Cold wind stung my face as we pushed further in, the wind picking up as the chamber better came into focus and the spectacle fully came into view.

Pure white ice statues adorned the chamber, their bodies trapped in various stances. Towards the front, a pair of Sandslash stood ready to fight, hunched forward with claws pulled back. Countless Sandshrew littered the ground behind them, all with various cuts that you could barely make out through the ice and snow. A third Sandslash was huddled low further toward the back, his body crouched around one of the smaller Sandshrew. Neither had escaped their fate.

What truly haunted me as our group slowly moved through the chamber were the Sandshrew closest to the mouth of the cave. Their backs were turned, and they were all captured in various forms of retreat. One had fallen forward, and his claw had dug into the sheer ice wall that made up the far side of the room.

No one was allowed out, and as far as I could tell, no one was allowed in, either. Was… was meeting with that Mawile actually the only way through? Was the other passage just one big lie?

Zinnia and her dragon had been propped up right next to the door, their frozen form set as some kind of sick trophy. The dread that I had beaten back in the cave was starting to push its way back, and I swallowed before ripping my eyes away from the scene and looking at Emilie.

Legends above, I had seen more life in photographs than in this damn fucking cave.

Just think of your friends and push through. Come on, it's not that hard, just push through. May needed me to be strong.

I smiled. “Good work.” Legends above I was hopeless. My starter just opened up the gates to a frozen hellscape and I’m congratulating her.

Emilie chuckled lightly. “I just did what Lele told me to do.” She looked around, before smiling. “Hey, maybe no news is good news. I don’t see our friends anywhere.”

I swallowed before looking at the only way forward. The doors were far more ornate than I had imagined. Gold rims had been inlaid into the stone to give it a more regal appearance, dots carved into the surface in a similar pattern to what we had been sent. A strong, bitterly cold wind blew snow and ice out from the gates, making it all but impossible to see what lied beyond. It took everything in me to not curl up and huddle down for as much warmth as possible.

“Considering the only way they have to go is forward, I’m not sure if good news is the right term.” I sighed before turning towards Brawly. Fuck my resolve was already cracking this felt so hopeless. “You said this was reversible. How? Is it some kind of special medical spray?”

“Kind of. The emergency freeze tech does a good job of thawing you when you get frozen, but once the cold fully sets in, it gets trickier. Mystic Fire users are a favorite if we’re lacking in options; that move in particular is just the right temperature and the users generally have far more control over the flames. All of those methods come with a certain degree of risk, though. Especially for humans.” Brawly shivered.

I bit back a swear word, before glancing meaningfully at Toa, who shook his head no.

‘It’s not a technique in my wheelhouse. I kind of lack the whole ‘mystical’ side of the Fire. I could maybe mimic the temperature, but not the control. I might be able to thaw someone, but it’d be just as likely that I'd burn them alive, and I’d rather not take that risk.’ Toa sighed before looking towards the frozen dragon. ‘Although...’

Lele walked up and slapped Toa upside the head. ‘The trainer’s still frozen to it, don’t even think about it. We can get everyone fixed up on our return trip with the paramedics. Besides, he’s a flying dragon, even if you did get him out successfully, the big guy’s going to be out cold for a few days, minimum.’

I sighed before looking over toward Brawly. “What’s the other method? You mentioned more than one.

Brawly rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It’s not really worth mentioning, considering the situation, but the other method is the Pokémon reversing the process themselves.”

I tilted my head. “Couldn’t any advanced ice type do that? You mentioned Glacia’s Pokémon being able to use the move.”

Brawly didn’t reply, instead grabbing his Poké Balls from his belt. A bright light filled the room, reflecting brightly off the ice and snow, to the point where it was almost blinding. Auma and Kahuna towered over the squad, their scowls a stark contrast to how they looked when I first met them. Crash flew over to my side and landed, her claws resting on her knees as she crouched down.

The last two, though, were Pokémon I recognized but hadn’t seen personally yet. The first was a Breloom, who huddled closer to Toa as soon as he formed. First time I had ever seen a grass type actively get closer to another fire type. As much as the two... tolerated each other, Suzy and Leshy generally always kept a healthy six feet away from each other. The little guy shyly looked around the room for a second before hiding behind Toa's legs.

In contrast, the behemoth in front of me had to be one of the largest Hariyama I had ever seen and demanded my attention. His hands were behind his back as he glared down at Brawly and leaned forward, his left foot angrily tapping as he looked around the room. ‘Aren’t you going to answer the girl, Brawly?’

Legends above, why did this remind me of the Eve stare?

