The two Galaxy Team members followed Sabi out the back door of the Temple and found themselves standing on a massive balcony that seemed to overlook the entire area of the Alabaster Icelands. The Diamond's Clan Noble Braviary was standing nearby, still wearing his own harness. He was much bigger than Ash's new Braviary, but he seemed very stoic in contrast to the spirit Ash's had. Sabi grabbed a harness off the ground and began attaching it to Ash's Braviary.
"Brav brav." Noble Braviary chirped at her.
"They sure did!" Sabi giggled as she worked. Noble Braviary nodded in approval and approached Ash. He moved his beak through his feathers for a moment before he pulled out another plate and presented it to Ash. Seemingly not surprised by the gesture anymore, Ash accepted the plate and after a moment to examine it, he finally recognized it as the Sky Plate.
"Thank you Noble Braviary. I promise I'll take good care of it." He assured the large Pokemon.
"Ary." Noble Braviary nodded. Ash gave a small smile and put the plate securely in his pack just as Sabi finished attaching the extra harness to Ash's Braviary.
"And there we go. Your very own Braviary Hanglider!" she happily announced.
"How does it feel Braviary?" Ash asked his new partner.
"Brav breviary!" Braviary responded, shaking out his feathers to make himself more comfortable.
"And by hanging onto him we'll be able to fly to where Lord Avalugg's food can be found?" Akari wondered, looking down the mountain nervously.
"That's right!" Sabi grinned, seeming to completely miss how worried Akari was. "If you glide down from here, you'll be able to land on top of the ice down there. That's where you'll find the ingredients for Lord Avalugg's food."
"Then that's what we'll do." Ash nodded as he walked towards the edge without fear.
"Oh boy…" Akari gulped as she nervously followed him toward the edge. Ash's Braviary flew over to them and hovered just over the edge of the cliff, keeping the handlebar of his glider within their reach.
"Hang on tight ok Pikachu?" Ash warned his partner as he grabbed onto the glider.
"Right." Pikachu nodded as he secured his grip on Ash's shoulder. Akari grabbed onto the bar as well, but it was clear she was very nervous, trying to steady her breathing as she looked down the massive cliff.
"W-We're pretty high up..." she commented with a shaking voice as she turned towards Ash worriedly. "Are we sure there isn't another way to that pillar…?"
"We have to do this Akari." Ash reminded her. He then however gave her a small smile. "Don't worry. I'll be with you the entire time."
"Ash…" Akari whispered as she blushed a little. "Thank you...that means a lot to me…"
"You're welcome." He replied with a small smile. They both suddenly heard Sabi giggling behind them and turned around.
"Aww! You both are a cute couple!" she squealed, causing them both to blush heavily.
"W-We're not-" Akari started, but Ash cut her off.
"We're not a couple!" he yelled angrily.
"Rrriiiggghhhttt..." Sabi giggled sarcastically.
"Oh forget it. Let's just go." Ash growled as he turned back to the cliff. Akari sighed before taking a deep breath to calm herself down. However no sooner had she calmed herself down than Ash had jumped off the cliff, pulling her along with him.
"Eek!" she yelled as she stumbled forward. Feeling their weight, Braviary flapped his wings hard and managed to take flight once again, gliding along the winds towards the ice pillar down below. "Whoa!"
"We need to land on the top of that ice!" Ash reminded her, pointing down to the largest of the three pillars on the ground below.
"R-Right!" Akari nodded as she hung onto the handlebar tightly.
"Let's go Braviary!" Ash called. Braviary nodded in agreement and flew right towards the ice peak, increasing his speed and diving to a perfect angle. Both trainers hung on tightly as Braviary glided down, before finally landing on the large piece of ice with a graceful stop.
"Oh thank goodness…" Akari sighed in relief as she finally released her death grip on the handlebar. Ash got back onto his feet as well and looked around their new terrain. He was being very careful, noticing the ice was near seamless on the top. After all, with no one having access to the top, there was no way for it to wear away.
"Be careful Akari. It's slick..." he cautioned her.
"Right..." she nodded as she carefully mirrored his footsteps.
"Now we just need to find what we're looking for." He continued, scanning the large pillar-top area.
"If I recall correctly, normal Avalugg often eat a special kind of ice. It's supposed to have a really sweet quality to it that comes from the lake water." Akari pointed out.
"That makes sense." Ash nodded. "I just hope that there's something to help us distinguish it from the rest of the ice around here.
"Oh! Over there! That must be the ice we're looking for!" she gasped, pointing to a piece of ice growing from the side of the pillar that seemed to be glowing with it's own unique quality compared to the ice surrounding it.
"It must be!" he agreed as he resisted the urge to run over, opting instead to carefully walk towards it to prevent him from slipping and falling to his death. Akari did the same and watched as Ash knelt down and worked on the chunk of ice until he was able to pull it free from the rest of the pillar. "Got it!"
"Alright!" she smiled. He smiled back as he stood back up with the ice in hand.
"Now we just have to get this back to Gaeric and-" they both suddenly heard someone grunting and turned toward the voice. As if he was summoned by Ash's comment, they watched as Gaeric climbed up the pillar and arrived at the top.
