[Pokémon] Mentor (PG-14)

Hey, delongbi, thanks for reviewing and catching that mistake. :)

Anywho, I just got caught up. Nice chapters. The battle with the gym leader seemed very practical. Actually, your take on Pokemon is a very practical one in general. All of this seems like it could actually happen if there were really Pokemon in the world so good job.

Click to expand...

Heh, I strive for realism. Who need flashy battles when they can be won by much simpler methods? (Though I admit, the flashy battles are always the ones that are much more fun to write. <_<)

Haha, Leah got thrown off a boat. =)

Ooh, and I liked Leah's background story. Can't wait to find out more about her!

Click to expand...

Yeah, my poor characters. And their bad luck is only just starting. ;) I'm glad you liked Leah's back-story and maybe more of her past will pop up again some time soon.

Thanks again!

Although...I was kind of expecting a more dramatic reason for why Leah quit being a trainer...I was imagining stuff about danger, electricity, horrifying stuff...so it was a storm. O_O

Yeah me too, something like almost struck by lightning or attacked by a wild pokemon during the storm and Sands refusing to come out to fight. It did almost feel like an anticlimax on that respect, but then she was only 10 years old; venturing out for the first time so what seems like just a thunder storm can be doubly true if you're alone out in it, soaking and terrified of being attacked by a pokemon when your partner won't come out in the rain. Being in a storm is seriously scary, trees make great lightning contuctors. O.O Maybe adding more to her fear in the flash back may help, what was she worried about most? Why was this storm partically scary for her? Why should we feel for her being scared?

Love her idea of getting the orange life jackets, very sensible and practical and they fell overboard!! Gah suspense! How dare you end on a cliffhanger! :P Kidding! Great so far and it does make sense not to battle on the ferry, silly kids. The characters are developing well and the flow of the story has kept me wanting more. :D

Will they be seen and rescued by the ferry, a passing boat or water pokemon or will the mercilless sea drag them to a strange island? Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion ~

Heh, yeah, I suppose Leah's back-story was a bit anti-climatic though storms can be pretty scary, especially if you fear them. Take me for example; if I see a spider or anything spider-like sitting on my bedroom wall or something, I'll completely freak out and won't take a step in the room. If I was surrounded by spiders and my only protection was refusing to help me… well, it'd be pretty scary. (Wow, I went off topic). Anyways, I might expand on Leah's back-story later, depending if I can fit it into some random chapter up ahead.

Love her idea of getting the orange life jackets, very sensible and practical and they fell overboard!! Gah suspense! How dare you end on a cliffhanger! Kidding!

Click to expand...

Haha, Leah getting the lifejackets was a last minute addition when I realized that I couldn't logically have them survive without them. And I've found that I like cliffhangers; like them a lot. So much so, that I think I'm going to be using them more often. ;)

And what will happen to our heroes? Well… you'll find out soon enough. Only four more days until chapter 11. :)

Wow, this is awesome, it feels so dark and foreboding it does.

The first chapter was superb, i like the way you actually explain what happens to trainers that dropout of the 'game'.

Wow, this is awesome, it feels so dark and foreboding it does.

The first chapter was superb, i like the way you actually explain what happens to trainers that dropout of the 'game'.

Click to expand...

Thanks for reviewing, QWERTY! Heh, I liked that part too. It always makes me wonder what happens to the trainers who fail their journeys. Do they just go back to school and forget about Pokemon after failing their dream? Do they even keep their Pokemon? The whole situation brings up so many interesting questions. ;)

Anyways, since it's Friday night, I have come to deliver a chapter. Enjoy!









The first thing Leah was aware of was that her mouth tasted of salt. She moved her tongue around a bit and was disheartened that the disgustingly sweet taste refused to fade.

It was then that she realized that something was wrong.

Her face felt warm to her and when she tried to open her eyes, she only got an eye-full of sunlight for her troubles. Twitching her fingers that laid at her sides, she could feel the soft and damp sand that partly stuck to her skin. From what she could tell, all her clothes were wet, from her apparently non-waterproof jacket to her previously cozy socks. Her life jacket felt rather constricting to her, though she had to admit, it was comfy to lie on.

Leah breathed in deeply and tried to think. 'Try' being the key word. After loosing concentration again, she slowly turned her head to the side, feeling dazed, tired and aware of the water in her ears. Opening her eyes a crack, she waited until she got used to the light before opening them wider. She could see the vague image of a long and white sandy beach and blue tides that smoothly slunk in and out of her vision. The sun was out high above the sky, though gray clouds floated around it, seemingly waiting for their chance to cover the sun.

And, just about eight feet from Leah, was another body.

Leah got up, spitting the salty taste on the pale sand before forcing herself to her feet. Sand and water was un-doubtfully taking residence in her shoes, but that wasn't important. She stumbled her way to the body, almost tripping over her pant legs that had suddenly gotten longer due to the water.

The unmoving body lied at its side and was covered in a puffy orange vest, blue overalls, a pink shirt and tangled black hair that fell over the expressionless face. Leah knelt down beside the body and turned it onto its back. Ally didn't awaken at the movement, only limply going with what Leah decided, just like a pretty little doll.

Leah felt her heart pounding and for a moment, she thought that Ally was dead; just a pale corpse that had washed up on a silent beach. When she saw Ally's chest rise and fall, though, a wave of relief rushed over her, one so big, Leah was surprised that she cared so much. Though, once that thought past through her mind, she winced.

Did Leah really think that she wouldn't feel glad that a ten-year-old girl wasn't dead?

"Ally," Leah said urgently, hesitantly slapping the girl's cheek lightly. "Wake up!"

When Ally twitched slightly at her words, Leah babbled it again and again. Ally's blue eyes fluttered open and when she closed them again because of the light, Leah put her hands above them, shadowing her face.

"W- What?" Ally began, but coughed. "What-"

Leah shook her head and put one of her hands behind Ally's shoulder. "Don't talk, just breathe."

Ally breathed as Leah helped her sit up. The girl looked dazed and weak, eyes half-lidded and sand clinging to parts of her face and hair. Leah wondered if that was what she looked like to Ally. Almost not realizing it, Leah brushed some stray sand off her own face and tried to even out her hair, which had escaped her elastic and was now out of control.

"W- what-" Ally started again, coughing lightly. "-happened?"

"I dunno," Leah said as her mind tried to backtrack. She couldn't remember much; only a freezing numbness, if that made any sense. "We- we went overboard and then we were somehow able to get to… shore?"

Leah felt a pit form in her stomach. The lifejackets had saved them. If Leah hadn't gone and got them due to paranoia, they could've drowned. No, they would've drowned, no need to question that.

Looking around while trying to urge her mind away from such thoughts, Leah wondered where they were. The lonely beach was almost as silent as a grave, the only sound being the ocean. Across from the water stood miles of brown-gray rock, stretching as far as the beach. The rock looked pointed and jagged and easily towered above Leah's head, though rocks closer to the water were smaller and smoother. There were no Pokemon cawing in the air or even any trees standing alone in the sun. The only things living were her, Ally and a few patches of long yellow-green grass.

A sharp intake of breath had Leah look back at Ally. The girl's head had snapped up and was looking all around her.

"Ed!" she shrieked. "Where's Ed?"

Leah's stomach dropped and she also started to look around, but there was no point.

There was no one else; they were alone.

"He went into the water with us," Leah said, trying to take control of the situation. "He must be around here somewhere-"

"Where?" Ally asked hoarsely.

Leah hesitated before speaking. "Somewhere. We'll find him."

Ally nodded as she stood up suddenly and Leah was quick to follow her example. They stood there silently, neither one speaking. Ally was deep in thought and Leah was trying to find a way to break the silence. A thought occurred to Leah. It was a bit funny for her to realize that despite Ed's constant moronic-ness, he was the one that drove all of their conversations. Without him, everything seemed awkward and forced to her.

Though, Leah sobered up quickly as the reality of the situation overcame her. She and her two ten-year-old companions had been dragged under the water and got separated. It was almost the luckiest thing in the world that she and Ally had survived long enough to get to shore while they were unconscious. They could have drowned in so many possible ways, despite the lifejackets. Ed wasn't with them so maybe he washed up somewhere else.

Or maybe, the waves smashed him up against the rocks again and again, so instead of drowning, he might have been bludgeoned to death.

She shook her head, but wasn't able to dispel the images in her mind. She certainly disliked the brat, him and his annoying disruptive actions and outburst and everything… But she didn't want him to die.

But really… what were the chances that a ten-year-old boy was able to pull himself to safety?

… No, Leah thought, she shouldn't be thinking such depressing thoughts. If she and Ally could land on a beach, he could too. There were miles of sand; he had to be somewhere.

"L- Leah," Ally spoke, her voice high-pitched and shaking.

Leah looked over at her.

"I- I want to go find E- Ed."

The words were caught in Leah's throat for some reason. Stupid depressing thoughts were affecting her. "Yeah."

"He has to be," Ally continued, voice cracking. "He must be here somewhere…"

"Yeah," Leah said, doubt even she wasn't aware of sneaking into her voice. "Somewhere."

Silently choosing a direction by herself, Ally hesitantly started walking past Leah, but stopped beside her. Leah looked at her in confusion and noticed that it was like she was waiting for something. When nothing was said between them, Ally finally spoke.

"D- Do you-" Ally asked nervously, coughing a bit. "-want to come with me?"

Despite already being confused, the emotion deepened when Leah realized that Ally was asking if she wanted to search for Ed. She couldn't help but feel a bit insulted that Ally assumed that she wouldn't want to help. Sure, if it was to do something silly like exploring or playing sandcastle, she would say 'no' instantly.

But for something like this?

Leah turned around and stared at the girl silently. She didn't look too well, and Leah was almost expecting for her to burst into tears at any moment. Here they were, stranded on an island with their companion missing-in-action and Ally was the more optimistic between the two of them. Thankfully, due to her age, it didn't seem like Ally could even comprehend that Ed could've died somewhere.

Either way, Ally was a ten-year-old girl and Leah thought it'd be very annoying if she suddenly broke down then and there. Leah couldn't split her attention between comforting Ally and finding Ed, so she might as well prevent Ally from doing that in the first place.

Or at least that was her excuse.

Feeling rather uncomfortable, Leah wove her hand around Ally's and gave the surprised girl a half-forced smile.

"Okay, let's go find him," Leah said kindly and added, "though, let's do it fast and then maybe we'll be able to get to Fuchsia City by dinner time. I doubt Ed would be very happy if he missed dinner. You know how he complains."

After those words, the two started to walk along the beach, leaving their footprints behind in the sand. Leah glanced over at Ally and was a bit relieved that she seemed to have brightened up considerably. Though, the duo stayed silent, their only contact between their hands.

Because really, what else could someone say in a situation like this?





"We need a new strategy," Leah said finally as the duo came to a halt before the large rock formation in front of them. The rocks were centered right in the middle of the beach and they put an end to their pathway. There was no way to get around them unless they climbed and Leah didn't think either of them were up for it.

"M- Maybe Ed was in the other direction?" Ally suggested nervously, glancing behind her.

Leah sighed. "Yeah, maybe. Damn! It'll take another ten minutes to get back to our starting point. What a waste of time."

While Leah tried to think of a different way to find Ed, Ally walked towards the water and stared out to sea. She backed away a bit when the tide splashed against her shoes, but as she turned around to go back to Leah, something caught her eye as strange.

She called over to Leah to look.

"What?" Leah asked shortly, still plotting.

Ally pointed to the rock formation, where it stretched five feet out into the water.

"So?"

But then Leah also noticed. There wasn't anything strange about the rocks, but the way the water acted towards it was. Waves didn't really slam into it, and if it did, only small splashes at the side of the rock. It was almost as if the rock was only a tall, thin layer and anything beyond that didn't exist.

"A… tunnel?" Leah guessed. It did look like the water was being gathered and flowing into something.

Ally bobbed her head. "M- Maybe Ed went in there."

The older girl looked at the rocks again. "I dunno..." Leah said doubtfully. Instead of washing up on a beach, he went into a small tunnel? "And even if he did, how are we going to find him now?"

Leah looked around. They were surrounded by rocks on two sides now, most going right over her head. If there was a tunnel in one of the rocks, would it be likely there were caves nearby?