‘So let me see if I’ve got this right.’ The tone did not sound amused. ‘A little girl comes to you with a vision of a hulking ice monstrosity lurking deep in the caves of Dewford on the eve of one of the biggest environmental clusterfucks we’ve ever seen.’ Hariyama took a step forward, and the ground cracked beneath his foot. ‘And your response is to dive into it headfirst?’

Brawly smiled.

I was currently too terrified of this monster to even speak, and the idiot smiled.

“Tito, we’re the best this island has to offer, and Lele backed her up. You can’t expect me to drag gym trainers down-”

‘I expect you to at least notify the league, especially considering the massive winter storm that’s floating overhead. You know, considering this is a tropical island.’ Tito stepped even closer. 'Glacia in particular would be incredibly helpful right now.’

Brawly leaned forward, his own glare matching Tito’s. “Point me at someone I can trust then, cause I sure as hell don’t trust that snake Wallace has running the day to day.”

Tito leaned back before snarling. ‘Fucking call Glacia directly, then. Surely you can’t believe she’s on board with that madness.’

Brawly winced. “I don’t know, and that’s the problem. I want to, but I feel like I can’t really trust anyone up top at the moment. Too risky.” Brawly glanced up and stared Tito down, his gaze steely. “Do you want the island to be crawling with Magma goons? We’d be a puppet state before the end of the week.”

“Magma?” I asked, feeling incredibly lost.

The two looked over at me before wincing. Brawly gave Tito a look before turning to me. “Forget you heard that.”

‘Tito worries too much.’ Kahuna beat his chest with his closed fist. The white fur on his chest ruffled as he grinned. ‘We’re strong.’

Auma nodded along, shooting Tito a quadruple thumbs up before gazing out into the frozen chamber. ‘It would be nice to see Glacia again, but even if her Abomasnow is fun to hang out with, I think we’re more than enough for whatever this ice cube can throw at us.’

Brawly just sighed before smiling. “I get that you’re worried, but we’ll be fine.”

Tito went back to glaring at his trainer, before sighing. ‘When we get done here, call Glacia. I refuse to let you disfigure a ton of people just because you were caught up in human politics.’ The sumo glanced toward Zinnia with a frown on her face, before freezing and glancing back towards her trainer. ‘So worried about Magma, when we already have a stooge poking her nose in.’

I turned and glanced toward Zinnia, before realizing what they were talking about. That meant the thief we helped stop in Petalburg Woods was also... yeah, I could understand wanting little to do with that.

Brawly’s eyes widened slightly before glancing at the frozen statue. “I-”

“Does any of this really matter right now?” Emilie shouted, glaring at the large gathering in front of us. “We’re taking way too long. You two can kill each other after we save everyone, chop chop.”

Tito shifted his glare. ‘You-’

“She’s right,” Brawly said, cutting off his Pokémon. “Lea, recall your Pokémon.”

What?

Apollo shot up from his makeshift perch on Sol’s back. ‘Are ye daft, lad?’

“What he said!” Emilie shouted, right in my ear.

“Emilie, Apollo please, I’m going to go deaf by the time we leave this island if you keep this up.” I sighed before grabbing the team’s Poké Balls. “Guessing you want the smallest target possible to escort, right?”

Brawly nodded.

Emilie glared murderously at our protector, and I sighed before thwacking her on the forehead.

“You can stay out, alright? Just always stay on me.” I looked towards Brawly as the words left my lips and sighed in relief when he nodded. Last thing I needed was a grumpy Emilie once we got to the castle.

“Duskull and Honedge are both fine too if they stay in your shadow, and the extra eyes on you would be good.” Brawly nodded toward Apollo, Sol, and Joern. “Those three however... less to worry about. I want to keep the number of creatures I keep an eye on to a minimum.”

Apollo shot me a pleading look as I begrudgingly aimed his ball at him. “Sorry, but I agree.” A red line extended out and pulled my quartermaster back. “Captain’s orders. Once we’re past the golem, I’ll call you back out, alright?”

Apollo’s ball shook and I sighed before turning to the other two.

Joern glanced toward the doors and shivered before nodding. ‘Know that I reserve the right to bust out if you don’t call on me when needed.’

Sol nodded, before glaring down at my shadow. ‘And dad? Do me a favor and keep yourself safe, this time.’ She shivered. ‘I can’t... do that again. Got it.’

A small black glob floated up from my shadow and nodded before receding back into the darkness.

I smiled at the two before returning them and nodded at Brawly. “You ready, then?”

“Not quite. Bulu?” Brawly asked.

