OPERATION SNOWPOINT

Pokemon Fan Fiction
By: Scy Storm
Requested By: Pathwarden
ssbs.furrynet.com

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Here is my entry into the "Give a Gift" December contest theme dealy at AGNPH, where we had to write a winter-themed request given in a specified forum thread. I picked what I feel was the only good request in the thread, by Pathwarden, because it gives me an excuse to Mystery Dungeon the shit out of it. And I'm all for Pokemon with bandanas. So I hope you (and Pathwarden) enjoy it.

INEVITABLE DISCLAIMER: There's actually no sex in this one (haha let's see how many people read it), however there is like, some violence and shit, though it's not graphic. It's Pokemon fighting, what more do you want from me? (sex) Also be warned that this is rather dialogue heavy. I don't see why this would be a problem, but who knows! Also the story generally assumes you've played the Pokemon games referenced & know basically what these locals look like (although this Snowpoint is more anime-based). Sorry if I didn't describe every major area in huge detail. Play the games!

"That had to have got you!"

"Face it, you got no throwing arm!"

The Piplup grumbles at the Totodile's taunt. He can't help it if he doesn't have fingers! At least he's making the snowballs well enough. His gator friend keeps hidden behind his chosen tree, a wide smirk across his face as his small paws pack another ball of snow tightly. "Are you ready yet?" He calls out.

"You're faster than me! Hold your horses..."

"There is no waiting in a snowball fight!"

The 'dile leaps out of his hiding place with snow in hand, but doesn't spot the penguin. No matter, that little bird doesn't exactly change hiding spots much. He slowly creeps toward one of the trees several feet away, and pops around the side. "HA!"

Nothing. The little guy actually moved? The 'dile pads around the tree with some sniffs of his nose, grumbling to himself. "Where'd you go..."

Suddenly a sound comes from behind him. He flips to see the penguin belly sliding toward him, flippers in the snow in the very act of rolling snowballs with his momentum. The little croc yips and jumps backward, tossing his snowball mid-jump, but hitting only the ground. The penguin spins around mid-slide, his flippers sending his two snowballs flying, both nailing the croc's face on-target & causing the Toto to lose his balance. The Piplup flips back to his feet and squeals. "I got you!!"

The Totodile sits up, brushing the snow off his face, attempting a serious look that quickly devolves into a furious giggling fit alongside the penguin's laughter. "Where did you come up with that one?"

"I have to save SOME secret techniques for the fight itself, huh?" The Piplup replies, strolling up to his friend.

The Totodile stands to his feet and grins. "Well that just means I need something EXTRA devious for next time!"

"Now now, don't start getting too rough!" Says an unknown voice from nearby.

The two Water-types perk up and turn to the side, seeing a big & somewhat portly visitor walking toward them... A Delibird, obviously of somewhat advanced age, clutching his large sack-like tail as he approaches the young ones with a warm smile. "Can't let 'deviousness' get in the way of good fun."

The little ones stare wide-eyed. "You... You're..." The Piplup stammers.

"Uncle Flurry!" The Totodile exclaims excitedly.

A hearty laugh sounds out of the bird. "With each generation my tale still gets passed on."

The water-types hop up and down. "Are you here to give us presents?!" They manage to speak in unison.

Another hearty laugh sounds out. "Of course... But you must promise me you'll keep them unopened, until the day of festivals arrives. The day the humans call Christmas. Do you promise?"

The two of them nod furiously. The Delibird reaches one of his wings into his tail, and after a quick rustle it swings back out, two glowing orbs of light shooting into the air. They hover above the two boys for a moment before dropping into their arms, the glow fading to reveal two wrapped presents. The young ones squeal and hop in delight while cradling their gifts. "Thanks, Uncle Flurry!!" They yell out in unison once more.

The Delibird smiles widely, his heart always warmed by the excitement on the faces of those he gifts, but quickly his smile fades, as an odd noise sounds out nearby. A motorized noise. The two boys heard it too, looking at each other quizzically, before back up to the portly Poke, whose expression is decidedly more serious. His wing reaches into his sack tail once more. "Children, run away." He states sternly.

"Run? B-But..." The croc stammers.

"Do it now!"

The Delibird suddenly flips around, flinging a ball of light behind him, its explosion followed by a loud growl. The two boys scram away to the side as the Delibird leaps into the air, a large blast of fire scorching over the snowy ground where the three of them just stood, the snow melting immediately. The two boys stumble & scramble behind some trees nearby and look from around them, seeing the Delibird land to face a rather menacing Arcanine, its fur tattered & its neck adorned with a spiked collar. Some scorching can be seen on his chest fur where he was hit by the explosive. "W-What?! An Arcanine here?" The Piplup stammers, quietly.

The dog lunges at the bird with a loud bark, the Delibird jumping backward, kicking snow to the canine's face as he goes. He lands, the dog recovering quickly and making another leap, Flurry's wing making another sweep and tossing several explosive projectiles. The Arc takes a few hits and rolls backward, getting to his feet and growling even louder. "Leader was correct... This one is rather special." Says an unknown voice.

The avian looks just past the Arcanine to see two male humans standing amongst the trees, adorned in black-colored snow gear, their eyes swollen with a look of greed. A Magmar comes walking up from nearby the skinnier of the two and stands near the Arcanine, his natural flame body having darker colors than one might normally see on his kind. "Unless you want to end up a roasted duck, you better cooperate." States one of the humans, the big burly one.

Flurry stands defiant, seemingly unafraid of the large Fire-types before him. The two humans just grin, and the Delibird senses a presence. He turns around slightly, just in time to be struck hard by a fiery blow sending him to the ground. The two boys almost squeal. "U-Uncle Flurry...!" The Totodile stammers, using all his will to remain quiet.

A pained grunt sounds from the avian as he sits up slightly, turning to see a Blaziken step close, a female human standing close behind her. "No need to singe his feathers so soon. He'll fall to intimidation." She states.

The Delibird turns his head again to see the Arc & Magmar standing right next to him now, his posture loosening as he knows he stands no chance. He then looks to his left, seeing the two scared children staring from behind a tree a few yards away. He stares bullets into their eyes, the best look of 'Run away now!' that he can manage, before he squawks as a large net snares him up. "See? No sweat." The woman says.

The Totodile almost makes a noise, but is silenced by the flippers of his penguin friend. "We have to go! We have to tell the Guild!" The Piplup whispers.

The little croc nods, and the two clutch their presents before turning and make a run for it. The Arcanine's ear perks up as he turns and growls, catching the attention of his trainer. "What is it, boy?" He says.

"It's just those two little pipsqueaks the bird was conversing with. They don't concern us." States the other man.

The Blaziken thrusts the net over her shoulder, as the female trainer shrugs. "Very well. Let's get back to the boat and return to the boss. I'm getting sick of this continent."

The Arc & Magmar disappear back into Pokeballs as the deviants walk to the back to the source of the motorized noise; a truck. The Blaziken tosses their kidnapped cargo in the back and shuts the doors before returning to her Pokeball, the truck soon driving away, a light snowfall beginning to fall, ready to cover up the evidence of what transpired.

"Doesn't it only snow on Blizzard Island?"

"No, it snows everywhere. It's just year-round at that place."

