Poképocalypse

The Start of a New Pokémon Adventure...Didn't Think That Would Happen Again

Jordan looked at the gates. She felt something strange, something she wasn't sure of. She was going on an adventure. It was a deadly one, but an adventure nonetheless. It had been so long since she was out in the wild, she couldn't believe it was happening again. Was that strange feeling nostalgia?

"Okay, so you three are clear on what to do?"

Jordan turned back to look at Candice. They were waiting for Kane to appear—against Jordan's suggestion not to leave the boy alone—so Candice had shown up to make sure Jordan, Axel, and Sasha knew exactly why they were leaving.

"We leave, go to Eterna, figure out if their plan is legit, then come back here to tell you." Axel finished stuffing an axe in his backpack. He stood up straight and patted the hilt of his sword. "Did I leave anything out?"

"That's everything," nodded Candice. "While you're there, you will deal with any fighting that goes on and protect Gardenia. If we want this deal to work, she has to stay alive."

Sasha adjusted her jacket, flipping back the hood. She fixed the knives on the inside of her jacket and on her belt. "No worries. We'll make sure she stays alive. Anything to protect the good people of Snowpoint."

Jordan adjusted her own pack, and made sure she had enough food and supplies. She had about five cans of extra food—she figured she could get food out there in the wild. A stray bidoof or boundary would do the trick. Axel had already tried it before, so he would be okay with it, but as far as Jordan knew, Sasha had never tried pokémon meat. Her reaction would be interesting. Candice had never gotten around to introducing the idea to the rest of the town.

"Okay!" The group of four turned to look at Kane, who was running to catch up with them. He barely carried any supplies; apparently his pack disappeared along the way to the camp, which explained why he didn't show up with one at Snowpoint. Kane had no weapons—he might have lost them along the way trying to get away from some pokémon. Kane adjusted his new snow jacket. Someone in town had given him a new set of clothes that would fare better in the cold weather. His jacket was blue to match his hair, and he had a black shirt underneath.

Kane approached the group, and Jordan eyed him warily. "No weapons?"

Axel placed his hand on Jordan's shoulder. "There's enough of us to survive a pokémon attack, we'll be fine."

"Whatever." Jordan turned around. "I guess it's better not to have him get in the way."

"Jordan," said Candice, "you'd better calm down out there. This is important."

"I know this is important. I just don't know how this is going to go. It'd be better for all of us to have something to fight with."

Candice looked around. "You guys should get going. It might start snowing soon, and the routes will get worse."

"Right." Sasha stretched and flipped a knife. "Let's get going, shall we?"

The group of four walked through the gates to the white route in front of them. The trees were covered in thick layers of snow, and snow was starting to fall. If they didn't hurry, it would become more difficult to travers through the route. The four ex-trainers walked through he route, both Jordan and Sasha keeping an eye out for any lurking pokémon.

Jordan took off her glasses and attempted to clean them with the hem of her shirt. She only succeeded in smudging them even further. Jordan sighed. Just her luck not to have anything to effectively clean her glasses with. Jordan put her glasses back on, and looked around. Where was Kane?

"Hey." Axel and Sasha turned to look at Jordan. "Where did blue hair go?"

"Blue hair? Oh, you mean Kane." Axel looked around. "Did we lose him somehow?"