A Passing Blizzard

A Passing Blizzard is a story written by The Mirror Samurai. Based on Pokemon X and Y, the game explores the idea of an alternate route through the Kalos region by having a trainer fight what is the first gym in the original game as his final gym.
==Part One: Journey to Santalune==
The winter sun was shining weakly on Parterre Lane. The tiny mazes of hedges on the roadsides were frosted by a powder of snow, so thin that it barely hid their gentle evergreen leaves. Canary flowers and solitary pairs of roses wilted in the cold, shielding themselves from the tiny blizzard that sent an occasional wave of snowflakes sailing onto the fields. At the centre of the road was a fountain with an ornate golden Clamperl in its centre - the water was still spraying from the four corners to the centre like geysers, completely at odds with the cold season surrounding it.
Sylvain was taking a gentle walk south, away from the bustling metropolis of Lumiose City. He was thirteen years old, though his rather short height made him seem a little younger. Having been raised in the frigid Snowbelle City, he was used to the cold, with only a silver-grey cardigan as his protection. A thick bunch of his pale ice-blue hair was reaching over his left eye, shielding it from the odd blow of snow from the west.
Compared to his calm, controlled footsteps, the scene around Sylvain was one of massive energy. Toddlers were running home from nursery, a pair of teenagers were rushing around the fountain in roller-skates, and the air was alive with various shouts of Pokemon trainers not much younger than Sylvain himself. Some were giving orders to their Pokemon, others were celebrating, and others were disheartened from losing battles or failing to catch the creatures in the wild.
Sylvain, believing himself to be the only seasoned trainer in Parterre Lane, felt a sense of wistful nostalgia from listening in on the experiences of other trainers. Reaching into the inner pocket of his cardigan, he took out his badge case, holding the seven gym badges - Iceberg, Psychic, Fairy, Plant, Rumble, Cliff, Voltage - that he had earned in his three weeks of travelling the Kalos region. Each of them was a token of victory, a reminder of a fierce battle he had challenged the region's gym leaders to. Floating to the front of his memory were the words of encouragement he'd called out to his Pokemon when they needed them most, the strategies he'd used to win, the times he thought that he was sure to lose...
The memories were cut open by a heavy, grating sound, some kind of machine slicing at plants. Shocked by the noise, Sylvain covered his ears and winced as he turned his head right, to the source of the noise. He spied a grey-haired gardener by one of the roadside hedges, the rattling blades of his pole-saw tearing at the messy leaves poking outside the shrub.
“Hey, can you stop that?” Sylvain snapped, already losing his cool. “I can hardly think straight with that noise!”
The gardener, hearing the shout, shut the machine off and took a look behind him. “My apologies, what were you saying?”
“I asked you to stop it,” Sylvain was calmer, though still notably irritated. “I'm finding it really hard to concentrate with the noise.”
“You can't tell a person to stop doing their job, you know. If it's really bothering you, why don't you come back through later?”
“Okay, then...” Reaching into his cardigan, Sylvain pulled out a circular capsule, dark grey with red-and-gold stripes. This was a Luxury Ball, a kind of Poke Ball that was used to carry a trainer's Pokemon. “I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!”
“It's been a while since the last time I heard that.” The gardener took out a Poke Ball of his own, with two halves of colour - one was white, while the other was green with a pattern of yellow rings. “I accept the challenge!”
“Three Pokemon each, we can switch them at any time. The first to knock out two enemies is the winner. How does that sound?”
“That'll be fine... but first, we should introduce ourselves.” - as was common courtesy before any Pokemon battle. “My name is Wheaton. And yours?”
“My name's Sylvain. I'm on my way to Santalune to get my final gym badge.”
“Your final badge in Santalune, eh?” Wheaton seemed surprised. “Most trainers gather there to begin their journey.”
“I'm from Snowbelle.” By this point, Sylvain was tossing his capsule into the air, somewhat impatient for the battle to get started. “Santalune might be close by for me, but I figured going away from Santalune would make for a longer route. So I'd get more time to train.”
“I see. So you're a thinker, eh? I wasn't expecting that from such a hot-headed kid. But enough beating around the bush, shall we start?”
“Definitely!” Sylvain caught the Luxury Ball at the height of its last throw, then held it out in front of him. Wheaton held his own Poke Ball forward as well, so the two capsules were facing one another. “I'll do the count of three.”
The frosty air turned quiet for a moment. The trainers' eyes froze upon each other. They coldly backed away, putting fifteen feet between them. Sylvain began to count.