A team of Pokemon youngsters walks down a now snow-covered path, the past the service huts and giggling merriment of Pokemon children playing. One is a Vaporeon sporting a dark blue bandana tied around his tail, and an Azurill sitting on his head, tail dangling and bouncing with the movements of the quadruped. With them is a Buizel, sporting a similar bandana tied around his forehead. Both carry item satchels strung across their chests. "It sucks swimming in ice cold water, though." The Buizel remarks.

"Oh quiet, you can handle the cold as well as any Water-type." The Vaporeon snaps back.

"When I get bigger I'm gonna swim in SUPER cold water!" The Azurill squeaks out, the large ball of his tail flicking up and bumping the Vap's chin.

"Splashy, stop hitting me in the face with that thing already, or I'll never give you a bandana!"

"Aww! I bet I could get it around my tailball!" The Azurill says all bubbly, as he moves his tail upward to drape across the Vap's back.

"So what's the game plan today, Cascade?" The Buizel asks.

"We're gonna see what missions are available and we're gonna brave the weather to prove how awesome we are. That's the game plan."

"WOO! We're awesome! Jet always says that, right?" Splash remarks.

"He suggests it to be in the team name." Cascade says with a smirk.

"If we're gonna be awesome, it's gotta be in the name, man!" Jet says, playfully shoving the Vap's shoulder.

The Vappy just chuckles as they approach closer to Wigglytuff's Guild, only to notice a small congregation of Pokemon gathered just outside the doors, Loudred standing ever defiantly in front of the entrance to make sure there are no trespassers. "Is it a paaaarty?" Splash squeaks out.

"I don't think so... Something is up." Cascade replies.

The three pass through the group of worried Pokemon, who mostly appear to be couples, possibly parents, all whispering about what will become of the coming holiday. Loudred readily allows the three past him, the team going through the guild and making for the bulletin board. A few other Pokemon teams are nearby, discussing amongst each other in worried fashion, much like the crowd outside. "I don't like the look of this, Cade." Jet remarks.

Cascade makes for the rather obviously brand new message on the board, he and Jet giving it a read and soon gasping audibly. "What what what what? What's it say? I can't read!" Splash says, bouncing up and down on Cascade's head a little.

"U-Uncle Flurry got kidnapped?!" Cascade says in shock.

Azurill squeals in fright and nearly falls of the Vaporeon's head as Jet growls. "Who the hell took him away?!"

"Humans."

The three turn to see Chatot, the Guild's second-in-command, flutter over to the group, his demeanor a rather panicked one. "Humans did this?!" Jet asks, his paws clenched.

"That's what the witnesses said! Some real sinister types, with Fire Pokemon! They beat him up and took him right away!" Chatot explains, his wings flapping occasionally in worrisome twitches.

"Whyyyyyyyyy would they take away Mr. Deli! He is nice bird!" Azurill says, his eyes welled with tears.

"Not only that, but it looks like they took him to an entirely different continent..." Cascade notes, still reading the mission statement.

"Yes yes yes! A Taillow was able to tail the group when they got to their boat, and found out they were going to Snowpoint, on the Sinnoh continent. And that they might KILL him!" Chatot squawks out with growing craze.

Azurill starts sobbing as Cascade growls and tears the paper off the wall. "Then I'm gonna go down there and drown them if they don't give our Uncle back!" He says angrily.

"You... You're gonna take the mission?" Chatot says, his surprise temporarily overriding his panic.

"I'm not afraid of Fire-types, and I'm not afraid of humans, either!" The Vap snaps back.

"You're not going without me, Cade!" Jet exclaims.

Chatot can't help but smile a little, but then erfs in thought and flaps his wings a few times. "But how are you gonna get there?!"

Cascade erks. "Well uh... I'll figure it out later! Let's go, Jet."

The two turn and leave as Chatot squawks. "Good luck!"

The team walks back out of the guild as the worried Pokemon crowd is beginning to disperse, some other guild members assuring them that someone will solve the case quickly. Splash is beginning to calm down as Cascade & Jet look at each other solemnly. "You really think we can do it, Cade? We haven't been at the guild all that long, and Splashy is still pretty young to be going up against Fire-types."

"I'm not afraid of fieries!! I am a water mouse! ... Well I'm not Water-type yet, but I'm a water mouse!!" Splash says, bouncing annoyingly on the Vap's head.

"I'd do anything for someone as wonderful as Uncle Flurry, Jet. He's a holiday hero to Pokemon children everywhere, including me when I was just an Eevee."

Jet nods a little bit. "I remember him from when I was a pup, too..."

"So let's gooooooo! Save Mr. Deli!" Splash says with another bounce.

"But, Cade, how are we gonna get there? It's a whole different continent! I've never swam between continents before." Jet states.

"Eh, heheh... Neither have I... Just let me think, okay?"

The Vap sits and crosses his forelegs, doing his best to ignore Splash's bouncing on his head. He's beginning to think accepting this mission so fast was a mistake, but given the circumstances, there's little time to waste. His pondering is quickly interrupted by loud voices coming from down the pathway. "Out of my way!"

"Exploration team coming through!!"

The Water-types turn to see a black blur speed down the path and toward the guild, slamming right in the wall known as Loudred. "HEY WATCH IT!" He yells.

It's a Sneasel, sporting an ice-blue bandana around her neck. "Out of my way, we have important business!" She cries.

"Not if you're gonna zip around running into people like that!!" Loudred yells back, causing her to back off.

From down the pathway comes more Pokemon, a Glaceon of shiny color with a Snorunt hobbling behind as fast as it can. "What's going on? Please let us by! We have a mission to take!" The Glaceon states, in another decidedly feminine voice.

"What?! If it's about that Delibird guy then you should take it up with Splash Man over there!" Loudred replies, pointing right over at Cascade.

Cascade almost squeaks, noticing he's still holding the paper, and jamming it into his satchel. "Is he talking about me??" Splash squeaks out from his position on Cascade's head.

The Glaceon & the Sneasel scurry up and skid to a stop in front of the Water-types, Snorunt hobbling after them. "Is... Is it true? Are we too late?" The Glaceon says.

"Errrf... Well you see... Heheh..." Cascade stammers.

The Glaceon lowers her head and sighs. "I had a feeling the trip would be just a bit too long..."

The Sneasel growls. "Hey buddy, give us that mission, we're gonna tear some people apart!"

Jet growls back. "Hey, we got it first, and we wanna save him as much as anyone!"

"This isn't something worth fighting over!" Cascade yells out.

"Floe, back off. I said we'd be civil about this if it happened." The Glaceon says sternly to her companion.

The Sneasel loosens up and backs up a little. The Glaceon looks at Cascade and smiles a little, the Vappy noticing the rather obvious crystal-like object hanging from a necklace around her neck, offsetting her special white fur. "So you guys are gonna do it, then?" She asks.

"Y-Yeah... Definitely." He stammers.

"How are you gonna get there? I know you guys are Water-types, but I heard they took him to Snowpoint, and I don't think you guys have swam to a whole different continent."

"Heh, yeah, we were trying to figure that out ourselves." Jet says.

"Amateurs..." Floe remarks.

"Aren't we as new as they are..." Asks the Snorunt nearby.

