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Winter Sakkio

"Juuuuuust passin' through!"

0 · 1,904 views · located in Fuchsia City

a character in “The Multiverse”, as played by NeverEndingFlip

Description

Name: Winter Sakkio

Age: Sixteen

Gender: Male

Weight: 165 lbs

Height: 6'2"

Hair Color: Snow White

Eye Color: Crisp Blue

Skin color: As Caucasian as possible.

Apparel: Often wears a long sleeved white T-shirt with blue jeans with standard shoes, socks, and unmentionables. He tends to take a simplistic approach to style, meaning that's all he wears for the most part. His only accent is a necklace with a blue water drop, signifying a potential preference to Water-Type Pokemon.

Personality: Winter is calm, cool, and collected. While he speaks with directness in battle, he will often talk softly and confidently to other people. His youthful appearance as well as his overall neutral demeanor gives the impression that he's relatively inexperienced. When looking at a person with his blue eyes, most people always get the impression that he's looking through them, like he's in their head somehow viewing their thoughts and planning around them. He's relaxed towards life and tends to enjoy the philosophy of stopping and smelling the roses.

Pokemon:

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Lucky
HEALTH

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Pokemon: Squirtle
ATTACK

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Type: Water
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Male
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Jolly
SPECIAL DEFENSE

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Level: 91
SPEED

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Personality: The Pokemon that forms the closest bond with Winter, Lucky was Winter's starter and together they've been through just about everything on his adventure. Winter and Lucky made the joint decision not to let the Squirtle evolve. Winter made that decision because he loved his starting Pokemon just the way he was and it also brought along a Facade for Lucky to hide behind during battle. Lucky agreed because he didn't want to change into what he believes to be the Brutal Blastoise and also because he enjoys the rides he takes on Winter's back and doesn't want to lose that. Lucky is a very smart Pokemon. He is often independent in a lot of ways and in many ways, the relationship between him and Winter is a mutual partnership in terms of battle. Lucky understands why Winter chooses what he chooses in terms of moves, but if he knows it's a wrong choice, Lucky will adjust on his own. For the most part, Winter is okay with this.

Moveset:
Hydro Pump- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The foe is blasted by a huge volume of water launched under great pressure.
Iron Defense- (Steel-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Move. The user hardens its body’s surface like iron, sharply raising its Defense stat.
Aqua Tail- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user attacks by swinging its tail as if it were a vicious wave in a raging storm.
Surf- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. It swamps the entire battlefield with a giant wave. It can also be used for crossing water.
Blizzard- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. A howling blizzard is summoned to strike the foe. It may also freeze the target solid.
Brick Break- (Fighting-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user attacks with tough fists, etc. It can also break any barrier such as Light Screen and Reflect.

Abilities:
Torrent- Powers up Water-type moves in a pinch.
Rain Dish- The Pokémon gradually recovers HP in rain.




Image
Flow
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ +2
Pokemon: Vaporeon
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Water
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Female
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Calm
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 85
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Flow is one of the three Eevees Winter found during his travels and is the second one to evolve once Winter managed to find a Water Stone. In Winter's primary set, he will often switch between Flow and her other two Pokemon brothers. This keeps challenging trainers on their toes as they wonder which two of the three he'll bring out in each round. Flow is very affectionate towards Winter as he saved her and her brothers' lives. Because of this, Return hits very hard. She is often the most affectionate one, so Return hits the hardest with her. Extremely territorial when it comes to Winter, she finds trust issues in those that hurt him and will likely guard any human Winter chooses to let close.

Moveset:
Return- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. A full-power attack that grows more powerful the more the user likes its Trainer.
Scald- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user shoots boiling hot water at its target. It may also leave the target with a burn.
Rain Dance- (Water-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user summons a heavy rain that falls for five turns, powering up Water-type moves.
Acid Armor- (Ghost-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user alters its cellular structure to liquefy itself, sharply raising its Defense stat.
Muddy Water- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user attacks by shooting muddy water at the opposing team. It may also lower the targets’ accuracy.
Aurora Beam: (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The foe is hit with a rainbow-colored beam. It may also lower the target’s Attack stat.

Abilities:
Water Absorb- Restores HP if hit by a Water-type move.
Hydration- Heals status problems if it is raining.




Image
Hyper
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Espeon
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Psychic
DEFENSE

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Gender: Male
SPECIAL ATTACK

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Nature: Hasty
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 84
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Hyper is one of the three Eevees Winter found during his travels and is the very first one to evolve. In Winter's primary set, he will often switch between Hyper and his other two Pokemon siblings. This keeps challenging trainers on their toes as they wonder which two of the three he'll bring out in each round. Hyper is the jumpy one of the three and is often seen running around. He is very affectionate towards Winter for saving his life as well as the lives of his siblings. Because of this, Return hits much harder with him. Hyper may be the most gullible of the three as is too lovingly hyper when around any human. He is notorious for leaping on other trainers and tackling them to the ground.

Moveset:
Future Sight- (Psychic-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. Two turns after this move is used, the foe is attacked with a hunk of psychic energy.
Morning Sun- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user restores its own HP. The amount of HP regained varies with the weather.
Return- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. A full-power attack that grows more powerful the more the user likes its Trainer.
Dazzling Gleam- (Fairy-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user damages opposing Pokémon by emitting a powerful flash.
Psychic- (Psychic-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The foe is hit by a strong telekinetic force. It may also reduce the foe’s Sp. Def stat.
Protect- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. It enables the user to evade all attacks. Its chance of failing rises if it is used in succession.

Abilities:
Synchronize- Passes a burn, poison, or paralysis to the foe.
Magic Bounce- Reflects status-changing moves.




Image
Glist
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Glaceon
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Ice
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Male
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Serious
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 83
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Glist is one of the three Eevees Winter found during his travels and was the last one to evolve. In Winter's primary set, he will often switch between Glist and his other two Pokemon siblings. This keeps challenging trainers on their toes as they wonder which two of the three he'll bring out in each round. Glist is the hardened one of the group as he is only loyal to Winter and Winter alone. He is very affectionate towards his trainer, all thanks to Winter saving his life as well as his siblings'. Because of this, Return is very effective with him. He often has trust issues outside Winter, his Pokemon, and his siblings. Keeping shy when others interact with him, he likes to lay from afar and watch. If Winter gets in trouble, Glist is only one leap away from going against anyone who dare attack him.

Moveset:
Return- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. A full-power attack that grows more powerful the more the user likes its Trainer.
Frost Breath- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user blows a cold breath on the target. This attack always results in a critical hit.
Barrier- (Psychic-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user throws up a sturdy wall that sharply raises its Defense stat.
Ice Beam- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The foe is struck with an icy-cold beam of energy. It may also freeze the target solid.
Hail- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Status Effect. The user summons a hailstorm lasting five turns. It damages all Pokémon except the Ice type.
Blizzard- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. A howling blizzard is summoned to strike the foe. It may also freeze the target solid.

Abilities:
Snow Cloak- Raises evasion in a hailstorm.
Ice Body- Gradually regains HP in a hailstorm.




Image
Rio
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Aerodactyl
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Rock/Flying
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Male
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Bold
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 90
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Rio is likely the meanest Pokemon on Winter's team. Winter is barely on Rio's good side himself as Rio likes to attack every Pokemon and human with full brutal force. He doesn't hold back and he doesn't give up. His headstrong nature keeps him from really changing much. Rio ended up in Winter's possession as one of the last Pokemon Winter caught in the Kanto region. It had taken the combined power of Flow, Hyper, and Glist to take him down on Mount Silver. To get on his good side, you have to prove your mettle against him.

Moveset:
Earthquake- (Ground-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user sets off an earthquake that hits all the Pokémon in the battle.
Flamethrower- (Fire-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The foe is scorched with an intense blast of fire. The target may also be left with a burn.
Thunder Fang- (Electric-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user bites with electrified fangs. It may also make the foe flinch or become paralyzed.
Fly- (Flying-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user soars, then strikes on the second turn. It can also be used for flying to any familiar town.
Dragon Claw- (Dragon-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user slashes the foe with huge, sharp claws.
Ancient Power- (Rock-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user attacks with a prehistoric power. It may also raise all the user’s stats at once.

Abilities:
Pressure- The Pokémon raises the foe’s PP usage.
Rock Head- Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.
Unnerve- Makes the foe nervous and unable to eat Berries.




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Mane
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Typhlosion
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Fire
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Male
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Lax
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 77
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Mane is by definition the odd duck of the bunch when it comes to Winter's team. While his team comprised mostly of Water and Ice Types, Mane was one of the weirdest friends Winter ever made. Winter was given him as a Cyndaquil by his first trainer who didn't want him anymore due to his utter hatred for Pokemon battling, not of Pokemon themselves. Surprisingly, Winter and Mane hit it off very well and he is now one of the regulars on Winter's front six as the plot twist for anyone who thinks they're fighting just a water trainer. Mane is rather lazy and enjoys laying on top of Winter when he sleeps, a habit formed as a Cyndaquil that he never grew out of. He is a fierce fighter, however, and protects Winter like a father protecting his cub. After all, he did take Mane in when no one else would.

Moveset:
Flame Wheel- (Fire-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user cloaks itself in fire and charges at the foe. It may also leave the target with a burn.
Inferno- (Fire-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user attacks by engulfing the target in an intense fire. It leaves the target with a burn.
Swift- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. Star-shaped rays are shot at the foe. This attack never misses.
Protect- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. It enables the user to evade all attacks. Its chance of failing rises if it is used in succession.
Double-Edge- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. A reckless, life-risking tackle. It also damages the user by a fairly large amount, however.
Solar Beam- (Grass-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. A two-turn attack. The user gathers light, then blasts a bundled beam on the second turn.

Abilities:
Blaze- Powers up Fire-type moves in a pinch.
Flash Fire- It powers up Fire-type moves if it’s hit by one.




Image
Sumo
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Shuckle
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Bug/Rock
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ +4
Gender: Female
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Sassy
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ +4
Level: 78
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Sumo, being the Shiny Shucke she was, was always used to attention. So when Winter and his team passed on by without a second thought, she wasn't going to have any of that. She literally followed them until Winter decided to capture her...just because she wanted to be. Since then, the two have always been together. Sumo's defensive capabilities are mightily impressive despite having nearly zero offensive capabilities upon catching her. But Winter was patient and more than willing to teach her. Now, she is often found as one of the toughest opponents to take down on his team. It does take a lot of food to sustain her, however!

Moveset:
Encore- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user compels the foe to keep using only the move it last used for three to seven turns.
Power Trick- (Psychic-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user employs its psychic power to switch its Attack with its Defense stat.
Bug Bite- (Bug-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user bites the foe. If the foe is holding a Berry, the user eats it and gains its effect.
Rest- (Psychic-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user goes to sleep for two turns. It fully restores the user’s HP and heals any status problem.
Earthquake- (Ground-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user sets off an earthquake that hits all the Pokémon in the battle.
Toxic- (Poison-Type) A damage dealing Status Effect. A move that leaves the target badly poisoned. Its poison damage worsens every turn.

Abilities:
Gluttony- Encourages the early use of a held Berry.
Sturdy- It is protected against 1-hit KO attacks.
Contrary- Makes stat changes have an opposite effect.




Image
Derp
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Quagsire
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Water/Ground
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Male
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Jolly
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 60
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Derp is a Pokemon Winter caught just because he looked like fun. A great fighter and an even greater companion, Derp is one of the weakest members of Winter's group of Pokemon simply because he doesn't put him in battle enough. That's fine with the Quagsire, as he's not really up for getting his butt knocked around either. He's more like the mascot for Winter's team and his personality. Don't get him wrong, though. He'll fight if he has to and is still a fairly tough Pokemon to beat for anyone not expecting him. His charming and derpy grin has a way for throwing unsuspecting trainers.

Moveset:
Slam- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The foe is slammed with a long tail to inflict damage.
Surf- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. It swamps the entire battlefield with a giant wave. It can also be used for crossing water.
Dive- (Water-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. A two-turn attack. The user dives underwater on the first turn, then hits on the next turn.
Mud Sport- (Ground-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user covers itself with mud. It weakens Electric-type moves while the user is in the battle.
Safeguard- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user creates a protective field that prevents status problems for five turns.
Yawn- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user lets loose a huge yawn that lulls the foe into falling asleep on the next turn.

Abilities:
Damp- Prevents combatants from self-destructing.
Water Absorb- Restores HP if hit by a Water-type move.
Unaware- Ignores any stat changes in the Pokémon.




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Articuno
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ +1
Pokemon: Articuno
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Ice/Flying
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Genderless
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: N/A
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 95
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: Articuno acts in any way a Legendary Bird should. While Winter did technically defeat it in battle, he decided against catching it in fear of upsetting the balance the Legendary birds set across the land of the Kanto/Johto region. He also didn't want to catch a Pokemon who wasn't willing to join him and especially one that he wouldn't be able to strategize with. Instead, they became friends. At the call of a whistle, Articuno typically shows up to aid in the fight. Winter chooses to call him in cases of extreme emergencies that the Freeze Pokemon could help him in.

