I have one last Pokémon I decided to pick up for the remainder of the game. If you know Platinum as well as I do, the last addition may not come as much of a surprise. But considering that I do intend to keep it for the long haul, the details of its capture will be written. This is also where I diverge from the storyline of the game.
One More Addition
The closer the helicopter got to its destination, the less visible the skies in front of it became. Up ahead was practically an empty void of nothing but a never ending whiteness. And between what he couldn't see, and how heavy his gear was, Chris realized that his sunny days would be over for a few days. Literally.
The only thing visible as the helicopter passed over the mountain was the red smoke that marked the landing point of their destination. Flying through that and landing the chopper on that spot was what convinced Chris to never become a pilot, with just the mere thought of how much pressure that had to involve gave Chris a shiver down his spine. Once he was out of the helicopter and had his snow boots on the ground, he found the snowmobile he was told would be waiting for him. "'Just like your Harley.'" Chris quoted the words said to him as he inspected the vehicle. "We'll see."
They must've meant in how it maneuvers, as aside from steering these controls were absolutely nothing like how Chris would control his Harley. But he had to keep his composure through learning such a foreign vehicle to him, as he was still highly worried about Dawn at this point. A cop riding in the helicopter alongside him advised Chris to have a care as his visibility reduced, as going too fast could result in going airborne should he end up going downhill. He clearly didn't realize Chris had gone airborne on his Pan-Unovan Harley before, but Chris kept that to himself and simply nodded at him.
There was no time to take things slowly. Dawn was a superior trainer to Lucas, yet even so seemed to be the most sadistic of the admins Chris had battled to this point. Dawn might be perfectly fine, but it was not a chance Chris was willing to take. She he didn't slow down for the first portion of his trip, knowing that he could handle any sudden landing the snowmobile might make.
However, as focused as he was on getting to Lake Acuity, he could not turn a blind eye to a scene that he witnessed whilst riding through the snow. An Ursaring was trudging through the snow, in pursuit of something. Then Chris saw a branch from a tree snap, as a tiny dark grey Pokémon with claws and seemingly feathers protruding from its body falls to the ground. The Ursaring then grabs the little one, and hurls it back first into a tree. Seeing this helpless little one outmatched in such a way was more than enough to bring Chris to a stop. He parked up the snowmobile, dismounted, and then activated a Poké Ball. "Hey!" Chris yelled out to the Ursaring, stealing away its attention, as well as its rage.
The massive normal-type turned around to stare Chris down, then began to charge. Wasting no time, Chris threw his ball. "Caesar, Flame Wheel!" Chris highly trained Flame Pokémon emerges into the snowy scenery, and immediately allows its flame to engulf its entire body, as it rolls forth to slams into the charging Ursaring. Ursaring may be the alpha in this territory on any other day, but today Caesar backs it down whilst leaving it with a burn. The Ursaring rolls around in the snow to try to dull the burn, but realizes afterwards that discretion is the better part of valor as it retreats into the woods.
With the Ursaring now long gone, Chris recalls his Infernape before rushing up to the small, injured Pokémon. He doesn't recognize it as he approaches it, nor when it rises as far back up as it can to threaten Chris with its claws. Chris stops walking towards the little one, keeping on hand held out as he reaches into his back to pull out and activate his Pokédex.
After a short second, the Pokédex's robotic voice spoke to him. "Sneasel: The Sharp Claw Pokémon." Obviously was the only word that ran through Chris's mind as he heard that first statement. "Groups of Sneasel will cooperate to steal eggs from the nests of bird Pokémon, but then break out in fights to determine which one gets to eat the eggs." Chris deactivates his Pokédex after reading that this Sneasel is male, and then holds both of his empty hands wide open in an effort to further ease the injured Sneasel's demeanor.
"So you got separated from your pack, huh little one?" The pained Sneasel can only grunt in response. "No one to look out for you. That sounds all too familiar to me." Chris begins to take slow steps towards Sneasel. "But... someone was willing to help me. And I became all the better for it." The Sneasel raises a claw at Chris, who in response moves towards his left to show that he wasn't planning on attacking him. "Maybe that's what you need right now, as well. Sneasel lowers its guard just a little bit as Chris kneels down a few feet to his right.
"I've got some medicine and food back here. I know you're in pain, but you've got to be hungry too, am I right?" The little Ice/Dark-type nods in response. "I can't get you back to one hundred percent on my own, but I can at least make you feel a little better, and take you to someone who can get you back to fighting shape." Chris reaches back into his bag, and the now calm Sneasel simply watches as he pulls out an Oran Berry. "Let's start with this." He says, as he moves the berry up to Sneasel's mouth. The little one eats it out of Chris's hand, and the young Pokémon trainer smiles as he watches this. "Good." He says.
