With that, Basil swung away and broke away a hunk of ice with each swing. It was rather exhilarating to move his body like this though he could never match the pace of Anise and her Pokemon who were stockpiling on items though he could at least say that he was in better shape than Earl though by a stroke of luck was able to blast through with Cleffa. Well, luck as in they didn't unleash a horde of angry Pokemon though one could say that he was unlucky to find that his reward was a floppy, helpless little red fish.

Basil kept swinging away until he noticed something very... odd.

Before him encased in a wall of ice was a Pokemon older than possibly the region itself. An ancient fish... frozen in the middle of the mountains... away from the bottom of a sea floor.

...This raised so many questions. Just how did a Relicanth of all Pokemon end up frozen in a cave all the way up here? Was Isson once submerged deep beneath the ocean and in some freak movement of tectonic plates and lower ocean levels caused this poor thing to be trapped in some pocket of water during an ice age? But if that was the case then why was there a Magikarp flopping around at Earl's feet.

He wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. It was certainly not a Pokemon that anyone saw everyday and really, he was missing a proper water-type though he was not exactly sure what it did in a battle either. It wasn't like he could leave the poor thing encased in ice though. It had lived for who knows how many centuries, how many millennia encased frozen. It just felt cruel to leave it there like someone who didn't want a toy on the shelf. Worst case scenario is that he could trade it to someone that really wanted one.

Basil released Crocus from his Pokeball and smiled at the creature who in turn chirped back happily "Alright Crocus, I'm gonna dig this Pokemon out of the ice." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to the Relicanth. "As soon as I get it out, I want you to use Sleep Powder on it. Not enough to put it to sleep, but enough to calm it down. Got it?"

"Bulba!" Crocus nodded in confirmation.

Turning back, he swung his pick axe to help break the ancient fish out.

@Remram

Basil swung the pickaxe, and the ice crashed! The rocky fish fell out of the ice, hitting the floor, and almost immediately started charging something, seemingly in a panic. That’s when Crocus unleashed a less-than-complete Sleep Powder, dowsing the easy target that wasn’t really trying to dodge anything in the green powder…

… and the Relicanth lost the charge of whatever it was going to do, and then relaxed, now simply an ancient fish lying out of its element in the icy cavern. Crocus had managed exactly what was asked of him with the Sleep Powder move.

What would Basil do now?



Connected areas:
Route 5. Exit the mines and you’ll be right there.
Frozen Cave. The Frozen Cave proper awaits beyond the mine.

That worked out far better than he ever could have hoped.

There was no need for violence. After all, the Relicanth wasn't aggressive. In fact, he doubted that most of the Pokemon behind the walls were acting out of aggression at all. They were merely acting out of adrenaline fueled panic after being freed from the wall of ice and gaining the first bit of awareness since they were frozen. All they needed was just some assistance in calming down.

Basil slowly approached the ancient fish and knelt down with a kind smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to dope you up. I just didn't think fighting would have been the right thing to do," the young noble explained. "You're awfully far away from home. I'd give you a choice about joining me on my journey, but your options are either that or..." He motioned towards their frozen surroundings.

However, he realized exactly how that sounded and quickly added, "Sorry, that wasn't a threat! Just an observation of facts." Basil grabbed a Pokeball from his bag and held it out to the fish. "So, for now, wanna see the world?"

@Remram

Relicanth, standing on his fins that apparently double as feet, looked up at Basil as he spoke. He didn’t show much of a reaction in his somewhat dazed state, but idly looked around as Basil gestured towards the surrounding area. Icy walls, people mining said icy walls, and so on…

Basil gave his somewhat clunky proposition, and, Relicanth took a moment to simply process his current existence. But, in the end…





Connected areas:
Route 5. Exit the mines and you’ll be right there.
Frozen Cave. The Frozen Cave proper awaits beyond the mine.