Moveset:
Hail- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Status Effect. The user summons a hailstorm lasting five turns. It damages all Pokémon except the Ice type.
Sheer Cold- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The foe is attacked with a blast of absolute-zero cold. The foe instantly faints if it hits.
Ancient Power- (Rock-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user attacks with a prehistoric power. It may also raise all the user’s stats at once.
Ice Shard- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The user flash freezes chunks of ice and hurls them. This move always goes first.
Agility- (Psychic-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user relaxes and lightens its body to move faster. It sharply boosts the Speed stat.
Hurricane- (Flying-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user attacks by wrapping its opponent in a fierce wind that flies up into the sky. It may also confuse the target.

Abilities:
Pressure- The Pokémon raises the foe’s PP usage.
Snow Cloak- Raises evasion in a hailstorm.




Image
Weaville
HEALTH

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Pokemon: Weavile
ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Type: Dark/Ice
DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Gender: Female
SPECIAL ATTACK

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Nature: Impish
SPECIAL DEFENSE

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Level: 65
SPEED

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Personality: If Rio is the meanest Pokemon on Winter's team, then this Weavile is the second meanest. As the newest and the weakest addition to Winter's team, she doesn't exactly find a lot of love in anywhere except combat. She falls a bit on the mischievous side and enjoys playing cruel pranks on Winter and his team. While the other Pokemon ignore her or shoot daggers in her direction, Winter stares at her with affection, like he sees something more from her than her current behavior lets on. Meanwhile, Rio keeps the Weaville from going too far, typically in a brutal fashion. Weaville is the Pokemon that likes Winter the least, making Frustration one of his more powerful moves. Winter has still not decided a name for this Pokemon.

Moveset:
Icy Wind- (Ice-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user attacks with a gust of chilled air. It also lowers the target’s Speed stat.
Dark Pulse- (Dark-Type) A damage dealing Special Attack. The user releases a horrible aura imbued with dark thoughts. It may also make the target flinch.
Hone Claws- (Dark-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. The user sharpens its claws to boost its Attack stat and accuracy.
Frustration- (Normal-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. A full-power attack that grows more powerful the less the user likes its Trainer.
Metal Claw- (Steel-Type) A damage dealing Physical Attack. The foe is raked with steel claws. It may also raise the user’s Attack stat.
Screech- (Normal-Type) A non-damage dealing Status Effect. An earsplitting screech is emitted to sharply reduce the foe’s Defense stat.

Abilities:
Pressure- The Pokémon raises the foe’s PP usage.
Pickpocket- Steals an item when hit by another Pokémon.




Starting Six
Flow (Vaporeon)
Hyper (Espeon)
Rio (Aerodactyl)
Mane (Typhlosion)
Sumo (Shuckle)
Lucky (Squirtle)

NOTE: Glist (Glaceon) can substitute for either Flow or Hyper at any point. Winter is typically known for it.

Sidelined (Reserved)
Glist (Glaceon) -see note above.
Derp (Quagsire)
Articuno
Weaville




History: Winter was born ironically in the summer. Both of his parents are big in their hometown where his dad is an extremely successful scientist and his mom is the local Pokemon expert. They both primarily focus on Water-Types and wish for his son to be a dominant Water-Type master. However, Winter had somewhat higher ambitions. While he never wanted to lose touch with his roots as primarily Water-Type, he wanted to expand into something much more intriguing to him. At the age of ten, he got his starter, a Squirtle he affectionately named Lucky. Together, the ventured out into the world to achieve his ultimate goal, starting small and then aiming higher and higher.

High enough to become the champion, that is.

After a legendary showdown against Lance, the interim champion who took the place of Titania after she stepped down, he took him out using only four Pokemon, earning his place in the Hall of Fame and claiming his throne as the Champion of the Kanto and Johto Region. Since then, the year has passed quite smoothly for him as he was introduced to the Region in a new light. Apart from a spar with a Team Rocket affiliate in his hometown of Celadon City, a near death experience in the Ice Path that helped him befriend a Suicune, his travels through the Johto Region with a foreigner from Terra, and a showdown against an unlikely opponent that garnered another friendship, nothing of massive significance happened to the Region as a whole.

But that didn't mean he had yet to do anything. In a promise to Titania, the former champion, he went up to Mt. Silver and challenged the unshakable robotic figure only named "Blue". The two battled, but in an unfortunate incident, one of Blue's Pokemon disappeared onto the mountain. Stopping the match, Winter offered to help her find it, making an acquaintance out of the machine. He had also helped Touko and Fuchsia City's Gym Leader investigate a mysterious crime scene in which a place only known as The Reginald Estate was vaporized by a mysterious blast.

Since these adventures, Winter has proven himself as a face to the people he now holds a public office for and has earned their trust. He hasn't stepped into the national politics as of yet, however. He hasn't even met face-to-face with Grand Champion Iris yet, even though the door is open for him.

So begins...

Winter Sakkio's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Winter Sakkio Character Portrait: Em "Worldhopper" Sparks
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"Winter Sakkio," he shook Em's hand with a nod of the head, "And if you're looking for a beauty contest of sorts, then you're gonna have to travel a ways. I've heard of them in the Hoenn region, but they're most prominent in the Sinnoh region. What could be good is the Pokeathlon. If you make your way to Goldenrod City, you'll find the dome next to the National Park. Ober there, they test a Pokemon's speed, power, jump, skill, and stamina in a variety of events. It'd be up to you guys as to which ones you and Swabs, I'm presuming, wanted to compete in."

"Squir squir!" Winter glanced over to see Lucky flexing his muscles at the mention of the Pokeathlon. There was that spark of energy in his eye that told Winter exactly what he was thinking.

"You wanna partake, too?" Winter actually raised a brow at Lucky's claim, "I thought you weren't for competition like that. I thought you preferred the fighting."

Lucky gave Winter an indignant stare as he pounded his paw against his chest once more. Winter had to laugh.

"Well, I don't see why not, then," he glanced over to Em. Wasn't she taller before? "We can travel together if you want. I've only been to Goldenrod City once, but I'm pretty sure I know the way. It's be a bit embarrassing if a Champion didn't know how to navigate through his own region, huh?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as Squirtle climbed onto his back again.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Winter Sakkio Character Portrait: Em "Worldhopper" Sparks
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

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"That sounds like a good idea, yeah. And Swabs is fairly fast on account of his wings being... Different from the other Swablu that were present." Clearly not sure how to word what she was trying to say. Hopefully he got the point regardless, she thought, as she internally wished her vocabulary was better.

"Blu~!" Swabs replied, just happy to have had that mentioned as he fluttered his wings excitedly... Only to give the closest he could to a frown when he fell to one side in his excitement, and ended up with little spots of black on his cottony feathers.

Em rolling her eyes at him. "Such a perfectionist..." And yet despite her body language there, she was calming down even further, resulting in her shrinking slightly more down to her default height of 5'4". It was very rare someone got to see her at her default height, due to her emotional nature... And it wasn't long before she realized she was actually at it, and found herself wondering why Winter hadn't commented on her changes in height yet.

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Character Portrait: Winter Sakkio Character Portrait: Em "Worldhopper" Sparks
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"Interesting," Winter noted as he took to viewing the falcon-like wings on the Swablu, a very uncharacteristic trait for such a being to have. He'd make to be a very fast Pokemon indeed.

As the two started walking west toward Route 44, a sudden realization kicked in for Winter. "Oh shoot! I should really let a few of these guys out of their PokeBalls. They couldn't come out during my journey through the Ice Path because it would've been too dangerous. They're probably getting restless."

As Winter was explaining, he had pulled two PokeBalls off his belt and proceeded to toss them. The first one to pop out immediately took to the skies, flapping his wings as if he would never get the opportunity to again. While the Aerodactyl circled around them, stetching his stiff muscles, the second one to pop out had immediately wrapped Winter in a bear hug.

"Woooooooah, easy buddy," Winter patted the Typhlosion to set him down, "I know, I know, it's been a little bit. But Ice Path becomes Flood Path if you're around it."

The Typhlosion snorted a response before walking around his surroundings in search of berries. The Aerodactly already began to hover lower and lower as the girl began to take in his interest.

"Em, these are two more of my friends. The purple rock-dragon above us is Rio. And the one foraging for food over there is Mane." Rio flapped his wings as he landed, eyeing up the girl. "He doesn't bite," Winter reassured, "But he's a bit hard to get to know."

Mane had already returned with some Oran berries in his mouth, "That one, though. Give him food and he'll love ya forever." Winter watched as Mane began sniffing around Em, in search for something more to eat. It was then that the differences in height were starting to take full notice.

"Hey, weren't you taller before?" he pointed out as they walked, "It sounds crazy, but I think you legitimately were a foot taller when we first ran into each other than now."

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Character Portrait: Winter Sakkio Character Portrait: Em "Worldhopper" Sparks
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"Yeah, good idea..." Finding herself looking over the other's Pokemon now as Swabs went to perch on her shoulder, bumping his dirty wing into her face as if he wanted her to help clean it. "Alrighty then." Doing her best to pick out the bits of black... Whatever they were. She just did her best not to think about it.

"Seems me and Mane have something in common then." Wondering if he'd like a bit of venison jerky she'd made as she got a small piece out to offer it to the Typhlosion. "I was wondering when you'd notice that! My height depends upon my emotions. That's actually why I first started living as a nomad, 'cuz I mean... If I lose control I can easily hurt or kill people. It wasn't until later on I learned enough control to visit civilization." Smiling faintly as she could feel Swabs snuggling against her again. She guessed he was imagining how rough that must have been.

"There's the positive to this er... Sizeshifting. Too. But I saw a lot of things I would rather not have as a lil anklebiter." Shaking her head as she seemed to be remembering some of the worse memories, expressive eyes dimming a bit- losing that usual hopeful shine. It was only when Swabs said something to her that she snapped out of it. "Oh... The jerky? Yeah, I did make it myself. I don't care as much for all that commercialized food. I mean I'll still eat most of it if need be, but... I'm used to hunting and gathering for myself." Smiling faintly when the cottony bird seemed to approve of that.

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Mane took the piece of jerky without a second though, cramming it into his mouth as he went looking around for more food for the party. Rio took to the skies once more, scouting ahead like he always did. Meanwhile, Winter was paying attention to Em.

"Oh, I see," Winter rubbed his chin in thought as they walked, "Do you have any idea how it happens? Like, how your height is linked to your emotions?"

The setting changes from Blackthorn City to Lavender Town

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WinterVSCrimson


One would think that a town that carried such a legacy of death and spiritual inhabitance would inspire dark and depressing scenery around it. Lavender Town might be the exception. A surprisingly thriving community with a high tourism rate, this part of the Kanto Region had lush green grass and colorful buildings to match its seaside fit. It was kind of like a harbor town…kind of like Driftveil City in the Unova region. Only this place had less coastal interaction and more history behind it. The atmosphere was unusually heavy here, giving the feeling of spiritual presence all around the area…or maybe that was sea salt. Still, it wasn’t like the air was stagnant. From gentle breezes during nice weather to heavy gusts during storms, there was always oxygen moving through the area…as if cycling in new supernatural entities every day.

Yes, Lavender Town would make a great backdrop, the former Pokemon Tower jutting over the treetops and looking over the city, as the afternoon sun stood high and oversaw a young boy with gleaming white hair and deep blue eyes walking away from it. It wasn’t chilly, but the boy had on a long sleeved white shirt and blue jeans anyway. Apart from a necklace with a water drop around his neck and a Squirtle sitting on his shoulder, he looked fairly plain and average. Nothing too signature about him.

Which was ironic considering this boy, Winter Sakkio, was the Champion of the Indigo League.

“Sorry we had to leave Lavender Town so early, buddy,” Winter was saying to Lucky as he walked. The Squirtle curled his lip and gave a harrumph! kind of look.

Winter gave his best friend an apologetic look, “I know you wanted to check out the Radio Tower, but this is part of our job as Champion of the Region. When someone from the capital contacts us, we have to answer it,” he smiled reassuringly, “We’ll have plenty of time to go back to Lavender Town later.”

Lucky appeared to think for a moment before finally sighing, “Squirr…”

“Thanks for understanding,” Winter said as he peered back, “We can always come back. It’s not like we’re going to be gone for long. We just need to figure out what Burgh wants.”

While in Lavender Town, Winter had received a telegram from Burgh, the Gym Leader of Castelia City, that was only for his eyes to be read. Because of this, it was sent to the Pokemon League directly and dropped off in his chamber there, unopened. Now Winter would have to return to the Indigo Plateau to figure out why personnel in the capital of Ruula wanted his attention. He was hoping he didn’t have to participate in national meetings just yet. He wanted to prove himself as a friendly face to the region he was champion over first. Not to mention he wasn’t sure he was up to helping govern a planet. He had always been iffy about that last part of it. And he still had one more task to do before he believed he would truly be ready…one final task given to him by Titania Brightsmith, the former champion of the region.

As he wondered, he kept walking along the path, enjoying the view of the day and the beautiful weather they were having. The ocean to his left, the trees to his right. The breeze today was flowing quite nicely…just the right amount it seemed. Sure, he could fly on Rio and get to the Indigo Plateau lickety split, but he wanted to enjoy the journey. He wanted to walk at least some of the way before he had to put himself on a time crunch. After all, stopping and smelling the roses could prove to be beneficial sometimes. One never knew when they’d encounter something important.

