AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. This one was a lot of fun to explore the version of Nickolas Schnee here. Some may not like this direction with him, but I think it is a cool way for my story. I would say this chapter focus a lot on Weiss, which also has the Ice Queendom anime finally out. I saw the first three episodes and liked it, now waiting for more of the original content to come out. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.
See the most recent Save State Chapter for Cover Art details.
Chapter 44 – Tests of Trust
In the house, the three girls sat on a couch as Nickolas was in a red chair across from them, "So, what would you like to tell me?" He said with a class of what appeared to be milk in his left hand, "Do you wish to say it while sitting on my lap, just like when you were a tiny girl?"
"N-no," Weiss responded, causing Nickolas to take a sip of his milk, "H-how, you're barely older than Winter is?"
"…?" Neo had a look of confusion before taking out a whiteboard, "The season?"
"My sister," Weiss clarified.
"Ah, she was such a stern young girl," Nickolas commented, "Tell me, is she here too?"
"No, she shouldn't be, but why are you!?" Weiss asked, "Grandpa, please?"
"Call me Nick, all of you can." The red Schnee responded, "And after I realized I was dead, I opened my eyes to a creature unlike any Grimm. It was blue and steely in its form, but the red eyes that stared into my soul." He spoke with a smile, looking up, "It then roared with a wave of magic that hit my body to its very core. In that split moment, I found myself in this world, but my fragile form was now that of the prime of my youth again." Nick said before taking a swig of his milk, "That was around five years ago, making me then around the age you are now." He then looked back to Weiss, "Still why are you asking that? You were not changed that way when you came here?"
"I wasn't, and the creature I saw was not like what you just described," Weiss said with the image of the renegade Pokemon coming to her mind, "What my friends and I saw was Giratina, it was shadowy and had a Grimm-like form."
"I see, odd." Nick responded, "Well, I guess I got lucky with what met me in the afterlife." He said smirked, "So, what else do you want to know?"
"Why are you a gym leader here?" Hilda asked, "I thought this place wasn't supposed to have a gym anymore."
"Well, in those five years, I learned a lot about Pokemon and traveled this world." Nick spoke, "It was a lot of fun, I met a lot of beautiful women." He said while looking at his cup of milk, "Including one who made wonderful cookies, I would marry her on the spot if not for her already having a family."
"What about grandma!?" Weiss said in shock.
"Well, it was till death do we part." Nick spoke, with a sigh, "We died, so we parted. I did try to look for her, but she does not seem to be in this world like us." He said with Hilda looking on with half-open eyes, "In any case, I heard the prior gym leader here left and was offered by the Unova league to take his place."
"But my father has ruined our family name back in Remnant." Weiss asked, "Don't you want to go back to put him in his place."
"Weiss, I am dead to that world." Nick responded, "And when I died, I left the responsibility of its future for the Schnee's in the hands of my children and their children." He said with a sigh, "Regardless of its ending, it is the ending I should not interfere with anymore."
"…One more question," Weiss said with a glare, "Do you still care that you're a Schnee?" She said with an icy scowl, "Here where we don't have our family's semblance." She said with a scowl, "I saw the symbol on your house and scarf, but why are you wearing those colors."
"I always preferred red over white but liked the combination the way I have it now." Nickolas spoke, "And the way I see it, my family name means next to nothing here as a legacy." He said before pointing to himself, "Now, a new legacy starts with me." He said before smirking, "But I didn't want to change the symbol, it is still simple and nice." The red Schnee then offered his left hand to Weiss, "However, I would still be honored if you followed in my footsteps as you did before."
"Save it," Weiss said before standing up, "You're no longer the person I looked to for our family's legacy." She said before walking away, "And I do not wish to be part of your new legacy." The white heiress said before slamming the door as she left the house.
"Yikes, so cold." Nick commented, then looked over to Hilda and Neo glaring at her, "What, I was simply being honest with her. If you have a new life, why wouldn't you want to make it a fresh start as much as possible?"
"You don't understand her at all, do you?" Hilda spoke, "Do you even know what her life has been like in her world since you passed away!?"
