The Snowy, Minty City

The next morning, I woke up, feeling entirely refreshed from the previous night's ordeal. I was ready to tackle the new day, head-on. I got out of bed, and got ready to leave the hotel. I walked down the hallway, back to the entrance, where I saw Weston was already at his post, ready for any weary travelers.

"Good morning, young sir. Did you sleep well?" he asked when he saw me.

"Absolutely. I'll be on my way now, but I wanted to let you know of something before I leave. You don't need to worry about re-publicizing the hotel. I'll handle that. Just make sure that people here have a comfortable stay," I said.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll make sure of it," he responded.

"Alrighty then! I'll be off. Goodbye, Weston!" I tossed him the key, which he caught easily.

"Goodbye, young sir," Weston said. I left the hotel, and it was a lot colder than I thought it would be. I was starting to regret not buying a jacket last time I was in Lumiose. Nonetheless, I got out my skateboard and began skating towards my next destination: Dendemille Town.

On the way there, not many things interested me. All that was on Route 15 was a large amount of dark-type pokemon. Though I did notice that the leaves on the trees looked as if they were in fall weather. Which is what it felt like. Seeing that it was getting windy, I wanted to get to Dendemille Town as soon as possible. So I began speeding up on my skateboard so that I could warm up. But there was one thing I forgot.

Dendemille Town is right under a mountain. So it's constantly snowing. Which explains the very cold, fall-like weather.

And my speed didn't help at all. Considering that the wind was rushing by me, I wasn't warming up. But before long, I finally made it to Dendemille Town. And immediately, I was shivering. Why were there towns like this in the pokemon world? It truly angered me.

Anyways, looking around, there was surprisingly a lot of just plain life. Instead of people being inside, trying to stay warm, they were outside, interacting with one another. There were plenty of people outside, having fun with and just talking to each other. I loved this place. Other than the fact it was so cold, it was great. But if I was going to stay here for a little while, I needed to warm up. And fast. I could barely feel my fingers.

I skated slowly towards the Pokemon Center, and once entering, someone called my name immediately.

"Black? What are you doing out here?" I could barely recognize the voice. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place where I had heard it before. I looked around, but the only thing that stuck out to me was a person with mint colored hair. Wait a minute…

"Mint? Is that you?" I asked them.

"Yeah, it is! How've you been?" they asked.

"I've been good! How about you?" I responded. We talked for a while, before Mint brought up something I didn't expect from them.

"You know, you aren't exactly dressed for this weather. How about we battle, and if you win, I'll get you something that'll save you from the cold?" they asked.

"Heh. I really like the way you think. Let's do this!" I said. We walked outside, preparing for our battle. Once at the battlefield, we each took a side and got ready to battle.

"Alright, Black! I know you're ready, so let's do this! Come on out, Empoleon!" Mint called out. Y'know, I just realized something. None of these siblings have the starter that would actually correspond with their hair color. Scarlet, the one you would presume to have fire, has grass. Teal has fire. And Mint has water. Quite a coincidence.

"Let's do this, then! Luca, come on out here!" I said, ready to get something to keep me warm.

"Let's start things off with a Drill Peck, Empoleon!"

"Go ahead and use Counter."

Empoleon's beak began glowing gold and started spinning before speeding towards Luca at insane speeds. But Luca was ready. He blocked with ease and countered with a powerful punch to the stomach. However, Empoleon was seemingly fine afterwards.

"Heh. I guess your Lucario isn't as powerful as you thought, huh?"

"Oh no, he is. Just might be your Empoleon that isn't very strong. Luca, show off your strength in a Power-Up Punch."

"Counter with an Aqua Jet."

Luca's fist began glowing orange, and Empoleon covered herself in water. Empoleon shot forwards, heading straight for Luca. But right before he got hit, he fired off the punch, right into the Aqua Jet, stopping it right in its tracks. But Luca didn't punch Empoleon.

He was holding her in the air.

And she could not move.

"Exactly. Now Luca, if you would, please do your thing and destroy her. Mega Evolve."

"No! Empoleon, get out of there!"

I pulled out my Key Stone from my pocket and it began glowing alongside the Lucarionite around Luca's neck. The light from the two covered Luca, causing him to Mega Evolve. And he clearly had a much tighter grip on Empoleon.

"You can't escape this now. Luca, I hope you've been practicing. Use Aura Breaker."

"Empoleon!"

Luca tightened his grip for a second, forcing aura into Empoleon, locking her in place.

{Sorry, but I'll have to disobey you a little bit. This is gonna be my Shoot Style.}

Luca kicked Empoleon right out of the aura lock and into the sky, with aura surrounding his legs. I could only assume why. And of course, my assumption was correct. Luca jumped to meet Empoleon in the sky, and once he did, he began kicking her higher into the sky. Before long, they were so high that I couldn't see them anymore. But after just a few seconds, Empoleon was shot back down to Earth, making a cloud of dust rise where she fell. Once the dust settled, Luca hit the ground with nothing but grace in his stance. And it was clear that Empoleon had fainted.

"Haha! I guess you have to buy me a jacket now, huh?"