Pokemon- The Dance Night (unfinished version)

CHAPTER ONE- HOENNSHIPPING MAYMay opened the newly received envelope from the mail. It was from Drew."Oh boy, I wonder what he could be up to now?" She wondered. She sat at the kitchen table and took out a letter. There wasnt much written."Dear May, How have you been? It's been awhile. Just wanting to let you know that Ash Ketchum is hosting a dance party at Yuen City in three days. Everyone's going to be there- Solidad, Harley, and most likely everyone else Ash knows. I'm going to be there too. You are invited as well, and you're welcome to bring any other friends you'd like to have with you. Hope you can make it. Love, Drew." The rest on the letter was the address on where the dance would be held.May couldnt help twitching a smile at the closing. "How nice," she muttered, "he even put 'love.'"She sighed and set the letter down. She gazed out her window, into the gray, cloudy sky. "Yuen City! That's all the way back in Kanto! And a dance night too? Wow, Ash Ketchum must miss all his old friends. It's been soooo long since I've seen him."She looked at the letter again. "Huh! I wonder why Drew sent this letter instead of Ash himself. And....since when did Drew know I was all the way in Ruabog Island?" But May shrugged and smiled. "I guess I'm quite popular with the contest winners now. News about what I'm up to must be spreading like crazy. I would love to see Drew again.....it's been a long time." May remembered all the adventures she had been through with Drew, how they had battled each other with their pokemon, and how they advanced through all the contests together. And she remembered Ash too, how the two of them traveled so far to help him complete his dream of becoming a pokemon master. She sighed happily at those memories. She had only been ten at the time. Now, she was almost grown up- eighteen years old with pokemon that can withstand the deadliest battles. "Oh, I really wish I could come!" May almost whined. "Here I am stuck on an island until next spring! If only the ships and transportation could go much faster around these areas." She was currently on the island of Ruabog, a strange, unpopulated island in the middle of the vast seas north of the Isshu region. She was trying to help study the mystery of Xenox, a supposedly existing legendary that was said to have lived in snowstorms and blizzards on Barren Island, being able to summon and control them itself. But no one has ever concluded that this pokemon can even be real, for the cave in which it slept in was surrounded by unbearable blizzards that not even the strongest pokemon could get through. Only little evidence has been found that there is some type of ice type that's summoning the terrible blizzards around the Barren Islands, though no one has been able to survive long enough to get through those blizzards to see the sleeping pokemon itself. Scientists even predicted that if the pokemon were to wake, the world may even suffer a deadly blizzard to freeze everything up.May herself had been really curious about this pokemon, especially since her childhood friend, Brendan, had given her a painting for Christmas- a painting of an ice type pokemon that would fit the looks for the pokemon, Xenox. Ever since then, May had been having strange dreams of the painting of the ice/dragon pokemon coming to life and speaking to her, telling her to come and find it. May had been having feelings she was needed far away, to find this pokemon and study what she can about its possible existence. So here she was, on an island not far from the treacherous Barren Islands, spending six months in the house of Professor Griney, a middle aged man who had spent his whole life wondering about Xenox. "Hey! Watcha got there? Bet there wouldnt be anything interesting in the mail while we're all the way over here." A friendly voice startled May from her thoughts as she turned to face Brendan, who had come along with her to help discover what they can find here. Brendan peered in closer to read the letter. "Hey! Who would send you something all the way over here? We never told anyone what we were even doing! This was supposed to be private, so no one else would discover about Xenox, and start risking missions to go look for him.""Brendan!" May shoved him from leaning over her shoulder. "It's an invitation from Drew. Ash Ketchum is inviting me to a dance party all the way in Yuen City. I really want to go but I'm-"Brendan laughed. "So Ash invited you, but Drew wrote the letter? That's classy.""Shut up!" May turned red and cursed herself for telling explaining it the wrong way. "Drew is more involved with contests like I am! He probably heard from my parents or something about where i went. Ash is always too busy somewhere else to hear about what I've been up to."Brendan raised his eyebrows. "Ah, maybe Drew just INVITED you himself to come to the dance? Did he explain why Ash couldnt deliver the letter to you? Look at that! He even put 'love Drew.'""Brendan, shut up!" May snapped, putting the letter in the pocket of her red jacket. "Drew told me he would never bother me again, after what he and I had been through on the top of Mount Chimney." May forced herself not to look put down as she remembered that evening, about three years ago, when she had beaten Drew for the world championships in contests. She had made top winner of world contests all over the region, and so Drew had confessed she was too good for him, that she was worth more for experiencing the world with her own pokemon, rather than to stay together with him someday. Drew himself had left, still promising to take part in contests, but also start training for gym battles and expreiencing more about pokemon himself, though he even said he would never be as good as May. He just promised to let her live her life with her pokemon, for he told her how he had seen what a brave and successful person she had become to be, and that she was better off living her life without worrying about relationships with him. She had cried bitterly about their breakup, and had never forgotten that moment. "It's so not like Drew to just.....give up and let someone else go on better than him." May said in her thoughts, though she didnt let Brendan tease her about her fragile emotions. "Just mind your own business!" She snapped, getting up to leave. "It's not like Drew said anything about inviting you." And she stalked out of the kitchen, forgetting to put away her unfinished breakfast. May didnt look back to see Brendan's expression. She wanted to be alone in her thoughts. She stepped out the front door and sat on the front step, gazing out into the gloomy morning. She wrapped herself in her jacket, for it was always this weather, especially since she was near the Barren Islands. She sighed, thinking about visiting the dance. "Even if it was just for one night," she said to herself, "I still would really like to come. I havent seen Drew or Ash in a long time." Her relationship with Drew had been so enhancing, and they had learned even more about each other than they had throughout their earliest contest battles. Of course, May had had feelings for Ash also, long, long ago after they had parted. But she knew she couldnt get any farther with him, for he was already busy enough with his pokemon master journey. But May still had missed him dearly, though those feelings really were more like a best friend's feelings than someone you loved. May squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists. "This isnt time to think about mushy stuff! I've got work to do today!" She stood up, looking around for any sign of Mr. Griney. She had planned to finally go on his expedtion to the Rainbow Sea, and explore the pokemon that inhabited it. Perhaps they could find out about the pokemon that could withstand extreme cold and live through the constant hurricanes that were always sweeping over that sea. May walked down to the beach. The waves were calmer than usual this morning, and she expected to find Mr. Griney out here like he always spent his mornings every day.She looked over to the harbor. There were no ships there. "Too bad the waves arent stable enough to keep transportation going. If there were any ships out here, I would so go to that dance!""You know, you still have a chance," said a quiet voice nearby.May looked to her left and saw that Mr. Griney was gazing out at the unpromising ocean waves with his Absol at his side. Drew had an Absol, and May was alwasy reminded of that thought whenever she saw Mr. Griney's."The ships are sailing in today, and should be back by tomorrow night." Said Mr. Griney. "If you would like, you can take a day off."May raised her eyebrows and stood by his side. "Really? You'd let me go?""Depends on how long you'll be gone.""Umm....he didnt exactly say when the dance would be over," said May. Drew hadnt really been specific in his letter. He just gave her the address and told her a few things about what it was. He didnt sound like he was inviting her for himself."I'm sure it wouldnt be longer than a few days to a week," said Brendan, who was walking along nearby. May flashed him a frown. "Where did you come from? You're always appearing out of nowhere so quietly!"Brendan shrugged. "Just followin ya around. If there's a dance that involves reunion with all kinds of old friends, it wont be just a single night. I would say it would last like a week or so."May sighed. "What do you care? You werent invited anyway." But she knew she was wrong, for he was still allowed to go with her approval. The letter had said she could bring any of her friends to come along. May wished she had the time to write back, but there were only three days left until the dance. Why had Drew written the letter so late? "Well, I can let you go," said Mr. Griney, "but be sure you're back within a week. The travel back to Kanto would take roughly about two days on the ship, depending on the weather. So you be careful."May glanced at Mr. Griney. He must really understand how much she felt about going, she thought. He was actually giving her the slightest chances to go.Absol looked into May's eyes with a dark gaze and grumbled a growl.May looked at Brendan. She managed to smile. "Well, I would love to come, but I really wouldnt managed a trip all by myself. Come with me, Brendan!"Brendan blinked and then rolled his eyes, smiling. "Oh, so now you're forcing me to come along? I thought you wanted me out of your hair the whole time.""Well, you know I dont manage good when I get lonely or scared," said May, giving him a teasing look. "I'm still a little slow when it comes to using my head and being brave if I dont have someone to help me." Which is why I couldnt have become as strong and successful as I am now without Drew or Ash, she thought. "Ha! Fine I can come," said Brendan, throwing a rock out into the sea. "But you promise me that you'll be my dance partner if there's any dancing at this party. I dont know Ash or his other friends that well, so you better keep me company!"May laughed. "Oh, you always find someway to make new friends, Brendan. You know that."Mr. Griney cleared his throat. "Ahem. Well, you kids make up your mind. The boat's not coming until tomorrow night, so May, you can still come with me and investigate the Rainbow Sea. Brendan, you clean up your mess in the house."May giggled and narrowed her eyes at Brendan. He had a heap of papers all over his room, for he had been drawing all kinds of graphs on weather possibilities and wind motion of their environment. "You study too much like my brother Max."She turned to Mr. Griney. "I'd love to go, of course. I'll make sure I leave as soon as I can."

CHAPTER TWO- POKESHIPPING-ASH"The sky really doesnt look promising," muttered Ash Ketchum, standing outside the ballroom, alone in his thoughts. His good old powerful buddy, Pikachu, was by his side, shaking nervously and sending out tiny sparks of electricity around him."Piii....Pika...Pii.." Pikachu looked distressed and uncomfortable."What is it, Pikachu?" Ash looked down at his best friend. "Hehe, I'm not making you where that black suit for the dance tonight, but what's troubling you?"Pikachu met Ash's gaze with worried eyes. "Pika..Pii!" Pikachu waved its small arms slowly, as if trying to warn him.Ash raised his eyebrows. Then he looked up at the dark gray clouds as the sky rumbled deeply. A chilly air blew over them. "Is it the weather?""Pika!" Pikachu gasped out a sneeze of electricity and panted. "Pikachu, you've been acting strange all day. If there's lightning later on, there shouldnt be a problem." Ash kneeled down and tried to comfort his buddy with a reassuring pat on the head. "It's gonna be fun. Trust me!" He tried to sound reassuring, though the weather was starting to trouble him as well. "Everyone's gonna be here tonight, and we're all going to spend a week at the Yuen Hotel. We're all going to have so much fun! You'll see Misty, Brock, May, Dawn-""Ash? Are you coming in? I need help setting up the chairs." Ash turned to see Misty coming over with plastic gloves on her hands. Her face looked dirty and tired, as if she had been working too hard, for she and Gary had both been helping Ash set up the ballroom for the dance reunion. Ash stood up and met Misty's gaze. "Oh, yeah. I was just checking out what's wrong with Pikachu. Something's been bothering him lately and he's been pretty quiet since the rain last night. Now he's acting like he's sick or something.""Pii..." Pikachu nodded in agreement with an uncomfortable expression."Hmm," Misty gave Pikachu a concerned look. "You should ask Professor Oak."Ash laughed. "He's all the way back in Pallet Town! Hello, dont you remember how he said he was going to be late for the reunion tonight? He's so busy studying the ancient fossils we found.""Oh that's right!" Misty huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm so busy today I dont remember my own name. Of course I know now! Wipe that grin off your face!" Ash was purposely giving Misty a teasing smile. Misty apparently wasnt smiling back. Ash sighed and kept his smile. "You werent that busy." He crossed his arms and looked away proudly. "I was the one who set up the whole room myself, and put everything where i planned it should be. You and Gary just helped clean a few things up around the room.""We did more than that! We set up the whole darn room ourselves while you just stood there and TOLD us where you expected to set things up. You apparently did the least amount of work out of all of us!"Ash met her gaze. A feeling deep down inside him reminded him of how cute Misty can look when she was annoyed. Even with an unwashed face, she looked beautiful to him. "Well, I guess we all worked hard in some way. But come on. It will be a fun night." He gave her a reassuring smile.Misty had to smile back. "Well, it better be. I'm working my hands off here, and i just cut myself recycling trash in the back! I better have a relaxing time tonight, or else I'm sure to ruin the whole thing for everyone!"She was just kidding, Ash knew, though he knew Misty well that she wasnt someone to easily calm down. Ash laughed. "Can I see? I bet it's just a small mark."Misty gave him a look and handed out her left hand. "Yep. But it hurts enough for me to leave the recycling to Gary."Ash saw a small bleeding cut on her ring finger. "Yeah, it's just a cut."Misty laughed softly. "Whatever. I'm going back in to set up the curtains.""Hey wait!" Ash called as she turned her back away. She looked back to face him. "Uh..." Ash gave Pikachu a worried glance, for he had something in mind to say to Misty, and had only discussed it privately with Pikachu. "Pika!" Pikachu gave him an encouraging nod, and Ash turned to meet Misty's gaze."Yeah, um, Misty...I've had something on my mind this whole time, and I was wondering if you would...um...well....you know.""Yes?" Misty's gaze was soft and she looked like she could make him feel better from the worst sickness he could feel. She and Ash took a walk side by side down the peaceful river with Pikachu quietly following behind. The calm trickle of water and gray sky made Ash feel like something was about to happen, though by Misty's side, he felt strangely safe."Well....if you dont have anyone else in mind, you wouldnt mind being my dance partner when it's time for everyone to dance, would you?" Ash hoped he didnt look red.Misty's eyebrows slowly raised and she seemed to look happily surprised. "Oh, Ash, I'd love to. Well.....if there's an odd number of us, someone's going to have to share.""Yeah but, I was looking forward to having this night just be for the two of us." He looked into her eyes with intent. "Besides all the other people I invited, you were the one I was looking forward to having a good time with. It's a few days passed New Year's, and Pikachu and I have decided to start off with plans for a new life...with you."Misty's expression was warm and intent as well, and Ash could tell her heart was beating just as fast as his. "Ash....oh, of course I'd love to stick with you. But...you're still...well, you've accomplished your dreams. You've beaten all the regions in the world, and have made yourself well-known enough to be a pokemon master.""Hey, dreams like that never end," said Ash. "There's still more to accomplish as a pokemon master. Like, we're still studying the history of prehistoric pokemon with Professor Oak, and not to mention the strange new pokemon that have suddenly appeared around these parts.""That's exactly what I'm talking about," said Misty quietly. "If you're still striving for your dream, I'm stuck being a gym leader in Cerulean. I dont want to be the spouse that forced you to end your dreams just for me."Ash stopped walking and looked into her eyes again. "Misty, you dont have to quit being a gym leader either." He took her hands and cupped his own around her's. She had taken off the dirty plastic gloves. "As long as we know we will always have each other, and that deep down we are together, we can both live on our dreams."Misty said nothing, and she stared down at her hands in his. She smiled. "Yes, you're right. I'm glad you feel this way, Ash. I've felt the same way, too, for years.""I understand that," said Ash, smiling back. "I couldnt help my feelings for you over the years I had left you, and then every time I got to see you, I guess my feelings grew a little stronger. I was falling in love."Misty gave him a thankful, understanding smile. "But I dont want to leave you again. If we never get to see each other, what's the point of being together?""We'll stick together," promised Ash. "I'm not going anywhere at the moment, unless it's for something totally inportant. But it's got to be more important than being there for you, though.""Oh, Ash," breathed Misty and gave him a warm hug.Ash felt lost for a moment, and then smiled and hugged her back."Pika pii!" Pikachu cheered for them and let out an electric thunderbolt in the sky."Haha, Pikachu!" Ash glanced at his buddy."Piii...."Pikachu smiled nervously and looked ashamed.Misty chuckled and she and Ash met eyes again. They both had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders.Ash knew something was coming. He felt the need to kiss her--right here, right now. He braced himself, and Misty was looking prepared as well."Hey, you lovers! There's no way you're leaving all the work to me!" Yelled a voice. "I dont care how almost done we are!"Misty gasped and let go of Ash's shoulders. "Gary.""We should finish up. People will be coming in less than an hour." Said Ash, picking Pikachu up.Gary appeared from the trees. He had that grumpy look from working hard when he didnt feel like it. "What the heck were you two doing?" His expression changed to a wily, humored gaze.Misty and Ash said nothing."Hah! I bet you guys were sneaking out a kiss? Come on! Do it again, I wanna see." Gary crossed his arms, giving a narrowed smile."Gary--!" Ash was about to snap back a reply, but Misty stepped forward, putting her plastic gloves back on."It's okay," she said. She flashed Gary a look. "We werent kissing, Gary! We would've saved it for the dance.""Yeah right," he nodded, walking by her side as they headed back to the building. "I wanna catch you guys doing it in private again." He looked over his shoulder. "Hey, come on, Ash!"Ash blinked and then walked on after them. "Shoot," he muttered. His mind felt like it was spinning."Pii...." Pikachu gave him a reassuring look.Ash followed quietly behind, alone in his thoughts as Misty and Gary chattered on endlessly.

