Here, Have a Cookie a Pokemon Fanfiction

Cold wind blew out from the mouth of the cave as I stared down into the cavernous chambers below, the yawning void descending down. Ice coated the sides of the walls and dangled down from the top of the cave in sharp, jagged spears. Damn thing looked like it wanted to swallow me whole.

“Be brave, Lea,” I muttered to myself, pulling my coat tighter around my shoulders as movement started to writhe from beneath the layers I had dawned for this expedition.

Emilie stuck her head out from a small opening at the top of my zipper and looked up at me, her eyebrows pulled together as she shifted her gaze around the clearing. “Where the hell is he?”

I sighed, doing my best to hide my chattering teeth. “We’re not his only responsibilities, Emilie.” I glanced up toward the cloudy sky and winced as the wind once again shifted direction.

Emilie just kept her mouth closed and stared down into the cave.

I reached up and patted her on the head, which was now covered with a small green beanie. “We’ll find them, don’t worry.”

Emilie turned up and smirked, before batting my hand away. “Don’t treat me like a kid…” Her complaint lacked its usual heat. “Finding them isn’t what I’m worried about. It’s how we’ll find them.”

“They were prepared for the worst when they went down. I’ve got faith in-”

Emilie shot me a look that I didn’t know how to respond to. I just snapped my mouth closed and looked back down the cave.

We stood in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time as Emilie lightly shivered.

“You can hide out in your poke ball, you know? I’ve got Lucas and Duskull out here with me,” I said.

Emilie shook her head with a smile as a small glowing blue light shone from my shadow. “I’m staying out here to keep an eye on you. Got it?” She shivered. “You were alone in your vision. I’m not going to let that happen. I’ll deal.”

I nodded, before smiling at her mischievously. “Would now be a bad time to state that you look absolutely adorable in that beanie?”

Emilie buried herself in my coat again and I started chuckling.

“Surprised to see you in high spirits,” a voice said from behind me.

I turned and grinned, my eyes locked to the eight poke balls strapped to his belt as I took in just how puffy he looked. Legends above, how many layers was he wearing? “If I didn’t make jokes with my Pokémon, I’d be a freaked out ball of panic and nerves.” I stopped as I let the previous night play out across my mind. “That’s not helping anyone. I need to be at my best.”

“Well said. Are you ready to go?” he asked as he walked forward toward the cave, a flashlight in hand.

Three hours ago

I pulled my phone away from my ear, my heartbeat picking up in pace as I tapped on May’s profile in the contacts again and hit call as Sol and Duskull ducked out of the room. It rang once, twice, three times...

“Lea?” Emilie poked her head up from her spot at the table first as the line once again went to voicemail.

I hadn’t even known that Sergei had a damn voicemail. “If this is a practical joke, I’m figuring out a way to break into that damn case.”

Lucas, Joern, and Apollo were now glancing my way. I didn’t need those looks right now, damn it.

Okay, deep breaths. Just think. Maybe Sergei was busy with something. Wouldn’t be the first time. Scroll up, and... score! Jasmine was in here. Alright, so just call, and...

“The number you are dialing is no longer in service.” A long, dead tone filled my ears as my heart fell to the bottom of my stomach.

Jasmine was always on her phone. That girl would sooner die than see anything bad happen to that damn thing! There was a north of ninety percent chance that she’d probably be buried with that stupid piece of plastic and circuitry.

Visions of frozen statues played through my head, and I bit back a curse.

‘Everything alright, captain?’ Apollo was the first one to break the tension, his eyes glued to the offending piece of junk in my hand.

My mouth felt like sandpaper. “I can’t reach them.”

Emilie teleported up to my shoulder and frowned. “Doesn’t Sergei have-”

“Yes!” I winced as my starter flinched at the volume. “I don’t even know what you were going to ask, but I’m pretty damn sure Sergei has it. That damn phone has everything you can think of on there.”

‘Well, maybe the signal is being blocked,’ Joern suggested.

The group as a whole shifted their gaze to the lily pad Pokémon.

‘What? That felt like the obvious conclusion to make.’ Joern shrugged his shoulders as Lucas sighed.

‘That conclusion is probably a lot better than what’s running through Lea’s head right now.’ Lucas nodded once, the decals on his sheath that resembled eyebrows scrunching up as he glanced toward me. ‘I’m not exactly hip to how the new fangled cellular devices you kids use work. What could block a signal?’

“I, uh...” Honestly, what COULD block Sergei? I saw how long the damn list of safeguards was in the manual May didn’t read.

