Divided Lands...

Chapter 4: Flame and Icy Terrain!

"Hello, Cia trainer.", the brown-haired girl said to Tranquil as her rodent Pokemon ran back to her side. She looked up, revealing her tan coloured face and crimson eyes. Most of her outfit was crimson coloured, from her jacket to her gloves, to her trainers. The only things that weren't red were her white trousers and her black T-shirt underneath the jacket. Tranquil was dazzled by her and asked,

"Um, hi. Thank you for saving me, what's your na-"

"I don't really care to tell you my name honestly.", the girl answered flippantly, bringing her Pokemon back to its Pokeball, "You're the person who the professor of this region gave a Pokemon, right?"

"Um, yes? Why?"

"Well, it was just that I wanted to see what my rival was capable of. But, if you and your Pokemon are getting your ass handed to you by a Raticate, then I guess you're not exactly capable of much."

"What did you say?!?", Tranquil shouted, disgusted that this random girl would call her and her Pokemon weak. But, the brown-haired girl just smiled and walked up again, grabbing Tranquil by the face and saying,

"I said, you and your Pokemon are weak enough to get beat by a common Raticate, so this gym challenge competition, will be mine."

Tranquil went red with rage, grabbing the girl's wrist and throwing her hand away from her face.

"Alright, if you're so amazing at battling, then why don't we have a battle?"

"Really? Your Pokemon looks pretty exhausted, and I don't take too kindly to beating up weak Pokemon for my own amusement."

"You scared?", Tranquil asked with a smirk on her face and Flame smirked back.

"Alright then, if you're so adamant to get your ass kicked, then I accept. Tomorrow, in the next town, I expect to see you there."

The girl turned away and ran through the tunnel adamantly, and disappeared into the sunlight outside. Tranquil then turned to her almost completely energy-deprived Slodge and asked,

"I can win this match, right?"

Slodge just slowly turned and gave her a strange look. It was clear that Slodge didn't think that Tranquil could win. Tranmquil's smile slowly faded and she leaned against the wall, putting her head into her hands.

"What was I thinking? Ugh, why'd I challenge her! She just took out a Raticate and I can't even catch a Spearow!"

Slodge, with what little energy it had, bounced over to Tranquil and sat on her lap. It smiled at Tranquil, clearly trying to cheer her up, but it just made Tranquil feel even worse.

"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but you should rest. I don't want you getting injured anymore.", Tranquil said, as she tapped Slodge with its Pokeball and returned it safely inside. Tranquil placed Slodge's Pokeball back into her backpack, where she was sure that no Pokemon could harm Slodge, and walked out of the same tunnel that Tranquil's rival had walked out of moments ago.

Tranquil took a second to adjust to the harsh sunlight and then looked around at the area. She had noticed that the sign to her side said Route 2, and she looked to her map for guidance. It wasn't that detailed unlike the first one, and the official Cia Pokemon League map didn't have many details on either. Tranquil looked at the snowy Route that lay on the horizon and knew that she'd have to explore on her own this time.

And, she didn't even have to take one step onto the snowy environment to know that it was freezing temperatures. She looked at her outfit and knew that it wasn't the best for the environment around her. She looked into her bag and found her trainer kit, going back into the cave to quickly get changed She fastened her trainers and ventured into the frosty land of Route 2.

Her first instinct as soon as she ventured into the snowy wasteland was to look towards the trees for any sign of a new Pokemon. She looked from leafless tree to leafless tree but found no Pokemon no matter how much she ran. Not even a cave remained in sight, and if there was in fact a cave around her, she couldn't see much of anything through the foggy and misty air. She could only feel around, and she soon found the rocky edge of a hill, overlooking a frosty lake. She took a step forwards to try and get a closer look at what was ahead, but the sudden movement caused a tip in her balance. She fell from atop the rocky face of the hill, crashing onto the icy surface of the lake.

She quickly looked at the ice and saw that it was slowly cracking where she had fallen. She picked herself up and immediately dashed forwards, wanting not to fall in the likely freezing ice below her. But, the ice began to crack even further and the ice only got thinner with each step taken. Then, one foot sunk into the icy water. It felt like her foot was stabbed by a thousand daggers, and she quickly yanked her foot out of the water and tried to continue running. But, the ice was cracking and she began to fall into the icy water.

But then, an icy bird who had been watching Tranquil ever since she tried to cross the river suddenly grabbed her jacket and started flying above the river. The two were just barely off of the ground, and it was a struggle to even keep Tranquil in the air. But, the tiny bird flew on and eventually landed on solid ground. Tranquil touched the ground and caught the tiny bird. It's head was aching with how much that it had to do to get Tranquil off of the breaking river, but it soon recovered.

"Thank you so much.", Tranquil said, as she inspected her bag to see if anything had been caught in water. Luckily, nothing had been, and she grabbed a pack of food that she recently reaching into her bag and grabbing a pack of Sitrus Berries, "Would you like a Sitrus Berry?"

The small bird looked at the berry and immediately pecked at it, tearing it to shreds in its mouth and swallowing. Tranquil smiled and said,

"Well, guess you were a bit hungry."

The small bird nodded and went rooting around in the bag, taking a couple more of the berries and swallowing them.

"Alright, you can have a couple more. Just don't eat them all!", Tranquil spoke playfully as she pulled out her Pokedex and scanned the bird Pokemon.

Icstra, The Small Bird Pokemon.

This Pokemon was almost extinct due to hunting from ancient times. However, it managed to grow accustomed to cold temperatures and lived up the mountains. But, as humanity became more civilised, it began to reclaim the land it had left, with few retaining their ice abilities gained during hibernation from humanity.

The bird was an arctic white colour for the most part, apart from a few of its feathers being a sleek icy blue, creating a pattern of blue and white among the wings. Its beak was also a light blue, becoming even more obvious when in sharp contrast to the yellow Sitrus Berries that it was eating out of Tranquil's bag. Tranquil lightly patted Icstra on the head and the Pokemon chirped as it rubbed its fur against Tranquil's hand.

"Do you...have a trainer yet?" Tranquil asked and Icstra shook its head from side to side. Tranquil was surprised to learn this, considering how friendly it was and willing to help a human stranger like her. She looked inside her bag for a Pokeball to try and catch Icstra in if it really wanted to, but she found that she had used all of them in repelling the Spearow and Raticate that attacked her before. Tranquil sighed but put on a smile regardless and asked Icstra,

"Hey, would you mind travelling with me through Route 2? I'm not exactly in my own element and I could use someone more adapted, like you."

Icstra made eye contact with Tranquil and chirped as it flapped its wings and sat perched on Tranquil's shoulder. Tranquil smiled and said,

"I'm glad. You won't regret it, trust me."

Notes:

Hey everyone, thanks for reading. A new Pokemon joins Tranquil's arsenal, and you'll learn more about them in the next chapter!