Cashe woke to find Lindon drooling on his chest. Somehow, during the night, the boy had decided that he was a pillow, apparently, and was propped up, perpendicular to him, in a deep sleep. Cashe grumbled, taking a second to replace his chest with an actual pillow, before he changed out of his drool soaked clothes and into something appropriate for the day.
Light poured into the small tent, the blue fabric giving it an eerie glow as the sun rose behind a layer of cloud. The worst of the storm had passed, but given the cloud cover and the drizzle of rain pattering away at the fabric of the tent, they were in for a long, wet day. Cashe shook Lindon awake and removed some rations from his bag. It wasn’t much, granola, water, and something Emilia referred to as high-caloric paste, but it would keep them going for most of the day. He took a moment to send her a quick message through the pokedex, letting her know what he planned for the day.
Lindon protested being woken as always, but came to his senses quickly as he remembered their situation. He let out a massive yawn and stretched, taking the spare breakfast from Cashe with a word of thanks.
“I was thinking we search until lunch and then head back,” Cashe said as he finished his meal, “We’re out here already, no point in wasting the opportunity.”
“Shouldn’t we stay out longer then?” Lindon’s speech was muffled by the leftover calorie paste in his mouth. He smacked his lips a few times, trying to work it away from his gums.
“We need to meet back up with Emilia,” Cashe said, “Besides, we’ll have better luck with three people searching instead of two.”
Lindon frowned, but didn’t object. A few minutes later, they were packed up and leaving the tent, packing that up too, before heading out.
The world that greeted them was wet and cold. The rocky fields they traversed to get to the mountain were soaked and drowning. What was once waist high grass that swayed in the wind was now a flattened mass of bio-matter, pressed to the ground by the weight of water. Streams flowed in new paths down the mountain crossing the field and pooling between rocks and in divots, before spilling over and continuing towards the ocean. From overhanging ledges far up the mountain, water cascaded down, splattering away from the mountainside as the wind scattered it in the world’s most chaotic waterfalls. Few pokemon could be seen at all. Cashe thought he saw the telltale glitter of an Alolan Sandshrew skittering along the side of the mountain, but he couldn’t be sure.
Frost formed from his breath as he peered around the world. The temperature had dropped overnight, and coupled with the elevation change and being close to the mountain, it was close to freezing. It was both good and bad for them. They would be more likely to see the ice type pokemon they were searching for, but it would make their search miserable and much more dangerous, especially since they were not prepared for the temperatures.
Lindon wasted no time summoning Magneton from his pokeball, the large metal pokemon hovering above them as they crept along the side of the mountain.
By unspoken agreement, Lindon took the lead; it would be important if they did get lucky and come across a Vulpix.
It wasn’t long before they came across a cave dug into the side of the mountain. It looked like a hole in the rock and nothing more, even as they got close to it. Low to the ground and only a few feet across, a divot was carved from the rock. At first glance, it was only that, bit on closer inspection, the rock curved away, revealing a hidden passage leading into the mountain. It was tight and narrow, only a dozen inches wide at most. Lindon might be able to squeeze through without too much trouble, but Cashe would need to take off his backpack and pull it through, maybe even leave it behind.
“What do you think?” Lindon asked.
“We aren’t ready for spelunking,” Cashe said. He didn’t need to ask Lindon’s opinion. The kid didn’t try to hide the excitement in his voice or the smile on his face. He thought this was it. Cashe couldn’t help but smile with him. It was a thing of fairy tales. A hidden cave found after getting caught in a storm? Maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been but it had the intrigue to excite the imagination.
“I can fit through,” Lindon said.
“Careful,” Cashe put a hand on his shoulder. "If it gets any more narrow, come back right away. Don’t try and squeeze through. If you get stuck around the bend, I won’t be able to pull you out.”
Lindon nodded and returned Magneton to his pokeball. No way the bulky steel type would fit through there. He shuffled forward, ducking low to enter the small crevasse in the rock. He shifted back and forth as he sidled out of sight and around the curve in the stone, disappearing into the mountain.
“Apollo?” Lindon’s voice was surprisingly muffled for how little distance he moved.
“You’re not stuck, are you?” Cashe said, raising his voice to make sure Lindon could hear.
“No,” Lindon’s voice came back, “It opens into a cave. It’s safe you can come through.”