Ally spoke up. "We c- can swim through the tunnel?"

"No," Leah said instantly while looking for some sort of gap between the rocks.

"I got a better idea…"





"See?" Leah said, rolling her eyes. "It didn't take that long to find a good one."

After around half-an-hour of searching, they had found a decent sized cave. The opening didn't go far over Leah's head, but after looking into the cave, she was pretty confident that it wasn't going to narrow once inside.

Ally peered into the cave, and despite the sunlight, couldn't see more than around seven feet in. "It looks d- dark."

"Better dark than wet," Leah replied. Truthfully, she wasn't that much more confident about the cave than Ally. It looked nice, but what if it was another dead end like the other three caves they came across? What if it suddenly collapsed?

"Well," Leah spoke up after a few moments of silence and motioned to Ally. "You first."

Ally looked like she was going to reject Leah's decision, but Leah quickly added on, "I'll be right behind you."

Gulping, Ally went in first, taking a few steps inwards until she was almost out of sunlight. "I- it's too dark to see."

"Use Vulpix then," Leah said and was startled when Ally's hands flew down to her Poke-Belt.

"I- I completely forgot about him…" Ally explained hurriedly as she brought out his Pokeball. "W- What if the water went through the Pokeball?"

"It can't," Leah replied as she subtly felt her own pocket for the Pokeball shaped bulge that she had also forgotten about. Thank god her pockets had zippers or there was no way Sands would have stayed with her.

"Amber," Ally said as she released her Pokemon. The white light briefly lit up the cave and Leah got a glimpse of something on the walls before it faded.

Amber was still damp from his disappearance on the boat, but had calmed down since then. He shook his fur and waved his tails around as he awaited his trainer's orders.

Ally smiled at him. "Use Ember to light up the darkness."

The flare that came from Amber's mouth was bright and it gave the cave walls a yellow glow. Though, it didn't last long as the flames disappeared as soon as they hit the ground.

"This isn't going to work," Leah said as she looked behind her. "I'll be right back."

She was already gone by the time Ally turned around, though Leah was back moments later, carrying a long piece of driftwood. She held it before Amber's mouth, wagging in front of the Pokemon's face.

"Light this on fire," Leah advised, making sure she was holding the wood away from her body.

Breathing in again, Amber let loose a small burst of fire that caught onto the stick as it blew by. Once the makeshift torch was on fire, Leah held it up and away from her. This time, the light stayed and the darkness fled from its brilliance.

"That's better," Leah said, sighing as she looked at what had caught her attention earlier.

The walls were rocky and they felt colder than Leah expected. Though, unnatural patches of smooth rock stood out, and were aligned so that they completed a near full circle around the throat of the cave. On the patches of rock were rectangular bits of white paper that had red symbols and circles on them. They were stuck completely to the rock and Leah fingered the edge of one.

"W- What are they?" Ally whispered, as if she didn't want anyone or anything to hear.

Leah held the flame closer to the paper, but not close enough to light them on fire. "They're Spell Tags- no, wait. They're Cleanse Tags. It's a bit hard to tell them apart."

"What do they do?"

Turning away from the wall and deeming the tags insignificant, Leah pushed past Ally. "They just repel Pokemon, that's all,"

Well, actually, that wasn't all. Cleanse Tags weren't something that just posted themselves on walls in the wild. Someone had to put them there and make grooves in the wall so that they'd stick. Now, why was that? Why would someone post those sort of tags in a cave? It was pretty suspicious, if you asked her. It looked like someone was trying to hide something and honestly, Leah didn't really want anything to do with that.

But it wasn't like she had any choice. Ed was missing, though if he did turn up, he might be in the cave somewhere. Somewhere being the key word. And, well, even if Leah didn't want to get involved, if there was a chance that Ed was down there, she would follow the tunnel, suspicious Cleanse Tags or not.

Leah waved the torch in front of her and took the lead. "Come on, let's see if Ed's down here."





Deep in the cave, it was cold.

His breath came out in a silvery mist and hung there before dissipating. He found it fascinating to watch the heat from his mouth become visible in the air, but he quickly relieved himself of the thought. He had things to do and there wasn't any time to waste.

Carefully walking forward, he tried to keep his balance on the ice, but it was hard. He had absolutely nothing to grab onto if he fell. Not only was the floor covered in ice, but the walls and ceiling were also icy and cold to the touch. They were a bit pretty in a way, as long as you looked at it from a distance.

It was a frozen hell and Jordan wished that he wasn't in it.

Though, he didn't have the right to complain as it was his own fault. How many times had his family told him not to get involved in things like this? He couldn't remember the number and felt depressed about that. It was silly, but he missed his family and knew that he probably wouldn't be seeing them again. Though, why was he sad for? It was his own choice.

He chose this.

Getting back to task at hand, Jordan stopped his mental anguished thoughts before they started. It wouldn't be very good if he came back to see that Jordan was daydreaming again. Really, he scared Jordan and the only reason he was working with him was because the benefits far outweighed the costs.

Very far outweighed.

"Anything Poliwhirl?" Jordan asked to his Pokemon, who stood further away, touching rocks and ice with its white gloved hands.

The Poliwhirl shook the top of his deep blue body, its big circular eyes still glued to the rocks, looking for anything in them. It had a large white chest with a black lined spiral shape taking up most of the space. The amphibian seemed frustrated and that reflected on Jordan's own mood.

He couldn't remember how long he had been there, looking at the ice, touching the ice, scanning the ice and basically being surround by ice. He had had enough of ice to last a lifetime and he started wondering why he was even there. It wasn't because he was needed, not at all. He could hold himself and keep out of trouble and it was actually Jordan who was the tagalong. While he looked at another room, Jordan was left behind to stare at rocks, which he knew contained nothing.

He didn't even know what he was really looking for! He only vaguely knew the details, and the only instruction he was told was that he would what he was looking for when he found it. The withheld information made him sigh and he was a bit peeved that he knew exactly what they were looking for.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. It was the dull clip-clop of footsteps, coming from one of the icy tunnels, the one that he went into earlier.

"Did you find it?" Jordan asked immediately as he came into view.

He shook his head, the string attached to his blue tuke waving with his motions. "Nope," he said simply. "I looked, but couldn't find it."

Jordan deflated. "We've looked everywhere! Did we miss it?"

"Nope," the man said again. "It's just not here. It was here at one point, but it's not anymore."

"Then where is it?" Jordan wailed. All that work for nothing!

The man shrugged. "Well, it couldn't have gone too far. The only other places it could be would be either in the Icy Path or near Snowpoint City."

Jordan groaned. "Those are out of the country!"

"Yeah," the man said calmly. "It sucks, I get it. Stop whining. I haven't come back completely empty handed."

"What?" Jordan said, surprised. "What'd you find?"

The man stepped aside from the tunnel, allowing a Pokemon to float easily into the cavern. It definitely didn't look at all like a regular Pokemon. It was shaped like a purple star, with another upside-down star attached behind it, giving it ten solid and pointed arms. It had no face to speak of, the only thing giving it an expression was the cut jewel centered in the middle of the points and on a gold formation. The jewel was currently a bright pink and Jordan knew that if he angled his head to the differently, the jewel would change to a different color.

The Starmie floated above the ground, its psychic powers allowing it to stay unaffected from the cold. Its body was outlined by a very faint blue color that could only be seen when it hovered before a dark background. The Pokemon smoothly moved from the opening of the tunnel, its aura disappearing as it did so.

Though, what floated out of the tunnel next was far from a Pokemon.

It was a human boy, not looking like he had gone through puberty yet. He lied on his back, floating in midair and also surrounded by a blue aura. The boy had orange hair, wore an orange lifejacket and clothes not suited for such an ivy environment, and basically looked soaked.

"It's a kid!" Jordan gasped.

"I did not know that," the man deadpanned, before throwing away his sarcasm. "The tide swept him in and I fished him out of the water."

Jordan looked closely at the boy. "Is he… dead?"

"Nah, he's still breathing." The man shrugged. "Though he'll probably freeze to death."

"Oh," Jordan said, swallowing. "Should we take him to a hospital?"

The man looked at him weirdly. "Hmm?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You want to abandon the job for a kid?"

"Well… Yeah, he's going to die if we don't, right? Besides, if it isn't here, why should we stay?"

That didn't seem to be the right choice of words as Jordan flinched when the man started to chuckle.

"Starmie can keep the kid warm if you don't want him to die so much," the man explained. "And who says we're leaving?"

Jordan blinked and repeated himself. "It isn't here, so why should we-"

"WRONG!" the man shouted suddenly and Jordan leapt back, completely terrified.

Though, the man just laughed again.

"You overreact, Jordy," the man said, amused. "You should have seen your face!"

Calming his pounding heart, Jordan reminded himself that he couldn't underestimate the man in front of him. There was a reason a lot of people hated working for him…

"Anyway," the man continued. "I could be wrong in my assumption. It could be here and maybe I've just overlooked it. It wouldn't hurt to check once more."

Jordan mentally groaned, though he didn't dare say anything else, except for, "yes, sir."

"I'll leave Starmie here and since you like the kid so much, you can look after him." The man was just about to go back down the tunnel, when he suddenly turned around.

"Oh, and Jordy? I'm expecting some company soon, so keep you ears open."

"What?"

For once, the man actually took an extra minute to explain. "Well, you didn't think that it wasn't guarded do you? This whole system of tunnels is kept under close watch by the Pokemon League. They'll probably send someone once they've figured out someone's trying to steal their precious artifact."

Jordan was aghast. There were alarms in the cave? "When will they figure out someone's trying to steal it?"

"Probably when we past all those Cleanse Tags. There were sensors behind them."

"But we past those tags hours ago!" Jordan cried, wondering how you could even put sensors in a cave without wires and how that even worked.

The man shrugged. "Yeah, that's why I'm telling you to keep you ears open. You know how prized the Pokemon League keeps these types of artifacts. They'll probably send their best to deal with us sort."

With that, the man departed back into the tunnel, his Starmie staying afloat beside the entrance. The boy, though, was lowered until he was only a foot off the ground, but wasn't completely dropped.

Jordan wasn't paying attention to any of that. He was more worried about who the Pokemon League was going to send. He was never a good Pokemon battler and up against the best, well, there was no way he'd survive the experience.

"Damn," Jordan cursed. He wanted to run, abandon the whole mission, but he couldn't. He would just catch up somehow and make him pay for fleeing. Besides, Jordan thought as he looked towards the unconscious kid. No matter what criminal acts he was getting up to, he couldn't just abandon a kid. That was wrong and he would never live it down. His conscience wouldn't let him.

Jordan sighed and said out loud, "This is getting complicated, Poliwhirl." As Jordan went over to his Pokemon, he couldn't help but wonder.

Who was the Pokemon League going to send?

Who would they trust to stop the theft of one of the most priceless artifacts to ever enter the Kanto region?

Who?





Her.

They sent her.

It wasn't a tough decision by any means. Not only did she already know about the artifacts, she had very experienced Pokemon. It also helped that she was close by when the message came. A few hours ago, a phone-call came to her from the Director of the Pokemon League himself. It had became apparent that there were people wandering around the island where one of the artifacts had been stored and immediately, she had been dispatched to see what was going on.

Honestly, if it wasn't for any of the other happenings around the island, then she would have probably assumed that someone had gotten lost. It had happened before, though rarely, since the island's currents were very strong and mostly stopped anyone from approaching it.

Though now, the currents were too calm and docile from what she remembered.

"Here we are, Lapras," she said loudly as the beach came into clear view. She felt her Pokemon starting to slow and she tightened her grip on one of the gray bulges that came from the Lapras's shell. Lapras turned its blue horned head towards her and looked at her with big black eyes. The water had become too shallow for its four fins to move in and the Pokemon was waiting for its trainer's orders.

She stepped off of Lapras's back and into the oddly cold water, the waves brushing her bare knees. After thanking her Pokemon and returning it to its Pokeball, she made her way out of the water, frowning briefly as her clacks partly got stuck in the damp sand. Wishing she had enough time to bring proper footwear, she took them off and stood barefoot at the edge of the beach.

"How odd," she said out loud as she looked at the sand. There were two sets of footprints that lingered in the sand where the water couldn't reach them. As far as she could see, they were present all along the beach and as far as she could see.

