."
Yipping, Purdita stood on her hind legs. "Yeah, I like going outside! Can we go see the rock again?"
"That's a little far," Gabriel pointed out.
Tracy patted Purdita, then put on her gloves. "Okay, let me get prepared and we'll go looking around the forest."
After picking up some potions and Pokeballs from the store, Tracy and her Pokemon followed the west road out of Snowpoint. There was a full moon in the dark sky, so the darkness wasn't that much of a problem. Still, the moonlight caused the snowy forest to have an otherworldly glow, with the sparkles of water crystals and the spots of evergreen in the white. The air would be quiet, then there would be crunches of snow of in the distance, a snap of a frozen stick, or a Pokemon's call seeking something out.
"This is the kind of night you would expect to see ghosts," Tracy said. "That or the lake guardian casting illusions near the water."
Purdita sniffed around the snow, moving about in uneven spurts. "Lots of Pokemon about," she mumbled. "Not sure about ghosts, though."
By the human's side, Gabriel ruffled his natural fur collar and searched all around them. His ears twitched. "I've never seen a Ghost Pokemon in the forest. There were tales of other spirits, though, not just the girl in white."
"Are they friendly?"
He snickered and snapped his claws. "Not all of them." He then hopped towards an icy rock and looked it over. "Hmm…"
"What is it?" The Glaceon looked over at her partner.
"Territory disputes," the Weavile stated, moving his claws above some markings. He scratched out a few of his own. "That ought to throw them for a loop."
"Silly," she muttered, then moved ahead. On sniffing again, her ears pricked up. "Oh, here's something not like the rest. The smell is fresh too."
Gabriel came over and checked it out. "Definitely not a native," he said. Then he waved to Tracy as a signal that they had found something.
"Got a trail then?" she asked. "Good, let's see what it leads us too."
The three went off the regular route and into the evergreen forest itself. Purdita kept to the front, sniffing around to keep track of where the strange Pokemon had gone. Staying with their Trainer in case of trouble, Gabriel looked around for other signs, whether disturbed plants or markings from his kin warning or discussing some stranger. There was a few nibbled plants, stray blue hairs, prints from a Pokemon not used to the snow. But most lost Pokemon wouldn't get this far north of Mount Coronet.
Then the Glaceon stopped, looking up. There was a dark colored Pokemon ahead. There was a spot that flashed, then a mass of bright sparks came off it. After a moment of moving, the flash vanished, leaving just crunches in the snow. "Ack, bright!" Purdita whined.
"Then don't look," Gabriel said, closing his eyes and dropping down on all fours to run after the sound. Purdita yipped at him, then waited for Tracy to start running before chasing him.
"I knew it was some Pokemon," Tracy said, then stumbled briefly. She regained her balance as she kept chasing after her Glaceon.
Ahead of them, Gabriel flicked his collar back to dash under a fir tree. He heard a crackle ahead as the stranger tried to use its flash to throw him off. He kept running, though, until he heard the Pokemon breathing. Then he leaped at it, pinning it down into the snow. Briefly, he opened his eyes to see a small black and blue feline under him. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Let me go!" he replied, struggling in a panic. His fur began to crackle.
"Gabriel!" Tracy called out.
"Hmph." He kept his front paws on the stranger to keep him there, then stepped aside. "You're lucky I'm not one of the wild ones."
"A human?" he said, puzzled.
"Oh, it's a Shinx," Tracy said, coming into view. "That explains the flashes. That's weird, though. You don't see them around here."
The Shinx stilled. "Oh thank goodness. I wasn't sure if I'd find another human."
"The town isn't that far from here," Purdita said, looking to the northeast.
"Uh, really?" He sounded embarrassed, but quickly lost that to his concern. "My Trainer is in trouble; he got hurt in this forest. Can you guys help him get to town?"
"We could get help," Gabriel said, letting the Shinx go. He held his right paw up and made some signs to indicate that this one belonged to another Trainer and that they ought to follow him. "Will you lead us to where your Trainer is?"
He got up. "Yeah, sure. I didn't want to get too far from him. That must be why I didn't find town."
Tracy came up to the Shinx. "With a human, then. That makes more sense; you're hurt, though. Hang on, and then you can lead us where you want." She brought out a potion and sprayed it over the cut on his back. He sniffed it, then started off deeper into the woods.
Fifteen minutes later, they came to a snow cave dug into a drift by a cluster of pines. "He can't move far, so I dug this out for him," the Shinx said.
"Ooo, nice work on it," Pudita noted.
Tracy knelt down by the entrance. "Hello, are you in there?"
A confused male voice answered, "Huh? Are you with the rescue team?"
"No, but I can call them for you. Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, I think I broke my foot a while ago."
"Well stay in there for now; it's probably warmer in there." She pulled her cell phone out of her bag. It had large type buttons, which was useful when making calls in the cold.
While she made the call, Purdita grinned. "You had people thinking you were a ghost, Mr. Shinx, with all that flashing."
"Did I?" he asked. "Oh, and call me Max."
"The observations weren't made by an observant human," Gabriel noted. He flicked some snow at the Glaceon. "But you still can't make yourself look like the girl in white."
She huffed and tilted her diamond-shaped ears back. "I can too! Just watch me."
Moving off a few paces, Purdita closed her eyes to focus her power, then stood up on her hind legs and drew in warmth from the air around her. While it was freezing air, there was still some warm energy she could pull out. She was then surrounded by tiny sparkling icy crystals as the moisture in the air solidified into a diamond dust. And when she was standing like that, it did surround her almost like a dress. That is, until the ice crystals dropped down to the floor.
Max tilted his head. "Wow, that was kind of ghostly," he said.
Swishing her tail, she bounded back over. "Told you I could."
"Maybe if the viewer was further off, it could be successful," Gabriel teased.
The next day, Tracy got to the Gym late. She explained about what the flashes in the woods were. "I went to the hospital to check up on them," she added. "That's why I was late."
"How are they?" Candice asked.
"The Trainer's going to be in the hospital for a while, but the doctor thought that he should recover okay. And I gave the Shinx an extra fleece Pokemon blanket I had around, because the hospital's still cold to visitors."
"Well that's a good reason to be late," the Leader said. "But, you'll still have to close up with me tonight."
Tracy shrugged. "Sure thing."
…
Shinx Diamond entry: All of its fur dazzles if danger is sensed. It flees while the foe is momentarily blinded.
Glaceon Platinum entry: By controlling its body heat, it can freeze the atmosphere around it to make a diamond dust flurry.
Weavile Pearl entry: It sends signals to others by carving odd patterns in frost-covered trees and ice.
The idea of Sinnoh as the land of four seasons doesn't quite work out, as there's no real autumn area. But it's so close! Anyhow, this is for Winter Solstice.