chapter 3 CONTESTSHIPPING- DREW"There she is!" Called Ash, pointing over at the small boat arriving in the distance. May had finally arrived, and had been the last one to have shown up at the dance reunion. Drew stood in the back of the crowd, just behind Dawn, Lucas, and Barry. He kept an intent look on his face as he made his way through the crowd. He wasn't looking forwards to speaking to her just yet. The last time he had seen May was at the top of Mt. Chimney when he had told her she had a whole life ahead of her own to fulfill, and that she could do a lot better without him interfering with relationships for her. He kept in the middle of the crowd, unseen by May as she was greeted by everyone else. Misty and Dawn were the first to come up and greet her. Ash gave her a hug. "May! It's been a while." "Yeah, I thought I would never see you again," said Misty, giving her a happy smile. "You're so caught up in those contests, I thought I would never get to meet you like this." May laughed. "Yeah, the contests have been pretty challenging, but I found my way through! I'm currently studying at the far north of the Hoenn region." Drew narrowed his eyes. Dawn joined her side. "So how have you been? I did hear about you traveling all the way in the northern islands….I never knew there were even pokemon out there. What have you been up to?" May chuckled. "Oh….business stuff. Im trying to study something…top secret." she gave them a wink. Drew kept his eyes fixed on her. Only he knew what she was up to. She was stuying the possible existence of the mysterious pokemon called Xenox. Ash laughed. "Well I hope you're doing fine on it." He was looking at May with a content daze, as if he couldn't believe how grown up May looked. Iris came over to Ash's side. She gave May a friendly smile. "Hello, May! I've heard a thing or two about you. I'm Iris." May smiled back and nodded. "Hello. You're from the Isshu region, right?" "Isshu region!" called Brendan's voice. He appeared from the deck of the small boat, and hopped out to join May's side. He was carrying a strange rectangle device in his hand that looked somewhat like a pokedex. "Ah, so you're Iris." Brendan eyed her intently. "You look like you'd be from Isshu." Iris winced. "What? What does that mean?" May gave Brendan a sharp nudge. "He doesn't mean anything. Brendan, go get our last suitase! We both need it for communicating with the other scientists." Ash blinked. "Well, you two get settled. We're already in the ballroom right now." The ballroom was lighted with pretty colors of white and blue light, and music played throughout. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and people here and there were standing in groups, happily chatting. Drew stood in the corner by the bar, deep in his thoughts. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, especially after May had arrived. She was with Harley and Brendan now, but she noticed Drew standing alone. Drew said nothing as May made her way over to him from behind. He stood watching the cute dance Buneary and Pikachu were putting on, pretending not to notice May. "Drew…..?" Said May meekly. "I…havent seen you in a while…its ben almost a year, hasn't it?" She stood by his side, leaning on the table behind, trying to force a small smile. Drew blinked slowly and turned to meet her gaze. "Hmm, you seem to be doing fine. How's that pokemon project going?" May blinked. "Pokemon project? It's no project. Brendan and I are just studying the evidence to uncover possible existence of the ice dragon, Xenox." Drew chuckled. "Well, it's a project to you. I hope it's going well." May winced. "Well, what's been going on with you? How are the gym battles?" Drew felt a sudden urge of regret at the question. He didn't want to answer that just yet. "Well, nothing personal, but it's cool." He felt May's stare narrow, but before she could say anything, the crowd in the ballroom started chattering with excitement as the next song came on. "It's that song!" Someone cried. "We should all dance to this together!" As soon as people started dancing in pairs to the romantic tune, Drew narrowed his eyes and winced. He looked over at all the couples, and then met May's eyes. She gave him another shy smile and he couldn't help smiling back. "Hey, I don't wanna be the only one out here not dancing," said May. Drew chuckled and held out his hand for her. "Me neither. Especially for tonight." May took his hand and for a moment, the both of them started by taking simple steps to their sides and not meeting each other's gazes. Drew listened closely to the music. It was romantic, yet catchy. It had a loud, toning beat to it, and it was starting to entrance him to make this moment worth it. He looked at May. "I bet you noticed I sent you that letter instead of Ash, even though he set up this whole dance reunion." May looked at him and nodded. She winced. "Yeah, I bet it's because you were the only to have known where I was?" Drew smiled. "Not really. Ash really had no idea where you were at the moment. He tried asking everyone he knew in Hoenn if they knew anything of you. But no one knew, and your family wouldn't tell. So I told Ash that I knew, and that I would gladly send the letter myself for you. I didn't tell him where you were, but I did tell him that I knew, and I can send an invitation inviting you here." May gave him a playful look. "Well, why sound so flat in the letter? You could've been a little friendlier, and greeted me with more tone. You just sounded like you were forced to invite me or something." "I kinda was," said Drew. "I couldn't keep myself from wanting to invite you, so I did anyway." May winced and gave him a nudge. "Whatever," she chuckled. "Thanks for inviting me." "No problem. And you won't believe what's happened while you were isolated away in those islands. Champion Wallace has gone missing, and there's no trace of him or his pokemon." May gasped. "Wallace?! When?" "Just a few days ago. He was out in the Sinnoh region, visiting Snowpoint, and then he just disappeared." Drew looked away and narrowed his eyes. "Strange place to go missing. It's gonna be hard to look for him there. But they've found to evidence whatsoever. It's like the earth just swallowed him up or something." May suddenly gasped and let go of Drew's hand. She pulled out a vibrating device from her pocket. "Oh no," she muttered. Drew looked at her intently. "What's that?" May closed the device. She had a look of horror on her face. "The laboratory has been attacked." "What laboratory?" "Mine! The one Brendan and I were spending with Mr. Griney! Someone……or something has broken in and destroyed the whole place. There's no sign of Mr. Griney, and everything's……destroyed." Drew could tell May's heart was pounding hard with extreme terror. She must be thinking of all the graphs, all the work she had been doing in the lab, everything she's worked with in the lab had been destroyed. "Oh no…." he said. "Well, who sent you that message?" May clutched the device and narrowed her eyes at it. "It's from one of the island locals. There are very few people in that island, but there are certain locals who don't live too far from us. I guess they must've found Griney's phone and have let me know what's happened." "You should really go back," said Drew urgently. "You're probably needed." May looked him with disbelief. "You really want me to go back?" "I don't want you to go!" Drew snapped. "I'm just saying! Are there any other scientists for you to call?" May huffed. "They've all gone on an expedition to the surroundings of the Barren Islands. I can try to contact them, but they won't be any help since they are stuck there right now. I have to find Brendan!" She whipped her head to where the back door was behind her, and saw that Brendan had escaped in the distance. "Brendan!" She hissed. She rushed after him to the exit. Drew watched her go, and then took off after her. He saw her outside under a tall tree under the full moon, with Brendan in front of her. "I just got the same message!" Brendan said with shock. "We have to tell everyone right now! We should go back!" May huffed. "Well, our ship will take a day or two to arrive back." Drew joined them. "Hey, May? If you really should go back, I promise I will pay you another visit on your island sometime. You really should do whatever will save Mr. Griney's life." May met his gaze with a clouded look. Even though Drew tried his best to stop taking interest in her again, he had felt almost dazed as he danced with her and he knew he couldn't let their moment never finish. May sighed. "Well….." "Hey, check this out!" Brendan suddenly took May's device. "It's from Griney!" May looked at the device with intent. "Oh! He says he's been kidnapped and he's on the island of Nuvel. It's north of the Barren Island, and he's got an address right here." She pointed on the screen that read, "409, Crescent Circle." Drew narrowed his eyes. "Well, what's happened to him? He didn't even tell you what exactly happened, or how he's doing?" May typed up something on the device and huffed. "No signal. These devices never work well when it comes to long distances. I don't know why we were even required to take these with us." Brendan shrugged. "Well, I think we should let everyone know what's happened. We should get to this island as quickly as possible." A chilly breeze suddenly wafted over them. May shivered. "It's getting awfully cold out here….." Drew looked around. "Hey! It's snowing!" May winced. "Huh?" she looked around, and saw that snow was beginning to fall through the tree they stood under. "Hey…..wait a second! The snow's only coming from this tree!" Brendan stepped from underneath. "Yeah! What in the world--" Drew chuckled and nudged May. "Perhaps has something to do with that ice pokemon, Xenox?" He expected a joking smile from May, but instead, her gaze turned distant and shocked. "Xenox……" she muttered and dropped her device. Drew raised his eyebrows. "May?" Suddenly, a breeze came from the top of the tree branches--- from the tree branches. A rapid blow of snow sucked Brendan in back under the tree with them, and a snowstorm suddenly occurred around the three of them. Drew could barely see, and he felt May's grip on his arm. "Ahh! No! It can't be!" She screamed. "What's happening?!" Drew yelled through the sudden storm, but a second later, the snow knocked him over and he lost May's grip, his vision going black

chpater four- HOENNSHIPPING BRENDANBrendan woke up, finding himself falling through the cold, chilly air. He flashed his eyes open and before he could yell or think about what had just happened to him, he suddenly fell in a pool of cold, icy water that chilled him to the bone. "Ahh! Help! HEEELP!" The current was taking him downstream, and he suddenly hit a log that bridged across the river. As he clung to the log that blocked him from going anywhere downstream, he shivered and felt like his mind was going to explode with such coldness. Suddenly, he felt something swimming underneath him. There was a creature-- a pokemon approaching him. And from the way it swam, it didn't seem very friendly. But Brendan was freezing, and was too cold to notice how much danger he could be in. a rapid wind blew over him to make it worse. He might as well die right here-- woken up unexpectedly without time to even think what had happened a few moments before, and then left to die just minutes later. "Brendan!" May's voice suddenly called from above. "Grab this!" A branch suddenly appeared in front of Brendan. For a moment, Brendan didn't respond or do anything. He stared at it with a blank expression. Then suddenly, as if regaining his senses, he reached out a frozen stiff arm, and grabbed the end of the branch. May, who appeared to be riding Drew's Flygon with Drew in front of her, pulled Brendan up as Flygon heaved him out of the water. As soon as Brendan was lifted from the water, a monstrous creature suddenly shot up from the water, splashing Brendan forwards so roughly that he almost lost his grip. He swung on the branch like a swing as the monster behind him roared with anger and splashed back in the water, sending a large wave over Brendan again. If his hands weren't so cold, they wouldn't have been stuck on the branch to keep him from falling back in. "Holy crap!" Drew's surprised voice yelled in awe. He stared after the disappearing pokemon with a shocked expression. "Was that just--""A LAPRAS?!" May shouted, with the same surprise to her tone. "Oh my….."Flygon growled and slightly trembled with agitation as Brendan climbed up slowly behind May. "Ugh……a Lapras…? Man, I wanna see…""Forget it! We gotta get outta here!" May suddenly gasped. "Watch out, it's coming--!"Suddenly a blast of water shot out, revealing the largest Lapras Brendan had ever seen. Lapras were pretty huge, but this one seemed so much more fierce and deadly. It's eyes were an icy blue piercing, looking as sharp as ice dagger slits. It glared down at the Flygon, who looked so small and meek compared to it. It was like a dragon, with even sharp, needle-like teeth. Did Lapras even have teeth?"Flygon! Fly away!" Drew yelled. Before Flygon could reply, the Lapras suddenly let out a loud, thundering cry. It dived towards the Flygon, but the Flygon was fast. It dodged the attacking Lapras and flew away, crying at the chilly soaking wave that washed over them all as the Lapras fell back in the water from behind with a might splash. Brendan felt frozen an unable to talk or think. He just watched on blankly as the Flygon flew on.Flygon landed in a nearby cave to the left of the rushing river. May and Drew hopped off, talking about something Brendan couldn't even here. Every part of him was frozen, and his ears were too cold to hear. May turned to him and helped him off. "Brendan? You okay?" She waved a hand in front of his zoned-out expression. Brendan blinked rapidly and regained his senses. He felt Flygon warm him with a small Dragonbreath from behind. "Ah, that feels sooooo good." He let his weak legs tremble and fall down as he sat with a contented, sleepy look.May laughed. "You look so childish. Do you want me to give you a blanket and tuck you in?"Brendan suddenly opened his eyes with a wince. "WHAT did you just say? No thanks, I'd rather stay in that icy water."May huffed and kicked a pile of snow at him. She raised her eyebrows. "Hey! There's small amounts of snow here and there. Where are we? We must be somewhere in the north……whatever region we may be in."Drew joined her side with a sideways look. "What? You don't know? I thought you were Miss Traveler. You should know these places by now." He gave her a playful nudge."Hah! I havent been north for too long. But it looks like we might just be in the northern islands, perhaps not too far from….Barren Island of Xenox.""How in the heck did we end up here, anyway?" Drew looked around, narrowing his eyes. "This place gives me more chills than the weather here. Just the looks and the feeling of being here. It's already starting to get dark, and I can just feel that there are pokemon out there who are more deadly and mysterious than we've ever seen……like that Lapras."Brendan shrugged and stood up. "The biggest question is-- HOW did we get here? We were just standing under a random tree until it started snowing on us, whipping us our own blizzard, and then we wake up here. We must be dreaming or something.""No….." said May, her eyes looking out at the stars that were starting to fill the dark blue sky. "No, it must be Xenox. Remember how we figured it may be possible that it can summon snowstorms and control blizzards from all around the world? Perhaps…..that has something to do with the blizzard that started from under the tree. Maybe it summoned a blizzard to occur from that tree so that it brought us here somehow."Drew raised his eyebrows hopefully, but Brendan shook his head. "Nah. We never figured out the psychic part of Xenox. How could a snowstorm just teleport us from Yuen City in Kanto, all the way to here? I bet the blizzard knocked us out, and someone's taken us to another place not too far away, playing a trick on us. HARLEY?! IS THAT YOU AGAIN?" Brendan turned around and started calling his name.Drew chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised."May rolled her eyes. "It's NOT Harley. Brendan, shut up and listen.""GARY?! IF YOU WANT TO PRANK US, IT'S OVER! YOU'VE SCARED THE CRAP OUTTA US WITH THE…..ROBOTIC LAPRAS!""That Lapras wasn't robotic!" May snapped. Brendan turned to her. "Team Rocket used to make stuff like that. Maybe Team Rocket's playing tricks on us again!"Drew sighed. "They would've taken our pokemon if it were them."Flygon growled and raised a tail.Brendan sighed. "Well, wherever we are, the place is freezing my ass off. Let's get in that cave!"Brendan rushed inside and May, Drew, and Flygon followed him in. Flygon lighted some firewood they found in the cave, and they sat around their own campfire. Outside, a strange wind blew over the trees, making them sway one way to another. There were traces of snowflakes blowing with the wind, but not enough to create a blanket of snow on the ground. The stars had already filled the sky.May sighed. "I havent studied much astronomy yet…..but I know that if we see the constellation of Kyogre with a snowflake in front of its nose, then we must be in the northern islands somewhere. I see it every time it's midnight on Griney's island."Brendan saw the constellation as well. "Hey, Griney went missing…..possibly by something that attacked his lab. Whoever attacked it must've kidnapped him, and right when May tried contacting Mr. Griney for anymore help, that storm just blew in. Doesnt really sum up, but it may be possible that our disappearance has to do with Mr. Griney's disappearance."Drew turned to May. "Well, this sucks. Not only am i stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with you, but with you AND Brendan." He spoke with a sly tone.May narrowed her eyes. "Oh? You'd rather be stuck in this frozen wasteland all by yourself?"Drew laughed. "Just as long as I'm not with him," he shot Brendan a raised look.Brendan looked at him blankly. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep. The first thing i do when i wake up is fly outta here and find Mr. Griney. We're most likely in one of the northern islands close by the island of his lab, so I'll be out looking for him. You two do what you want." Brendan took off his sweater and laid it on the cold ground to sleep.May sighed. "Well.....I did learn that the remains of Xenox revealed that it was a pokemon that controlled the snowstorms. We probably arent as too close to its island since the closer you get, the worse the snowstorms become. But we really should fly out of here tomorrow just to see where we are."Drew nodded. "There's absolutely no signal. I was surprised you even got my letter all the way across the sea."Brendan opened his eyes. "I can tell I wasnt exactly invited. I barely know Ash Ketchum.""I bet that tree had something to do with Xenox," said May. "The tree we were under just suddenly whipped up a storm, so Xenox must have some connections with that tree. Maybe it wanted something from us....maybe it wanted us to see it since we've been secretly examining its possible existence?"Drew shrugged. "I dunno. I wouldnt know why it let me come with you guys. I have nothing to do with the pokemon.""Well, whatever we do, we should try and get back to Griney's lab. We'll think about what to do next once we've escaped.""Heh, I dont think we could be let out real easily," said Drew with concern, gazing out at the windy storm, which seemed to have gotten stronger. "If Xenox really has called you over here, then I dont think it's gonna let you escape just like that."brendan had fallen asleep before he could hear anything else.It wasnt about an hour later when Brendan awoke from shivering in his sleep, and feeling nothing but extreme bitter cold.He sat up, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. Outside, a snowstorm had occurred. the ground was covered with a blanket of snow now. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed May and Drew sleeping together, sharing a sweater wrapped around the both of them as they slept against the warm body of Flygon.Brendan stood up. "Can't even sleep," he muttered. He looked around and walked towards a rock that jutted out behind Flygon. Suddenly, a small shape moved from behind the rock, making a small squeak. Curiously, Brendan peered over, and raised his eyebrows as he looked into the tiny eyes of a Snorunt. the little pokemon trembled, and it chattered a small, meek cry. "Snoooo.....snorrrrrr.....snoo...runttt....""Hey, so there are some normal-looking pokemon out here," said Brendan. "You're not going to turn into a giant Glalie, are you?" He feared the gigantic monstrous Lapras.Snorunt gave a strange expression, an expression that looked somewhat like a grin, showing its strange shape of its mouth and teeth. Then it hopped away deeper into the cave, chattering, "SNO! Sno! Snorr!"Brendan watched it go, then found himself following it. He made his way deeper into the cave, and as he looked around, he started to notice strange patterns carved on the walls. Pretty soon, the patterns revealed pictures, shapes of stick people and poorly drawn pokemon."SNOO!" The Snorunt suddenly stopped and bounced up and down. "Whoa!" Brendan gasped with shock as he realized where he was standing. The cave around him expanded like a huge mining structure, with a big space around him and rocky bridges leading off the cliff he stood on. Down below was a pool of water. "What the-- where ARE we?""SNO!" Snorunt hopped down and Brendan watched it fall with a splash in the water. Brendan was just about to go back, but as he raised a foot, the ground crumbled from underneath him and he fell down the slope, landing just a few feet away from the water. "Sno!" Snorunt was suddenly in front of him.Brendan narrowed his eyes at it. "You know what? You're a frisky little guy. I'm gonna catch you, and make sure you get me back at the front of this cave. Go, Swampert!"He summoned his Swampert out, and the large pokemon stood in front of him and growled challengingly at the tiny Snorunt.But suddenly, the Snorunt blew a powerful Icy Wind at it, and sent the Swampert flying towards the left, hitting a pile of rocks. "SWAAAAAMperttt!" Groaned the pokemon. Brendan gasped. "No.....that does it," he reached in for a pokeball, but as soon as his hand touched the pokeball of his Camerupt, the Snorunt suddenly screamed with an eerie shock, and suddenly sent out an ice spear from its mouth.Right when Brendan looked up, an ice spear stabbed him in the chest, piercing his heart. His Swampert suddenly let out a terrified cry, its eyes widened with shock at its trainer. Brendan's surpirsed expression didnt get anymore shocked as the ice spear sunk in deeper, until he felt his entire body freeze, and his eyes rolled back.

