Never-Melt: 0

The sound of maracas and somewhat off key humming echoed around the expansive cave, filling the otherwise silent Clay Tunnel with noise. Hands deep in his pockets, Samuel walked, an easy smile on his face as the short green cactus danced in front of him. The Maractus hopped alongside and ahead of him, each movement continuing the maraca solo as the green cactus danced and shook to an unheard beat.

Samuel brushed some brown hair out of his face. Suddenly, he turned on the spot, hands flying from his pockets as he stretched his arms out for balance. The lanky eighteen year old continued walking, following his Maractus, only this time backwards. Still humming, Samuel took a long look at the cave. It was large, a roughly uniform cavern with little small lakes scattered around every so often. The ground wasn’t exactly level, but for the most part it was all roughly the same. The cavern was definitely man made. It lacked the rough edges and sudden jutting rocks of places like Victory Road. The dim lighting running along the walls and the railroad tracks along the floor further aided that look.

Clay Tunnel was actually a relatively new place in Unova, an ambitious project undertaken by Clay a couple years ago, only having finally opened a few weeks ago to the public. It was actually a rather dangerous place all things considered, but that didn’t worry Samuel one bit. You didn’t get through Victory Road by playing to safe, he figured.

But unlike Victory Road, the Tunnel was practically deserted, only a few miners here and there working away, chipping away at rocks and adding a new sound to the rhythm Samuel had with his Maractus. Deciding he had sightseen enough behind him, Samuel turned back around and stopped. Maractus hopped a few more steps before she too fell quiet, the silence quickly washing over the pair and only broken by the sound of the miners.

Samuel smiled at the grass type, taking care to avoid thorns as he rubbed her head. It hopped slightly, shaking and pressing into her master’s hand. The lanky trainer examined the cave, having a rough idea of where he wanted to be and where he was. A couple days ago some trainers had found an old set of ruins by sheer accident, roped off and kept quiet by the miners. Normally this would be a deterrent, but when you were the champion, such things were overlooked. The worst he would get was a slap on the wrist and Samuel knew it. Spotting an inconspicuous little side tunnel, he nodded, walking towards it. The only thing that set it apart was the miner standing next to it, a sort of impromptu guard.

Samuel grinned, hands in his pockets as he approached the miner, an easy smile on his face. Maractus hopped next to him, each movement filling the cave with sound. The miner stared distrustfully at Samuel, hand sliding to a belt full of six pokeballs. Samuel saw, but he brushed it off. As if he would attack the champion, much less win. The miner moved to step in front of him as he made to walk through the little mining shaft.

“I’m sorry but there was a landslide further down this way, the tunnel is unstable.”

Samuel snorted at the explanation. It was a clever lie, but it was still a lie. The ruins were back this way and they both knew it. “I don’t see a landslide right before me.”

The miner brushed his hand over his belt’s pokeballs. “That’s because it’s further down in the tunnel. You can’t see it from here. It’s not safe to be in there.”

Samuel shrugged, “If it hasn’t collapsed by now, it won’t collapse today. It’s not like my footsteps will make rocks fall and everyone die.” Maractus stared at the tunnel, making noise as it spun. It paused, shaking it head slightly before letting out a spray of bullet seeds. The seeds shot into the walls and flee down the tunnel, lodging into the walls and even a support. A few rocks fell but nothing else. “Oh, would you look at that, nothing happened. Now if you excuse me, I have champion business to do.” Without giving the miner a chance to respond, Samuel walked past the miner, his Maractus hopping behind him. She stuck out her tongue at the guard.

Samuel couldn’t tell if the cramped tunnel took hours to go through or mere minutes. It was lacking in any notable detail except that the lighting gave out after a certain point, leaving it dark. Some stumbling in the dark later, Samuel came across a chamber.

The chamber was expansive, opening up a ways, rivaling the work of the miners on the other side of the cramped tunnel. It even had a slight draft to it. Samuel noticed it was notably colder here then it was in the rest of the cave. He could swear he even saw his breath. Maractus shivered slightly, it’s shaking movements slightly disrupted. Samuel recalled it, figuring it shouldn’t wait in the cold.

