Sean closed his eyes, biting his lip as Mark's hand slid off his chest. Collecting himself with a deep silent inhale, he turned to face Mark. Mark was taking in the view now with wide eyes. Sean smirked to himself. The view never got old. It was one of the things he loved about Mystic. The biggest reason that he refused to leave. Mark put his hands on his hips, chuckling aloud. "Damn... I see why you don't leave. Does it look like this all year round?" Sean stepped up beside him, saying with a warm smile. "Ya. It's always winter here. Articuno likes it that way. It's our own winter wonderland." Mark shook his head in disbelief, saying under his breath. "Wow. Cozy." Sean blushed a little, tapping his arm as he told him softly. "Come on. This way." Sean carefully made his way over the snow covered road toward the grey stone bridge. Mark stopped on the bridge to lean over the side. Below on the lake, a few small pokemon were having fun sliding across the ice or pushing their friends along it.

Mark looked up at the heavy curtain of snow that was falling, saying perplexed. "They aren't afraid of what Articuno is doing?" Sean shrugged, listening as Articuno let out a distant cry. Glancing around, Sean told him honestly. "Articuno has always kept them safe. Why would they be afraid?" Sean headed toward the frosted over stone stairs that lead up to the first village square, saying over his shoulder. "Keep up. You look like a tourist." Mark chuckled, retorting smugly. "I am a tourist. I've never seen anything like this..." Sean rolled his eyes, then straightened up. In the center of the village square was a large firepit with a protective dome cage over it. Around the crackling fire, a group of Mystic scientists with clipboards and equipment were studying the unusual weather as they stayed warm. Turning to face Mark, Sean told him seriously. "Just... Be mindful where you are. If they realize who you are-" Mark touched Sean's cheek, causing him to fall silent, before smugly telling him. "Relax. I know."

Sean stepped back from his touch, glancing around to see if anyone had seen him do that. Most of the scientists or members wondering around were too distracted with other things. When Sean looked back to Mark... he was gone. Sean's heart fell into the pit of his stomach. Whirling around, he saw Mark strolling up to the firepit. Sean let out a groan, storming after him. Mark reached the firepit before he got to him. Leaning on the stone ledge around the standing circular firepit, Mark asked them over the soft whistling wind. "Hey, how are you doing?" The scientists stopped their chatter over the readings on their devices to look at him with curious eyes. Sean took a quick breath to intervene, but Mark asked them just as casually. "Have either of you seen two men come through here? One walking with a tall black looking fox and the other in a business suit?" Some of the scientists just gave him a dismissive shrug, choosing to ignore him. One woman answered Mark nicely though. "Ya. They went to the village square up there. Said something about splitting up to get more done."

Mark thanked her, then began to jog across the square toward another set of wider stone steps leading up to another village square. While they rushed up the stone steps, Mark panted out to Sean. "Should we split up too?" Sean shook his head, panting out as they reached the top. "No. You don't know this place as well as I do. You could get lost or worse..." Mark raised an eyebrow at him, prompting him to add lightly. "You could get trapped in an avalanche or something." Mark huffed, but didn't question it. Instead, he raced off to stop a woman that was trying to hurry out of the blistering cold. Grabbing her arm, he asked her. "Have you seen two men come through here? One in a suit and one with a black fox?" The woman tightened her fluffy white coat around her neck, shaking her head before replying quickly. "A man in a suit was escorted away to Blanche's office... but there was no man with a black fox." Mark let her go and she quickly rushed into a long building with brightly lit archways. A small train station.

Mark panted, looking around this brightly lit village square as he asked. "If they escorted Giovanni away... How did Nate get away? Was that part of their plan?" Sean thought about it, then replied swiftly. "Giovanni is a distraction. Zoey is taking Nate up to the shrine! We've got to move!" Mark gestured to the train station, asking curiously. "Does that go up to the shrine?" Sean grabbed Mark's arm, dragging him into a run as he told him seriously. "No. It only stops at all the villages on the way up and when it comes down. It's left already and I'll bet anything Nate was on it!" Sean skidded to a stop at the steps of another rise, watching a black train vanish into the mountain side tunnel along the outskirts of the villages. Mark shook his head, grimly saying. "We'll never catch it..." Sean reached under his jacket to remove two pokemon from his belt, telling him hopefully. "Not on foot we won't." Mark rolled his eyes, retorting seriously. "I can't ride any of mine..." Sean tossed his pokeballs into the air, smugly replying. "I got you covered. Siochain! Suzie!"