And so, he walked, talking with Lucky some of the time while enjoying the path the other times. Route 12 was gorgeous at this time of day. He looked left, down from the top of the cliff side, and watched the fishermen casting lines on the bridge. A lot of fishermen, Winter realized. It was a great day for fishing after all.

“Squir?” Lucky stared forward in confusion. Winter laughed at the sudden noise he made.

“They’re just fishermen,” Winter said to him, “It’s a good day to fish. I’d be walking through there if there weren’t so many and we weren’t pressed for time.”

The Squirtle gave him a look that said “Are you friggin’ kidding me?” and pointed forward, “Squir.”

Winter followed his gaze and discovered the real reason for his confusion. He was taken aback himself. Standing in front of him was a Pokemon for sure, but it wasn’t one he’d seen before. It was small, around Lucky’s height, and it had the shape of a chimp (except those don’t exist natively in Ruula). The orange fur covered its arms, legs, and head, performing a small hair peak on the top. Its belly was cream colored and accented with a small swirl in the center of his chest while its rear was definitely on fire. Its eyes were a surprisingly vibrant blue and staring into the forest directly left of it, or Winter’s right. It appeared to be examining something or someone there, though Winter couldn’t tell from his vantage point what it was.

The Pokemon stopped when it glanced towards Winter. He immediately held out a palm up in front of him, the universal sign for stop. Winter raised a brow, but did halt progression.

“Hmm,” Winter thought out loud as he reached into his pack and pulled out his PokeDex, “You’re a new one, I think. What does the Dex here say about you?” As he flipped the switch and performed the scan, the notification popped up that a new Pokemon had been scanned and entered into the PokeDex. What was more intriguing, however, was that it didn’t register in the Kanto Region portion of the PokeDex.

Chimchar, the Chimp Pokemon,” the PokeDex beeped. “It is very agile. Before going to sleep, it extinguishes the flame on its tail to prevent fires.”

“So you’re from the Sinnoh Region, eh?” Winter noted aloud as he looked through the information, occasionally glancing up to see if the Chimchar was still there, “That means you traveled here somehow. You’ve probably got a trainer around here somewhere.”

“Squir squir?” Lucky asked. Do you?

The Chimchar thought for a moment, then shook its head, “Char…”

“So you’re a wilding?” Winter realized, also taking note that the quality of tone told him this Chimchar was male, “Woah…interesting. I wonder what you’re doing all the way over here. The Sinnoh Region is pretty far away.”

The Chimchar said nothing in response. His stare seemed to flash with something. A slight twinge of an emotion of some kind, too quick to read out. But it almost seemed like it was dissonance. Like something didn’t register right with the Chimchar when Winter said those words to him. And then it was gone, replaced by that sturdy gaze once more.

Weird…

“Alright, well it’s been fun and all, but I need to move on. I’ve got to be somewhere,” Winter tried to walk past him, but the Chimchar stepped in front of his path once more, blocking the way forward. A flash of annoyance registered on Winter’s face.

“Dude, seriously. This is important. I need to pass through here,” Winter took a step back, arms crossed while he waited for this random Pokemon to be rational. But the Chimchar didn’t move. Something about the calmness of the Chimchar in front of him made Winter uneasy. It was too smooth…too practiced. Way more practiced than a Chimchar should be. He’d never laid eyes on one before, but he knew from the PokeDex that this one had a couple more evolutions to go before it could even be considered threatening to him. Then again, Lucky wasn’t exactly what he seemed to be, but that was different. He was the best friend of a Champion. This was just a wilding. Right?

“Please don’t make me have to wipe you,” Winter said as Lucky positioned himself in front of him, ready to battle. “You don’t know the power I pack in these PokeBalls.” It was more a matter of principle for the young Champion at this point than anything else. He knew there were other options. He could take Rio and fly out of there. He could even turn around and take the north path to the Indigo Plateau. But it was almost like he chose to stick around out of spite. He’d chosen this path for a reason. And while he respected the wildlife around him, he didn’t expect to be pressured by it to pick a different direction. He wasn’t going to be bullied around. Not in his own region.

The Chimchar still didn’t move, though. In fact, he gave off a small smirk, like he was daring him to try it. That uneasiness settled in Winter once more, caused by the Chimchar’s surprising amount of confidence. But he wasn’t going to let this one know it. Winter steeled his own glance and pointed forward.

“Sorry, buddy. You asked for it. Lucky, strike with Hydro Pump!”

The Squirtle squared itself, feet shoulder width apart, left foot in front. His mouth opened and out came a high volume of water, humongous in area and spread. The ultimate all-power Water-Type move shot forward across the field, gunning for the Chimchar. Its massive size alone would make it pretty hard to dodge for Pokemon around Lucky’s strength, much less those that were weaker. This should perform the easy knockout.

That is, until it didn’t.

The Chimchar rolled to the right, the tip of the flame alight on his posterior moving as the massive cannon of water whizzed past. He’d effectively dodged the move. Winter’s eyes widened slightly until he remembered what the PokeDex told him.

“Pretty agile, hmm?” he commented quietly as he stared at the Chimp Pokemon. His right hand was down in the dirt beneath him, fingers spread for stability. His feet were very wide apart and he was crouching. But he was tense. Unmoving. His eyes locked onto Lucky, a small comfortable smile creeping into the corner of his mouth.

“Chim-chaaaaaaaar!” he said, staring at Lucky. The Squirtle’s eyes narrowed.

“Lucky, be on your guard,” Winter said thoughtfully, “Something doesn’t feel right here. Not with this Pokemon.”

Lucky nodded as he closed his eyes and clenched his turtle-like hands. A flash of light pulsed through the area and suddenly the Squirtle looked much harder. The effect of Iron Defense was just a precaution, but a necessary one that he elected to take.

The Chimchar was quick to put an end to that, however. One elusive wink and two fingers motioning for the Squirtle to come at him was enough to drive Lucky to irritation. Now all he’d want to do is strike the monkey. A clever tactic using Taunt, Winter realized.

“Lucky, try using Surf!” the Champion called another move, less aimed to be a one shot and more aimed to test the waters out. Lucky conjured a wave of water from beneath him and sent it careening towards the Chimchar. It was a lot more spread than even the Hydro Pump was, although it carried much less pressure.

But the Chimchar proved to be far too agile again, corkscrewing in the air as he leaped over the massive wave of water. But as he was about to land, Winter chose to go for the rapid counter attack.

“Lucky, Aqua Tail! Hurry!”

And the move connecte- wait what?! Winter’s jaw dropped as Lucky’s tail smashed into the ground by his own force and velocity instead of hitting the Chimchar. The Chimchar had his arms extended and to the left of him…the same direction the tail had struck. Now everything had been happening so fast in the heat of battle, especially given the quick counter attack. But had Winter just seen a Pokemon redirect a move?! Such a thing had never been contemplated to him before.

“Go for the Brick Break!”

But the Chimchar was done giving up freebies. His left hand shot forward like a dart, closed into a fist and covered in fire. The Fire Punch landed so suddenly and so powerfully, Lucky was knocked a good distance away, landing on Winter’s side of the makeshift battlefield. Winter bit his lip as his mind raced, looking at Lucky get up on his own willpower. Naturally, he took it like a champ. It was naturally resisted after all, and he did have added defense. It effectively did little to him. But it didn’t do completely minimal to zero damage, which confused him. How much power was this Chimchar actually packing?

Any remaining thought that he was fighting a normal Pokemon flew out the window at this moment as Winter put on his game face, “Looks like it’s not going to be an easy one, Lucky. But let’s give ‘em all we got!”

The fight continued. Lucky had another Aqua Tail poised, a horizontal swipe aimed for the Chimchar’s waist. The Chimchar flipped back, avoiding the blow, but Lucky was back at it with a quick Brick Break aimed for the chest. The Chimchar caught Lucky’s wrist, shoving the blow to the side and pulling the Squirtle’s weight forward. Winter watched incredulously as the chimp used Lucky’s momentum against him and vaulted over him, landing on the other side of him gracefully. His eyes twinkled as his brow twitched, like he was saying, That’s really all you got?

Winter called for Surf in response. The wave of water was launched at the Chimchar from behind. This time, there would be no dodging as the wave hit him with a splash! Winter clenched his fist in triumph.

“Alright! Way to go, Lucky!” he cried happily to his companion, who was panting from the effort. It did take five for six attempts to even land that strike after all.

The Chimchar was quick to get up, though it was clear the attack had taken its toll on him. He was straining from the effort. He couldn’t take another hit like that, Winter knew. He could see it in his eyes. But quickly shaking the water off, the Chimchar took up a fighting stance once more. Winter knew that had this been a standard Chimchar, it would’ve been knocked out.

What made it special?

“Lucky, let’s finish him! Go for Surf!” came Winter’s call. The Squirtle prepared the wave of water again.

But the Chimchar suddenly went on the offensive. A flurry of punches interrupted the Squirtle as he was caught with a right hook followed by a jab, another jab, and another hook from the other side. Lucky brought up his own arms, defending where he could, but the Chimchar was moving so fast it was hard to dodge. A roundhouse kick capped the Close Combat, sending Lucky flying back to Winter.

“Buddy, are you alright?” Winter ran up to his pal while he stirred. His eyes shot open and he clutched his chest, but it appeared the Squirtle was fine. Lucky took quite a beating from the all-power move, but he looked like he could handle a couple more. He gave Winter a nod with a determined smile.

“This thing seems to be all power and no defense. If we get another hit in, that’ll be it. You still good to hop back in?”

Again, the Squirtle nodded.

“Okay, then let’s show him why we’re the Champion of this region! Aqua Tail, once more!”

The Chimchar perked his ears at the mentioning of the word “champion” and looked at the two of them, confused. His mouth opened as his brow furrowed, but that didn’t stop him from reacting to the Squirtle applying Aqua Tail again. In fact, it seemed to heighten his awareness as he was quick to dive under it, his arm slapping Lucky’s feet in mid-air while he did so and causing Winter’s companion to hit the ground hard. It would little to no damage of course since it wasn’t powered up with any kind of strength, but it did leave him on the ground, vulnerable to another hit.

But the Chimchar didn’t deliver it.

He stood there, poised and ready, but he didn’t strike upon an opening in Lucky’s defense. He held out a palm of his own, giving the signal to Winter that he wanted to stop the fight. It was the Champion’s turn to be confused as to the sudden break in the action. Regardless, he mustered the patience he needed to hear this Pokemon out, curious about what it was the Chimchar was going to do.

Once the dust settled and the air was less adrenaline pumped, the Chimchar reached a hand out for Lucky to take, which the Squirtle did to pull himself to a standing position. They then began to talk.

“Chim char?”

“Squir…squirtle?”

Back and forth their dialogue went, Winter unable to interpret any of it. Even his best friend and greatest companion was speaking so fast, he couldn’t register what it was that he was saying.

“Be careful, buddy!” Winter called out in caution. The Squirtle gave him a thumbs up and continued to talk with him.

As they spoke, Winter turned and gazed towards the sun, which was in its mid-afternoon stage. He couldn’t wait much longer, he realized in that moment. This whole time he’d been fighting this Chimchar, he should’ve been hauling butt over to the Indigo Plateau, where Burgh’s message waited for him. Walking along the beachfront wasn’t that important. Not when his Champion business was mentioned. He realized the error he’d made in that moment and felt the slight tinge of guilt wash over him. I should work more on being a better Champion for this region, he made a mental note to himself.

And it started with an apology. When he found a break in their conversation, he walked up to the Chimchar and lowered his head (mostly to talk to the Chimchar, but also out of shame), “Sorry about fighting you earlier. As Champion, I should’ve probably been more respectful to the wildlife and their territories. I’m still kind of getting used to my responsibilities, to be honest. But I let a bit of pride take over in a crucial moment and I shouldn’t have done that.”

The Chimchar’s reaction and response was warm and inviting, holding out a hand for Winter to shake as a way of saying ”I forgive you.” The Champion took it eagerly, shaking it with a pleasant smile of his own. The hostilities between them appeared to be over.

“Squir-tle,” Lucky said, pointing up to the sky as he hopped on Winter’s back. He knew exactly what that meant. Let’s go up. Meaning they would have to fly.

“So after all that, you’re still not going to let me through?” Winter turned towards the Chimchar angrily. The Chimchar had an apologetic expression on his face as he shook his head, confirming the theory. Winter was about to take to laying into the Chimp Pokemon with words asunder until Lucky slapped his back with his tail.

“Ow! Hey…” Winter rubbed the tender spot as he looked at his companion with nothing short of annoyance. The Squirtle looked like a sage, eyes light and lax as his gaze told him to take a deep breath. Winter did so.

“You’re right,” Winter exhaled, relinquishing the pent up aggression. “I shouldn’t be so stubborn. Rio is the fastest way anyway.” But as he reached for the PokeBall, he still felt like he owed this Chimchar something…something more than an apology.

“Hey,” he turned back around again, “Let me make true amends. Let me give you something in return, kind of as a peace token, y’know?” He started digging in his pack for supplies. The Chimchar again shook his head, saying that wasn’t necessary. But Winter held out a hand of his own. “No, I insist. Besides, you gave me a pretty great fight after all. There’s not many who can stay in the ring with Lucky as long as you have. I get the impression you’re kind of like him…hiding your true potentials behind a façade.”