chapter five- CONTESTSHIPPING- MAY May was walking through a vivid pathway in the mountains. The sky was a dark, gloomy dawn and the air was chilled with cold wind. Around her, flowers surrounded the pathway, and as the cold wind blew over them, she watched with sadness as the flowers froze into icy statues of plants. She sighed. "What is this place? Where am I? Xenox…..are you there?" She felt the presence of something watching her in the air. She gasped as she stepped on something in her way. it was a dead piece of twig. But it left a small wound in her foot. "Ugh, that's gonna leave a mark." She pulled the twig out and ignored the slight bleeding at her heel, and walked on. Suddenly, she spotted something shining in the grass in the distance. She hurried up towards it, and kneeled down behind a bush of dark purple flowers. Something was shining in the bushes. She reached out and jerked her hand back as she felt something hard, warm, and slippery. The object shined again, and May realized it was something red and glowing. She carefully reached out towards it, and felt the warm, smooth object……that felt like an egg. She took the object in both hands and pulled it out. It was an egg. It shone in her hands, and seemed to warm up with life. May felt her hands ease with the heat from holding the egg, and she felt comfortable in the cold atmosphere of the mountains. The egg was glowing with a bright reddish glow. It was almost translucent to see an even darker red shape inside. May suddenly felt the urge that the egg needed her, and despite the warmth and heat that it already had, the egg was isolated from where it really belonged, and needed someone to look after it. May gave a small smile. "I will take care of you." The feeling of passion and love welled up inside, and she felt the same feeling for this strange egg, just like she had with another pokemon she had cared for as an egg long ago. The egg glowed with a brighter red as she held it closer to her. she felt its warmth heat her up, and she felt her own warmth warm up the hatchling inside. Around her, the wind blew a lonely chill. An egg like this did not belong up here at all. This was Xenox's mountain, just behind the cave in which Xenox slept in. an egg like this did not belong here. not one living soul belonged here. May gazed up at the heavens in the dark gray sky as the clouds opened up to a bright flash of white light, blazing down at her and the egg. She felt her body stiffen with coldness, and clutched the egg tightly to her chest. She felt her life ebbing away with the egg. May suddenly blinked her eyes open to a freezing breezy wind. She was back in the cave, laying on her side, hugging something that kept her warm. Drew was sitting up at her side. "May?" He was gazing at her with a concerned look. "Are you all right?" May slowly sat up, and then widened her eyes with shock as she realized what she was holding. "I….I had a dream….." "So did I," said Drew. "I saw myself falling through a hole in this cave, just through complete nothingness. What's that you're holding?" "This….was in my dream," she breathed. The egg glowed in the shadowy cave, its bright red color slightly revealing a shape in the middle of the egg that stood still. "I swear I saw this in my dream. I was walking along a path on a mountain—Xenox's mountain—and then I just found this egg. It WAS a dream. You didn't see me sleepwalking or anything, did you?" Drew chuckled nervously, giving the egg a raised look. "No, I didn't. But you couldn't have been sleepwalking. Xenox's mountain is miles from here. And didn't you say that any living thing could die from the blizzards that surrounded Xenox's mountain?" "Yeah but in my dream, I swear the place was Xenox's mountain. I just know it. and then I found this egg, still alive as an egg can be. It was heating up in that cold wasteland, and for some reason, it needed me. So I took it in my hands, and then I just woke up back here again." Then she winced at a sudden pain in her foot. She realized the mark was still there from the twig she had stepped on. "That's really weird," said Drew, wincing. He turned to his left. "Did Brendan have any….hey….where's Brendan?" Drew suddenly stood up, looking around. Flygon was already in his pokeball since he had woken up, but there was no sign of Brendan. "Brendan! Hey, where are you?" May stood, feeling a sense of dread run through her. "He did say he was going to leave the first moment he woke up. was he serious?" "He can't be," Drew kneeled down over to where his communicating device was. "His device is here. he's not that foolish enough to forget about this before he just ditches us. Something must've happened to him." "Oh no, something weird probably. Like, I just woke up from a dream that took place in Xenox's mountain, where I came back with a REAL egg from my dream. Who knows what could've happened to Brendan?" "Well, don't think he's stuck in his dream. I was awake a while before you, and I know you hadn't disappeared. Wherever Brendan is, he must've gone deeper into the cave, or escaped outside. We should go look for him." "Well, I hope you have your pokemon! I only brought half my party. Only Glaceon's strong enough against the cold!" Drew and May headed deeper into the cave. May looked worriedly around her. her mind still felt dreary from her dream, but this place starting to give her creepy feelings. There were strange drawings on the wall. Some looked like they had been drawn by unfriendly people. "Whoa!" Gasped Drew, suddenly stopping. "What--? AHH!" May let out a shocked scream as they came to an open space of dead, rotten skeletons. About a dozen or so human skeletons laid against the floor, as well as about three or four pokemon next to some. From the looks of it, these skeletons seemed to have lasted for over a hundred years or so, for they were starting to stick to the floor, some even becoming part of it like a fossil. "Oh my…." May breathed. She suddenly turned to Drew. "Drew, this is a dangerous place. I can feel it. look at those drawings! Look at our dreams! I think this cave is haunted." Drew met her gaze steadily. "Calm down, lots of caves are like this. People and pokemon always die and rot away in caves, especially one in the middle of nowhere. And these drawings are just probably natives from early times." He scratched at a poorly drawn Mamoswine. "Drew! I want to get out of here!" May gasped, clutching the egg tightly against her. suddenly, the cave gave a slight jolt. May flinched and grabbed Drew's arm. A Snorunt suddenly appeared from behind one of the skeletons, tilting its head to one side as it gave them a curious look. "Sno…?" "Ahh….! A Snorunt?" May suddenly let go of Drew's arm, feeling embarrassed. Drew laughed. "Hah! Don't worry, I'm here to protect you," he said warmly, though he had a teasing glint in his eyes. May narrowed her eyes and then turned to face the Snorunt that was hopping towards them. "Sno! Sno!" Drew chuckled. "Maybe it can tell us the way out of this place where Brendan could've gone. " Suddenly, the cave shook again, and the Snorunt stopped in its tracks, looking scared. "Sno! Snorrrunt!!!" It jumped with fear, keeping its eyes on May. "Huh? Ahh! What's going on?" May cried. The Snorunt suddenly shot out an Ice Shard attack towards May, and instantly, Drew pulled her arm and ran towards an opening in the distance. "Up there! It could be the way out!" May followed him through the falling rocks in the shaking cave, not looking back. She felt shards of ice fly over her head, but she kept her eye on the bright opening in the distance as she held Drew's hand, and carried the egg in the other. Finally, they made it out as the cave continued to shake inside. They ran a distance away from it, towards the trees and into the woods. Drew stopped at the edge of a stream. "Whoa….that was close. You okay?" He looked at May. "I'm fine....I guess," panted May, her eyes full of shock. She looked back. "What's with that cave? Brendan could still be in there!" "Huh! We can go back in if you want! I thought you wanted to leave so badly." May huffed in frustration and kneeled down, staring into the icy cold water. "There's no hope," she complained. "We'll never find him now. he's just disappeared without any evidence. Just like Mr. Griney!" "And Wallace," said Drew intently. "Wallace disappeared when he was travelling up north in Snowpoint as well. That might have to do with Griney and Brendan's disappearances. Perhaps…..something with Xenox? These people have gone missing in the middle of cold, snowy wastelands. Maybe Xenox has something to do with it." May suddenly widened her eyes, remembering something dazed and vivid. "Xenox……in my dream, its presence was watching me wherever the cold breeze blew. I was following it up north, and I could feel its presence….its spirit with the cold wind watching over me." May suddenly felt the cold chilly air blow over her, and she held the egg tightly. "When it wakes," she started to speak again, gazing out into the cloudy white sky, "the earth shall suffer in a frozen storm of snowy blizzards. It will have complete control over the world, and it can freeze the earth with its terrible snowstorms." She turned to meet Drew's gaze. "We must save Xenox somehow. Somehow, it's been disturbed from its resting place, and although it may not be fully awake yet, something's bothering it to create unnatural snowstorms…..like the one under that tree. And also the one that's possibly taken Wallace away from Snowpoint." "But….." Drew was looking at her with a quizzical expression. "…how could Xenox do anything if it isnt awake? It only does small things at the moment, like cause the snowstorms in only places like the north, because it's asleep. But how could it do anymore than it already is doing?" "Well, it may be disturbed….in its sleep," said May, thinking carefully. "My dream somehow came true….partly," she gazed down at the egg. "But whatever's disturbing Xenox must be what's making that pokemon cause all these strange snowstorms. It can get worse. Next time, it may not only just start a random snowstorm under a tree, but maybe a sudden storm over a whole city. Even a hot city like Lavaridge! I bet Xenox was calling me in my dream. That's why I was climbing up that path." "Hmm," Drew nodded, narrowing his eyes. "But I'm still wondering about that egg. And I wonder why Wallace would disappear? He doesn't have anything to do with Xenox……supposedly." "SNOOOO!" Out of nowhere, a snowball suddenly hit May on the back of her head, and she flinched and stumbled forwards, nearly dropping the egg. "Argh! What the--!" She shipped around, meeting eye contact with the Snorunt again, glaring at her up in the trees. It's eyes were red as bloody cuts. "Hey! the same one from the cave!" Drew yelled, taking out his pokeball. "Whatever it wants from us, it's gonna get it! go, Flygon!" May turned towards him as his Flygon popped out of its pokeball, showing a look of determination and anger. "Drew, wait!" Something about this Snorunt wasn't right. Snorunts never had red eyes….and eyes the size of slits. As soon as the Flygon gave a mighty cry, the Snorunt looked up to the sky and summoned an icy cold wind around it, creating its own little blizzard that circled its body. Flygon gave a questioning cry and shifted its feet, glaring at the Snorunt. "Huh?" Drew stepped forward. "It's creating its own snowstorm around it!" The Snorunt started to grow and rise into a taller shape. "Is it evolving?" May gasped. But the form the Snorunt was becoming wasn't the round shape of a Glalie. Instead it grew taller, but taller than a Froslass as well. Finally, the snowstorm stopped around it, revealing the figure of a human—a tall, pale white lady with a cold stare on her glaring face. She wore a white, thing dress, and an icy crown on her head. Her hair was as dark and shiny as the midnight sky, and she glared straight towards May with a look of evil in her gleaming red eyes. May and Drew stared in awe at the lady. She was dangerously beautiful, though one look at her face betrayed the evil that possessed inside of her. she raised her arms and the stream behind them rose with powerful splashing waves. May and Drew dodged away from the trembling currents that rose ten times their height, and Flygon circled behind Drew, ready to defend whatever came to attack them. The lady muttered something in a strange language, and a huge, monstrous Lapras popped out from the water, glaring down at May and Drew with the same evil red eyes.

