They settled in a nearby, almost desolated park which overlooked the inner rings of the town towards the ruins. Inyssa and Barry stood opposite Cynthia, who playfully moved the Ultraball between her fingers.

"This will be an official battle." Her voice was loud and clear from that distance. "League rules: Whichever side runs out of usable fighters shall lose." She looked down at the Ultraball. "This particular Pokemon is one I recently caught. I've been training him so he can someday be part of my team. He should prove a good challenge for the both of you."

Inyssa's fingers tightened against Kuro's Pokeball. "I get the feeling you're underestimating us a little."

"It's the other way around," Cynthia shrugged. "I'm giving you the fairest chance you're going to get. Now, show me what you can do."

The black and gold ball flew upwards, exploding into a circle of light that fell to the ground a moment after. It materialized into a quadruped creature, no bigger than Kuro. His face was soft, with a short snout and long, pointed ears. His eyes were bright and pupil-less. Six fluffy tails grew from his back, waving slightly in the wind as if they were tufts of cotton.

Inyssa narrowed her eyes, hesitant. She recognized the Pokemon as a Vulpix, but…

"It's… all white," Barry whispered next to her. "Aren't Vulpix supposed to be orange?" Suddenly his eyes went wide and he gasped. "Oh! Is it a shiny!? I've never seen one of those before!"

Inyssa shook her head. "Shiny Vulpix are gold, not white," she said. "Besides, it's not just the color that's different."

A satisfied grin formed on Cynthia's face. "You have good eyes," she said. "Indeed, this is no ordinary Vulpix. He's a recent addition from my trip to Alola. Feel free to use your Pokédex on him."

She didn't need to be told twice; with a flourish of her hand Inyssa grabbed the device from her pocket and pointed it at the creature. A red light flickered on the corner and an electronic voice spoke shortly after:

Vulpix: The Mystic Fox Pokemon – Regional Variant: Ice/Fairy Type: This species has undergone a drastic change in their anatomy due to living for so long in the snowy peaks of Mount Lanakila. They live in packs as to protect themselves, with only one Ninetales as their leader. They can create ice shards with the tips of their tails and their breath is cold enough to freeze the moisture in the air.

"Regional variant…" Inyssa whispered to herself. "I thought that was a rumor."

Barry nodded, "Then… it's true? Some Pokemon can change their type depending on where they live?" Excitement was clear in his tone, bubbling under the surface of his voice. "That's amazing! That Vulpix is so cute and I wanna pet it!"

She turned to look at the Vulpix, who was busy licking his tiny paw and then using it to clean the fluffy tuff of hair on top of his head. As much as she hated to admit it, she agreed completely with her friend's sentiment.

"There'll be plenty of time for that after the battle," said Cynthia. "Now, shall we start?"

Inyssa and Barry's Pokeballs opened at the same time, their combined flash of light materializing into Kuro and Razen. The first lowered his body almost to the ground, the fur on his back crackling with electricity, while the second simply stood with his arms crossed. Both flashed a smile at their seemingly harmless opponent; Razen's was mocking, while Kuro's was slightly sadistic.

"Adequate choice. Now…" Cynthia raised her arm to the sky, grinning from ear to ear. "Let the battle begin! Inyssa Dawn, Barry Paladino, show me what you're truly made of!"

"Yeah!" their voices echoed in unison.

Inyssa threw her hand forward, "Spark!"

"Aqua Jet!" Barry yelled a moment after.

Both Pokemon jumped forward as if propelled by springs, a coat of their own elements swirling around them. The air cackled and split behind them as they flew like bullets through the air, two bright blurs of blue and yellow now almost on top of their opponent.

Vulpix, frowning ever so slightly, lowered his front legs and did a short jump, cart-wheeling on the air. His body hovered for a moment, back facing the ground, and he could see his opponents mere moments from him. He hit the ground with all six of his tails. A small shock-wave erupted around him as his body was shot upwards almost ten feet; more than enough to avoid the double assault that would've surely put him out of the fight.

