Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 80: Quick Trip to Snowpoint

"I made my detour to Snowpoint to get reinforcements, as planned, in the form of Gym Leader Candice. I used my writ of challenge, to challenge her gym, and let her know what was going on. As you know, someone was intercepting any other messages to Snowpoint Gym, even the official Pokémon League communications. Team Galactic was trying to isolate the most isolated city in Sinnoh. Lyss came with me—I couldn't stop her; I don't know why. I was supposed to go alone, but she didn't really slow me down, so I couldn't complain. Though, it was one of the few times I wish I could've gone with Niya. Her advice—or even just a chance to talk with her about what had happened since Mt. Coronet recently would have been nice. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers."

Sam and Alyssandra pushed their Rapidash at a gentle cantor. They needed to rush, but not to kill their Pokémon.

The snow thinned a bit, and roads were carved from the ice and snow as they neared civilization. The trees thinned too, letting in more sunlight between their evergreen branches.

The trip had passed in silence.

Alyssandra looked as worried as Sam felt.

Finally, Sam broke the silence as an owl hooted somewhere in the distance; the sun had begun to set.

"You're worried too," he stated more than asked.

Alyssandra noted. "I feel sick with worry," she replied, "Something bad might happen while we're gone."

Sam's feeling was similar. He wasn't certain enough to reassure her that she was wrong, however. The further they got from the encampment, the longer they were away, the further Sam's gut sunk in worry.

Something bad was going to happen.

That feeling kept nagging at him in the back of his mind, though he kept pushing it down, ignoring it as paranoia.

"We have Lucario, he'll let us know if something is wrong," smiled Sam, trying to ease his own worry as much as Alyssandra's, "For now, we just need to focus on our mission."

Sam placed a hand on Lucario's Poké Ball.

The Pokémon stirred within it; Sam could feel it in his mind.

Silence returned to Sam and Alyssandra and Sam's thoughts finally turned to the Gym Battle before him.

He had to make the battle happen—partly for his bid for the Pokémon League, but partly to prevent suspicions from Team Galactic spies interrupting official messages to the Gym Leader.

If he showed up and didn't battle Candice, they could unleash a full torrent attack before the spy was found and have the Lake Acuity Guardian stolen before Sam got back.

Really there was no guarantee they couldn't or wouldn't do that anyway with Sam gone, but Sam had faith that his friends could hold off Team Galactic. Long enough, at least, for him to return with Candice and her reinforcements.

Sam's plan was simple.

Battle and defeat Candice like normal, and then let her know what was going on. Find the spy and send Candice and some trainers back to the fortress to defend it from Team Galactic.

As long as the encampment could hold out a little while longer, things would be okay.

Okay, maybe not that simple.

But for now, he needed to think about how he was going to beat Candice.

He had some decent advantages.

Lucario would be the perfect match up and asset against Ice Types, being both Fighting and Steel.

Empoleon would be a good choice, the Steel typing gave the Pokémon an advantage, and the Water Typing gave it more resistance to Ice Types.

Garchomp and Staraptor were out of the question, Garchomp took double the damage from Ice Types, and Staraptor was weak to Ice Types as well, being a Flying Type.

Luxray wouldn't be bad to sub in in an emergency.

But more than anything, Sam was hoping on—and planning on—using his Rampardos.

Rock Type hit like a truck, decent defence, Flamethrower.

Rampardos was ideal for dealing with hard, rigid Ice Types.

She would smash right through them without effort.

Sam smiled. He'd be only one badge away from the Pokémon League after tomorrow—provided everyone survived the onslaught of Team Galactic.

Sam wasn't sure him and his friends could stop the Creator Pokémon with some pretty gems and a flute, even with Nilama's guidance and help.

Sam turned to Alyssandra once more, as another hoot from the owl above snapped him from his mournful thoughts. "Why did you chose to come with me?" asked Sam suddenly, not realizing the question was both so close to the surface, and also hadn't been asked yet.

Alyssandra didn't turn to look at Sam. In fact, she turned away, to look at the trees, though Sam could see the tips of her ears were pink, something he—at the time—attributed to the cold.

"I..." started Alyssandra, "I don't know. I just felt like...you needed someone here with you. To support you."

"For what?" asked Sam, confused as to what she meant by support.

Alyssandra shrugged. "Not sure," she replied simply, "You've got a Gym Battle coming up, and you haven't fought a Gym Battle without anyone watching yet, it might shake you up. I don't know."

"I think I would have been fine," laughed Sam.

Alyssandra shrugged, but still didn't choose to look at Sam. "I don't know. I chose to come, and now I'm here. I'm not leaving. Do...do you not want me here?"

Sam stammered. "No, not at all! I mean—I mean I want you to be here. I...really enjoy spending time with you. I mean, just look at these past few days, I've...had more fun spending time with you on patrol than any other time on this adventure. Every moment we spend together...I uh...I cherish them."

Alyssandra looked at Sam, wary, like a deer meeting a bear for the first time. She didn't know exactly how to make out what Sam said, or how to make sense of it. In the end she smiled, cheeks flushed red as the two pressed on silently on the back of their Pokémon.

It wasn't much longer until they were in sight of Snowpoint City.

"We're almost there," smiled Alyssandra, "But at least we'll be back to the fort sooner."

Sam nodded. "A shame we can't hang around a little longer, I would have loved to have seen Snowpoint Ruins...maybe we could have find another answer towards what's inside that box."

Sam motioned towards Alyssandra's bag.

She knew what he meant. The mysterious box taken from the Solaceon Ruins, filled with mystical tiles.

No one knew what they did, what they meant, or what they were originally used for, and truth be told, in all the excitement since Solaceon Town, combined with their inability to figure anything out with the box, had led to the group forgetting about it completely.

They hadn't touched it in a while, but Alyssandra still kept it in her bag, under lock and key—the aforementioned key being kept around her neck on a necklace.

"We should figure the box out first before we start throwing new mysteries into the mix," laughed Alyssandra.

Sam laughed too.

The laughter ended as they reached the edge of Snowpoint City.

Stone streets, cobbled and worn, lead down to the harbour of frozen water, where icebreakers and other boats shattered the larger pieces of ice to allow the massive shipping tankers to go in and out of the small gulf in which the city sat.

The whole city was modernized, but still, old, ancient, artistic, and rustic.

It was a beautiful mix of new and old that twinkled in the sunset as the snow started to fall upon the city.

"We're here," smiled Sam, "Snowpoint City."