Cara met N in Unova. They became sort of long-distance friends. Because of N, Cara started giving lectures to help people respect the wishes of Pokémon, instead of treating them like things to be collected. It's been almost two years since they last met in person. And thus you have the ingredients to bake an interlude.

Polaris-Ponyta, Mia-Alolan Marowak, Marin-Primarina, Lunick-Midnight Lycanroc, Twine-Fomantis, Zetty-Rotom Dex

Strike Team: Shira-Reshiram, Phantom-Darkrai, Link-Raichu, Eon-Espeon, Uber-Umbreon

Chapter 11: City of Ice

That evening, Ben, Hari, and I laid out sleeping bags on the floor of the lab. Lillie got the couch, since she didn't have a sleeping bag. I lay on the floor, staring up at the dark ceiling. My mind was a race track of crazed thoughts, tailor-made to keep someone from falling asleep. Giant, vicious jellyfish, holes between worlds, a machine to sense wormholes.

And then a song started circling around in my brain. It was a welcome distraction, and helped pull me down toward sleep.

"I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in

And stops my mind from wandering

Where it will go.

I'm filling the cracks that ran through the door

And kept my mind from wandering

Where it will go.

And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong,

I'm right where I belong,

I'm right where I belong."

Fixing a hole. I guess we'd done that today. A much… freakier kind of hole.

Just when I was finally nodding off, my phone blared to life. I always thought I had a cool nerdy ringtone: the "Hopes and Dreams" music form Undertale. But when it starts playing in the dead of night, it doesn't sound so cool. Groaning, I rolled over and groggily fumbled through my bag. I was in a different time zone than usual, so sometimes people called, not realizing how late it was in Alola. I pulled out the phone, squinting in its glare. I was about to switch it off when the name of the caller caught my eye. Beside me, Hari and Ben were mumbling in sleepy protest. With my brain tired and fuzzy, I stood and shuffled outside into the Alola night.

"N?" I asked. My voice as I answered the call sounded like it was full of cotton. "How are you?"

"Cara!" The tenseness of his voice instantly wiped the sleep fuzz out of my brain. "You once told me to ask if I needed anything. Well, I need help. We need help. My father's back."

In the warm tropical night, a chill shuddered through me. "What happened?" My throat felt dry, and the words came out in a croak.

"He attacked Opelucid City. He was after some sort of weapon, and he got it. I… I need help facing him."

"Yeah. Yes, of course. Where are you?"

"Opelucid."

"Okay. Great. I'll be right there. I have some fast emergency transport. Is Zekrom with you?"

"Yes."

"I'll bring Shira too."

"Thank you, Cara."

When the call ended, I stood in my pajamas under the Alolan stars, trying to reign my thoughts together. Okay, one step at a time. First I needed to change up my Pokémon Team. I didn't know what I'd be facing, and I needed some of my best to handle whatever might come. And I needed Lily to teleport me to Unova. From there, I'd gather more information. Nodding, and taking deep breaths, I turned and went back inside.

"Wha's up," Ben murmured, sounding very foggy.

"You sounded upset." Hari's voice was much more alert. He could wake up very fast, even in the dead of night.

"Well, yes. Ghetsis attacked Unova. N called for help. I have to go."

Ben swore. He didn't look so sleepy anymore.

"Yeah, I agree." I shivered.

"Cara, we can use this time to help the professors build that wormhole detector," Hari suggested. "It will be perfect, because if any other wormholes do open, you'll be in Unova so the Beasts won't be drawn to attack you."

"As long as they don't attack anyone else," I murmured.

Ben ran a hand through his hair. "There may not be Ultra Beasts, but she has to fight Ghetsis again. You said you barely beat him last time."

I smiled. I couldn't blame him for being concerned about my safety, considering my history. "This time I'll bring some of my most experiences Pokémon." Actually, I felt more comfortable fighting Ghetsis. He was a foe I knew. The Ultra Beasts and wormholes came with vast unknowns, and dangers. "And, this time N will be fighting with me. Not against me. He has Zekrom, and I'll bring Shira. I don't think Ghetsis will be expecting both of us."