My girl really did pick the weirdest things to not nerd out about.

“Really strong electromagnets,” I finally settled on. “Maybe a Pokémon with an absurdly strong Lightning Rod ability or a really advanced machine based Pokémon.”

The latter options were a bit of a stretch.

I nearly launched myself into the damn ceiling when Wally’s phone started buzzing in my hand. New message from Sergei, oh thank-

The second I opened the message, Wally’s phone almost seemed to scream in pain as the screen started to glitch out. The white background shifted blue in color as an image flickered in and out of screen, then bright red as a loud, high-pitched whine assaulted my ears. Before I could even think of hitting the back key to try and get out of this mess, the phone went black, before displaying the Devon Logo as it started to reboot.

“What the fuck was that?” Emilie asked, giving the phone a wide-eyed stare as she leaned away from the device.

I glanced her way, my expression a mirror of hers. “You think I know?” Legends above my voice was cracking.

Before Emilie could answer, a single image displayed on the screen, taking up the whole phone. A bunch of tiny holes had been gouged into a smooth sheet of ice in some kind of odd pattern. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, the dots were seemingly random, but the placement looked deliberate. None of Wally’s apps were displayed, and regardless of where or what I pressed, the screen wouldn’t change.

‘What is that?’ Joern asked as he pushed his head around to see. ‘Human languages are usually a bit more diverse than a bunch of dots, right?’

‘They look similar to the symbols my mates and I found down in that desert expedition. Our client was able to decipher them, but I have no earthly clue what they mean,’ Apollo said as he floated over my shoulder.

I turned and tilted my head, my eyebrows furrowed. “It’s dots. How do you decipher-”

‘Hold the phone sideways,’ Lucas choked out, the usual red color that decorated his blade looking decidedly pale as he inched closer towards the phone.

I turned, before nodding. The frozen image didn’t rotate, and Lucas’s true eye scanned across the picture slowly.

‘It’s braille.’ The words lacked their usual airy quality, and I desperately wanted him to break out a horrid pun right now about dots and points. ‘I don’t know how, but I can read this.’

‘Care to share with crew, swabbie? You’re freaking the captain out even more.’ Apollo ducked down and waved a wing forward, only to meet air as his feathers pushed right through my ghost type.

Lucas swallowed down a gulp of air before nodding, his eye locked in place as his body shook. ‘Long did we live here, in this cave. All thanks to the deity living alongside us. And yet, we sealed it away. Alone, in the dark. We feared it. Those who still have courage. Those who cling on to hope. Throw open the doors. An eternal being awaits.’

“That’s... incredibly ominous,” Emilie whispered out.

‘There’s one last word.’ The words that left Lucas’s mouth were so quiet that I could barely hear them. ‘Right here. It’s this messy scrawl at the bottom. It’s kind of hard to make out.’ He pointed at the chaotic carvings with a shaking tassel. ‘Thieves. That’s what it says.’

I pushed myself up from the table so quickly that the chair behind me fell backwards to the floor and sprinted to the video phone room.

Sol’s POV

Sol glanced behind her for a brief moment before hopping down the hall, eager to get away from the over the phone flirting and sappiness before it even began. Dusk- Dad floated behind her, keeping a healthy distance as they moved through the center.

“Is it alright to leave them? Lea seemed worried about something,” Dad asked.

Sol shivered, and briefly wondered if she would ever get used to the echoed mess that was his voice. “I’d be worried if I actually felt something bad coming on.”

“You didn’t feel anything when I attacked Lucas.” Duskull stared down at the ground, doing his best to not meet her eyes.

Sol jumped forward and nudged the ghost with her horn. “None of that, alright? You weren’t yourself.”

“I still don’t think I am.” His voice sounded defeated. “There’s still this disconnect when I see my past self’s actions.”

Sol frowned. “You’ve been a ghost Pokémon for less than a week. You just need time. Most of your type is still floating aimlessly trying to make sense of the world.” She leaned in closer, forcing the ghost to look her in the eye. “What do you remember, anyways?”

“The things Lea showed me connected a lot of dots with images that were still in my head. A lot of it revolved around you, obviously.” His eye lit up as his body thrummed. “I don’t really remember much about your mother at all, though.”

Sol chuckled. “That might be a good thing for you. You pissed her off a lot.” She shivered slightly as she let herself sit down on the floor. “Please tell me you want to stick around.”