Once the berry is gone, Chris puts his back pack down on the snow, and opens it up. "It'll be easier to tend to your wounds on my snowmobile over there. Can you walk, or would you like me to give you a ride?" Sneasel pauses to look over to the snowmobile, then looks at Chris's bag for a brief second before climbing inside of it. "I figured." Chris says, as he pulls the straps back up onto his shoulders, and walks back to the snowmobile. Once he's standing beside it, he sets it on the seat, and pulls Sneasel out to sit him down.
"Alright. Let's get a good look at you." He grabs the flashlight clipped to the straps of his backpack, and turns it on. The Sneasel lets out an uneasy sound, and Chris suspects the reason as to why. "I won't be shining the light in your face. I'm not a professional." He looks away towards the heavier snow up ahead, and notices that nightfall has begun. "I'll just need this to get a better look at your injuries." Chris moves his hands gently as he grabs at the wild Sneasel's limbs to examine them. "Its just your back, isn't it?" Chris says, as he looks into the Pokémon's eyes. Sneasel nods.
"Okay then. Wrap your arms around my shoulders." Sneasel's pained body slowly does as Chris asks, as he clings onto the much taller human. Although Sneasel's claws push into Chris's jacket, the article of clothing is so thick that he doesn't even notice. Chris shines the flashlight into the bag, as he searches for a bag of cotton balls, and a potion. He finds them, and speaks to the Dark/Ice-type Pokémon. "Spraying your back with a potion would sting way too much, especially considering that it won't heal you up fully anyway." Chris starts to feel around Sneasel's back, searching for the parts that make him wince the most. "But doing it like this will take most of the stinging away, whilst dulling that pain until a Nurse Joy can get a better look at you."
Chris starts to rub the cotton ball all along the wild Sneasel's back, with the little one whimpering from the light stinging feeling. Chris moves his free hand down, and starts to rub at the Sneasel's knee to relax him. "You're okay." He says softly. Chris finishes up with the Pokémon's back, then reaches back into the back pack for one more thing. "You're all set, but first..." Chris pulls out the same blanket he had his Togekiss use at night, when she was just a Togepi. "This should help you stay nice and cozy." He wraps the blanket around Sneasel's shoulders, and feels the wild Pokémon's body start to relax.
Chris takes another look towards the blizzard northward, and sighs. "I have to keep moving, little one. Are you ready to continue on with me to the Pokémon Center?"
"Sneasel." The Pokémon responds, and so Chris zips his jacket up further, to keep Sneasel a bit more secure. Then he reaches into his bag one more time to pull out another belt. This one, he wraps around his torso, and then pulls it as tightly as he can. "You should be secure. The terrain ahead might get real rough at times, but you'll be safe with me. Still, hold on tight but..." Chris pauses, and takes a short look at the claws that are on the verge of pushing into his thick jacket. "Be careful with those claws."
"Sneasel." The little one says back to him, making his understanding known. Chris takes a second to close up his backpack, and pull it back onto his shoulders. The buckle that connects the two straps gives Sneasel one last layer of security, now around his back. Chris fires up the snowmobile again, and gets back on the path.
It didn't take much time at all to get into the depths of the blizzard. Chris turned his bright lights on only 15 minutes after he started riding again. They were enough to help avoid obstacles, living or otherwise, but not enough to give Chris the confidence to go full speed as he had when he first mounted the vehicle. He was only going thirty miles an hour at the moment, and did not intend to push his luck with the injured Sneasel clinging to him.
Despite his cautious driving, the low speed could only make the jumps from the sudden downhill slopes lesser than they would have been, not erase them entirely. Sneasel was getting more than just a little restless, but Chris couldn't comfort him on this terrain with his hands. They had to stay on the handle bars. All he could do was hope that Sneasel could hear him. Then there was good news and bad news situation.
The good news was that they had gotten through the worst of the blizzard, and Chris could now see Lake Acuity because of that. The bad news, was that there was a long drop ahead of him, and he didn't have the time to slow to a stop. "HOLD ON TIGHT!" He yelled out, right before the blades of the snowmobile left the ground. The vehicle took to the air, and Sneasel in a panic penetrated the fabric of Chris's jacket inch by inch. Chris's hands had never squeezed anything as firmly as he did the handlebars. Then a voice from his distant past spoke in his mind. "If your snowmobile should happen to go airborne, stand up, pull up on the handlebars, then sit back down and push back down on the handlebars once the ground gets closer."
That voice quickly sprung Chris into action. He stood up on the snowmobile, and pulled on the handlebars. Then zeroing in on the ground, he sat back down, and pushed the handlebars until he was level again. The vehicle took the impact well, as did Chris's tailbone. Sneasel's claws had pushed a hole through most of the layers on Chris's jacket, but there was still a few inches of clothing between the claws, and Chris's skin. Chris exhaled hard, the memory of the equipment manager from the north pole expedition teaching his father how to operate a snowmobile quickly fading from his mind. Now he was refocusing on Sneasel.
