Got around to starting this quite late, been busy moving. Beta read by Sparkfire

Also it just came to mind, but sorry for the super inconsistent chapter formatting. I never came up with a set in stone way to do it, and didn't bother to check previous chapters, so…

Also, this chapter will be notably more gory than the rest of the fic at one point. If you don't like it, well, here's your warning.

Chapter 21: Glimmers of Vibrance Among a Sea of White

Southern Air Continent coast…

"I got us here a plan, Ava. Once we reach Baram Town, I'll give Ninetales a call over the Pokemon Nexus. Best case scenario, I'll be able to hook you up with an escort out to the outer reaches. Maybe. Depending on if there's any evidence he's out there." Typhlosion explained, as the dock of Baram Town came into view.

Baram town was the third largest settlement in the world, second only to Lively Town, and Treasure town. Boasting a fairly large population, and being right on the southwestern coast of the Air Continent made it a good location for trade to the various towns and settlements in the Air Continent.

Baram Town itself had an interesting style of architecture as well, being mostly stone and wood, with a large amount of windmills, and farming. It wasn't nearly as warm as the grass continent, what with the thick layer of snow over the town, but it was still home to many Pokémon. Most of the town was built on a massive raised stone platform, with a bridge down to the docks, and a bridge to the road south, and east.

As Ava and Typhlosion reached the edge of one of the stone bridges leading into town, Ava sighed, her tail tips fiddling with each other. "What if he isn't even on the Air Continent? He could be on sand, somewhere else on Grass, Water, hell, even back on Mist for all we know. Or somewhere else entirely…'' Ava was noticeably stressed, her fur slightly standing on edge.

"Somehow, I feel it won't be a problem. Call it a rescue team's hunch." Typhlosion winked, as they entered the town square. Not many Pokémon seemed to be around. There was a white Zorua, a Drilbur, a Lechonk, and a Gengar. The Gengar was at a table outside the Kangaskhan inn.

"Hold on, is that…?'' Typhlosion seemed intrigued, as he headed over to the Gengar. "You wouldn't happen to be that Gengar would you?"

Gengar sighed. "Yes, we've all heard the story of the 'Evil Gengar' and how he almost destroyed the world, yada yada yada. What do you wa-" he looked up to see a familiar Typhlosion looking at him. "Oh. Typhlosion. It's you." he deadpanned.

"Hey."

Gengar looked him in the eyes. "What did you need? I haven't done anything. I promise. I've been running a solo team since Meanies collapsed."

"Actually, nothing in particular. I just wanted to, well, say hi. I haven't seen you in… Arceus knows how long, at least 30 years. You look like you haven't aged a day since you died." Typhlosion joked.

"Shut up."

"Ok fine. I may as well let you know what I'm even doing here, then." Typhlosion said.

"You know, did I ask-" Gengar started, before being interrupted.

"You remember the time gear incident some 20some years ago, correct? Well… this is that human's daughter. I'm helping her find her friend." he said.

"Okay… uh… nice to meet you I guess, lady? I mean, I don't really care-" Gengar started, being interrupted yet again.

"So I'm helping her travel up north!"

"...you sure that's a good idea? It's the middle of Articunos Moon. It's absolutely freezing up there. And Espeons aren't known for… cold weather."

"I'll try and get her an escort for the colder parts. I could go, but… I'm too old honestly." he stretched his back for effect. "You know? I'll get Absol to meet up with her along the way.

"You're still friends with that mangy Absol? Jeez dude." Gengar said. "Don't you know they're bad luck?"

"That's a load of crock, and you know it." Typhlosion said, annoyed.

Ava, not wanting to bother with their argument any longer, elected to slip away, into the Kangaskhan cafe, and out of the cold. She stood in the doorway for a moment, letting the warm air inside warm her up. Some snow melted off of her fur.

The Kangaskhan at the cash register didn't care, and as Ava went to sit down, she mulled everything over. She hasn't told anyone at the Expedition Society where she was going, and honestly, she didn't want to. She was already mad at Mawile for having taken him out instead of just keeping him there, in Lively town. She wasn't exactly keen on talking to Venus.

Ava was also fairly messy. From the constant travelling, and her own lack of knowledge for how to care for her new fur since she evolved, she was a bit of a mess. Patches of fur were matted or knotted, and it was all slightly overgrown. It was considered proper for Espeons to trim their fur to match the weather, but Ava had been behind on it. It was thick. At least it helped with the weather. She could only imagine what had happened with Ians.