Breloom, who I now knew was named Bulu, jumped at being addressed. The mushroom ‘mon slowly inched out from behind Toa, before nodding. ‘Y-yes?’

What exactly was this scared little thing supposed to do down here?

Brawly smiled kindly at the little guy before nodding to the rest of the room. “Your job’s important. I need you to look after everyone in this room, alright? I don’t want any chaos from in there to hurt someone in here.”

The mushroom ‘mon stood up straighter as a wide smile spread across his face. ‘I don’t have to fight?’

Brawly shook his head, giving the grass type a small smile. “Nope, just stand guard.”

Bulu nodded, before moving up closer to the doors.

Brawly smiled after him before shifting to give me a sheepish look. “Bulu... doesn’t like fighting. At all. He will if he has to, but I try to find things for him to do away from the action, and the last thing I want is for the Pokémon in this room to get caught in the crossfire.”

I leaned back, slightly offended. “I didn’t say anything.”

Brawly chuckled. “No, but you were thinking it. If he wasn’t so skittish around new people, I’d have introduced you sooner, but-”

“Talk about it later, scary door now.” Emilie clapped her hands together twice before pointing at the door.

“Fine, princess. Kahuna, as soon as we go in, I want you to take to the buildings. I trust you to be able to handle yourself if this thing can attack you from a distance. Stall tactics mixed with draining moves. Don’t show yourself,” Brawly ordered before glancing toward Auma worriedly. “Maybe put some distance between yourself and us,

The grass type visibly shrank. ‘Aww... wanted to make a snow cone.’

‘Meh, you still can. We can do it afterwards.’ Auma grinned before resting one of his four hands on his shoulder, being mindful of the thorns sticking out of the Chesnaught’s armor. ‘We can grab some flavoring from the gym afterwards; I know you like strawberry.’

Kahuna scowled. ‘Not what I meant.’

Auma tilted his head to the side. ‘What did you mean, then?’

Kahuna shook his head, lightly and sighed. ‘Nothing.’

Brawly chuckled before looking over at Crash.

‘I’m on babysitting duty, I know.’ Crash huffed before glaring back at me. ‘Please don’t remind me.’

‘Rude,’ Emilie muttered quietly in my mind.

I smiled and nodded. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

Crash shot me a glare before sighing. ‘Smart ass.’

“Though honestly...” I turned toward Emilie. “I know your ability to teleport is kind of on the fritz, but do you think-”

Emilie teleported from my shoulder down to the ground before I could even finish my sentence. She then teleported back to my shoulder and teleported the both of us across the room.

Right in front of the door.

“Fucking hell that’s cold.” I all but sprinted away from the damn thing.

“If I can see it, we can go there, trying to go through any kind of wall in here is a no go, though.” Emilie gave me both a smug grin and a thumbs up. “T-that’s not as taxing as it was before. G-guess the Psybeam training’s paying dividends, huh?”

I reached up and bumped her forehead before pulling my coat tighter. “All the damn places you could have teleported, and you picked right in front of the damn fucking freezer?”

An action that quickly got undone as my starter once again took up refuge in the front of my coat. “Y-yeah, I realized my m-mistake as soon as I did it.”

Toa walked closer, and I sagged as I felt the temperature increase.

I muttered my thanks before turning to Brawly. “If I get close enough to see where we’re going, Emilie can get us there.”

Brawly smiled. “Good, Crash can follow behind. She’ll keep you safe, don’t worry.” He turned and looked at the door. “Lele, do you think it’s worth it to run recon at all? We've got a pretty good lay of the land already thanks to Lucas, and I’m a bit worried about sending any of you in there alone.”

The psychic type shook his head. ‘I don’t think we’ll get anything more by waiting around here. Let’s get my new student her fire type back.’

I could feel the vein throbbing through the damn thermal wear as I tried desperately not to bust out laughing.

Brawly clapped his gloved hands together before pointing toward the door. “Alright, in that case, we march.” He smiled at Auma and Kahuna. “Let’s go make some snow cones.”

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

Pushing through the veil felt like taking a step into another world.

Though I had imagined the town in my head after Lucas had drawn the map, I wasn’t quite prepared for the massive town laid out before me. The room was massive, a huge dome of ice cresting over the entire structure towered overhead, laughing in the face of logic, gravity, and physics in general.

Several of the buildings were a few stories high, with old Hoenn-style architecture being the cornerstone of design for most of them, but what blew me away the most was the absolute size of the palace. It towered over everything else here. The entire scene was like a picture from one of the history books my sister forced me to read once upon a time, and the absolute stillness of this place sent a shiver down my spine.

