August 12th, 1973, Four Island, 1800
“It’s sooooooo hot.”
Sighing, I continued ignoring the annoying voice that seemed to follow me everywhere, preferring to focus on the book I was reading. It was one of my favorites, going over all the known evolutionary paths the Eevee line could take. I took it everywhere with me.
The page was currently open to a diagram of an elegant blue and frilly pokemon; Vaporeon.
I loved Vaporeon; it was so cute and sophisticated, and I liked the idea of a pokemon that could help with showers on long camping trips. Or hot water, for ramen. There were limitless applications! And when they got strong enough they could completely change their body to water!
And they could probably cool me down on a hot day like this, I thought with a wistful sigh. So cool.
I glanced over at Eon, one of two starters I had received last fall on my tenth birthday. She was in that super adorable half-asleep state where she was still purring but still mostly asleep, with the very tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth.
So cute, I thought with a loving smile. I tried to picture her as a Vaporeon and couldn’t help but giggle with excitement at the thought.
Nana, my Growlithe, stared stoically out the window pretending he didn’t want anything to do with our cuddle puddle. But I could tell he secretly loved a good cuddle session. He would admit it in time, I hoped.
“It’s sooooooooooo hot,” the voice repeated, ending in a groan. Sula looked over at me from her position on the couch in the center of the room, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Mare. Are you ignoring me? Stop it, dummy.”
I pretended I hadn’t heard her, idly flipping to the next page, where it detailed the ideal diet for my favorite pokemon.
“You are,” she accused, gasping in mock surprise. “But I know you think it’s too hot, too; I can see the sweat dripping down your face.”
“And what of it?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I resisted the instinct to wipe the sweat from my brow. “It’s just hot; there’s nothing we can do about it, so I don’t see what point there is in complaining.”
“Aha!” Sula exclaimed, holding up a hand dramatically, “But what if there was? What if there was something that would perfectly remedy how hot this damn house is? Would you be interested then?”
“There’s not,” I said drily. “Unless you want to go interrupt mom’s important meeting with the breeders to ask her to spare her Frosslass—I know I don’t.”
“Tch,” Sula clicked her tongue. “You’re always such a pessimist. I wasn’t talking about that, either.”
I leaned forward with interest despite myself. It was really hot, but our mom had ordered us to stay put until she got back. “Then what were you talking about?”
“Oh, interested now, are we?" Sula said gleefully, her dark eyes sparkling.
“Just tell me,” I pouted back. “You’re always like this.”
“Fine,” she said, leaning forward conspiratorially over the edge of the beige couch she sat on. Her albino Charmeleon, Lizzie, followed suit, hanging her head over the edge of the sofa, long pink tongue lolling out. “I heard that you can find a rare item here. On the island; a type of ice that never melts and can cool down an entire building! Can you imagine it, Mare? We wouldn’t have to swelter away like this for the rest of the summer. We could take it with us everywhere we go! We could even charge people if we wanted.”
I frowned. That sounded like a tall tale if I had ever heard one. There was no way one measly piece of ice could cool down an entire building. But the thought of a portable cooling item had its appeal, I had to admit. But there was no way.
“You’re lying,” I said. Sula was always a big liar. This was no different.
“I’m not!” she protested. “I swear! I heard Koga talking about it, how he was maybe going to take a detour to find one for his wife so she could stay cool in the summer. He said there’s a cave nearby where we could find it.”
“A-anyway,” I said, turning back to my book. “Even if that’s true, what can we do about it? Mom told us to stay here.”
“Mom would want us to go exploring on our own,” Sula replied confidently. “In fact, I bet she just wants to test us to see if we’ll show initiative.”
I cocked my head thoughtfully. That did sound like something our mom would do. There were always challenges and things to overcome. It was hard to tell what she wanted, though. I never seemed to get anything right. But she was much nicer to Sula, so maybe she was right?
“Okay,” I tentatively agreed, thinking that maybe mom would be nicer to me if I did something unexpected like my sister. “What would we even do? What are you thinking?”
“Simple; we sneak out of here,” she said matter of factly. “There’s only like, one guard, and we can easily make it out of here if we go out the second story. We make our way out of town and towards the cave; it’s supposedly just outside the east side of town. We might have to swim a bit, but with how warm it is outside we should be fine.”
I sat back in my chair, thinking it over. Her plan didn’t sound that bad. It was rare we only had one guard anywhere, and the particular guard watching us was one of the laziest of the bunch. Now that I thought about it, it did seem suspicious that mom had assigned him of all people to mind us.
Why would she do that if she didn’t want us to capitalize on the opportunity? She never did anything without a reason.
Making my decision, I turned to Sula with an earnest grin. “Fine. Let’s do it!”