A dull, throaty chuckle pushed out from the ghost type. “Where else am I going to go? I’m happy you managed to find such a lively bunch, Sol. They’re good for you.” The bottom of Duskull’s skull mask stretched slightly in what Sol assumed was supposed to be a smile. “It’s a nice contrast to your poor old dad.”

Sol lifted her paw up and slapped her forehead with it. “Please… no. That is not a ghost trait. Don’t pick up the stupid sword's terrible sense of humor.”

“I don’t know that I have a choice, hon. I picked up a few other things while I was hanging out in Lea’s head. Considering these jokes have been given the label of ‘Dad Jokes’, I feel obligated to embrace this aspect of modern culture,” he said.

“Of course you do,” Sol muttered. “How is it that you’re a lot less broody and chill as a ghost, huh? You fucking died.”

Duskull floated up and tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, I don’t get that. Past me had an amazing daughter, a beautiful, if scary wife, a roof over his head, and three square meals a day.” Duskull nodded once. “He even got to kick fifteen different kinds of ass on occasion. I can’t fathom why someone like that would behave like a moody teenager.”

Sol sighed before staring at her father with a frown etched into her features. “Yeah… you spent too long in Lea’s head. You caught her crazy, damn it all.” She shook her head before getting up and walking closer. “Do you… remember anything outside of our life in the cave?”

“No, should I?” he asked.

“Nope.” Sol violently shook her head. “Nothing about it is worth remembering, and…” A smile pulled at Sol’s lips as she bumped into Duskull’s mask with her forehead. “I can get used to it. I like you being happier.”

The ghost stared at her for a minute before floating down and hiding in Sol’s shadow. “I thought it was the parent’s job to embarrass their kid, not the other way around.” His voice wavered a bit as he talked. “I like seeing you happy, too.”

“I’m sure you’ll do plenty of crap that’ll make me wish I wasn’t related to you, don’t worry.” Sol lightly scratched at her own shadow and sighed when the ghost didn’t pop back up. “It’s alright to be a little emotional, alright?” She wasn’t doing her absolute best to put up a strong front. Nope. Not even a little bit. That voice break totally wasn’t audible.

A light chuckle floated out from her shadow. “We’re both full of it, aren’t we?”

“Yup.” That voice break wasn’t audible either. “I’m just… I’m just so happy I still have you-” Sol broke down, a smile on her face as she finally allowed the tears to fall.

The ghost rose up from the shadows and moved forward, a pair small, disembodied hands raised to either side as he pulled the dark type into a hug.

“I missed you. I missed you so much it hurt some days,” Sol said between hiccups. “I just did my duty. Day after day, because it was all I had left. I felt so lost.”

He rubbed her back as she cried into his shoulder. The cold hands felt rough and leathery, yet she didn’t want them to leave.

“I know. To be honest, I don’t think I ever left. Even if I don’t remember that time super clearly, I can’t imagine leaving you behind.” He leaned back and stared into Sol’s eyes. “So quit it with the tears, alright?”

Sol nodded, before sniffing and looking away. “I’m trying.” She wiped at her eyes with her paws. “So you’re alright hanging out with the rest of the asylum escapees, then?”

Duskull grinned. “I don’t know of a way you could stop me. To say nothing of the now… massive debt that I owe Lea, you’ve found a new home with them.” He floated closer and rested a hand on Sol’s head. “It’s a bit of a relief, honestly. I wanted you out of that cursed cave.”

“You do realize that Lea doesn’t care about debts, right?” Sol leaned into the touch as she talked. “She’s kind of a bleeding heart.”

“The right sort of person to be your trainer, then.” Duskull nodded to himself.

Sol winced. “Uh… technically speaking-”

“I don’t care about who owns your poke ball,” Duskull cut her off. “I care about who’s been there for you the most these last few days.”

“I never gave May a chance,” Sol shouted as she glared down at the ground.

Duskull remained silent as he leaned forward, urging his daughter on.

“May just… didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t want to listen to what she had to say.” She growled, wincing at the memory. “It took Apollo bearing his soul to me while he kicked my ass to get me to listen. To realize who I was taking my anger out on. I want to give her a chance before making any decisions.” She chuckled. “I already know neither one of them cares where I end up as long as I’m happy, and I could do with keeping my fur dry, thank you very much.”

Duskull nodded before bumping her forehead with his mask. “You’ve matured while I’ve been away.”

She nodded before glancing back toward the cafeteria. “Besides, This week was a bit of an outlier. I’m willing to bet this has been the longest those two haven’t occupied the same air. It doesn’t really matter who owns my poke ball at the end of the day.