Though granted, that might just be the cold getting worse.

“You know, compared to the palace, that big frozen tree doesn’t look so big,” Emilie muttered.

Toa nodded in slack jawed awe. ‘So, this whole kingdom’s been under our feet all this time?’

Emilie nodded. “And if Lucas’s shoddy memories are to be believed, he used to be king and live in that huge ass palace.” Emilie glanced down toward my shadow. “Kind of a downgrade, don’t ya think?”

‘Meh, if you like that sort of thing. Drafty annexes, chamber pots, excessively long meetings with dreary advisors, listening to everyone’s problems while being able to do little about it...’ Lucas trailed off. ‘The more I remember of my previous life, the less I want to.’

‘Focus,’ Brawly mentally ordered as he slowly walked forward. ‘We’re officially in enemy territory, so stay alert. And keep all conversation mental to avoid making noise.’

Kahuna nodded before hopping forward, probably looking for a good place to hide.

Emilie looked away, a small tinge of red on her face. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.’

Brawly shook his head. ‘My fault for not saying anything beforehand. Lele, you want to teleport us ahead a bit? Try and pick a spot low to the ground if you can. I don’t know if this thing can find us through the snow yet, but I’d-’

In that very instant, I felt it. The houses, the frozen trees and vegetation, the people and Pokémon I had come here with, everything... it all faded away as an overwhelming presence loomed down on me. My entire being felt locked in place, I couldn’t breathe.

My body seemed to move of its own accord. Whether it was from some innate curiosity or some outside force controlling me, I couldn’t say, but my eyes were drawn upwards, toward the apex of the long staircase leading up to the main doors of the castle proper, and upon that mantle was a sight that froze the blood in my veins.

It felt like I was right there. Standing directly in front of this icy statue. Its form was both the same and slightly different from what I visualized after hearing Mawile talk, and from the vision that stalked my nightmare.

It was as though an ice crystal had been given form, the very element given sentience. Its appendages had form but lacked function. Like the creature that designed the golem missed the memo on what exactly those body parts were supposed to do. His ‘legs’ were similar to tops my sister had gotten me as a kid, and hung limply down as the creature floated a scant six inches off the ground. ‘Arms’ pushed out from either side, much too large and bulky to rest easily at his side yet were only connected to the mockery of life by a single, pointed tip. Three ice crystals were attached to these floating protrusions as what I assumed were supposed to be fingers, and four jagged frozen spears seemed to extend out from his back.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Maybe they were wings; perhaps that was why it could fly.

There were only two things distinguishing this unmoving mass of ice from the rest of the frozen-over town; seven yellow dots, fixed in a wide, cross-like pattern on the front of its body, and seven eyes, fixed on my exact location. Watching me as I now watched it.

The second thing, however, commanded all of my attention. Though Mawile had told me Zinnia had managed to wound it, she did not mention how badly.

A large, jagged, x-shaped crack ran along its chest, and a dark black ooze seeped from it.

Just as I was about to tear my gaze away, the yellow dots started to light up. Each time, a different pattern lit up, making symbols that seemed to burn themselves into my memory. The edges of my vision started to fade as a throbbing headache made itself known, and the pain slowly started ratcheting up the longer it went. A distorted mishmash of sound echoed through my skull that sounded completely incomprehensible, and I reached up and clutched at my head before feeling it.

All seven lights shined red, and in an instant, the world directly in front of me froze completely. An invisible wall suddenly became visible as it violently froze before slamming into the ground. I felt my body pull, and the spell was broken as we disappeared and moved significantly further into the city. A large pair of hands grabbed me and violently pulled me underneath a frozen canopy before dragging me inside a house without doors.

‘Lea!’ The mental scream was deafening and echoed. Legends above, it was so loud. I leaned into Tito as I felt the world spin, why was I so lightheaded...

Oh, I needed to breathe. I took in a deep shuddering breath before glancing around at the rest of the room, breathing heavily as I tried to regain my bearings. ‘I think I’m good now.’

‘What the hell was that?’ Emilie leaned forward. ‘You just stopped. Next thing we know, you’re muttering in tongues and clutching your head in agony.’

I swallowed down a bit of bile as I tried and failed to get my breathing under control. Fuck, my lungs were burning. ‘I locked eyes with the monster.’ I turned and shot Brawly a grin. ‘At least we know for sure Barrier works.’

Brawly’s eyes were locked onto mine, and I’d never seen someone look so terrified in my life. He rushed forward before checking me over. ‘You’re not frozen anywhere, are you?’ He moved my face from left to right, looking over the most exposed part of my skin.