The Sneasel goes wide-eyed and shushes the Snorunt, looking away. The Glaceon tries not to smirk. "Anyway, we have a form of transportation that could get us there. Let us join you, and we'll help you reach Snowpoint. We don't care if you get all the rewards, we just want to help."

Cascade hrms a little. This is a lucky break, but he's not without worry. "Are you sure? You ladies are Ice-types, and they apparently have Fire-types at their disposal..."

"I'm not afraid of Fire-types, and I'm not afraid of humans, either!" The Glaceon suddenly lets out, dropping her calm demeanor.

Cascade almost jumps back in surprise. "Where have I heard that before?" Splash says out loud.

The Glaceon blushes and quickly calms herself down again. "Yes, anyway, will you let us help you? The more fighters, the better the chances, right?"

Jet nudges the Vap, obviously wanting him to agree to this chance that's fallen into their laps. Cascade takes a moment before nodding a little. "Yeah... Sure, let's do it." He says.

The Glaceon yells out in delight. "Oh god that's wonderful, thank you! ... Oh, by the way, I'm Crystal, leader of Team Frost-Bound. My cohorts are Floe and Diamond."

"The pleasure is yours." The Sneasel quips.

"Um, well hi! Thank you!" Diamond says, somewhat awkwardly.

Cascade just smiles awkwardly himself. "We're Team Aqua Pura... I'm Cascade, my friend is Jet..."

"You can call me Jetstream!" Jet says, striking a pose.

"... and my hat here is Splash." The Vap continues.

"They just call me Splashy!!" The Azurill says with a bounce.

Crystal giggles a little and turns. "Great! Now let's go to the beach and I'll show you our transportation."

She begins to walk away, with her team members in tow, Team Aqua following soon enough. "Score, Cade! We got a way there now! And I still think we should be called Team H-2-AWESOME!" Jet remarks.

Cascade doesn't answer at first, watching the Glaceon walk. "Hey CADE, snap out of it man!" Jet yells.

"Oh! Sorry... And your name is still a dumb idea."

"Why is your head so warm alla sudden?" Splash asks.

"Shut up..."

The two teams arrive at the beach in short time, Crystal taking her necklace up in a paw, and showing that it doubles as a whistle. "This is how we call our transportation."

"Call?"

Crystal places the whistle to her lips and blows, a beautiful, almost magical sound coming from it. The Water-types look on, and soon a great splash comes from the water as a Lapras surfaces and floats its way toward the beach. "Holy moly!" Splash sounds out.

The Glaceon giggles a little and approaches the water as the Lapras drifts close. "This is Regina, a family friend, and queen of the seas! She'll take us anywhere." She explains.

"You have assembled more, Crystal. Are they assisting?" The Lapras states, her voice like music.

"They got the mission before us... But we're going to help. The more, the merrier, right?"

Floe scoffs a little at that statement, but Regina simply smiles. "Of course. Climb onto my shell, and we shall go. Snowpoint of Sinnoh is the destination, yes?"

She turns around in the water as she speaks, Crystal jumping onto her back. "You bet. Take us as fast as you can."

"It will take an hour at least, but I will do my best." Regina states.

Floe leaps on as well, carrying Diamond in her arms. Cascade & Jet leap on, awkwardly, each taking grip one of the shell's protrusions. "Don't worry, it's a smooth ride. And you can swim anyway." Floe states.

"Are you always so cold?" Jet asks.

"Shut it, otter boy."

The Lapras takes off away from shore, moving as fast as her body will allow, the Water team watching their home continent fade away gradually, giving way to open seas. Sinnoh isn't exactly close, so as the time spent sailing upon the waters continues to climb, Cascade can see the worry grow on the face of Crystal, as well as his own comrades. Over time they fill the air & attempt to keep spirits lifted by speaking about their teams and their few adventures taken so far. "So you guys really ARE as new at this as us." Jet remarks eventually.

Floe growls in annoyance. "She's really not that bad when you get to know her..." Diamond says.

"You're small like me!" Splash says.

Diamond whines a little, as Floe growls. "Shut that damn mouse up!"

"Hey, lay off, will you? We're allies." Cascade says.

"I'm sorry... Diamond is sensitive about her stature. She wants to be as useful as possible until she can become a Froslass." Crystal explains.

"Eh, I guess you could consider Splashy in the same boat." Jet says.

"It's all a learning process, right?" Cascade asks.

Crystal nods to him, smiling. Diamond squirms a little in Floe's arms. "I do my best! Really! I won't let anyone down!"

"Me too! I sorry I called you little!" Splash says.

The two Eons just smile a little, Cascade looking out to the waters, before his expression changes. Something is coming. Something not very pleasant. "Uh-oh... Sharks!"

Crystal gasps and looks around Regina's neck, seeing a group of Sharpedo fins approaching them, before they spread out and begin circling the Lapras. "Oh no, they're faster than Regina!" Crystal cries.

Cascade & Jet growl out toward the water as the 4 fins circle the group. "I don't suppose anyone has an Electric attack?" Jet remarks.

"What, you want to fry all of us?" Floe points out.

"We'll have to use whatever we have on them in the hopes they'll just go away. Just don't touch them." Crystal remarks.

The frost team starts firing ice beams at the swimming sharks, the aqua team joining in with their own water guns. However, attempts to repel the sharks fail as the beasts shrug off the damage, and show no signs of intimidation. One of the sharks stops swimming and leaps right out of the water, falling straight for the group. Splash & Diamond shriek, as the other four fire their beams at it at once, knocking it back to the water. "This is not working, dearies." Regina remarks.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm stumped! I can't start clawing the things..." Floe says.

Some awkward silence comes over the group, before Jet gasps. "I got it!" He says, before he leaps into the water.

"Jet, are you crazy?!" Cade yells.

"No! Just send them toward me if they don't come." He says, swimming a ways away.

Two of the Sharpedo follow after the otter while the other two keep circling the group. His friends look on worriedly as Jet stops and sees the two coming for him. A grin comes across his face as he dives back into the water, and begins swimming circles around the two sharks, going much faster and gathering speed. "I know what he's doing!" Cascade exclaims as he observes the move.

"Showing off his death wish?!" Floe snaps out.

"Help me out, Splashy!" Cascade yells.

The two Sharpedo near the group decide to make a go for it, leaping to the air for falling bites. Cascade and Splash each face one and fire a water gun, knocking the Sharpedos off course and causing them to crash into each other. Then, the two fire their moves simultaneously, sending the two sharks toward the spinning Jet, just as a whirlpool begins to rise out of the water, the Sharpedos rising to the air with it. "There they go!!" Splash yells.

"This works? This works!" Diamond says.

Crystal suddenly pings with an idea. "Not fully! Hey girls, Icy Wind!"

The three ice ladies stand near each other, breathing in and exhaling simultaneous blasts of the icy wind. Cascade headtilts for a moment, but then it clicks. "Oh, you're gonna slow them down!"

The three wings effectively combine into one large one, blasting over the whirlpool, the Sharpedo becoming covered in various ice deposits across their rough skin. The water of the whirlpool itself partially freezes as well, Jet zipping away as the freezing gets close to his position. The Sharpedo stop spinning and crash down back into the water through the frozen whirlpool, the sharks squirming around in partial freeze while Jet zips his way back to the Lapras, the group quickly beginning to lose them. "Excellent!" The Buizel exclaims.