chapter six- CONTESTSHIPPING- DREW"Stop!" The lady's commanding voice was hard and edgy as she raised her arm toward the ferocious Lapras. The pokemon stopped the waves from rising behind May and Drew, and the two of them stood side by side in front of Flygon, staring up at the Lapras with awe. Drew gave May a nudge. "She's staring at your egg," he muttered.The lady was glaring at the glowing red object in May's arms. She started walking towards them, her eyes piercing as daggers. She was asian, with skin almost as white as her dress. "That egg...." She hissed in her sharp tone, not taking her eyes off the red egg that seemed to glow brighter every few seconds. May held the lady's gaze with shocked eyes. Drew felt the need to just command his Flygon to attack this lady as soon as he can, though he feared the strong power that she probably withheld. This lady looked almost inhumane and fake, like a witch or a statue that came to life. She was extremely tall, probably almost 7 feet at the least. She was very thin and beautiful, with a wicked glint that seemed to never leave her eyes. "That egg...." she said again. She suddenly spoke in a calm, but intent voice. "WHERE did you find it?" May swallowed. "Um....I dont know. i really dont. I-- I dreamt it up, and then it just suddenly appeared with me when i woke up."The Lapras let out a whiny cry and splashed the water violently with impatience, as if wanting to attack something already. The lady hissed and whipped her head to face it. "Quiet, you obstinate!" She flashed a shard of ice towards the Lapras, and the pokemon silenced immediately, looking ashamed. Drew widened his eyes. Did the LADY just throw an ice shard from her hand?"If you please....." said May as bravely as she can. "....we are nothing but lost inhabitants. We were......stranded here, and we really have no idea where we are. Please excuse us if we've done anything wrong."Drew twitched a smile at the corner of his lip. It probably wasnt a good idea to give away that they were possibly whipped away by "magic" and just woke up on a random island like this.May continued to speak. "If this is your egg, you're welcome to have it back."The lady suddenly smiled a sly, wicked smirk. "Hmm, hmm. My dear, that is NO egg of mine. That egg contains the pokemon of fire, a pokemon that has powers of an unstoppable fire type. I am the bringer of ice. I look forward to no such pokemon as the one in that egg. I am Prima Dona, Empress of Ice, and the Bringer of Snow." She raised a hand and shot out another ice shard in the sky. Her Lapras gave a humored cry and bobbed up and down with a sassy look on its face.Drew stared at the lady. "Bringer of snow? What....." "Yes, I am the bringer of snow." She glared at him with piering blue eyes. Drew bit his lip. He was sure her eyes were red just a moment ago. "I was born in a world you.....may not understand. But now I live here, in an island that has been isolated and frozen from any connection with the other regions. This island has been taken over by the winter weather of Xenox, who has summoned an eternal winter over this island to hide it from the rest of the world. No one out there has discovered this island. If you really have come from the outlands beyond, the only way you couldve come is by....magic." She narrowed her eyes. "Or by psychics."Drew raised his eyebrows. "Well...I guess that's just how we got here. We--""Before you explain!" Interupted Prima Dona roughly. "I must tell you....you are in a place undiscovered by man. There ARE humans out here, but they aren't the same. The only humans out here are the primitives, the natives that have literally ADAPTED to this island, and have become like ice type pokemon themselves."May widened her eyes. "Became like pokemon?"Prima Dona turned to meet her gaze and smiled evilly again. "You two lost souls look so cold. Why are we standing out here in the snow? I'm so sorry I had my Lapras scare you like that, I thought you guys were-- someone else. But come on. Let's find somewhere comfortable to talk."Drew winced and gave May a concerned look. She returned it back with the same uncertainty in her eyes. Prima Dona chuckled. "I won't bite.....yet. I promise, I'm probably the only one out here in this island who can help you."Drew still didnt trust her. But they really had no choice. She knew the place like she was part of it herself. He took out his pokeball. "Flygon, return." He said carefully, returning Flygon back in its pokeball. He and May followed Prima Dona and her Larpas farther into the woods.Prima Dona spoke as they trudged hrough the frosty forest. "This island is almost a quarter size of the Hoenn Region. No one's ever sailed or gone beyond what's known as the Veil Sea, for the icy temperatures and deadly storms that Xenox has created keep people and pokemon from entering this sacred place. I must remind you, the two of you must be very special to Xenox somehow, for it must have some reason to just 'teleport' you from nowhere to come here."Drew met her gaze. "But why did Xenox isolate this island from everywhere else? This isnt even its island, and the island that Xenox rests upon is less dangerous to sail to than this one.""Well, Xenox has its reasons," said Prima Dona tartly. "I can't answer everything, but i am a lady of ice, and i can tell the histiry of any snowy environment, and the pokemon that have to do with it.....from within.""Who exactly ARE you?" May questioned carefully. "Do you live here? Do you have your own native family here?"Prima Dona smiled and let her gaze fall onto May. "My dear, I live here, yes. I was one of the first to have survived this island, to ADAPT here and partially become like the environment. See? My skin is almost as pale as the snow. I've thrived with ice type pokemon, trained them under my will, and became part of this place. My job at the moment......is to protect this island from anything dangerous." She suddenly gave a sharp eye towards May.Drew blinked slowly, studying this lady intently. "Something dangerous......like what?"Prima Dona lifted her chin towards May. "You, my dear, may have something that can anger Xenox, disturb the pokemon from its sleep.""I do?" May gasped and gazed down at the red egg in her arms. "Oh....."Drew remembered what Prima Dona had said about not being interested in an egg that bears a fire type pokemon. "It's a fire type hatchling, isnt it?" He said."Right you are," said Prima Dona testily. "And not just any fire type. What is contained inside that egg is a pokemon that can grow to be almost as powerful as Xenox itself. A pokemon that can defeat Xenox because it is the exact opposite-- fire."May's eyes were inent as she gazed back into Prima Dona's piercing gaze. "Well.....I met it in my dream....on Xenox's mountain.""Was that before you were teleported here, or after you arrived here?""After."Prima Dona narrowed her eyes. "Hmm, yes....that was why I was so concerned. When I first saw you two, I thought you were.....thieves of the egg. This isnt the first time I've seen that egg. But then when I got a better look at you two, I decided to question you more carefully. Turns out you arent thieves, but just accidental caretakers of it.""You mean May found that egg in her dream by accident?" Drew questioned. "Yes, she isnt supposed to have it. It belongs to someone else, and somehow, thieves have stolen it, leaving it in a place it wasnt supposed to be....""which was in my dream," said May, looking at her egg with daze. "Oh no.....I'm sorry. If this is going to disturb Xenox in any way, I'll be more than welcome to put it back where it should be.""Dont worry my dear," Prima Dona stopped walking and put a hand on May's shoulder. Drew gave a raised look, wondering how cold her hand must have felt. "That egg.....is meant to destroy Xenox.""Destroy it?""Once it grows to become the strong powerful legendary it's meant to be, it will become as powerful as Xenox, except even wrose since it is the bringer of fire, not ice. It can defeat it, and end all cold, chilly weathers.....and instead, replace the earth in a suffering state of heat and sunlight. Droughts will occur, and pokemon and people can die. This will only happen if it defeats Xenox, and we can't let that happen. That was why i was after the certain thief who had stolen this egg. I wanted to track him down and keep this egg from getting anywhere near Xenox. Unfortunatelty, it was close enough to show up in your dream....and you've found it. It's in your hands now. It's up to you what happens to it.""I'm going to have to destroy it, dont I?" Said May with a downhearted tone as she gazed down at her egg."Well, either that....or you could raise it to be....mmm....less powerful so that it wouldnt have such an urge to destroy Xenox." Prima Dona smiled her creepy smile again. "You'd rather do that than leave it out to get destroyed, wouldnt you?"May suddenly looked hopeful. "Yeah....I guess I couldtrain it myself, and teach it to be......well, a little softhearted than it will turn out to be. Do you think I can do that?"Drew narrowed his eyes. May seemed to be taking in her trust with this lady easier than it was to get annoyed by a fly. Prima Dona chuckled. "You have good spirit, my dear. I wasnt planning on destroying such an egg either....it really would break my heart.""As cold as it is," said Drew in his thoughts. he wasnt liking this lady one bit. Just being around her made him feel cold and chilly.May suddenly gave a determined look. "I will look after this egg. I shall raise it to be a loyal pokemon, not one that's meant to destroy Xenox.""Well done," Prima Dona gave May a pat on the head. May seemed to have twitched a smile at the corner of her lip, looking like she was almost lost in Prima Dona's gaze.Drew huffed. "Hmph. Well, what are we to do? Apparently Xenox wants us to be here for some reason. But now that May has that egg, it might have second thoughts about letting us live."Prima Dona's expression turned back into a glare as she looked at Drew. It was obvious she was interested in the one who had the powerful pokemon in her hands, not him. "Well, we shall visit Xenox since it wants you around. We'll make sure the pokemon of the egg behaves itself.""Try telling that to Xenox, it probably doesnt know that," said Drew, holding her stabbing gaze as hard as he can. May suddenly spoke clearly. "Prima Dona, whatever we do, we really need to find our friend, Brendan. He came here with us, and he went missing not too long ago. Before we leave or go anywhere, we need to find him first."Prima Dona suddenly stiffened. Her expression narrowed. "Another one......" she whipped her ehad over to face May again. "Was he white-haired with a green bandana over his forehead?"May nodded. "Green like mine."Prima Dona muttered something. "I saw him last night, traveling up a mountain."Drew widened his eyes. "You saw him?"Prima Dona didnt answer. "There was something strange about him. Unfortunately, he's been stabbed by an Ice Spear."May gasped."He's been stabbed?!" Her eyes were full of shock and regret. "I sensed the power of auma within him. He was stabbed, but the spear didnt kill him. I could sense Xenox within him. The Ice Spear had belonged to Xenox before, had been part of its own body once. Now that it's seared into his heart, he's become.....transfixed and connected to Xenox somehow. His insticnt will tell him nothing more than to keep going on to seek the pokemon he's connected to.""He can get killed if he gets anywhere near Xenox though," said May, her eyes clouded with worry."Nonsense," said Prima Dona dangerously. "The auma of the ice has entered his heart, freezing its real aura within and has entered the auma of Xenox. He is almost like another copy of Xenox, in the form of a human. He can withstand even the storms of Xenox."May met Drew's gaze with shock. "Drew, we must find him!"Before Drew could say anything, Prima Dona clenched her fists, crackling a shard of ice that suddenly appeared in her hands. "We must.....before he reaches Xenox. I could sense power in that boy, but I ignored it since I was focused on something else-- that egg of yours. But we must go. You two must find your friend before its too late."May looked up hopefully at Prima Dona. "You'll come with us, won't you? We really dont know this place. We could really use your help.""Dear, of course I'll come with you," Prima Dona smiled innocently. Lapras suddenly gave an angry thrashing, glaring at May, looking ready to reach out and easily eat her up.Prima Dona flashed a snappish glare at the pokemon. "Ugh, please excuse my Lapras. It totally hates humans of a different aura."Drew winced, but didnt bother questioning her. He didnt like the idea of traveling with this lady. There was something more than just a cold heart within her. Something about her just didnt seem.....real. And the island seemed to be chilling him even more, as if giving him warning signs. He looked nervously around, aware of anything watching them. suddenly, he caught two glinting eyes. He stopped and snuck away from May and the strange lady. He suddenly stopped just a few feet away from them, realizing what was peering at them through the tall, tippy tree. His eyes widened with shock and he kept his surprised hiss as quiet as he can. "Wallace!"

chapter seven- POKESHIPPING- MISTY Life as a model. One who learns to portray all the different fashion designs to be advertised from all around. One who learns to look deeply within oneself, and see the real looks inside besides just the outside. It was a pretty rigorous job, one that always kept Misty on her feet and thinking about what should happen next. It was the second day of the dance reunion. 4:40 am, terribly early for even Misty to get up and get ready for her part-time career-- as a water model. She was sitting at the side of her bed, lost in thought. It had been exactly one month ago since one of her sisters had decided to take over the gym again since she was fired from her modeling agency. Unfortunately, Daisy had been caught taking drugs and even drunk driving, so her modeling agency fired her. She came back to Cerulean to beg Misty for her gym back so she can have something to keep her and her pokemon up and famous, so that she didnt retire only at the age of 26. Misty didnt want to give her sister a second chance, for she had been shocked and extremely disapointed to hear that her own sister had gotten addicted to something like drugs, but she also knew that if she didnt give Daisy the gym, she would only feel more humiliated and out of life that she might become even in a worse state than she had been at her modeling career. So Misty gave Daisy back the gym, and Daisy was gym leader....for part time. Daisy promised Misty she will look for other jobs that she and her pokemon can attend, so that she can give Misty back the gym. In the meantime, Misty took Daisy's place as a model, applying to the agency of "Sea Princess Modeling Agency." The agency required a water type trainer and their most well-trained pokemon, and both were required to advertise fashion designs for underwater clothing and fashionable outfits fit for people and water type pokemon. Misty had been a little concerned at first, for she didnt want to get too caught up in her career and get involved with drugs.....she didnt want to become as frustrated and overwhelmed like her sister and start using ways like drinking to help calm her down. She had promised herself and her pokemon she would be a great model, and stay focused and determined as she possibly can. She knew she was tough when she wanted to be. Misty stared at the clock. 4:57. She had been sitting for almost 45 minutes. She could not sleep at all. She barely even got any sleep. The other night, she had been having such a good time at the dance reunion with all her old friends and meeting the new people Ash had met, both recently and from long ago. And Ash....he had been so dreamy to her. Just before the dance was over, Ash and her had danced to the most dreamy song, "Catch Me By the Heart." She had never had a more romantic time with him than that moment. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and it wasnt until 11 at night that the dance ended and everyone left the ballroom. They all arrived upstairs of the Yuen Plaza, where they had their own lobby rooms to sleep in, and spend the night. The reunion wasnt over, Ash had planned it to be a whole week before everyone departed. So here she was, sitting in her own lobby room with the lights off, and dawn just barely peeking through the windows. She shared a room with Ash....and Gary Oak. She turned to cast a sideways glance at him as he slept in the bed at the corner by the window. Surprisingly enough, Gary had become the photographer of the Sea Princess Modeling Agency. Daisy had been a fangirl herself, and he had found her quite attracting, so when she offered him the job of a photographer needed for their agency, he gladly took the job. Now here he was with Misty, being her own photographer. Misty never felt comfortable around Gary.....especially when it came to taking constant pictures of her. But eventually, she began to see the better side of him and how much he really has changed since so long ago when he used to be Ash's top rival. The only reason he shared a room with her now was because every Tuesday at 5:30, no matter what the day, Misty had to arrive at the top floor of the Yuen Plaza, and try out the new designs that arrived every week. Gary had to be there also. And because she had been having so much on her mind from the dance...and Ash Ketchum......she couldnt fall asleep at 12:30 when she and Ash finally said good night to each other. She couldnt believe how Ash had fallen into such a deep sleep so quickly. She barely got 4 hours herself up to now....and that wasnt going to be good for her career. And something else was on her mind also. Not long before the final dance of the night, May, Drew, and Brendan had suddenly disappeared. There wasnt a trace of where they couldve gone. all their packages and belongings had been left behind, and they just suddenly disappeared. It was as if the three of them had decided to run away together......or something had happened to all thre of them. Everyone had been concerned, but Professor Oak reassued everyone that unless they come back soon by tomorrow, they were probably just off to do something private. Misty sighed. Whatever May was up to on that strange faraway island of Mr. Griney's, Brendan was part of it......and Drew was the only one to know about it. Perhaps they've gone somewhere to discuss it inprivate, or deal with something they couldnt tell the others. Misty frowned and found that frustrating. What could be so secretive about May's discovery? Surely most of the people at the dance night could be trusted to keep a secret for her. Misty had been having so much fun with May right when she arrived, she forgot what it was like to have been friends with somebody like her. She almost felt like she had just met May for the first time and had already developed a close bond. Misty yawned. She was getting tired-- finally. Not bothering to look at the clock, she dropped back in her bed, laying awkwardly on her back, sideways on her bed. The noisy alarm clock suddenly rang. Misty didnt entirely hear it, until someone roughly prodded her side. "Hey, wake up. I'm not gonna carry you all the way to the top floor." Misty slowly blinked her eyes open. She sat up and met the gaze of Gary. He was staring at her with the same tired expression that she felt. He looked flushed from last night as well. "Urgh....." Misty frowned and blinked a couple times to get her vision straight. "Seriously...? Even on our special week?" She groaned through a dreary voice. Gary sighed and headed towards the door. "Yeah, even on our special week. We'll put up with this crap whether it's the holdidays or a funeral day. Come on, I'm not gonna do it by myself, though." Misty stood up, wincing at how tired she felt. She probably hadnt even been asleep for even an hour yet, and she could tell by the sound of Gary's tone that he wasnt in a good mood like she was. "Ugh..." she muttered and followed Gary out of the room. They both got ready and dressed up to meet the agency. Misty herself had to wear something formal and fashionable just to start her day. She took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. She wore an orange tank top with long skinny jeans that portrayed a sparkling pattern on the sides of her thighs. She washed her face until it was bright and smooth. She put on a little masquer over her eyes, and wore her high heels with anklets around her ankles, and bracelets around her left wrist. She brushed her hair and put it up in her everyday side ponytail, using a red, sparkly band. She put lip gloss on, and she was finished within twenty minutes, looking like a person who had spent hours looking like a princess. But this was only her formal type of outfit around her modeling agencies. When she performed, she would have to look more valuable than this. She met Gary by the back door of their room in the hallway. He was leaning on his back by the door, looking half awake. But despite his groggy expression, he looked just as styled up as Misty. Even as the agency's advertising photographer, he had to wear a black suit that made him look like a groom. He lifted his head and met Misty's gaze. He raised his eyebrows. "A little slow arent we?" He had a teasing tone to his voice. Misty wouldve frowned, but she was still too tired. "What are you talking about? I always take twenty to fifteen minutes to get ready." Gary chuckled. "It's still too long. You almost took as long as Daisy did this morning." "Really?" Misty walked passed him, holding her head up. "I guess i must look extra special this morning then." Gary caught up took her side. "Eh....." He fumbled with his gloves. "Sheesh, why they make us perform on New Year's Day? seriously, they needto give us a vacation." Misty raised her eyebrows. "Modeling agencies are too busy for that." She sighed blinked slowly. "I'll have to tell Ash to meet me at the parlor around 7:00. I have to tell him something." An anxious feeling suddenly welled up inside of her. Her heart suddenly throbbed, and she started to feel a little more awake. Gary stared at her with a glint in his eyes. "Wonder what that could be." He said with an expressionless tone. She nudged him. "Oh you wouldnt be interested," she gave him a sideways smile. "Ash has always been on my mind...especially since he had left me so long ago." Gary rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "Gee, I'm so tired..... really shouldnt have made that bet with Dawn. I'll never drink a margarita that tall again." Misty widened her eyes. "WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU BET DAWN TO DO?!" Gary laughed. "You arent paying attention! I said I made a bet with Dawn to make ME drink that.....stuff." "What STUFF?" Misty was shocked. Hadnt Professor Oak banned the usage of any drinking or crude teen partying? What had Gary done while she had spent more than half her time with Ash?! Gary chuckled. "Nothing, nothing. Just waking you up, that's all." He walked faster and entered the door to the breakfast cafe. Misty followed him immediately. "Hey!" She grabbed his arm tightly, making him stop. "WHAT did you do last night? I saw you disciussing SOMETHING in private with Red, Leaf, and Dawn. What