“Three... two... one!”
He swiftly tossed the Luxury Ball forwards, and it burst open in midair, from which a silvery light poured out. Darting in serpentine like a thunderbolt, the light melded into an orb that flashed brilliantly, then folded inwards and took on a slender shape. As the light faded, it revealed the creature that was inside the capsule - Trevenant, the first Pokemon Sylvain had ever received. He was a ghostly being covered in bark, giving the appearance of a tree walking on spider-like roots, though only standing at five feet, almost the same height as Sylvain himself.
On Wheaton's side was a Crawdaunt, a towering lobster-like beast covered in ruby-red shell armour, with a golden star on the forehead. Sylvain was briefly joyful to have the first type advantage - his Grass-type Trevenant against the Water-type Crawdaunt - though deep down he knew the advantage wasn't what it seemed. Any good trainer would switch out their Pokemon if they were at a type disadvantage, and his prime concern was what would replace the Crawdaunt.
Whatever Pokemon came out next, however, Sylvain had a plan to weaken them. So, he called out his order - “Trevenant, let's start with Leech Seed!”
The treelike Pokemon swung an arm, from which several seeds flew out and landed on the ground around Crawdaunt. The seeds quickly grew into tiny green plants, each no more than two inches tall, and orbs of green light seemed to form above their leaves. On closer inspection, the light was being syphoned from Crawdaunt's body and drawn towards Trevenant, draining the enemy's health to restore his own.
“An interesting first choice.” Wheaton remarked, before giving his own command. “Crawdaunt, Night Slash!” The crustacean charged forwards, with dark energy forming into razor edges around its pincers. The fierce slashes struck hard on Trevenant, enough to leave chips in his bark, knocking the tree Pokemon down to the ground.
Sylvain realised why there wasn't a switch - Crawdaunt was a Dark-type as well as a Water-type, while Trevenant was part Ghost-type. Dark beat Ghost like how Grass beat Water, and both trainers were fighting with the edge on their enemy. He was angry at himself for the mistake, but instead of reacting he decided to focus on the next order.
“Trevenant, go for Horn Leech!” Trevenant's three horns were surrounded by a green glow, and he rammed his head into the Crawdaunt. More energy seemed to sap out of the enemy's body, much like what the Leech Seed had done, rising into the air and being drawn towards Trevenant. The health-draining abilities had allowed Trevenant to recover a fair amount of vitality - though not enough to make up for the Night Slash.
“Use Night Slash again!” Wheaton's Crawdaunt took a few steps back for a run-up, giving Sylvain just enough time for a counter-measure.
“Deflect it, Trevenant!” As the Crawdaunt charged, Trevenant threw out an arm in defence, grabbing one of Crawdaunt's pincers for a moment. The dark blade on the other pincer managed to strike, though Trevenant let himself take the hit and was knocked away, too far for the other pincer to make a hit. With the damage taken reduced, Trevenant would be able to outlast Crawdaunt using health-sapping attacks, so he gave the next order with confidence.
“Trevenant, Horn Leech-“
“Crawdaunt, return!” Wheaton held out a Poke Ball and pressed the button at the front, from which a red ray of light burst out to reach the Crawdaunt. His Pokemon seemed to become part of the red light, which was whipped back inside the capsule. Quickly swapping it out for a new Poke Ball, he threw it out onto the battlefield, and it opened up into an orb of light in the centre of the Leech Seeds.
The orb closed up into a vaguely human-like shape, though just under three feet tall, and burst open to reveal a Pokemon with a leafy body and bunches of roses where its hands should be - Roserade. As Roserade came out, the surrounding Leech Seeds wilted, swiftly vanishing into the ground. Of course, Sylvain thought, Grass-type Pokemon cancel out Leech Seeds! 
Trevenant was still charging into battle, ready to plough into the enemy with his horns, but realised too late that he was at a disadvantage. The horns barely pierced Roserade, who took the blow with ease and began to push back on the attacker. Thorny vines began to emerge from the roses on its hands, growing longer until they were able to completely entangle Trevenant like a net.
Taking out his Luxury Ball again, Sylvain he gave his order “Trevenant, come back!” The red ray shot out of the capsule and absorbed the tree Pokemon inside, with Roserade's vines collapsing around the former target. “Gliscor, your turn!” He threw out a new Poke Ball, this time the plain red-and-white colour, and it opened high into the air to pour out the white energy. Merging high in the air above Roserade, the light became a vampire-bat like Pokemon with pincered arms and a scorpion tail - Gliscor.