"Not really, I was dead." Nick commented, then sighed, "However, I did fear that this might happen after that marriage. But I assumed their children would fare better in the world." He said before smiling, "But I knew that Weiss would be alright if she found friends she could trust." He said with Neo having a look of sorrow for a moment.
"What kind of lazy answer is that? I swear I'm gonna-" Hilda said as she cracked a knuckle but was stopped by Neo.
"…" Neo remained quiet before righting on her whiteboard, "Talk with him more about why we came here. I will catch up with her."
"Oh yeah, a badge." Hilda commented on the message, "I don't think she wants one from this guy anymore."
"…" Neo wrote on her whiteboard more, "Let me see with her before we do anything rash."
"Okay, but if she doesn't want one from him," Hilda said, "I'll punch her grandpa between the eyes."
"You aren't saying anything naughty, are you?" Nick asked.
"No," Hilda spoke up, then looked to Neo, "Do what you can?"
"…" Neo nodded before walking out of the room.
Meanwhile.
Back in Opelucid City, Yang looked down in disarray at a textbook as Blake sat near, "So if these two types are associated with a Pokemon, it only has one weakness." The shadowy girl said while pointing at the page, "What is that weakness?"
"Uh, fire?" Yang asked.
"No, it's fairy." Blake answered, causing Yang to lower her head in annoyance, "You know, if you studied more at Beacon this would not seem that hard right now."
"One thing I don't miss about Remnant," Yang responded with a groan, "So, you think those two will be okay with Weiss?"
"Weiss has gotten used to Hilda the same way she got used to you," Blake responded with a smirk, but it soon faded, "As for Neo…"
"It will just take time," Yang responded.
"You truly did become friends with her," Blake said with a sincere smile.
"I wouldn't say that" Yang responded, breaking eye contact.
"She told me about the beds," Blake added, causing Yang's face to turn red, "And that she does appreciate you a lot."
"Oh, she did." Yang said back, still avoiding eye contact, "I guess I do appreciate her too… just a bit."
"Hehe," Blake giggled, "Let's focus on studying."
"Right," Yang said as she went back to the guild, looking over the information for her test, "Thanks for also being nice to her, you're a lot more understanding than I was at first."
"As I said, I trust you and know that you trust her." Blake said, "Over time, Weiss will see that she can trust Neo as well."
"I hope so." Yang responded, "And I hope I don't need too high of a score to pass this thing." She said with Blake having a soft smile on her face.
Meanwhile.
Near Icirrus City, Weiss sat on the edge of a stone bridge. She tossed rocks into the water before noticing the mute girl approaching, "Go away, of all people I don't want to talk with," the white heiress spoke, "I don't want to talk with you the most."
"…" Neo smirked, still walking over, and sitting next to Weiss.
"…Why do care now?" Weiss asked, "You may have made this deal with Yang, but I know you have something up your sleeve. As soon as you see Roman again, this deal will be over, and you two crooks will do something to hurt me and my friends."
"…" Neo waited before writing on her whiteboard, "If I wanted that, I could have done that by now and just focused on finding Roman." The message read, "But Yang trusted me, and I trust her." It read before Neo added more to the message, "I like having more people I can trust. It makes things…less scary."
"Less scary, huh?" Weiss responded, her mind flashing to the moment she left her home and went to Beacon. The only person then she could trust was herself, a white heiress in a black void. However, the images of her partner, teammates, and friends filled her mind. Their presence added light to the void, allowing her to smile, "Yeah, I get that." Weiss said before her smile faded, "But I still don't trust you one bit." She said while clenching a stone, "You're a crook and a liar, that's what you were raised to be." Weiss said before tossing a stone into the water, "And that's all you can ever be."
"…" Neo had a look of remorse, feeling that while those words hurt, they were not fully directed at her. She then took her whiteboard, cleared it, then wrote a new message, "My real name is Trivia Vanilla."
"What?" Weiss read before realizing something, "Wait, Vanilla? Does that mean you're the daughter of that politician who died in an explosion with his wife?"