Razen and Kuro stopped on their hind legs, slightly dragging themselves and barely avoiding clashing against each other. They looked up at the sky, the light of the sun blinding them for a moment. Vulpix' figure stood out like a shadow against the intense light.

A few feet from them, Cynthia swatted the air with one hand and yelled. "Hail!"

Vulpix closed his eyes, his body taking on a bright white glow as he drew out all of his power into a single spot. He could feel the air crystallizing around him, wisps of cold rising like mist from his fur.

"Vaaaaa!"

With a cry that came from the deepest part of him, Vulpix extended all four legs, releasing the attack. The glow of his body exploded outwards, forming a maelstrom of glacial wind that covered the entire battlefield in a dome of cold. The moisture inside slowly started to freeze, forming jagged pieces of ice that flew like knives in every direction.

"F-fuck!" Inyssa yelled on the other side of the arena, hugging herself as her legs shook and teeth chattered. "K-Kuro, try to dodge!"

"Razen, look out for Vulpix!" Barry said, not quite as bothered by the cold as her.

Both Pokemon could barely see each other inside the hailstorm. Most of their attention was set on avoiding the hundreds of ice spikes swirling all around them, and with what little time they had left they tried to look for their opponent. However, even with Kuro's sharp sight locating him was impossible. He was nowhere to be seen; maybe if he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the sound of his footsteps…

Just then he heard Cynthia issuing a command. "Aurora Beam!"

His breathing came to a halt as he heard a strange crackling at his right. His fur stood up and he lowered his legs to jump out of the way, but he was too late. A blinding, rainbow-colored beam of light reached his right hind leg. He let out a yelp as a sharp cold penetrated his skin like needles. Looking down he saw that the fur on his leg was completely frozen; even his paw seemed stuck to the ground.

His eyes went bloodshot with anger. As he snarled to the hailstorm one single thought came to mind: If… no, when he found that fluffy bastard, he'd make sure to tear him apart limb from limb.

"Kuro! Shake that off with your electricity!" Inyssa yelled.

"Razen, Water Gun to where that attack came from!"

With a growl of pain Kuro coated his leg in as much electricity as he could, thawing it out. Meanwhile, breathing in deep, Razen spat forward a formidable torrent of water which momentarily tore through the hailstorm toward where he thought his opponent was. It phased into nothing.

Fur standing up in frustration, Razen let out a cry of anger and spat another Water Gun at the hailstorm, this time swinging in all directions as the torrent of water covered most of the arena. Still, he hit nothing. He could've sworn he saw small flashes of white and heard the sound of paws against the ground a couple times, but they disappeared as soon as he noticed them.

"I don't get it! Where is he?" Barry muttered, clearly exasperated. "It's like he turned into mist or something."

Inyssa's nose perked up at the sound of that. Could it be…?

She took the Pokédex from her pocket and pointed it directly at the battlefield, whispering into it; "Vulpix, regional variant. Special ability."

The electronic voice came to life once more:

Snow Cloak: An ability shared by few Ice-Type Pokemon. Due to living in frozen peaks constantly assaulted by blizzards they've learnt to perfectly camouflage themselves in any kind of hailstorm. From the outside it will look as though their bodies had turned into mist. This makes them incredibly hard to locate and attack.

"Thanks for the advice on how to counter it, jackass," she whispered. The Pokédex desperately needed fewer nerds and more trainers who documented the actually important information people like her needed for battles.

She heard Cynthia's voice from the other side of the storm. "Good job on identifying the problem, Inyssa! Now let's see if you can solve it." Even from that far she could hear the smile in her voice. "You probably already figured this out, but sending out your Staravia would've been the correct choice. His Keen Eye ability would've been able to locate Vulpix without a problem."

And what good is telling me now? Inyssa thought bitterly.