Duskull held his daughter’s gaze for a while, before letting out a chuckle. “I look forward to officially meeting her. She must be quite the woman to have captured Lea’s heart.”

Sol snorted. “Knowing those two, they’ll both try to adopt me and co-train…” Sol trailed off as the color drained from her face. “Fuck me.”

“Language, young lady.” The bottom of his mask stretched again.

Sol groaned and opened her mouth, then snapped it shut as a trainer walked through the hall, an alert playing on his phone.

“...and with the current temperatures, it’s expected that the winter storm will have debilitating effects on the island as the winds slowly start to ramp up. Gusts are expected to reach fifty miles an hour, with snow, ice, and hail hitting the island later tonight. The source of this weather phenomenon remains a mystery, as the storm seemingly appeared over the island without any warning…” The broadcast cut off as the trainer walked out of hearing range.

Sol snapped to attention and ran after him, then winced when she looked outside through one of the windows.

The clouds overhead blocked out the sun, their presence a suffocating weight on the island. A faint howling could be heard as another group of trainers quickly rushed through the door.

“...Theorists suggest that a Pokémon might be responsible for the sudden, freak weather change, but no Pokémon on record is capable of a change on this scale…” The broadcast was deafening as Sol turned the corner, only to wince back as the entire foyer, which was normally empty, was packed. Trainers of all ages, shapes, and sizes lined the room from wall to wall, taking every seat and standing around with their eyes glued to their phones as Nurse Joy walked around, offering hot chocolate to the new people that shambled in.

“...one thing is for sure, though. Our meteorologists all agree that this will be one of the biggest disasters for the island in living memory. It’s suggested that everyone hunker down in the nearest shelter, and for…

Sol felt the color drain from her face as she darted back through the hallway. How the hell did something like this happen? She was the disaster Pokémon. Her entire species was able to predict cataclysms, foretell the fall of empires.

Why the fuck was her sense of danger on the fritz?

She bit back a swear as she spotted Apollo resting on the ground, his eyes determined and his beak sealed shut in a thin line.

“All hands on deck, swabbie. The expedition team is missing and we’re going in after them.” His tone brokered no room for argument.

She looked back to the foyer, took a deep breath, and nodded once, before following him. She glanced down and sighed as she spied her father, following along in her shadow.

Normal POV

Come on, you stupid piece of crap. Patch me through. It’s the fucking gym during working hours. I know someone’s there, damn it-

A tall, pale trainer with spiky green hair in an ace trainer shirt popped up on screen, his face the picture of boredom. “Petalburg Gym, this is Gym Trainer Randall, how can I direct your- oh, hey Lea. How’s the road?”

“Can’t talk right now, Randy. Where’s Norman? I really need his help for something, it’s an emergency.” Because like fucking hell I could deal with that thing on my own. I saw how that storybook ended, and me striking a pose so my to scale frozen sculpture looked cool was not how I wanted to go out.

Randy’s eyes widened. “Uh… out. Ah, fuck it, if you’re not on the list of people we can tell, I’ll happily take my damn pink slip. The boss and his wife took a trip to Slateport to clear up some stuff. Said they needed to clean up a mess the league should’ve dealt with a while ago.”

I sucked in a sharp breath as Eve’s earlier complaints flashed back through my mind. That was why she was shortstaffed, fuck. Caroline probably took her team with her, too. “Please tell me you can contact them. This is a capital E emergency and I really need to talk to Norman. May’s in trouble, and I don’t-”

Randy lifted his hands up to get me to stop talking. “I’ll blow up his phone, but I have no idea if he’ll actually pick up. Everyone looked really tense when they teleported out.” He sighed before glancing behind him toward the doors that lead into Norman’s challenges. “He also took the gym’s teleporters and almost all of the trainers, we’re working on a skeleton crew right now.”

I sagged further down into my chair as he kept talking. “Right.”

“I might still be able to send over a bit of help, don’t look too depressed. What exactly is the capital E emergency?” He tilted his head. “You’re still in Dewford, right? What’s Brawly doing about it?”

“Nothing, yet. He’s the next person I’m going to after we disconnect.” Assuming I could find him and he actually believed me, honestly, with how out there some of this felt, I wasn’t sure if Randy would. Maybe if I just eased into it with the shit that made sense. “They went spelunking in Dewford cave, and I lost contact with them. Since that theoretically shouldn’t be possible with Sergei-”

“You’re thinking something happened. Fair enough.” He nodded his head along as he finished for me. “Surprised you weren’t down there with them.”