"Yes," a new message was shown, "On that day, my old self died with my parents, and I choose to be Neopolitan going forward." Neo wrote, "My father, he was a corrupt politician who took bribes from whoever paid the most. And my mother, she never understood me, and never bothered to try and understand who I was or what I was dealing with."
"I see…" Weiss said, feeling like she understood those words a little too much.
"But Roman, he understood that all I wanted was to be free. Free to be whoever I wanted to be… Free to be Neopolitan." Neo wrote, "After that night, Roman became by One Thing that connected me to reality." She said as tears formed in her eyes, "I cannot lose him, or else I don't know what I will do with myself."
"…" Weiss waited to respond, "Do Leaf or Yang know this?"
"…" Neo erased before making a new message, "You're the only one I have told this to." It read before Neo added more, "It is very hard for me to even write these things."
"So why tell me all of this?" Weiss responded, then looked back at the new message.
"You don't have to be the person you think you are supposed to be," Neo wrote, "You can be the person you want to be."
"You don't get it, I'm a Schnee. I wanted to be like what I thought my grandpa was and honor the name of our family." Weiss responded, "But he cast that honor as a side to be…that. He isn't the Schnee I based my whole ideals on anymore." She said before scowling, "It's so selfish."
"Roman said it is okay to be selfish at times." Neo wrote.
"He would say that" Weiss commented with half-open eyes, then saw Neo write more.
"If you're not selfish, then you don't care about what exists outside your grasp." Neo wrote, "You need to want something for that something to have a value worth waiting for."
"I…never looked at it that way," Weiss responded as Neo smiled, "So if I want to be a Schnee that honors the heritage, I need to aspire for it with all my desire to make it happen." She said with a smile forming, "Heh, I was already doing that." The white heiress said before standing up, "But, I will do that because it is how I want my family name to be now, not for what I believe it was with my grandpa."
"…" Neo nodded before standing up too, then turned around to walk back. However, something else was on the bridge, "…?"
"What is it?" Weiss looked over to discover a Pokemon.
It is made of different shades of green clay in the form of a small ball-shaped doll only a meter tall. However, a light appeared to glow from the inside of this creature out of its eyes and shoulders, "Golett." It spoke, despite not having a mouth.
"Golett?" Weiss repeated, then saw Neo write something.
"It looks like a mini of one of those Atlas things?" Neo wrote.
"You mean a Paladin?" Weiss clarified, then looked back to Golett, "I guess, but I think it almost looks like a knight." She said before smiling, "And I think it wants to fight."
"Golett," the clay knight Pokemon spoke with a nod, then pointed at the white heiress.
"Okay, I'll be your opponent." Weiss said as she readied a Pokeball as Neo gave when some space, "Go, Zangoose!"
"Zan!" the cat-ferret Pokemon appeared and readied its claws.
"Use Crush Claw," Weiss called out with her Pokemon rushing in, its left claw glowing in a white aura. However, the slash went through the clay pokemon's body as if it wasn't there. "What?"
Meanwhile.
"Oh, so normal type moves cannot hit ghost-type Pokemon," Yang said with Blake nodding, "Good to know."
Meanwhile.
"Golett!" the clay knight Pokemon reeled back its left arm, its hand glowing in the white aura before gut punching Zangoose. The cat-ferret Pokemon flew back slamming into the castle wall. Weiss looked back in a gasp as Zangoose fainted in the rubble.
"Tsk," Weiss recalled her Pokemon before reading another Pokeball, "Go, Milotic!"
"Miii!" the Tender Pokemon said as she appeared.
"Use Aqua Tail!" Weiss called out with Milotic unleashing its attack. However, Golett dodged the hit, then waited for the water aura around the tail to fade. It then grabbed the tail before picking up the tender Pokemon, then swung her around at high speed before tossing Milotic into the wall as well. Weiss looked back in shock as her second Pokemon was taken out so easily, "Return." Weiss said as she recalled Milotic, then tossed another Pokeball, "Go, Tyrantrum!"