She needed to come up with a plan, that was for sure. Through the thick wind and mist she could see their Pokemon endlessly pelted by the ice shards swirling all around. There was a time limit to the fight.

To her surprise it was Barry who declared an order next. With that bright, wide smile of his he sent his hand forward, the glint of one of his wacky ideas flashing in his eyes.

"Come on, this one's easy!" he declared. "Razen, use Aqua Jet and run in a circle around the hail!"

The Buizel did as he was told; coating his body in water he propelled himself towards the edge of the hailstorm and began to circle it. His speed was such that Inyssa couldn't locate him; all she could see was an orange and blue circle blurring in and out. She narrowed her eyes; what the hell was the point of that? Sure, it would prevent Vulpix from escaping, but why would he want to when the hailstorm kept him safe and hidden? What reason would he have for…?

Her eyes went wide with realization.

"You really are a genius," she whispered, turning towards the fight. "Kuro! Use Spark and run in a spiral from the center outwards!"

Still seething in rage, it took the Luxio a moment to process her orders; though once he understood them a wicked grin flashed across his face. Having a trainer sure was handy; they had the necessary brains to come up with the best way to annihilate one's opponent.

He jumped towards the center of the storm, zapping away any incoming ice shards as they landed on him. In the distance he heard the sound of Cynthia's voice and a moment after another beam of light tore through the hail at his right. Of course; the blasted thing had attacked him while he was in the middle of the air so he couldn't dodge. He grinned to himself, how little that woman and her bastard of a Pokemon knew him.

With a thought he discharged the stored electricity inside of him, sending it all to his muscles and nerves. A moment after, he was gone. To anyone looking from the outside it must've appeared as if he vanished into thin air, but only because they possessed the poor sight of humans. He landed on the ground a moment after, the trajectory of his previous jump crackling with residual energy.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

He began to run in ever growing circles, like his trainer had ordered him to. The world around him became an incomprehensible blur of shapes and colors, the only thing he could see clearly being the glowing beams of electricity he left behind him. That, coupled with the static that had begun to materialize above him would ensure that his opponent had no possible place to run. That last part wasn't in the plan, but no one needed to know that.

He spotted the Vulpix halfway through his path. Just his afterimage, the wisps of white mist he left behind as he disappeared into the storm. Still, he could mentally map his trajectory from the breaks in the wind; he was heading to the edge of the storm, probably planning to attack Buizel and form some sort of escape.

Kuro's eyes flashed, red as rubies. He would not let him.

Forcing his muscles to their limits he ran faster yet, his body almost a bolt of lightning. With time almost slowing down around him, he finally found the bastard and charged at him. His forehead clashed against the Vulpix' side, creating a shock-wave that briefly dispelled the storm in a small circle around them. The fox Pokemon was sent flying like a bullet towards the edge, where Razen was waiting for him. Still covered in a coat of water he veered to the side, head-butting him on the back and sending him tumbling into the dirt.

"Yeah, that's it Razen!" Barry yelled at the other side of the arena, pumping his fist into the air.

"Nice one, Kuro!" Inyssa added. "Now we just have to finish him o–"

Her voice trailed off as she looked at the Vulpix whom, by all means, should've been struggling to even move. That was not the case. He simply jumped back and shook his head, as if the previous attacks had been nothing but mild slaps. To add insult to injury he raised one of his paws and began to lick it nonchalantly.

Inyssa could physically feel Kuro's hatred from where she stood. She was pretty sure that, were he not on his last leg and panting with exhaustion, he would've jumped at Vulpix and sank his fangs into him until his fur went from white to crimson red.

"B-but… that doesn't make sense!" Inyssa complained. "Vulpix are fragile! How is he still standing!?"

She could see Cynthia press a hand against her lips, stifling laughter.

"Might I suggest you take a closer look at him?" she offered. "Perhaps use that handy Pokédex of yours?"

"Wait, I see it!" Barry elbowed her slightly, pointing at Vulpix. "Niss, look at his fur!"