So, there were at least two people on the island. She was hoping that the theft was a false alarm of some kind. In the fifteen years that the artifact was on the island, it was only stolen once and the person who did it was caught before even stepping out of one of the caves. After that, the artifact was placed back where it was before with extra security, and the thief simply 'disappeared'.

She understood that the artifact had to be protected at all costs. It would be an absolute disaster if the artifact got into someone else's hands. And you could hardly describe at what would happen if it were used.

Clenching her fists, she started across the beach, purposely stepping on the footprints.

She refused to let the artifact get stolen, no excuses. When the next day dawned, she promised herself that the artifact would be right where it was for the last fifteen years: hidden in the ice of Seafoam Island.

And if there was one thing Lorelei was good at, it was keeping a promise.





A/N: I just want to let you guys know that the next few chapters are going to be a bit contrived. Sorry, but I can't really find a way to get around it. <_< By the way, can you guys inform me if there's anything weird about my characters' reactions? This is the first time I've really written such situations and I want to make sure I'm doing it okay.

Well, well, how come I have not reviewed this yet?

Dagzar, I have to say that contrary to what I had expected from myself, I liked this story. You see, when I first read "Mentor" (about two weeks ago), I picked from the Announcement Thread and thought something in the lines of "trainer guiding along wannabe-trainers on their 1st year? No thanks, I'm smelling angst".

Then I read ch. 2 and I was so greatly surprised that I just couldn't stop reading (it happens to me sometimes). I like how this Leah character has turned out to be. What with the failed attempt at a Pokémon journey and the effect it has on her views on concepts such as friendship, tutorage, and weather. Or even the "Sandshrew as an 'it'" thing someone pointed out long ago. I didn't ever realize how she viewed her own Pokémon until that point, and the realization kinda widened my view of the character, too.

Not to say the two kids, Ally and Ed, are less interesting. The whole contrast of personalities was nice to watch, in particular during the Gym Battle and how it turned out to be. I like Ed a lot, don't know exactly why -- maybe because of how he contrasts with Leah.

My favourite element in the story so far is, no wonder, Sands the it Sandshrew. And how it's his interaction with Leah is presented at some points iat the story. Like this:

Chapter 6 said:

"I'm bored," Leah told it, answering its imaginary question. "You're suffering with me."

...

Uh oh, if she was bored enough to play games with a Pokemon, then she was in trouble.

Click to expand...

It made me giggle and laugh guiltly both because of the "imaginary question" and the whole twisted idea that crossed my mind for a moment that she viewed her Pokémon as a foiled way to dillute boredness, yes, but as a companion in pain anyway.

And the whole part where the little thing curled and held the Fire Stone for dear life plus biting his way back to the stone, was like, say, a Macedonia salad for me: a very well featured mix of tasty traits, ranging from something simple like the Fire Stone emanatting heat, to Sands' plea to keep it and Leah essentially taking advantage of being a human and ending the whole affair with a click of a Poké Ball. You know, that scene almost made me feel sorry for myself that I don't (can't) get to treat my Pokémon better in the games. Oh, the fact that they ended up taking the Fire Stone after all was a plus.

Also I wanted to congratulate you on the battle against the Victreebel. It was a interesting read given the tone your story had until it happened. I loved how Leah sensed some futility in the fight at the beginning, how Sands obeyed her, how Paras managed to handle and how Ally did not want to witness the "train wreck". It ended up quite well, in particular, as I look back, because of this single line by Leah:

Chapter 9 said:

"Amber the male Vulpix," Leah snorted, amused. "Poor Pokemon."

Click to expand...

Of the most recent chapter I don't have that much to comment. I was a litle bit worried how were things to turn out with last chapter's storm, and commencing with what seems to be a nice (almost idillic) island kinda made me forget that the tea was originally three.

Oh and a nice addition in the form of *Lorelei*. I always manage to get the name wrong and call her Lorelai... But again a nice point. Now, what artifact may she be protecting at Seafoam Islands...? :rambo:


A nice story so far -- I've just suscribed. Oh and I'm going to so, so, so demand ask plea to get included in the PM List... please???? ;)

Thanks for the review, solovino! Wow, it's so detailed, I have no clue where to start; I'm kind of speechless, really.

Dagzar, I have to say that contrary to what I had expected from myself, I liked this story. You see, when I first read "Mentor" (about two weeks ago), I picked from the Announcement Thread and thought something in the lines of "trainer guiding along wannabe-trainers on their 1st year? No thanks, I'm smelling angst".

Click to expand...

Heh, your thoughts would have actually been pretty much spot on if you had read the short-lived first version of this story. In that one, Leah was much more depressed and bitter than snarky, so much so that I didn't even finish writing the first chapter before calling a rewrite. Angst bugs me for some reason.

Not to say the two kids, Ally and Ed, are less interesting. The whole contrast of personalities was nice to watch, in particular during the Gym Battle and how it turned out to be. I like Ed a lot, don't know exactly why -- maybe because of how he contrasts with Leah.

Click to expand...

Since I'm still defining Ally's personality (and having a bit of trouble, to be honest), I'm actually finding myself liking Ed for the same reason you do. He can easily start an argument with Leah and get dialogue going while I finding Ally's too shy to talk and I usually forget about her during it. <_<

Oh and a nice addition in the form of *Lorelei*. I always manage to get the name wrong and call her Lorelai... But again a nice point. Now, what artifact may she be protecting at Seafoam Islands...?

Click to expand...

I consider Lorelei to be the most awesome of the Elite Four (though that may be my favoritism for ice types speaking). Not only is she tough to beat (I am somehow never able to train good enough electric / fire types in game), but she's the only one that really gets a personality outside the Elite Four battles. Haha, and you're also not the only one who spells her name wrong on occasion.

And what is the artifact? Well, you're just have to wait and see. ;)

A nice story so far -- I've just suscribed. Oh and I'm going to so, so, so demand ask plea to get included in the PM List... please???? ;)

Click to expand...

Heh, yeah, I'll add you to the PM list right away. :)

He felt nice. It was warm and comfortable, wherever he was. It was like he was surrounded by soft blankets and pillows on a cold winter day.

It was so nice; he just wanted to go back asleep.

… Wait a minute-

Ed slowly came back to consciousness, or at least he tried to. His thoughts kept straying away from him and his mind was all foggy and misty. Something was trying to lull him back to sleep and it was working very well. It went on like that for awhile, though he didn't know how long. Time was skewed for him as Ed battled the pleasant force that wanted him to drown in dreamland. He would have loved to go back to sleep, but there was something wrong, something that he was forgetting and needed to remember.

Then suddenly, just like that, the force vanished. The fog was lifted from his mind and his thoughts were clear again with only a hint of drowsiness.

Where was he? That was his first thought and he held onto it, a bit afraid that it'd go away. He remembered where he was beforehand: on that boat and then the storm hit and he went into the water.

Wait. He went into the water? No, they went into the water. He remembered hearing splashes behind him, though it could have been just his imagination.

Where were Ally and Leah? Were they with him right now? He didn't think so and he hope they were okay. He mentally winced when he imagined what Leah when she realized that he wasn't with them anymore. It would probably involve lots of shouting and sarcastic comments and maybe even Ally would laugh at his pathetic situation.

He was a Pokemon trainer! He shouldn't be getting into situations where he couldn't do anything. When he got loose, Ed fumed; he and Paras were definitely going to defeat whatever was holding him down.

… Where was he anyways?

Ed tried to move his body but couldn't. He knew he was lying on his back, arms at his side and legs together, but whenever he tried to move them they didn't respond. Though, he could move a bit as he found out. He could feel himself breathing and he could hear thing, sounds-

Voices.

"It's not here," a voice said, his voice oddly loud and almost echo-like.

A sigh was heard and another, deeper voice, responded. "Well, it seems our contact was wrong. Damn."

"She's not going to be very happy," the first voice muttered.

"Yeah," the other voice agreed. "Good thing I'm not the one telling her that the mission was a bust."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Sorry, Jordy, but you're the one going to tell her that we failed."

"What? Why?"

"Hey, I'm the one who did all the work while you played with your Poliwhirl. It's only fair."

"But she'll kill me!" the voice wailed.

"As long as you don't look her in the eye, you should be fine. Though, if not, nice knowing you."

Ed could practically feel the smirk in those words.

The first voice groaned and repeated, "She'll kill me…"

"Okay, okay, enough whining," the other voice said, irate. "I've put up for it all day, and I'm getting tired of it."

"Do you think that- that- person is going to show up soon?"

"Who? Oh, you mean that person from the Pokemon League? As long as they have a map of the cave, soon. By the way, you really should be less vague. It's annoying."

A gulp. "Sorry."

Ed continued listening, but was just getting more confused. Where was he? Who were these people? Why couldn't he move?

"Why aren't we leaving?" the first voice said suddenly. "If we move fast, maybe we can get out before that person comes-"

"Nah," the second voice said. "No time left, they're probably in the caves now. Besides, I want to get some info out of this guy."

The first voice protested. "That's not very safe, what if that person's powerful?"

"Powerful how? Be less vague. Do you mean physically strong, mentally strong, have super powers-"

"Have strong Pokemon!" the first voice said hurriedly.

"Oh, so that's what you meant." The deeper voice paused. "Nah, don't worry about it. Guns are super-effective against most Pokemon and I like to think that my gun is at least level six-"

"Then what if the person has a rock type or steel type?"

"Geeze, what's with all the questions suddenly? You getting nervous?"

"Yes!" the first voice said loudly. "Look, we can just get out-"

"And how do we do that?" the second person said, voice suddenly serious and conceding. "The easy part was getting in; the hard part is getting out. The person the Pokemon League sent is probably already inside the cave and it won't take them that long to get to this room." The voice suddenly took on a sly quality. "Besides, Jordy, there's no way we can get out quick enough if we bring the kid along-"

Kid? Ed thought to himself. Did they mean him?

"Can't your Starmie just carry him out?"

"Not without loosing energy, and that energy is going to be needed. Though, if you're really that nervous, I'll give you a deal. Either we stay here, and the kid will live or we leave without the kid and the kid freezes to death. So… your choice?"

The first voice muttered something.

"Hmm? What was that? Couldn't hear you…"

"Let's stay," the first person said, voice sullen.

"Good choice!" the second person congratulated. "One that I'll happily agree with!"

What was going on? Ed raged to himself. He really didn't understand what was happening, but it seemed like his life was in these people's hands and he didn't like it. Though, they didn't think he was awake, so if he made himself known, then they'd probably just let him go so they won't have to look after him anymore. Then, he could go find Ally and Leah. Now, he just needed to show them that he was awake.

And just like that, whatever was holding his body in place, suddenly let go.

"Gah!" Ed gasped out as he landed on the floor in a heap, his bare skin almost burning when it touched the icy cold floor. His head had hit the rocky surface when he landed and he groaned as he felt his wet hair with his hand. He didn't seem to be hurt, though his head was pounding.

"Oh, so you've woken up," the second voice said calmly and Ed looked up to get the first glimpse of the people he had been listening to.

The one closest to Ed and who hadn't spoken, wasn't very old at all. Not really an adult, he was lanky and had messy blond hair that fell over his eyes. His face was flushed and he was wearing a large puffy coat and had black mitts over his hands. Beside him was a Poliwhirl, all blue with a swirl in the middle of its round body and large eyes.

Then there was the second person. Ed couldn't see his face exactly as a blue tuke covered his hair and ears and he had some weird sort of goggles covering his eyes. Unlike his desperately dressed companion, the second person was wearing a simple blue jacket, water-proof gloves and had a Pokemon belt going across his chest from his shoulder. It had two ordinary Pokeballs strapped to it.

And almost right next to Ed was a floating Pokemon that was most obviously a Starmie. The jewel in the center of its star-shaped body flicked red a few times, seemingly showing its curiosity.

Ed scrambled to his feet. "Um, hi?"

The second person smiled at him and Ed got shivers. "Hello to you too."

"He woke up!" the first person said astonished and turned to his partner. "I thought you said he wouldn't wake up."

"Who are you guys?" Ed asked as he looked around. The room was wide, but the ceiling wasn't that high, only going about five feet over Ed's head. The walls, floor and ceiling were covered with flakes of ice and blocks of stone. In the walls were three crude looking tunnels that seemed to go off in different directions. The ice made it look pretty in a chilly sort of way.