Cashe grunted, ducking down to squeeze beneath the lip of the hole’s opening. Rock walls met him immediately, and he pressed himself against them, shuffling forward as his skin and clothes scraped against the rough surface of the stone. They were damp from the night’s storm, and Cashe could feel the dirt and grit scraping off on his clothes and his skin.
The crack was narrow, and he had to force his head to the side to see anything at all, but after only a few seconds of twisting about, it opened up into a tight, but manageable path that he was able to walk in, almost comfortably. There was a light shining up ahead, coming from around the final twist in the path. As Cashe Turned it, he was temporarily blinded by a flash of light.
“AH!”
“Sorry!” Lindon said, rushing to Cashe’s side so he didn’t bump into anything. He placed the flashlight in Cashe’s hands, digging into his backpack for a spare.
Cashe’s eyes eventually adjusted, and he gazed around the cave, eyes following the beam of his flashlight as he moved it around the cave. The space they were in was open, but still narrow, only a dozen feet wide at most, but moved in a relatively straight line along the side of the mountain, rather than deeper into it. It was a good sign, considering they were not going cave diving any time soon.
The rock walls were rocky but smoothed from years of erosion and patterned with spots of moss, clinging to life. It was cold in the cave, far colder than it was outside of it, and Cashe could feel the chill building in his bones already. A dank smell hung in the air, unfamiliar to Cashe. It smelled of wet earth and ice, but was mixed with something far less pleasant.
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“It’s what wild pokemon smell like if they don’t stay clean,” Lindon said, noticing Cashe’s expression. He had an excited grin on his face, “We definitely found a secret hiding place. There are pokemon here, I know it!”
“Well obviously,” Cashe said, “Look.”
Cashe shifted his flashlight’s beam to illuminate the far edge of the cave. An Alolan Sandshrew froze in place where it had been waddling. Its eyes went wide as the light stuck on it. In its hands was a hunk of ice or crystal that glowed in the light. It dropped the object after a clear few seconds of indecision and curled up into a ball, rolling away from Cashe’s flashlight and deeper into the cave.
Lindon scowled as Cashe grinned at him, “How did you even see that?”
“It was sparkling in the light. How did you not see it?” Cashe laughed. He focused the beam of light on the rock that the Sandshrew dropped, “What was that thing it was holding?”
Lindon walked through the cave and Cashe followed behind letting his beam of light search further up the cavern. It was a little unnerving, only being unable to see outside of the confines of his spot of light, and he silently gave thanks that he wasn’t claustrophobic.
Lindon reached the stone and lifted it up, letting his flashlight play over it. The stone sparked and glowed as light passed through it, a rainbow of colors shimmering against the wall of the cave.
“I think it’s an Ice Stone,” Lindon whispered.
Cashe whistled, “Now that is a great find.”
“What do I do with it?”
“What do you mean? Put it in your backpack.” Cashe said with a confused look.
Lindon looked down at the stone and up at Cashe, “But you found it.”
“I’m not the one holding it,” Cashe shrugged.
“But it’s really valuable!”
“You could probably trade a pokemon for something like that,” Cashe agreed.
“That’s my point,” Lindon said, “I can’t just take it.”
“I gave Emilia a Mega Stone and she gave me a loan so I could get Sneasel. Now I’m saying you can have the Ice Stone. It’s what friends do.” Cashe said.
“But-”
“Lindon, you’re not listening to me,” Cashe said, “You could trade that for a pokemon. It’s worth that much. Especially to someone who has a pokemon that needs the stone to evolve.”
Lindon blinked, looking down at the stone, “You think I should get another pokemon with it?”
“You have three pokemon,” Cashe said, “And you know someone who is going to be desperate for that stone in your hands.”
“I do?” Lindon’s eyes widened, “I do.”
“Exactly. Now all we have to do is find that Vulpix.” Cashe pointed further into the cave in the direction Sandshrew headed.
Lindon nodded and stuffed the Ice Stone into his backpack, marching on.
As they moved the cave widened and turned heading back to the side of the mountain. They exited the narrow corridor of rock and the cave opened up. Sandshrew skittered away from the light and the rustle of wings could be heard from far above them. Zubat, Swoobat, Noibat - some sort of bat - was lurking up in the cavernous ceiling. Soon, their flashlights became unnecessary as daylight leaked in from the edge of the cave. The temperature rose significantly and they found themselves in a gaping cavern, overlooking the rocky plain that led to the mountain.