From one of the pokeballs, a large golden coated Arcanine with jet black tiger stripes appeared. It shook its puffy white fur around its neck and bushy tail, sinking into a bowing stretch. From the other pokeball, his black Charizard with the blue flames appeared. Suzie spread her large wings, letting out an irritated roar at the falling snow. Sean rushed up to calm Suzie by petting her long warm neck. Mark marveled at his pokemon asking curiously. "I've only heard about pokemon with different colors. I've never physically seen a black Charizard... or a golden Arcanine. How did you...?" Sean blushed, telling him honestly. "We call them 'Shiny' pokemon. Pokemon rejected by their parents or herds at birth because they are born with... different colors from their normal. They are seen as being sick or deformed by their kind and shunned. We've been rescuing them and studying what causes it. We think it has to do with weather, food, and even how the planets align." Sean pointed to Siochain, grimly saying. "A Mystic rescued her and brought her to the island. A starved little thing. She was given to me to raise. Not so skinny now, huh?"

Mark walked around Siochain, uttering out to himself. "No. She looks great. Nice shiny coat. Strong muscles. She's really healthy. Golden fur... I've never seen the likes of it." Siochain puffed her chest up like a show dog, watching him move around her. Sean bit his lip, then told Siochain hopefully. "I need you to carry him and follow me. Ok?" Siochain let out a small bark in understanding. Sean moved around Suzie to climb onto her back as Mark asked him curiously. "And her? I thought 'Shiny' Charizard's were black with red flames... but yours is... blue?" Sean adjusted better on Suzie's back, telling him excitedly. "Suzie here was a normal shiny, until she ate a chuck of meteorite that she wasn't supposed to eat. The lab techs thought it was an evolution stone... but it glowed like that Mega Stone that Pryce gave to Nate. All they learned about it was that it was crystallized blood from an unknown pokemon. After she ate it... She's been like this. We are still studying her." Suzie opened her mouth, puffing blue flames out to melt the snow around her face.

Once Mark climbed cautiously onto Siochain, Sean nudged Suzie and yelled out. "To the shrine!" Sean grabbed the bar on the flat leather saddle, leaning forward as Suzie turned to run in a circle around the square. Once she was facing the stairs again, she ran straight for them with her wings spread and began to pump them harder. The second she reached the steps, Suzie pushed up on them with her foot and took to the air. The thick curtain of snowflakes landed on Suzie but her body temperature ran far higher than any normal colored Charizard, causing the flakes to melt as they hit her. Few people knew that shiny Charizard's became black Charizard's because it was based on the place they were born. Exposure to extreme heat climates caused their skin to turn black to handle the intense heat better and in cold environments it kept them warm by absorbing the heat of the sun. Below them, Mark gripped Siochain tighter as she began to leap up the stairs to keep up with them.

Sean kept Suzie flying low so that Siochain was always in sight. He didn't want her to feel like he was leaving her with a strange trainer. People yelped and dashed aside as Siochain rushed up the steps and across the village squares in her long strides. A strong wind gust hit Suzie, but she was strong enough power through it. Sean had to hide his face against her neck though as the rush of snowflakes pelted him. When he lifted his head, he heard the chugging of the train but couldn't see it clearly. It blended in too well with the dark mountain side. They were gaining on it and that was uplifting. From below, Mark yelped out. "Holy shit!" Sean glanced down at him, then looked ahead. In front of them, a pokemon was slowly walking across the town square. A glistening blue Aurorus with big wispy yellow tinged fins down its neck. Suzie veered in the air to avoid its long neck. While Mark hunched over Siochain as she dashed under it. The Aurorus slowly turned its head to watch them with curious big eyes, letting out a deep bellow to warn the others in the herd.

Sean held on as Suzie swayed around more necks and over their backs. Below them, Siochain let out soft barks as a warning to the herd as she dashed around their long bulky legs. A few curled their long tails around their babies protectively, but they weren't aggressive. The Aurorus' were calm and gentle natured. The scariest thing about them was their size and the fact they moved slow unless provoked into a stampede. A trainer on one of the Aurorus, yelled out to them. "WATCH IT!" Sean winced, but it was too late to avoid them now. They made it through the herd without incident, climbing higher up the steep mountain. Flying to the last village in the line of them, Sean had Suzie circle and land in the square. In the center of this square was a windmill but the blades were facing up toward the sky to catch the wind better. Around the base of it were four big braziers that people warmed themselves by as music played from within the gazebo like windmill. Siochain skidded to a stop on the snowy stone ground, letting Mark climb off. The train was just pulling into the little station.

Siochain panted heavily, choosing to sit beside Mark. Mark pet her, asking Sean as he moved up beside him. "You sure he is in there?" Sean shook his head, honestly answering over the soft music. "No. But how else would he get up-" Sean was cut off by an old man asking someone nearby. "What's with all the rushing fire pokemon today? Did I miss something?" Sean turned to face the man, asking curiously. "What do you mean?" The old man huffed at him, pointing up toward the steep steps that lead up to the shrine, blurting out dryly. "Earlier a damn Rapidash came racing through here and up to the shrine. We reported it to the guards, but they seem to be more worried about the storm. They're getting the shelters ready in case it gets worse." Mark grabbed Sean's arm, yelling out. "Sean, Nate's already at the shrine! GO! Don't wait for us!" Sean hesitated, looking at how tired Siochain was. Mark grabbed his shoulders, telling him sternly. "GO! Charizard can get up there faster if she's not waiting on us!"