All in all, definitely not the place he expected to wake up in.

"We're explores," the second person replied, obviously the one that made decisions between the two men. "Honestly, I didn't expect to see a kid like you out here. How'd you get here?"

Ed was still looking around. "I was on a boat and then me and my friends went overboard because of the tides." Ed suddenly swerved around to face the two. "Oh! Have you seen my friends?"

"There are… more of you?"

"Yeah." Ed nodded. "Ally, she's my age, and Leah's way older then us."

"What do we do?" the first person hissed to the other. "This is bad!"

"This is good," the other shot back. "Stop whining."

Ed seriously wondered who those people were so he asked out loud.

The first person looked like a deer in headlights so the other answered instead. "That's Jordy," he said, motioning to his frozen partner. "And I'm, well… my name's Blue."

"Blue?" Ed asked, frowning. "That's a weird name."

Blue sighed and nodded like that statement came up all the time. "Yeah, my parents were pretty weird."

With what Ed had heard when he was still unable to move, about himself freezing to death and such, he had thought the two men wouldn't be very nice. Though he was surprised to see that they're weren't that bad and Ed wondered whether he had just misheard or something.

"So," Ed started, looking at the tunnels. "Which one leads out? I better go find my friends before Leah gets annoyed at me."

Blue pointed to the tunnel behind Ed and Ed turned around to see it fully. While his back was turned, Jordan gave Blue a look which Blue answered with a small shake of his head.

"Why don't I come with you?" Blue offered as he came up to Ed. "I need to go check something out anyways." He turned to Jordan. "Jordy, stay here and don't kill yourself why I'm gone."

Jordan tried to subtly look at one of the other tunnels. "You're leaving me here alone? Why don't I come with you guys too?"

"You're a big boy, Jordy, I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm sure the two of us can survive without you're help."

Ed snickered as Jordan frowned harshly.

"Follow me," Blue said cheerfully, leading the way. "Make sure you don't trip, the ice can be pretty slippery."

"Where are we anyways?" Ed asked, following along as they entered the tunnel.

Blue smirked. "Seafoam Island! One of my favorite places in the entire world."





"W- Why is it so cold?" Ally asked, Amber clamped in her arms like a comforting toy.

Leah had no clue how to answer that. She thought the interior of the cave would be dark and damp, not cold and covered with a thin layer of ice.

They were still traveling through the tunnel and a change had started to occur the farther they walked. The air had started to chill and their breath became visible in the air. Frost clung to the walls and floor and before they even knew it, patches of ice became apparent along the ground. Because of that, their torch was held more downwards then up, keeping the light focused more on the ground then the ceiling. Leah couldn't tell if it helped much as the light kept flickering and the she was quickly running out of wood to hold.

The tunnel had started to slant downwards a while ago and Leah wondered when they would reach the end of it. It was becoming clear to her that the let's-explore-the-tunnel idea wasn't the best idea in the world. Who knew where they were going and who said that Ed was going to be down there anyways? That ocean water that flowed through the opening in the rocks wasn't that big; what were the chances of Ed happening to float through there? And who said the tunnel was going to meet that river anyways?

"I think we should turn back," Leah said, finally discarding her makeshift torch before the flame burned her hand. The small bit of fire melted the ice it landed on top of it and put itself out, leaving only a tiny trail of smoke. Darkness then fell upon them.

Ally protested immediately. "What about Ed?"

"Look," Leah started, wondering how she should say her thoughts out loud. "I don't think we should go any further, we don't know what could be further up ahead and Ed might not even be there…"

"What if he is?" Ally asked.

Leah countered. "What if he's not?"

Unfortunately, Ally had a reply ready. "T- Then we keep looking!"

"… You're pretty feisty today," Leah commented, not knowing what else to say. She rubbed her hands against each other. "It's getting pretty cold and we've run out of sticks and light."

"Amber can help," Ally said, letting Amber have enough room so that he could cough up a small burst of flames as an example.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, Vulpix doesn't have enough fire power to give us constant light."

Since Ally was being stubborn and refused to turn back, Leah was forced to consider other options like maybe just forcing Ally to turn back. Really, what could a tiny ten-year-old girl do against her, a fifteen-year-old? She just needed to physically push her back and make sure Ally didn't try to struggle. Problem solved. Well, except for the Vulpix who would probably just try to burn and bite her. Damn, if only the Vulpix wasn't there.

Okay then, if they couldn't turn back, how do they keep going? Fire was out, so what else could they use to make light?

Leah fished inside her pockets, pulling out Sands' Pokeball, a wet pen she wasn't sure that worked anymore and the Fire Stone. She was a bit surprised to see the Fire Stone, but then remembered that she had put it in her pocket that morning, just in case Sands wanted it. If there was one thing that Leah had learned about her Pokemon in the past two weeks, it was that if Sands wanted something, he would use all the annoying tactics he knew to get it.

"What about that?" Ally asked, pointing at the Fire Stone in her hand, seemingly having no trouble at seeing it in the dark.

"I dunno, I guess it could warm." Leah didn't like being confused. What was Ally thinking?

Ally tried to explain. "E- Elemental Stones don't just evolve Pokemon; they also do stuff when they're in their environments. Like, Water Stones bubble when they're in water and I- I think Fire Stones glow in fire," she said, blushing when Leah stared at her.

"… And how do you know this?" Leah asked.

"M- Misty told us."

"Misty? You mean Gym Leader Misty?"

Ally nodded. "Yes. My class visits her sometimes and she'll tell us things about Pokemon."

Leah frowned. "Wait, if Fire Stones glow in fire and fire glows all the time, how do you know Fire Stones glow?"

It took a moment for Ally to process Leah's logic. "W- Well, I think Fire Stones glow for a while after they come out of fire."

"How convenient," Leah deadpanned. "One fire Pokemon and one Fire Stone equals light."

"Y- Yes."

Leah sighed and felt that she was going to be doing that a lot. "Fine, let's try this theory out."

The Fire Stone was put carefully on a patch of rock with the Vulpix put in front of it. With words from Ally, Amber breathed out flames at the stone. The fire licked and enveloped the rock and the two girls watched the Fire Stone glow and flicker with the fire.

"… Okay, now what?" Leah asked, crossing her arms. "Do we have to wait until the fire goes out?"

Ally hesitated when the fire refused to disappear from the rock. "I- I guess."

They waited for a few minutes, watching the stone burn and just when Leah was about to give into the urge to kick the stone into a patch of ice, the fire started to go out. Or in a better phrase, the stone started to absorb the fire. The flames disappeared into the stone, leaving only its light and heat behind.

Leah hissed when the stone scorched her hand when she tried to pick it up and she was forced to use her partly damp sleeve to hold the rock. "Yay," she said dully. "We made a glowing rock."

Ally ignored the sarcasm and looked down the tunnel with hope. "C- Can we go on now?"

Sighing again, Leah wondered whether they should really bother. Ed might not be there, but he might be. There was no way to tell.

Though, there was one way to find out.

"Yeah," Leah said, holding the rock away from her body like a potentially dangerous object.

"Let's go."





Despite all their effort to make the Fire Stone, it wasn't needed after walking for a few minutes. The tunnel that they had been walking through was simple and only had two ways you could go.

Where the tunnel lead to, however, wasn't as quite as simple.

The cavern was oddly well lit, though not from any human means. Light just seemed to be trapped between the icy silver walls or it was almost as if the walls were giving off the light. Either way, it was way unnatural looking and Leah had to wait a few moments to get used to such a sight.

The cavern was as big as a gymnasium and icy boulders and rocks covered almost every inch. The walls and floor were both jagged with the ground covered in treacherous slippery patches of ice between the rocks. Going right through the middle of the cavern was a small river, that seemingly wasn't aware that it would be more helpful frozen over than running rapidly right in the middle of their path.

As if fate was against the two trainers, two other tunnels, that obviously went elsewhere, stood on the other side of the river, mocking them behind its fast-paced bodyguard.

"Got any more bright ideas?" Leah asked dryly, putting the Fire Stone away.

Ally was at a lost. "I- I don't know…"

Since the girl looked so helpless, Leah couldn't help but take an ounce of pity on her. "Okay, look. I don't think Ed's down here anyway. And really, there's no way we can get past this."

"W- We can try…?"

"How?" Leah questioned. "We have no water or flying Pokemon. There's nothing else we can do."

There wasn't much else to say other than that, so the two were forced to stare helplessly at the river. Well, Ally looked at it hopelessly. Leah, instead, just looked around and thought about getting the Fire Stone back out for their long journey back up to the surface.

Leah turned around, intent at letting Ally know that they were going back no matter what, but found that she was facing some stranger that had come up behind them.

Well, not a stranger exactly; Leah had seen her before. The woman had red hair, tied in a ponytail with long bangs hanging long enough to touch her wire-framed glasses. She had narrow eyes, and was just a bit taller than Leah. Wearing a black zip-up vest, purple skirt and black high-heels, she didn't look like someone who was suited for such an icy environment, but Leah knew better.

Ally also turned around when she heard Leah become quiet and couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"You're… Lorelei?" Leah asked carefully. "The Ice Mistress from the Elite Four?"

"L- Lore-" Ally was almost rendered speechless. It wasn't everyday that one of the most famous trainers in the world appeared from behind you.

Since Leah was too busy staring at Lorelei, she almost missed the Pokemon beside the woman. It was just higher than its trainer's waist and it was a pink bear-like creature with a tan colored muzzle and stomach. Its stubby ears curled towards its head and its large eyes and mouth were frozen in a stupidly happy look. Behind the Pokemon was a large gray-blue shell that was seemingly clamped onto the creature's tail. The shell was spiked and Leah was almost certain that she could see it had eyes.

Leah turned her attention back to Lorelei when she began to speak.

"Yes, I'm her," Lorelei answered warily. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Leah wondered how she was supposed to explain. What would it sound like to her, if she was told that they had been thrown overboard, survived the ocean raging tides, both washed up on the same beach, both not receiving serious injuries and were now exploring a mysterious icy cave to search for their missing third member?

Hmm, probably nuts. Oh well.

"Washed up here," Leah replied simply, not wanting to get into details. "We're looking for the kid who came with us. We think he's down here somewhere."

Lorelei repeated herself. "Who are you?"

"I'm Leah, and this is Ally."

Lorelei frowned and seemed to be lost in thought. "You're too young…" Though she snapped out of it and looked at them again. "Have you seen any suspicious people around here?"

Leah shrugged, a bit confused. "No, we haven't seen anything here."

"You two should get out of here," Lorelei started, changing the topic after a few moments of silence. "This place is dangerous and you shouldn't have been able to be washed up here in the first place. Your friend is here; what does he look like?"

Ally was still in shock, so Leah filled Lorelei in. "Ten-year-old, orange hair, green shirt, might have a lifejacket on and might have a Paras with him."

Lorelei nodded slowly. "I'll keep my eye out for him down here. I want you two to leave now and wait up on the beach for me. I have something to do here, but it hopefully won't take long."

"Where are we?" Leah asked, wanting to know the answer to the question that had been bugging her ever since she had woken up.

"… This is Seafoam Island," Lorelei answered after a moment, seemingly wondering if she should even answer.

Leah looked around, eyes narrowed. "That can't be! Seafoam Island is filled with theme parks that centers on ice and water Pokemon. I've been there before and this place isn't it."

"There's more than one Seafoam Island," Lorelei said, keeping her explanation to a minimum. "Look, I'll explain later. There's no time to waste and I have to keep moving."

"Okay…" Leah replied and tried to keep disbelief out of her voice. "Though, this place is a dead-end; I don't see how you can get across the river."

"I know a way," Lorelei said confidently as she stepped past the duo and walked up to the ledge before the river. Slowbro slowly slid over to her and stood at her side.

Lorelei took a deep breath, eyes on the tunnels across the raging rapids. "Slowbro, get us over."

At the command, Slowbro grinned and held out its small clawed paws. A blue aura came over the Pokemon and its trainer and, right in front of Leah and Ally's disbelieving faces, the two started to rise into the air. Slowbro held them there for a moment as it seemingly got its bearings, and then floated them across the water. Neither looked scared of the pulsing tides straight below them and only when Lorelei's feet hit the ground on the other side did a grimace come across her face.