the hell were you doing?" "Nothing!" He snapped. his gaze suddenly calmed down. "Honestly, I did nothing. Just ask Dawn. Or Leaf." He whipped his arm away from her and strutted away to the men's bathroom. Misty winced as she watched him go. "Oh yeah, right, you truly did nothing." She muttered angrily. "I bet you need to throw it all up right now. No wonder you looked extra wasted this morning." She stomped up to the bar to order her breakfast. She got a bagel with cream cheese and orange juice and headed over to sit with Leaf, who was sitting alone by the window, staring out into the cloudy gray morning. "Hi, Leaf," Misty greeted as friendly as she could. Now she was both tired, cranky, and upset. After breakfast, she was supposed to meet with her modeling agency at the top floor of the plaza lobby, and they would start their morning exercises. As a model, she and the other fashioin designers had to warm up and stay in shape for their modeling career, and keep themselves awake by starting their days with brealfast and morning aerobics. Misty hoped she would feel more awake when they warmed up. She didnt want to feel so gloomy when she performed later on. Not to mention....all her friends at the dance reunion were looking forward to watching her this afternoon. She had to look her best for today. Leaf met Misty's gaze with a distant look in her eyes. "Hey," she didnt smile or change her expression. She looked distracted and a little upset. Misty felt a twinge of anger. "Hey, did Gary do anything with you last night? Anything....against the circumstances Professor Oak told him not to do?" Leaf frowned and shook her head. "No. But he did make a bet with me that if Dawn and Paul would end up dancing together to the song of Catch Me By the Heart, and I told him that they would. He disagreed, though." "They did dance, didnt they?" "Yeah." Leaf still looked mad. "But it wasnt much of a dance. sadly, Paul barely looked at Dawn or met her gaze, and he actually looked ashamed and stiff when he was with her. He didnt say much after that." "Hey, Misty!" Ash suddenly appeared in the cafe, and ran towards Misty. He was dressed in formal black and blue pokemon shirt and jeans, and his hair looked undone. He obviously had rushed here to see her. Misty felt delighted. "Ash," she smiled and they both hugged. "What are you doing here so early?" She said happily. You've erally wasted your time waking up this early." Ash let her go and laughed. "Aha! No way. It's never a waste of time to find you. I was just wondering if we could both spend a little more time together before you leave for the rest of the day to do all your....modeling business." He gave her a teasing sideways look as if he thought she busied herself too much. Misty laughed. "Oh yeah, last night wasnt enough?" "Nope," said Ash. "Not enough to last like getting--" "Ahem! You two!" Leaf's irritated voice interupted them and they both turned to meet her angry gaze. "I'm in the middel of explaining something, i wasnt DONE yet, Misty. You're the one who came to me!" Misty flasd Ash a raised look and then turned to Leaf. "What, was there something else that happened?" "What happened?" Qeustioned Ash. Leaf gave him a rude look. "After he lost the bet, he owed me a pokemon battle with my strongest Venusaur and his weakest Krabby. He told Dawn about our bet, and then she wanted to see if he would get to dance with ME for the rest of the song, and if he did, she would give him fifteen dollars. Well, that's when he tried convincing me to dance with him. And it was humilaiting." Leaf's frowned turned into a more disgusted look, and she looked down at her feet. Misty raised her eyebrows. Ash winced. "He tried to dance with you?" "So he didnt drink or anything," said Misty with relief. "What?! No!" Leaf looked at her with a look of horror and disgust. "But he tried to convince me to dance with him! It was embarrssing, and Dawn, Barry......and RED were watching us. Ugh..." Misty nodded, frowning. "Well, I'm sorry about that. I'm sure you didnt dance with him though, didnt you?" Ash let out a quick, nervous laugh. "Wow, I wish I couldve seen you guys, though." Leaf stood up to her full height, leaning forwards to glare at Ash. "OH NO YOU WOULDNT! IF THAT EVER HAPPENED, I'D DESTROY HIM!" Ash had a look of surprise on his face at her sudden outburst, and Misty stpped in front of her. "Hold on! He didnt do anything rash to convince you, did he?" Leaf calmed down, still keeping the sour look on her face. "No," she said tartly. "But he did tell me WHY we were going to dance. Seriously, he's like, 'hey wanna dance with me so I can earn the fifteen dollars i owe you?' he practically said that.....and not to mention the obnoxious flirting he started doing with me. I dont want to talk about it, okay?" Leaf turned away to glare out at the window. Misty was just about to say something hopeful, but then stopped. She understood Leaf's feelings for Gary. Once, they had been a couple. But unfortunately, their relationship had not been more than just a mere child's play. Funny enough, the two of them were only about nine when it happened, and it was only a few weeks until Leaf had taken interested in Red, who had been a new trainer back then. And now that the years passed, every time she saw Gary, he would tease her about her feelings for Red, exposing what she truly thought about him and making fun of it. Even though Gary had grown out of his arrogant, selfish temper, he was still a little edgy on her, and still portrayed something close to a teasing glint whenever she was around him. Misty believed that he must still have feelings for her to still be like that towards her. Obviously, Leaf had no more interest in him. "Well, if he does anything as close to TALKING about getting drunk," said Misty, narrowing her eyes, "feel free to tell Professor Oak." Ash nudged her. "Where is Gary anyway? Isn't he supposed to be here with you?" Misty faced him. "He disappeared in the bathroom a moment ago. But hey....Ash please try to meet me at the parlor around 7:00am. That's usually the time we stop warming up and get ready." Ash raised his eyebrows hopeully. "Really? Are you sure you'll have time? I dont want to be a distraction against your job or anything--" "Hey, it's nothing," said Misty intently, looking him in the eye. "We wake up at 5:00. get ready, and then by the time it's 6:00, we have an hour of warming up and aerobic exercises. Then at 7:00, we dress up and get ready until practice. Sometimes it takes half an hour to a whole hour for some models and their pokemon to get ready. So I can have time." Ash smiled, still looking a little uncertain, but excited. "Okay then," he shrugged. "Hopefully I'll--" "Can you two PLEASE find somewhere else to get all lovey-dovey with each other?" Leaf snapped irratedly, keeping her gaze out at the window. Misty gave her a look, but she had to excuse her frustrated temper. "I'll be leaving soon," she said with a slight tone. "Give us a minute." Ash turned to Leaf. "Hey, where's Red? You two had an obviously awesome time together, I saw you two dancing.......before that little dare from Dawn." Misty gave Ash a warning nudge as Leaf turned to glare at Ash again. But her tone wasnt as edgy this time. "He's sleeping." Was all she said. She turned away again. "Okay then," said Ash, shrugging. "I'm probably gonna have to get going," said Misty softly, smiling at Ash. He nodded. "I promise I'll see you later. Everyone else is still going to hang out around this huge Plaza, there's so much to do here. It even has your own modeling agency. And dont forget that we're all gonna be watching you later!" Misty huffed. "Of course I won't forget." She and Ash gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. The urge to just kiss him already was burning inside her again. They had been so close the other night-- before the dance night-- before they had been.....unfortunately interupted. Gary suddenly appeared from the bathroom, a narrowed look of frustration on his face. He spotted Ash and Misty. "Hey! Misty!" He made his way up to her. Misty suddenly snapped out of her focus, and turned to see Gary make his way up to her. He met Ash's gaze. "Oh, hey there, Ash. You know, we could use another photographer around here. But you'd have to apply with the--" "It's alright," Ash interupted him quickly. "I have no inerest in having to do with a model. Misty knows the only model I want to be is a role model of--" "A pokemon master!" Mity said forhim, giving him a playful grimace. "Ash, you conceited jerk." She said with a laugh. "Hey! Who's conceited around here?" Ash shot back with a teasing smile. "I'm not the one showing off all my clothes and posing with my pokemon for two thousand magazines out there! I'm using my own pokemon for their inner beauty of battling!" Misty gasped and grimaced back. "Hey! We're more than just showing off our looks! You've seen my shows! We actually give the beauty power of pokemon more MEANING and EMPHASIS." Gary rolled his eyes and gave a sideways look. "Hmph. And we also dont pose for two thousand copies anyway. We arent even THAT famous." He turned and suddenly noticed Leaf. "Hey, look! It's Leaf!" He said, raising his expression. He came up in front of her table, leaning over towards her. "What are YOU doing up so early? I dont see anyone special out here to look forward to seeing at this very moment." Leaf whipped over and gave him a narrowed look. "Shut up. I'm no where CLOSE to being here for the sake of seeing YOU." Misty raised an eyebrow at the intent tone in her voice. Gary just held his gaze. He chuckled and leaned away, walking pass her. "Well, whatever you're up to, you'll be seeing me later on anyway. Remember, I still own you that pokemon battle, and if you lose to a 'weak' pokemon like my Krabby, you'd have to owe me back your fifteen dollars." He turned to glance back at her. "You dont want THAT happening, do you? I'm sure you wouldnt want to be even more humiliated." Leaf banged the table and whipped around to face him. "The only thing I'll ever be humiliated by from YOU is to have any slight relationship with you!" "You're kinda yelling," said Misty carefully, giving a worried smile. She walked up to Gary's side. "We'll be going now. See you guys later." "See ya," Ash called after them, staying by Leaf's side. Misty exited the bar with relief. "Sheesh! Can you NOT be your jerky self around Leaf? ESPECIALLY around Leaf?!" Gary didnt meet her gaze. "Who was being the jerk? Come on, I'm late for my attendance." He pressed a button on the elevator that would take them to the top. Misty sighed and rolled her eyes. If only she had her energy right now. She would be making sure Gary wasnt just pushing off the things he had done the other night and just recently. Only the thoughts of seeing Ash later made her want to speed up and get her morning routine over with.

chapter eight- EGOSHIPPING- GARYMisty was beautiful. It used to be that her three older sisters, Daisy, Lily, and Violet were the pretty ones of the Cerulean Gym while Misty was just the average girl, considered the "runt." But now that she had taken Daisy's place as a model, Gary had gotten a better look at her, and actually thought she was pretty attractive. Her skin seemed to always be clean and smooth, her body slender and elegant as a Barbie doll. Gary had been feeling prouder every day that he was photographer of the agency to take the best pictures of Misty in her advertising outfits and poses. He sat in his room of the top floor, organizing the different pictures of all the models of the agency, rearranging them in their own categories. There were about 1100 pictures he had taken himself the past week, and he was to organize them for a magazine that was to be created by the end of this week. Their boss, Whitney of Johto, had become fashion designer of the whole agency while Maria took over her gym. Whitney had become quite demanding, and even though she still had her hyped up spirit, she had become more controlling and observant since she had taken over the agency. Gary was too distracted. His thoughts about the dance night were running through his mind. He sat at his desk with a messy layout of pictures in front of him, zoning out in front of the gloomy window. The bet between him and Leaf was completely worthless. It hadn't changed Leaf's feelings about him or anything. And the dare Dawn had given him had made it worse. He felt a pang of regret at the thought of how much Leaf probably hated him now. during the dance, Gary had tried to keep his distance from Red. Red was even worse. If he made the slightest comment about him and Leaf, Red would've wiped him out with his own Pikachu, which was even stronger than Ash's. Gary huffed and looked through his photos, trying to find the pictures of Misty. There she was—he caught one with her posing in a hot pink flowing dress around her waist and a hot pink bikini over top, trying to resemble a Gorebyss. He cracked a smile. She was very attractive, and Ash was lucky to have someone like her fall for him. He bit his lip, knowing that his relationship with Misty would never get that far. He hadn't even showed his feelings for her, and throughout their times together in the modeling agency, they hadn't gone much further than really good friends, even becoming a more rowdy pair at times. Misty liked to mess around and tease sometimes too, just like he did. And it was always funny whenever they got into awkward arguments over things just for the heck of it, just for the sake of laughing about their fight five minutes after. But it was nothing like when she used to argue with Ash. Those arguments were more serious and deep at times, and had gotten the both of them to see into each other. Gary didn't think the idea of him having to act like Ash just for the sake of Misty wasn't going to be worth it at all. He wished she would notice him for his real self. Gary's door suddenly popped open and Whitney showed up, panting. "Ah! Gary! Huh! I've--- I've gotten the mail from this morning. Huh!" She panted and made her way up to him, looking as if she had run all the way around the region. Gary raised his eyebrows tiredly, giving a sideways look. "What? Is it more bills we have to pay for our performances?""No! you won't believe it!" Whitney squealed through her panting, excited voice. She hurried over and immediately started spreading the photos lying on Gary's desk, searching intently."Hey! I just sorted half of those!" Gary winced at her as she grabbed one of the larger photos."Aha! Here!" She held a picture of Misty lying on her side in a black bikini with graceful white fur coat behind her shoulders. "This hit the jackpot. Misty's just cost us a ticket to stardom…….in Saffron City!"She looked at Gary, waiting for a response, but he was staring up at the attracting picture of Misty. Her expression on her face was calm and raised as she leaned on her hand on her side. "Hey!" Whitney put the picture down on the desk and snapped her fingers at his face. "Did you just hear what I said?""Huh?" Gary snapped into focus. "Yeah, something about Saffron?""Yes! Misty's just opened the eyes of many awesome, contributing fans! People are going wild for her….and now we've been called to perform in Saffron City's Silph Company district!" Whitney squealed with delight. "Oooh, it's going to be so fantastic!"Gary widened his eyes. "Wait, so you're saying we've been invited to model for Saffron?""Yes! Isnt it great? Apparently, the city's gym leader, Sabrina, she's actually interested in Misty herself. She wants to have Misty model for the psychic type pokemon, and advertise some exquisite looking outfits to show off the beauty of her psychic type pokemon.""Hah! You sure that idea was from Sabrina?" Said Gary, giving Whitney a look. Sabrina was creepy, though at the same time, she had always interested him. she was a real psychic, like a gypsy, and had always kept to the dark side of things, rarely exposing her gym and her pokemon to challengers. But now….she had asked the modeling agency to advertise her pokemon? It sounded a little off.Whitney shrugged. "She's the one who mailed us. And I can tell from the fancy writing and strange use of words that it really was from Sabrina. It's gonna be awesome! Most of Misty's fans come from Saffron, so I guess Sabrina's been hearing lots about Misty, and even witnessed the pictures and magazines we've published. Finally we're about to become famous! We can thank Misty for this!"Gary raised his eyebrows, giving a hopeful look. "Huh! Looks like we'll be busy this week. We still have our performance tonight. When are we leaving for Saffron?""Oh, she said as soon as possible!" Said Whitney, opening up her purse and pulling out a magazine. "Sabrina told us she wants as to come as soon as we can, and of course, that would be right after our performance! Here, this is a magazine that's just got Misty all over it. She's only got three of her own magazines, but I guess since people are opening their eyes to how fabulous she really is, then I guess we're going to have to make more!" Whitney let out a huge sigh and looked into Gary's eyes. "I just came here to ask you a favor. I want you to take more pictures of Misty, and find ways to sell them online. We can make even MORE money…but of course, it's not about the money! It's about the enjoyment you get out of expressing someone's beauty! So what do you think?"Gary answered quickly and excitedly. "Ha! Sure, I wouldn't mind having to take extra pictures of Misty and posting them online—wait….you really should be asking Misty about this.""I have! She doesn't mind! She practically wants to get discovered, you know! She's very expressive and outgoing, and she doesn't want to just be some average old model, not finding use of stardom and getting fans of her own. She wants to be KNOWN, and she was just as delighted as I was when she heard about this! Huh! Anyways, look at the time! The girls need to start getting their clothes on before the performance in an hour! Gary, I'll see ya later, kay?" She gave him a wink and hurried to the door. Gary gave a sideways look. "I guess I'll start my little paparazzi with Misty now, huh?" He called."Oh yes! Yes, start getting your pictures of Misty as soon as you can! Try to find websites online to share those pictures. She's in the yoga room right now, trying to ease out her mind since she's been terribly tired the whole day."Gary nodded and snatched his camera, walking towards the door. "I'll find her."Gary entered the large, empty yoga room. No one was here, but he found Misty sitting on a chair at the far corner. She was by the window, on her phone. Gary rolled his eyes and made a face. "Sheesh, I wonder who SHE'S texting," he muttered. He quickly made his way up to her, giving her a surprised flick on the back.Misty flinched and turned to glare at him. "What--?! You scared me!"Gary chuckled. "Did I? Hey, guess what? Whitney suggests that I start taking more photos of you so I can sell them online. We've got over an hour before our performance, so I can warm you up by taking snaps of your poses to get you ready for the real performance."Misty was staring up at him with a raised look. "Huh! Well, I supposed I should be getting ready." She stood up and closed her phone. Gary caught a glance at who she had just been texting, and it read "Leaf" instead of Ash. "I've gotta get some of my outfits first. If you want to take pictures of me, go get 'em in my room yourself. I'm too lazy right now." She stretched in her tight lavender yoga outfit, and Gary laughed. "Hey, that's perfect!" He snapped a phot of her as she bent slightly backwards and raised her arms up over her head, her eyes tightly closed. Misty suddenly jerked up into full position. "Hey!" She snapped, her eyes full of fury. "You moron, I didn't want a picture of THAT! DELETE IT!"Gary chuckled with a raised look. "Hey, come on, that was just the perfect scene! You looked like you were a witch, trying to summon something from the sky."Misty snatched his camera, glaring at him. "Delete it!""Hey, give that back!" Gary tried to take it back, but Misty turned and dodged. "Misty, I'm serious, give it. Whitney's gonna kill both of us f that's broken!"Misty beamed. "Ahaha! Whitney's got no reason to kill me now! and you really think I'm stupid enough to BREAK this? I'm way smarter than you."Gary met her gaze, and she was grimacing playfully at him. he returned her expression. "Oh yeah? I'd like to see you take your own photos then."Misty rolled her eyes and laughed. "Mmm, no thanks." She handed him back the camera.Gary didn't take it. he had something else on his mind. "No seriously! If I were allowed to model around here, I would! I have my own fangirls to impress out there."Misty raised her eyebrows and said, "No thanks. I'm not taking pictures of YOU." She dropped the camera, and Gary quickly caught it before it hit the floor. He narrowed his eyes disappointedly. "Huh! And my fans arent just from Saffron!" He gave her a challenging look.Misty narrowed her eyes and turned away. "Just hurry up and take your stupid pictures. We're wasting time.""So you're staying in your yoga suit?""Ugh! Sure, why not?! Just get it over with, dammit!" Misty threw her arms up in the air with frustration and faced Gary with a hand up in the air, and the other arm sticking straight down, her body turned sideways with a narrowed determined looking expression.Gary met her gaze, and then widened his eyes with intent as he raised his camera and flashed a photo of her. Gary felt himself feeling so lost in taking his snapshots of Misty that he forgot to talk much as he took his photos of her. She was beautiful….she was sexy to him. he felt he could take pictures like this forever. Finally, Misty let out a huff. "Ten to seven," she read the clock. "I should get going now." She took her sweater lying on the floor and put it on."Hey, wait! Just one more? In that sweater!" Gary urged, feeling the need to keep his eyes on her.Misty turned to him with a frown. "No!" She said intently. "I'm tiring myself out with all these poses, I'll be worn out before the performance!""Aw, come on, just pose like you're tired and have your hands on your knees, like you're panting from a long run," said Gary as casually as he could sound.Misty gave him a wince. "You really enjoy this, don't you?" Her tone was tart and haughty.Gary met her eyes as simply as he could. "You do too. You've said nothing throughout the whole time for almost twenty minutes."Misty raised her eyebrows, and opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and frowned again. "You're a pervert, Gary." Gary winced. He wasn't really expecting a comment like that. "I am, huh? I'm just doing what Whitney suggested me to do, and so are you."Misty rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him with her towards the exit. "Come on, just hurry up and get to the show."Gary laughed. "Ash will be there. You should look your best for him…..and everyone else. you're still coming to the dance again tonight, are you?" Every night until the end of this week, Ash had planned a dance night from 9:00 to 10:00 at night, just a short time to chill and hang out in the ballroom. Not as special as the first night, but just a sweet time to hang out and chat with everyone.Misty squeezed her eyes shut with frustration. "I don't know, okay?" She snapped. "I'll come if I'm not so bushed from tonight's performance."

