“You’ve got some real courage to battle against me, dude! But, as of right now, you seem to be a little lost. What’s wrong, can’t figure out how to win?”

Tyler softly grunted.

“That’s what you think! Luckily, I have one last trick up my sleeve to hopefully defeat you with.”

Anthony went wide eyed as Tyler quite literally pulled up his shirt sleeve, revealing his Z Ring.

“Wow you-”

“Huh. Well. No matter! I’m still defeating you one way or another!”

“Not if I have something to say about that!”

He held up his arm, activating the ring. Brian and Sammy watched in awe.

"My mind..my body..and my soul. Our spirits thrive together as one! Now, unleash your full power, Ponyta!!”

He softly chanted, as both his and his Pokemon’s body began to glow.

“Use SHATTERED PSYCHE!!”

Ponyta’s psychic ability stopped Luxray in his tracks as Anthony commanded him to use Tackle, and instead bounced him around with the walls and in midair, until she brought him crashing into the ground.

Luxray fainted.

“Luxray is unable to battle, which means Ponyta is the winner, and by that, Challenger Tyler is the winner!”

Jax proudly announced from the booth.

Anthony sent back his Luxray.

“Dammit. Well, take a good rest, Luxray. You did amazing.”

He approached Tyler and shook his hand.

“I’ll have to admit, you impressed me.”

Tyler gave him a smug grin as he shook hands.

“And what was that about wanting to beat me?”

Anthony grunted and looked away as he handed him the Electric Paw Badge.

“Yeah yeah. Don’t give me that smug grin you little sh-”

Tyler gladly swiped it from his hands.

“Thank you very much.”

As the trio left the city later that day, they received an alert on their Rotom phones,  indicating suspicious, unusual activities going on near Route 12, which, ironically, was the path they were heading towards. However, to their dismay, a blizzard seemed to be roaring. Brian’s Eevee, who was out of her pokeball, snuggled herself into his hoodie to stay warm.

Sammy looked at the two boys, shivering a little.

“Alright..so..how are we gonna get through this cold?”

Brian looked back.

“No clue..but hopefully we figure that out soon or we’ll freeze to death.”

“Hm…I might have an idea.”

The three of them looked in the distance as they saw a figure, blue furred and ice crystals for horns, along with a snow leopard like pattern in his fur, approached them. Tyler recognized him instantly.

“Luke??”

The dragon gave him a friendly smile.

“Hi hi! Nice to see you three again.”

Tyler went up to him and hugged his face, while being mindful of his icy horns.

“What brings you here?”

Luke shook his fur out from all the snow getting onto his pelt as he leaned into Tyler’s arms.

“Aye, well, Pumpkin and I came out here to explore what was going on, but a couple of weirdly dressed peeps spotted us and attacked us. I got away…but they captured Pumpkin. I’ve been pacing around trying to think of a plan to save her.”

“...Anyway, I assume you guys came here for the same reason?”

Brian nodded his head.

“Yeah, we got that alert as well.”

Sammy scratched her chin.

“Since we’re here anyway, we can definitely help you save Pumpkin. Do you happen to know where they went off with her?”

Luke turned around and pointed towards the mountain’s peak.

“As far as I know, at the top of the mountain over there.”

Sammy clenched her fist confidently.

“Then that’s where we’re going. Any chance you could fly us up the mountain, Luke?”

The ice angel dragon nodded his head, as he sat down and laid on his stomach, allowing the trio to climb on.

“Of course. Just be mindful of my back horns though; try to sit in between them if possible.”

He soon got up, and shook his fur out some more as he let his wings open up.

“Alright. Are you guys ready?”

Brian, Tyler, and Sammy each gave him a “Yeah.” Luke ran forward as his wings started to flutter and lift them off the ground.

“Hold on tight!”

Meteorite Mountain stood at a very high altitude, considered one of the tallest mountains in the entire region, at almost 200-300 feet above ground. As Luke flew upwards, the blizzard wind got heavier and his visibility got low. He looked around.

“Do you guys see anything?”

Sammy squinted, but tried to point in a direction he could see.

“Hardly. Maybe land us somewhere so you don’t get tired?”

“Sounds good.”

He’d say in response, flying up a little higher and in the direction that Sammy was pointing her fingers. They would land in a spot that was fairly close to the peak. Luke’s ears would point upwards as he heard noises that almost sounded like audible voices.

“Okay. So…remind me again as to what our plan is exactly? The boss wasn’t very clear on his instructions.”