The Chimchar merely shrugged. Winter kept excavating through his pack, pulling out knickknacks he’d gathered on his numerous adventures.

“Let’s see…I have an Energy Root from when I went exploring the Ruins of Alph. Or maybe this Lava Cookie I got from the Volcano Path. That one seems fitting. Or maybe this Ice Stone I got from a Suicune in the Ice Path. Maybe you know a Pokemon that can evolve with it. I can’t find one. There’s this Blue Scarf I picked up in Goldenrod City. Ooo! Or maybe the Destiny Knot I got from a friend one time. That’d be a cool one! Or maybe-“

The Chimchar stopped him, examining the Ice Stone with pure intrigue. Winter raised a brow and chuckled at the chimp with an awe of some sort, “You like enigmas, huh? Maybe you can find a use for this thing. Here. You can have it.”

Winter held out the light blue glowing stone in front of him, waiting for the Chimchar to take. He seemed very hesitant to touch it, his palm outstretched and hovering over it, but not daring to get any further with it. He seemed to be contemplating the decision thoroughly, Winter decided. The Champion still wondered what kind of use a Fire-Type could have with such a stone while the Chimchar finally rested its palm against the cold surface.

Almost immediately, there was a spark of energy, a cold frosty air shooting out from the Ice Stone itself. Winter had to brace himself from the sudden explosion of cold air, but the force of it was nothing more than that…a blast of cold air. Lucky hid his face behind his friend’s back. However, it was the Chimchar that had the worst effect from it, the force of the air sending him backwards quite a bit before he collapsed to the ground. Winter noticed this and immediately ran forward, checking on the new Chimchar friend he’d just made. He was knocked out.

And just then he heard a rustle in the forest followed quickly by quick pitter pattering of footsteps. Before Winter could turn to investigate, he felt something clock him in the back of the head, and then everything went dark.




That feeling…that feeling wasn’t one he’d felt in a long time…

His eyes slowly opened as he recovered, noticing that his gaze was facing the blue sky above them. He took a deep breath as he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, examining his body once more. Same thing that always happened… he noted, examining with satisfaction that his orange fur was still present and unscathed. His body was still the Chimchar-like shape that took place every time he’d touched an Elemental Stone…every time he’d gathered its effects. But he knew something else was there…something deep down in his essence, a new presence lingered, this one hard and cold. He smiled in light of it.

Crimson had just absorbed the Ice Stone’s energy.

And what a stroke of luck it was! What a stroke of luck this entire adventure turned out to be, he realized as he couldn’t count the amount of lucky breaks he’d received. The report following the clean-up in Anistar that the Master Blaster had been fired twice that very evening wasn’t a good one, but when it also led to the report of a large summation of Pokemon witnessed shoving off by boat in the direction of the Kanto region…that was pretty big. A valuable clue that could lead to the takedown of the Psychic Rebellion all together.

So he sent Team Vitality with Tag and the up and coming Team Slowpoke off to investigate while he launched his own examination here. And even though his exploratory mission wasn’t complete or nearing completion yet, he had been fairly successful in other ways by running into the Champion of the Indigo League, even though he had outdated information of who that was. But that was the downside of having his HQ in the Kalos Region…he couldn’t have communication across a global scale that often. And as such, he’d never heard of the change in power from Titania Brightsmith to Winter Sakkio.

But he found out eventually…and he’d even contacted an Ice Stone in the process, a welcomed bonus to his ability repertoire. He’d have to test it out later.

His celebratory mood would be short-lived, however, as he turned around and caught sight of his newest acquaintance, Lucky, lying on the ground and not moving. At first, he was confused. The Ice Stone blast should’ve only been strong enough to affect Crimson, not the Squirtle. He approached and rested a paw on his shell.

“Hey, you alright?” Crimson asked, shaking the Squirtle slightly. No response. He had been knocked out.

A puzzled expression crossed the Chimchar’s face as he turned towards the Champion of the Region for the answer. Instead, the question intensified as he saw him on the ground, unconscious as well. Crimson’s eyes widened in shock. Had the Ice Stone blast really been that intense?

But how? he asked himself as he ran to the forest edge, where he’d placed his pack behind a tree, and dug out a Revive Seed. There was no way one stone was different from the rest he’d absorbed. Especially since he’d been in the presence of many Pokemon when he absorbed the Elemental Stones’ energy and not one of them had the relapsed effect that this one had. Was the Ice Stone different?

He’d get his answer soon, he told himself as he rolled Lucky onto his back, placing the Revive Seed in his mouth and letting the effects take place. A few seconds later, the Squirtle’s eyes blinked open, a slight groan coming from him as he began to move.

“You okay?” Crimson repeated his question to the Squirtle.

“Yeah, I think so…” Lucky replied, rubbing his head as he got up onto his legs and stood there. His eyes suddenly widened as he began recalling events and he let out a small gasp, “We were attacked.”

“What?”

“After that Ice Stone touched you and you fell down unconscious, Pokemon appeared from the forest and attacked…Winter!” the concern the Squirtle felt towards his trainer was very real in his voice as he ran towards Winter. Crimson drew a sharp breath as he looked towards the forest. He remembered just a few minutes earlier when he’d thought he saw someone watching them from the forest. He was about to investigate it when Winter showed up, so he dismissed it. He knew there was something there!

His thoughts and concerns quickly shifted to the Champion, causing Crimson to catch up to Lucky. Winter hadn’t awoken yet. “Were they coming after him or me?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “It was so quick. One of them knocked him out with a Shadow Punch while two others ganged up on me. I didn’t have time to see exactly who it was, but I think it had red hair on its head and black fur everywhere else.”

Crimson gritted his teeth and let loose a low grunt of frustration. Zane…

So he was here. That at least confirmed the theory. But now Crimson was concerned with this development. Zane had waited for an opportune moment to strike. Why?

He heard the sound of dirt shifting slightly, and Crimson looked down to see Winter stirring. His eyes were squeezed shut.

“Ugh…my head…fuck that hurt…” the Champion was saying as he exhaled deeply before opening his eyes. Lucky was who he laid eyes on first and he smiled, “Hey, buddy. You alright?”

“You’re the one on the ground. You tell me,” Lucky lifted a brow as a small smile creeped across his face at the concerned nature Winter had for him, even though he was the one in the most pain. It even made Crimson smile a bit.

Winter seemed to understand what Lucky was saying, “Touché.” He started to pat himself down, making sure his body was intact for the most part. But he stopped when he patted his chest, a small frown forming on Winter’s face. Crimson’s brow furrowed as the patting on his chest grew more frantic and the panic forming in his eyes.

“The whistle! Where’s the whistle?!” he was saying, anxiety in his voice. Lucky’s own emotion was that similar to shock. Crimson was just confused.

“What whistle?” he asked Lucky, though his tone shifted to a serious one, similar to that of a commander.

“It’s a whistle given to him by an Articuno,” Lucky quickly relayed, “As a thank you to saving her life when they met the first time. She said to use it when he needed her help and she would come.”

A tense anger set in as Crimson guessed what must’ve happened, “Zane stole it.”

“Who?”

“Zane…a Zoroark with a bad attitude and even worse intentions for how this world should be run. He probably took it off Winter’s own neck.”

“Does he know what it does?”

“We have to assume he does,” Crimson’s gaze turned to the forest, “He set up an ambush, I think.”

“But why would he want to summon an Articuno?”

That was the million Poke question indeed. What was the point? What gain did summoning a Legendary bird bring him? And why did he choose now to strike? It would’ve serviced him more if Crimson hadn’t been there when he chose to attack the Champion. Was this a planned attack, or did he just take advantage of a moment?

Well, nevertheless, he made the wrong decision, Crimson thought as he approached the edge of the forest, beckoning for Winter and Lucky to follow.

Zane’s decision would lead Crimson right to him.

. . .


It was a great partnership between Crimson and Winter. The Chimchar was excellent at navigating the wilderness and tracking footprints while the Champion had very extensive knowledge of the region and it’s layout as a whole. Together, the two could navigate around the woods, stopping each other when one of them went a bit too close to a hazardous spot or nearly lost themselves among the trees. Lucky played the role of scout, keeping an eye above, below, and all around them, warning the two if he saw any threats. It helped that he was kind of the bridge in communications between the two, considering he knew PokeSpeak and had an incredibly tight bond with Winter. And Crimson would take any advantage he could get.

Night time was approaching at this point, giving the forest they were in a very twilight-ish look about it. The sun couldn’t pierce them directly as they were heading in, but luckily his own tail could provide enough light to keep them moving. The sky was slowly getting darker above them, from what they could see through the canopy. But it was likely that they weren’t going to sleep. Not yet. Crimson could easily see the determination in Winter’s eyes each time he looked at them. No way was he giving up. They were going to find this whistle tonight.

Then they heard it. A mid-ranged musical tone…D4 on the piano. It cut through the silence of the woods around them. Even though it was definitely darker, the Chimchar could easily see Winter’s face go pale. He squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile and a confident stare when he looked down.

“We’re going to find them…I promise you,” Crimson’s words, although lost to the convoluted language of PokeSpeak, seemed to cut through enough so that Winter could understand him. His brow lowered, a determined gaze in his eye once more, and nodded firmly.

At least there was one up side to the Articuno being summoned, he thought as the two pushed further. It gave them a pinpointed location as to where they were. Due north of them.

Now they didn’t even need to examine the tracks as the two made a quicker pace just by following the sound alone. Winter took the middle, Lucky on his right while Crimson took his left. This form of navigation was incredibly useful in terms of keeping a single direction in a wooded area so no one individual would stray away from the direction the other two were traveling without them knowing it and calling back to them. A few minutes later, they could hear voices.

“I don’t think it worked!”

“Shhhhh…be a bit more patient. The Legendary Birds can’t teleport, you know?”

“How far away is this thing from this side of Kanto?! You’d think an emergency whistle bestowed by the Articuno itself would be answered quickly.”

“Vexio, I’m going to jack-slap you so hard if you don’t shut your mouth.”

Crimson put a finger to his lips in front of Winter’s view, indicating silence. Winter and Lucky nodded and followed Crimson at the same pace. The way the two moved through the grass was stealthy, stepping over crumpled leaves and dry twigs to remain unseen. Crimson debated over whether he should shift to the Dark-Type, but decided against it. He didn’t want to change types if he couldn’t help it.

Always your identity first, huh?

He could already feel Tag’s voice penetrating through his mind and telling him how stupid he was being. But it was a legitimate concern for him. He wanted a few people to know of his unique abilities as possible. Back on Mohka, everyone knew what he could do. He didn’t have a problem with it then. But this was a different dimension. And even though he’d been in Ruula for a year now with a whole Guild behind him who knew about his abilities, he still didn’t feel secure enough to be completely out with it. It was an internal feeling…an inner motivator as to why he did this. He had no clue where it stemmed from, but that same word kept popping up every time he tried to root through his mind to find the answers.

Experimentation…

It was a negative word in Crimson’s vocabulary. And he’d been around such a word long enough for it to have more of a positive connotation. Dr. Eckels had gone through many…MANY different experiments back when Crimson was still developing his type-shifting abilities and he’d never had a problem with it. Not so much as he did now. Maybe he’d uncover the source one day, but for now he had to remain focused.

He had to get that whistle back.

And it started with examining the scene unfolding and looking for an opportune moment to interject his presence. From a low bush, Crimson hid his body behind, peeking over the top and surveying the area below. Lucky began climbing the tree above them, peeking from behind the trunk he was scaling every once in a while. A good vantage point, Crimson thought as his eyes followed the Squirtle’s path to the foliage that would keep him out of sight. He was trained well. He heard a soft gasp from behind as Winter caught sight of the scene.

No human expected such a structure to be built so far away from the routes and towns around them. And when they stumbled across one, it was easy for one to be shocked by it. But Crimson was used to these structures at this point. It was a very well-built complex, Crimson gathered right away. A seemingly baron clearing with a medium sized building in the middle. It was crafted from steel and it was built to be a defensive position for residents to hold against attackers what with its thick walls surrounding it and a single gate that was it’s only entry and exit point (if you weren’t a flying type, that is). The wall itself was tall enough to tower over Winter and Crimson, yet short enough to hide underneath the treetops unnoticed from a horizontal view. Crimson knew the inside would be laced with trees so from a top down perspective, it would look like part of the forest. From a first glance, it didn’t look all impressive. However, he knew the base spanned a hefty size underground, similar to how the Isle Defenders HQ was structured. Similar to how the Sunrise Division of the Crimson Guild was structured. Only he was positive he wouldn’t meet friends and allies should he choose to explore underneath. But Crimson gathered all that intel subconsciously. What his focus was on was the Mismagius and the Froslass standing in front of the gate and the figure standing in front of them…a figure whose blood red hair was made slightly more vibrant in the very dim light of the setting sun, his claws shining menacingly in that same illumination. His fur was gray and his stance was theatrical. There was no denying who that was. Crimson’s gaze narrowed at the sight of him.

“It will come eventually,” Zane the Zoroark held that ever sparkly gleam in his eye. It matched the equally intimidating gleam in his sneer as he spoke like a messiah to them. “And that’s what’s important.”