But N had mentioned that Ghetsis had some sort of weapon. I bit my lip as I wondered what it could be. Then to my surprise, Ben hugged me. I hugged back. Then I hugged Hari.

"We'll try to make things safer for when you get back to Alola," Ben said.

"Thanks. I really hope that wormholes aren't going to be a regular occurrence though. Getting sucked into on really… sucks."

…

Opelucid City flickered into view before us. Thanks to Lily the Mewtwo, I'd gathered a strike team and made it to Unova in less than an hour. I trusted my Alola team, but going into an unknown dangerous situation called for certain Pokémon.

Lily placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you'll be all right? I should stay to help."

I smiled, mirroring her gesture by putting my hand on her arm. "Thanks. I'd love for you to stay, but I suppose you know what I'm going to say. I don't want Ghetsis to know anything about you. I will call if it goes bad." I had a solid team, and I was confident that they'd get the job done. Shira, of course. Unova was her arena, after all. And there was Phantom, the Darkrai. They were my secret weapons for tough situations like this. The next two slots were easy choices too. Polaris, who was nearly always with me. And Link, the Raichu. Not only was he one of my closest Pokémon friends, but I'd met him when I travelled to that other world. He chose to come home with me. While he looked after Avalon when I was away, he hung out with me during my frequent visits. The last two slots on my team took a little more thought. I finally settled on Eon, the Espeon, and Uber, the Umbreon. They had helped me battle the Kanto Elite Four.

"Good luck. We'll be ready if you need us." Lily teleported back to Avalon, leaving me at the outskirts of the city. I felt a shiver. Not just because I was anxious, which was true. But it was actually cold. Why was it so cold when the sun was shining, and there was only a faint breeze? As I turned and took a step toward the city, something bright caught my eye. The buildings seemed to be gleaming. At first I told myself that the light was hitting the windows. But the sun wasn't in the right position for that. Maybe my eyes were blurry because to me, it was the middle of the night. Freaking time zones.

Then I noticed a strange outline around the buildings. When I realized what it was, I froze. Ice. Opelucid City was encased in ice. Around the outskirts, jagged spires of ice stood like the Sleeping Beauty wall of thorns. I started to pick my way along the slippery surface. I was shivering again, but not just from the cold. There was something about this ice… I reached out a trembling hand to touch the nearest frozen spike. I paused an inch from the surface. It radiated an intense chill, more extreme than normal ice. I'd felt something like this before. As the implications raced through my head, I tried to calm my breathing. My lungs started to gasp from the combination of cold and foreboding. I coaxed my feet to take me forward.

Once I was inside the city, things were worse. Many of the houses were completely entombed in ice. Shining pillars stood ominous sentinel through the streets and gardens. Much of the concrete was covered in a hazardous rime that would make it hard for anyone to walk steadily. I almost slipped several times, just getting into the city. I rounded a corner and saw people. The citizens were gathered in the town square, bundled in blankets and clutching hot drinks. Rescue teams were bringing people out through the opposite side of town. It was easier to get out that way. Someone had a Walrein, which was carrying injured people on her back.

And in the midst of a crowd, I saw a familiar face. I exhaled some of my tension at the sight of my friend. N looked up and raised a hand in greeting. I waved back. I recognized other people in the crowd. Gym leader Drayden was here, of course. Opelucid was his city. But there were others too. Roxie another Unova gym leader, and Shauntal of the Elite Four. Both of them I'd gotten to know during my Unova League challenge. Seeing my old friends made me smile, despite the circumstances.

One by one, they spotted me. Roxie and Shauntal ran over.

"Cara!" Roxie exclaimed. "How's it going?"

"It's great to see you back in Unova!" Shauntal agreed. "It's been a while!"

"It has! I wish I was here under… less complicated circumstances."