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Surprisingly, the first stage of the plan went off without a hitch, and we were well on our way out of the rustic down when we were finally spotted.
“What are you guys doing?”
At the sound of the high-pitched voice, both Sula and I froze, slowly turning around to see who had ruined our previously perfect escape operation.
It was a girl who looked roughly my age, with vivid red hair and ridiculously large black rimmed glasses that looked way too big for her face. She wore a plain jeans and a t-shirt.
But she was kind of cute, I guess. Probably.
“N-nothing,” Sula said, chuckling nervously. “Just checking out this side of town.”
The girl cocked her head and adjusted her glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose since they seemed to be slipping off her face. Probably because they’re way too big, I thought, wondering why she didn’t just get a pair that fit her.
“Why?” She asked after somehow forcing her glasses into position, “There’s nothing over there besides Icefall Cave, and that’s off limits. Especially to strangers.”
“Right,” Sula said easily. “We knew that; we just wanted to see the outside of it.” She nudged me with an elbow, “Right, Mare?”
“T-totally,” I agreed, already wishing I had never agreed to this stupid plan. What were the odds we would run into a local? Pretty high, I guess, I realized stupidly. It’s barely been fifteen minutes since we left the house.
The girl squinted at us before shrugging. “Well, that’s no problem.” She walked our way and held out a hand with a smile. “I’m Lorelei; I’ll show you to the outside of the cave if you want!”
“Mare,” I said shyly as I took her hand. It was soft, much softer than my own or any of my family’s. It was weird to think that hands were supposed to be like that, and not the rough and calloused versions of hands I had grown used to.
“Sula,” Sula said brusquely, holding her chin high as she shook the girl’s hand.
So annoying, I thought, rolling my eyes internally at Sula’s ridiculous ego.
“Nice to meet you both!” Lorelei grinned back. “I rarely get to meet any new kids my age.”
Sula laughed scornfully. “Your age? Hardly; I’m twelve, turning thirteen this year.”
Lorelei’s smile finally faltered at Sula’s snarky tone. “I’m only ten,” she said quietly as if that were something to be ashamed of.
“I’m ten, too,” I said, not wanting to see her frown. “Ignore my sister; she’s just loud and annoying all the time.”
“Am not,” Sula protested, flicking me on the head. “Idiot.”
I cleared my throat, “A-anyway, we should probably get going, shouldn’t we? I want to see the cave.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Yeah!” Lorelei agreed, her smile returning in full force.
“Mare,” Sula hissed as she pulled me aside, much to the confusion of our new friend. “What are you thinking? If she comes with she’ll definitely tattle on us if we go into the cave. You can smell their type from a kilometer away.”
“Maybe she can just come with us into the cave? Like a tour guide?” I whispered back. “She seems like she wants friends; it must be lonely on such a small island.”
Sula groaned, holding up her hand to her head like she had a headache. “You’re always such a fucking softy. Fine.” She turned back to Lorelei with a smile. “You ready to go?”
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“That’s it?” Sula scoffed, clearly unimpressed with the size of the cave entrance; it was across a decent sized body of water but didn’t look much bigger than a standard door entrance, at least from where we stood.
The lake itself was lovely, with crystal clear waters that nearly looked like glass they were so still.
“Yup!” Lorelei chirped. “Isn’t it pretty! I love to come here and just watch the water. It’s so still compared to all the yucky waves around the island. It makes me feel really good inside.”
“It is pretty,” I agreed, walking forward to check the water temperature with a hand. Beside me, Eon and Nana were guzzling water in massive gulps as if they hadn’t drunk anything in weeks. They were probably faring the worst in the heat with their fur coats and all. Although I didn’t think it was possible for Growlithe to overheat, technically.
“Why can’t people go in?” I asked, peeling off my shoes and socks to let my feet hang over into the water; it was delightfully cold.
To my surprise, Lorelei joined me, sitting down with a quiet gasp of pleasure. “It’s because of poachers; a few years ago a group of trainers were illegally harvesting some of the rare pokemon in there and selling them on the black market, whatever that is.”
“What kinds of pokemon are in there?” Sula asked while peering across the lake with a thoughtful expression. “Anything good?”
Lorelei looked around to make sure nobody was there. Seeing no one but a few Pidgey absently hanging out on a nearby tree, she answered, “I guess I can tell you since you don’t seem like bad guys. There’s a ton of different ice types, like Seel and Dewgong, but also rarer pokemon like Snorunt and Delibird. But the real money was apparently in harvesting tails from the numerous Slowpoke in the cave system. Mama said they sell for a lot of money.”
“Huh,” Sula mused, her dark eyes suddenly burning with ambition. “Are locals allowed to go in? Have you been in before?”