Ian. every time she thought about what happened with Neo and Nova, it made her blood boil. Why were they so stubborn? They had gone from legendary researchers, working with a human hero, to fearing them the way most would an Absol! not to say any Absols deserved it, far from it. Ava had known from her parents' teachings that Absols were among the most respectful Pokemon in the world, with their bad reputations being simply due to superstitions. She sighed.

Venus had told Ava about Ian and Mews's conversation. About how he had been killed as a human by Mew, and saved, but since Mew wasn't one to take disrespect, it hadn't gone well. Apparently Ian had practically marched into her dungeon demanding an explanation. At least he didn't want to go back.

She thought again. They finally found a reason to stay together. They fit each other. Evolved with each other. They even found love in each other. She remembered back to what Ian had said the night they evolved, the moment flashing in her mind.

"Ava, I'm a Pokémon. Through and through. I'm… going to fully accept that now. I… I reject my humanity. If it means I can stay with you, I don't want to be human anymore."

It had clearly meant a lot. He was never the most serious, but opening up to her like that, throwing away a part of who he was… only for it to bite them in the ass… it made her mad. He was moving past his own past. Affirming his identity, and somehow, he was thrown into it all over again. She had been brought into it because of something neither of them could have predicted, and now they were stuck until they got back together. Having to constantly mention it couldn't have been easy.

Until they got back together. She would see him again. She had to. He was her glimmer of vibrance. He had helped her do everything she wanted to, and more. It was only fair that they got to see each other again. They had to.

"Ava? Are you alright?" Typhlosion said from behind her. "...you're crying."

She spun around in surprise. "What? N-no, I'm fine. I'm fine. I was just… uh… thinking." she stammered.

"He was your partner, wasn't he? I get the feeling.'' Typhlosion explained. "

"It doesn't matter, not enough. Look, can we just get going?" she asked, trying to divert the conversation.

"I guess. I'm not going any farther, though. You're on your own. I still have, well, what's left of a rescue team to run. You have the map there, correct?"

"I do. I'll find my way to Mt Freeze on my own." she said.

"An Ice Ninetales lives there. Even if you don't find him there or on the way, well, she's one of the most powerful psychics, despite not being a psychic type. It's part of the spiritual nature of the species." he explained. "Worst case scenario, she'll be able to train you as an Espeon. You mentioned you have no psychic abilities?"

"..None. I haven't had the chance to learn them yet. The only Espeon I knew, well, hates me." she explained. Hate might have been an understatement for Neo. Or an overstatement. She had no real idea.

"Well then I wish you good luck, Ava. Oh, and I told my old partner, Absol, to meet you on the road north at some point. He's one of my best friends. Where on the road, I've got no idea. But if you meet him, he'll help you get there safely.

"Alright. Thank you sir. I'll make it." She stood up, and left the cafe.

Outside, she saw an interesting site. The white and red Zorua she had seen around town earlier, was… being assaulted by a pair of Kecleon. She flinched. That wasn't good. She had heard of the Kecleons… barbaric tactics to deal with theft, but never seen them in person. She slipped past, glad to not be on the receiving end. With a tug of her pink scarf, she started out of town, on the road northeast, hoping to find… something.

A chilled wind blew through the small den, and Ian shot awake, his red eyes having bags below them. It was still dark out, and he shivered. 'Dammit! How long was I asleep for? I don't… fuck…' he thought, collecting himself, and crawling out of the den. It was the middle of the night, or even close to morning. He felt like he hadn't slept a wink, as he started to continue through the snow.

The sight of the aurora in the distance, and mount freeze gave him a sense of hope. The sky was perfectly clear, the stars shining. He knew he had to keep going, and make it to the peak. No matter what happened. He could get help. He had to. Before he froze to death, or starved.

Speaking of food… he was hungry. His belly growled as he trudged ever forwards, his elevation slowly increasing. He had finished off his food last night, and was running on empty. He at least knew how to hunt, from the time he had spent with ava.

He trudged forwards, trying to find a way to hold himself on his paws to keep himself above the snow. It was hard. Really hard. The snow top just seemed barely too weak to support him, and his paws were absolutely freezing. All he could think about was his growing hunger. At least the rest of him wasn't so cold as to kill him. Yet.