Roxie whistled. "No kidding. But it shouldn't take an emergency to bring you back! You need to visit more often!"

I laughed. I had visited a couple times, but I tried not to ask Lily to teleport me around too often. I didn't want to turn her into some kind of magic Taxi.

"I suppose we should let Cara discuss business before we catch up," Shauntal said. She gesture to N, who was talking to a couple people. He looked up as I approached, seeming a bit awkward. I guess I couldn't blame him for that. I hadn't seen him in person since he'd attacked the Unova Pokémon League. Back then, we had been fighting on opposite sides. We ended up parting as sort-of friends, though had only exchanged a few calls since.

I grinned and held out my hand. "It's good to see you again."

N relaxed a bit and shook my hand. "You too. Thanks for coming. You weren't kidding when you said you could get here fast." He hesitated, then whispered, "Does it have to do with your little friend?"

I laughed. "Kinda, yeah." He'd seen Twilight over a video call once. Luckily I knew N would never tell anyone about the Mewtwos. He would never do anything to betray a Pokémon. Then I remembered what I'd noticed on my way in. My smile faded. "N, did you notice the ice? It's… we've seen ice like this before."

He tilted his head, looking confused.

"That time with Keldeo and the others?"

He went pale. The two of us said in unison, "Kyurem."

Roxie, Shauntal, and Drayden took startled breaths.

"You think Ghetsis used Kyurem to freeze the city?" Drayden asked.

"How could he control Kyurem?" N asked.

"How did he even escape prison?" I asked.

"It looks like the Shadow Triad organized a break-out," Shauntal explained.

I hissed, shaking my head. "Why Opelucid City though?"

"They wanted something," Drayden said. "An ancient artifact of my family's. It's called the DNA splicers."

"What is it?" I asked.

Drayden hesitated. "No one knows its purpose. It dates back to the time that Reshiram and Zekrom split."

"When Reshiram and Zekrom split," I murmured. "Kyurem was created from the void they left behind. Ghetsis somehow has control of Kyurem. Whatever he wants those splicers for can't be good."

One of the rescue teams went by, looking frantic. "Ah!" I exclaimed. "There are people trapped in the houses?"

N nodded. "Frozen in."

"Rescue crews have gotten a lot of people out through windows," Drayden said. "But some buildings are almost completely encased in ice."

"And the ice is almost impossibly to break," Shauntal said.

"Our Pokémon could barely make a mark on it," Roxie agreed.

That's what N and I had discovered last time we encountered this ice. It had taken the combined efforts of legendary Pokémon to make any real progress. But Kyurem and Reshiram were linked. Maybe Shira would have more luck. The people around us murmured in awe as I sent out Shira.

She spotted N and studied him for several seconds. "Zekrom is with you?" N nodded. Shira returned the nod, looking satisfied. She was pleased to have her brother nearby.

"Can you help us melt some of Kyurem's ice, Shira?" I asked. "There are people trapped inside."

"Yes. My fire should work well on it."

I sent out Eon the Espeon. He used his psychic powers to search for anyone locked inside. Shira melted the ice with her flames, and the rescue teams went in to save any people and Pokémon trapped inside. The people N had been talking to were part of the original Team Plasma. They had followed N's ideals, and when they learned about Ghetsis's betrayal, they'd turned their efforts to actually helping Pokémon.

Meanwhile, N and Zekrom flew in the direction that Ghetsis had disappeared. He was going to ask the Pokémon for clues to where Ghetsis had fled. As the rescue operation drew on, I found myself staggering and my vision getting blurry.

"Are you okay?" Shauntal asked.

"Sorry." I tried to cover a yawn. "I came here from a different time zone." I glanced at my phone's clock. "Right now my brain's telling me that it's 6 AM."

"You should get some sleep!" Roxie exclaimed.

"But Shira-"

Shira turned toward me. "The time difference isn't as big for me. You go rest. I'll be all right." Eon nodded his agreement.

"Are you sure?"

"Go."