“I don’t like small spaces,” I said tersely.

Randy winced. “Right, get off the phone with me and call Brawly. Caves are his backyard and he likes to train in there sometimes. He’ll probably find them before I manage to send someone down. I’ll still light up Norman’s phone, though. Shoot me a message if the situation-”

“Randall, who’s on the phone? Is that dad?” A nasally voice called from offscreen.

In the span of a single second, my entire body convulsed as my brain connected the horrific tonal voice to the one member of the Maple family that I actively could not stand.

Nope.

Not dealing with it.

Hell no.

The video cut off as I pressed the disconnect button. I didn’t even realize I had reached up to cut the call.

Emilie appeared on my shoulder as I stared blankly at the screen. “You alright? I know you’re freaked out, but you seem even more tense than when you left.”

“Just re-repressing some memories, give me a second.” I took a deep breath to steady myself before nodding once. “And we’re good. Petalburg Gym was a bust. Norman and Caroline are dealing with the protests in Slateport and the trainers can’t seem to get a hold of him. Dewford gym is the next best bet.”

Emilie tilted her head. “We can’t just call them directly? You’ve never had their phone number?”

I froze, before letting my mind focus on my memories with Norman. Dinners with May, May being annoyed at her dad for working so much, May calling her dad after I told her about what Jasmine wanted to do, me catching a glimpse of the phone number while she walked out to the beach-

“Thanks for reminding me. I kind of couldn’t focus and got off topic because of how fast my brain is going right now but I still got what I needed.” I smiled at her as I put in the last number and put the phone up against my ear.

“The number you’re trying to reach is not in service.” I pulled the speaker from my ear and stared at the phone in horror as Emilie groaned. That was an entirely new problem that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with. Whatever, we’d deal with it later. Fuck, now I was worried about Norman and Caroline too.

“Alright, back to plan B.” I started dialing the number for Dewford Gym as Emilie hopped down. “Where’s Apollo, Joern, and Lucas?”

‘I’m right here,’ Lucas said from below me. I hopped up a few inches and cursed as my finger jammed into the clear key by mistake, before glancing down at a grinning shadow. ‘Thought I’d take up residency to get used to it before we headed down into the caves. I want to be able to hop out and guard you as quickly as I can, and that means hiding in your shadow. Pretty sharp idea, huh?’

“Good idea, yeah.” I finished dialing and put the phone up against my ear.

Lucas floated up and leaned in close to Emilie. ‘She didn’t even groan.’

“We’re worried, alright? Apollo and Joern are checking on Sol and Duskull, by the way. We want to be ready to go down as soon as we can,” Emilie said.

The third ring played across the receiver as I glanced up toward her and opened my mouth, only to snap it shut as another answering machine started to play. “Due to the extreme weather conditions, the gym has been closed until further notice.

Where the fuck were all the high ranking city officials? Damn it all.

I slammed the receiver down so hard that it left a dent, turned around, and left the phone booth. Stupid fucking crybabies. You throw a little bit of cold at them and they’re shutting everything down. If I was that much of a wuss, the truck wouldn’t have gotten done on time for half of our deliveries.

I realized a second too late that the Center’s foyer was packed as I walked through the double doors leading out into the cold, cruel world.

The wind stung my skin as the cold bit into my exposed hands, and a fresh wave of white powder pelted my face. A light snowfall was blowing through the air, seemingly changing directions every few seconds as the wind chaotically rotated in place, picking a new direction to blow every other second.

“Holy fucking bird jesus that is cold!” I backpedaled through the double doors so fast I almost tripped over the coffee table in the middle of the room.

“Keep the damn door closed,” one of the trainers sitting on the couch grumbled as she pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders. “That cold is unbearable.”

I glanced over toward the trainer, ready to rip her a new one, only to stop short. Where have I seen this woman before? She looked familiar, but I couldn’t…

‘You let me use her Magmar to give a Metang third degree burns, then gave her life advice after I gave the fire type a swirlie,’ Emilie said.

“Magmar lady?” I asked, both to Emilie and the woman wrapped up in a blanket cocoon.

She tilted her head as she looked me up and down. “Who the hell are you? I think I’d remember someone with green hair.”

I winced. “I got a new haircut between now and then, it used to be black with blue highlights and a lot longer too. I’m Lea, remember?”

She still looked lost.

“I’m the girl that dropped your Magmar in a pool after using it to give a Metang third degree burns and a deep seated fear of lava?” I leaned closer as I talked.