Chris looks down to find the Pokémon starting to calm down. "Are you okay?" The little one nods, which puts a smile on Chris's face. That smile fades quickly however, as he can hear in the distance the sound of a helicopter. Not knowing where exactly it's coming from but certainly knowing that there is only a crescent moon out tonight, Chris knows he needs to hurry. "Let's keep moving." He guns the engine, and takes off to Lake Acuity. He's certain Sneasel won't mind a quick pit stop.
Chris rides the snowmobile over to the clearing leading to Lake Acuity, then shuts off the engine. He looks down at Sneasel, who looks a little uncomfortable after all the turbulence. Chris pauses to take off the second belt from around his stomach, then undo the buckle resting firmly against Sneasel's back. "I need to stop here before I take you to the Pokémon Center." Chris starts, as Sneasel looks up at him. "Do you want to come with me, or wait here?" Sneasel responds by climbing up further on Chris's body, moving to his back to try to get into the bag. Once Chris realizes, he opens up the back so the Sharp Claw Pokémon can get comfortable inside. "Alright then. Let's go."
Navigating his way quietly through the trees, Chris spots the cavern that was all too similar to the caverns at the other two lakes. He sees two men in the distance in front of the cavern, and he can just barely make out their Team Galactic uniforms. Despite this, the sounds of battle were drawing him away from the cavern. He snuck up upon the source of the noise, and saw a battle. Jupiter's Skuntank had just rammed Dawn's Gyarados head first, taking it down. Chris can see Dawn's expression from here, and it is something beyond defeated. It was clear this battle didn't go well.
As Chris creeps his way out from the trees, Dawn speaks with a very shaken tone. "My... my Pokémon." Is all she can say, before falling to her knees.
After recalling her Skuntank, Jupiter lets out a sinister chuckle before speaking. "Oh? Finished already? You've got good Pokémon, I'll give you that. But you yourself are laughably weak."
"Nobody said you were done here." Chris says, as he draws Jupiter's attention away from Dawn.
"I recognize you. Eterna City." She now turns her body to fully face Chris. "Listen. Team Galactic is going to do something huge for everyone's sake."
"No." Chris cuts her off. "It's only for your own sakes, I know it is. So spare me. Actually no, don't do that. As long as I draw breath, your groups is doomed to failure."
"So confident. Maybe you've earned as much." She activates a Poké Ball, and throws out a Golbat. "Lets kill some time."
Chris goes to grab a Poké Ball of his own, then sees that Jupiter's Golbat is starting to really charge at him now. He thinks to move faster, but then suddenly stops as Sneasel's leaps out of his backpack. He curls his claws inward a bit, as the claws go icy. As soon as Sneasel is in range of Jupiter's Golbat, he punches it right on the jaw, and knocks it out cold. Chris didn't know for sure, but he believed that was an Ice Punch.
"Hmm. Perhaps not." Jupiter says, as she recalls her fainted Golbat. That helicopter was now right above everyone's heads, as a ladder dropped down to pick up Jupiter. "I'd advise you stay away from the Veilstone HQ. You will be overrun." Jupiter's yells fell on deaf ears for Chris, a young man who was quite capable for anything, despite being entirely self-taught. All he did was watch as the chopper lifted up high into the sky, disappearing into the night. Then his attention went right back to Dawn.
Chris rushed up to her, Sneasel leaping up to get back into the backpack. He crouched down in front of her, on her knees with her eyes glued to the ground. "Hey." Chris says, as he puts a hand on her shoulder. She moves her shoulder to push his hand off, as she turns away from him. Chris moves back in front of her, and now puts his hands on her head. "Hey!" Chris says, his cry almost a plea for her to speak to him, and not just wallow in her anguish. She looks up into his eyes, and it pains him so much to see her pretty eyes full of tears. Without another word, he pulls her into his embrace, and lets her let it all out on his chest.
There was nothing for the two trainers at Lake Acuity anymore. Despite his sudden burst of energy, Sneasel still had wounds that would be best if a Nurse Joy took a look at them. Chris put the backpack around his front, and allowed Dawn to rest her head against his back as he drove them to Snowpoint City. Once he was there, he asked the Nurse Joy to tend to Sneasel, and Dawn's defeated Pokémon, whilst he found the two of them a room to rent for the night.
As it happened, the rented room was a full on log-cabin, close to the Snowpoint Temple. Snowpoint City may have been the smallest city in the Sinnoh Region, as the cabin was just a short walk from the Pokémon Center itself. Chris walked with Dawn staying as close as she could to him, holding his hand and leaning against his arm. It went without saying for them that they'd talk more about what happened in private.
