The Frostbitten Land

Chapter 5

A/N: This is majorly just filler. Last part are sorta important.

Herbert was tired. This Frostbite crap was just draining the life out of him at this point. Ever since that call, he and his Executives had been trying to figure what to do about the situation for hours. Their goal was very ambitious, and very dangerous. Herbert would brush it off as some crazy people doing their own thing if not for his.. Prior experiences. 

Eventually though, night had fallen, and they'd gotten nowhere. Figuring out how they'd turn Hoenn into Elsa's Dreamland, as Charles had put it.. Was quite tough. They'd pulled up everything they'd found on Frostbite, trying to see their goals. And.. Nothing. They couldn't make much of a connection.

They'd determined that the blizzards that had erupted around the area were probably due to Frostbite. One of the Admins had been stationed at Mt.Pyre as a result, seeing as it seemed to have the strongest and most destructive snowstorms in the region. Maybe the plan was to import tons of Abomasnow to make Hoenn frozen enough.. But he doubted one could survive in Hoenn. The weather here was hot, and they'd need to be taken care of constantly. 

Edward had suggested a giant ice-beam death ray at one point. Somehow, Herbert couldn't help but find it plausible.. A lot of things were possible if you put your mind hard enough to it. The only flaw with that was.. Why not start with that? 

If Herbert was honest, it seemed like Frostbite was trying to get their attention. As if they knew about Gaia before they came. How else would they have captured the Slateport scouts so easily.. And then there was the matter of Friger knowing his phone already.  If.. If onl-

"Hey Herbie!", Diana said, shaking him out of his thoughts. He looked up from his desk and at the wide-open door. Diana was there, one hand holding her trusty Trapinch and the other using a crutch to stand. Despite her enthusiastic reply, she seemed.. Worried? 

".. Knock next time, Diana. This is my personal office.", Herbert reminded her, sitting up straight. He wanted to look perfect. Diana only frowned in worry, her yellow eyes seeming.. Sad. Herbert wasn't sure. He'd never been sure about that kinda stuff.

"Sorry, I just wanted to check up on you, since it's almost 1 am", Diana revealed, surprising Herbert. He looked at the clock on his desk, and true to Diana's word, it was 1am. To be precise, 1:06 a.m. Had he really been staying up this late while sorting through documents and looking up anything he could find on Frostbite?

"I'm fine. Leave me alone, Diana.", Herbert said. The girl didn't budge though. It irked him a lot when someone blatantly disobeyed his order. He was the Leader of the team, and usually people respected his orders. Diana though.. She was a different thing altogether. Her Trapinch seemed to frown at him angrily at his dismissal, but Diana didn't seem to mind as much.

"You've been overworking yourself, Herbie. You should get some rest.", Diana urged him. Herbert huffed deeply, pinching his nose. He appreciated her worry but..

"Diana, I have work to do. You can go and get some rest. You'll need it.", Herbert finally responded. Those yellow eyes seemed.. Disappointed? Despondent? He wasn't sure what was the word, but Diana nodded, closing the door silently. Herbert breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing into the chair. He still had work to do, he couldn't just.. Slack off.

He stared at the picture on his table. It was him from a younger age, about 8 or 9 years old. He was still the same golden-eyed kid, a poker face still present. He'd always had one. A Swampert was on his left, a band wrapped around its arm. Herbert instinctively touched his chest, where his necklace would be. He didn't have that keystone anymore though..