Sean backed up toward Suzie, but told him reluctantly. "Mark, you might get lost up there. I don't think that is-" Mark pointed to his belt of pokeballs, stating out with a smile. "I tracked you down before, didn't I? Go! We'll be fine." Hopping back up onto Suzie's saddle, Sean told Mark in a dark tone. "You better take care of Siochain." Without waiting for a response, he kicked Suzie's sides to coax her into going. Suzie let out a roar and raced straight ahead before leaping up and back into the air. Following the steep stone steps up to the highest point of the mountain, Sean shivered and huddled against Suzie more for warmth. The wind was blistering cold up here and the snowflakes seemed thicker. Landing at the top, Sean recalled Suzie to keep her from suffering from the cold. Pulling his hands into his sleeves, he dashed up to the cave with an iron gate that was so frozen over that it was blue colored now. He removed his shrine keeper key from his pocket, then stopped himself. The lock had been heated up so much that it was melted off. Pushing the loud creaking gate open, he stepped inside the semi-warm cave.

The cave had been completely carved from the ice. The walls were decorated with stain glass looking images that showed ice pokemon all under the protection of Articuno. In the center was a frozen lake with a tree in the center of that; all made entirely out of the finest looking ice. The tree went up so high and was so thick that the branches spanned over the open hole in the roof, casting shade to everything under it. On a little island where the tree sat, Sean saw someone and inhaled at the sight of them before the shrine. The shrine sat at the base of the tree, made entirely from smooth blue stone. The shrine was designed like a snowflake with a proud tribal looking Articuno at the center. In the mouth of Articuno's statue was a round dark blue jewel. Kneeling before the shrine was Nate. Nate stared blankly at the jewel but said dryly over his shoulder in a torn voice. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Sean inched toward the frozen water, the snow crunching loudly beneath his feet. Hugging himself, Sean told Nate very gently. "Nate... Please leave it. You were a guardian of the shrine once too... Think about what taking it would mean."

Nate bowed his head, saying honestly. "I know... Sitting here brings back a lot of memories for me." Nate slowly got to his feet, turning to face him as he said in a cold tone. "Including my exile. I'm not like you, Sean... I don't belong anywhere." Sean took a cautious step on the ice lake, telling Nate seriously. "That's not true. Team Rocket wants you to believe that. You can choose to belong anywhere you want." Nate's hand rose behind him to touch the mouth of the statue, while he said coolly. "They aren't wrong... and I'm not going back to the streets. I'm sorry, Sean. I wish it wasn't you." Sean heard a crunch behind him and turned to see Zoey with her claw raised for an attack. Sean dropped to his ass on the ice, raising a hand out to both of them as he stammered out. "W-WAIT! Zoey... Nate..." Nate's fingers curled around the jewel but didn't remove it yet. Sean took a few calming breaths, then quickly told Nate in a cracking voice. "I've never fit in anywhere. And I still don't... but it doesn't stop me from being happy. From doing what I love..."

Sean very slowly got to his feet, telling Nate in a desperate but caring voice. "Nate... Think about this. If you do this. Articuno will kill thousands to get it back. It doesn't work for anyone not chosen to wield it." Sean inched across the ice, knowing full well that Zoey was staying just behind him and posed for attack. Sean tried to stay calm though as he continued on. "Nate, Giovanni will blame YOU for this. Why do you think he sent you here to get it? You are exposable to him. He'll hand you over to deal with Articuno's wraith and walk away with the jewel..." Nate's hand loosened on the jewel and Sean dropped to his knees in front of Nate, adding in a loving tone. "I know what it's like to feel alone... I know you don't want to believe me about him. But Nate... He wouldn't have asked YOU to do this if he loved you. He would have had someone he was willing to lose do it. Please, Trust me... Don't make my mistake. The only way out of this, is to stop playing his game. I care about you, Nate."

Zoey lowered her arm, telling Nate in a soft motherly voice. "What do you think, Nate?" Nate took a shaky breath, his fingers shaking over the jewel as he whispered out. "I don't know what to think anymore..." From the frozen gate, a smooth voice said aloud in a commanding tone. "Nate. Do you have it?" Sean scrambled to his feet, whirling around to see Giovanni walking slowly into the light. Walking beside Giovanni was a yellow fox looking pokemon with a long hanging mustache and it was holding two metal spoons in its hands. An Alakazam. Sean locked his jaw. Giovanni was supposed to be in a meeting with Blanche... but if he had teleported up here. What had happened to her down there? To Be Continued...