"Yay, no more sharkies!" Splash yells.

"That was a smart move." Cascade says, to the three girls.

"Not as smart as Mr. Spinny there." Floe remarks, somewhat to Jet's surprise.

"Looks like we all make a good combined team after all, hmm?" Crystal states with a smile.

Cascade visually blushes somewhat, but agrees with an affirming nod. "Well done, everyone. I'm sure you can rescue the Uncle, if you work as good as that." Regina states.

The team looks around at each other, their faces glowing with confidence. "Then that's exactly what we'll do. Onward to Snowpoint!" Cascade exclaims.

The teams cheer behind his words as Regina leaves the sharks behind.

Regina circles the coastline of the snow-covered forest of Snowpoint City, closing in on where she knows the docking bay of the city itself is. "Can't we go through the forest?" Jet asks.

"No way, we'd get lost and never find them, if they're even out there." Floe answers.

"They have Fire Pokemon, right? I'm not sure if they'd risk too much of that going off in a snow-covered forest." Crystal surmises.

"Well then where could they be that wouldn't be obvious to the citizens?" Cascade asks.

"I have an idea about that, child." Regina speaks up.

The team looks to her. "You do? Oh, right, you've been here before." Jet says.

"Yes. And if I understand this group correctly, I believe you should look in the Snowpoint Temple, near the back of the city. It is an important landmark to the citizens, but not often visited. This group could be hiding out in secret." The Lapras explains.

"Wow... That's gotta be it! Regina, you're amazing!" Crystal says happily.

The Lapras smiles brightly. "It is the last bit of help I can offer, until you need the ride back. The rest is up to all of you."

Regina continues to follow the coastline, and the group sees the city's docks straight ahead. "There it is. Let's hoof it from here, through the city." Cascade states.

The Pokemon leap off the Lapras and land to the snowy ground. "We'll be back Regina, I promise!" Crystal says as they start running, Floe picking up Diamond beforehand.

Regina sinks under the water to hide out, as the group of Pokemon run down the coast, and into the city itself past the docking bay. Many buildings and snow-covered trees dot the city itself, most of them several stories high. The group stops for a moment. "Which temple? They all temple?" Splash asks.

"It might be hard finding it in all these buildings..." Jet states.

"Not really, I mean, it's a temple, right? It's gotta look different. And if it's an important landmark, it's gotta be down the main road." Cascade reasons.

The others think for a second before Crystal smiles wide. "You're right! Great reasoning, Cade! Come on, let's go!"

Cascade blushes brightly again and immediately the group is off running once more, down what is easily the main road in town. It's somewhat large, despite a bit of a lack in motorized traffic. What citizens are actually out in the streets look quite dumbfounded as they see the four Pokemon run past them, Cascade & Floe carting their own smaller riders with them. The group could care less about some strange looks, as they begin to reach the end of the main road, passing through a piece of the snowy forest, the road ending into a pathway & an old temple ruin in clear view. "This is it!" Floe exclaims.

"It's different from the rest alright." Diamond notes.

"There's no guard, either. I bet I know why. Let's go inside." Crystal says.

The group hurries into the temple. The place looks as drab on the inside as it does on the outside, nothing but featureless stone, with rocks & ice slicks littered all over. A "ruin" suits the place perfectly. There are no signs of humans having even been here. Seeing nothing in the first room, they begin descending the stairs to lower flowers, passing through a few more ice slicked rooms. "Some of these areas look like Pokemon inhabited them." Jet notes.

"I see no one!" Splash says.

"I think I can guess why." Cascade states.

"I'm starting to notice a distinct lack of ice..." Crystal says.

The team looks around. It's true. The first few floors they passed were littered with icy floors and signs of Pokemon habitation, but now the floor here appears to be defrosted. "People have been here recently, and they did something to melt all the ice slicks without caring to realize it." Cascade surmises.

"Hey guys, come look at this." Jet says, peeking around a wall a ways away.

The others join him, where he points to the corner of the area. Some kind of small machine resides in the corner of the room, partially hidden by a rock that has been deliberately placed. Upon looking at the opposite side of the room, they notice another one near the staircase leading down, pointing toward the first one. This one also is only partially hidden. "They're pointing at each other?" Splash says.

"I have no clue what those are, but they're not natural occurences." Floe exclaims.

"Well why are they here?" Diamond asks.

Cascade flicks the fins near his ears. "Hey, quiet... I hear something."

The group goes silent, and sure enough, voices. Human ones, from the floor below! The group looks over at the staircase leading down, as the voices are carried upward for them to hear. "So have you figured it out, Leader?" States a female voice.

"Be silent. It has only been a few hours. You will know the meaning of patience." A male says in response, his voice somewhat sinister.

"What was this all about again?" Says another male voice, sort of burly, and this one much closer to the staircase.

"To figure out the secret of this elder Delibird, you dolt." Says a third male voice, this one a bit more smooth, and again closer to the stairs.

"Why this one? We found a bunch of these ugly bastards."

"Because it's special. You saw what it did when we captured it. No Delibird is that perfect using that random lottery of a tail."

"So what, you gonna give your flaming duck a Santa sack of a tail? Hahaha."

"No, idiot. We could possibly replicate it as technology... Or figure out what gene inside this Delibird makes it special, and power up our own creatures. Either way, we figure it out, or this damn bird is foie gras."

Crystal gasps sharply, while the others blink in confusion. "Heheh, yeah, one as big as him will be quite tasty." The burly man says.

The others gasp now. "They're gonna eat him?!" Jet says.

"No no no no no, don't eat Uncle!" Splash says.

Cascade can't help but growl hard, stifling himself from being too loud. "That does it. We gotta stop them. Let's see if we can sneak in there and flank them. Those guys sound close to the stairs, but, they could be looking away." He plans.

The others nod, and slowly approach the staircase. Almost immediately, however, they hear an alarm go off on the lower floor, the Pokes almost leaping right out of their fur. "What? Intruders!" The female voice says.

"Eep! What did that?" Diamond squeals.

Cascade looks over at one of the machines in the corners. They're standing right between them. "It's those things! They must have sensed our movement!"

Floe growls, setting Diamond down on the ground. "So much for stealth!"

She runs toward the staircase as the two male trainers get halfway up it, letting out a screech as she dives, hitting the two in the chest and sending them tumbling back down. "Floe, are you crazy?!" Jet says.

"Don't worry about it, let's just fight!" Crystal yells as she runs down the stairs after the Sneasel, Cascade & Jet hopping down with her, Diamond hobbling her way down slowly.

The two men roll away after their fall down the stairs, standing back to their feet. One is a bit of a muscle man, burly & bald headed. The other one, smooth talker, is quite skinny by contrast, his hair long and blue. The group sees the other two trainers remaining, the female with long red hair, and the sinister-looking leader, his hair red & resembling fire. All four trainers are wearing thick black winter clothing, adorned with a chest logo depicting three separate flames residing in a circle. The leader stands near a table sporting some modest machinery and lab equipment. Other such tables are also present in the large room, but the most jarring thing of all is the Pokemon locked in cages far behind them. All of them are Ice-type denizens of either this temple or the forest surrounding it, and the team sees Uncle Flurry among them. "What are these wretched creatures doing here?" The leader yells, his furious demeanor almost frightening.

