Frozen Resolve

Chapter 19: Worldcore

(Spark's POV)

I hopped off Lapras's back, quickly paid the fee, and dashed across the shore. I haven't seen her in so long! I can't wait to see how successful she is! I sure hope nothing terrible happened to her!

My heart was pounding as I raced through Hazy Pass. Part of me was eager to see my sister, but another part was worried about whether some madness happened here.

It wasn't long before I became a sweaty mess. "Ragged Mountains, that's pretty close to where they are if I remember it right!" I marched through the terrains.

It took me perhaps an hour to arrive at a small oasis. The greenish scenery and the beautiful view...and WHY IS A TOMBSTONE IN THE GRASS? My fur stood on the end, and a shiver ran down my spine just by looking at it. "Don't look at it, Spark! Just close your eyes and walk past it!"

A cute mushroom house came into view. I approached it and saw an elegant Ninetales wearing a light blue hat. Her fluffy fur bristled with the wind while she watered the flowers. She looks nice...snap out of it, Spark! You gotta get rid of your bad habit of staring at fluffy girls!

"Hello! Your hat looks nice!" I looked away while trying to not blush or stutter. Great, what kind of conversation starter is that, Spark? "Thank you for your compliment, mister! I'll be ready in a minute!" her voice seemed too familiar. "Sure! No problem!"

After a few minutes, she dropped her watering can and emerged from behind the bushes. "Hey..." my mind blanked out when I saw her elegant body. "Hey? That's all you're gonna say?" she questioned, obviously bewildered by my behavior. Shet! I've been staring for too long!

"U-um...miss, have you seen perhaps a Luxio around? Perhaps a Vulpix, too. I've heard that they live around here." a feeling of dread crept up my back as soon as the question left my mouth. Her face twisted slightly. "Seriously?"

"Um...did I do something wrong?" I couldn't help but ask despite feeling something heading south. "Are you stupid?" she asked. Crap. "Yes, I am. Is there something I should have noticed?" I couldn't react before her paw smacked me across the face. "Ow...that hurt. This pain certainly tells me something..."

"Spark, what's wrong with you? How have you not noticed who I am?" she yelled. "Ogh...nice to meet you, Icy. Congrats on evolving! Your parents will be so proud of you..." I rubbed my cheek. I was sure there'd be a pawprint if I looked at a mirror now.

"Yeah...sorry that I evolved without telling you. I didn't want to either, but some nerdy asshat had to touch me with a stone!" Icy growled in frustration. "Wow, that must have sucked," I said as I slowly returned to my senses after the slap. SMACK!

"OGH! What was that for?" I wailed, holding my other cheek. "For arriving so late! You said you'd be here as fast as possible!" she yelled. "Congratulations, you broke a new record!" a voice came from above the house. "Kuro! When did you get there?"

"Finished my part of the mission early. By the way, holy shit! What a god! Nobody's ever taken a punch from Icy and remained conscious, let alone two!" he exclaimed. "My body's here, but my brain is possibly dead..."

"Speaking of which...sorry...for a lot of things..." I mumbled. "Such as?" Icy growled. "The two things that you just slapped me for. I'm not telling you the third one unless you promise you won't smack me..." my cheeks still ached from the last two. SMACK! "Go ahead, you can say it now."

I blacked out.

"Yeah...I made the graduation thing too hard for them..." I got the words out of my mouth after waking up. "I guess they'll have to try again then. I'm not mad about Bakey failing the test, but Blossom might be angry about Matt failing it. Say, who did you find as your partners?"