Crimson made a gesture up to Lucky, asking him if that particular Pokemon was the one he’d seen ambush Winter. Lucky gave a nod and kept his trained eye on him. Winter did the same.

A couple more minutes passed before they heard a loud hum from above them. Winter caught on to it instantly, but Crimson had no idea what was causing it until he looked up and saw the Legendary Ice Bird descend. At once, Crimson noticed the gaze of suspicion in the Articuno’s eyes as it hovered lower and lower. Its mighty wings flapped, creating arctic gusts that swirled around them and even left a bit of frost on the ground in front of the three.

“Who are you? And where is the Champion?” it asked immediately upon touching the ground, the threat in its tone prominent above every other emotion.

“You must hurry,” Zane immediately took over, a look of worry showing as he spoke, “The Champion was brutally attacked by wild Pokemon. We brought him in our stronghold, but we’re not sure how long he has left.”

Crimson snarled at the façade Zane was putting on. Tugging at emotions, eh? he thought. That’s dirty…

But it worked. Immediately, the Articuno’s face softened as the Mismagius, Froslass, and Zoroark opened the gate and began filing in, motioning for the big bird to follow. In fact, it was eager to step forward underneath the archway as it inquired further, “What do you mean? Did you see exactly which Pokemon it was?”

“We know exactly who did it,” Zane rounded the Articuno so that he was directly behind it, “And they won’t stop there. They have another target in mind.”

“And who’s that?”

“You.”

Crimson felt the alarm bells ringing in his head just as the Zoroark pushed the Legendary Bird within the gate. Immediately, the Chimchar bolted forward in a flurry of motion. He could hear the trees and bushes shift behind him, letting him know that Winter and Lucky were directly behind. He heard Zane give a command.

“Shut the gate! And secure the bird!”

From within, he heard the many noises and scuffling of a brawl going on. It seemed there were many more Pokemon waiting to jump the Articuno when it was pushed inside. At the same time, he heard the creaking of the gate coming down from the archway. In a final attempt of desperation, Crimson tossed his pack aside to lose that extra bit of weight and slid underneath, baseball style. Just as he reached the other side, he heard the gate shut behind him with a solid thud!

“Arty!” Crimson heard Winter cry from the other side as two sharper thuds sounded behind him…the sound of a teenager and a Squirtle hitting the gate. Luckily it was grated so they could see within, but the thick steel would be hard to break through…even for most Pokemon if not all standard ones. Crimson turned around and held a hand up to the two of them, letting them know that he would take care of this. After he got an unsteady nod from Winter, he whirled back around to see what was going on.

The Articuno was very much tied up. All around it were strands of rope wound tightly and tugged hard against its body. Surrounding it were a variety of Pokemon, though one could easily guess the type based on appearance. Ghost-Types were the most dominant, Dark-Types and Psychic-Types almost equally numerous. They held the ropes around the Articuno and were holding on to keep her on the ground. It’s wings were pinned to its body in awkward positions that made Crimson wince a bit. They even went so far as to tie her beak closed so that it couldn’t strike at them that way. It was effectively immobilized.

But all eyes turned Crimson’s direction at the Champion’s cry for his friend and sound the odd one out…the monkey with a flame for a tail. A foe all too familiar to them through the stories told and the legends formed. Many murmurs went through the crowd of Pokemon, some in awe like they couldn’t decide if it was him or not, others in terror. It helped that Zane knew of Crimson and what he was capable of from their butting of heads in Mohka, but it was still slightly jarring to Crimson how much weight his name actually carried…even in Ruula. And he hadn’t been here that long.

Speaking of Zane, the ever so cunning brute was walking forward, the Mismagius and Frosslass on his respective left and right side. Zane let out a sultry chuckle.

“Ah, Crimson,” he spoke, that sneer never leaving his face, “How nice of you to show up.”

There was something else in his tone of voice besides the standard fluffy language and overly polite mannerisms that pointed out his own fallacies. Crimson could hear it in his voice. A slight tremor in his words. Was that…fear?

“I figured you’d slip up one day,” Crimson crossed his arms, “You always have.”

Zane snorted, his nostrils flaring. “Keep that bird under control!” he commanded back to the legion he controlled, “We will deal with this pest.”

Crimson took a careful glance around, “Don’t see Sonya anywhere.” He noted out loud, his language harsh, “I figured she wouldn’t wanna miss this.”

Again came a snort. “She has other plans to be attending to. You shouldn’t concern yourself with her whereabouts.”

“Yeah?” Crimson shot back, “Because from what I recall, your right hand Meowstic nearly killed my best friend. And you’ve done the same.” His own gaze narrowed intensely, “You remember how that went down last time, don’t you?”

Zane growled, “Vexio! Nyla! Take care of this one!”

Crimson kept his guard up as the Mismagius and Froslass approached, all the while his mind raced. Something felt wrong here. Zane wanted revenge on him. He wanted to be the one to dish out punishment to Crimson. Not to mention out of the entire Psychic Rebellion forged, only Sonya and Zane really had the best shot to take him down. So why was he sending his back-up dancers to fight his battles for him? Perhaps to weaken him?

Well, whatever the case, the Mismagius named Vexio and the Froslass named Nyla came firing in with special waves of psychic energy that charged towards Crimson. They hit before he could dodge. One felt like an inner vibration in his body, the familiar yet variable sense of Psywave. This one wasn’t at a very high dosage. The other was an exterior smash against his entire front side, sending him flying into the gate behind him. That was Psychic. Both attacks had a fairly strong effect on him and he struggled a bit to get to his feet, the effects of the Oran Berry he ate while tracking becoming nullified.

But he did learn some things. He did learn that Vexio was the stronger of the two in general and definitely so in special attacks, even with such a weak Psywave. Both were proficient in speed, of course. And they both knew a Psychic move despite being Ghost-Types, but that was to be expected from Psychic Rebellion members. When Crimson was on his feet once more, he grinned. His eyes seemed to gleam with an intensity long undisturbed as he shot daggers at Vexio and Nyla.

They were apt at combos, but they had no idea what they were up against.

“So that’s how we’re gonna play it,” he spoke deeply, “Then I guess it’s my turn.”

Crimson’s speed seemed to triple as he shot forward like a laser guided rocket, a Fire Punch striking the Froslass with an equally tripled attack. Nyla didn’t even stand a chance as she smashed into the ground beneath her, knocked out instantly. Vexio’s emotions changed, first out of shock, then in fear, then to anger. His body began to pulse as a shimmering veil surrounded him for a second before disappearing. Vexio had successfully performed the Destiny Bond. If he was going down too, he was taking this monkey with him.

But Crimson turned and shot her a hard smile, one packaged with mischief, confidence, and overall annoyance for the Mismagius to eat up. He concluded his Taunt with a wink and a palm outstretched, motioning for Vexio to come try it.

And oh, did he! Vexio zoomed forward in pure rage and shot a beam seemingly formed out of crystalline gemstones at him. But Crimson easily corkscrewed out of the way and closed the distance in the same motion, his body shifting from its twirling motion to a somersault in mid-air. Vexio’s eyes widened suddenly as the Chimchar’s body was engulfed in flames while he rolled in the air, a sudden change in velocity occurring at the same time. Vexio didn’t even have time to move as the Flame Wheel crashed into him, propelling Vexio into the ground in a similar way Nyla had just received earlier.

Two knockouts…only twenty more to go.

Crimson’s new target was set on Zane, who was looking back at the Articuno to make sure it was still bound before turning back with a furious stare.

“This is my victory today, Crimson!” Zane roared at him, his claws forming black smudges of energy, the familiar look of Dark Pulse charging. He was clearly gathering his own negative energy.

But from behind, a commotion began to occur. Crimson had perfect view of seeing the crowd of Psychic Rebellion members fall over as a gray blur of motion cut the cords they were using to bind the Articuno. The blur darted around the bird, slicing through every cord before coming to a rest in front, its furious eyes glancing down at every Pokemon and studying them, as if he were selecting the appetizer for his meal. Yes, Aerodactyl made for an intimidating entrance, but nothing was nearly as bad as the intense, steely gaze the boy riding on top of the incredible Pokemon was giving them. It seemed they had figured out that they could fly over to enter from above.

“No one messes with my friends,” Winter said in a cold tone.

The Articuno behind them flung it’s wings open, the wingspan covering half the courtyard before launching herself in the air. From above, she began to rain down Ice Shards upon the battlefield. Keeping in mind she was leagues stronger than her foes that contained her, they began to drop left and right. Winter joined in, hopping off his Aerodactyl and pulling what seemed like a squadron of PokeBalls from his belt. Lucky, who had been riding from behind, was already pummeling through a band of Gastlys.

One by one, the PokeBalls opened, revealing a cast of characters as Winter began giving directions, “Glist, Flow, you two take on the ones on the right.” The Glaceon and Vaporeon twirled around each other like agile cats as they took foes out. “Mane and Sumo, use each other’s strengths to take care of the ones on the left.” A Typhlosion was giving a Shuckle a piggy-back ride, the Shuckle using Encore to disable them while the Typhlosion took them down. “Arty’s bringing support from above, right?” The Articuno cawed as Winter looked up, giving the gracious bird a thumbs up. “And Rio…go nuts, dude!” The Aerodactyl behind him grinned menacingly as he took off, crashing through waves of Pokemon as fast as a bolt. Crimson noted he still had three PokeBalls untouched on his belt. He definitely came prepared.

But Zane didn’t. As the battle went on and his team went from overwhelming to outnumbered, his rage grew. And he decided to take it out on his rival Chimchar. With a mighty roar, he lunged forward, a Dark Pulse shot straight at him. Crimson took an easy sidestep out of the way as he decided it was time to unleash his own havoc.

“Let’s see what the power of ice does to me,” Crimson said as his aura seemed to flare to life. He closed his eyes and searched within himself…searching for a new presence. Something cold…something freezing…

And then the area around them flashed a brilliant white as Crimson was coated in his own transformation. The Pokemon had to shield their eyes, breaking the stage of conflict for a moment while the bright light diminished naturally. All eyes, when able, turned to see what had caused the theoretical flash grenade and what they saw would be unlike anything they have seen before.

An arctic blue was the primary color of his fur, though it did look noticeably thicker. His white belly seemed to gleam like a shiny pearl, even while in the darkness. His feet and hands retained their chimp-like stature, like they always did, but his tail was no longer engulfed in flames. It was short, spherical, and puff-like…almost like a bunny or even a bear. But what took away from cute and added to intense was Crimson’s cold piercing stare with his bright blue eyes.

“By Arceus…” He heard Winter mutter as he stepped forward. He wasn’t even going to focus on their part in the battle. His focus was on Zane and Zane alone, who had let his façade slip for a moment, revealing his true fear before baring those sharp teeth again.

“You getting déjà vu yet?” Crimson spoke, hard as ice, remembering the Mohka Guild Tournament when he’d fought against Zane in the championship round, dawning the Thunder Form for the first time and going to town on Team RedEye. Back then, before they’d even come to Ruula, Zane was an espionage agent for the Psychic Rebellion and had rose in the Isle Defenders as its most elite member with the help of Gova and Pounce. Now times had changed. They were in an entirely new dimension, Gova and Pounce had long since dumped Zane and were doing their own thing somewhere in Hoenn, and Crimson was leading his own Guild against tyrannical dictators…

Like Zane, who now held the reins over the Psychic Rebellion.

The fight between them began, Zane unleashing a war cry rather than answering the question as the other Dark Pulse was fired at him. A quick use of Acrobatics was all it took for Crimson to dodge, but Zane was already on top of him again, a Night Slash prepped. Crimson matched it with an Ice Punch, the two moves colliding in mid-air, a smashing sound erupting around them as the force of the two blows sent both of them flying away from each other. Zane smacking into a tree while Crimson’s head found that wall of the stronghold again.

Zane did have an advantage in this fight, for Crimson had previously been hurt by the combined efforts of Vexio and Nyla. The Zoroark was quick to get up, ready to keep on trucking. Crimson had to find an inner drive to bring himself to his feet, though that wasn’t hard. In fact, he was surprised he still felt somewhat decent after that trade-off. Zane’s blows typically hurt more. Crimson stared Zane down with newfound confidence and began launching his own assault.

While they fought, the battle continued around them, clearly one-sided. The Psychic Rebellion had the numbers, but only to get mowed down as Winter’s team proved to be overbearing, even while they had a good seventy members battling against seven. Rio and the Articuno were basically untouchable from the air, Rio moving so fast and taking massive chomps out of their ranks with every type of Fang based move imaginable while Articuno was dodging projectiles aimed at it while raining down its own. And those were just the Flying-Types. The other five were fighting in their own torrential way, breaking the swarms up just as quickly. Flow and Glist were fighting by each other in such a natural way, it was easy to tell they were brother and sister. Mane was using his own speed to help Sumo, who had already boosted her attack power and was slaying fools left and right. And of course there was Lucky, the enigmatic Squirtle who was defensed up himself, protecting the League Champion while Hydro Pumping the toukus out of the Psychic Rebellion, taking down five to ten at a time. Winter didn’t even need to direct their efforts. They were doing it themselves, accustomed to fighting side by side with one another over the course of four years. Apart from the occasional glance around to make sure his friends were alright, his gaze was focused on the Chimchar, the other enigmatic presence in this fight tonight.