"Holy ****!" Leah exclaimed. She had hardly ever seen a psychic Pokemon do their tricks in real life, but it was just simple stuff then. But making a person float? That was just awesome! Now Leah had the urge to go out and catch a psychic type at the next opportunity…

… Oh god, what was she thinking? That was not an appropriate response. She was not going to get more Pokemon, one was enough for her. Though, she had to admit that psychic types were cool.

Leah watched as Lorelei and Slowbro disappeared into one of the tunnels and then turned to Ally.

"Problem solved," Leah said with a sigh of relief. "Lorelei will look for Ed while we go back to wait on the beach."

Ally looked across the river and to the tunnel Lorelei went though. Her gaze then went to the other opening in the rocks. "W- What if he's in the other one?"

"What other one?"

"The other tunnel. What if Ed's down there instead?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Ed will be fine, Lorelei will find him. Besides, there's nothing we can do anyways."

Ally completely surprised Leah but sitting down. She sat cross-legged on the rock and stared mournfully at the tunnels. "I'm going to w- wait here."

"What?" Leah asked. "Are you stupid? Get up, the ice must be freezing."

"N- No."

Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

Leah grabbed Ally's arm and tried to physically pull her upright, but Ally didn't help, just pulling back down. When it looked like Leah was about to pull Ally into some ice, Leah let go, completely frustrated.

"Waiting here isn't going to solve anything!" Leah cried, her voice loud enough to make Ally flinch. "Come on! What do you want me to do?"

That seemed to be the right thing to say as Ally looked up at her. "Find him."

"What?"

"Find him," Ally repeated, voice clearer and louder. "I want Ed back!"

Leah threw up her hands. "Okay, fine! Give me a psychic or water type and I'll go get him."

"You don't need one," Ally said, frowning at her.

"The river-"

"Not those tunnels. That one." Ally pointed her finger to the one she was thinking of, that just happened to be across the icy terrain, but on their side of the river.

Well, actually, naming that thing a tunnel was pushing it. A hole was a better name for it. It was small and blended perfectly into the background so much, Leah had completely overlooked it. She supposed that she could climb though it… but only if she hunched over.

"… No," Leah concluded. "That's beyond stupid; that's just dumb."

Ally said nothing, only staring back at the tunnels.

"When did you see that hole anyways," Leah asked, a bit curious.

"Just now," Ally muttered, switching her position to pull her knees to her chest.

Leah was just a bit disturbed to see Ally like that: sullen and depressed. Sure, she had seen depressed before, but not sullen.

"So," Leah said, trying to figure things out. "You want me to get on my hands and knees and climb through a small hole that'll probably be a dead-end of some sort just to find a kid that's already being looked for?"

"Yes," Ally answered.

Leah glared at her. "Why don't you do it?"

Ally shook her head back and forth. "I'm not any help. I'd probably just get lost."

"And I won't?"

"Please," Ally pleaded, finally having enough of the cold ground and getting up. "L- Look, it won't hurt you if you don't find Ed, but what if he's in there? Please? Can't you just look? Leah?"

With Ally's hopeless expression combined with Leah's weariness, it was certainly a nice persuasion. A part of Leah just wanted to accept so that Ally would finally shut up and stay silent. Another part of her was worried about Ed and another wondered how she kept getting into such situations.

Leah sighed and admitted defeat. "Look, if I do go check it out, you can't complain if I come back empty-handed, okay?"

Ally's face brightened and she nodded. "Yes!"

Turning her back to Ally, Leah thought with frustration. Damn, she was going soft. What was next, petting Pikachu and singing 'Joy to the World' to little preschool kids?

Sighing again, Leah gave a quick evil look to Ally before starting her careful walk to the small tunnel. If there was any luck in the world, everything should go smoothly… but really, she doubted it.





A/N: Okay, I'm ending it there. Sorry that it's another boring chapter, but I promise you that the next one will have some much needed action. Remember, if anything seems weird to you or if you didn't like a part, tell me. I like to know what I'm doing wrong. ;)

Hello! Here is for chapters 11 and 12... grammar first.

Getting back to task at hand,

Click to expand...

There should be a 'the' between 'to' and 'task.'

He mentally winced when he imagined what Leah when she realized that he wasn't with them anymore.

Click to expand...

Should be 'what Leah would do when…' or 'what Leah would say when…'

And that was it for grammar. Either you are getting so good at writing that I'm busy enjoying the story and forget to watch for mistakes or you are just making less mistakes. I think it's a combination! Nice job!
Other stuff:

Leah wondered how she was supposed to explain. What would it sound like to her, if she was told that they had been thrown overboard, survived the ocean raging tides, both washed up on the same beach, both not receiving serious injuries and were now exploring a mysterious icy cave to search for their missing third member?

Hmm, probably nuts. Oh well.

Click to expand...

Lol! Great line!
I think the reactions of your characters were fine. It was cool to see some new characters. I can't wait to see what he is up to and what the artifact is!

Great story, great writing- keep up the great work!

Thanks, delongbi! Thank god that my grammar mistakes seem to be finally lessening; that extra hour of editing has really paid off. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far, especially these last few chapters. I really wasn't sure if I was doing them right, but I suppose I can finally relax now.

Thanks for reviewing! :)

Great chapter! I read this last week and corrected all your mistakes (there were more than usual) but before I could click the post button, my mother closed my window...so yeah, me ish too lazy to re-read it. >.>

Overall, it was a very interesting chapter. :) Can't wait for the next one! (Which will be posted in a several hours. XD)

Thanks for reviewing, Neiko! Heh, and now, several hours after your review, the new chapter has arrived! Though, I'll warn you: don't have high expectations for it. <_<







If there was one thing Leah was aware of during the whole time she crept through the tunnel, it was that the ceiling was low. Seriously, she must have banged her head over five times already. It also didn't help that the ceiling was cold too. So, not only was her head cold and bruised, but she still hadn't found the end of the tunnel. It just kept going on, and on, and on…

Why was she doing this again? She could be outside at that very moment, lounging on the beach. But noooo, she just had to give in to Ally's complaints and go look for Ed herself. How stupid was that? Someone else was already looking for him, so why should she? Well, it was true that Leah didn't have to look for Ed, but Lorelei said she would only keep an eye out for him, so that meant she technically wouldn't be actively looking for him.

That brought up another question. Why was Lorelei on Seafoam Island? A member of the Elite Four wouldn't come all the way out to some weird island for no reason. It had to be pretty important. And with all those Cleanse Tags lying out and the way Lorelei had suspiciously eyed her and Ally when meeting them… Well, Leah had a feeling she didn't want to be involved in… whatever was happening.

"Ow," Leah moaned, rubbing her head again. Stupid ceiling.

Keeping her eyes carefully on the ground so that she wouldn't slip on a patch of ice, Leah held the Fire Stone firmly in front of her, lighting her way. Not only was the stone providing light, but it was also warm in her hand. She absentmindedly wondered whether this was how Sands felt back at that mansion, surrounded by coldness with only a stone to keep him warm. If so, she supposed she couldn't blame him for keeping a firm grip on the thing.

Anyways, the Fire Stone didn't matter since it didn't look like she needed the light anymore.

Finally.

Up ahead, seemingly at the end of the tunnel, was a light. It wasn't very bright, but compared to the Fire Stone, it was brilliant. It quickly overtook Leah's handy light-source so that she could see the ground perfectly fine.

Leah made it out of the tunnel and stretched immediately when the ceiling disappeared from over her head. She heard her bones make a tiny crack and she immediately relaxed afterwards, standing up straight. Ah, that was much better.

Finally taking her first look at the cavern, Leah froze at the sight before her.

Oh ****.

It wasn't a big place, not larger than the previous cavern, but not much smaller either. She could see another tunnel in the corner of her eye, a regular sized one, and all around her was the same type of ice that was present in the cave where she left Ally.

But that wasn't what bothered her. The floor was icy, but she could hardly see it due to the many bodies that littered the floor. They weren't human; all of them were Pokemon of various species, but pretty much all of them were either water-types or ice-types or both.

Leah just stood there silently, wondering what she should do. They weren't dead, as she could see some of their chests rising as they breathed, but she was afraid that they might attack her if they woke up.

Now what was she supposed to do?

"Screw it," Leah said quietly to herself, turning around. "I'm out of here."

But something made her pause. Her head was bowed and her eyes focused on the solid ground beneath her feet. There was a bit of ice, probably not enough to make her slip, but that wasn't what caught her attention. Small, almost invisible green spores were dotted on the ice and Leah looked at the floor around her to see the spores were everywhere in the room. Not only were they on the floor, but on the Pokemon too.

Leah slowly walked closer to one of the Pokemon. A Seel, she thought it was. Its shiny silvery white skin made the green dots stand out and it made the Seel look like it had some sort of disease or infection.

"What's Sleep Powder doing here?" Leah asked quietly, but answered herself almost immediately. Easy, Sleep Powder had to be there to put the Pokemon to sleep; therefore, the better question would be who put the Pokemon to sleep.

… Technically, she didn't care, but it was still a curious question.

Though, it didn't really change her decision. This was too much. Why was she going around in a cave again? Oh, yes: to find Ed. To find Ed; not to get involved in some weird activities that happened to be going on. And if Lorelei had gotten involved, it had to be bad. Yup, her decision was final. She was leaving. Besides, Ed probably wasn't in the caves and she had no idea why she kept entertaining the idea and actually going with it.

But, just as Leah got a foot back into the dark tunnel, she stopped again.

So… if she did go back, what was she supposed to say to Ally? 'Yeah, I'm giving up on Ed and I don't care?' Yeah, like that would go down well. Ally would probably get it inside her head to go exploring herself and then, when she slips on the ice and bashes her head open or something like that, Leah would have fantastic opportunity to speak with the girl's parents to explain.

Okay, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but still.

Leah wondered if these sort of situations happened to other trainers. Do they go and get lost in caves and mansions and storms? She knew that trainers usually had unique journeys, but the whole situation was getting a bit ridiculous… A lot ridiculous. Here she was in a cave filled with Pokemon that fell asleep under mysterious circumstances and she was wondering whether she should still try to find Ed.

It was stupid for even considering the option. Logic went against it; she went against it… it was stupid, just plain and simple… Though, she never was one of the smartest people around, was she? Besides, if she didn't, what was she supposed to tell Ally?

Sighing under her breath and cursing her existence in general, Leah turned around and went towards the other tunnel, carefully stepping over the Pokemon, one by one.

Damn her conscience.





Before long, Leah started to hear voices up ahead. They were very quiet and she couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but whatever they were talking about, it sound like a rather heated discussion.

Light once again signaled the end of the tunnel, though it was partly blocked off by a slab of ice that sat annoyingly in Leah's path. She could try to get by it, but the edges of the ice looked a bit sharp and she was a bit too big to fit in the gap. It wasn't even large enough to fit her entire head.

Well, at least she could hear the voices now. Though, wow, one of them sounded rather angry.

"What are you doing here?" Leah heard Lorelei ask, her sharp female voice sounding shrill and echo-ish.

Another voice, this one unfamiliar, replied, "You know why I'm here."

Leah crept closer and put one of her hands experimentally on the ice. She tilted her head to see through the gap. Lorelei stood closest to her, looking past Leah, and with her hands clenched at her sides. Her Slowbro also seemed rather upset, its big eyes narrowed and mouth pulled down into a frown. Leah tried to get a glimpse of the other speaker, but couldn't really see anyone; the person stood out of her sight. The only way she could see was through the ice, which only showed a blurred image of two people standing before what was presumably another underground river.

Actually, it was probably a river because of the rushing sound it made as water tumbled along, washing away anything in its path. Other than the voices and her light breathing, it was the only other thing she could hear.

The stupid slab wasn't letting Leah see properly and she wondered whether she should turn back. Things were probably going to get ugly, and she really didn't want to know what was happening. Though, she couldn't help but stay rooted to the spot as Lorelei began to speak again.

"If you don't know what you're trying to steal," Lorelei started. "Then you should know that what you're doing it very dangerous and you should stop immediately-"

"Don't worry about it," the man said, dismissing the issue. "I know what I'm doing and I know exactly what we're looking for."