chapter nine- POKESHIPPING- ASHAsh watched with wonder as the models of the Sea Princess Agency strutted out one by one, two by two, and three by three. They all looked fabulous and stunning in all their outfits, which went from fancy to wildly stylish, from gorgeous to drop dead gorgeous. Some of the models were amazing. But there was one model he was looking forward to falling for. None of them were as enhancing as Misty, who showed up about three times in a pair with another model, or in a trio at the same time, wearing identical outfits. Ash always felt the same at every show Misty put on.Ash stood in the front with Pikachu on his shoulder. Dawn and Iris were on his left side, and Red and Leaf were on his right. Brock and Jimmy were just a few feet in front of them. Ash and Pikachu laughed and watched with amusement as Brock whistled and yelled his loudest at all the models. "OH BOY! YOU MODELS ARE UNCONTROLLABLY BEAUTIFUL! EACH AN EVERY ONE OF YOU!" He was yelling over the screaming crowd around them all."Oh wow, some things never change, do they, Pikachu?" said Ash with a smile."Pika!""Hey, Ash?" Dawn was looking at him with concern. "Whatever happened to May and Drew? They haven't shown up all day. Brendan also. They've all disappeared without saying anything at all.""May, Drew and Brendan?" Ash widened his eyes as he realized how different it had been without any of them. he hadn't seen them anywhere around the lobby. Iris spoke up. "Yeah! We should start looking for them! it's pretty obvious something wrong has happened to them. they couldn't just disappeared without even letting us know a thing.""Not unless they totally lost interest in all you guys," said a slightly teasing voice. "Gary, what are you doing here?" Red suddenly looked over to the right, his eyes narrowed into a serious expression as Gary suddenly showed up in front of Leaf with his camera in front of his face, taking pictures of the models. He was obviously blocking Leaf's view on purpose. She frowned and arched her neck around, trying to look passed his shoulder. Gary snapped a photo and turned to Red. "I'm doing my job? What else does it look like? I'm hired to take photos of people who arent even my fangirls."Ash turned to him. "Hey, Gary? You haven't seen any sign of May or Drew by any chance, have you?"Gary winced. "No, why would I? I don't know much about them."Dawn stepped up. "Yeah, well………. Maybe we should try to look carefully for them. they haven't turned up all day, and I just have the feeling that something could be wrong."Iris nodded. "You know, come to think of it….I spotted them sneak outta the back door before I ever saw them again last night--""Hey! HELLOOO?! I'm trying to watch the show! Get your big head outta my face, you idiot!" Leaf finally snapped angrily.Gary turned to meet her gaze with a blank expression in his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you weren't interested in other people's looks unless they looked like yourself.""Oh, shut up," Leaf rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I like to see other people who look prettier than YOU at least.""You callin' me pretty?" Gary gave her a wry smile.Dawn's Buneary was at her feet, and it gave out a little giggle. Leaf narrowed her eyes and puckered her lips with anger, looking ready to smack Gary in the face."Hey, wait a minute," Red interrupted them. "Iris, what's that you said about seeing May sneak away during the dance night?"Everyone turned to face Iris. She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, well, I thought I caught Brendan, May and Drew headed towards the back door where no one else was hanging out by." She spoke in a low voice, though loud enough for her to be heard over the screaming audience around them. "I don't know…I wasn't really paying attention to them. Dent and Misty were laughing too hard about my stupid joke. But yeah, we should check that place out over there, around the outside of the ballroom."Ash suddenly raised his eyebrows. "Wait a minute…..the outside of the ballroom? I think I've already been there. This morning, I saw some snow under the nearest tree, believe it or not. Underneath that tree looked like it dropped its own snow from the branches or something….and I found what looked like Brendan's black wristband."Red was staring at Ash intently. "Whatever's happened to them HAS to do with that pokemon they're studying in the north. It may sound a little off, but they've probably done something with snow and possibly teleported themselves….somewhere else by accident.""What do you mean?" Leaf frowned. "Well, it's pretty obvious that they're studying some kind of ice type out there in the north where there's lots of snow and endless cold weather," explained Red. Everyone listened intently, and even Ash lost his focus on the new models that had strutted up to the stage. "It may be winter right now at the moment, but you know it never knows here in the west of the region in Yuen City. That snow ought to have come from them, or an ice type pokemon like Snover. And this isnt the right place for a Snover to be, whether it's trained or wild.""Pika….." Pikachu listened intently to Red, nodding. Ash found this pretty logical. "So you're saying that they could've escaped here by summoning something to teleport them away by accident?""I hope it's by accident," shrugged Red, showing a humored smile on his face. "May's still a little weak in the head at times, so it's most likely some kind of accident.""Hey, what about Brendan?" Dawn defended her. "He's just as foolish as May can be naïve. I bet it's his fault the three of them have gone missing.""Huh! Red, you ought to be the next professor Oak sometime soon," Gary teased.Red winced. "Nah, Oak may be getting old, but he's a long way from dying off.""You know, we should tell Professor Oak about this," said Leaf, crossing her arms. "Whatever May and the others have done to themselves, we gotta rescue them. They can't just teleport themselves and never come back without telling us anything."Ash nodded, facing up at the stage. The models were clearing up. He had missed the part when Misty had come up by herself, and he felt disappointed. But he had to see her right away anyway. He had to tell her about Drew, May, and Brendan.Ash was rushing through the hallways of the lobby with Pikachu at his feet. "Come on, Pikachu. I've got to tell Misty about what I'll be up to, before I tell Professor Oak all about it.""Pika!"It was just a few moments before the dance night again. but Ash couldn't attend it tonight. He had to get with Professor Oak and discuss about their friends' strange disappearance. He had to promise Misty he'll see her at a more decent time.Before he was about to rush up the stairs, Misty had suddenly come up to him at the bottom. "oh! Ash!" She gasped. Ash met her gaze and sighed. "Hey, Misty? I've got something to tell you quickly. I can't go to the dance tonight.....I've found out what could've happened to May and the others."Misty huffed. "You can't I can't come either! That's what I was going to tell YOU. I've—I've got important things to do tonight….but hey, what happened to May and Drew?"Ash met her gaze, feeling relieved that she hadn't been upset about his reason to miss their second night together. "Well, Red says he's seen snow under a tree behind the ballroom.""Snow? Around here?" Misty widened her gaze."Just under that tree. And Brendan's wristband was found there, as well as a number of footprints also. I was going to discuss and study some of the secrets behind certain ice types that could've caused their disappearance……you know. Just to make sure we know where they could possibly be right now and--""yeah, I understand," spoke Misty, her eyes looking a little distracted. "But hey, you won't believe why I'm not going. Apparently, I've been voted the top model of the agency, and Whitney's extremely proud of me. I've got my own fans in Saffron City! Even the gym leader, Sabrina, has invited the whole agency over to help model her psychic type pokemon and advertise fashion designs to show the beauty of psychic types as well as water types. Ash, I'm going to Saffron tomorrow morning!" Her expression was suddenly both excited and scared at the same time. He held her gaze with the same surprise."Whoa….really? wow…..that means…""Oh, don't worry," she let out a chuckle. "Ash, you're always welcome to follow me wherever I go. I was just hoping you can come with me and see me perform in Saffron! It's gonna be exciting, and everyone else is welcome to come also. Bring Dawn and Iris! Or Red and Leaf. I'd love to have all my friends come as well, so that I don't feel so isolated in my career away from the people I'm close to."Ash laughed. "Aw, come on, you've got friends in the agency also. You know that.""Yeah, they're friends but…." Misty twisted her expression and gave an uncertain look. "They just aren't as close to me as I am with people like….you and Brock. Tracey, Jimmy, and Lyra are all headed to Saffron City in a few more days themselves, so I'll be looking forward to seeing them there, but I also hope that you can come also…..if you want. I'm not gonna force you or anything…""No, I'm coming," said Ash with determination. Pikachu nodded with the same upcoming look on its face. "I can convince Oak to come as well. We can still do some studying while we're over there. Tonight we're bringing samples of the snow in his lab. We can come over to visit for a while in Saffron also."Misty gave a grateful smile. "Thanks, Ash. I really didn't expect to become this famous, though. Believe it or not, Whitney's even let Gary sell my photos online because of that."Ash raised his eyebrows. "What? Just photos of YOU?"Misty shrugged. "I really don't care. We'll be getting paid for it. and trust me, Gary's not gonna take any kind of pictures of me unless I give him permission."Ash nodded, though he wasn't entirely reassured. He was never comfortable about the idea of Gary being a photographer for Misty. "Well, I guess I'll see you later." They met each other's eyes for a moment and gave a hug before parting. Pikachu followed Ash, deep in its thoughts about everything they had just spoken about. Saffron City tomorrow. It was gonna be quite exciting.Saffron City had become quite a busy place over the years. It wasn't much of a snowy city during the winter, though there were the slightest amounts of icicles here and there. Especially this year, the weather was unusually cold. Misty, Gary, Whitney, and the modeling agency had arrived at the city by bus. Right when they got there at 12:00pm, they got organized at the top floor of the Silph company. The Silph Company had become a much better place since Team Rocket had been kicked out by Red all those years ago, and by now, it was still in its usual, busy state. Ash, Red, and Leaf had all convinced Professor Oak to come to Saffron City with Misty, and the reluctant professor finally agreed for the sake of Ash. He told him that he was only going to stay for the rest of the week, since he had important things to do back in his lab as well. Brock, Dawn, Barry, and Lucas had all agreed to coming to Saffron City with Ash, eager to explore the city again. even Paul was interested in seeing Saffron City after such a long time. If Misty was going to be that famous soon, people like Champions and the Elite Four may even come over to see her. And Paul didn't want to miss seeing some of the old rivals he had battled in the past as well.Jimmy and Lyra stayed at the plaza in Yuen City since they weren't planning to go with Tracey until another few more days. And Iris, Dent, Touya, and Touko have all decided to explore the Kanto region since Ash and everyone had practically split up. but they did promise to stop by in Saffron if Misty ever had a performance going on. So the first thing Ash had done in the city was talk with Oak about their discovery. Apparently, the snow had come from a pokemon that had not been entirely discovered yet, just like May had found. The pokemon had been an ice type, and by the DNA Oak had examined, it was a very strong ice type indeed, possibly sharing types with a dragon as well. "We didn't have enough evidence or DNA in that snow," said Oak with uncertainty as he sat on the couch of the warm lobby next to the Silph company. Ash was at his side with Pikachu on his lap. Red and Leaf were in the other room, on the laptop Oak had brought with him. "I'll have to start a PCR on the DNA in that snow, and see what the pokemon can really be. But so far, it's none other than an ice type we've never discovered.""So that must be the pokemon May's been trying to keep a secret from everybody," said Ash. "It hasn't been discovered by that many people, and it must be kept like that so people don't start disturbing it and trying to go after it. but must be pretty valuable, though. Usually people spread the word worldwide if they discover a new pokemon.""Hmm, exactly what I was thinking," Oak was rubbing his chin. "But what we must do first is get the whole idea of this pokemon. That way, we can compare it to the disappearance of May, Brendan, and Drew. Somehow, this ice type pokemon has to do with…this sudden change in weather also."Ash looked at Oak. He was staring intently out the window at the gloomy afternoon sky. "With the weather?""I've noticed that not only is it extra cold this winter, but also the atmosphere's a little…stuffy. Like it's gotten a little thicker or something. I don't know how to explain it, but I've just got feelings that there's been some kind of change in this world, and I've been wondering about the occurrence of a new pokemon. Well, it turns out that it might just be the case. We've got to uncover this pokemon as best as we can."Ash had invited Misty and Gary over for a dinner at the café in their lobby. They sat together at a table with Oak, Leaf, Red, and Whitney, who had asked to come as well. She chatted with Oak and the two seemed to have a great time, while unfortunately, Leaf and Gary continued to snap and nag at each other. Gary seemed to be having a good time, while Leaf was just plainly annoyed. Red just watched them and joined in for fun whenever he felt like to. Ash's Pikachu was back at the lobby room with Red's Pikachu , along with everyone else's pokemon. Ash had expected to be the only one who would have a romantic time with Misty, but she had an ugent look on her face as she spoke to him in a low voice. "Hey, you'll never guess what I found earlier this evening!" She hissed. She took out her expensive looking Gucci purse (Ash figured she must've recently bought it with her own money she received from fans or online) and took out what looked like a clear, perfectly new ice spear. She held it in her hands under the table so no one but the two could see it.Ash stared at the spear. It glistened clearly, and was about a foot long. It was like an icicle, with a very sharp pointed end. "Whoa….where'd you find that?""I visited the gym with Sabrina, and while she was explaining to me how she wanted her pokemon to be modeled…….she showed me this thing she had found her Abra sleeping with a few days ago. She told me she wanted me to do some sort of pose like the Abra, since she said the pokemon looked kinda cute when it sat up with its eyes closed, holding what looked like…..a rare valuable gift in its hands. But then….the ice spear was suddenly getting me transfixed. I—I couldn't take my eyes off it, and for a moment, I felt like my heart was freezing up the more I kept staring at it….looking INTO it. Sabrina became a little haughty with me and said that she knew this ice spear had secrets within it that were too powerful for even her to figure out.""She's a psychic…." Said Ash carefully. "If she thinks it must be important, than it must be. But why give it to you?"Misty sighed. "She feared it. she told me it would do the same to her. if she dared to stare at it for more than ten seconds, it would literally chill her heart and make her feel like she was being pulled towards it magnetically. She wanted to get rid of it….but I remembered what you said about the snow and the possible ice pokemon that had to do with May and Brendan. I decided to take it for myself….be very careful with it……and then try to let you and Oak figure it out for yourselves."Ash had been staring at the ice spear for a while. The way it sparkled and glistened under the dark shadows of the table….it was like it came from its own world, from a very special world, and had been part of something wondrous and extraordinary…..he suddenly felt his heart pound with excitement….until it suddenly slowed and felt cold."Ash!" Misty's voice was raised as she gave him a sharp nudge, snapping him out of it. Everyone at the table turned to glance at them, then returned to their own conversations.Ash blinked a couple times and clenched his teeth. "Ugh……what just happened?""I said DON'T stare at it!" She hissed. "There obviously is something about this spear…..and you ought to analyze it with Oak. But be careful!"Ash nodded, putting a hand on the side of his head, feeling like he had hyperventilated. "wow….so Sabrina doesn't even know what exactly it can do?"Misty sighed. "Unfortunately, Sabrina tells me that whenever she tries to look at the times behind the spear, or the future of the spear, it chills her heart whenever she tries to look into it like that. it's as if it's too cold and freezes up her psychic abilities to look deeply within it."Ash raised his eyebrows. He took the spear from Misty's hand. "I'll…..I'll be careful with it."When Ash had returned to the lobby room, he set the spear down under his bed. His head still felt dizzy and his whole body felt slightly chilly, despite the heater that had been turned on in the lobby. He decided to tell Oak about the ice spear tomorrow. He dropped on his back on his bed with the lights already out, not bothering to take a shower. He wrapped himself up in blankets, and fell into a deep sleep before Misty or Gary even came in the room.Meanwhile, Pikachu had noticed Ash's arrival. Oak and the others were still up, watching TV and Ash had fallen asleep before saying goodnight to anybody, or even greeting Pikachu. Pikachu made its way into the shadowy bedroom. Ash was already fast asleep. But something glowed under Ash's bed, something that shone through the darkness underneath. "Pikaa……" curiously, Pikachu neared the deadly ice spear. It lowered onto all fours as it crawled underneath the bed, grabbing the ice spear and pulling it out. It stared down at the ice spear by the bedside. Its clear, glistening color shone in the shadows, entrancing Pikachu. "Piiii…..kaa…..?"Slowly, Pikachu lowered its nose towards the ice spear, and sniffed it. Suddenly, Pikachu felt a jolting tremor of cold through him. it flinched and sparked with electricity, squeezing its eyes shut, feeling a strange shivering coldness. "Eeee…….piiiii….kaa…." It all came so fast. Pikachu suddenly felt chilled to the bone, and it dropped into an unconscious state next to the ice spear, nearly fainting.Pikachu had a strange dream right after that. As soon as it fell into a deep, nauseating and cold unconsciousness, it found itself drifting in a world of snow and countless ice mountains around it. there was a terrible blizzard that made Pikachu feel a coldness that made it shiver in its sleep for real. It was atop a snowy mountain, an empty wasteland. It was nearly freezing to death, it thought it might just die in its sleep."PiKAAAAAA!!!" Cried Pikachu helplessly. It shivered and looked all around, finding nothing through the blinding, deadlyblizzards. "Pikkkaaa piii….!""Groooyeaow?" A strange cry suddenly answered distantly. Pikachu suddenly didn't feel alone it rose up as a strange red creature was making its way towards Pikachu, glowing through the blinding blizzards."Pika?" Pikachu cried worriedly, trying to make out what the pokemon was through the blizzard.It was red and glowing, and it stood on two legs with small arms sticking out. It was lizard-like, and had glaring eyes that were the only part of the pokemon to be actually seen clearly. It was a baby Groudon. "Pika…CHU!" Pikachu flinched at the sight of the tiny Groudon. The pokemon was no bigger than Pikachu itself, though its eyes bore the glare of a real, monstrous Groudon that could shake the land masses of the world. The baby Groudon was glaring at Pikachu through the storm, its eyes looking ready for kill. Pikachu was frozen stiff and too cold to move. It closed its eyes and braced itself for the end. Suddenly, the sky above brightened with a pale whiteness, and the blizzards slightly calmed. Pikachu opened its eyes, and suddenly felt itself being lifted. "Pika?" It looked around, and then looked down with surprise, realizing its body was still lying on the snow. Was its spirit leaving its dead body already?"Grrrrrouuu…" Pikachu looked forward and saw that the baby Groudon was just a few feet in front of it, glaring it him. the baby Groudon's spirit was above its unmoving body as well. Pikachu felt itself being drifted forwards, passing the baby Groudon, and then entering the reddish glow that lay on the ground. It took one last look before the Groudon's spirit lowered over to Pikachu's own body…….and disappeared inside it.