Who was delivering a mighty whallop to Zane. An Ice Hammer to the ground to shake the earth beneath their feet was enough to shake Zane’s foundation enough for Crimson to get a good punch in, despite the speed reduction. After the strike came the sweep, which Zane immediately jumped backwards from and began to boost his own speed, the soft magenta light enveloping him boosting his own speed. Agility or not, Crimson kept pushing back, shooting off an Aurora Beam when he spun back around, then leaping forward gracefully to perform Acrobatics. Both moves hit, and the Zoroark was sent flying back into a tree again. This time, he had to grit his teeth to get onto his feet as he took a step backwards. Crimson was beginning to notice subtle differences in fighting technique and was getting the impression his opponent was rusty. The Zoroark’s offensive stature went to defensive so quickly, Crimson almost lost composure during the assault. And now he was beginning to back off, not out of tactics but out of the feeling of being completely overmatched. But Crimson didn’t come here to let Zane slip away again…he came here to end this.

Zane suddenly began darting around the trees, the familiar effects of Double Team. At night against a Dark-Type surrounded by large tree trunks, this was a pretty effective move to use. Zane appeared to be in multiple places at once, a few of them even feinting attacks. Crimson reacted to them as naturally as he could, dodging and weaving when necessary. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling of what would happen if Zane did land a lucky shot. Crimson was rather close to being knocked out.

But Crimson stayed smart and he stayed consistent. And when one of the clones shot forward, he dodged to the right, whirling around at the same time to discover the real one charging a Night Slash aimed for his midsection. But Zane mistimed it. With ease, Crimson ducked underneath the blow, missing it by a couple inches before retaliating with an Ice Hammer that slammed into Zane’s torso. The Zoroark fell over, groaning from the pain. Crimson felt the knockout in the impact, leaving a pretty wide grin of triumph on his face as he looked down at the defeated Zoroark.

But his smile faded when he noticed Zane’s appearance began to change. Crimson’s snow-white brow furrowed as Zane began to shrink, ever so slightly, his ligaments curling in on himself and becoming less shaped. His rather large snout was growing shorter and his hair seemed to thicken, then become engulfed in this masked blob shape. The black from his fur began to meld with and soon be taken over by a purplish blob with a straight line for a mouth and two beady eyes…eyes that Crimson had only seen once before.

The eyes of a Ditto.

Crimson grunted in fury, partially out of surprise that this wasn’t Zane, but mostly out of his own frustration and the fact that he got played like a fiddle. The signs were there. The “Zoroark” he’d fought seemed like a weaker fighter and a completely different one at that. The fluidity of movement felt wrong throughout. He saw that last play with Double Team coming a mile away, executed very poorly. It was too improvised a plan for it to be Zane’s. His were more thought out…more prepped before the fight. Not to mention he didn’t have Sonya with him, which was the biggest indicator. Crimson was shaking slightly as he clenched a fist.

Gah, he just felt like he’d been duped big time and it infuriated him to no end.

So steamed that when he looked down, he noticed that he’d flared back into Fire-Type form, his own anger causing the transformation. Better than the other thing, he thought as be began to calm down bit by bit. He wanted to keep that trump card a secret for as long as he could. And it helped release some of his pent up aggression. Quickly giving the Ditto a thorough look-over, he spotted the whistle on the ground next to it. Picking it up and examining it, he glanced over to the fight on Winter’s end, his combatants were outclassing his opponents tenfold. A victory in the books, it would seem.

Crimson anger had faded, replaced by a somewhat positive feeling. Sure, his mission had been somewhat of a bust in finally taking care of Zane and putting an end to his Psychic Rebellion, but it wasn’t a complete loss. In fact, it was the opposite, a huge dent in their escapades for sure. This wasn’t a standard Labor Camp that was taken down…this was a Stronghold. This was one of the more important places in the Psychic Rebellion’s ranks, and it had to be especially important if they were to keep a decoy Zane watching over the place. He also made another important and powerful ally in the meantime. The Region’s Champion was pretty close to as powerful as it got around here. And with him and Touko as friends and capable fighters, it only made their force that much stronger.

So for now, he held two fists. One balled by his side, holding the whistle by the string it was attached to while the other pressed against his chin, contemplating his next move.




The battle was shorter than Winter expected. It turned out that a Region Champion with six Pokemon out could lay waste to a good seventy Pokemon if they were strong enough. Though he did have help from Arty on that one. And the Chimchar, who seemed to take care of the super big threats.

As for collateral, there wasn’t too much. Sumo actually took a knockout hit herself, but was Sturdy enough to hang on the rest of the fight, protecting Mane from any and all harm. Lucky had taken the second most damage, as his eyes shut tightly when he moved certain muscles. Glist and Flow took a couple shots, but were mostly fine. And Rio and Arty…they went unscathed.

While Winter set to work on healing his team, he occasionally glanced at the Chimchar, who was heading over to a small hut at the far left corner of the walled-in area. Winter watched him open the hatch and drop in with no hesitation. He kept staring, puzzled. What was he searching for?

His thoughts were interrupted by the landing of a graceful bird he’d saved the life of once before. Articuno cawed as it nested up next to Winter, it’s millennia of wisdom used to convey the question across: Are you alright?

“Yes, I’m fine,” Winter replied, hugging the legendary bird (or at least attempt to. There’s a notable size difference). “I’m glad you’re not hurt.”

The Articuno took a deeper breath, signifying the relief it felt. They sat there for a couple minutes, not really doing anything but taking in the night sky and resting. Winter decided to release Hyper at some point so he could join his brother and sister. He left Derp and the Weavile in their PokeBalls, not sure they wanted to stumble onto the scene.

They were laying among seventy knocked out Pokemon after all.

“You owe him your life, y’know?” Winter said to the Articuno and pointed when he saw the Chimchar pop back out of the hole and proceed to walk towards them, “He’s the one who really saved you. I wouldn’t have found you otherwise.”

The Articuno turned and cawed at him, sounding like a sincere thank you to Winter. The Chimchar held an easy grin as he lowered his eyes and almost seemed to push it aside, like he didn’t want the attention. But Winter was all invested in what this Chimchar was about. For starters, he wanted to know how he could transform like that. He didn’t know much about Pokemon from the Sinnoh Region, but he was pretty sure only Eevee could switch Types through a method of choice. And there was definitely no reset button on that option. So how did this one do it? And there was the whole debate about how he got here in the first place and why he’d blocked the path he wanted to travel down to get back to the Indigo Plateau-

Oh shit! The message! In all the excitement, Winter completely forgot about why he had left Lavender Town in the first place. He suddenly bolted upright, Articuno giving him a quizzical stare in the process. As did the Chimchar and everyone from his team around him. But Winter was quick to explain.

“I was so caught up in finding the whistle, I forgot I needed to hurry up and head to the Indigo Plateau!” he said hurriedly as he proceeded to pull the PokeBalls out and recall his Pokemon except for Rio and Lucky, the latter of whom was climbing onto his back.

The Articuno soft tone echoed through the place as it offered to give him a ride, but Winter smiled apologetically, “It’ll be fine, buddy. I don’t want you to overload yourself for me. Besides, Rio’s faster.” He gave a subtle wink as he hopped on the Aerodactyl.

The Chimchar presented the whistle to him, which Winter took gratefully, “You know if this were taken out of context, we really fought a bunch of bad dudes over a whistle of all things. But…I could never be more thankful that I got it back. Thank you, Chimchar. I owe you big!”

“Squir squir!” Lucky waved as he said good-bye.

And with that, Rio took off, a speeding gray bullet through the sky. The scene below them grew smaller and smaller in a matter of seconds. Winter was sure he would never be able to find that place again, given it was so far away from everything. But he was content with letting the Chimchar take care of dismantling the structure.

Winter placed the whistle around his neck, examining the wooden thing to make sure it wasn’t broken during the fighting. There was something on it. Winter had to squint against the wind blowing in his face to make it out. It definitely wasn’t there when he got it, but across the long shaft was inscribed words…words that burned into the thing by some kind of fire. Words that weren’t there when he’d lost the whistle.

It read:
“Two short blasts and I will come.”
-Crimson





(this segment co-written by LawOfTheLand)


"All right...Winter, was it? Congratulations once again. I didn't think you could do it with basic form Pokémon like that, but you sure proved me wrong," the elegant Titania in a Bisharp-themed dress commented on the little Squirtle. "Walk with me and we'll record your team and likeness into the Hall of Fame. But there's one more thing I need to show you before we leave, my new Champion...and it has to do with your new political responsibilities. I just want you to be sure you know what challenges await you next."

But Winter's mind was definitely far from words as the full weight of what he had accomplished began to set in. As they walked from the Champion's room and into the Hall of Fame, he had to keep the tears of joy from spilling onto his cheeks. This was a huge moment for him...he was the Champion! Even Lucky seemed to have a permanent smile plastered on his face as Titania continued to speak.

"All right, just stand there and put your Pokeballs into the pedestal. Give me a nice smile and the machine will do the rest." One by one, Winter's loyal partners were registered for the sake of posterity, as well as an estimate of their power level. "Eighties? No freaking WAY! You could go toe to toe with the Grand Champion herself with levels like that!" Now it was Titania's turn to be awe-struck. Lance was solidly mid-seventies...the dragon master never had a chance against this sort of raw power and experience!

Winter simply shrugged, "Well, if you go on the adventures we have-"

"But after that, I got one more thing to show you," Titania cut off Winter. "It's something I saw back when I was the champion...and what you are about to see is NEVER to leave this room, got it? This is super secret stuff that only a few select people on Ruula get to know."

Winter's brow furrowed at the precautioned tone Titania was using. It eluded to a serious matter of some sort. "What's up?"

"It concerns a trip I took to Mount Silver west of here a few years ago."

"Oh yeah! I've been there!" It was Winter's turn to cut off the Iron Maiden, "That's where I found Rio...and saved Arty!"

"What the public saw of me at the peak...that was a doctored image." She pressed her hand to an authenitication panel, releasing a large folder. "Here are the real pictures."

Winter looked up at the screen towards the photos she wanted him to examine. It was a picture that he'd seen before, though he was eight or nine at the time and paid no mind to it. A semi-blurry image of Titania standing on the right side of the image with flurries of snow falling around her, her fist clenched and her body poised as if she was itching for a fight. But also in the shot was a robotic looking girl with her back turned to her. It was hard to tell from that angle exactly who it looked like, but it was definitely weird for Titania to stumble across someone already on top of Mount Silver. No living being could have survived up there for that long...and yet here she was, dressed like a legendary Trainer of old. Like someone designed her that way.

"I have no idea how or why, but someone put her here...and she's a hell of a battler. She was able to defeat me. Of course, had I won, the real story would have run immediately...but now it falls to you to ascend to the peak, defeat her, and find out what's happening. There's other robots like her running around, too, I've heard...I ran across one that looked and acted like Gold a while back, and other Trainers have reports of running into copies of Ruby, Platinum, White and even Serena."

Winter looked at Titania incredulously, "I have to fight [i]her
?" His gaze kept shifting from the Former Champion to the Trainer in the photo and back again. His mind was racing, his pulse seemed quicker. There was a slight edge of apprehension in his voice. If Titania, the Champion, couldn't do it, what chance did he stand?

And then rationality set in for him. You are the Champion now! the voice in his head was telling him. You beat Lance, just like this lady in front of you did. You have as much of a chance to take her as she does!

Winter continued to study the photo despite this, trying to learn as much as he could from the image presented. But accompanying that sense of fear was a lot of excitement. It was a whole new adventure...another milestone to reach towards. Only recently had he climbed the peak and tasted the glory before he looked out on the horizon and saw a bigger peak waiting for him. He had to get there.

Finally, he sighed, a smile resting on his face, "I guess I can give it a shot."


...


A few minutes later, Winter and Titania were standing outside the Pokemon League, shaking hands.

"It's a shame I didn't get to battle you," Winter said, "Maybe we should schedule a match at some point?"

"I'll do you one better, kid. I'll give you my number," Titania pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down her number as she continued, "That way, when I'm retired and starting a car shop in Alola, you can call me when you need a junker to learn how to drive on. Battling, I'm convinced, is a young person's game...that's why we start you at 10 or 11. Children seem better at forming tight, lifelong bonds with Pokémon for whatever reason. It's about time for this old maid to settle down, get a real job, maybe think about starting a family. I mean, yeah, if we meet again down the road we could have a friendly battle, but I'm not really optimistic about my chances unless I get some more variety in my team." She held the paper out to Winter, who took it and looked it over.

"Well, I'll still look forward to it. Considering the legacy you've left, I know it'll be close." Winter jammed the number in his pocket as he stepped away, "Be seeing ya! I promise I won't let you down!" His words were broad enough to note that any bystander would think they were talking about his new reign as Champion of the Kanto and Johto Region. But Titania would know better. "All right, kiddo, you know what you have to do from here on out. I'm gonna fly coach...nobody would ever suspect that. You go out and do the Indigo League proud...and who knows, with skills like that, you might even be a match for Iris. Girl hasn't had a good fight in a long time." Titania added as she made her way down the impossibly long stairs back to the league front gate, where she began to make arrangements for her departure.

