Pokemon: Fire and Ice

Chapter 5

Everything was still. The mighty trees did not stir, their leaves not even rustling. The air was unmoving: making everything unearthly quiet and if there was a sound, it would echo. There wasn't even noise from the creatures of the forest, as they held their breath. At last, the realm moved when there was a great flap of wings.

Immediately branches and leaves began to dance as trees bent over. Large clouds of dust flew in all directions, disturbing anything that happened to be in slumber. The air vibrated with a whooshing sound and began to circulate with the added warmth.

Reshiram slammed her paws on the ground, making it tremble. She folded her wings on her back and she looked around with curiosity. The forest was finally coming alive, whispering about the arrival of the Legendary Dragon, but it was still quieter than usual. Reshiram was starting to take notice that more and more forests were becoming still.

But understanding nothing could be done for now, the Vast White Dragon continued on. She walked across the forest floor, stomping with each step and filling the air with crashing noises. Humph, maybe she should've flown a little longer. She had a feeling she would reveal her presence faster this way.

She had no choice, though, as nearby was the village of Lacunosa. If she was seen from the sky, it would cause quite a commotion. She remembered the last time she was here with her previous hero, the people were apprehensive towards her. And judging from her vantage point from her flight, Lacunosa almost hadn't changed at all. So she decided to be safe rather than sorry.

She hushed her rampage as she came closer to the village. And as she neared even more, she decided it was time...

***

A beautiful woman walked through the western gates of Lacunosa's walls. Her outfit that was all pure-white, more so than fresh snow. She wore shorts that only stretched midway down her thighs, but made up for the lack of leg clothing with boots that reached her knees. The boots had a two-inch heel, making a clacking sound with each step. She wore a sleeveless shirt with a small collar that hugged her neck. Wrapping around her outfit was a long coat that fell to her ankles with long sleeves that had to be folded back over her wrist. Its many buckles were undone, having the coat flap like a cape. The only jewelry she had was a pair of earrings that were in a shape of a curvy "9," the end sharpening to a point.

Matching her outfit, the woman had short pure-white hair. It was cut close to her scalp, but just long enough to give her a feminine appearance. Loose bangs fell to her eyes, waving with each movement. The only real color she had was her intense, electric-blue eyes. She was well-tanned, so her skin stuck out beneath the pale clothing.

As the woman walked through the cobblestone streets of Lacunosa Town, she was well aware of many stares trained on her. As an isolated town filled with elders tied to old customs, the people were questionable towards strangers. Especially since this one was unusually dressed. Pokémon, however, would glance at the woman with either curiosity or awe before going about their business. They knew she was no threat. After all, it was only Reshiram.

There really wasn't anything special here—Reshiram was even wondering why she came. But Lacunosa was the closest town to where the incident with the Cryogonal happened. And it did have an interesting history. It was even near the Giant Chasm, where many ice-types resided. Maybe the dragon-in-disguise could learn something.

So as the people eyed her, Reshiram subtly peered at them. Most of them were ordinary humans who had lived here most of their lives, as well as their Pokémon. It wasn't until she was almost on the other side of the town Reshiram came across some conspicuous individuals.

They were dressed as citizens and appeared normal, but they seemed to be making too much of an attempt to stay unnoticed. Most of them had their heads bent down, averted eye contact, and avoided any form of touching. But Reshiram could tell they were also subtly observing their surroundings, especially at merged groups of Pokémon and humans. The most noticing feature was the Reshiram sensed black thoughts coming from them. Not as evil at the Cryogonal, but they wished to do crime that was part of a scheme to disturb the balance of Unova.