Later on in the night, Chris met up with an officer sent by Looker at the cabin. He passed on what little information there was to pass on, and the officer also took possession of the snowmobile. Before he left, the officer told Chris that Looker would call him, and send a helicopter to bring him back to Veilstone City. Fine by Chris, as there was a certain battle he needed to win before leaving Snowpoint. Chris was about to go back inside, when he heard something. "Sneasel!"
He looked into the light, and saw his little friend running up to him. "Hey, Sneasel! You look better!"
"Sneasel!" The Dark/Ice-type says with happiness in his voice. "Sneasel, sneas Sneasel?"
"I'll be here for a couple of days, then I gotta get moving again."
"Sneasel, Sneasel!" Sneasel suddenly points to Chris's belt, lined with Poké Balls.
"Wait. Do you wanna come with me?"
"Sneasel!" Sneasel responds affirmatively.
Chris had to remember how this worked, as he currently had six Pokémon with him. Rowan said something about holding an occupied Poké Ball in the hand you don't throw with, meaning Chris's left hand. He decided to grab his Staraptor's Poké Ball, and activate it just to be sure. He then activated an empty Poké Ball, and then looked at Sneasel. "Well then," He prepared himself, then launched the Poké Ball at Sneasel. "Welcome to the team..." Sneasel leaps into the air, and taps the button on the ball. The ball opens up, and Sneasel is absorbed within. After a few turns, the Poké Ball clicks, and Sneasel has officially been capture. Chris holds out his right hand, and the magnetic signal from his gloves returns the ball to his hand. "...Frostclaw." Chris states his new Pokémon's nickname, hoping that it'll stick like all the others have.
Now that that was all said and done, it was time to check on Dawn. Chris stepped back inside the log cabin, and Dawn was still sitting right by the fire. She sat on the rocking chair, a big blanket held tightly around her entire body, as she sipped on a hot chocolate. That distraught expression hadn't left her face since they stepped inside the Pokémon Center, and Chris knew he was the only person who had a chance to make her feel better right now.
There was a couch by that rocking chair, and Chris sat on the edge of the couch closest to Dawn. When she saw him sit down, she reached out to put her hot chocolate down on a coaster, then stood up. Before Chris knew it, she was sitting down next to him, and had them both inside that big blanket so she could cuddle up to him. Chris immediately put his arms around her. The two trainers stared into the fire in silence, time seeming to pass by at a snail's pace.
Then, Chris could practically feel his heart break as he heard Dawn's tone. "I failed, Chris." She starts, making Chris close his eyes tightly to fight back tears of his own. "Uxie. The Pokémon from Lake Acuity. It was in so much pain, they were making it suffer. And I... I couldn't do anything." Her voice is cracking now, and fight as hard as she may, Dawn can't hold her tears back for much longer. "I failed." The tears fall freely down her cheeks now, and she buries her face into Chris's neck.
Chris responds by pulling her into his lap as he lays back on the couch, and wrapping his arms around her to comfort her. He moves a bit more to ensure that they're both comfortable, then his hands start to stroke Dawn while he thinks of what to say. Then he decides to say what he needs to say to make them both believe. "Nobody's failed yet. Because they haven't succeeded. They haven't won. And listen to me. They aren't going to win." Chris pauses, and places a loving kiss on Dawn's forehead before whispering, "I promise you."
Hours pass by, and eventually Dawn does indeed calm down. Chris offers to get them some food, but she states that she doesn't have much of an appetite tonight. She also promises that she'll accompany him to breakfast in the morning.
Midnight has come now, and Chris prepares for bed. He let Dawn get ready first, and took the time to learn more about his newly captured Sneasel. After she was done, he spent all of about five minutes preparing for bed, then walked over to the bed he had put his thing down on. Carrying nothing in his hands, Dawn stopped him from going to his bed by grabbing his hand. Chris stopped dead in his tracks, looking into Dawn's eyes to determine what was going on.
Before either of them said another word, Dawn stepped up to Chris, and planted a long, soft kiss on his lips. Once the two one-time lovers opened their eyes, she spoke to him. "I don't want to spent tonight all alone." She said.
Without thinking about anything else, Chris kissed down more passionately this time. His arms went down to her thighs, as he picked her up off the ground, and she immediately wrapped her legs around his back. Down to just a pair of shorts, Chris didn't hesitate to walk Dawn over to her bed, and gently put her back on the bed as they continued kissing.
But Chris's morality did make him break the kiss for a moment. "Are you sure you want this?" He had to ask, even as he could see the desire burning in her eyes. She quickly nodded her head, and so Chris leaned back down to start kissing her neck, making her pull tighter on his body. The fire from the pit in the cabin being the only thing illuminating the inside of the building was a fitting cherry on top of the night for the two young adults.