Her eyebrows rose up into her bangs before dipping into a sneer. “Oh good. As if my vacations could get any worse. Where’s the other half of the wonder couple?”

I opened my mouth, before looking around the room as I remembered who this chick was attached too.

“Donny got off this island three days in when I dumped his ass. It’s been the only good thing to happen since coming here. Island fucking paradise, yeah right.” She sighed before glaring at me. “Yours ditch too when the weather started going south?”

I winced, before looking outside. “She’s in one of the cave systems out there.”

Magmar girl’s eyes went wide as she glanced toward the door. “She’s-”

‘Captain!’ Apollo drowned her out as he swooped down, landing in front of me with a scowl. ‘The winds aren’t very favorable for our voyage, are they?’

Sol hopped forward, her eyes glued to the door leading out.

“Where’s Joern?” I asked.

‘Right here.’ The water type set my backpack down on the floor a few feet to my left, my winter coat resting on top. ‘Figured we’d need a full pack for the journey.’

Apollo gave Joern a once over. ‘You didn’t appropriate a certain stone while you were bringing it in, did you?’

‘And risk being laid up while you guys face this nightmare?’ Joern shook his head, his eyes pinched as he glared out toward the double doors leading outside. ‘Not a chance.’

‘The gym leader and a number of gym trainers have been sweeping through the areas to make sure people are staying indoors. The storm’s supposed to be the worst one on record for this island.’ Sol glared at the ground. ‘I’m sorry.’

“None of this is your fault, alright? You’ve had a rough few days.” I sighed before walking over and grabbing my bag. “Can’t predict every disaster that comes our way.”

“You’re not thinking of going out there, are you?” Magmar lady’s voice was high-pitched and screechy. Legends above that was annoying.

I glanced up at Emilie. ‘Were you translating for her?’

Emilie looked away nervously. ‘Well, she was part of the conversation before, so I just figured it’d be rude… look, answer her question and leave me alone.’

I looked back over Magmar lady’s way and sighed as she impatiently tapped her foot. “Look, uh…”

“Brenda!” God that was shrill.

“Brenda, right. I know the weather’s ass, but my girl’s in trouble and I need to help her, so it’s been real, but I need to leave, maybe try and get Brawly’s attention somehow and-”

“That coat’s not enough for out there.” Brenda got up and took my hand, before dragging me deeper into the center.

“I’ve got gloves and a hat too, I’ll-”

“Not what I meant. They’re saying frostbite’s a real possibility out there right now. Clothes and a coat won’t be enough.” She turned and looked me up and down. “I ordered some thermals online when the weather started going to shit. Figured it’d blow over at some point and I could enjoy some fun in the sun. You’re shorter than me, but they’re stretchy, and you’re…” Her eyes glared at my chest. “Slightly more plush. I’m hoping it balances out.”

I felt my cheeks heat up slightly as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Is there a reason you’re pawning off your clothes on me?”

“Quit your bitching and take it, alright?” She glanced away from me as she fiddled with her room key. “Think of it as thanks for the pep talk after our fight.”

“I… thanks,” I muttered.

“Don’t mention it.” The door opened and she waved her hand towards her room, which I noticed looked significantly nicer than ours. “Top shelf of the dresser. Take what you need. I’ll be out here while you change.”

I nodded awkwardly, before charging into the room, my Pokémon in tow, and winced as the door clicked closed and the entire room fell silent, before grabbing everyone’s poke balls. “I’m going to call you guys back, alright? It’ll be easier to travel as a smaller group in the storm.”

‘I’m staying out,’ Lucas said. ‘I’m not bothered by the cold and I don’t take up space.’

Emilie looked up at me before teleporting to the bed. “I’m not leaving your side, got it?”

I sighed before smiling. “I suppose that was expected.” I panned my eyes over to look at everyone else. “I… know this is probably a stupid question, but I do need to ask it.” I swallowed down a lump. “If anyone wants to back out, now would be the time.”

Joern and Apollo both looked at me like I had grown a second head.

‘Are ye daft, woman?’ Apollo shouted. ‘We’ve dealt with worse in worse situations, so don’t even think of trying to ditch us.’

‘What he said. The fact that he didn’t call you captain at the start of that should be really telling of how stupid you sound right now.’ Joern glared at me.

“You two weren’t really who I was asking, but thanks for reaffirming my belief that you two are awesome.” I gave them a long hard look before shifting my gaze over to Sol as Duskull slowly levitated out of the ground. “You just got your dad back. Don’t think you have to follow us on this because you think you owe us. It’s going to be dangerous down there.”