Said one voice as Luke steadily walked himself and the trio over to its source. The voice belonged to a figure, who vaguely resembled a light purple-ish otter with an afro that was a darker shade. The nametag on his outfit, as they could spot from afar, read “Onyx.”

“Really?”

Responded the figure that was next to him. His nametag read “Jayden”, and he was a hybrid of a Labrador and African Golden Wolf.

“Basically, we’re going to use this menacing looking machine to harness all the…supposedly hidden energy that’s stored in the mountain to further the boss’s plan. That plan was to make sure we’d shape the region, creating an environment in order for Ice type Pokemon to thrive.”

Onyx scratched his chin.

“Seems..questionable but if it works then by all means; assuming those three brats don’t get in the way. But what do we do with this creature?”

He’d say, pointing to the cage closeby that held Pumpkin captive.

Sammy whispered as Luke sat in the snow and let them hop off.

“There she is.”

Jayden gave her a smug grin.

“Ah. Her. No idea. I only captured her so she wouldn’t go around and make people aware of our plans. Maybe she’ll make a neat servant to the boss.”

Pumpkin rattled the cage.

“You won’t get away with this! Don’t you know what that’ll do to the ecosystem and the Pokémon that thrive in it? It’ll practically mess it up!”

Her cheeks puffed as the two scoffed at her, before turning around to ignore her.

Sammy looked at Brian and Tyler as they ducked behind a snow mound.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

Brian looked at her.

“Well my idea was to charge in and hope for the best.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow.

“That’s such a dumb idea…but it might just work. Brian and I can attack and distract them, while you break Pumpkin out. If there’s anything about you I know that you’re excellent at picking locks.”

Sammy laughed and rubbed her arm.

“Against my better judgment, but it definitely sounds ideal.”

“Besides, Pumpkin seemed to like you quite a bit, so I feel like she’d trust you the most out of all of us.”

Tyler looked at the angel dragon, who shifted himself back to his anthro form.

“Well, besides Luke. I’m sure she trusts you already.”

Luke nodded his head.

“She does, but I feel awful for leaving her when she got caught.”

Brian softly patted his back while being mindful of his horns.

“That’s why we’re here! We’re gonna help you get her back.”

The dragon softly smiled.

“Right. Alright, let’s do this.”

Brian and Tyler looked right at each other with a confident grin on their faces, before getting up and charging at both the grunts. 

“As if right on cue, here’s two of them now.”

Jayden scoffed, sending out his Sceptile. Onyx sent out his Dewott alongside him.

Brian and Tyler sent out their pokemon as well; Electrike and Torracat respectively. Sammy snuck over to Pumpkin’s cage while they were distracted.

The angel dragon went wide eyed as she spotted her.

“Sam?”

The bunny smiled back.

“Howdy! Don’t worry, I’m here to getcha out, girl.”

She let her hair loose as she pulled a hairpin out, fiddling with the lock for a few minutes. Pumpkin watched intently.

“How is that going to w-“

The lock snapped open.

“Oh.”

Sammy laughed.

“Very careful, precise movements.”

Pumpkin pushed the door open, shook her fur out from the wet snow that got into it, and hugged her.

“Thank you so, so much.”

“You’re very welcome! Now c’mon, let’s get you somewhere safe.”

The two team admins made their way out as their defeated pokemon got sent back to their pokeballs. Brian and Tyler high fived and made their way back to Luke and Sammy.

The two angel dragons hugged each other.

“Ahh..Pumpkin, I’m so sorry I left you behind.”

“It’s alright Luke. I’m just glad you’re okay. Besides, if they’d caught you instead, I feel like they would’ve drained your magic.”

“Ah yeah…probably. Least we don’t have to worry about that, I’m just so glad you’re safe and sound.”

Luke looked towards the trio.

“Thank you guys for helping us out, it really means a lot.”

Brian smiled.

“Hey, you guys helped us, so it’s only right we return the favor.”

Pumpkin went up to Sammy, and snuck a kiss on her cheek as she hugged her again.

“And a big thank you for rescuing me. You should teach me a thing or two about picking locks next time in case I get kidnapped again.”

Sammy froze for a minute, her ears flopping downwards as she rubbed her cheek and sheepishly smiled.

“I-I..uh..Mayybe I will..Heh..”

The angel dragon softly giggled as she saw her friend’s face turn into a goofy smile.

“So where are you guys off to now?”

The bunny pondered for a minute.

“Aye..well, we could definitely find a way to Snowfront since it’s closeby.”

Luke snapped his finger, immediately having an idea.

“We can take you three there.”

“Wait, really?”

Tyler asked.

“Of course. Now hop on!”