"One step at a time..." the new Champion mumbled as he watched her go. When Titania was long out of eyesight, he looked out and beyond at the Region...his Region. Particularly at a snow-capped peak in the distance...the peak infamously referred to as Mount Silver. There was courage in his heart, the feeling of adventure returning as he began to have ideas...ideas to train for this up and coming match-up ahead of him. He stared at the mountain respectfully, but defiantly. His burdens would now be doubled, what with his duties as acting Champion and the special task provided by Titania.

But he would do it...if only to keep the adventure alive a while longer.[/i]




That was the memory that popped into Winter’s head as he continued to read the telegram, over and over. His expression represented one of…conflict. Like he was deciding between the lesser of two evils. His hand went from his chin to his head as he sat down at his desk, slumped forward in his chair. He was thinking and he was thinking hard.

It wasn’t too long after the altercation just west from Route 12 in the Kanto Region. After Winter saved his fellow Articuno friend and met an intriguing Pokemon in the process, he flew off, heading directly for the Indigo League without a second stop or anything. Not like anyone did want to stop. They had healed from their battles and were more restless to get home. Well, all except for Lucky, who still wanted to see the Radio Tower in Lavender Town.

When he got there, the time was 5 A.M., the sky just beginning to get brighter. No one was around to challenge his entry at this time of morning anyway, so he took a direct and unblocked line to his office at the back. There, the telegram waited. But only when he began to open it and read it did he get some kind of picture as to what Burgh wanted:

Dear Winter Sakkio,
I apologize for my rushed service, but a matter like this couldn’t wait. I also apologize for my…ancient method of sending this, but it was the only assured way this would end up in your hands and be seen by no one else. As you are probably aware, my name is Burgh, the Gym Leader in Castelia City. And I have a request to ask from you. I understand that you haven’t become involved in national politics yet, and that is fine. For now anyway. But something has come up that I need your assistance in.

Recently, there have been a few incidents in the Unova Region. An invasion of Orks came rolling through Castelia City not too long ago…a deadly Ork invasion. There would have been more casualties were it not for the aid of one of my old friends Emiko Touko. But it has left me unable to leave the city at this current time as I must deal with the damages from the attack on top of my regular duties. But Touko is searching for an old legend written down in history…a fabled Titania Brightsmith. She is looking for her to help disable a cannon of mass destruction known as the Master Blaster and the gang of Pokemon who control it. Miss Brightsmith is rather good at dismantling horrific machines that would bring the world to its knees if it ever saw the light of day.

Unfortunately for us, the trail for her goes cold. Titania fled the scene after the transfer of power had confirmed and no one knows where she’s gone to. No press, no media, not even people who knew her well. Which is why I call upon you, Winter. You are the last person to have seen her as the Champion of this Region. We need your help finding her again. We hope she gave you some indication as to where she’s disappeared to so that Miss Touko can begin her searching. For the sake of the world, of course.

Thank you for your services. And I do hope we get the opportunity to meet in person one day. I’d like to witness one who can control 80 Leveled Pokemon!
Sincerely,
Gym Leader Burgh


Burgh wanted his help in finding Titania once again. And Winter had a pretty good idea of where they should begin looking. The Alola Region is pretty new and developing. He didn’t even know if they had a set-up Pokemon League or not. But it would be the perfect place for her to settle down and avoid the press at the same time.

But maybe that was what she wanted. Maybe she wanted to avoid everything about this job. Maybe she didn’t want to save the world. Maybe the toll it had taken on her was too much for her to come back. After all, it wasn’t Titania he’d fought to become the Champion. It was Lance.

That was the conflict he faced: One woman’s sanctity or the entire world potentially collapsing under the weight of this power. Was it worth it?

And a smile formed on his face as he realized the answer: it wasn’t his decision to make. It was Titania’s.

So he got out a piece of paper and a pencil. As he did, Winter looked out the window to the view he had. It was a pretty one. The sun was starting rise above the snow-capped peak of Mount Silver, a new dawn for a new day. Clouds were hovering just above the sun so it could peak through for a moment before going into hiding at least for the morning. It gave Winter a sense of nostalgia. Suddenly, the climb didn’t seem all that bad. And he knew what he had to do next.

The setting changes from Lavender Town to Mt. Silver

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Nearing the top of Mount Silver...


"Hey..." Winter's voice was nearly muffled by the absurd amounts of wind and snow flurrying around him as he talked to his best companion, "Remember when we went through the Ice Path and I nearly died because I took my jacket off?"

"Squir..." came Lucky's acknowledgment from within a bundle of clothes he was wrapped in on the trainer's back.

"Even with our protection, I think this is worse."

Not exactly the most positive words to come out of the trainer's mouth, but a bit of realism here and there was acceptable. Especially when he was nearing the peak of one of the most treacherous mountain climbs in all of Ruula. It felt like the wind could literally blow him off the mountainside and yet there was little air to breathe at all. An odd contradiction to one of the most insane weather conditions he'd been through to date. He'd even been here before and never experienced antagonistic climate the way this snow and wind was.

Then again, the last time he'd been here, he never went to the peak.

They'd already done their reminiscing over the past couple of days on their wacky and wild adventure in the lower parts of Mount Silver. It was where Glist evolved to join his brother and sister in their Eevolved state (yes, the two "e"s are necessary). It was where they found Rio, who challenged all of them to a battle of might on a small cliff side and eventually joined their team out of respect for their prowess. It was where they all saved and befriended one of the most powerful allies any one human being could have...a Legendary Bird he lovingly nicknamed Arty. And now, nearing the peak of the mountain...

It would be where one of the most important battles of his life would go down.

The current Champion of the Region knew what lied ahead...somewhat anyway. Everything Titania knew about this trainer she relayed to Winter, but that wasn't a lot of information to go off of. A Pikachu with Brick Break and a Charizard with Belly Drum were the only two opponents he knew this particular individual would fight against him with. Other than that...she could have anything. And in this climate with his current team, that made him anxious. Now more so than ever now that he was actually making the climb to the top.

But he had come prepared. He currently wore two parkas, gloves, snow pants, snow boots, thermal underwear...anything he could get off the Champion's budget. And that budget was remarkably high. He'd even bought some specialty clothing for Lucky since his companion didn't have a PokeBall to retreat to, nor did he want one. He had his team set-up, trying to build the type spread as much as he could. And for Lucky in particular, he had an item he'd never thought about using before...

"Still got that thing I gave ya, buddy?" Winter felt the need to call back to the Squirtle over the howling winds, even though he was right on his back.

"Squir!" Lucky gave a confirmation.

"Okay, good! We're just about there!"

And just as he said that, there they were. He never thought he'd ever see the day when he'd stumble upon someone standing in the snow waiting for them, especially on a mountain this violent. But here she was, the metallic looking girl with the wide brimmed hat staring off, her back turned away from Winter. Every event from the past year had been leading to this moment and he was still slightly in awe that it finally arrived. There she was...the prize waiting to be won.

And here he was...ready to avenge the Iron Maiden.

"Hey!" came Winter's initial shout.

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For a very, very long moment naught but the wind faced Winter's call. The solemn quiet of the mountain was its own reward for a weary traveler desperate to collect themselves after a difficult journey, but that wasn't why Winter was here. He was here in search of a supposedly powerful robot, a seemingly mythical force of science that had managed to take down a champion. And to his credit...

He'd come to the right place.

The first thing Winter would see was a pair of golden lights gently bobbing before him. They pierced through the veil of snow, two symmetrical little orbs dancing rhythmically in the weather. As the lights drew nearer, a pair of dimly glowing eyes would be revealed to be behind them. These eyes, in turn, gave way to what might appear to be a young girl. However, her skin had a metallic texture to it and her joints were segmented, not unlike a ball jointed doll. This was no human, if not because of her looks than because she was effortlessly enduring the onslaught of freezing weather in naught but a mini skirt and what appeared to be a modest tank top. An ambiguous little smirk graced her face as she descended the mountain, her eyes locked on Winter's.

" . . . "

...But the robot offered no reply. That look on her face, the way she looked straight at Winter without quite acknowledging him--as if she were looking straight through him. It said everything she needed to. That was the gaze of a killer, ...or perhaps just any given robot. Either way, it lacked a certain humanity that might be unnerving if one weren't used to being looked at that way by other humans. In spite of her obvious inhumanities, she had a certain personality to her. The way she moved, the way she gingerly shielded her eyes with one of her hands. To what purpose had one designed a robot like this, and how had they accomplished something this... close to humanity?

It didn't seem like the young robot girl intended to explain herself. She stopped about 20 feet from Winter, leaving plenty of feet between them, and placed her hands on her hips almost expectantly, her pinky finger teasing one of the tiny pokeballs attached to her waist. None of them were primed just yet, but the gesture still teased at what she desired. Straight to the point, it seemed.

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Winter couldn't help but shudder...not because of the wind but because of the stare he was receiving from the challenger. He'd been warned that she would cut straight to business, but experiencing it firsthand was a different animal. It appeared that she had a calculated method of going about it. There was no smile for it was a smirk. There was no friendly stare waiting for him but these shimmering eyes that gave him a sense of dread. No words to go off of, but body language to express her desire to get things started already. And still she held a uniquity in her appearance. Winter already knew she wasn't human, but what actually was she? Where had she come from? And why was she here, imposing her will against Champions and the like?

To what gain did it give her?

"Alright..." Winter prodded over the wind, trying to provoke a response, "You, uh...you gonna say anything?"

Nothing.

"Alright then," Winter's stance widened slightly as he drew a PokeBall from his own belt, his eyes flashing with energy, "Then I can talk. Lady...thing...I'm here to challenge you to a Pokemon Battle. A 6v6 contest to see who between us is the better trainer!"

"Squirrrr-tle!" Lucky took up his own stance behind his trainer.

As customary to these formal duels he'd been trainer about for four years, he'd let the android-like girl showcase her first Pokemon before he brought out his. It had been awhile since he was the challenger, but he hadn't forgotten the rules. The question remained, however...was she going to abide by them?

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DIN-01 lolled her head to one side in confusion in response to Winter's challenge. Without any words to compliment her body language it wasn't clear what exactly it was about what he'd said to elicit that reaction but, sure enough, she plucked a pokeball from her waist and primed it in preparation to engage Winter. She seemed to consider the pokemon he had sent out for a moment, quietly rolling the enlarged ball out of her palm and onto the ground. From it, a pikachu emerged. The heart shaped curvature at the end of her tail identified her as being female, but otherwise, there wasn't much to observe about the pokemon! That is to say, there was nothing strange about it, at least. The mouse pokemon shuddered in the cold, but quickly shook off her discomfort by shifting onto all fours into a battle-ready position and beginning to bounce rather energetically.

...And then, DIN-01's move came. It came without a command, or any real warning really. DIN-01's pikachu abruptly shot across the snow, using its light weight and decisive speed to cross the icy battlefield without ever really succumbing to any difficulty moving about. And then--she stopped. DIN-01's pikachu was baiting out a defensive action on Winter's part, and by all accounts one was warranted. Yet, Pikachu's attack never came. The pokemon abruptly made a U-turn just before committing to slamming into Winter's squirtle and quickly darted around the pokmon's side away from it. This was known as Fake Out. Pikachu then began running circles around the battlefield, picking up an enormous amount of speed as she literally began running circles around Lucky. An experienced trainer might recognize this as the move agility. As Pikachu did this, her increasingly egregious speed began to kick up snow behind her, creating a little wall of thick icy mist around Lucky that hampered his visibility, allowing her to duck in and out of the wall very so often as she ran to keep either Lucky or Winter from pinning down where exactly she was.

The wind picks up, carrying a mournful wail with it as it settles over the battlfield.

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By some horrific turn of fate, DIN-01 had become hostile before Winter even sent out his first pokemon. It seemed like she'd confused Lucky for his active choice. Boy, chivalry really didn't pay these days huh. Not only that, but she was being a bit reckless in targeting him. She could very easily hit Winter himself if he weren't careful! Albeit, Pikachu did make a ... small effort to avoid him. He was unlikely to actually get hit unless he got in the way.

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"Woah!" Winter cried out and held up his arms when the sprinting Pikachu beelined directly towards him, only to watch it barely miss his right leg, graze past Lucky, and sharply turn around, heading back towards the space in between them. Lucky fumbled in shock from the glancing blow, nearly falling over in the snow. They both recognized the Fake Out implemented, but it had happened so fast and the snowy terrain around them was so intense, they both nearly missed it.

"Ya okay, buddy?" Winter called back to his friend. The Squirtle nodded with a grunt.

"Okay! Just stay back for now!" the acting Champion turned back to the action where the Pikachu was running frantically in the snow, a flurry of the cold condensation kicking up behind it. The "girl" meanwhile had a very...abrasive look on her face. And by abrasive, he meant completely full of hatred. Her eyes were glistening unnaturally as she showed no signs of holding back or keeping this fight fair. All tricks in the book were going to be thrown his way and he had to be ready for them. Every single one.

Winter found more determination in the challenge ahead of him as he picked up his first PokeBall on his belt and chucked it onto the field, "Let's do this! Come on out, Sumo!"