‘I’m fine, just shaken.’ I gave him a smile before pulling myself up and giving Tito a thankful nod. ‘Emilie, could you send these symbols to Lucas?’ I concentrated on the images I just saw, before pushing exactly what this thing looked like to the group at large. ‘Maybe he can make heads or tails of it.’

Emilie nodded, and the room went quiet.

I frowned before staring down at my shadow. ‘Lucas?’

The ghost sword slowly floated up from his hiding spot, before glancing around the room and sighing. ‘This... this was my favorite tavern in the kingdom.’ He glanced at the bar longingly. ‘I wonder if the booze is still good.’

‘Lucas!’ I mentally shouted.

The sword winced before floating lower. ‘Sorry, sorry. Easy to get lost in thought here. My, uh... memories seem to be coming back more and more the further in we go.’ He turned toward Emilie. ‘Could you replay those images? Maybe arrange them in my head so they’re readable? Trying to piece it together letter by letter is making me feel a bit dull.’

Emilie nodded as her eyes glowed blue.

Lucas sighed. ‘Didn’t even get a groan, ahh well. Let’s see...’ Lucas’ lips pulled into a grin. ‘Seems he’s saying hello. He was even nice enough to introduce himself. Goes by Regice, it would seem.’

I nodded along before stopping, my eyes suddenly going wide. I ripped my pack down and started shuffling through it, before pulling my Pokédex back out and typing the name in. ‘Come on, you piece of shit, give me something usable for once... Yes!’

A simple cave drawing popped up on my screen under the search results, and I felt like fist pumping the sky. The image exactly matched the thing I had seen topside.

Toa leaned over my shoulder and grinned. ‘Got a hit?’

I nodded. ‘This thing was part of a cave drawing in a tower just to the east of Pacifidlog, apparently.’ Wait, why did that sound like somewhere familiar? A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as I looked at the full painting. ‘It’s one of six golems in the painting, apparently.’

‘SIX!’ Tito shouted. ‘There are six of those things?!’

I shook my head. ‘Not specifically, the other five look very different, and seem to follow a different type. Considering what we’re dealing with, I think Regice is the only one we’re dealing with.’

Brawly sagged down. ‘That’s good at least.’

I glanced down below at the dex and started reading the description. ‘The picture depicts the smaller golems in front of the largest one, which from deciphering the ancient text had been given the title Regigigas. In olden times, they were heralded as guardian deities, protecting entire cities that had earned their respect from natural disasters and powerful Pokémon alike.’ I frowned down at the words. ‘Why the hell is ours a violent, freeze-happy psycho, then?’

‘I think we’re still in the ‘earning respect’ category.’ Tito sighed before glancing at Lele. ‘Has it moved at all?’

Lele disappeared out the door, looked up, and teleported back all in the span of a second. ‘Nope. He’s hanging out.’ His face looked more white than usual. ‘Just standing there. Menacingly.’

‘Worth noting, he also apologized before trying to flash freeze us,’ Lucas said. ‘Maybe he’s... not as unreasonable as we thought?’

‘He’s got a terrible way of showing remorse,’ Duskull muttered.

Brawly turned back toward me and motioned for me to continue reading the dex entry. ‘What else does that thing have on it?’

I scrambled before looking down at the entry. ‘Uh, general information on what they’re capable of is shoddy at best, because this thing has never been seen in living records. Just the myths translated on the tab-’

The words died on my throat as I noticed who was credited with the discovery. ‘The tablet was found on a rescue mission performed in the area when a group of trainers sailed through the Apex Triangle and were lost at sea. A group of rangers, led by one Satoshi Sakai, discovered it when they found the wreckage of their ship washed ashore.’

Emilie snapped over to look at me, her eyes wide as dinner plates. ‘Excuse me?’

I rested my head in my hands and leaned against the table, its frozen surface feeling cold even through my coat. ‘Dad was in charge of the group of rangers that found this thing. I just... how even?’

Brawly glanced down at the dex before giving me a pat on the shoulder. ‘World’s always a lot smaller than you think it is. Was he-’

‘He died shortly after finding it,’ I bit out. ‘I’m sorry, just... give me a second.’ Deep breath in, and out.

A small nudge pulled me from my freak out and I looked down to see Emilie patting my chin. ‘I know this lacks the usual comfort of me petting your hair, but it’s really cold right now.’

I couldn’t help myself, I just started laughing.

‘Shhhh-’

Tito scoffed. ‘Toa, quit your bitching. The stupid thing knows where we are, it’s just being lazy as all hell. Girl, you saw it at the palace, right?’