Sol kept her mouth shut as she gave me a long, hard look before shifting her gaze to Duskull. ‘The thought of potentially losing dad again scares the ever living fuck out of me. You’re right about that.’

I sagged down, disappointed but accepting at losing a powerful set of Pokémon as I lifted her ball.

‘That’s why I’m going with you, because I already know there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell this idiot’s going to let you go down without him.’ Sol glared at her dad as he chuckled Mareepishly. ‘I suppose I’ll look out for you and the rest of you morons too.’

I grinned before clicking the return button and smiling down into the poke ball. “Thank you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Duskull dive down into my shadow. ‘Hope you don’t mind sharing with this old spook.’

Lucas chuckled as he dipped down into my shadow. ‘Couldn’t imagine a better Pokémon to hang out with now that you’ve got your head on straight. Just stay sharp and keep your head on your shoulders, alright?’

‘A bit late on that head part, don’t you think?’ Duskull asked.

I ignored them and clicked Sol’s ball onto my belt before aiming Joern and Apollo’s poke balls at them. “Ready to give ‘em hell?”

‘Aye, captain!’ Apollo saluted as the red line pulled him into his ball.

Joern slammed his fist into his hand and grinned at me. ‘Going to take more than an overgrown icicle to scare me off. Let’s go.’

I clicked the return button again and turned to glance at Emilie as Joern disappeared.

She nodded once. “Hurry up and change, we’ve got work to do.”

I nodded before throwing my shirt off and pulling the wardrobe door open.

The fact that I was still cold as I pushed through this nightmare, despite the fact that I had on at least five layers of clothes, terrified me. If it was this bad above ground, just how miserable was it below?

May has a fire type with her, calm down.

I shoved the intrusive thoughts behind me as I pushed through the tree line, eager to get to the training ground and see if my hunch was correct.

I felt my starter writhe around in my coat. “Where are we going? Wouldn’t we have more luck finding Brawly in the city?”

I grinned, doing my best to not let my chattering teeth be too audible. “If we tried going up and down the streets of Dewford trying to find someone, we’d probably just get a gym trainer, who’d just shove us back into the center without really listening to us.”

Emilie tilted her head to the side. “So we’re just going into the wilderness hoping to find a random bird to carry our message, or-”

She stopped instantly as we took in the massive form of a towering grass type, his hands dug deep into the ground as a green pulse thrummed through the earth and up the trees in the training ground we’d just walked into.

“I’m thinking we’d have a much better time of it if we found one of Brawly’s Pokémon.” I ran up to the hulking titan and tapped him twice on the leg.

He turned and faced me, lifting his arms up as he rose up to his full height. ‘Small human, I strongly urge you to seek shelter. It isn’t safe to train today.’

“I know, believe me I’m aware, but I need help. Do you remember me?” I leaned forward, my tone desperate. I did my best to try and push those emotions onto him as I asked.

He tilted his head to the side. ‘You’re the human that was with the woman in red. My trainer likes you. What’s wrong?’

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but… I know what’s causing this storm.” I was pretty sure, at least. No way a giant ice monster waking up in Dewford cave wasn’t related to the freak cold wave and storm we were having. “And I think it’s got my friends.”

Chesnaught leaned back before looking up to the sky. ‘You’ll have to forgive me, you said something is causing this? Why?’

“I don’t know, but you have to feel it, right? The wind is changing direction every few seconds. This island never dips below fifty but all of a sudden we have a freak snowstorm? Please, I can’t stand up to it by myself, but I will if I have too. I just need to-”

Chesnaught lifted his arms up to stop me. ‘You’re not lying, I can feel it.’

I sagged in place.

‘Something capable of causing a storm like this… I can’t even begin to imagine how strong that would be.’ A grin slowly started to spread across the Chesnaught's face. ‘I bet he’d have lots of incredibly strong ice type moves, too.’

I felt Emilie slap her forehead.

‘A genuine challenge… with the fate of the island at stake?’ His voice kept climbing in octaves as a grin slowly stretched across his features. ‘Don’t worry, little one, I’ll get my trainer now.’

He bent his knees and crouched down low, before jumping.

In the blink of an eye, the grass and fighting type cleared the tree line, easily jumping twenty to thirty feet into the sky. He grabbed a palm tree on the way down and let it bend for a few moments, before letting it launch him across the sky toward the city.