“Gliscor! Night Slash!”
“Not so fast! Roserade, Petal Dance!” Wheaton's Roserade began to pirouette, spraying red-and-blue petals from its hands that swirled around in a cyclonic fashion. Gliscor rushed in with pincers glowing black, though some of the petals caught on the pincers and closed them up. The petals that passed by soon snapped back with the speed of the twister, slashing at Gliscor and knocking him to the ground.
Sylvain wasn't shocked to see this - he seemed happy, a confident smirk on his face. “Thanks. Now that your Roserade can't fight back, let's use Fire Fang!”
Wheaton was taken aback by the sudden turnaround. Petal Dance was a very powerful move, but the user couldn't do anything except use Petal Dance again until they eventually became fatigued. Gliscor, meanwhile, had access to a Fire-type move super-effective against a Grass-type like Roserade, giving him the position to win the fight. The petal whirlwind was too fierce to see Gliscor's attack, save for a chomping noise and a spark of flames.
Soon after, the petals fell to the ground, revealing a terrified Roserade, still standing but with no sign of fighting back, and Gliscor arcing in the air, ready to attack again. The Pokemon flew down, fire glowing around his teeth, and gnashed at his enemy's face, from which blazes burst out and the Roserade was knocked down to the ground, no longer moving.
“Roserade, return!” Wheaton let the red energy ray out of the unconscious Roserade's Poke Ball, beaming it back inside. “Surprising to see a Gliscor use a Fire-type move, isn't it? When did you teach it that?”
“I got the move from this lady in Dendemille Town,” Sylvain told him. “Apparently certain Pokemon have latent moves that they can't learn naturally, but she could get my Gliscor to learn that move in exchange for a Heart Scale.”
“Dendemille Town, eh? That's quite the way away from here. ...”
“I guess you're right... back to the battle, though. Who will you send out next?”
“You'll see soon.” Wheaton pulled out his final Poke Ball, throwing it out into the field. As it burst into the air, the white light came flooding out and split into two parts. One part moulded into a long, narrow shape, while the other rounded out. Both orbs of light came closer until they merged, at which point the energy burst open to reveal the Pokemon - a golden, sword-shaped phantom carrying a matching shield with veil-like arms. This was Aegislash.
“Aegislash, Retaliate!”
“Going for a Ghost-type?” Sylvain said in an almost arrogant tone. “Well, I'll do the same!” He brought Gliscor's Poke Ball out again, beaming the Pokemon into the capsule with a ray of red light. Almost immediately after, he threw his Luxury Ball swiftly at the ground in front of the rearing Aegislash. As it hit the ground the white energy spiralled into the air, shaping once again into Trevenant.
Aegislash charged, tilting its body to be ready to slash, but realised too late what the enemy was. Retaliate was a Normal-type move, and so the sword completely phased through the tree, and almost rammed into Sylvain. Fortunately Aegislash halted before it hit the opposing trainer, though it didn't stop him from lunging out to the side to avoid harm.
“Hey, watch it!” Sylvain burst out angrily, though he soon composed himself and got up off the ground. “Alright, Trevenant,” he called out cheerfully, “time for our favourite attack!” Trevenant raised his arms, and a green aura seemed to rise up out of the ground. Aegislash seemed dazed for a moment, but asides from that the move had no visible effect. To some, it would have seemed that Sylvain had wasted a turn.
“Taking it slow? Well then, Aegislash... Shadow Claw!” Wheaton's Aegislash threw its shield down at the ground, causing a dark void to emerge from the earth. The blade Pokemon dove into the hole, and a burst of blackness shot up from below Trevenant, flinging him back and leaving the tree-like creature lying down, struggling to hoist back up due to his spiderlike legs.
“I'll show you what a real Shadow Claw looks like!” Sylvain called out to his Pokemon, who secured himself on the ground with one arm. Trevenant raised the other limb and created his own dark void in the earth...
“Not so fast - King's Shield!”
Aegislash, having emerged back out through its own void, reached out for its shield and pulled it over the blade of its body. An aura of metallic hexagons formed in front of the shield, just as Trevenant thrust his free arm into the darkness. A clawed arm of shadows rose out in front of Trevenant, but was repelled by the shield with a deafening clang. Sylvain's Pokemon was knocked down once again by the recoil from the shield.
“There we are! With your Shadow Claw repelled by King’s Shield, Trevenant shouldn't be attacking anytime soon. Now to land a finishing blow-“
“Come back, Trevenant!” Once again Sylvain pulled out his Luxury Ball, beaming his Trevenant back inside. “Let's finish this, Gliscor!”