"We cleared this place... I don't think they're from around here." The skinny follower states.

"And they have no trainers? Ha! Trying to be heroes?" The big guy says.

The team stands ready to fight, Cascade growling loudly, Diamond finally joining the group with an annoyed grumble. "I'm sure we have some more cages we can prepare for these little ones." States the skinny male.

"Then stop standing there, Elan, and let's show them what pain means!" The female yells, reaching into her pocket.

"Such anger, Radia, you should stay calm in the face of total lack of danger. Fusil, would you like to start us off?" Elan states, gesturing to the large man.

Fusil flexes his arms, grabbing a Pokeball from in his pocket. "You know it! Say hello to Eruption!" He yells.

The light shines out of the carrier, and out comes a big, mean Arcanine, his tattered fur & spiked collar adding much to his intimidation factor. "Oh that's not all, allow me to introduce you to Darkblaze." Elan states.

Next to the Arcanine appears a Magmar, sporting much darker shades of red & orange on his body, his fists clenching as his very presence raises the heat in the immediate area. "You too, Phoenix, it's time for a little practice!" Radia states.

Her Pokemon is the Blaziken, appearing and letting out a screech, her wrists flaring up in fire as the teams can note a big scar quite evident on her beak. All three Fire-types stare down the group, evil grins spreading across their faces, as Splash & Diamond begin to tremble. "They are biiiig..." Splash mutters.

"Don't chicken out now, guys..." Floe remarks.

"I don't think I could take too many Fire moves!" Diamond says, worriedly.

"Then don't get hit. We can do it, now let's save Uncle Flurry!" Crystal says.

"You aren't saving anyone." The Arcanine suddenly says.

The big firedog inhales and sends a blast of flame at the group. Diamond leaps to the side as the others jump in the air above it, Splash jumping off Cade's head and spitting bubbles down at the Fire-types. Phoenix and Darkblaze swat at the bubbles, before the Magmar takes a water blast to the stomach, courtesy of the Vaporeon. Jet becomes surrounded in water and zips like a blur into the Blaziken, sending the two of them rolling away as the two Eons come face-to-face with the burly Arcanine. "You think you little pipsqueaks can stand up to me?" He asks, still sporting a grin on his face.

"Just watch me." Cascade says, suddenly crashing into the Arc in a torrent of water, just like Jet.

The Arcanine is sent backward a few feet, sliding on his paws, a loud guttural growl sounding out of him as he leaps for the Vaporeon with jaws wide. Cascade makes a quick hop backward and spits a quick blast of water into his face, resulting in a louder growl from the beast. He begins to backpedal again, but the Arc suddenly appears to blink out of existence, appearing right next to the Vappy and slamming him down with a paw. Cascade wasn't expecting that at all. The Arc's maw becomes bathed in fire, but before he can make an attack, large shards of ice begin striking him in the side rapid-fire. He turns to the see the Glaceon summoning the shards, trying to do any damage she can to the Fire-type, even if it's only minor. The Arc growls loudly again, and zips at impossible speed to the Glaceon this time, Crystal getting smashed into and tumbling away with a squeal. He lunges for her with his flaming jaws, the Glaceon rolling to the side and suddenly leaping up with a bite onto his shoulder area, her jaws shining with her freezing energy. The Arc violently shakes her off, only to get driven into the wall nearby by another Cascade Aqua Jet. The Vaporeon leaps backward near Crystal, who is just getting up, as the Arc stares at them with incredible rage in his eyes, a mighty feral roar sounding out as he lets out another blast of fire.

Not too far away, a mighty flaming fist strikes the ground, missing the leaping Buizel and causing the Blaziken to screech in pain. She makes a few more attempted strikes, the Buizel deftly dodging and hopping away from each one, stopping to fire some water at her chest. She screeches out again in rage as her wrists shine brighter. "You're not faster than me, you wretched weasel!!" She says.

"Really, cause you haven't caught me yet!" Jet taunts.

Phoenix makes a few more punches that Jet dodges, the Buize sporting a grin, which is then knocked right off his face as he's suddenly nailed by her kick, sending him tumbling a few feet. He wasn't a far enough distance from her during those dodges. The Blaziken snickers to herself, running toward him for a follow-up, before she's struck hard in the chest and sent falling to her back, the Sneasel popping up from her down. Floe looks down at the bird from atop her chest, raising her clawed hand. "What was that about being fast?" She says.

Floe goes for an attack but is suddenly struck by the Blaziken's fist, the Sneasel rolling to her feet near Jet, who is back on his. The Blaziken kicks up to her feet and sends a blast of fire at the two, which is swiftly jumped over, the two partners zipping downward and striking the Blaziken with the power of water & darkness respectively. Phoenix screeches and stumbles back, rebuffing a follow-up attack by spinning around with her flaming foot outstretched. Jet & Floe are forced to flip backwards, Floe getting surprised almost immediately by a hard punch from the bird, sending her rolling. Jet leaps onto the Blaziken's shoulders, the bird screeching in annoyance and grasping up at him. The Buizel evades her grasp, kick-jumping off her shoulders and shooting a gush of water straight downward. Phoenix is forced to step back a few feet to avoid the downpour, the zipping speed of the Sneasel appearing soon after to trip her off her feet. The Blaziken lands to the ground with a thud, Floe stopping near the now-landed Jet and groaning softly. Jet looks at her with slight worry, knowing how well the Dark-type can fare in these battles, but Floe gives him a reassuring nod, just as they hear the Blaziken kick back to her feet and practically roar with anger.

Near the staircase of the room, Darkblaze finds himself swatting bubbles out of the air around him, trying to avoid their annoying sting on his flaming body. Splash holds steady nearby and keeps spitting them out, at the very least hoping to keep the Magmar at bay for a decent length of time. Darkblaze gets annoyed quickly, however, and charges right through the bubbles purposefully, lunging for the mouse. Splash squeaks, and uses his tail to bounce himself into the air, evading the Fire-type's grasp. The Magmar almost trips as he misses his grab, looking upward and suddenly getting driven to the ground by a slam attack from the falling mouse's tail. Splash flips backward and lands, giggling happily and going for more bubbles. "Rotten little squeakers can't stop me, kid..." The Magmar mutters.

Splash blinks confusedly, before eeping as a blast of fire goes right over him and interrupts his attack, the mice shaking the steam off his body. "Aaah, I forgot about that!" He says.

The Magmar stands to his feet and turns around, his body flames undulating with his temper. "If you think some little bubbles will stop me for long, you're sadly mistaken..."

He growls and readies an attack, only to be suddenly slammed into his side by the leaping Diamond. Darkblaze tumbles over, as Diamond squeals and starts hopping up and down. "Ooh, hot hot hot, why did I do that!!" She yells out.

Splash hops over to her and showers her with a little water, the Snorunt quickly calming down. "There, better!" He says cheerily.

The Magmar smashes a rock with his fist as he stands up, staring at the two with a glowing rage covering his form. "Two little nothings like you are no match for me!" He exclaims.