"Wahahaha!" he laughed as he squatted in triumph. "At last, this summit has been conquered!"
"Uh…" both trainers stammered. He finally seemed to notice them and turned in their direction.
"Ah! I see you two made it as well!" he beamed proudly.
"You...really climbed up this thing?" Ash stammered.
"I didn't think even our Sneasler and Weavile could climb ice that slick…" Akari added.
"When you have the body you have the means." The Warden responded as he flexed his exposed muscles.
"Well uh…anyway we got the ice you asked for." Akari changed the topic, prompting Ash to present Gaeric with the glittering ice. Gaeric took it and examined it before smiling and nodding in approval.
"That's perfect you two. With a piece this big we'll be able to make plenty of your balms." He announced.
"That's great." Akari smiled.
"So where can we find Lord Avalugg from here?" Ash asked, still eager to continue on.
"You'll be able to find him at the Ice Peak Arena just beyond those mountains. I'll meet you both there." Gaeric explained before he turned and faced the edge. "Now then, don't repeat this amazing feat I'm about to do. A tall leap like this can only be managed by highly toned bodies like mine. Till next we meet!" with that he jumped down, leaving both trainers stunned into silence.
"Uh…" Ash stammered.
"Uh…Guess we'll take Braviary?" Akari suggested.
"Yeah...I have no intention of repeating that stunt..." he nodded.
"That was weird..." Pikachu mumbled from Ash's shoulder.
After another flight with Braviary and following the instructions that Gaeric had given them, Ash and Akari landed at Icepeak Arena. Ash recalled Braviary to his pokeball and both trainers walked over to the Arena Gate flags that were blowing and swaying in the snowy winds. There Gaeric was waiting for them along with a basket full of freshly made balms.
"Glad you both could make it. The balms are all ready to use." Gaeric smiled as he presented the basket to them.
"Thank you Gaeric." Akari smiled as she accepted the basket and divided up the balms evenly between herself and Ash.
"You're both welcome. Do proud by the Pearl Clan and our beloved Lord Avalugg." Gaeric reminded them, earning a nod from both of the trainers.
"Let's get this over with. Ready Akari?" Ash asked, turning towards her.
"Ready as I'll ever be." She said with a nervous breath. With that decided, they each took their share of balms and stepped into the arena, cautiously looking around the area for their opponent. However, despite knowing that they were looking for what was most likely a massive Pokemon, the arena was eerily quiet.
"Where is he…? It can't be that hard to find a big Avalugg..." Ash mumbled to himself. All of a sudden, however, the ground started shaking violently, catching both trainers off guard. "What the...?!"
"Ah!" Akari yelped as she stumbled toward the edge of the arena. From there she could see the ice beneath them cracking as if something was trying to come out from beneath the ice. "Ash get back!"
"Whoa!" Ash gasped as he moved away to more solid ground. Akari moved back as well, just in time to watch as the ice shattered and a mammoth of an Avalugg began to rise out from the ground, glowing with the familiar light of frenzy energy. He looked slightly different from the Avalugg Ash knew from home, but that was far from the most important thing on his mind right now.
"Oh…my...gosh…" she stammered breathlessly.
"You gotta be kidding me...!" Ash said in utter disbelief. That Lord was bigger than any Pokemon he'd ever seen. How could they possibly calm him down?!
"LUGG!" Avalugg roared loudly as the yellow energy burst forth from his body, leaving him in immense pain.
"He's frenzied alright..." Ash growled. "Let's do this Akari..."
"Right…" she nodded. Both trainers charged toward the enraged Lord and started throwing balms as quickly as they could. Each time a balm hit, a tiny puff of ingredients could be seen, but it looked like it did nothing at all to the massive Pokemon. Lord Avalugg roared in pain and then proceeded to launch several high-powered blasts of water at them.
"Look out!" Ash yelled as he jumped out of the way of one of the blasts. Akari yelped and managed to dodge as well, throwing more balms at Avalugg once she regained her footing. Ash followed her lead and threw more balms as well. Seemingly not deterred by their tools, Avalugg roared again and started launching Icicle Spears at them, with size enough to match a heat-seeking missile.
"Incoming!" Akari yelped as she ducked and rolled out of the way of one of the missiles. Ash gasped and dodged as well, narrowly avoiding the projectile. Avalugg continued firing the Icicle Spears at them, forcing them to continue dodging, able to only throw balms after each dodge to keep from getting hit. After what seemed like ages, one of them seemed to get lucky when Avalugg was hit with a balm in the face and became dazed, which stopped his attack.
"Now's our chance!" Ash called Akari.
"Right! Go Sneasler!" she yelled as she threw her pokéball.
"Sneas!" Sneasler announced herself.
"Dartrix help us out!" Ash followed her lead, bringing out Dartrix.
"Dar!" Darktrix yelled with a flip of his head feathers.
"Let's attack together to do some big damage fast!" Ash instructed his team.
"Right!" Akari nodded in agreement before turning back to her partner. "Close Combat let's go!"
