Larvesta and Cryogonal
"And they say, that at the top of the mountain, there's a Pokemon that never dies. No matter how many battles it gets in or how much time passes, it's always there, luring other Pokemon into its cave to their deaths."
Aria the Larvesta widened her eyes. "Really? But that sounds horrible. Why does it have to kill others because it can't die? And how would a Pokemon never die? Unless it's a legendary Pokemon, but we haven't heard anything like that living around here."
Her brother Crimson rubbed his forelimbs together. "Nobody knows why the deaths happen, cause nobody comes back. I heard about it from some travelers."
"But then how did they know if nobody comes back? You're making things up again." She made a small flame come from one of her horns. "I bet there's nobody like that at the peak. And you'd better not be telling that story to the visitors. We don't need to scare them away."
"You're just saying that cause you're scared," he retorted.
"I am not!"
"Then why don't you prove it and go up there?"
Aria swatted at him with a horn. "Because I can't, dummy. It's my week to keep the torches lit, so I have to stay down here."
"You're just using that as an excuse." He swatted back at her.
If this kept going, it'd end up with a fight and they'd get in trouble with the head priest of the volcano's shrine. "It's my responsibility and I'm not budging." She began crawling away.
But Crimson wouldn't give up. "You're just putting it off hoping that I'll forget about it next week. Coward."
"Well why aren't you offering to go up and check the story out?" she asked. Although she wouldn't trust him when he got back, it would at least give her some time to talk about it with the priest and get some advice.
"Because nobody would mistake me for a coward," he pestered. And he kept pestering her, even as she tried to get some chores done in an effort to shake him.
"Don't you have anything better to do than nagging me?" Aria finally snapped at him. "I have work to get done around here, and so should you."
"What, do you not like me? You're a horrible sister." He sniffled, tears appearing in his eyes.
"Are you two fighting again?" the head priest asked, coming into the room. The Mienshao crossed his arms over his chest. "What is it this time?"
"She's being horrible to me!" Crimson whined.
Aria rolled her eyes. "He won't stop bugging me about this story about a Pokemon that won't die on top of the mountain, and keeps trying to get me to go up there. He calls me a coward for not going up there, but isn't going himself and tries to get in the way of me doing my chores."
"That story, huh? Well why don't you both go up to check out the peak? I hear it centers around a certain icy cave up there."
"But what about the torches?" Crimson asked.
"That's my job, and why I'm not going," Aria said.
"I'll handle the torches for tonight," the priest said. "You two go on up and see what's there. I'll expect a good report out of both of you."
And that's how the two Larvesta ended up hiking along the trails that led to the snowy peak of the volcano. "Why do you always have to cause us so much trouble?" Crimson asked.
Aria was trying her best not to respond to him this time, no matter how much he blamed her. Sometimes Crimson wasn't so annoying. However, having to share the same small room and being around him constantly seemed to make him much worse than he had been before. She couldn't wait for something to come up that would get him out of her hair.
Thankfully, they did have a good coat of hair around their bodies or the cold up here would be bad. "Kind of strange that there's so much snow and ice up here when we know that it's a volcano," she said. "It must be sleeping hard."
"Like you do when you snore," Crimson said, kicking some snow at her. When she didn't say anything in response, he added, "Aw, come on. If you're really sick of me, why don't you move back to the other side of the mountain with mom? I can handle all the shrine chores and make a better priest than you."
"Is that what this is about?" Aria asked. "Look, being the shrine's priest isn't a job you can be a slacker about. And if you really want it that bad, then this is exactly the wrong way to go about it."
"What am I doing wrong? I'm just trying to be friendly, and encourage you to explore and be nice more. You're so abrasive, and cold, and stuck in drudgery." And he kept dragging her into arguments. She tried to hurry ahead, but Crimson followed. "That's exactly what I mean! You're so mean!"
"What are you kids doing here, making such a racket?" a strange voice asked them. It had a stiff but clear quality. This may have been because the speaker, when she looked up to see him, was made entirely out of ice. With sparkling tendrils of ice crystals following him, the stranger approached them.
"What are you doing interrupting our conversation?" Crimson said, acting like it had been terribly rude. "Who do you think you are, anyhow?"
"Crimson, he lives here," Aria said. "Sorry sir, we were supposed to be looking..."
"I'll explain," he said. "We're discussing important matters and looking for an ice cave, so if you'll just leave us alone, thank you."
"If you want an ice cave, they're all over," the stranger said. "But you would do well to be quiet, especially since you both are fiery in nature. Some of the more sensitive Pokemon might trigger avalanches."
He didn't like being told that. "If they're going to let some talking bother them so much, they need to toughen up. I've got every right to be here like any other Pokemon, and..."
"Crimson," she said in warning.
"Don't tell me what to do," he retorted immediately. "Just leave us be, it's nothing for you to be concerned about."
"Actually, I don't think I want you being here, not with that attitude," the crystalline Pokemon said. His icy surface glistened as he seemed to be gathering power.