"Splashy! I can't touch him or I'm gonna hurt bad, what do I do?!" Diamond says, shaking.

The little Azurill thinks to himself for just a moment, before a light bulb turns on. "That thing you guys did to the sharkies!" He says.

"What, you mean Icy Wind?"

"Yessy! Try using stuff like that!"

Diamond isn't too sure, given that the Magmar is practically made out of fire, but she doesn't want to be useless. The Magmar makes his charge toward the two, and Diamond lets her blast of wind go, trying to aim at an upward angle. Darkblaze grunts in surprise, the icy attack not doing much to his body, but it does manage to get in his eyes and face. He stops his charge and raises one hand up to block it from his eyes, as Splash hops up underneath him and unloads a blast of water over his body. The Magmar yelps in pain and backpedals, melting the ice in his eyes and growling loudly. He lunges a paw out tor the mouse, who bounces upward, back-flipping in midair and striking the Magmar under the beak with his tail. Darkblaze stumbles again, gasping onto his face from the surprisingly painful attack. Diamond takes special note of it. "Splashy! Your tail hurts."

"Huh? Oh, well, yeah if I really try! It's always been like that." He replies.

"Keep trying that then! I'm gonna try and keep him blinded." She plans.

The Magmar growls out louder this time, inhaling sharply and sending a blast of fire toward the two. Diamond squeals and quickly jumps out of the way, Splash bouncing up to the air and flying toward the Magmar. Darkblaze goes for a grab, only to have his paw blasted by water, and the tail catch him in the head. He groans in pain and quickly gets a blast of icy wind point blank, then more water to the body from the Azurill. He heats his face up again in his hands, taking them off in time to receive another tail to the face. Immediately he begins to stumble in dizziness, almost falling over, using a paw to brace himself. "How can... a little tail like that hit so hard..." He stammers.

Diamond jumps up and down in excitement as Splash narrows his eyes, and makes one more big bounce. He plummets downward at the Magmar, his tail glowing in a silver energy, which slams into the Magmar's head with a metallic burst. Darkblaze's posture stiffens momentarily, and he falls to the stone ground with a thud, unconscious. Diamond & Splash squeal loud and happily, bouncing around in a circle to celebrate their win. "See Diamond! Don't ever say you're useless!" Splash tells her.

Phoenix leans against one of her fists, panting hard as she can't keep up with the speed of her two opponents. Refusing to give up to young kids like them, she gets back to her feet, and manages to notice the fall of Darkblaze near the corner of the room. "What... How could they...?!" She stammers to herself.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a blast of water to the face, as Jet resumes his attack with earnest, Floe fading away and reappearing with a dark strike to the bird's side. Phoenix swipes her fists at them in vain, the heat from her wrists at least making Floe advance backward slightly. The bird's desperation is obvious in her voice as she screeches in annoyance. "You are nothing! You're insignificant!" She yells.

"Oh stuff some feathers in your beak already!" Jet says, as he prepares a move.

Phoenix stares at him with pure hatred, as she rises up for another attack, just as Jet fires water toward her feet. She looks down in surprise, only to see a pillar of water rise up and spin around her like a whirlpool. The Blaziken screeches out in pain as she can't move herself out of the water, trying to bunch herself up and avoid it. Floe joins Jet by his side, and the two nod to each other, surrounding themselves in water & darkness respectively. Two simultaneous zips forward, and the two go through the whirlpool and slam the Blaziken into the stone wall hard. Phoenix's eyes white out as she coughs out a breath, falling to the ground through the dying whirlpool and lying there unmoving. Jet & Floe land, and slap their paws together. "Alright!" Jet yells out.

Floe giggles and grins widely. "We make a good team, otter boy."

Jet blushes visibly and laughs nervously. "I'm just glad you're not being so cold anymore." He replies.

Suddenly, Splash and Diamond hop into their arms, wiggling happily. It's at this point Jet & Floe notice the fallen Magmar. "Oh wow, good job you guys!" Jet says.

"I'm not useless, Floe!" Diamond says.

"You never were." The Sneasel replies.

Jet's smile fades slightly as he remembers there's still one left. Floe remembers too, and the two look across the way to see the team leaders still fighting the Arcanine. The big firedog is panting hard, much like the Blaziken was, the two Eons relentless in their attacks to his body. By now his extremespeed trump card is all used up, and his opponents know it. He bull rushes his way past the two, who jump out of his way and hit him from behind again with more water & shards, the big canine yelping hard, following by a deep growl. "Why don't you just give up?" Crystal asks.

"I will never surrender to the likes of you..." He says in a venomous tone.

"Well if you don't, it might be 6 on 1." Cascade says.

Eruption wonders what that could mean, until he notices the other 4 allies standing tail, Phoenix & Darkblaze unconscious on the ground. "Impossible!!" He growls out.

The two Eons approach him, as the Glaceon tries to be a voice of reason. "Just go back to your big lug of a trainer and we won't have to leave you like them." She says.

The Arcanine seems to rumble with a low growl, as if he is thinking. He then lunges suddenly at the Glaceon with flaming jaws, Crystal barely even getting a chance to make a noise. However, the Arc finds his muzzle caught, as the Vaporeon has his paws holding onto the firedog's face, sitting in front of Crystal, having fully anticipated that he would stubbornly attack again. Cascade's body shakes as he keeps a firm hold to keep the jaws from advancing, and then exhales a good blast of water right into the Arc's maw. Eruption yanks his head backwards and yelps, his head shaking around like crazy, as the angry Vaporeon leaps forward and swings around, slamming his thick tail to the side of the Arc's head & sending him into the rock wall. Eruption stumbles off of the wall and walks a few steps, before grumbling and flopping onto his side in unconsciousness. Crystal shakes her head free of shock and smiles brightly as the big firedog is down, walking up to the Vaporeon. "Thanks..." She mutters.

She and Cascade then hear the jubilant voices of their teammates coming closer, as the Arcanine turns into a flash of light and zips away. The group look over to see three extremely angry trainers, the other two Pokeballs also bringing back Phoenix & Darkblaze. "I don't believe this for one second!" Fusil yells out.

"These damn things are going to pay dearly!" Radia exclaims.

"It seems I underestimated the resolve of these inferiors, but it's not going to happen again." Elan says.

"ENOUGH!" Sounds a booming voice from the prison area of the large room.

The trainers & the Pokemon turn to see the leader of the group walk forward away from his experiment area, somehow looking even more sinister than before, likely due to his anger at seeing his lackeys lose their Pokemon battles. "Leader, what are you doing?" Radia asks.

"Be silent. You three have failed me enough today. If I need a few bugs to be squashed then I shall do it myself." He says, as he brandishes a Pokeball.

The two explorer teams stand battle ready and stare down the powerful man, whose face extends into a wicked smile. "You darling little hero Pokemon are quite resilient, and believe me I am impressed. But your little crusade stops here. To introduce myself, I am Salvo, leader of this ambitious Team Firestorm. Now allow me to introduce you to its namesake."

His Pokeball releases its light, which forms into a large, imposing figure. The group backs up a bit, as the light forms into a red-scaled Charizard, his presence exuding the very essence of the word 'sinister.' He raises his head and bellows out a blood-curdling roar, his tail flame exploding big and bright. Splash & Diamond lose their composure and leap behind their Eon partners. "H-Hey! Keep it together guys..." Cascade says.