Lorelei frowned and anger was apparent in her voice. "Then I'm taking you back to Indigo Plateau. If you know what you're trying to do, then you can deal with the consequences."

There was silence for a moment before the man spoke. "No thanks," he said. "I'm not here to be caught. If you want to arrest me then you'll have to do it by force."

The other person with the thief, who hadn't yet spoke, finally did so. "That's Lorelei!" he said to the thief. "We'll never win-"

"Shut up, Jordy," the thief said casually. "Her Pokemon aren't that strong."

"Slowbro," Lorelei said immediately after the comment, obviously not happy about being insulted by the thief. "Confusion."

"Starmie," the thief commanded simply. "Go."

Lorelei's Slowbro seemed to concentrate; its ears flattened and its mouth opened slightly. A slight blue aura surrounded its body for only a moment and the air around it seemed to vibrate.

Leah blinked a few times, but she could still see the visible vibrations. They looked quite like what she considered a mirage at a distance: vibrations that blurred anything behind them. She pressed against the wall to get a better look.

Suddenly, a Starmie flew into her range of vision and as it did so, Lorelei jumped back from her Pokemon. The Starmie spun wildly in the air, its arms looking like blades. The purple blur flew around the Slowbro, seemingly looking for an opening and as it slowed down and floated a little closer, the Slowbro stuck. The vibrations in the air suddenly look denser and a high-pitched noise sounded as the Starmie was strongly thrown backwards. It went flying into the wall, three of its arms slicing through the ice and holding it there.

"Psychic," Lorelei ordered.

The Slowbro turned towards the Starmie, its back facing Leah. The blue aura returned, but it was much brighter than before. The air seemed to thicken and Leah felt a headache coming on.

But Starmie wasn't going to wait patiently. It struggled for a moment, trying to get out of the wall. With one mighty heave, the ice finally cracked and the Starmie was freed. It did a few experimental twists in the air before facing the Slowbro head on. Its jewel shone before bleeding into a bright yellow and then white. Cracks of electricity danced on its surface and suddenly, the Starmie spun in place, keeping the jewel pointed at Slowbro as the cracks unified into a single spark.

The lighting bolt tore through the air towards the Slowbro with a giant crack of sound and a flash of light. Slowbro was prepared, however, as the lighting bolt suddenly arched from its line of fire and zigzagged around the Pokemon and into the wall behind it.

Where, coincidently, Leah was watching.

Leah shot to the ground as cracks appeared in the slab in front of her and the walls beside it. She could feel her hair standing on end and could almost feel the static heavy in the air. Only when it seemed to be over did Leah get back on her feet, trembling wildly. She looked up to see that the slab had partially broken away, enough that she could go through if she wanted to. But after that show? No thanks.

Her body was shaking so much that she couldn't walk away even if she wanted to. So instead, she crouched down, hiding behind the remainder of the slab, but also giving her a clear view of the battle… and the other trainer.

He was standing in the same place as before, with his hands in his pockets, visibly confident that his Pokemon would protect him. A blue tuke was pulled over his head, hiding his hair and strange goggles sat firmly before his eyes. At his feet lay a brown knapsack that looked rather rumbled as if it was thrown to the ground. He was wearing a navy blue jacket and water-proof pants and had an odd smile on his face, one that could almost be called secretive in a 'I know something you don't' manner.

But that wasn't all that Leah saw.

Passing her eyes over the other guy with the thief, who didn't look very special, Leah's attentions finally landed on the last person in the room, one she hadn't seen before. Well, technically, she had seen him through the ice, but with the way he was laying, Leah had thought that he was a rock… Yeah, an orange and green rock. She definitely wasn't the smartest person in the world, but in her defense, she was a bit preoccupied watching the battle.

Ed lay on his side and looked unharmed from what Leah could tell, but she couldn't be sure. He was lying on the ice, after all, and she had no clue how long for. Well, at least he hadn't drowned or anything, but Leah wondered how Ed got all the way down there. Probably not under his own power, but you could never know with Ed; he could be pretty stupid sometimes.

Leah felt relieved at that point. Ed was as fine as he could be in that situation and she could go back to Ally and say she found him… Not that she cared what Ally thought. Leah looked back at Lorelei and wondered what she was going to do. Ed was in plain sight, but Lorelei had made no move to get him or hadn't even acknowledged that he was there.

Well, maybe Lorelei didn't acknowledge it, but one of those thieves definitely did. The quiet boring one kept giving glances at the kid and looked concerned too.

At least someone seemed to care.

"Why do you keep fighting?" the thief asked Lorelei. "We're well matched and this could take a long time. Can you risk it?"

"There's no time limit," Lorelei replied coldly, crossing her arms. "I refuse to let you leave with it, no matter how long it takes."

The thief smirked. "Yes, we have all the time in the world." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder to Ed. "But what about him?"

Lorelei finally looked at Ed, her expression blank.

The man continued. "The boy, Ed I think his name was, might die if you don't get him out here fast. Sure, we can keep battling, but the more time Ed lays there, the closer he gets to death." He shrugged, like it wasn't an important decision. "So… What do you want to do?"

"… I'm not letting you get away with this," Lorelei concluded, but didn't give her Pokemon any orders. Instead, she tried to get information out of him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because," the thief answered coyly, dodging the subject. "Do I need a reason?"

Lorelei gritted her teeth. "What do you want from it? Money? Power? Your own gain? Humans aren't supposed to hold those."

"Hold what?" he taunted. "Be less vague."

Not seeing the point of continuing her conversation with the tight-lipped thief, Lorelei turned to his partner, who seemed nervous to be put under her gaze. "And why are you doing this?"

"M- Me?" he squeaked.

The thief also turned to him. "Be quiet, Jordy."

"Jordan, is it?" Lorelei said, still addressing the thief's partner. "Do you know what you're doing? Do you know what you're looking for?"

"… Yes," Jordan muttered quietly, but Lorelei saw through his lie.

"No, you don't. I don't know why you're doing this, but I can tell you right now that it's not worth it-"

"Yes, it is!" Jordan interrupted loudly. "Y- You know what they do, so you know what they can give a person-"

"How do you know what they do if you don't know what you're looking for?" Lorelei countered. "Besides, do you really think your partner over there-" She looked at the thief. "- is going to let you use it? Is he that type of person?"





As they were talking, Leah kept giving glances at Ed. She had pulled out of the conversation when it started to get more complicated and vague and was now thinking at how she was going to get Ed out of there. It wasn't as if could just sneak over there and quickly carry him out while they were all distracted.

If only those thieves weren't there. They didn't look like they were going to leave anytime soon and she didn't know if she could do anything about it.

Damn! She was being completely useless. She needed a plan and an opportunity. Soon, if possible.





Lorelei continued her verbal assault as she walked slowly towards the two (three if you counted Ed). "You don't seem like the type of person who would do these types of things, Jordan. Stealing something is one thing, but would you really stand by and let a child die?"

Jordan glanced at Ed with a bit of concern. "Uh-"

"You won't be punished, Jordan," Lorelei said suddenly. "I can see that you're not really here because you want to be. Please give up. You won't be arrested. All I want is the child to live. Is that too much to ask?"

"… N- No," Jordan said quietly. "I don't want anyone to die."

The thief, who seemed annoyed at being ignored, sighed loudly. "Jordy, are you going to betray me?"

Jordan looked at him with traces of fear and tried to explain. "I- I'll steal stuff, but I don't murder. Sorry…"

The thief looked at him for a moment before slowly nodding. "Yeah, it's okay. You were never that type. Though, I guess I'm the one who should be sorry."

Staring at him with confusion, Jordan suddenly felt coldness at his back, chillier than the temperature around him. He turned around to see his partner's Starmie, hovering silently behind him and near Ed's unconscious form. The Starmie's jewel was a pretty bright blue color and it was slowly brightening. Thin flakes of ice formed on the gold formation as the air around it got even colder.

"What- ?"

"By the way, Jordy," the thief said casually. "Don't worry about telling the Boss about our failure; I'll tell her myself."

Jordan didn't get another word in before the Starmie released a thin beam of ice that shot him right in the face. It crept along his skin, like a virus, and when he opened his mouth to scream, the ice took the opportunity to enter his body and climb down his throat. It froze every inch of his that could be found and entered and he fell to the ground. Raising his arms in defense, as if it could possibly help, the beam just encompassed them into its brilliance and froze them along with the upper part of his body. When it was over, the ice had covered Jordan so that his whole head and part of his arms were cloaked in a thick layer of ice which shone in the light from the walls.

The ice was rather pretty if you subtracted the human flesh.

"Poor guy," the thief commented, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

Lorelei was lost for words. "Why did you-?"

The thief shrugged. "It's pretty annoying when the people you're supposed to rely on suddenly back down. It kind of pisses me off. Besides, he was probably going to start giving out info and I can't have that."

"Probably?"

"Well, I didn't know for sure and I really can't take chances right now." He grinned and changed the topic, not at all freaked out about the murder he committed. "Now look at us; back where we started. Got any more ideas?"

Lorelei clenched her fists, but she managed a slight smirk. "I don't see what you're so happy about. You're down an ally and a hostage."

"Hmm?" The thief turned around to see Ed had disappeared from his spot on the ground. When he turned back to Lorelei, Slowbro and Ed were at her side, her Pokemon having floated Ed over to her while he was distracted with Jordan.

"… Nice one," he congratulated with a slight shake in his voice.

"You have nothing now," Lorelei told him. "My Slowbro will take down your Starmie eventually, and then you'll be arrested. You never even found what you were looking for."

"… Well, I wouldn't say that," he admitted.

Lorelei was silenced instantly.

The thief knelt down to the bag and searched inside of it. The bag made crackled as its surfaces cracked, like it was covered in a thin layer of glass. He stood up again and held up the artifact for his silent audience to see. It was rectangular in shape and was colored a soft light blue. It was as big as your regular piece of paper but was much thicker. There was faint writing on one side of it, but it looked nothing like any human language ever invented.

"… This place," the thief started, motioning to the room around them. "People say that the great Ice Phoenix, Articuno, froze this island and the ones around it and made them her home. No one has a real explanation on why this place is like this. The ice glows by itself and the caves don't make sense, leading to places they shouldn't be able to. Reality is warped in this place."

He paused. "But we know the real reason, don't we, Lorelei?"

Her name seemed to shock her out of whatever state she was in. "Put it down!" Lorelei commanded, her voice betraying her real emotions.

"Are you scared, Lorelei?" the thief asked.

"Put it down!"

"What do you people call it?" he asked himself and replied to his own question. "The Icicle Plate, I think those reports said. Not very subtle, if you ask me."

When it looked like Slowbro was about to launch an attack, Starmie swooped in front of its trainer, its jewel glowing a faint yellow.

"Not so fast, Lorelei," the thief warned, gripping the Plate tightly. "You'll have to try better than that.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound was heard and around a dozen small purple needles were shot out of nowhere. Most of them missed, but a few impaled themselves in Blue's arm, making him automatically release the artifact he was holding. It hit the ice with an odd clanging sound, as if it were made of metal, and bounced over the edge of the river into the water with a small splash.

The thief gasped, whether from the pain or from dropping the Plate into the water. He grasped his arm with his other hand and pulled out the needles, dropping them onto the ice. A bit of blood was mixing with the blue in his jacket to make a blue-ish brown color, but he didn't care.

He looked up and around, before finally meeting someone's eyes from across the ice.





"Nice one, Sands," Leah said, impressed despite herself. "I didn't think any would actually hit."

Sands pressed itself closer to Leah's chest as it tried to keep as much warmth as possible in its small body. The Fire Stone, which it would normally be cuddling, was kept greedily in Leah's hand and she refused to hand it over. It wasn't as if Leah was in the warmest clothes, either.

She stood up, still cradling Sands with one arm and took a step out into the open, where Lorelei and that other guy could see her. She didn't know why she did that, but they knew where she was anyways, so why hide it?

Lorelei was looking at her with a blank expression that Leah wasn't very sure she wanted directed at her. Though, it didn't last long as Leah broke the staring contest and looked over at the other guy, who was also rather expressionless, not that she could tell with the goggles on. Stupid people and their blank expressions. Maybe she wouldn't have been bothered by it if they weren't directed at her. Most people showed their emotions openly on their face and when they didn't, made her sort of wary.