She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look. It… did seem like there was something strange about it. It might've been a trick of the light, maybe the sun against the ice shards inside the hailstorm, but it almost looked like he was surrounded by a veil of rainbow-colored aura. She raised her Pokédex without thinking:

Aurora Veil: A recently discovered move known to very few Ice-Types. It allows the user to call onto the mystic power of the Aurora Polaris, surrounding itself with an almost impenetrable defense of solid light. It can only be used during a hailstorm.

Inyssa's eyes went wide; she'd never heard of a move like that, not even back in trainer school. Could it be…?

"That is, indeed, a move of my own creation. One of my proudest achievements, if I do say so myself," Cynthia smiled brightly, placing a hand against her chest. "And I still have another trick up my sleeve, if you'd care to see it. Vulpix; Freeze Dry!"

They had no time to react. Closing his eyes, Vulpix took in a deep breath and called onto the storm. As if the wind itself were obeying him, the hail stopped swirling in circles and retreated back to the one that had called it, until he was surrounded by a smaller, albeit much more powerful storm.

"I suggest you two move to the side." Cynthia raised her index finger, smiling.

"Vaa!"

Vulpix let out a piercing scream, commanding the storm to explode forward in a straight line. Half in fear and half in shock Inyssa grabbed Barry's arm and dragged him to the side before the wind could reach them. It froze the ground as it traveled, swallowing Kuro and Razen whole.

It took the mist about ten seconds to dispel itself into the air. Inyssa looked back, lower lip shaking, and felt her heart jump to her throat as she saw Kuro's unconscious body. He laid on his back on top of a row of ice flows that had been formed by the attack. Most of the fur on his body was tinted white.

"What!?"

Barry's sudden yell startled her out of her shock. She turned first to see his dismayed expression and next towards Razen, who stood frozen to his knees and barely conscious. His muscles shook violently as he tried to free himself, to no avail.

"But… he's a water type!" Barry complained. "He's supposed to resist the cold!"

Inyssa stood similarly stunned, knowing not how to react. Cynthia didn't say anything for a few moments, instead choosing to silently congratulate her Vulpix as she returned him to his Pokeball. She headed towards them with the ease and nonchalance characteristic of her.

"What you meant to say is that he's resistant to ice attacks," she said. "A water Pokemon's outer thermal protection allows them to repel them easily. However, Freeze Dry is a move that creates a cold powerful enough to penetrate fur and skin. Then, since they have much more water inside them than any other type of Pokemon, they suffer the effects twice as much."

She turned her head to look at Razen, who could barely keep himself conscious. "I suggest you return him to his Pokeball, lest he goes into shock from the cold."

Barry did so without a second thought, and Inyssa returned Kuro a moment after. They then stood in silence, staring at the ground for what felt like much longer than a few seconds. They'd lost, swiftly and humiliatingly as Cynthia had predicted. Worse of all, it'd been in a two against one match, and not even while fighting one of her fully trained Pokemon.

Inyssa tried to swallow down her shame, though it went about as well as if she'd tried to eat a handful of gravel.

"Alright then!" Cynthia clapped her hands. "Shall we go to the festival? It should start any minute now."

A few seconds passed in silence.

"You're… not going to say anything about the battle?" Inyssa asked. "We kinda…"

"Sucked," Barry added, frowning.

Cynthia simply waved the matter off with a flick of her hand.

"Oh… trust me, you did better than many would've done," she said. "Besides, I hate when people try to console me after a loss; it always feels condescending. Instead I'd rather treat you to a wonderful day of festivities, so that you may wash down the bitter taste of defeat."

----------------------------------------

Cyrus stood still and silent in the middle of the crowded room, his breathing slow and his eyes set on nothing. Were it not for his intimidating presence, not one of the many Galactic grunts around him would've noticed him.

However all eyes were on him now, expectant and anxious. He could see the doubt in his subordinate's eyes; the slow creeping regret that had been building up thanks to their growing list of recent failures. He needed to change that.