chapter ten- CONTESTSHIPPING- MAY "It's hatching," breathed May, her eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at the luminous red glow that was starting to throb around the egg. May felt her heart quicken with excitement as she watched with longing temptation at the egg in front of her. she was kneeled down behind it, with Prima Dona at her side. The lady was holding a trident-like ice sword in her hand, and her ice blue eyes were deadly and piercing as she stared at the egg with undisguised longing. "Yes," she added tartly in her cold voice. "Pretty soon, you shall withhold the pokemon that shall be feared by Xenox itself. You must be very careful once it's in your hands. Xenox can be very angry now that you've let this pokemon live." The egg was glowing with intensifying redness. May felt transfixed as she focused her eyes on the hatching egg, feeling a strange sense of longing and desire inside her. The egg gave a single crack at the top center. A dark red-violet light brightened from the inside and the egg stopped glowing. The light shone from the crack this time, and the egg split open slowly as red light emerged, and revealed a dark shape inside. The shape wasn't moving, but May could make out the figure of what looked like a lizard-like feature. A tail was sticking out and the creature suddenly turned a red color as bright as the egg, revealing a tiny little pokemon no longer than a foot. "Whoa…." May breathed. "It's….it's a …." "You know it well," said Prima Dona sourly, her glare hardening. "……it's a Groudon," May didn't know whether she was more overwhelmed by fear or happiness. Here as the egg she had found in her own mysterious dream, and it had hatched. But the pokemon was a mere baby Groudon…..the hatchling destined to destroy Xenox. "Why isnt it moving?" May realized the pokemon didn't even move a muscle when it slowly rolled out of the egg. Prima Dona puckered her lips and narrowed her eyes. She stood up, giving the unmoving pokemon a cold stare. "It must be dreaming. From the looks of it, this hatchling may still be in some sort of sleep state. It must be extraordinary……no hatchling is ever asleep the moment they are hatched." May stared at the pokemon with wonder. The baby Groudon was like a little red dinosaur. It looked so small and helpless lying there with its eyes tightly closed, though something about it proved that it was more than just an innocent and cute little newborn. May could see its bright patterns line up along its back, glowing with a yellow light. At least it wasn't dead. "Should I carry it?" "Absolutely not!" Snapped Prima Dona. "You have no idea what this pokemon can do if it's disturbed. Especially if it's in such a state that it wasn't even awakened at its birth." Suddenly, the wind gave a hollow noise, and the breeze chilled around May, making a faint, eerie sound as if a ghostly voice was trying to spook her. may suddenly looked ahead of her, and stood up, her eyes wide with fear. "What—what's happening? It's……it's so cold…" May held herself tightly and shivered. The coldness seemed to suddenly touch her bones, and she gave Prima Dona a weary look, wondering why she wasn't feeling the same way in that thin-looking icy white dress. Prima Dona stared back at her with the same cold look in her ice blue eyes. "Xenox must already feel its presence. Like I said, you must take matters in your own hands with it. help that pokemon. Teach it not to become as destructive as it is meant to be." "You'll help me, wouldn't you?" May looked up at the tall lady. "You want to keep Xenox safe just as much as I do. When we get to the top of its mountain, the pokemon is pretty much supposed to be in your hands, and it will be your choice on what should happen next. But please, I just want to keep it safe. You can decide what should happen between this pokemon and Xenox once we reach it." Prima Dona cracked a smile from the side of her lips. "My dear, haven't you forgotten about your friend, Brendan? That boy possesses the power that's part of Xenox's very aura. We are looking for him, not Xenox. Only he can pass through the hard, dangerous blizzards of the Barren Islands and actually make it alive to Xenox's cave. We are just trying to stop him before it's too late. If he meets the very pokemon, the two can do something as powerful as 'commingling' to create an even more disastrous world of ice and snowstorms. Xenox is already disturbed, and if Brendan commingles with it, the pokemon can wake up and result in terrible consequences for the entire world." "Just the baby's Groudon' existence is troubling Xenox," breathed May, staring at the sleeping hatchling. "That's why Xenox must have been sending strange storms all around the world—just like the one that teleported us here. it must be edgy and scared for this coming of the pokemon, and now that it's hatched….." "That's right," said Prima Dona. "It's gonna be even more disturbed. Just by sleeping, it can be a little destructive. It's already caused the winter weather up here in the north long, long ago. And it's even isolated this island. If it wakes, it can do a great deal more damage than that." "I must look after this pokemon," said May determinedly. "This pokemon, this Groudon, it was supposed to be a new Groudon, wasn't it? one that would destroy the bringer of ice and keep it from waking up to freeze the entire world lifeless. It didn't belong here, and I wasn't supposed to take it from my dream, but it has found its way, and I've made up my mind. I will raise it, look after it, and teach it not to be as disastrous as the Groudon before it." May suddenly shuddered. She couldn't forget the time with Ash Ketchum, long ago, when Groudon had a tremendous battle with Kyogre, the pokemon of water and the seas. The battle hadn't been pretty, and May never wanted to see such pokemon fight again. "Exactly. Like I've told you, I come from this very island myself. I dedicate my soul to it, and have actually BECOME almost part of it. I can feel what the island feels, whether disturbed, lively, or anything. I can tell how the very creator of this island is doing, and I can tell when the pokemon Xenox itself is becoming disturbed…..and ready to awaken." She narrowed her eyes and bent slightly over to get a closer look into May's eyes. "And let me tell you something," she spoke in a dangerous voice. "Xenox isnt going to let you off with any warnings. You're lucky it hasn't decided to kill you yet since you've let that egg live. At this very moment, Xenox has no idea where you are." "Huh?" May was confused. "But I'm right with--" "You're with me," Prima Dona smiled slyly. "I have a forece in me….a strange peculiar aura you…..may not understand. But my aura has become so strong and part of this island, it's become like a strong shield to protect you. you aura is overpowered by mine, and Xenox can't tell where you exactly are. So don't worry. As long as you stay close to me, your aura is almost hidden." May widened her eyes with wonder. "Really? But…..why can't you hide the aura of the baby Groudon?" "Why should I? first of all, my aura is mainly ice-cold. I've become part of this island, so that I've adapted and become almost like the ice, and my aura is condemned with the promise of ice. Groudon, on the other hand, has the aura of fire. There's a fire that burns inside of it that it can't escape. It's too powerful over even me." May stared up at Prima Dona. So powerful……so cold……..so……interesting. May knew there was something different about this lady, but she felt the feeling of fear and longing inside of her. she needed Prima Dona's protection. She blinked and looked away, then suddenly gasped. "Drew," she muttered. She whipped her head around. "Where's Drew?" There was no sign of him. she had been so focused on her egg and Prima Dona that she had totally forgotten about her only friend with her. Prima Dona narrowed her eyes and looked around slowly. "You mean the greenhead? Huh……he was here just a minute ago." Suddenly, the icy hills to their sides started to rumble. Icicles started tumbling off the slopes on their left, and there was a strange murmuring sound of a pokemon. May gasped and Prima Dona whipped her head over to glare at her Lapras in the river beside them, as if expecting her pokemon to have done something. But the giant Lapras just stared back at her with scared, confused eyes. May had to twitch a smile at how terrifying the pokemon looked towards her, but around its trainer, it was nothing but a mere slave. Prima Dona huffed in irritation and looked to the left. "It's coming from over there." She suddenly grabbed hold of May's hand and pulled her with her. "Come on." May's heart quickened as Prima Dona's cold hand grasped around her forearm. She ran along with the tall lady and they made their way around the crevice of the ice cliff, and May turned white with astonishment. In front of them was a monstrous large dragon-like pokemon that was battling the Flygon that belonged to Drew. The pokemon was huge, about three times Flygon's size, and had metallic, icy features along its back and sides, like some sort of ice monster. May screamed. "DREW!" May spotted Drew lying motionless on the other side of the monstrous pokemon, and his Flygon seemed to be worn out and tired from the battle with this pokemon. May immediately threw out her pokeball. "Glaceon! Help him out!" Glaceon popped out of her pokeball and crouched challengingly, facing the pokemon at the side with a fierce look in its eyes. "Eeeeerooooouughh!" The strange, roaring cry erupted from the pokemon and it turned its large head to look down at the small Glaceon. A cold wind swept from behind May, and she turned to see Prima Dona standing there, her arms spread out and her eyes closed and frowning. She uttered a strange language in a menacing, rapid tone, and suddenly, the place shook under them all, and a large, snakelike pokemon crashed from underneath the dragon pokemon's feet, making the large pokemon stumble and fall on its chin with a mighty roar. May breathed with wonder. "Milotic….." This Milotic was blue, and it glowed brightly with a gorgeous shine of blue light around the back. It was magnificent, and even taller than the dragon pokemon itself. Prima Dona didnt shout a particular command to her pokemon. "Finish it," she muttered. May watched with intent as the Milotic raised its tail and threw its long neck back, summoning a flash of blue light towards the dragon pokemon. "Kyyauuuuuuuu!" The pokemon cried with loud pain as it fell to its back, and it almost looked as if its life were ebbing away. But suddenly, a Hydro Pump hit the blue Milotic of Prima Dona's, and the pokemon stopped its attack and nearly stumbled over. May put a hand over her mouth. There, standing up on the cliff at the other side, was another Milotic-- a regular, pretty-looking red one, and to its side, was Wallace.

chpater eleven- CONTESTSHIPPING- DREW"Milotic! Ice Beam!" Wallace's command shouted over from the top of the mountain as his Milotic arched its way over towards the side of Prima Dona's Milotic. It faced the dragon pokemon with blazing eyes and blew a huge spiral of ice towards the pokemon.Prima Dona's Milotic looked confused and disrupted, upset that this sudden pokemon just interfered its battle. May watched as the dragon pokemon cried and froze in the powerful ice beam of Wallace's Milotic. The pokemon was a strong ice type itself, but Milotic was strong enough to freeze it in its own Ice Beam attack. Prima Dona huffed a haughty, angry grunt. "Achh! You impudent fool!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, startling Drew awake. He found himself blinking open in shock, lying on his back right behind his Flygon, who watched with bewilderment as the attacking dragon pokemon froze up in the Milotic's Ice Beam. Drew sat up."Ugh, Flygon?" "Greeahhhh?" Flygon looked at its trainer with a raised expression. "Whoa! Is that a BLUE Milotic?!" Drew widened his eyes as Wallace's Milotic was suddenly rudely shoved against the cliff to the right, crashing into the ledge that Wallace stood upon."Whoa there!" Wallace nearly lost his balance. His Milotic had been pushed by a larger, taller, and exotic-looking Milotic……that was blue. It had a fierce look in its eyes, and it gave out a smooth, snappy cry of anger at Wallace and his Milotic."Celine! Stir up a Hurricane!" The mad, edgy shout was from Prima Dona. Drew turned to see that the tall, pale ice lady was standing by May's side, with her usual fierce look in her cold, green eyes. Green? Weren't they just…..icy blue last time Drew saw her?"Hurrcane?!" Drew's surprised call shouted across the battle, and May turned to meet Drew's gaze with bewilderment in her eyes. "Drew! You're alive!"But Drew watched with a narrowed look in his eyes as the blue Milotic—which happened to be that witch, Prima Dona's Milotic—suddenly throw back its tall head and twist its neck, raising its tail as water and ice suddenly stirred up from beneath the frozen dragon pokemon. The pokemon's body started spinning slowly with the massive whirl that seemed to grow taller and nearly form a hurricane."NO! STOP!" Wallace's yell sounded over the noise. "You mustn't harm that pokemon!""I'll do whatever it takes to send that pokemon into a world of nothingness or hell, where its stupid body can rot!" Screamed Prima Dona fiercely. She turned back to her Milotic. "Now! Celine, let me do the aura transfer!" Drew watched with shock as Prima Dona raised her hands, but before she could do anything, Drew ran pass his Flygon towards May. "No! Flygon! Dragon Claw!" He pointed straight towards Prima Dona with a determined look in his eyes, and his Flygon rose and gave out a cry, glaring at Prima Dona, ready to attack."WHAT?!" Prima Dona whipped around to face Drew. "Drew! Don't!" May cried as Flygon suddenly flashed towards her from the sky. Prima Dona kept a content glare in her eyes, and simply pointed a finger towards Flygon. Instantly, the pokemon stopped in midair, just a few yards from reaching her. Flygon gave out a huge cry of paim as if it were stabbed in the heart, and dropped to the ground, just right by Drew's side.Drew gasped. "Flygon!"Prima Dona chuckled, letting her arm drop. "Think twice, boy, before you mess with me.""Kyurem's getting sucked in!" Cried Wallace, suddenly leaping down in front of the hurricane between the two Milotics. "Milotic, help it!"And Wallace's Milotic heaved itself against the hurricane, and spun around to stop the whirling spin. The hurricane stopped and the water and ice fell to the ground, making a loud clattering crash as icicles broke apart. The pokemon was no longer frozen from the spinning, and had broken free. "Kyaaaahh!" it gave a monstrous cry and faced both Milotics with a ferocious glare in its icy eyes. Wallace gasped. "No……it's gonna…."Suddenly, there was a shake, and Drew nearly tipped over. Suddenly, a blast of fire appeared from Prima Dona's direction. A flaming blow hit Kyurem with force, sending the pokemon crashing against the cliff wall next to it. it gave out a cry and lifted itself into the air, flying over the tall, shiny blue Milotic and disappeared into the thick gray heavens above. Drew faced to his left to Prima Dona and May, but he narrowed his eyes. That couldn't have come from Prima Dona. She was ice—she couldn't summon anything that had to do with fire. Wallace came up towards Drew, his eyes focused on something behind them. "That was--""NOOO! You fool! I was about to rid that fiendish excuse for a pokemon!" Prima Dona turned her evil gaze at Drew, looking as pissed as an angry Gyarados. She gave a low hissing noise and Drew backed away as she clenched her fists, braking icicles that seemed to have appeared in her hands. "WAIT!" Wallace rushed up between Drew and Prima Dona, his body turned towards Drew, but his head facing something behind them all. Drew turned and raised his eyebrows as he saw what looked exactly like—a Groudon. But the pokemon was tiny, and the size of a Clefairy, its fierce look on its face looked more cute rather than dangerous. "A Groudon?!" Drew gasped. "Groudon! It's awake!" May suddenly rushed up to it, and without even thinking, she scooped up the little red pokemon in her arms and held it close to her. "Oh yes! You really are alive! Prima Dona, look at this! It's alive!"Drew winced as May came up to Prima Dona, holding the little pokemon up to her face like an excited child would do with their mom. Prima Dona's expression was stony and narrowed. But the little Groudon was starting to look happy and friendly in May's hands, swaying its tail and making little delighted squeaks. Wallace crossed his arms and gave a sideways smile towards Prima Dona. "Ah-hah! So the fire emblem has arrived."Prima Dona whipped her head towards Wallace, and glared at him fiercely. "Oh, shut up! you've planned this all along, and now you've let Kyurem escape! I shall destroy you--""Now, nonsense!" Wallace held up a hand towards Prima Dona's face. "Please, you've caused enough trouble. Now that Kyurem has been angered, it shall do nothing more than take on its rage upon this island. YOU'VE planned this whole thing! I should say it's your fault, my dear.""MY FAULT?!" Screamed Prima Dona, straightening her left arm towards the ground, angrily zapping a stone beneath her. "Wait!" May jumped in between them. "What's going on? Who's Kyurem?""Kyurem was that dragon pokemon, smart one," said Drew, giving May a suspicious look. The baby Groudon was happily squeaking in her arms. Wallace gave Drew a wink and faced May. "May, my dear, it's been a while. My! Look how much you've grown. You've surprised me as much as Drew has."Drew had just recently found Wallace spying on him through the trees when he was traveling with May and Prima Dona. Just before the egg had hatched, he had snuck away to get a closer view if it was Wallace, and then suddenly, instead of meeting the powerful water-type champion of Hoenn, he had encountered a ferocious dragon-ice pokemon— Kyurem-- that had carried him away towards the ice canyons. Luckily, Flygon had came to his rescue right when the pokemon had nearly frozen him to death, but Wallace had helped them all out before the little Groudon came and saved them. Apparently, Prima Dona had arrived to make matters worse, somehow trying to banish the pokemon, Kyurem altogether. And not to mention……May seemed to be unaware of Prima Dona's obvious rage and selfishness. May chuckled shyly. "Thank you.""Oh stop it with the pointless greetings!" Prima Dona stepped in front of May to glare at Wallace. "HOW did you get this egg to appear in May's dream, you THIEF?!"Drew looked up at Wallace. "You know anything about the egg and the Groudon that hatched from it?""How did you get here?" Asked May quickly. "Now, before I start telling my story," said Wallace calmly, meeting Prima Dona's gaze, "please tell your Milotic to be a little more polite to its partners."Drew turned to see that the blue Milotic was nagging and poking its head towards Wallace's Milotic, and hissing with irritation and anger. Prima Dona rolled her eyes and laughed. "Hah! Why don't you try telling that to Celine herself? You're the one who wants her to stop."Wallace narrowed his eyes. "Your Milotic had no right to treat a pokemon like that in any kind of battle."Drew frowned. "You were trying to banish it…..from this world, weren't you?""Oh please!" Prima Dona cracked an evil smile. "Kyurem apparently has been trying to escape this world for centuries, actually. No lie! Just ask your stupid idol here," she kicked a sharp icicle towards Wallace."Grooouu!" The