"Ty-" Tyrantrum tried to roar but Golett jumped overhead. Its left arm was raised with an orange aura before it was brought down on the t-rex pokemon's head like a hammer. Tyrantrum was slammed into the bridge, its jaw hitting the ground as its back legs before its stomach did, "Ty…" he said with swirling eyes before Golett landed on the ground with the same blank expression as before.
"…" Neo and Weiss looked on with stunned silence before the white heiress spoke up, "How is something so small so powerful?" Weiss said with Neo pouting, slightly taking offense to that statement. The white heiress then recalled the t-rex Pokemon before getting out her last Pokeball, "It's up to you now. Go, Vulpix!"
"Vul!" the snow fox Pokemon said.
"Aroura Beam!" Weiss called out with Vulpix unleashing the ice light attack.
"Gol," Golett blocked the attack with its arms, but was pushed back with the force of the impact, "Golett." Golett rushed in again with a left arm reeled back for a mega punch again.
"Dodge it," Weiss said with Vulpix jumping the attack, "Now Ice Shard!"
"Vul!" Vulpix said before firing the ice projectiles from its mouth. However, Golett's body radiated a silver aura. The ice then broke against its body, shattering as if it was hitting iron. The clay knight Pokemon then held out its hand before unleashing a shadow ball, colliding with the white fox Pokemon, "Vul!" Vulpix said before hitting the ground.
"Oh no," Weiss said in a panic as Vulpix struggled to get up. The white heiress then gasped as Golett jumped with its fist raised for a hammer arm attack, "Quick use Mist and dodge." She said with the snow fox Pokemon expelling the mist from its mouth to shroud its body. The Golett hit with its Hammer Arm but revealed that it only struck the ground, "Ice Shard!" Weiss said as the unaware Golett was hit in the back by the cold projectiles. The clay knight Pokemon staggered before turning around to where Vulpix was seen, "Aurora Beam again, and give it all you got!"
"VUL!" Vulpix unleashed a powerful Aurora Beam, which Golett tried to block like before. However, the clay knight was pushed back more before hitting the edge of the bridge.
"Gol?" Golett said before falling off and into the water below.
"Yes, we got it!" Weiss cheered, then readied a Pokeball, "Now, when it comes up, it will be perfect for me to catch it." She said with Neo nodding, then waited while looking at the water, "…" they waited, "…" the continued to wait with a look of worry as they did not see bubbles, "…Uh…"
"…" Neo wrote on her whiteboard, "Can that thing swim if it's made from clay?"
"Oh crap!" Weiss said before she pulled off her jacket and tossed it aside, "I have it save that Pokemon!" she said before diving into the water. As Weiss searched, she quickly found Golett near the bottom, unmoving as its body was warping with the water. She dove to the clay knight Pokemon and tried to move it but was struggling with its weight. Weiss did not quit trying but was quickly running out of air. Suddenly, the white heiress noticed Neo in the water as well, helping to move Golett, to two looked at each other before heaving, unloading Golett from the bottom. However, neither had the strength to move the clay Pokemon to the surface.
Suddenly, a black energy whip coiled around Golett. Weiss had a look of confusion as Neo grabbed the whip, "…!" Neo looked at Weiss with the white heiress hesitating but then nodded as she grabbed the whip as well. the two girls pulled, helping drag Golett out of the water. They reached the surface with both gasping for air, slightly coughing up some water at the last second.
"Where did that whip come from?" Weiss looked over, discovering Zorua was the one who created the black whips with its lash out. Next to the tricky fox Pokemon were all of Neo's other Pokemon and Vulpix, each tired from pulling the trio out of the water, "All of them helped save Golett." She said before looking to Neo, "And me, I would have drowned before getting out of there." Weiss said with a smile forming, "Thanks."
"…" Neo nodded with a matching smile, then looked back to Golett, "…?"
"Hm?" Weiss looked as well, seeing Golett staring at the white heiress, "Huh, I guess we still have our battle." She said before Golett moved over and reached into Weiss's pocket, "Hey! What are you?" the white heiress said before seeing Golett pull out a Pokeball, then hit its body with the button. Weiss and Neo gasped as the clay knight Pokemon was ensnared, causing the ball to shake before a click was heard, "Uh…did that Pokemon just catch…itself." She said before looking at Neo.