A single snowflake landed on my tongue before I snapped my jaw shut. My eyes were wide as they trailed after the hulking figure.

Emilie chuckled lightly before pulling the coat closer. “I guess if all of Brawly’s mons are as crazy powerful as that, we don’t have too much to worry about.”

I slowly nodded before leaping back as the fighting type master suddenly appeared, his grass typed partner to one side as a Gallade stared down at me with a piercing look.

“What do you know?”

Brawly stared down at the image on my phone with a furrowed brow, his eyes locked on the ghost sword that was hovering around our heads. “So, you had a vision of a big scary ice monster, but didn’t give it much weight because you thought it was a weird dream and your imagination playing merry hell with your sanity?”

“I was already terrified of May going down below considering what all had already happened on this island, so…”

“Fair enough.” Brawly looked up at the sky and sighed. “You do realize a ‘mon capable of doing something like this is champion level, right?”

I sucked in a sharp breath before shaking my head. “I do now.”

Brawly sighed. “If it’s one Pokémon, I can take him with my full team. I’d like to think I’m a fairly capable trainer if I want to be.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “So you believe me then?”

Brawly nodded. “It’d be kind of a ridiculous lie, and Chesnaught and Gallade both confirmed you at least believe you’re telling the truth. They’re really good at telling, too. I’ll get stuff put together and head down as soon as I can.”

“I’ll meet you at the cave, we’ll-”

“Like hell you are!” Brawly shouted, his voice deafening.

I glared at him. “I’m going down there. My friends are down there, not to mention May! Superpowerful team of absurdly strong Pokémon aside, you going down as the only human is suicide! Besides, I’m the one it wants.”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go anywhere near this cave. You’re a three badge level trainer going into the deep end. You’re out of your depth, girl. These waves are WAY too big for you.” Brawly walked closer, but stopped as Gallade lifted his hands into the air.

‘Tell me, girl. It’s just us talking right now.’ Gallade gave his trainer a look and he nodded. ‘You’re mental defenses are quite the sight, can you hear me alright? I don’t want to push too deep and hurt you.’

‘You’re fine,’ I said, my mental voice shaky.

‘Oh, a psychic? Quite impressive indeed.’ He sighed. ‘Be honest with me, young squire, if my trainer parked you in the Center and told you to stay put, would you?’

‘No,’ I replied.

‘Even knowing that my trainer is one of the most accomplished trainers in the land? With a team that has been considered multiple times for promotion to the elite four?’ Gallade asked.

I leaned back in shock, before nodding. ‘It’s a feeling I have. Considering the fact that ignoring that the first time got May and the rest of my friends into this mess, I’m going to listen to it this time. If I don’t go down there, something really bad is going to happen.’ I shivered. ‘I can feel it.’

Gallade sighed, before closing his eyes. ‘If you don’t mind, I’m going to have a look for myself.’

Before I could say anything else, Gallade’s eyes snapped open, a blinding white light erupting from them as his mouth opened wide. A thousand and one emotions played across his face in the span of a second as he pulled back, his face returning to normal as his eyes stared up into the sky with terror.

‘W-what did you see?’ I asked.

‘I can’t tell you. That’s how future sight works. It’ll change.’ He looked at me with a confident grin. ‘Brawly!’

The gym leader snapped to attention and stared at his psychic type. “You get her to stay?”

‘Opposite, in fact. She convinced me to let her come.’ He nodded once as I cheered.

“Lele, that’s-”

‘The future where we win requires her participation. It’s written in the stars and clear as day,’ Gallade cut his trainer off and met his gaze. ‘She’s important.’

Brawly gave his Pokémon a long, suffering glare before groaning into the sky. “You’ve got to be fucking, fine!”

“Yes! I-”

“You’re going to listen to everything I tell you, word for word. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you hide. If I tell you jump up and down on one leg and sing the Pangoro song-”

“I’ll do it happily and without complaint,” I said. Legends above, I was entirely too happy to go down into a frozen death trap.

Brawly groaned before nodding at his psychic type. “Meet me at the mouth of Granite cave, ready to storm the deepest levels of the underworld. Got it?”

I nodded once, and watched as the three of them disappeared, Chesnaught waving as he did so.

Present

I nodded at the gym leader once, before squaring my shoulders and walking beside him. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go kick a giant ice type’s ass and save my friends.”

Brawly grinned at me as we crossed the threshold, past the icy stalactites and into the abyss.

A massive ice wall slammed down behind us once we were a few feet in, trapping us inside.