"Firestorm. Destroy these meddling creatures." Salvo states, now moved back to a safe distance.

A large, evil grin extends across the face of the Charizard as he roars again, before sending a huge blast of fire at the group. The Pokemon quickly scatter out of the way, running around and slightly surrounding the big dragon. "Cade, man, what do we do?!" Jet yells out.

"Don't get hit! And uh... just... hit it with everything we can, okay?" Cascade replies.

"Fools..." The Charizard states, his voice causing the stomachs of all six of them to sink.

The group begins to send their attacks at the dragon, who laughs loudly at them. Only the water attacks appear to be doing anything, but for now he's shrugging them off, his foot stomping the floor and knocking the Pokemon slightly off balance. He makes a large step forward and sweeps his tail, knocking Splash & Diamond away. Floe leaps over it and goes for the dragon's face, but instead gets swatted out of the air by his paw. Jet and Cascade blast at him again, the dragon turning in their direction and stomping forward. The two barely manage to avoid an attack, the dragon showing slightly surprising speed for his big size. Crystal meanwhile leaps onto the back of his head, trying to get off an ice move into his face. Firestorm instead jerks his head back violently, the Glaceon losing her grip and tumbling back. The dragon spins around and lunges for her, Crystal managing to roll out of the way in time. The group settles themselves back to battle stances. "How are we supposed to stop him?" Floe asks.

Cascade observes the dragon for a moment before something clicks. "His tail? Can't we do good damage there?" He states

"I don't know, don't they get over that weakness?" Jet asks.

"It's better than nothing." Crystal exclaims.

"You will all suffer." The Charizard states in his dark tone.

He unleashes another huge blast of fire, the group dodging out of the way once more, Cascade & Jet circling back and firing water blasts at his flaming tail. The Char growls and spins around, sweeping the fire across them and sending them jumping skyward. Some ice attacks from the others & more water from Splash hit his tail then, the Char slamming it to the ground and shaking them up. "It's not working!" Splash yells.

"Oh yeah it is..." Cascade says, seeing the Charizard's reactions, even if he is rather good at absorbing the damage.

He faces down the Charizard, who grins and lunges at him for a bite. Cascade jumps over his head and runs across his neck & back, blasting fire straight at his tail. The Charizard growls hard and shakes his tail to the side, but the Vappy has already grabbed onto it, spraying more water, with Jet & Splash trying to follow suit. The Charizard shakes his tail around for a moment, before instead slamming it to the ground, knocking the Vaporeon loose. Cascade rolls to his feet, only to get hit hard by a swing of the Charizard's tail, sending him rolling back to the ground, the tail swinging the other direction as the dragon turns around, knocking Jet & Splash away as well. Firestorm grins widely, before growling in annoyance as he's suddenly buffeted by a trio of icy winds. Team Frost-Bound blast their attack at him desperately, the dragon holding his paws up and backing up a few steps, before covering the ice attacks in a blast of fire. The girls scream and get covered in the blast. "Oh no!!" Jet yells as he gets to his feet.

Crystal & Floe run out of the blast, Floe carrying Diamond as all three of them really didn't take that attack very well. The dragon looks toward them, his grin returned, most of the ice that managed to stick to him melting away by his body heat alone. "Do you understand now?" He states.

The Glaceon grits her teeth and attempts to show no fear, though she can tell it's not working very well. The dragon's chest rumbles in low laughter, before he roars suddenly, Jet & Splash hitting his tail with water blasts from behind. He turns and roars a quick blast of fire at them. Jet grabs Splash but is too late to dodge, groaning and trying his best to absorb the damage with his natural resistance. The Char's blast is interrupted by another water blast to his tail from Cascade. He turns to the Vaporeon with a horrifying glare, but Cascade just stares back, showing no sign of fear. "I know we're damaging you more than you like us to believe. I don't care how big or intimidating you are, I'll never give up! You won't break me!" He screams out to the dragon.

Crystal stares at the Vaporeon with surprise, seeing his confident & fearless demeanor shining through in the face of such an adversary. It strikes a chord within her, and her own confidence begins to rise within. "So eager to throw your life away... So be it." The dragon rumbles.

Firestorm suddenly roars again as Jet & Splash resume their attack, Cascade turning to the girls. "His flame is getting weaker, not just from attacks on his tail. Do everything you can, we can take him down!" He says, before running forward to help his team.

The Glaceon smiles big as she sees him join the fight. "Alright!" She states.

"Crystal? Are you sure?" Floe says.

"Everything we do weakens him. Like he said, do everything you can! Think of Uncle Flurry!" She replies.

The Sneasel nods and smiles, her own confidence renewed, Diamond hopping out of her arms. "Let's do it!" The Snorunt exclaims.

The Charizard is trying his best to blast or strike the water-types, who continuously dodge him, blasting him with water either to his face or his tail. His angered roars echo across the room as he slams his tail to create a short quake, Team Aqua Pura momentarily jolted by it. "Imbeciles! You are NOTHING!" The dragon yells.

He catches something out of the corner of his eye, just before he's struck hard in the face by Diamond's hard body, the Snorunt having been thrown by Floe, who quickly zips to catch her. The Azurill sees it and giggles. "Oh oh good idea!" He yells.

Splash makes a big bounce with his tail, which shines with metallic energy once more, striking the already-stunned Charizard in the head as well. The dragon nearly falls over, more water blasts to his tail waking him up slightly. This is quickly followed by a beam of ice from the nearby Glaceon, aimed at his face. Firestorm leans his face upward & growls with seething anger, his mouth glowing brightly before he blasts fire to the ground, the blast expanding into big ring of fire, spreading out and hitting all 6 surprised Pokemon. The ice-types take it hard again, Crystal whining and trying to make it to her feet, her eyes catching a murderous glare from the Charizard. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He roars out, his maw glowing again.

He opens it afterward, a massive blast of fire heading straight for the Glaceon, who is struck paralyzed with fear. "Crystal!!" Floe screams.

The Glaceon is suddenly shoved away by a being of water, the jetting Vaporeon pushing her away before crying out as the fire blast goes over him, evaporating the water that surrounded him. Crystal gasps as the fire explodes around Cascade, fading away after a moment, the Vaporeon clenching his jaws through the pain. A blue glow comes from his maw as the Charizard prepares another attack, but before he can get it off, Cascade unleashes a hard blast of water to the ground, which immediately expands & shoots upward as a giant wave. The Charizard roars in surprise, and has nowhere to go as the wall of water shoves into him, pushing him back into the wall nearby and inflicting a ton of damage, evidenced by his pained roar. "Jet, do it!" Cascade says as his attack dissipates.

Firestorm takes a few steps away from the wall, and suddenly roars again as he finds himself surrounded in a whirlpool of water, the Buizel repeating his attack from earlier. The Charizard tries to fight through the move, stomping forward toward the group with the whirlpool raging around him. Crystal, realizing the advantage, leaps to her feet and runs forward. "Girls, this is it!" She yells.