In the time since he had evolved, nearly 3 weeks ago, his fur had grown out respectably. He was already looking quite shaggy for an Umbreon, and despite the messiness of it, and the slight blood patches from yesterday, it was at least thick enough to keep him… mostly warm. Above everything, he needed a bath. He hadn't dared clean himself since he arrived here simply due to the cold nature, and not wanting to lose moisture.

Eventually, as he slowly rose, he came across a small pond, mostly frozen over, except for in one spot.

Right in the middle of the pond was a hole in the ice, and a wild Sneasel, cupping the presumably icy water out of it. The Sneasel hadn't noticed Ian yet, simply keeping itself hydrated instead.

Ian began to sneak closer to it. He could hunt it.. At least in theory. He hadn't had much experience with hunting since he had evolved. And a Sneasel was much larger and more dangerous than anything he had fought before this. At least, initiated a fight with. He shook off the thought, and crept closer to it, his hunger getting the best of him. As he got closer to it, the Sneasel spun around, and bared its fangs at the Umbreon. "Sneeeeass!" it yelled, as it held its claws up.

Ians ears shot up, and he tried to look his most threatening. "Uh…" he said, before quickly, the Sneasel began to sprint towards him, claws ready to attack. He dodged out of the way of a swipe from the ice type, landing on the ice covering the pond. He scrambled to his paws, and dodged a tackle, turning around, and pouncing on the ice type in the snow.

In a moment of anger, he bit down on it. The taste of blood rushed into his mouth, and when he broke off, and looked down, well

He had killed it, biting right into the jugular. The wild was bleeding out underneath his paw. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. He had acted on instinct. Again. And he had killed something trying to survive, in his own fight to survive.

He peered down at it, as the last bits of life left its eyes, reflected in his own red irises. He had killed a few rodents before as an Eevee, but it never felt like this. He felt wrong, somehow. He had done it to survive, but was it the right thing?

He shook his head, and looked down at the body yet again. He was hungry… borderline starving. In another act of near instinct, the predator in him made him begin to tear into it, pulling pieces and tendrils out to eat them. He hated it, but the feeling was adrenaline inducing. He had to kill to survive.

After a few minutes, he finished. His mouth practically dripped with blood, and he took a long sigh, before walking over to the small hole in the ice. The water was high enough that he could take drinks of it, and did, hoping to wash the metallic taste of blood from his mouth. He took gulps of the freezing water, clearing his mouth, and giving him a much less thirsty feeling in his stomach.

Satisfied, he slowly continued on, contemplating what had happened. He had let his instincts get the better of him again. Ever since he evolved, it had been happening more and more often. First it was sneaking out of Lively Town at night, and now this? He shuddered. What was happening to him? It scared him.

'Is it pushing me out of my own body? I'm not a feral, I'm not a wild. I… I just wanna go home.' he tried to think of where home even was, but came up with nothing. He had no real home as a Pokemon, and with his past as a human? He could hardly remember it. It had been 16 months and he barely remembered his own human life. How? It didn't seem real.

He continued forwards slowly, his paws dull to the cold of the snow under him. He had reached a long stretch of icy pathway. It seemed to be leading directly towards the side of Mt Freeze. A couple of skinny trees dotted the sides of the path, but between them, Ian could see hills and mountains, coated with snow, going out beyond the horizon. None were as tall as mount freeze, but they weren't far off.

Eventually, as he reached the side of the mountain. He noticed a hole in it. The entrance to a cave. The path up, presumably. Ian took a deep breath, and headed into the icy cave. If he was correct, Ninetales would be at the top, which would be his saving grace.

But as the Umbreon entered the cave, a familiar, and dreadful feeling washed over his entire body. He had forgotten one crucial detail. Mt freeze was a dungeon. And not a simple one. His ears immediately shot up when he felt the feeling cover him, and he tried to turn around… only to be met with a wall of ice. He was already stuck inside, his only option to keep going.

"Shit… shit shit shit… this is bad… fuck…. Fuck fuck…" he stammered. He was worried out of his mind. Dungeons were already dangerous, especially to one's sanity, but alone, and without a bag of items?

He could only hope he didn't die. Or worse, end up a dungeon feral. It was debilitating at best, but at worst?

He didn't want to think of what might happen. His only option was to move forwards. And so, he did, unsure of what would happen.

Oh dear. I sure hope Ian can make it out of a dungeon with his life, and most importantly, his sanity.

Beta read by Sparkfire. Thanks Spark!

Next up? Another RT character, and definitely less edginess than this chapter had.