Pokemon Adventures: Soul Ch21 Battle Blizzard!

Chapter 21: Battle Blizzard!

"You have a plan? Then what is it!" Titan growled angrily.

I took Titan's ball off of my waist,

"You'll know when it goes down; get in your ball…" I said in a hushed tone.

Titan listened without hesitation, and disappeared into his pokeball. I stood up, and looked around as the blizzard raged on. I couldn't see very well through the furious fall of flurries, and I could feel my body temperature dropping.

"You know, you aren't the only one with tricks up their sleeves!" I said loud enough for Candice to hear me.

I could hear a giggle in the distance, as Candice stepped out of the shadows to address me.

"Tricks? Admit it! You're outclassed!" she said with a huge, confident grin on her face.

I shook my head, "Your words are not misplaced, and your skills are quite good. However, my victory is still guaranteed!" I said confidently, as I pointed at her.

Candice smiled and shrugged, as she released Abomasnow from its pokeball.

"Abomasnow! Rock Climb!" Candice cried out.

Abomasnow charged forward, as rock and earth shattered in its wake as he rushed directly to me; similar to a truck driving at full speed. I smiled, and leaped back, causing Abomasnow to follow me even further. I backed up until my back hit a wall, and I was trapped by Abomasnow's Rampage!

"End of the line!" Candice yelled.

"Not yet!" I retorted, as I leaped to the side to avoid Abomasnow's attack.

I sprinted straight at Candice, clutching one of the pokeballs on my waist. Abomasnow turned instantly, and started charging after me, still using its Rock Climb to chase me down.

"I won't run!" Candice cried out as she ran towards me, preparing to take me down herself.

I was being attacked from both sides, with virtually no time to escape from their pincer attack; however I had an ulterior motive.

"What is he doing!? He's going to get hurt!" Professor Oak exclaimed.

Gold smirked, "I don't think so," he said as he watched the battle, along with Prof. Oak and Spirit, from the observer station overhead.

I turned around, and threw Hellfire's Pokeball at Abomasnow.

"FIRE BLAST!" I exclaimed.

Candice's expression changed, shocked to see that I was going to take down her Abomasnow from such close quarters. She slid to a stop, and used her momentum to pivot her position on the icy ground, sliding around me in the process. She grabbed a pokeball from her waist, attempting to help Abomasnow escape Hellfire's assault.

I grinned evilly, "Heh, to easy…"

I grabbed Titan's pokeball from my waist, and threw it at the pokeball Candice threw. The pokeballs collided midair, causing them both to fly in opposite directions.

"Wha-!?" Candice exclaimed in a shocked tone.

Hellfire's pokeball burst open with a puff of smoke, as she leaped out at Abomasnow with flames erupting from her mouth. Hellfire doused Abomasnow in searing hot flames, letting out all of her fiery essence.

"GROOOOOOOOOGH!" Abomasnow bellowed as he was taking damage from Hellfire's attack.

"Checkmate…" I said coldly, as I ran over to Titan's Pokeball and picked it up off of the ground, placing it back on my waist.

I took Hellfire's ball off my waist and called her back into it.

Red grinned, "Not bad…" he said, as he watched on.

Candice rushed to Abomasnow's side, holding it in her arms. He was severely damaged and it looked like it needed immediate medical attention. Candice shook her head, and pulled out a burn heal and a few potions from her pockets, nursing her fallen pokemon's wounds. Candice cleaned it up, and used a few potions to aid with its pain. Almost instantly, Abomasnow started to stand up, right after after Candice was done using the potions on it.

"Snoowgh!" it growled, wanting to fight on.

"No, Abomasnow, sit the rest of this one out…Your burns will affect you, even after using that burn heal. Rest, my friend," Candice said gently, as she pet the giant's head.

Abomasnow nodded, and allowed its trainer to retreat it back into its ball.

"Smooth move, Soul," Candice began turning around to face me once more, "But don't think the fight is over!" Candice glared back at me, with fire in her eyes.

The blizzard raged on, and I could feel the cold atmosphere in my bones. I tried to control my shivering, but my body betrayed me as it rustled like a leaf in a hurricane. I need to end this soon, my body is not used to fighting in these harsh conditions…I thought to myself.

"I got rid of your strongest pokemon…You only have the ghost left, and both my pokemon can easily pummel it into the ground. I won't hold back!" I baited.

If I could get Candice to forfeit, I can finally get out of this cold!

Candice stretched her arms upward, and yawned, as if she wasn't even fazed by the sheer coldness of the Gym, despite the fact she was only wearing knee socks and a skirt, and not even a sweater on her chest.