I nodded. ‘Right in front of the front door, in fact.’

‘So instead of coming to us, it’s waiting for us to go to it, because we have too.’ Tito started pacing. ‘That or it’s just guarding the place. Which gives a bit more weight to Lele suggesting we need to get something inside.’

Lele huffed before turning away from the big fighting type. ‘Why do my visions need weight? Have I been wrong before?’

Brawly turned and grinned. “Alola, sunset on the beach, five years ago with that Gardevoir-”

‘One time!’ Lele screeched, looking scandalized. ‘And you never let me hear the end of it!’

‘Anyway.’ Tito glared after the two of them. ‘The fact that we have to go after it means it gets to pick at us the whole way to the damn palace.’ He rested his head in his hands. ‘Ugh, this isn’t going to be fun at all, is it?’

I couldn’t help but giggle slightly at how funny such a common stance looked with hands that large.

Tito just stopped before walking over to me. ‘That ice beast didn’t scramble your brains, did it? Things going on okay up there? I’ll beat that thing up twice as hard if he did.’

My head was once again being turned against its will and I was not a fan. ‘I’m fine, honest. Sorry, it’s just... laughter is how I push through stress. I make bad jokes in my head, ignore me.’

‘Well, if you’re sure.’ Tito begrudgingly stepped back before glancing toward Auma with a grin. ‘What say you to following through on your earlier idea?’

Auma froze for a second, before a wide grin pulled at his features. He clapped both sets of hands together before moving for the door.

Tito groaned before running after him. ‘I didn’t mean right now, you muscle-brained moron!’

I stared after them wondering what the hell was going on as Lele disappeared from view.

Brawly grabbed me, pulling me with him as we left the building, and barely giving me enough time to grab my stuff.

I glared. ‘What’s going-’

‘If that thing wants to grief us, we’ll grief it back. Crash, make sure Lea stays out of the way, and let Emilie teleport you when she needs to, okay?’ Brawly patted me on the back as I haphazardly put my pack back on.

As soon as it was, Crash landed on it and violently dragged me up into the air. A small scream left my lips as we rapidly gained altitude upon leaving the bar, and faster than I thought possible we had a bird's eye view of the city.

I quickly glanced back toward the palace and winced as we were tracked through the air. The golem still hadn’t moved from its spot. I wanted to meet its gaze head on, but the world was moving too fast. We were moving too fast. I couldn’t focus on anything for longer than a second.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” I muttered.

Crash gave me a glare. ‘If you hurl, aim down. Try and tag my idiot of a trainer or that musclehead if you do.’

“Wouldn’t be the first time... I threw up on someone’s shoes,” Emilie muttered as she jostled around in my coat.

I pulled my arms around her tightly, making sure she didn’t go anywhere, before gaping as things started to move below us.

The bar we had just been standing in not but a few seconds ago was hurtling through the air. Not part of the bar. Not the rubble from the destroyed building. The whole damn thing.

“I... I just, how?!” I muttered.

‘Damn it all, I wanted to check the booze!’ Lucas moaned.

I moved to yell at him, but quickly stopped as a thought struck me, where exactly was my shadow? “Lucas? Duskull?”

A glowing red eye with an ember floating around it made itself known on Crash’s plumage around the same time that my ears popped.

A loud bang followed the chaos as I watched the tree of ice in front of the palace grow and stretch before backhanding the building out of the air. The deformed mass of stone and clay slammed into a neighborhood just west of the palace, and I cursed.

The damn thing didn’t even move.

A crack met my ears this time, and a second volley was launched

Then a third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Tenth.

Twentieth.

My jaw slowly started to stop functioning as more and more buildings were launched through the sky at a speed that made the air sing. Entire sections of housing were ripped up from the ground and launched in seconds.

I had thought Auma was joking when he said he wanted to throw buildings at the monster, but now I was wondering if this was even a workout.

This, at least, prompted action. The arms on either side of the ice golem rose up into the air, bringing three walls of frozen stone to act as a shield. The tree had all but come to life, moving to knock away oncoming debris, but the further into the city they moved, the faster the oversized artillery became.

Crash flew us up even higher as the wreckage started flowing more freely, narrowly pulling us out of the way of a roof that had been knocked off of a three-story inn. I noticed a faint blue glow coating the object but couldn’t tell if Lele had pulled the object lower, or if he was helping the buildings stay together as they flew through the air. At what point did raw, incomprehensible strength force physics to tap out?