Today is a good day for a miracle, he thought to himself.

"Jupiter." He spoke, and the entire room grew silent. "Are you ready?"

The woman shivered slightly at the sound of his voice, turning to look at him. Her uniform, for once, was ironed and cleaned and the bags under her eyes were considerably smaller. Cyrus had spent the last week coming up with a recipe for a strong tonic that would help her commander better endure the harsh effects of her hangovers. The last thing he needed was for their mission to fall because of something as feeble as that.

"Yes, I have the machine here with me," she replied, voice rough as sandpaper. In her left hand she held a small, electronic device akin to a metal ball with a button on it.

"Good. Remember that it is a weaker version of the one I'll be using. It will last only ten minutes." He didn't take his eyes off her as he spoke, which made Jupiter's shoulders tense up. "Head down directly to Mars' cell and retrieve Ditto; nothing else matters. Do you understand?"

"Y-yeah. No need to worry."

He gave a small, stiff nod and turned to his right, where Charon waited patiently, a stack of papers in hand. His half-moon glasses failed to hide the excitement in his eyes.

"Eager to see your experiment in action?" Cyrus asked, tone plain. "That is unbecoming of a Galactic commander, Charon. Instead I'd have you hope that everything goes according to plan."

The man grumbled under his breath, in a way that could've been understood as a Yes, sir. Behind him, almost hidden by shadows, stood a bipedal, bird-like Pokemon. The tips of his white wings were colored red and black, and the way he folded them in front of him made it look as if he were wearing a tunic. His expression was remarkably blank.

"Make sure Xatu is following my brain waves, so that he may know at all times where I am," he reminded Charon. "The moment I give the signal, he must use Ally Switch. Do you understand?"

"Of course, sir."

"I expect the Unovan Project will be ready for deployment?" He phrased it in a way that made it clear it wasn't a question. "Along with the disrupting device?"

"Yes, of course. All you need to do is give the signal and it'll activate and come to you."

Cyrus nodded once more. "And to all of you…" The volume of his voice barely rose as he addressed the rest of the grunts around him. "Wait patiently here, and be alert. You know what your task is."

"Yes, sir!"

The cacophony of voices made him flinch, though not with irritation or anything of the like. How he wished that would've been the case…

Taking in a deep breath, he tasted the heavy silence around him for a few more moments. He felt so tired, even though he'd made sure to sleep a few hours the night before, in preparation.

He'd have to make do. Too much hung on the result of today's missions. If all went well, their plans might be able to be forwarded a few months ahead; a pleasant development indeed.

"Let us go, then," he said, turning towards the exit with cold, empty resolution.

----------------------------------------

"I still don't trust her."

Inyssa sighed in between each chomp of the cone of cotton candy in her hand. Next to her Barry held a similar one, though orange and twice as tall, like he'd requested it. Even so, he'd almost gotten through all of it, the boy's sweet tooth knowing no bounds.

All around them were the familiar sounds of enjoyment and jubilee, coming from the citizens of Celestic and the few outsiders like them who'd come to have a good time. Luckily this particular festival was not as obnoxiously loud as the one they'd visited in Solaceon, thank god. If there was one thing she liked about the people of this dingy, old town was that they knew how to appreciate silence. People rarely raised their volume or shouted, for their voice had the strange knack of being heard more widely and easily than most.

It was as if the wind itself came to a halt for them. Nowhere had this been more clear than with Cynthia and her grandmother; whenever they spoke it was as if the world were holding its breath. Not even nature would dare interrupt them.

Coincidentally, the strange blonde woman was the very topic Inyssa and Barry were discussing at the moment.

"You're just mad 'cause we lost to her." Barry shrugged, and a moment after debated whether to take a step away from his friend. "Don't give me that murder-y look, you know it's true! She beat us fair and square."