little Groudon creid happily as May tickled its chin. Wallace chuckled. "Well, why don't we find a decent place to discuss everything. Milotic?" Wallace frowned and summoned his pokemon back in its pokeball away from the pushy blue Milotic. Celine let out a huff and shook its long neck, glaring at Drew as he stared at it. Wallace led May and Drew to a deeper part of the crevice where the white sky shone on them from a higher distance. Prima Dona followed with a meticulous look on her cold face. Wallace sat on a bluish gray rock and told them everything. "Now, it was just a few weeks ago since I had a strange encounter with a ghost-like pokemon near the boundaries of Snowpoint. I've been travelling the land across the Hoenn region, and then I suddenly encountered this mysterious red egg near my old home of Sootopolis. It was right at the very place Groudon used to rest upon in that sacred cave. I was curious, and I didn't want to disturb the egg, though I did want to analyze its purpose. But as I neared the strange egg, it gave a hypnotizing red glow, and I found myself falling into a dream right beside the egg. I found myself face to face with Groudon, alone with no pokemon of my own. We were both alone, atop a lonely, bitterly cold and snowy mountain. The Groudon was speaking through my thoughts, and it was telling me to look after its child while it was away. apparently, Groudon was traveling back to the center of the earth, underground where it could rest and leave the lands alone for a while. It told me it had just fought a terrible battle with a mysterious unknown pokemon of ice and dragon, and it had utterly defeated Groudon. Now that Groudon bears an egg of its own, it destines its egg to become the new Groudon in its place, to take over the lands and defeat the ice pokemon to avenge the defeat of the former Groudon. It has told me I must become the caretaker of the egg, since I was the one to find it in this cave first. It has told me to find a place to place the egg where it shall hatch, and become the strong pokemon it is destined to be to fight off the deadly ice pokemon of the mountains."Drew turned to look over where the little Groudon was trying to catch a small bug next to May. May was staring intently at Wallace. "The ice pokemon that defeated the real Groudon…….it was Xenox, wasn't it?"Wallace met her gaze carefully. "The pokemon indeed, was Xenox. But I had no idea that such a pokemon existed. Shortly after Groudon had given me the warning, that if I don't find a place for the egg, the terrible pokemon , Xenox, shall take over the world with its icy powers someday. Then as it faded away into darkness, I watched it dissolve into the underground essence, as if it were returning to the bottom of the earth within, deep in the core where it had originated from. Then, I witnessed its earlier battle it had told me about. I saw the Groudon fight a…..deadly looking ice dragon that was the size of a Milotic almost. It wasn't Kyurem, no, this one was like a serpent. I immediately predicted this was Xenox, the icy dragon pokemon that can control all the winter weathers in the world, and that if it awakened, it would cause the entire world to suffer in a nothing but a deathly winter. If I didn't find hope for a way to defeat this pokemon, all would be lost. And I could sense the environmental changes already. Before my dream, I have been experiencing and hearing about strange cold weather forming in the strangest places. And as I awoke, the first instinct to pop in my head was to take this egg with me, and go to Snowpoint City in Sinnoh. "The egg that bore the next powerful pokemon of land, and one that carried the genes of the Groudon that had been born from the fiery depths of earth's core, this pokemon was the only way to stop Xenox. It was the only one who could resist the blizzards of its island to confront it and give it its last battle. I had to find some way to get this egg to that mountain of Xenox's, but I had absolutely no idea where it even was. I had no idea of the Barren Island, nor have I even heard of them. but instinct told me to take this pokemon to the best place that had the best winter connections—the city of Snowpoint. And as I was nearing the lake of Lake Acuity……I saw an illusion. At first, I thought it was the sacred pokemon, Uxie, but instead……it was like a portal. The egg was taken from my hands, and dissolved into the strange illusion in front of me, and I found myself drifting towards it as well. Next thing I know, here I am, empty-handed, with nothing but the pokemon in my pocket, alone out here in the frozen middle of nowhere. The egg was no longer with me."May gasped. "That's why I found it alone in Xenox's mountain in my dream."Wallace nodded. "It did take me time to find out where I really was, and what had happened to me…….but I didn't come to my senses until I met this young lady here." He gave Prima Dona an intent look. Prima Dona's icy blue eyes flashed. "Please don't call me YOUNG. I'm much older than you think…..you have no idea……..""What happened between you and HER?" questioned Drew. "Well, I met her in a strange cave by the sea. She told me about this place, and how she had seen me with…….what she called the fire emblem. Apparently, she was trying to trick me into giving her the egg, but I didn't give in. I told her the egg was lost, and that once I find it, I will not hand it over to her…..for I know she wants to do the exact opposite of what I plan to do with the egg."Prima Dona chuckled creepily. "You can't have the world without some winter, Wallace. If there were no Xenox, there would be no snow….no chill. The world would dry up and melt." She gave a disgutsted face and gave the little Groudon a pat on the head as the pokemon approached her from behind. The baby Groudon looked up and gave a startled look at Prima Dona as her cold hands touched its head.Wallace narrowed his eyes. "The world can handle a little bit of coldness….but not so much that it freezes the entire place until its cold and lifeless."Drew chuckled. "Apparently, we should get that Groudon where it's supposed to be. Wallace, you've found the egg now, and it's hatched. You're welcome to take it where it's meant to go. May. You ought to give that pokemon to Wallace."May frowned and crossed her arms. "He's wrong," she snapped.Drew blinked and met her gaze seriously. "What?""Wallace is wrong," said May with an edge to her voice. "The fire emblem Groudon is NOT supposed to be here. Can' you see that its presence is what is disturbing Xenox? It's slept peacefully for years, and now it's becoming disturbed. It's started the strangest snowstorms all around, including the one that teleported us here. It doesn't want the fire emblem to hatch!"Drew stared at May in disbelief. She wasn't taking Wallace's side seriously—she actually WANTED to keep Xenox from getting defeated. Prima Dona was gazing at her with proud, cold eyes. She chuckled in satisfaction. "Looks like we've got someone who agrees with me. May, you know that the little Groudon must be defeated in battle, not Xenox."May nodded, frowning with frustration. "If Xenox is to sleep peacefully again, Groudon mustn't be here, and it mustn't be alive at all. But I really don't want to end the life of such a precious pokemon." She smiled caringly as the little Groudon cuddled up in her lap. "I want to train it, raise it to be fair and loyal. I want to teach it to use its power the right way, and not use it for the destruction of……permanently defeating a pokemon like Xenox."Wallace was looking at May with concern. "May…..Xenox permanently defeated the former Groudon. It's powerful enough to change the world also. We've got no choice BUT to get rid of it. the fire emblem Groudon is destined to defeat it in battle. Xenox battled the other Groudon in a dream, for if it were to wake up, the world would suffer in an unforgettable winter. But Xenox's dream became real, and that it really was battling Groudon in its sleep. It defeated the pokemon, and Groudon never woke up again. it barely had time to warn me in my own dream about what had happened, and what was to come. "The hatchling on the other hand, must somehow fight Xenox in its dream again, and defeat the ice pokemon itself.""Hah! Absolutely not!" Huffed Prima Dona.Drew turned to her. "What are you talking about?""Oh come on, you've forgotten?" She gave Drew a dirty look. "Remember your little lost friend, Brendan. He's out there, traveling with the aura of Xenox inside of him. part of Xenox's spirit lies within that boy, and he is merely a human form of Xenox almost. He's on his way to Xenox's cave, and he's able to encounter the pokemon – alive. Once those two combine, there will be an unstoppable force that not even the fire emblem can defeat in something as close to a dream. No…..if Brendan awakens Xenox and combines forces so that the pokemon becomes almost twice as powerful, then the battle must be for real, not in the dream world."May stared up at Prima Dona with wonder. "How do you know?"Prima Dona smiled at her. "Dear, like I said, I'm aware of the environment around me. I can sense the very creator of this environment, and I can feel that Xenox will truly be capable of this. Apparently, it is missing three ice spears out there, and one has entered the heart of Brendan. It's become part of him, and his aura shares part of Xenox within him."Drew found this very concerning. Brendan could be heading for more trouble than he thought.Wallace raised his eyebrows. "You're saying BRENDAN'S out here? and he's combined with one of those missing ice spears?" He gave Drew a surprised look.Drew nodded. "We were just on our way to find him.""Oh dear, we must! We can't let him find Xenox. No, we must find him and free his soul somehow."Drew looked at the little Groudon. "The fire emblem pokemon can do that, right?"Wallace nodded. "Somehow it can. Only the fire emblem pokemon can get through to Xenox and defeat it. it can defeat the soul that's taking over Brendan. "We must find him before it's too late. We must free him, and then find a way to take the fire emblem to Xenox.""Ah-hah! You will do nothing of that sort!" Prima Dona rose up and glared at Wallace, her eyes a dark glare this time. "We will find foolish Brendan, free him, and then KEEP the fire emblem from getting too powerful! There's no way you're going to let that pokemon kill such a legendary as powerful as Xenox!"Drew narrowed his eyes and stood up, facing Prima Dona. "Of course we will! It will be for the benefit of the world! Because of Xenox, we can all suffer! It's up to the new Groudon to save us from ICE, now, instead of water.""No way," May huffed, petting Groudon. "Unlike the former Groudon, this one won't be so monstrous. It shall grow strong,, but not with the heart to destroy it's enemy completely."Drew was staring at May with concern and worry. "It's name shall be….Emblem," May tickled the little Groudon's nose and the pokemon squeaked and thumped its tail with delight. "I shall call it Emblem, for it bears the warm fire emblem from the core of the earth. The battle of Kyogre and Groudon was too…….destructive. There will not be a battle like that again, and this Groudon will not be the destroyer of ice. I will make sure of that."Drew wanted to say something to May, but he couldn't think of what to tell her. she was looking at the little Groudon with complete love, and she only wanted what was best for it, even if it meant the worst for everything else.Then he turned to Prima Dona who, on the other hand, was smiling at May with satisfied evil. "Excellent. You take care of that. come along, we must find your friend before it's too late." She put an arm around May and the two of them walked away side by side with May letting down Emblem to bound happily along after them.Drew and Wallace watched the both of them go."May……no," Drew was shaking his head."She's got her under her control," said Wallace gravely, eying the tall figure of Prima Dona suspiciously. "The first few nights I met her, I almost fell for her tricks."Drew raised his eyebrows at him. "Really? She's up to something…..but what? She's letting May take care of the fire emblem pokemon, rather than destroy it, but there's probably something else she's planning behind all that.""Exactly," said Wallace. "I……I was captured by her beauty myself. but it was a little different than how May fell for her. I fell in love with Prima Dona…..almost. she really had me captured and tricked."Drew blinked. "How did you break through her tricks?"Wallace sighed and walked forwards. "Come along, I'll tell you on the way. we can't let Prima Dona alone with May, and I'm not taking my eye off her now that I've found her again."

chapter twelve- HOENNSHIPPING BRENDAN A shooting star pierced the sky in the dark uninviting heavens above. The air was as colder than the body's temperature at death. The snowy wind made a lonely noise as the air whistled over the empty, barren atmosphere of endless tundra and freezing wasteland Brendan pressed on, hiking the lonely trail with no one by his side but the pokemon in his pocket. His mind was blank, his expression lost and intent, as if looking straight ahead into another world. Nothing but the heart in his body felt the coldness of the air around him. "Xenox…….go north………find your ice within………" the words buzzed in his head, clouding his brain with force. He couldn't speak, whether it was from his voice or his own thoughts. His mind was just focused on one thing-- head north. "Brendan….Brendan…." the voice was deep and sounded feminine, mysterious and smooth. It spoke with intent and Brendan could do nothing but listen. The voice was in his thoughts, and the snow around him seemed to blow with more force as the voice spoke. "Brendan……head north…..towards the lair of frozen paws and endless eternal ice. Towards the lair of Frozen Paws….." Brendan squeezed his eyes shut, still finding his body still hiking against the blizzard, his face bitter stiff against the wind. At last, he found himself talking back to the voice in his head. "W-who are you? What's the lair of Frozen Paws?" "Find the sacred lair," soothed the strange female voice. It was as if a guardian spirit was speaking to him. "I am your guardian spirit of the island……you will find me eventually. Seek the power of ice within. Keep heading north. Find the sacred land of the Ice Pack, the pack known as the changelings." a bright light suddenly peaked from the sky, lighting in front of Brendan. He stopped walking and stared in awe at the vision in front of him. He saw pokemon of all different kinds flashing through the bright light, chasing after each other, dodging and flying over rivers and seas, some looking happy with glee, others scared and shocked as if running for their lives. "The pokemon of the sacred land are known as the Changelings," spoke the spirit voice inside him. "They've both been blessed with the power of ice, but at the same time, it's made them suffer, making them become mere changelings." the snow suddenly crashed into the light and the pokemon in the light illusion all cried in horror and their bodies faded away. "Now……" whispered the voice, "…….the ice has changed them. Pokemon of all different types-- water, grass, dark, even fire, all the pokemon of the island have been transformed and commenced to the snow. I am the spirit of the island, mother nature for snow itself. I have blown a terrible change over this island, so that it's become a frozen barren landscape, vital for even the strongest ice types themselves. But I hadn't been so cruel. Instead of letting the pokemon inhabitants die for my change, I've let their bodies simply……..adapt to the island. Their bodies became more than just the types they were, they became ICE, and becam part of the island themselves." The light flashed again, and Brendan saw an illusion of a pack of Houndoom, rising from the snow and ice glaciers of the sea, looking frozen and merely transformed themselves. The fire type pokemon…..Brendan noticed how transparent and bluer they looked, and they had lost their bright color on their backs and necks. They were like….ice type versions of Houndoom. "The fire type pokemon were the most serious benefit," spoke the voice dangerously. "Because the power of ice even managed to defeat THEM, even froze the warmth of their fire spirit, I realized how far my powers could go. The ice power within can withstand even its greatest weaknesses, and even summon its own aura for support……in other words, the ice power can not only freeze a creature's aura, but it can also summon its own aura, create its own souls as its own inhabitants and supporters. The first pack of Houndoom have been created for this. They started out as normal fire types, lost in the cold, lonely frozen temperatures of the wasteland created before them. But as my spirit washed over them, transforming them, capturing their spirits and freezing their souls to the point where I can……transform them into the soul of the ice within, they became my changelings. They transformed into the power of ice." Brendan watched how the Houndoom had no trace of burning fire on their bodies, but the way they breathed revealed how they still had the hot breath of the fire type. A Houdoom leaped to the top of a mountain and gave an eerie howl, with the bright light and smoke coming from its mouth. "The Houndoom….they've still got fire in them," breathed Brendan. "Of course. As you can see, the element of ice doesn't destroy fire-- it's just not possible. But it can affect it, and the power of the ice within can affect it so deeply, it can almost change it…..become part of it." "They are…..three types then," gasped Brendan, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the fast-moving, swift pack of Houndoom through the ice cliffs and tundra. "Exactly," murmured the voice. "My power of ice is what made them become Changelings. Instead of totally wiping out their auras of fire, it joined them, simply making them become the type of dark, fire, and ice at the same time. They've been given immortal abilities. They've been both my guardians and warriors. They fight to defend the land with their strength of ice within, and the warmth of fire to keep their souls burning and alive. In the sacred pack of Changelings, ice is with the fire. Find them, Brendan. You are my aura within, and your heart is as cold as the empty sun. you must find the pack of Changelings, in the sacred land of Frozen Paws. Learn their ways, find out the true power of the island of Isoptopia within." Brendan saw through the ice, seeing a powerful, magnificent and majestic long serpent of glowing whiteness and bright light. The air around him became even colder as he saw into the eyes of Xenox, feeling the spirit in his heart lift and drift towards the illusion. Then the light went out and Brendan found himself dropping through the snowstorm, landing on the soft snow below, his mind spinning with thoughts of the ice pokemon, the Changelings, of Xenox. "Find the ice power within……go north……" the voice was fading away. Brendan rose and kept his eyes focused on the mountains ahead. Somehow his instinct pushed him to hike on, to find the pack of Changelings and figure the true power of Xenox within. Brendan had a past, a past he needed to recall. He was part of the island itself, his aura part of the very pokemon Xenox. The guardian spirit had spoken to him, and he had to find out his true past and figure the ice power within. Eventually, he will find his way to Xenox. But he must discover the aura within before he found the pokemon.