‘Keep an eye out for a moment where the ice golem is focused on the fight so we can sneak into the castle,’ Crash said, her mental voice barely hearable over the chaos below as the first house broke on Regice’s ice barriers. ‘Is there a side way in or do we have to go in through the front?’

‘How the hell am I supposed to know?’ I mentally screamed back.

Crash gave me a pitying look. ‘Not you! The sword.’

‘Uhh, not without potential issues, I don’t think. It’s fuzzy, but I remember traps and barricades at the entrances connecting to the outer walls.’ Lucas’s glowing red eye darted up to an incoming piece of concrete as an accompanying blue ember pulsed. ‘Duck!’

Crash had already been moving before the warning was given, and I noticed a slight eye roll as we once again gained altitude. ‘Front door works best, got it. That’s fine, I just need to give the boys a minute.’

I whipped my head up and gave her a wild look. ‘I feel like a few traps would be preferable to playing keep away with the giant freeze happy ice golem!’

‘We’re going to die, we’re going to die, we’re going to-’

Crash pulled up sharply, cutting off Emilie’s ramblings as she sneered down at us and shook her head. ‘Toa’s got it, calm down.’

Emilie snapped out of her crisis of faith to join me in glaring up at our ride. ‘What the hell do you mean Toa’s got it?!’

Asked and answered, the very air I breathed ratcheted up quite a few degrees as the faint scent of burnt wood and charred stone met my nostrils. A wave of heat pushed through the chamber, and the multiple buildings that were still hurtling through the air ignited, lighting up the entire cavern in a faint red glow.

The slag ripped through the icy branches like a razor through a Mareep’s wool before slamming into the frozen walls of ice with a loud glop. Steam poured off the barrier as more molten fireballs sailed through the air, crashing into the barricade, slamming through, and hitting home.

A low hiss sounded from beyond the shattered wall, before fading as the molten mixture quickly hardened to a black glass that coated the upper parts of Regice’s body. The ice golem rose a few feet higher into the air, before slamming back down into the ground. A wave of cold air pushed out on impact, quickly cooling down the fires and hardening the molten earth to the same black stones that had now broken off of its body. Cold air started to whip around the creature, sending small shards of ice and snow out through the area, and casting a cripplingly cold aura out across the room.

No sooner than the localized storm had started, Tito appeared a scant few meters off the ground, his arm raised above his head. He slammed his hand into the ground as he landed, sending a shockwave through the ice and stone, and shattering it into tiny fragments that quickly got pulled into the swirling tide of cold air.

A faint blue glow enveloped the shrapnel before they could fly too far, and sent it hurtling down toward Regice, pointy bits aimed appropriately.

They shattered like porcelain dolls against his frozen body, and the wind picked up speed.

We quickly gained altitude before diving out across the chamber across the city to the other side, leaving my rapidly beating heart behind as we screeched across the sky faster than I could process.

“Crash!” I shouted, my voice cracking.

‘I’m fine, don’t worry.’ We quickly pulled up before leveling off just above a set of buildings that were caving in. ‘Wasn’t expecting the gust of wind.’

I nodded, doing my best to slow my heartbeat, before scanning the area in front of the palace. Tito had disappeared from his spot in front of the creature, and I gulped as I watched the tail end of a massive, blue laser move down the stairs, freezing everything in its path.

‘That... That was an Ice Beam?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, this thing is definitely no joke, but we knew that coming down here.’ Crash dipped up as the monster started to turn our way.

Vines sprouted up from the ground and wrapped around the creature’s limbs, locking them in place as a faint green glow enveloped it. They froze and broke almost instantly, but more vines quickly replaced them as the creature tried and failed to rise out of reach. A loud grinding assaulted my ears, and I threw my hands up to cover them as less and less of the creature was visible. Regice stopped moving, before falling back down to the ground.

The entire platform cracked as the stones shifted beneath it. A hissing sound vibrated out as the fractured ground quickly froze back together. The vines withered and died, before joining the new sheet of ice. It slowly rose up again, before ducking back down, a set of four ice walls forming around it.

A massive, flaming, four-story tower slammed into it with the force of a freight train, covering the area in front of the palace doors with fire as a creature jumped up from the building on impact. An acrid smell assaulted my nose, and I pulled back as the structure Regice had built was thrown back into the palace doors, rattling them on impact.

Warmth pulsed through the room as Toa landed on the burning mess that was supposed to be our destination, a massive orb of fire raised above his head that was blinding to look at. The ball rose higher and higher into the air, warping the oxygen around it as the damn thing started to pulse. The storm that Regice had whipped into the air started to dissipate, and our flight started to steady off.