Aria thought it prudent to get out of the way, while Crimson shook his horns. "What're you picking a fight with me for? I've done nothing wrong. You're going to pay for that foolishness." He launched several fireballs from his five horns while the stranger sent ice crystals that were nearly as large as the Larvesta at him. Crimson shuddered, but dug his feet in for another attack.
As for the stranger, his body hissed and turned into steam. Aria was shocked by that. "Huh? You, you destroyed him."
"That's cause I'm strong, and brave, unlike a certain somebody," he said.
"Not quite," the stranger's voice said. More ice crystals appeared and hurled themselves at Crimson.
That changed his tune. "Wha-wha-waaaaah! It's real, it's him!" Crimson hurried out of the barrage of ice, running as fast as his legs to carry him.
It was certainly strange. But, Aria felt it was important not to leave a bad impression on this Pokemon. "I'm really sorry about that. I'll leave if you don't like the trespassing."
Shifting the cloud of steam and condensing it, the image of the stranger appeared. "I don't mind visitors, but one must have respect. And some of the Pokemon here are indeed cranky this time of year. I am Hector of the Cryogonal clan."
"Ah. Well I'm Aria, a Larvesta. My brother and I live at the shrine at the base of this volcano."
Hector made a welcoming gesture with the stream of one of his crystal tails. "Ah, it's been many years since we've seen one of you up here. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"If it's all right," she said, nodding. "We came investigating a story that there was a Pokemon that could never die up here, and that it killed those who went into its icy cave. But so many travelers and explorers climb up and down the mountain that I thought it was an exaggeration."
By now, the Cryogonal had made some of his ice reform. "Is that story still going around? Seems strange to me, but it started with a rumor about us. As you can see, I have a tendency to melt and break easily. But I can remain conscious and reform, given that it's cold enough for me to do so."
"Wow, that sounds like it would hurt," Aria said. She couldn't imagine losing parts of her body, or even her whole body, on a regular basis.
He shook himself. "Sometimes, but times like now aren't that bad. And like you, our clan is rarely seen. Other Pokemon can't always tell the difference between Cryogonals. Then we tend to live in the same places for many generations, making it appear as if the 'one' living there never dies."
"That makes sense. And yeah, sometimes others can't tell me and my brother apart until we start talking." She rubbed her nose, considering whether she wanted to ask about the other part of the story.
Hector answered without her doing so. "And about Pokemon getting killed... it happens. The trail you're on is safe because it's maintained. Once you get off the path, there's many dangers, even to those of us who live here. The ice on top of a mountain that bears great fire in the caves below, it makes the ground and plants different here. Many are not prepared. But, that's partly why myself and generations of my clan before me live here. We find those in trouble and get them back to safety. That's partly why your shrine is below, as a place for them to recover, or prepare by asking for divine protection."
That made sense. "Oh, so you're like the Magmortar who lives at the shrine in the fire caves? That's great."
By now, Hector was almost entirely frozen again. "Yes. It's not always obvious, but the shrines share a purpose, and traditions that not everyone sees. Would you like to come see the ice shrine? You'll need to be careful; it shouldn't melt to your body heat alone, but it may become slick."
She lifted her front end up happily. "Sure, that's be great! I only knew about the other two shrines."
"It's still some ways off, so you should probably stay the night there. I can prepare the warm room for you to sleep in." Hector then floated over the snow, Aria following after him.
The following day at noon, she arrived back at the main shrine where she lived. The Mienshao priest was in the main room, cleaning the wall scrolls with Crimson. "Ah, I thought you'd be coming back soon," he said, nodding.
"Aria, you came back?" Crimson asked, surprised. "Wow, that's great! I was worried that you'd gotten lost." He sniffled.
"There wasn't any reason to worry," Aria said, feeling happy enough at her discovery that she didn't care about him being dramatic. "Hector watches over another shrine at the top of the mountain! And he knows lots of great stories."
"Then what about the story of the deadly unkillable Pokemon?" the head priest asked.
She shook her head. "That's a misunderstanding. The volcano's more dangerous than any Pokemon that lives on it, and it sleeps."
"And we pray that it continues to sleep for many years." He nodded. "Good work, Aria. You ought to be more like her, Crimson."
Crimson bristled his hair up. "What? But, but she..."
"No excuses," the priest said. "Aria, you can take a week off to visit your mother, or the other shrines if you wish to study more. Crimson will handle all of the apprentice work here, and then we'll discuss what he really wants to do."
"Why me?" he asked.
"Thanks, I'll make sure mom is okay and then study hard," Aria said. Maybe this would make her brother rethink his attitude and how he did things. That would make things much better.
…
Cryogonal Black entry: When its body temperature goes up, it turns into steam and vanishes. When its temperature lowers, it returns to ice.
Larvesta White entry: The base of volcanoes is where they makes their home. They shoot fire from their five horns to repel attacking enemies.
I don't count the Mienshao character here since his role could have been taken by any Pokemon; I just needed a minor character there. But Ice Pokemon are all covered... for now, at least.