"Your face is a square," she grumbled into her cotton candy as she took another bite. "It's not just that, though. I don't know why but I get this weird vibe whenever I'm around her. I feel like I'm missing something." She scrunched up her face. "You're telling me she's a lore-nut and that's it? And she's the most skilled trainer we've met so far?"

Barry shrugged. "She told us she's been training for years, right? You're being a conspiracy nut job." He pointed at her with what little remained of his cotton candy. "Though now that you mention it, we never got around to ask her how she knew about those weird plates."

"We'll get a chance to ask her when she shows us the ruins later." She waved him off with a flick of her hand. "Now let's go where she told us, I think something's about to start in the podium there."

The festival itself grew from the part of the town that climbed up to the side of Mt Coronet, and was situated in many streets from the top of the town and going down in a slight spiral. A few streets down lay the park they'd met Carolina in, which served as the main podium for the event. The park was kind of like a stadium and the streets of the festival were the stands, so to speak.

Cynthia had suggested they head to the park first, since there would be some kind of speech to begin the festival the right way. She hadn't much idea what that meant, but she felt strangely excited for some reason. It was as if she was forgetting something important, which was par for the course with her shitty memory.

They moved down, as close to the park as they possibly could, though it wasn't easy since almost the entirety of the rest of the town headed there was well. Since there was nothing that made her more horribly anxious than being stuck in a sea of people, she decided to stay a street back along with Barry. Far away enough so that she didn't have to rub elbows with people, but not so much that they couldn't hear what was being said.

At the edges of the street and mounted atop black tripods sat the cameras and speakers that had been set up for the event. Apparently it would be broadcasted to the entire world, though if Inyssa's previous experiences were anything to go by she was pretty sure not many folk outside of Sinnoh would be interested in such an event, much less the people of Kanto.

"Look! A guy's walking to the podium," Barry pointed excitedly.

Indeed, a short man with a suit walked to the wooden stand built around the gazebo, stopping in front of the makeshift microphone they'd installed there.

"Before the festival proper begins, there is someone who would like to have a word with all of you," he said in a monotone voice. "I hereby present you; the Champion of Sinnoh."

Inyssa's heart jumped to her throat, which choked out the gasp she would've let out otherwise. Barry's eyes went wide and he unconsciously let go of the cotton candy, letting it fall to the ground.

"I… I can't believe I forgot!" Inyssa yelled, putting both hands on her hat. "That's the entire reason we came here! I forgot the Champion was gonna come too!"

"S-shoot!" Barry stammered, looking as if he'd been doused with icy water. "N-Niss! Is my hair okay!? How do I look!? Do you think we can get an autograph or…"

He put one hand on her shoulder, but she was next to catatonic with fear and anticipation. The Champion… she was going to meet the Champion. She wanted to say something, to put on a fierce face should the woman look her direction when she walked up the podium, but she was completely frozen.

Shit, shit! What do I do? Do I walk to her after the speech and challenge her? Will she let me do that? What if she's nothing like I imagined her? What if she's awful? Oh dear Synn above what the hell do I do!?

She didn't have much time to waddle in her anxiety, as someone appeared from behind the podium and started walking up the tiny stairs towards the microphone. Like it had happened before, it felt as if the world itself had gone to a pause, waiting for the woman to act and speak. From afar Inyssa could hear the thump of her shoes against the wooden floor, which perfectly mirrored the frenzied beating of her heart.

The woman delicately put one hand on the base of the microphone, interlacing the fingers of the other with the cable as she lifted it up. Her stormy grey eyes were unmistakable even from that distance, and her beautiful blonde hair shone as if it were made of sunlight.

Cynthia's lips curled up, and the entire world felt the weight of her smile.

"Welcome, each and every single one of you, to the Festival of Spirit," she spoke, her voice easily carried by the wind. "My name is Cynthia Artemis; I am the Lorekeeper and Champion of the great nation of Sinnoh."

She paused for a moment, letting her words linger as she breathed in.

"I would like to have a word with all of you, if I may be allowed that."