Cashe snorted, “Guess we didn’t need to squeeze through that hole. Another five minutes of walking and we would have found this.”
“We might not have found the Ice Stone though.”
“True. But this cave was a dud. Let’s keep looking.”
They traversed the edge of the mountain for the next few hours, keeping as close to the stone as possible to above the falling rain. It was an ineffectual strategy and they were both soon soaked. They found several more caves, but most did not lead deeper into the mountains and those that did were untraversable without significant gear and expertise.
Noon was fast approaching and Cashe thought they would be heading back without a lead, when Lindon cried out in excitement.
“Look!” He pointed.
They were in a cave. It was not particularly deep, but it was cold. More importantly it had a crack in the stone at the back of it that led further into the mountain. Icy air poured from the crack and sent shivers down Cashe’s spine, but Lindon was not pointing at the crack. He was pointing at the ground in front of it.
“What is it?” Cashe squinted. He couldn’t make anything out, apart from a few crystals of ice that had formed on the ground.
“Look!” Lindon approached the patch of ground, pointing at the ice. Cashe joined him, eyes widening as he realized what he was looking at. It wasn’t a patch of ice crystals. It was a paw print. A tiny one, made from the frozen water of a passing ice type pokemon. It had the characteristic padding of a fox.
“We’re close,” Cashe breathed, his breath misting from the cold of the cave. The print led away from the crack in the wall, leading towards the cave exit. Warmer temperatures meant that it was the only footprint they had to go off of, and they likely only had that because of the water present in the air thanks to the storm.
Lindon looked in the direction of the footprint and sighed, “Too bad we’re heading back soon.”
Cashe frowned. “We didn’t have a lead before,” he hesitated, looked down at Lindon, “We could stay a bit longer-”
“Yes! Let’s do that!” Lindon’s mood turned around so fast Cashe was sure he had just been played, “Tell Emilia we found it and are going after Vulpix now!”
Cashe raised an eyebrow at the demand, “Excuse me?”
“Um, please?” Lindon blushed, “If you agree.”
Cashe snorted, “I have a feeling you wouldn’t come with me even if I turned back now. I’m not going to leave you out here on your own.”
He pulled his pokedex out and opened up the communication app to contact Emilia, only to find she had contacted him recently.
“Huh,” Cashe frowned at the message, “That’s strange.”
“What?”
“Emilia says there’s something weird going on and she’s following Dee?” Cashe shook his head and held up the pokedex to call Emilia, “I’m going to find out what’s going on.”
The pokedex rang a single time before it picked up.
“Hey, Emilia, what’s-”
“Not a good time!” Emilia’s voice came through the speaker as a hiss. There was a muffled scraping of static and the line went dead as she hung up on him.
“Okay, I guess I’ll call back later.” Cashe said. He typed out their updated plans and turned back to Lindon who was bent over the footprint and frowning.
“I wish we had an Arcanine or something that was good at tracking,” Lindon complained, “It’s going to be really hard to follow the Vulpix otherwise. We need a pokemon that can find its way in these dark caves or ice.”
“I don’t know if even an Arcanine can track through -” Cashe froze, eyes going wide.
“What?” Lindon said, looking up at him.
“I’m an idiot,” Cashe groaned. He reached for his belt and pulled off a pokeball, summoning Sneasel from it.
The pokemon appeared in a flash of light, looking up at Cashe with a big grin and wrapped his arms around his leg in a hug.
“Hello there,” Cashe smiled, giving the happy pokemon a rub on his head. He pointed to the small paw print left by the Alolan Vulpix, “Do you know what that is?”
Sneasel glanced over at the print and his ear flattened against his head like a cat readying to pounce. He licked his lips, a pink tongue playing over his sharp fangs, “Sneas?”
“No, absolutely not. We want to capture it. Alive,” Cashe said, flicking Sneasel in the head.
“Sneasel?”
“No, not to eat it later,” Cashe said, “We just need to find it, but I'm not going to let you help if you keep saying stuff like that.”
“Sneasel,” Sneasel had the decency to look ashamed.
*****