The thief whipped his head around to stare at the river behind him, as if the notion that the Plate was dropped into the water just occurred to him. "Starmie!"

The Starmie sprung into action, going towards its trainer's side as its arms became whirling blurs. It disappeared as it floated down to the river and multiple splashes were heard as its arms presumably hit the water.

"I'm not losing now!" the thief proclaimed and gave the two one last glance before hopping off the side and into the icy cold water.

Leah and Lorelei ran to the side of the river and looked down. Patches of broken ice were quickly washed away by the current and the ones that remained were being ruthlessly battered until they too broke away. The thief was nowhere to be seen and neither was his Starmie. Both had seemingly vanished with the current.

Leah said nothing, honestly not really caring as she turned around and walked back to Ed. She knelt down beside him and noticed his lips were starting to turn blue. She wasn't sure is that meant he was really bad, or just bad.

"Hey," Leah said to Lorelei and repeated it when it didn't get her attention. "I think Ed needs a hospital."

For a moment, Lorelei just stood there before also turning around and slowly nodding, having seen all that she could. "Yes, we'll go to the surface now. There's nothing more to be done."

Leah was startled when Ed slowly rose into the air under Slowbro's will. She got to her feet and breathed a small sign of relief. Well, finally, she could leave. Looking towards the river again, Leah couldn't help but ask:

"What happened to that plate thing?"

"It's gone," Lorelei said simply. "The current washed it away, but I'm sure Blue was able to grab it. Either way, it's gone now."

"Oh." Leah didn't really know what to say to that, but just shrugged and knew there was nothing she could do. It was just some weird artifact; nothing to worry that much over, in her opinion.

It wasn't as if it was that important… right?





A/N: Finally, it's done. Anyways, I know these last few chapters have been rather different so far (and let's just ignore the contrived issues and general sucky-ness), but now that they're out of the way, we can go back to the regular scheduled journey and out of the plot area. Just to tell you, this is the last chapter on Seafoam Island, but there is one more that relates to this whole situation and it's more of a… interlude than anything else. ;)

Remember, if anything seems wrong, just tell me and I'll see what I can improve. Thanks for reading!

It wasn't if the artifact was that important… right?

Click to expand...

Yeah, the only major grammar mistake I found was in the last line. I think it should be: It wasn't as if the....

I really like how the plot is starting to take off. I don't know why you seem to think these past chapters were bad; I thought they were pretty excellent, actually. Anyway, back to the plot. I am very curious to see what Blue is up to... I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him.

I have a question. Was the sleep powder due to Ed's Paras or one one of Blue's Pokemon? Or is it still unkown? You would think that Leah would use the sleeping powder as a clue that Ed/Some human is close.

Overall, nice chapter! Keep up the great writing!

Dagzar said:

It also didn't help that the ceiling was cold too.

Click to expand...

I'm not really sure, but I think there should be a comma after 'cold'.

Dagzar said:

But noooo, she just had to give into Ally's complaints and go look for Ed herself.

Click to expand...

'Into' should be two seperate words. You know, to give in to something...you can't really give into stuff.

Dagzar said:

And with all those Cleanse Tags lying out and the way Lorelei suspiciously eyed her and Ally when meeting them…

Click to expand...

You're talking about something that happened in the past, right? Then it should be 'Lorelei had suspiciously eyed her and Ally'.

Dagzar said:

Keeping her eyes carefully on the ground so that she wouldn't slip on a patch of ice, Leah had the Fire Stone held firmly in front of her, lighting her way.

Click to expand...

You know, I find it the first sentence a bit weird. When you put something like 'Keeping her eyes carefully on the ground so that she wouldn't slip', wouldn't it sound better if the phrase after that had a verb? Okay, I can't explain myself properly...>.< But I mean I would prefer it like this:

Keeping her eyes carefully on the ground so that she wouldn't slip on a patch of ice, Leah held the Fire Stone firmly in front of her, lighting her way.

Ah well. Something like that. I still find the sentence a bit wordy though. Maybe you could change it a bit?

Dagzar said:

Finally taking her first look of the cavern, Leah froze at the sight before her.

Click to expand...

That should probably be 'at'.

Dagzar said:

They weren't human; all of them were Pokemon of various species, but pretty much all of them were either water or ice types or both.

Click to expand...

There's technically nothing wrong with this sentence, I just think it would sound better if it was 'either water-types, ice-types or both'. I know you repeat 'types' but meh. 'Water or ice types or both' just sounds awkwards to me. >_> Don't worry, I'm just picky like that, there's nothing wrong with your writing.

Dagzar said:

Leah just stood there silently, wondered what she should do. They weren't dead as she could see some of their chests rising as they breathed, but she was afraid that they might attack her if they woke up.

Click to expand...

'Wondered' should be 'wondering'. Or, if you want to keep 'wondered', take off the comma and add 'and'. And you should (probably) add a comma after 'dead'.

Dagzar said:

Leah slowly walked closer to one of the Pokemon, a Seel, she thought it was.

Click to expand...

Meh, this whole sentence just sounded strange to me. Maybe you should seperate it into two different sentences? I don't know.

Dagzar said:

Besides, Ed probably wasn't in the caves and she had no idea why she kept entertaining the idea and actually going with it.

Click to expand...

Should there really be an 's' there?

Dagzar said:

Though, just as Leah got a foot back into the dark tunnel, she stopped again.

Click to expand...

I think you're repeating 'though' a bit much here. Why not use 'but'? It sounds better too.

Dagzar said:

It was stupid for even considering the option.

Click to expand...

I don't think you need the 'for'.

Dagzar said:

Sighing under her breath and generally cursing her existence in general, Leah carefully stepped over the Pokemon, one by one, and made her way to the next tunnel.

Click to expand...

Okay, you're repeating 'general'. Just take off one of them. Also...didn't Leah already take a step into the cave? Why is she stepping over the Pokemon now? Are there Pokemon in the cave as well? God, so many questions marks...

Dagzar said:

She could try to get by it, but the edges of the ice looked a bit sharp and she was a bit too big to fit in the gap. The gap wasn't even fat enough to fit her entire head.

Click to expand...

Instead of repeating 'the gap', you could just put 'it'. And LOL, fat? Shouldn't that be 'large'?

Dagzar said:

Well, at least she could hear the voices now; and wow, one of them sounded rather angry.

Click to expand...

I think this would be better as two seperate sentences.

Dagzar said:

The stupid slab wasn't letting Leah see properly and Leah wondered whether she should turn back.

Click to expand...

Lots of repetitions in this chapter, huh? You could replace 'Leah' with 'she'.

Dagzar said:

Lorelei's Slowbro seemed to concentrate; its ears flattened and mouth open slightly.

Click to expand...

You forgot the 'its' between 'and' and 'mouth'..

Dagzar said:

Well, technically, she had seen him through the ice, but with the way he was laying, Leah thought that he was a rock…

Click to expand...

Should be 'had thought'.

Dagzar said:

Ed was in plain site, but Lorelei had made no move to get him or had acknowledged that he was even there.

Click to expand...

You misspelled 'sight'. And you forgot the 'not'.

Dagzar said:

"How do you know what they do if you don't know what you're looking for," Lorelei countered.

Click to expand...

You forgot the question mark.

Dagzar said:

Raising his arms in defense, as if it could possible help, the beam just encompassed them into its brilliance and froze them along with the upper part of his body.

Click to expand...

That should be 'possibly'.

Dagzar said:

Lorelei clenched her fists, but she managed a slight smirk. "I don't see what you're so happy about. You down an ally and a hostage."

Click to expand...

That doesn't quite make sense.

Dagzar said:

Her named seemed to shock her out of whatever state she was in. "Put it down!" Lorelei commanded, voice betraying her real emotions.

Click to expand...

You forgot the 'her'.

Dagzar said:

When it looked like Slowbro was about to launch an attack, Starmie swooped in front of its trainer, jewel glowing a faint yellow.

Click to expand...

You forgot the 'its'.

-----------------------
GOD. FINALLY DONE. THAT. TOOK. FOREVER.

...

No way freakin' way am I ever going to thoroughly review a fic again. Ever. GAH. But it was a great chapter. Sands knows Poison Sting? Awesome. But...if Blue dived into an icy river after being shot by Poison Sting...won't he die of hypothermia or whatever? And if he survives, won't he get poisoned to death? (Oh noes, Leah's going to become a murder! XD)

I really like how the plot is starting to take off. I don't know why you seem to think these past chapters were bad; I thought they were pretty excellent, actually.

Click to expand...

The only reason I'm viewing them as bad is mostly because that the last few chapters have been rather serious in my point-of-view and even bit depressing with all that talk of death. It's just so different of what I usually write; I can't help but think I'm doing something wrong. But, I suppose I might be being a bit hard on myself. <_<

I have a question. Was the sleep powder due to Ed's Paras or one one of Blue's Pokemon? Or is it still unkown? You would think that Leah would use the sleeping powder as a clue that Ed/Some human is close.

Click to expand...

The Sleep Powder was due to one of Blue's Pokemon. Ed didn't get to explore and Paras was never released from its Pokeball. And Leah did know that a human must have brought a grass-type of bug-type to Seafoam Island and that it was evidence of 'suspicious activities.' Ed's Paras causing it just didn't really occur to her.

Overall, nice chapter! Keep up the great writing!

Click to expand...

Thanks, delongbi!


Oh god, look at all those mistakes you found, Neiko. <_< I must correct them immediately!

But...if Blue dived into an icy river after being shot by Poison Sting...won't he die of hypothermia or whatever? And if he survives, won't he get poisoned to death? (Oh noes, Leah's going to become a murder! XD)

Click to expand...

Heh, I didn't actually think anyone would notice that. Though, technically, Poison Sting doesn't always cause poison (usually only when my Pokemon are low on health and would faint if poisoned. <_<). Anyways, Blue's situation should be answered next chapter.

The clip clop of her high-heeled shoes echoed along the hallway. Lorelei was walking swiftly and anyone who came across her only had to look at her thunderous expression to move out of the way. Her hands were clenched at her sides and mouth pressed together in a thin line. Unlike yesterday, however, where she was confident enough to wear summer clothes in a cold environment, she was now dressed in more of a winter garb: a warm jacket, a turtleneck and pants that just covered her ankles.

Finally, after numerous hallways and stairs, she reached her destination. She knocked briskly at the door, but didn't wait for a reply, instead opening it and letting herself in. Three serious faces looked back at her and she nodded to them in greeting. There was only one unoccupied chair left and she sat down, crossing her arms as she leaned back.

"We heard about what happened," Lance started. He was a young man with short, spiky red hair and wore a red vest and blue jeans. His cape, which he usually wore everywhere, was absent. He continued, "It wasn't your fault."

"I let him get away," Lorelei snapped. It was already a sore subject for her and it didn't help that she was in a foul mood, having gotten little sleep the night before. "And now the Plate is who knows where!"

Agatha eyed Lorelei critically, silently judging her failure. She was a short woman with shoulder-length gray-brown hair. There were many few lines on her face and she had narrow gray eyes and a hawk-like nose and wore a purple dress. The only thing that really showed that she was older than she looked was her great wooden walking stick that was propped up against her chair.

"What have you found about this thief?" Agatha asked distastefully, disliking that some thief could waltz right in and make fools out of the Elite Four.

Lance cut in. "No, wait. Let's not jump around topics. Lorelei, why don't you tell us everything from the very start and then we can start discussing? That okay with you guys?"

Lorelei and Agatha nodded, while Bruno responded with in a deep voice. "Yes."

Sighing, Lorelei thought back, organized her memories and began her tale. She told of how she got to the island, mentioning that the vicious tide had been docile. Only briefly mentioning the two girls that she had met, Lorelei went on to describe her encounter with the thief and his companion. Then she explained that the thief had killed his partner and revealed that he had the Plate. When it came to the part where Leah interfered, the woman left nothing out and then concluded:

"Unfortunately, the thief dropped the Plate into the water where it was swept away. The thief went after it and that's where I lost track of him. I assume he was also swept away, but since I couldn't find his body, I'm forced to conclude that he got out alive."

Lorelei took a breath and wished she had a glass of water with her. She rubbed her hands together as she tried to think.

"What else?" Agatha asked.