"Snea!" Sneasler cried out as she charged quickly toward Avalugg.
"Razor Leaf now!" Ash followed up with his own command.
"Trix!" Dartrix heeded the command and fired Razor Leaf in order to give Sneasler cover. The Razor Leaf was the first move to hit, blinding Avalugg long enough for Sneasler to get in close and unleash her Close Combat. Lord Avalugg roared in pain and stumbled backward from the massive hits, opening an opportunity for Ash and Akari to throw as many balms as they could as quickly as they could. Both of them were down to their last balms when Avalugg seemed to recover from the attacks.
"AVA!" he roared as the ground below them started to glow.
"What the?!" Akari gasped. Ash quickly looked around the area and was shocked to see spears of ice starting to shoot up from the ground around them, quickly closing in on them.
"Throw the balms now!" Ash yelled as he threw his last one. Akari scrambled and threw her's as well, causing both balms to land right in Avalugg's mouth and release their ingredients. Ash quickly dove on top of Akari to shield her from the incoming ice spears, but luckily for them they landed their hits just in roared out loudly as the energy that was plaguing him seemed to start being released from his body, forcing both trainers to shield their eyes. The ice spears stopped just before hitting Ash and Akari and after an intense moment of tension, Avalugg slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, now having returned to his normal coloring.
"Ava...?" he asked, looking down at the two tiny trainers before him. Ash cautiously lowered his arms and let go of Akari, who was still blushing profusely after being pinned under his body. Ignoring her frozen fluster, Ash stood back up onto his feet and cautiously approached the large Lord.
"Hi there...are you feeling better?"
"Ava." Avalugg nodded, earning a smile from Ash as Akari got up onto her feet again.
"That's so great to hear." He smiled. Lord Avalugg seemed to study him for a minute before moving his head towards Ash. Ash was concerned by his action, but he stayed put. Once Avalugg got closer, Ash was suddenly able to spot another plate lodged in one of the cracks in Avalugg's body.
"Lugg." Avalugg insisted. Ash gave a small nod and pulled the plate from Avalugg's body, revealing it to be the Icicle Plate.
"The last one…I hope…" Ash thought to himself as he slipped it into his bag. As Lord Avalugg began his descent back into the powdered snow of the mountain, Akari smiled softly and approached Ash from behind.
"Ash we did it..." she smiled. "We saved them all!"
"Yeah...yeah we did." he said with a small smile of his own. Akari couldn't contain her excitement any further and she eagerly wrapped him up in a hug. He blushed in surprise but decided to hug her back. After all, if he did get the chance to go back home tonight and find out what happened to May, it would be partially because of all her help.
"Let's head back to Jubilife Village and celebrate!" she happily suggested.
"Well uh…" he stammered. "I think first we should report to the Commander about what's happened…"
"Oh of course. Let's do it." Akari realized and then nodded. With that, the two of them left the Arena to head back.
Back in Jubilife Village after the long trek back from the Alabaster Icelands, Ash and Akari were just finishing their report to Commander Kamado in his office.
"Good work. Both of you. I think with that we can close the chapter on this entire mess with confidence. And we have you two to thank for it." The Commander nodded in approval.
"Thank you, Commander." Ash replied.
"Thank you, sir." Akari echoed his sentiment.
"Go ahead and enjoy the evening both of you. You've earned it." He suggested, gesturing for them both to leave his office. His suggestion needed little persuasion from the two of them as they both headed outside. The sunset was nearly over after such a long journey back to the village, and Ash was eager to go to sleep so he could hopefully talk to Arceus and finally get the answers he was looking for. He reached into his pocket and ran his thumb over May's half of their ribbon, which he was still holding close.
"Soon May…please be ok…"
"Ash? Is something wrong...?" Akari's voice suddenly asked, snapping him out of his own thoughts.
"Sorry…just been a long day." He responded, turning towards her and forcing a small smile.
"Well…would you like to celebrate with me?" Akari questioned him hopefully. "We could get some dinner…"
"Akari I…" Ash stammered, trying to find the right words. He wanted to spend one more night in her company, especially to get the chance to thank her for all the help she'd given him over the course of their adventure, but at the same time he knew he couldn't risk spending any more time than necessary with her. Especially if he didn't want to risk getting into another awkward situation with her. As much as he didn't want to, he knew he had to remain strong. "I'm sorry…but I really think I should get some sleep tonight…"
"Oh…a-alright…I'll see you in the morning then…" she sighed, trying not to let her disappointment show. But she did a very poor job as Ash's guilt only grew.
"Right…tomorrow…goodnight Akari…and…thank you for everything." He managed to say before quickly retreating to his barracks. He closed his door and sighed, sitting down on the end of his bed and rubbing his head.
"You did what you had to…" Pikachu assured him.
"I know…I just hope it's really over…I have to know where May is…" Ash sighed.
"Then let's get to sleep and find out…" Pikachu answered as he curled up on the extra pillow.
"Right…" Ash said as he laid down on the bed. "Goodnight buddy…"
"Goodnight Ash…"
To be Continued...