It took me a second to realize that this blazing inferno Toa had called upon was a damn Sunny Day. How the fuck did you even do something like that? That was so much more powerful than Sol’s.

It didn’t stop there though.

As Toa stepped down from the wreckage of the burning tower, the ground started to melt. Fire pushed down into the ground as the earth itself blackened. That same fire wreathed itself around the fire type, enveloping him before being pushed out in a wave that changed the landscape. Ice vaporized instantly, air burned and wailed, and the stairs leading up to the makeshift arena started to melt as things that shouldn’t ever be flammable burst into flames.

I tugged at my coat as sweat started to drip down my forehead. ‘What... what is this?’

‘Fire Terrain,’ Crash answered, a smile tugging at her lips. ‘I think Toa’s had enough of the cold.’

Regice floated up from the shattered remains of the frozen shell he had taken refuge in and loomed closer, the ground freezing beneath him as he moved. White frost slowly inched forward but stopped a meter in front of Toa.

A line almost seemed to form between the two mons as the two environments clashed, and the air stilled for a brief moment as the two stared each other down. The fur around Toa’s arms ignited, before a sweltering inferno formed between his hands as he brought them together in front of his chest.

Seven yellow dots quickly changed to red, and a massive wall of ice formed in front of Toa. I stared in slack-jawed awe as the frozen construct continued to stretch around the fire bird completely, the glowing orb shining through the frozen barrier as Toa moved the attack lower.

‘This is it, be ready to go,’ Crash ordered.

Regice floated aimlessly for a moment before a blue sphere of energy started to form in front of him.

I held Emilie closer and gulped, before nodding. Just think about what’s important.

Emilie pushed up from my arms a bit before looking down at the scene. ‘I’m watching, the damn chicken hasn’t done anything-’

As if to spite her, the orb surrounding Toa exploded as a massive wave of white and red forced its way through, slamming directly into a blue beam.

It barely slowed it down. Fire overtook ice before washing over the ice golem. Steam exploded out on contact as a mechanical wail sounded through the chamber. I leaned forward, half wondering if this would be enough to win on its own.

That hope died as the creature floated down, phasing through the ice at his feet. Toa’s assault continued, though, and slammed into the doors of the palace, exploding outwards across the massive stone doors before shrinking down to a small point.

The attack had pushed through to the other side, punching a hole into the palace proper.

I felt like cheering. This... this was unreal. Like a hero made manifest from my childhood dreams. Hell, I don’t even think Dad’s Blaziken was as badass as this thing.

That joy froze over as I spied it. Right as Toa’s attack finally died, and the fire bird took a knee, did I finally notice.

The aura of Toa’s Fire Terrain was shrinking, losing ground to the constant waves of cold that pulsed up from the earth. Gone was the overwhelming heat as the fires slowly died, only to be replaced with a crisp blue wave of ice and snow.

The ice demon rose up from the ground, his chest glowing an angry red as a large chunk of ice broke off just under his older wound. A blue orb glowed in the creature's palm as it lunged forward, his fist pulled back as it moved on the prone form of my second favorite firebird. Energy pulsed out at random intervals, striking the ground and walls and creating flowers of ice crystals as they made contact.

‘Move, you idiot!’ Emilie mentally screamed.

The fire type turned toward us and grinned, before struggling to lift himself up from the ground. His knees buckled. He fell forward. Regice lunged.

I blinked and missed it.

The ice golem had disappeared from my view again, but I had a pretty good idea of where he had gone to this time as a loud crash sounded off in the distance. Auma stood triumphant, an arm extended out and covered in ice and cold as he looked out across the chamber, grinning at the sight of a well-thrown punch.

I sagged down and reminded myself to breathe again. Toa was safe. Regice was on the other side of the room, and-

It wasn’t on the platform.

‘Emilie!’ I mentally shouted, pulling both of my companions off out of their stupor. ‘Go now!’

My starter type jumped before looking down at the gates leading in. The large hole was already shrinking, quickly killing any hope that Auma’s punch had done the trick as ice filled the roll of stone and wood.

We needed to go now.

I took a deep breath as I felt a pulse of psychic energy radiate from Emilie and stared straight toward the goal, and in that moment, my nerves all seemed to calm.

We hadn’t won the war, but this still felt like a win regardless. This wasn’t impossible.

There was hope, and we could win.

I squared my shoulders and braced myself, before closing my eyes. ‘May, everyone... we’re coming, just... hold on.’

The world around me faded away, and I grinned as the wall of ice closed up behind me.