Samuel was left alone in the room and after a moment took a few steps forward to stare at the gigantic doors set in the far wall. They towered over Samuel in their stone form, the two blocks of stone on either side of them equally tall and intricately carved.

So these were the ruins, he thought to himself. It wasn’t much yet, but clearly there had to be something behind the gigantic doors. A person didn’t just build something like that without a reason. And if Samuel knew anything, it was that he would get through them. He took a few more steps forward, the doors seeming even taller every inch he approached. With his smile still on his face, he pushed on them. As expected, they didn’t move, and remained that way despite Samuel’s efforts. He wiped at his brow, taking the time to push hair away. He backed away from the doors, pulling a pokeball off his belt. Nodding, he released it in a flash of light, a large form materializing.

Large was comparative, as the brown, muscle bound Conkeldurr was actually shorter then Samuel was by a few inches. For a Conkeldurr however, that was quite big. His muscles rippled as he slowly lifted his arms, the pillars of concrete moving with them. With a thud, he set them down, glancing around the room. Upon seeing no foes to fight, he slouched slightly, angling the pillars so they supported him.

Samuel just shook his head, gesturing to the door. “No foes today big guy, just a door that needs to be opened.”

Conkeldurr nodded, slowly lumbering over to the gigantic door. Each step shook the room slightly as the heavy pillars hit the floor. He paused in front of the door before letting go of the pillars, pressing his large hands against the door. The Conkeldurr visibly strained, pushing against the door. He actually slid back a bit, only succeeding in pushing himself back rather then the door. Sweat poured down his muscle bound form.

“Is that the best you can do? Harder!”

Conkeldurr responded by pushing even harder, his body visibly shaking with the effort as he pushed against the door. His heels dug into the dirt, and he pushed. His breathing was loud as he tried to push the door open and forward. After a few more moments, the Conkeldurr slumped, leaning against the door. He glanced back at Samuel, breathing heavily.

Samuel shook his head. They were getting through that door no matter what. “Harder, Conkeldurr!”

The Conkeldurr seemed to sigh before grabbing onto the pillars, taking a few lumbering steps back. He sat, staring at the door, catching his breath for a moments before lifting the pillars horizontally. And then, Connkelldur spun, resembling a muscle bound brown and grey top of death as he picked up speed each rotation. He took a few stumbling steps back, pulled by the force given from his spinning. His concrete pillars slammed into the door with a sickening crack. The door moved slightly, creaking open slowly, leaving itself ajar enough for a person to walk through it. Cold air poured out from it, making everyone, but especially Conkeldurr, shiver. Conkelldur just panted, staring at the concrete pillars he had.

On the ground in front of the door was a jagged and sharp block of concrete. One end was smooth while the other ended in jagged and uneven spikes. The pillar had snapped.

Conkeldurr just stared mournfully at it, leaning on his one remaining full pillar. The other one was crumbling slightly in his large hand, missing half of its length.

Samuel took a few steps forward, whistling a loud whistle as he stood at it. “Jeez, it actually broke. Wow. We can get another one back in Driftveil, Conkelldurr. Conkeldurr?” Samuel’s Conkeldurr just stared unresponsively, trembling as he just stared. Samuel sighed, recalling him to his pokeball.

Samuel crossed his arms, shivering at the cold pouring out of the door. He slid through the tiny gap, the room rather too dark to see in. The frosty air brushed against his skin. Something crunched in the rocks in the dark and Samuel’s grin faltered and fell, his hand sliding for his pokeball.

He never had a chance to call out his Pokémon.

The rock crunching grew louder and closer, quickening. A growl escaped the creature in the dark, the very sound making Samuel shiver. A cold rough force suddenly slammed into Samuel, and a high scream escaped him. He tried to grab his pokeball as he thrashed, but found his arms pinned down. He fought against the freezing force bearing down him to no avail.

A few hours later, a lone miner would come by, called in to check out the recently discovered ruins. All that he found was a set of heavy doors shut tight and covered with a layer of frost.

It would be another forty eight hours before Samuel Wentworth, the Champion of Unova, was declared as dead as missing.