She stands before the Charizard and unleashes a blast of icy wind to stop him in his tracks. Her partners see it and follow suit, running to the to either side of the Glaceon and blasting their own winds, the dragon roaring in rage & pain as he's backed up to the wall again. Cascade and Jet join the Glaceon at her sides as well, Splash jumping onto Cascade's head as all three shoot the most powerful water blasts they can muster, the Charizard barely visible in the tower of pain they have him surrounded in. The group resists the threatening fatigue, blasting non-stop, until finally the Charizard's roars end. The water & ice halt as the team pants hard, watching the whirlpool fade away, the dragon falling forward and hitting the ground with an earth-shaking thud, his tail flame extinguished. The teams stare almost dumbfounded for a second, before their faces fill with bright smiles. "YAY! WE WON!" Splash yells in jubilation.

The group lets out their sounds of victory, which are suddenly interrupted as a flash of light envelopes the Charizard, the sign of it returning to its ball. They had completely forgotten about the humans watching, as they turn to see an incredibly furious leader, squeezing the Charizard's pokeball hard. "Wretched little rats! How is this possible?!" He yells.

The teams turn to him and growl, their fatigue evident, but more than willing to teach this human a lesson in pain should it come to that. "Firestorm doesn't lose!" Fusil blurts out from nearby.

Salvo's posture softens slightly, though he is still quite visibly angry, his hand putting away Firestorm's Pokeball. "It does not matter as much as you may think. They are weak & injured from battle, and I have other Pokemon. You think you've won just by taking out my best? You are quite mistaken." He explains.

A look of surprise & slight horror overcomes the team. "Oh no, Cade, I don't think I can handle anymore..." Jet says.

Cascade growls, not sure what to say in response, as Salvo brandishes another pokeball. "I will have you begging me for mercy!" He states.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" An unknown voice suddenly booms out.

All parties turn toward the staircase at the corner of the room, where there stands a group of Snowpoint City law enforcement, flanked by Weaviles, Arcanines, & some Pokemon Rangers. "This operation is over!" Says the head of the enforcement.

"No! Someone must have heard the battle from the surface!" Elan states.

"After following these little heroes here, of course." One of the Rangers says, beckoning to the Vaporeon & the others.

"I will not bow to the likes of all of you, I am the head of Team Firestorm!" Salvo yells.

One of his arms is suddenly grasped by one of the blindingly fast Weaviles, the rest of his team also now surrounded by them & the Arcanines, as the policeman come up with handcuffs. Salvo & his team have no choice but to submit, as a few of the Rangers approach the Pokemon explorers. "You guys fought them well, I take it. Good thing we got here before anymore pain could be inflicted." States the Ranger from before.

A wave of relaxation comes over the group as the humans got here at just the right time. "Here, I'll administer some aid." Says a female Ranger, carrying a sack full of potions.

The group is sprayed down by the potions, healing up their injury, as they can see various ice-type Pokemon scurry across the room in happiness. The remaining Rangers have freed all the caged prisoners, who are very eager to return to their homes, of course. Bright smiles come over the team, as they then look to the side to see a certain large Delibird walk over to them. "Of all the great things Pokemon have done for me in my life, this just might be the best thing." He says.

"U-Uncle Flurry..." Crystal stammers.

"Oh, this Delibird... He's not from around here." The female Ranger notes.

"Neither are the rest of them. This must have been a rescue mission." Another Ranger surmises.

The female smiles. "Well then let's not hold them back any longer. All of you can go ahead and go back home. We'll take care of things here."

The Pokemon nod eagerly, motioning to Flurry to follow along as they make for the staircase. "Heheh, wait, children, I'm not as fast as I used to be!" He says, cheery as ever.

Night is beginning to fall as various Pokemon litter the snow-covered beach, waiting for a sign of the two teams that left earlier that day on their rescue operation. They look around at each other, looks of worry getting more widespread, before a loud squawking noise comes from a Swellow in the trees. Attention shifts back to the water, as Regina the Lapras can be seen floating toward the land, Teams Aqua Pura and Frost-Bound seen on her back, along with a certain jolly passenger. Loud cheers raise up among the crowd, welcoming the successful teams back. Bright smiles fill the faces of the heroes as the Lapras comes ashore, the crowd of Pokemon showering them with adoration, the younger faces in the crowd gathering around the rescued Uncle Flurry. Chatot, from the guild, manages to awkwardly shove his way through the crowd, ruffling his feathers it an attempt to re-straighten them. "Yes yes yes, well! Congratulations, explorers! I think you'll find your reward at the guild to be quite sizable!" He says.

"Can we worry about that tomorrow, Chatot? We're pretty beat." Cascade replies.

"Oh, well, yes of course! You kids deserve some rest." Chatot says in agreement.

The crowd begins to dissipate back to their homes, now that the safety of Flurry & the teams are confirmed. The Delibird steps before the group of six, showing the grand demeanor of cheer & warmth that he's known for. "I shall leave all of you now, as I have quite a lot of work to catch up on that I should have been doing today. I said it enough on the way here, but I will say it again, thank you all very much."

"We'd never let you down, Uncle!" Jet replies.

"Yay!! Uncle is the best!" Splash says, bouncing in front of Jet.

The Delibird chuckles and props his tail up behind him. "I think you should all expect very nice presents very soon. I will make sure I find the best ones." He says, with a wink.

"I know what I want!" Diamond exclaims.

Flurry just laughs again, and takes to the skies, flying off over the city. The group watches him go quietly, before Crystal breaks the silence. "Well then, we're gonna have to return to Blizzard Island. Still got things we were doing there, and a few friends who are probably worried about us." She explains.

"Don't you want a piece of the reward after all that?" Jet asks.

"Eh, just save it for us. If you can." Floe says with a smirk.

"Thank you so much, you three. We couldn't have done any of this without you." Cascade says, with a bright smile.

"And we couldn't have done it without any of you, to be honest." Crystal says, her own smile bright.

"Why don't you guys come to Blizzard Island some time? It's a great spot for explorers. I think you guys can handle it. That means you too, otter boy." Floe says, chuckling to herself.

"Well, sure! You can plan on Jetstream taking that place by storm!" Jet says, swiping his paws at the air a few times.

Laughs ensue from the group, before Cascade moves to walk away. "Come on guys, let's go home."

He turns and begins walking with the others, but Crystal stops him. "Hey, Cascade, wait."

The Vaporeon turns and looks at her quizzically, before he and the others are surprised as the Glaceon locks muzzles with him. Cascade's face turns incredibly red, the Vaporeon frozen in place for the few moments the kiss lasts, Crystal pulling away with her own blush showing across her white face. She giggles a little to his shock and turns back toward the Lapras. "We'll see you all later."

Team Frost-Bound walks back to Regina and hops on, beginning to sail away as Cascade watches them in silence. "You lucky dog, you." Jet says.

Cascade shakes himself back to reality. "Yeah! So! Let's just go home now, heh, I could use a good sleep."

"And a cold shower, I bet." Jet replies.

"Shut up..."

The two begin walking as Splash bounces up to take his usual place on Cascade's head. "Ooh, your head is even warmer now! Are you turning into a Flareon?"

"Shut up!"

THE END

Pokemon and Cities/Locations all © Nintendo & Game Freak

~ Scy