He threw his Gliscor's Poke Ball high in the air, and his flying Pokemon emerged once again. Aegislash was nowhere to be seen, but the black void was clear on the ground close to Wheaton. An abrupt black void emerged to Gliscor's right, and he just had time to hear the distorted sound of darkness before Aegislash's blade phased through and sliced him, sending Gliscor plummeting to the ground.
“King's Shield, Aegislash!” The golden Pokemon was back near to the gardener, protecting itself with another metallic barrier.
“Perfect timing. Gliscor, use Roost!” Instead of fighting, Gliscor landed on the ground and began channeling energy, restoring his health. Aegislash kept the shield up, expecting a sudden attack, but never received it. Before long, the barrier shattered into tiny, glass-like fragments of light.
“Shadow Claw!”
“Fire Fang!”
Wheaton's Aegislash dived into a dark void again, though Gliscor stayed on the ground again, charging up fire on his vampiric teeth. As a void opened up beneath Sylvain's Pokemon, he escaped into the air with blinding speed, so fast that neither trainer could see the battle. Aegislash was steadily slowing down, the dark blade around its sword-tip fading out, and out of the corner of his eye Gliscor noticed, flipping around in midair and biting savagely on the side of the enemy's blade.
Flames burst out of the impact, piercing the clouds from up high. Both trainers noticed and their expressions suddenly shifted - Wheaton's into shock, and Sylvain's into celebration. Aegislash fell down, clanking as it landed on the ground, while Gliscor soared joyfully and landed on his trainer's outstretched arm.
“Whew, cut down to size...” After returning the fainted Aegislash into its Poke Ball, Wheaton pulled his hat off and looked on blankly in wonder. This soon shaped into an impressed visage, and he said, “You're something else, sonny. How did that Fire Fang deal so much damage?”
Sylvain was clearly in a good mood after his victory. He had just returned his Trevenant and was now playing around with the Luxury Ball, flinging it into the air and catching the capsule just before it fell. He turned to Wheaton with a beaming smile, reminiscent of the pale sun at its height in the horizon ahead of him.
“Remember when I told my Trevenant to use my favourite attack? That was Forest's Curse. It gives the target a Grass-type, so your Aegislash essentially had a Grass-Steel-Ghost type. And since both Grass and Steel are weak to Fire, it took even more damage than it would normally.”
“I don't think I've heard of that move before... it's been forty-odd years since I set out for my gym badges. Trainers really have been making more elaborate strategies in modern days, eh?”
“I dunno. The moves must have always been there, so maybe people didn't like using them as much?”
“It could be.” After scrounging around in his wallet, Wheaton placed a hand in Sylvain's, inside which was a handful of Pokedollar coins - prize money for his victory. “That was a good battle. I wish you luck on getting that final gym badge.”
“Thanks! And, uh... sorry that I snapped at you like that.”
Sylvain walked away with a wave, slowly turning his eyes away from Parterre Lane. Just in front of him were the gates - the way to Santalune City was finally here.
...
“Excuse me. You're that boy who came by Lumiose Press the other day, aren't you?”
Sylvain was surprised by the voice coming from just to his left, on a corner of the city he had just entered. He recognised the woman it belonged to - green eyes, light brown hair with a large coiling lock hanging from the front.
“...oh, yeah. I remember you.” Sylvain, still taken aback somewhat, turned with a smile and a casual arm reaching behind his head. “Uh, Alexa, wasn't it?”
“That's right. So, what brings you to Santalune City? Starting a Pokemon journey, perhaps?”
“Actually, I'm here to end it.”
“That's not something you hear often.” Alexa seemed to perk up, taking a step closer and talking more freely. “It's been a while since a trainer challenged Santalune Gym at the end of their journey. I'm sure Viola should like the change of pace.”
“You know the gym leader?”
“Sure! We're sisters. I'm a reporter, and she's a photographer. We go hand-in-hand.” Sylvain was interested in what she said, though he was excited to earn his final badge and didn't really want to hang around.
“Well...” Awkwardly pausing for a moment, Sylvain struggled to give a response. Before long he let out a slow, far-from-smooth, “I'd... better get going.”
“You're not nervous, are you?”
“Of course not!” Sylvain suddenly shifted back to his casual, confident tone. “The first gym leader was definitely the hardest for me. I'm from Snowbelle City, and there are barely any Pokemon near there who are good against Ice-types...”