"…?" Neo shrugged in confusion.
"…Let's just head back?" Weiss said with Neo nodded, causing them to recall all their Pokemon before returning to Icirrus City. In front of the Pokemon Center, Hilda and Nick were seen, "What do you want?" she said in a cold voice to the red Schnee.
"Well, I heard you are in the Pokemon World League." Nick said, "So, I wanted to offer you a chance to take on my gym."
"I did intend to, but-" Weiss said until interrupted.
"However, I heard you only have two badges, so I will have to decline," Nick spoke.
"What!?" Weiss said in taking offense, "How dare you!?"
"Sorry, but I want to take on people at their best." Nick said with a smirk, "So, come back here when you have another badge and a full team." He said before winking, "And be prepared to lose."
"You!" Weiss scowled, "Fine, I will be back!" she said before pointing, "But I'll be the one to beat you and prove the Schnee I am."
"Looking forward to it," Nick said with his hands in his pockets.
"Huff," Weiss scoffed before walking away, heading out of the city.
"Welp, that settles that." Hilda said as she clapped her hands, "I guess we can head back to cheer Yang on during her match." She said while looking at Neo, "How did your talk go?"
"…" Neo smiled before looking over to Nick.
"Do me favor, look out for her." Nick spoke, "Weiss has a lot of passion, that can make her come off as critical at first. But give her time and she will warm up." He said before smiling, "It's one of the traits all the best Schnee's have, even if they don't realize it."
"…" Neo nodded, then ran to catch up to Weiss.
Nick smiled before looking to Hilda, "Can you do the same?"
"Of course, but not because you say so." Hilda said, then scowled, "Because I'm her friend."
"Ohohoho, I see," Nick said, "Then I know I can trust you." He said before Hilda ran away to catch up with the others, and the red Schnee went back to his cabin, "Weiss, I do want to see just how much you have grown while I was away."
While walking, Hilda looked at Weiss holding the Pokeball, "You caught a Golett that used the ball on itself?" the hotheaded trainer asked with Weiss nodding, "How and why?"
"…" Neo look on before taking out her whiteboard, "Maybe it wanted to be caught by you at that point."
"I guess, we did save it from melting at the bottom of that lake." Weiss said as she looked at the Pokeball, "This one was looking at me weird the whole time?"
Meanwhile.
"Golett, the Automaton Pokémon." Yang read from a textbook, showing an image of the clay knight Pokemon, "They were sculpted from clay in ancient times. No one knows why, but some of them are driven to continually line up boulders." She continued to read, "It received orders from its master many thousands of years ago, and it still follows those orders to this day." The blond brawler turned to Blake, "So, this Pokemon was manmade?"
"I heard this is the case for a lot of Pokemon over time," Blake answered, looking down at the page, "Still, I wonder what life is like for someone like this?"
Meanwhile.
Inside the Pokeball, Golett's mind wondered about its past. It looked up towards an old man with white hair, blue eyes, and a soft smile. As that man faded away, Golett wandered the land in search of someone. Occasionally, it would see people with matching features, but after a battle, would walk away. In the present time, it looked at Weiss as if something it had been searching for was finally found, "Gol," Golett said with its blank expression, but was somehow filled with peace.
AN: There you go, Weiss now has five Pokemon to her team. I had some people say her ghost type should be a Dusknoir or Froslass, but I think Golett fits her the best. To explain the ending a bit, an earlier ancestor to Schnee's created a Golett to help any other Schnee it deemed worth serving, so here we are. Nick is a lot more lax than I think people thought, but that is kind of the point. He is not an old man anymore; he is a young buck who wants to see what he can do in a second life now. I was going to have a small battle with him here, but I will save it for later as Weiss's final gym battle. With her, she finally decided to accept Neo more after learning her backstory and how Neo has changed since spending so much time with Yang. I pull a lot from the Roman Holiday story, which I debated if I wanted it to be canon here and have decided to do so. The group will head back to see if Yang can pass a test before her gym battle, then I think I will take a break from this series to go back to some other of my stories. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.