“Of course?” Lorelei replied, cocking her head in confusion. “I live here; I go in all the time. I caught my first pokemon there! But I always go with mama.”
“What kind of pokemon is it?” I asked. I could easily envision her with a Seel; I had always loved the fluffy pokemon and it seemed like one would suit her nicely.
She hesitated, once more looking around before whispering, “A Lapras. But don’t tell anyone they’re in there! I would never forgive you. They’re almost extinct.”
“Woah,” I breathed, picturing the beyond rare water-ice type. “That’s so cool! I’ve only read about them but have never seen one. You’re super lucky.”
“I am,” she agreed, smiling as she reminisced, “My mama took me into the cave when I first turned ten, something about a rite of passage? And the little guy just swam right up to me, cute as a button. We’ve been together ever since.”
“What a lovely story,” Sula said. Gone was the snarky tone from before, and her voice was sweet as honey. “You must be very close.”
Uh oh, I thought, frowning. She wants something now.
“We are!” Lorelei beamed. “I try to come here every day so I can play with him!”
“You’re such a diligent trainer,” Sula said. “Any pokemon would be lucky to have you.”
“Thank you,” Lorelei replied shyly. “Nobody has said that before!” She giggled. “I can’t wait to tell mama!”
“So,” began Sula as she sat down next to Lorelei, picking up her hand and holding it in her own. “What do you think about giving us a ride across the water to see the cave? We won’t go far,” she clarified as an alarmed look spread across the younger trainer’s face.
“I… I don’t know…mama said to never let any outsiders in the cave,” Lorelei said, looking down at her lap.
“But we’re not just anybody,” Sula replied, smiling gently. “We’re friends now, right?” She turned my way, “Isn’t that right, Mare?”
I didn’t know what to do; on one hand, I did want to go in the cave, but on the other, I didn’t want my new friend to get in trouble. But I did want to be friends with her, so I could hardly say we weren’t friends unless I wanted to hurt her feelings. Which I didn’t.
“Yeah!” I said, smiling. “It’ll be fun! I just want to dip my head in to cool down. We’ll just pop in and then go right back out.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” I replied, holding up my pinky to seal the deal.
“…” she held out her hand, extending her little finger to tie together with mine. “Okay, I guess it’ll be alright if you just see the entrance.”
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Lorelei’s Lapras was barely large enough to fit the three of us. According to her, he had nearly tripled in size since she had first caught him, and he would probably triple in size again by the next year.
Lorelei supposedly knew this because her mother owned a Lapras as well, having grown up on the island. She now served as the League representative for the entire community.
Sula could barely tear her eyes off of the exotic pokemon, making it abundantly clear that our initial goal of finding some ‘mystical ice’ was no longer the priority. Instead, it was about her, and finding another powerful pokemon for her team.
As usual, it was all about Sula.
The ride over went smoothly since the lake had hardly any waves to speak of. It was probably around a kilometer or so to the entrance, which only took a few minutes for Lorelei’s powerful pokemon to ferry us across.
“We’re here,” Lorelei said nervously. “There’s a small tunnel from the entrance before it opens up into the main area of the cave itself. It’s really icy, so be careful!”
“Awesome,” Sula replied, already heading over to the rugged hole in the mountain face. Frost coated the outside of the tunnel even in the sweltering summer heat.
I hurried to catch up, cursing my smaller legs. Sula had hit a growth spurt early on and stood nearly a head taller than me already. It was so unfair. But at least people had stopped mixing us up for a bit.
But at least Lizzie was shorter than I was, and the fiery lizard struggled to keep pace, which made me feel at least slightly better.
“Wait for me!” Lorelei cried out as she scurried to catch up after returning her Lapras.
Following our intrepid (idiotic) leader, we made our way into the tunnel. The difference in temperature was abrupt; it went from blazing hot, barely able to breath hot, to ‘dear Arceus, please let my toes still be there,’ cold.
I shivered, wishing I had brought a jacket even though that was the last thing on my mind when we left the house. I had somehow failed to connect the dots in realizing that the place harboring the stupid ice would be stupid cold.
Stupid, stupid Mare, I told myself, as I always did. You always mess things up when they matter.
As if sensing my discomfort, Nana and Eon pulled up beside me, rubbing against my legs in an effort to keep me warm. I knelt down, pulling Nana into a warm hug. “Feels so good,” I whispered as I buried my face in his fluffy mane, letting the soft fur distract me from my negative thoughts.
“Can I hug him, too?” Lorelei asked in a small voice. She was huddled up about a meter behind me with her arms wrapped around her shoulders. Her breath left dense clouds of mist in its wake. “We usually bring jackets when we visit.”
I looked down at Nana, who looked bashfully away, seemingly embarrassed by the contact. I reluctantly pulled myself away. “Keep her warm, buddy. I’ll be fine.”