She repositioned herself, ready for round two, "I can see the fatigue in your eyes, Soul…You aren't quite used to this kind of physical stress, huh?" Candice said in a serious tone.

Dammit! She's calling my bluff! I thought to myself.

"What does she mean?" Spirit asked, as she heard Candice's remark from above.

"Hmmm I wonder…Is it possible that she's talking about the conditions of the gym?" Prof. Oak asked Gold.

"She is, professor. Red and I have trained at the peak of Mt. Silver, easily the coldest training grounds in the entire world. You see, this gym's design is aimed to simulate those kinds of harsh conditions. As the weather worsens, and the temperature drops, the harder it will be for Soul to move freely and stay focused," began Gold, explaining his training experience with Red, "However, after pushing your body to its breaking point, a new power will burst from within. The limitations on one's mind and soul will fold, paving a path of new strength to draw from. Not many trainers can survive that kind of experience, as Red and I have been the only trainers to ever be able to train effortlessly on Mt. Silver. This is, without a doubt, a test of Soul's commitment to becoming one of the greats."

"Hmm" Prof. Oak grunted, as he continued to watch the battle.

Spirit wavered, as she listened to Gold's words.

"C'mon Soul, you got this…" She whispered to herself.

I grimaced, as my body began to frost over, and my eyes began to blur. No! I thought, it won't end this way! I refuse to be WEAK!

Candice watched me carefully, as she reached for her pokeball.

"Best part about having only one pokemon left, I can haveit out at all times…" she whispered, as she stepped back into the blizzard's icy tempest, and disappeared.

I forced my body to move, as I sprinted away from my current position. I wheezed, unable to really tell where I was going. All I knew was that I had to keep moving.

I stopped running, and looked around me. There was no sign of Candice anywhere, so I wanted to take a moment's reprieve.

I called Hellfire out of her ball, "Hellfire, try and warm me up a bit," I told her.

Hellfire nodded, as she began to warm her body with the flames in her stomach.

I placed my hands on her back, absorbing her warmth. For the first time all morning, the feeling returned to the tips of my fingers, as my hands began to defrost.

Suddenly,

TSWEEEEEEEEEEEEW, BOOM!

Hellfire and I were blasted to opposite directions, as a huge explosion interrupted us.

Crap! I should have realized! I thought to myself.

"It's about time you tried to do that! I wondered if you could really handle the cold, and you were only letting me think that your shivering was real!" Candice said in a confident tone, as she and Froslass appeared before me.

I laid in front of them, in what seemed to be a disadvantageous position.

I winced in shock, as I looked over to Hellfire.

Hellfire's hind legs were completely frozen, making it impossible for her to move!

"Friggin hax…" I said to myself.

Candice pointed down at me with a sadistic smile, "What was that you said earlier? Checkmate, right?"

Froslass began charging up for another Ice beam, as she aimed down at me, "Put him down girl," Candice said to Froslass.

I rolled over to a stand, and sprinted away from Candice and Hellfire, listening carefully to Froslass as it prepared to attack.

"End This!" Candice called out, and Froslass shot a beam of ice in my direction.

I narrowly escaped the beam by leaping toward Hellfire.

"Hellfire, use Fire Blast on yourself!" I cried out to her. Hellfire was already a step ahead of me; she was using her flames to rapidly melt the ice on her legs.

I slide to a halt, standing between Candice and my Hellfire.

"I admit Soul…It's been a while since anyone challenged me. When I caught wind of a "powerful trainer" challenging the Sinnoh region's most powerful gyms, I was excited. Many trainers speak about you and you're skill, you're somewhat of an idol. Good thing no one will see you lose here, or else you'd lose a lot of those hard earned fans." Candice giggled mockingly.

The blizzard was still raging on, and I was stalling so Hellfire could unthaw her legs.

I was completely cornered.

"Hellfire…Back in your ball…" I said in a defeated tone.

"I got this! The ice is almost melted!" Hellfire growled at me, determined to fight on.

"No Hellfire, it will take too much time to melt all that ice! It'd leave us wide open!" I said to her briskly.

I pulled Hellfire's ball from my waist, and returned Hellfire back into it.

"Wised up I see…" Candice said, walking toward me slowly.

I called Titan from his ball, and he stood next to me.

Some plan," he scoffed.

"Shut up, _ " I responded.

Candice pointed her finger at us, and Froslass began charging her ice beam once more.

Titan grimaced, "Soul, what do we do?" he asked.

I stood silent, speechless, no will to move.