“You'll be surprised. Gym leaders are allowed to go all-out on trainers who are going for their last badge.” Sylvain didn't respond, too busy thinking about what battle he had ahead of himself. “But anyway, good luck on your gym battle.”
“Thanks! I'll be seeing you.” With that Sylvain walked off with a half-wave, still reasoning what he had been told. He would be lying if he said that Alexa's comment didn't put him off from the battle, though he chose to stay confident - this was the last step on his Pokemon journey, and he was eager to reach its finish.
Sylvain pulled his rucksack off his shoulders, reaching in and taking out a small book. He flipped through the pages until he found the map of Santalune City's structure. Having just entered from the north, he quickly found the gate from Parterre Lane and the cafe just to its west on the paper. It was about an hour until the evening began, so he took out another book from his bag, this one a small notepad with a pencil wrapped in its looping binder. Opening up to the first fresh page, he pulled out the pencil and scribbled:
“GET DINNER AT CAFÉ DE L'HIRONDELE”
It was a hurried scrawl, in jagged overlapping letters taking up an entire page. He misspelled the final word in his haste, missing out a second L in “hirondelle”. To anyone else the note would be unintelligible, but he liked it that way, it gave his writing security. With his reminder finished, he put the pencil back in the notebook's spine and placed it back in the bag. He pulled his rucksack back on, but kept it half-open so he could return his mapbook more easily.
The way to the Pokemon Gym was straight east, though he saw something on the map that caught his interest. He lowered his map-holding arm and began walking, soon coming by the Pokemon Trainers' school. This sight made him remember what he'd heard about many trainers starting a journey in Santalune, but in the same way made him think of how different his start was. Being home-schooled as a young boy, Sylvain found the thought of groups of children being taught together bizarre for him.
Turning right in front of the school, Sylvain walked ahead and noticed the central fountain of Santalune. He had seen many fountains on his route around Kalos, though what he saw was bar none his favourite. At the centre was a towering stone Roselia, pouring water gently out of the two roses on its hands and into the surrounding pool, as though it were watering imaginary plants. He was touched by the mental image that the fountain produced, though he couldn't stay to gaze for long because he noticed something else further ahead - the red-roofed white facility all Pokemon Trainers were familiar with.
His Pokemon hadn't been in many battles on the way to Santalune, but he knew that he needed them at full health before a Gym battle. Sylvain walked towards the Pokemon Centre and stepped through the transparent glass doors, which slid open like curtains as he came close. Beyond the doors was a room he remembered down to the last inch - the pink-haired nurse at the counter in the centre, a clothes-changing booth in the far left, and the shop at the far right.
“Welcome to the Pokemon Centre,” the nurse said instinctively. “Would you like me to heal your Pokemon?”
“Of course!” Sylvain spoke unusually cheerfully as he reached for his Poke Balls, placing them one by one on the tray the nurse had laid out with a bright, smiling face. She placed the capsules inside the centre's healing machine, while Sylvain went off to sit back on one of the sofas off to the side. He reached into his bag and pulled out what looked like a platter of multi-coloured discs - these were Technical Machines, devices designed to teach Pokemon moves they could not normally use. His attention turned to two of the devices - the sandy-orange TM26, and the stone-coloured TM80.
A bell rang through the centre, and despite its abruptness Sylvain barely showed an outwards response - he'd heard it enough times to know the meaning. He got up, still holding the two TMs in a free hand, and walked back up to the counter to take his Pokemon back.
“Thank you for waiting,” the nurse said, the same speech as always. “We have restored your Pokemon to full health. We hope to see you again!”
Sylvain turned back to take his bag, and stepped out through the sliding doors of the centre. He pulled out one of his Poke Balls, and lightly pressed TM80 on the surface of the capsule. The button on the front of the Poke Ball lit up and a tiny show of lights formed in the inside, only just visible through the semi-translucent material. After placing the ball back he took out another, which he touched with TM26. He didn't decide to wait for the effects this time, immediately placing the capsule back into position and returning the discs to his bag.
Continuing to walk away from the centre, Sylvain took one final, sentimental look of wonder at the Roselia fountain. One turn right past the fountain, then another turn to his left, and he saw his destination in front of him. The building was gilded with a sheen of gold, save for the shell-like green roof, and off to the side was a towering stone model of a Poke Ball at the corner of a jagged triangle. Sylvain had seen the model seven times before, and knew for sure that this was the eighth Pokemon Gym he was after.
With no need to build up his courage, the trainer walked to the door and prised it open.
Category:Pokémon (series)
Category:Stories