Amidst the dark clouds, the whipping winds, and the piling snow came a red beam, showcasing a very shiny Shuckle. The tiny turtle-esque Pokemon appeared, blue shell standing out brilliantly, making her easy for both Winter and the combatant to see. There would be no playful banter from Winter. Neither from Sumo, Lucky, or any of his team. He was going to get serious.

It was good to take advantage of the misused Fake Out and bring forth Sumo because the Pikachu's next move was Agility...and this was a golden time to strike.

"Sumo! Encore!" he called out, and the Shuckle commenced the cycle. Sumo closed her eyes, a weird pulse of energy filling the air. As such, the Pikeachu would begin to feel the uncontrollable compulsion to keep using Agility...to keep going faster and faster.

Which was alright in Winter's book.

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DIN-01's smile just sort of slowly faded away as 'she' watched her pikachu begin to uncontrollably accelerate, a bigger and bigger snowstorm getting kicked up by her increasing velocity. One could just barely make out the sounds of a terrifying pikachu freaking the heck out before it all abruptly stopped. A yellow mouse could be observed flying wildly off the mountain and vanishing into the clouds.

...Oh.

Apparently, it had wound up going so fast it couldn't keep itself from flying off the small arena. DIN-01 just kind of stares in bewilderment. Huh. She'd never seen anything like that before. ...She'd also spent her admittedly very, very short life up on this lonely mountain so that perhaps wasn't saying much. After a good long moment, it became clear that she was waiting for a pikachu who wasn't coming back.

Oh.

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Winter was getting ready to set up for the next two attacks to thoroughly take care of the Pikachu. But what happened next completely froze the young Champion (not in ice, just metaphorically). He could even bring words to his mouth as he watched the snowstorm in front of him, then a flash of yellow, and then...nothing. Like a magic trick, the Pikachu was gone and judging from the trajectory it had taken (from what he could gather from the yellow flash, anyway), it wasn't returning anytime soon.

"Oh..." Winter verbalized the thought both trainers were having right now, "Er...good job, Sumo! Let's keep the momentum on our side!"

He decided to keep Sumo out for the next Pokemon. The Shuckle was pretty tanky already to most attacks and if he knew the match-up wasn't favorable, he could always switch out for another team member. Now with Pikachu gone, he only knew one other Pokemon on her team...Charizard. He could use this time to figure out what cards she was playing with.

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For the first time, DIN-01 looked genuinely uncomfortable. Felt genuinely uncomfortable even. She seemed to really hesitate to return her attention to the battle. Her pikachu was gone! She lost a pokemon! The gynoid looked genuinely pretty upset about that fact. Also conflicted. Maybe she wasn't programmed to deal with a situation like this, or maybe she was just genuinely conflicted on whether to go find her pikachu or continue battling. After a long moment, though, she reluctantly seemed to settle on returning her attention to Winter.

Producing another pokeball, she released a blastoise onto the field of battle! It turned its head up at Winter almost indignantly.

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Winter could feel the hesitation in her stare, her surprisingly longing look over the mountain edge where they both witnessed the Pikachu plunge down. That was the second emotion he'd watched the girl express within the past minute. And he'd been expecting something cold...something emotionless...robotic even. Her attention was distracted to the well being of her Pokemon, just like any human would be.

Maybe...maybe there was another way...

"Stop! Hold on!" Winter actually stepped in front of Sumo, who was prepping herself for the next move. Despite the massive Blastoise standing in the way, he managed to look past it and into the eyes of a conflicted girl...a conflicted girl whose confliction was slowly fading.

"I think we should stop the fight for a moment!" he suggested loudly over the whistling wind, "We should go find your Pikachu! I know you're worried about her, as any trainer should be! We can continue the fight after we found her. I don't want your Pokemon dying from the cold because we were caught up in a battle!"

He stepped past the Blastoise, recalling his own Shiny Shuckle along the way as he got closer and closer to the girl. As he went, he remembered his own fight against the Dragon Tamer Lance to become the Champion...how their two ideologies clashed. If Lance had been up here, facing the girl, he would've carried on the fight, taking advantage of one less Pokemon to truly battle as he mercilessly fought on. Winter was always looking for the alternative method...one that didn't involve cold, brutal tactics or kicking another when they were down. Sure he had his concerns on being betrayed by the girl, who was showing signs of possibly being bipolar given what he'd seen from her emotional swings. But the value of life mattered more.

He just hoped she would think the same way.

Now Winter was a few feet from the girl, examining her closely. Even with uncertainty in her eyes, she looked unnatural. Her skin looked...smooth. Too smooth, even. She wasn't shivering from the gusts, nor was she flinching at the snowflakes occasionally drifting into her eyes, which looked even more synthetic up close. Her hair looked hard and her stance looked mechanic. The Champion was more scared of her now than he'd ever been before.

What was she?

But he hid the thought behind a genuinely warm smile that cut through the cold, extending a hand for her to shake, "Let's go find her together."

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To truly understand someone whose body language was their only way of communication was a difficult task. It was a language full of subtleties, a language where the words frequently lost or picked up new meanings depending on the context. A language where many more complicated expressions simply didn't have words. Yet, it was not impossible to read her. One just had to be careful. She was, after all, considered to be dangerous by the authorities. There was likely a reason for that. Perhaps Winter already had his own suspicions.

A pair of brightly glowing golden eyes met Winter's. They were perhaps one of the most inhuman things about the girl's appearance just underneath the visible seams on all of her joins. They had a somewhat glassy texture over them and their irises had a very flat, milky texture to them. They looked very artificial. He was being watched, carefully so, but her blastoise made no move to stop him. In fact, it didn't even turn to face him. It simply glanced over its shoulder, waiting to see what came of this.

DIN-01, on the other hand, recoiled a bit and raised her arms to her chest when Winter held out his hand to her. If one paid attention, they could observe that the stance she was taking wasn't one that would facilitate punching or grabbing--or anything really. Rather, she was almost hugging herself as if to brace for an impact. It was a panicked response, not an aggressive one. This robot was afraid of Winter. Up close, he might just also be able to observe that one of her arms had scars on the metal where something heavy had struck her quite hard. They ended abruptly at the shoulder, where it appeared a part had been replaced. Now that they were up close and on relatively even ground, he'd also be able to pick up on just how short she was at about four feet five inches.

After a long moment of cowering before Winter, DIN-01 seemed to realize that she wasn't in imminent danger and stopped bracing herself, though her hands remained protectively wrapped around herself. She didn't seem to be able to bring herself to take his hand.

She did, however, her gaze up at Winter. Her eyes searched his for something unknown before nodding in confirmation. It seemed like she agreed to stop the battle and go searching for her pikachu.

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Winter wasn't sure what to think as the smile faded from his face. There was so much stimuli heading his direction in her many actions that followed his offer. First was the way she reacted to his extending hand. It was defensive, not offensive. A lot less aggression was on the girl's face right then and a lot more apprehension. Winter could suddenly see that he dwarfed her in size by about a foot and a half. Was that...fear? Winter was surprised to learn that she could even carry such an emotion, given what Titania had told him. But the look on her face was very real. Perhaps she was more scared of him than he was of her...

The second thing he took notice of was her arms, crossed in front of her chest. Particularly on her left arm, where he noticed the scars raking across it in an unsettling fashion. Not like it had been cut or scraped by something, but like it had been shattered by something. At this point he was pretty confident the girl he was fighting wasn't human, but he was more concerned by who or what could've delivered those scars. And why? To make her tougher? To punish her for some reason?

Why was she sitting on this mountainside in the first place?

And the third was the sense of relief flowing through his own body when she nodded in acceptance to the offer. Her hands felt hard when she gripped his own while her electronic-looking eyes seemed to be searching for something within him. She wasn't smiling, but that was okay. It was the first instance of communication between the two of them and that was a breakthrough in it of itself. Who knows...maybe he did have a new friend in disguise.

His grin returned with more life to his face as their handshake broke, "It's not a trick or anything. I promise. I'm just worried for your friend."

He began walking back to his pal on the other side of their makeshift arena, glancing up at the Blastoise who had been patiently waiting. Unlike the girl, he seemed and looked very real...which brought up more questions. How did she communicate with her Pokemon? he wondered. Was it a mind link? Was it through friendship? Or maybe her team could act out on it's own...like that Chimchar he found outside Lavender Town that one time...

These were all questions he decided to hold off on asking her for now, even though his curiosity was tugging at his patience. Instead, he explained what he rationalized as the best solution for finding her, "So if we go ahead and take a Flying-Type to the sky and begin circling the mountainside, we should find your Pikachu pretty quickly!"

"Squir squir?" What are you doing? he could see the question in Lucky's eyes as Winter leaned down, inviting the Squirtle to hop onto his back.

"I don't think a Champion...well, actually no one should risk the lives of the Pokemon they encounter," he replied to his buddy, "Even those they oppose."

Lucky shrugged and glanced back at the girl. Winter reached into his parka in an effort to bring out something. A few seconds later, his clasped hand unfolded in front of her to show the whistle that one of his more intriguing friends had given him...a bird that could help him out in a pinch should he need it.

"Lemme call Arty," he said to her as he began to examine their surroundings to make sure this was a suitable place for landing, "You might wanna take a step back," he added in warning.

And then he blew the whistle. A soft, yet piercing note echoed through the snow flurries around them, even cutting through the wind. It was elegant in tone...not too harsh for ears. Winter held up a hand and began raising fingers.

One...two...three...

He stopped blowing after the third second had passed, sliding the whistle back into the spot on his concealed neck that he pulled it from. It was only a few seconds later than they would begin to hear the flapping of wings. Soft at first, but growing louder and louder with each beat. Winter smiled as he knew Arty had listened...

The Articuno suddenly appeared from the gray clouds, shimmering a bright, icy blue that seemed to encapsulate all the attention around them. The wind seemed to stop, as if frozen to the presence of the Legendary Bird. The snow even stopped falling, giving the girl full view of the incredible Pokemon. The Articuno paused for a moment, surveying the environment before landing next to Winter. It fluttered it's wings in a fluid and stable manner before glancing at Winter with an expression. You called?

"Hey Arty," Winter could actually hear himself talk for once as his tone was soft and slightly pleading, "My...friend here lost her Pokemon. It fell off this side of the cliff." He pointed to the direction he'd seen the blur move as he went on, "Any way I could convince you into helping us search for it? It's a Pikachu, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Yellow on white, right?"

The Articuno snorted in amusement as it nodded it's head and turned around, inviting the two of them to climb on.

"Thanks, Arty," Winter replied genuinely as he slid onto her back in a practiced manner. Even at his height, it was near impossible to get distracted by the notable size difference between the Champion and the Articuno. She was a big bird.

Winter turned around and offered her a hand up, remembering how hesitant she had been the first time, "It's okay. Arty's not gonna hurt you. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just take my hand and I'll help you up." He continued to show signs of pleasant and soft conversation, the smile on his face getting more vivid by the second.

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Character Portrait: Winter Sakkio Character Portrait: DIN-01 Blue
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DIN-01 reluctantly seemed to abandon her plans for battle and invest a little more trust in Winter, returning her blastoise and quietly watching Winter as they waited. She seemed to be studying him closely with a curious expression on her face. What she was looking for wasn't clear, nor was it obvious whether she found whatever it was. However, soon it would be time to take Winter's hand again and the rather short gynoid accepted. She was a bit heavier than a human ought to be, but given she was also quite small this wasn't saying very much. Her synthetic skin didn't give as much as a real person's either, giving her an involuntarily firm feeling grip.

Perhaps a good question would be where to seat her. Would Winter put her where he could keep his eyes on her, or in back?

Regardless, they had a lot of ground to cover.

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Character Portrait: Winter Sakkio Character Portrait: DIN-01 Blue
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Winter let the girl position herself behind him, not only for the sake of trust he was willing to show, bur for the sake of her safety, so that she could grab onto something more handy if things got rocky. Besides...Lucky had the front seat. Lucky always had the front seat.

The Articuno grunted at the sudden weight change on her back. The girl, despite looking smaller and frailer than the Champion did, actually weighed more than him. But it wasn't something the legendary bird couldn't handle as she readjusted herself and got ready for takeoff.

"You're gonna wanna hold on tight..." Winter warned as he glanced towards the endless view of clouds in front of him, "Okay Arty! We're ready!"

Fwoooooosh! Even a singular flap of the wings proved to be mighty as the Articuno lifted off, taking to the skies. His stomach lurched at the force, but he was used to that by now as he simply held on. The wind that rushed across his face was surprisingly breezy, as if he wasn't flying at all but rather, taking a walk along the coast. In fact, it seemed like all the harsh weather conditions were put on hold when they entered a certain range of the Articuno, making the ride much more pleasant.

Articuno began to descend, little by little, circling the mountain on each pass. Winter kept his eyes peeled on the mountain, which was awe-inspiring from this perspective. Every cut of rock, every path of travel, and every sheer cliff or snowy bank was visible. It gave the mountain so much detail in comparison to the ground perspective most people had. It was a visual experience for the Champion, who'd never flown this close to Mount Silver.

"Do you speak?" Winter asked so suddenly, glancing back towards the girl. He was going to try and at least get a few answers to some questions he had about her.