Candice drew closer and closer, as Froslass charged her beam to near maximum power.

"Soul!?" Titan said in a panic.

I drew a blank. I couldn't think. I couldn't feel…

Wait. I can't feel…

My body felt warm, as I stared into the palm of my hand. The endorphins in my body kicked into overdrive, and I could feel strength appear from out of nowhere from within my soul.

I quickly looked at Titan, "My hand!" I called to him, reaching out to him.

Titan didn't ask questions, but he reached his claws out and grabbed my hand.

My strength passed onto him, and we could feel each other's essence, growing and strengthening threw our bond.

A flashback appeared to both of us at the same time…

["You…you seek power…" I said to him. Heracross' eyes were locked onto mine. "You have come far on your own, and I commend you for it," I began, releasing all my other pokemon from their pokeballs.

They quickly surrounded heracross, "You have one of two choices, join us, and obtain unimaginable strength, becoming a champion among the best of the sinnoh region, and showing everyone in your true power" I said, holding my arms open to show him my team, "Or you have the second choice. I leave you hear to fend for yourself, like you always have. And in the back of your skull, the thought that you could have been even stronger than what you are will haunt you. You will become a hollow, soulless warrior, whose sole purpose is fighting meaningless battles, for the rest of your miserable life…"]

That's right! I promised Titan strength!

"You want your power Titan!? Than unleash it from within thine soul! STONE EDGE EX!" I called out.

Candice stopped her approach, and she stared at Titan and me. We were brimming with bright energy, brightening the gym with our power.

Candice turned to Froslass, "RUN!" she bellowed, but she was too late. Froslass fired off her beam at us, aiming straight at Titan. Titan raised its arms, and the earth split open, as gigantic shards of rocks erupted from beneath us. The entire gym began to shake violently; the tremors caused a small scale seismic event across the entire city.

"What the hell is that!?" Professor Oak exclaimed, as the observation deck shook violently.

"Hang on to the rail!" Gold called out, holding Professor Oak and Spirit in his arms.

Red stood still, completely unraveled by the tremor, as he watched with a serious expression on his face.

The rocks burst out and they seemingly devoured Froslass in what seemed to be jaws of teeth. Froslass was buried in the rocks, and it was immediately knocked out.

Candice ran over to Froslass' side, digging it out with her hands.

Titan and I fell over, wheezing uncontrollably, as the cold air settled back in over my body.

What the hell was that? I thought to myself.

Titan slowly rose to its feet, with a smirk on his face.

"So this is what you meant by power?" he said, wheezing in the process.

Professor oak operated the observation deck, and had it come back down to the ground. Once it safely locked into the ground, He and the others raced out of the door to the battle field where Red, Candice and I stood.

Red looked at Gold, and Gold nodded back to him.

"As the official for this match, I declare Soul as the winner! Candice, if you would please." Red said in a stern voice.

Candice returned Froslass back to its ball, and she walked over to me.

"That was intense, how did you do that?" Candice said in a wavering voice. Her pride was holding back her true emotions, which was full of rage and sadness for her pokemon.

I stared her in the eyes, and I didn't answer. Even if I did know exactly how I did it, I wouldn't have told her anyway.

Candice gritted her teeth reluctantly, but she inevitably reached into her pocket, grabbing the Icicle Badge to give to me.

"For winning in our battle, I commend you with this honorary gym badge. I see now, that your strength is no fluke…I learned a lot from our battle, and I hope we both grow from it." She said, taking in a deep breath and letting out a smile.

Spirit ran over to me in excitement, jumping onto me with a hug.

"Soul! Oh my gosh, you were AMAZING!" she said in a cheerful voice. I barely was able to hold onto Spirit, my body felt very weak.

Red, Gold and Professor Oak spoke to Candice, congratulating her on her hard fought battle, and prepared to leave.

As they walked out, Red turned to me, glaring me in the eye.

"I see now, that your strength has finally showed itself. Harness that strength wisely. It will be hard to master at first, but trust me, the hard work will pay off…" he began as he turned to leave, waving his hand, "Then, the next time we battle, it will be a battle of Champions instead."

Candice turned to Spirit and me,

"You guys are more than welcome to stay in Snowpoint for as long as you need, I will provide tonight's room free of charge. But if you'll excuse me, I have to take my pokemon to the center. Soul, I suggest you do the same…" Candice said briskly, as she left the gym as well.

I stood there in silence, thinking about the match.

I looked down at my palm again, clenching it into a fist.

That power was no accident. Now it's time to figure out how to master it!