“Lithe,” he deferred, peeling away to offer his body heat to Lorelei. She breathed a big sigh of relief as she wrapped her thin arms around his body.
“Thank you,” she said with a gentle smile. “Nana, was it? You’re a good boy.”
“…” Nana just looked away awkwardly at the compliment, earning a chuff from Eon as she observed the interaction.
“Don’t tease him,” I reprimanded her, bopping her lightly on the top of her head, earning me an affronted look from the haughty pokemon.
“Are you guys coming?” Sula’s harsh voice called out. “It’s huge! Get over here, Mare!”
“Coming!” I shouted back, rolling my eyes. I turned to Lorelei with an embarrassed smile. “Sorry about her.”
“It’s fine,” Lorelei replied somberly. “It must be nice to have a sister. I’m an only child and spend most of my time reading at the library if I’m not out at the lake. It gets really lonely, especially during the summer when school is out.” She laughed bitterly. “Not that school is much better, either. There’s hardly anybody else on this island.”
“Wanna trade?” I joked. “You can have Sula and hang out with my family, and I’ll take a nice vacation out here to enjoy the solitude. It’ll be great!”
“But then we wouldn’t get to be friends, would we?” Lorelie said glumly.
To that, I had no response.
“Mare!!” Sula’s voice echoed down the tunnel once more, cutting our conversation short. “Get your sorry ass over here!”
“C’mon, let’s go,” I said, turning to catch up to Sula. Lorelei hadn’t been kidding; the floor was slick with ice, and I had to carefully maneuver to avoid slipping. I imagined they probably wore some kind of attachment to their boots if they regularly traversed terrain like this.
A few short moments later, the narrow tunnel emerged onto a bluff overlooking a massive, cavernous space that extended hundreds of meters into the distance; a dense sheet of fog dropped visibility down to nothing after a while.
Floes of ice dotted a body of water that swirled and spun hypnotically, jostling the huge fragments of ice together repeatedly in great crashes that echoed around the cave, if one could even call it that. Rudimentary lighting was built into the sides of the tunnel and around the entrance, and there appeared to be some natural luminescence emanating from various crystals scattered across the ceiling.
In a word, beautiful. Albeit the hazardous kind.
Throngs of Dewgong and Seel looked up at us with interest before slipping off their perches and retreating into the freezing waters.
“How do you even get around in here?” I wondered aloud, trying to picture a trainer hopping around the icy islands. They would have to be either suicidal or freakishly athletic to accomplish such a feat.
“With pokemon?” Lorelei answered as she pulled up beside me. “The trail leads down to the shoreline, but past that, a powerful water type is required. Not only to weather the inevitable collisions with the icebergs, but also to ward off the many pokemon lurking beneath the water. I’ve never seen one, but mama says you can even find Gyarados in the deeper areas.”
I shivered, imagining the massive serpentine pokemon rising up from the depths, ready to eat me whole like an afternoon snack. If I even qualify as that, I thought with a nervous chuckle. I had heard they could eat a fully grown man whole. Chomp.
“Scary, huh?” Lorelei said with a proud smile. “This is my first time here alone. I usually come with mama.”
A hand grabbed my shoulder, lightly shoving me towards the edge without releasing me. I took a heavy step forward, narrowly avoiding falling on my bottom before my aggressor stabilized me.
“Scary indeed,” chuckled Sula from her position behind me. “Be careful not to fall, Mare!”
“Not funny,” I said darkly, straightening myself up. “What if I actually fell? I would probably die.”
“You’d be fine,” Sula casually replied, waving away my concerns. “Lizzie and Fireball would be more than enough to handle anything down there. We’d rescue you in no time at all.”
“Of course they could,” I shot back sarcastically. “Lizzie would totally be able to handle a Gyarados.”
“Yup,” Sula agreed, clearly not picking up my tone. “She would.”
I rolled my eyes as I cautiously stepped up to the edge, peering over to see what lurked directly below us; it looked like it was a sheer drop into open water, but I had no way of knowing how deep it might be.
I sincerely doubted that either of Sula’s two fire type pokemon would be able to handle even a handful of the pokemon Lorelei had mentioned frequented the area. If they even survived the fall, they would be soaking wet and at the mercy of who knows what.
Taking a deep breath, I attempted to push the adrenaline out of my system from the near miss as I gazed out at the savage landscape below. It wasn’t the first time Sula had done something like this and I doubted it would be the last. I just had to adapt to it and calm myself down like always.
“You should probab—” Lorelei’s concerned voice was cut off by a deafening crack.
And then I was floating, the last meter of icy cliff breaking off for no apparent reason other than to spite me.
Stupid, stupid, Mare, was my last thought before the icy waters engulfed me.