"Afterwards," Lorelei started. "I dropped off the two girls and the boy at Fuchsia City Hospital. I talked with them and asked what they saw or heard. The youngest girl, provided no information, but the other two had something useful. The older girl, named Leah Gordon as I found out, found Pokemon forced asleep by Sleep Powder in one of the caverns. The boy, Edward Williams, knew much more. The thief had given the boy his name, which is most likely an alias, though I can't be sure. This 'Blue' talked about his 'Boss' and referred her as a 'she' several times."

Silence fell upon them.

"Okay," Lance said. "So, let's backtrack. What do we know about this 'Blue' fellow?"

Lorelei visualized Blue in her head and tried to remember everything about him. "He's male and appears to be middle age, not younger than twenty, but not older than forty." She paused. "Other than that, I'm not sure about his appearance. He had a tuke covering his hair and goggles over his eyes."

"Was he a good trainer?" Bruno asked, pushing his shaggy black hair from his eyes.

"Yes," Lorelei said. "Though, we didn't get to battle for very long. His Starmie was able to hold off my Slowbro, but I doubt that would have continued if we had continued our battle." A thought occurred to her. "He had two Pokeballs on his belt. I'm not sure if one contained his Starmie, but he probably didn't have more than three with him at the time."

"We shouldn't assume," Agatha spoke. "He could have easily hid another one in his pocket."

Lance sighed and leaned back into his chair. "So, Blue had a Starmie, a Pokemon that could use Sleep Powder, and one other."

Agatha looked at Lorelei. "How did he get on the island?"

"I didn't see a ship," Lorelei replied. "He probably used a Pokemon, one that could be used as a boat, or a large flying type."

"He could have teleported," Bruno suggested.

"We'll search the Trainer Database," Lance said, closing the discussion. "We, at least, know one of Blue's Pokemon, so that'll help for now."

"For now?" Agatha repeated in indignation. "Are we just going to let this thief walk off with one of the most dangerous artifacts this world has ever found?"

Lance shook his head. "I not sure what else we can do. We hardly have a description of the guy and only a single one of his Pokemon."

"I went back to the island this morning," Lorelei spoke up and her colleagues' attention went back to her. "I collected some of the leftover Sleep Powder that put the Pokemon to sleep and maybe we can analyze it to see which Pokemon it came from."

"Good idea, Lorelei," Lance congratulated.

Lorelei continued, "Also, I retrieved Jordan's corpse. Once we get the ice off of him, we can post of picture of him on the News and see if anyone recognizes him. If we get his identity, maybe we find Blue."

Lance nodded, pleased that they could actually do something. "Okay, then that's what we'll do. Hopefully, we can get this guy in a few weeks."

"What about those children?" Agatha said, changing the topic. "They now know about the Plates."

"If they talk," Bruno said. "No one will believe them."

"Only the older girl, Leah, knew anything about it," Lorelei replied, easing their worries. "And I don't think she really understood the importance of it."

"Are you sure about that?" Agatha asked, eyes narrowing.

Lorelei thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure. Either way, she didn't seem to care about what happened."

Agatha's lips pressed into a thin line and she let the subject drop.

"Whatever happens," Lance said, looking around the table. "We need to get that Plate back at all costs. Anyone who holds a Plate gains power, whether it's a Pokemon or a human."

"We'll get it back," Lorelei promised.

"And if we don't?" Bruno asked.

Agatha answered in a quiet voice with an undertone of something menacing.

"Then that's going to be a problem, isn't it?"





Carefully leaning against a tree, Blue sighed to himself in the quiet hours of the evening. Truthfully, the park he was in wasn't deserted, but he was far enough away that the laughter of the children was only a whisper in the air. The day was nearly over, but the sun was taking its time to set, bleaching the sky with gold.

Despite the cool temperature the night was supposed to provide, Blue was sweating buckets. He wasn't quite sure why he felt to so hot, but he had his suspicious, ones he hoped were false. It was so bad that he was forced to take of his shirt, which was definitely something he didn't do, at least not outside. He had his thinnest jacket, pretty much waterproof material and zippers, hanging from his shoulders, so at least he'd be partly covered.

Trees surrounded him and he felt that he was far enough away from society to take out his cell-phone. It was a bit old, not one of those new shiny types that most teenagers supported, but he was rather attached to it. His fingers flew across the number pad and he pressed the phone to his ear. It rang twice before it was answered.

"Yes?" A female voice asked, sounding distracted and annoyed at being interrupted at whatever useless thing she was doing.

"It's me."

Instantly, her tone of voice changed to be filled with excitement. "You're done? Did you get it? Did you?"

Blue wasn't sure how to answer that, so he settled on a half-truth. "Yup."

She squealed. "Yes! Yes!"

He waited for her to calm down.

"When can you get here?" she asked. "Will it take longer than a day?"

"… There's a bit of a problem," Blue admitted and could hear himself breeze deeply in the silence that followed.

"You got it, didn't you?" she finally said.

He shrugged to himself. "Things didn't really go according to plan. I did get the Plate, but I can't really… un-get it."

Blue was a bit concerned over the length of silence his bomb-shell made.

"You-" Her voice was choked with fury. "- Used it?"

"I was going to freeze to death," he defended. "I had to jump into one of the island's rivers to get the Plate. Besides, I didn't do it on purpose; it was a complete accident."

"You used it?" the woman repeated in disbelief.

Blue sighed. "Yup." He then continued, not letting the woman get a word in. "Look, there's more than one Plate in the world, in Kanto, even. I can get you another one; all I have to do it find it."

A bit of nervousness made itself known to Blue, as the phone was once again silent. His Boss always loved to keep him hanging like this.

"That's true, I'll admit that," she said and changed the subject, her rage temporarily forgotten over the existence of her insatiable curiosity. "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Having a Plate."

He thought for a moment. "Dunno; I haven't really experimented yet. I've been a bit busy."

"What would be more important than the Plate?"

"Well," he started, embarrassed to admit. "There was this girl-"

The woman interrupted him. "I didn't know you slept around."

"No!" He was quick to correct her, his face flushing. "At Seafoam Island, while I was getting the Plate. The girl had a Sandshrew and it stung me with Poison Sting. It even made me drop the Plate into the water!"

"Why were you holding the Plate?" she asked, again switching topics faster than she spent money. "Did you just find it?"

Blue decided to just go with the truth; it wasn't like he had anything to hide anyways. "I was talking to Lorelei and I was caught up in the moment. Could you blame me if I started gloating, just to see the look on her face?"

"Wait," the woman said in disbelief. "You gloated? Don't you know that you should never gloat? It's on the Evil Overlord List, for crying out loud!"

"I know, I know! It was stupid and I paid for it."

"So, you're in bad shape?"

"Well, it's not like I could go to a hospital," Blue said, sighing again. He looked at his arm and his eyes trailed over its sickly white surface, seeing the prominent blue veins spider-web across his skin. Whenever he tried to move it, a burning pain raced up his arm. It was ironic, really, and Blue shared his thoughts out loud. "The Plate prevents me from going to a Hospital and I'm probably going to slowly die of poisoning. If I didn't use the Plate, I would have frozen to death. Lose-lose situation."

The woman seemingly didn't know what to say to that, so she changed the topic. "How was Lorelei?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did she live up to what people said about her?" The woman asked.

"She's good," Blue admitted. "Her Slowbro was able to deflect my Thunderbolt with hardy a thought."

"Not Pokemon, silly," she said with a small laugh. "Lorelei. Was she nice?"

Blue blinked and got the insane feeling that his Boss had some sort of crush. "Uh... Dunno. She was pretty hostile towards me, but she had a good reason for that."

"I hope you made a good impression," she said and paused. "Did you give her your name?"

"No," Blue said, snorting, and wondering if she thought he was stupid. He continued as an afterthought, "Though, I did give out an alias to one of those kids there."

"There're kids at Seafoam Island?"

"They fell off a ship," he explained.

"Oh… What name did you give them?"

"Blue," he said. "First thing that came to mind."

Silence descended upon them.

"If you're Blue," the woman started. "Then does that make me Red?"

Blue tried to picture it, but no matter what he tried, the image of his Boss and the color red didn't compute. "Red doesn't suit you; you'd look better in green."

The woman giggled. "Are you imagining me, Blue?"

"Yes," he said truthfully. "… Why are you calling me Blue?"

"Anyone can be listening," she said. "So from now on, I'm going to call you Blue and you can call me Green."

"No one's listening," he promised, but went with it anyways. His Boss said and did the strangest things sometimes.

The woman then jarringly went back to their original topic. "About the Plates: Since you used the one I was going to get, you're going to get me another one. And this time, you can't have an accident."

"Deal," he said. "Though, you're going to have to give me some time. I'm not sure where any of the others are."

"Take as much time as you want," she agreed. "But I want one in the end. If you don't get me one, I won't pay you."

Blue nodded, knowing this, and said so out loud.

"Good," Green said, and then laughed. "It's okay, Blue; I forgive you. I didn't want the Ice Plate anyways. Ice is so cold and chilly; not my type. If you can, though, can you get me the dragon-type one?"

"I'll… see what I can do," Blue replied, irritated that Green thought he wanted forgiveness. Though, he supposed that it was his fault. He hardly ever took on clients that young, but the existence of the Plates had spiked his curiosity. For months he had been looking for a Plate, any Plate, and it was only a few weeks ago that he was lucky enough to get information on the Icicle Plate.

"So, is that all?" Green asked.

"Yup."

"Okay then. Remember; keep me posted on everything that's going on. If you find any of the Plates, tell me."

"Got it," Blue said and ended the conversation.

Putting the phone back into his pocket, Blue stood upright and looked around. If there was one thing that talking to his Boss was good for, it kept his mind off things. So, he was almost surprised when he once again felt how hot he was and groaned in defeat. It just wouldn't go away. He didn't know if it was actually that hot outside, or if the poison in his veins was causing it, or even if it was due to something else… but whatever was doing it, he wanted it gone.

It was silent, the children seemingly having gone home. All he could hear were the sounds of nature and the rustle of the wind as it made leaves dance. He felt a bit better when the chilled wind graced him with its presence, but it went away quickly. Leaning his head against the cool bark, he panted quietly to himself and wished that he could cool down. He wished for ice and snow.

It started slowly at first, but a faint breeze started, though it wasn't a normal one. It was icy and freezing, making any normal person flinch and wonder who was playing with their ice-type Pokemon. The wind was erratic, changing from weak to strong, but still held that cold chill. Blue stood upright and welcomed it, letting it fling his hair and rustle his jacket.

Then, as quick as it started, the wind died down just as fast. Blue panted again, but more out of tiredness than being hot. It took a lot out of him when he did that and now all he wanted to do was go back home and sleep.

"At least I have a portable air-conditioner," Blue joked to himself, but didn't smile or feel amused.

He wiped sweat from his forehead with his good arm and took one of his Pokeballs from his belt. Enlarging it, he released the Pokemon that was inside and it stared at him quietly, sensing that there was something different about its trainer.

"We're going home," Blue informed it and put his hand on its head. He closed his eyes and awaited the dizzying rush that was sure to come.

The trainer and Pokemon disappeared silently from the forest, almost as if they were never there.





A/N: Not much to say on this chapter, though, say goodbye to Blue because you guys won't be seeing him for a while. I know this chapter was pretty short, but next chapter, we'll get back to Leah and the other two in Fuchsia City.

Yay! ^^ That was a great chapter. Green sounds like a really giggly teenager. And with all the Elite Four stuff, it seems like things are going to heat up. That'll make the story interesting. I did notice a few mistakes, but I'm not going to point them out. Reviewing is too long. .__.

Fuchsia City? I can't wait for the next chapter!

Thanks, Neiko! I was going to write Green as more mature and cold, but it wasn't working so I just made her cheerful and… weird instead (and I like her better because of it; I'd never thought I'd actually like her!). Things are going to heat up eventually, but right now, I'll just let the plot stew for a bit.

And don't worry about the mistakes because reviewing does take a long time (not that I review much <_<).

… Yeah, I know I promised I wouldn't do this again, but sadly, there won't be a chapter this week. Exams are happening next week and, despite my reluctance to do anything relating to homework, I have to study.

I promise I'll have the next chapter up by next Friday, though. Sorry again, guys!