It had not occurred to him that the Pokemon that lived at the bottom of the sea older than even fossils would not have known what a Pokeball was, or what a person was for that matter. Basil just pressed the Pokeball against its forehead and with no resistance it entered the Pokeball just like that. For the moment, he sent Titus back to Kalmia's lab. At this point the Magikarp wasn't going to be doing any heavy lifting if something were to happen.

"Well, that was unexpected." He glanced around at his companions who seemed to be caught up with their own thing. Well, they made the effort of getting here. He may as well take a few more swing and see what he'd find whether it be Pokemon or an item.

@Remram

Basil decided to mine some more. So did Anise and her team, as well as Earl, this time without Cleffa being helpful. It took some more time, and once again Anise’s crew was making more progress than Basil, but seemingly without finding much this time. Basil, however, could eventually glimpse something small. A couple chops later, and a shiny, sparkling turquoise stone, with what looked like a star in the center of it came loose from the ice…


To his right, he could see Earl having also found a small stone of some kind. Earl held it up to inspect it, and it seemed to be a Leaf Stone.

‘… I hadn’t considered it, but the latent power of Evolution Stones… Is there some way I can use that, other than evolving certain Pokémon? Do these unlock the power of Pokémon, or is the power in the stone?’ Earl contemplated out loud enough for Basil to hear.

Albeit, before he could answer that. On his left.

‘Wait, hold on, everyone! Stop! Stop! STOP!!’ Anise suddenly called out in a bit of a panic, as her very eager Pokémon all suddenly had to come to a stop and look up at what they’d almost freed from the ice. There were some gasps from Mienfoo and Froakie as they leaped back, and Riolu and Meditite dropped their tools to lift step into battle stances against it. There was a large shadow in the ice that they had almost freed…





Connected areas:
Route 5. Exit the mines and you’ll be right there.
Frozen Cave. The Frozen Cave proper awaits beyond the mine.

It was certainly a thought; did the stones carry the energy or was it the Pokemon? Personally, he thought it was more like a lock and key; stones or even corresponding items reacted to Pokemon because they had some components that fit together. The more interesting question though if that were true would be the why. It was likely that the stones themselves had latent power and likely adapted to it in order to draw out the next evolutionary form.

He would not get a chance to share his thoughts. "Anise? What did... you..." Upon rushing to Anise's side he saw that looming over them was another prehistoric creature, except this time it looked far more powerful than the Relicanth that he just obtained. The wall of ice that separated them from the Pokemon was cracking with each splinter branching off with each second.

"If it runs wild, it will damage the mines and who knows what else will be released." Even though he said that, he reflexively stepped back. This was not a Pokemon he could reason with or even bluff his way through like everything else so far. That was a prehistoric Pokemon that will soon regain its senses in who knows how many millennia and just like his Relicanth it will be in a panicked state. There was no guarantee that the same trick would work twice.

"But we need to make a strategic retreat, now." Basil had already returned Crocus to his Pokeball and made a break for it to the nearest hiding spot available to them.

@Remram

The group started moving, to get away from the emerging Armaldo and hide from when it emerged… when suddenly a large, white and green monster of a Pokémon fell from above and slammed into the icy floor next to the frozen Pokémon!



‘ABOMASNOOOW!’ the Pokémon shouted, and it was like ice and snow manifested on their own around the Pokémon. The snowy Pokémon swung its arms around, the snow and ice moving with it, and then flung both arms forward, and in a Blizzard of snow and ice it all slammed into the icy shelf where the Armaldo was about to break free from. The ice and snow gathered in the cracks, healing them, and the maintained blizzard created numerous more layers of ice on top of it. Armaldo was thoroughly sealed once again. A couple Delibirds flew in and started putting down red warning cones around that particular section of ice…

A large man approached Basil, Anise and Earl. He tipped his hat and smiled a friendly smile at them.



‘Hello! I’m Isaac the Hiker, and I work in this mine. That must have been quite a scare! But don’t worry, we always have people watching what’s being mined out of the ice just in case!’

He lost his smile as he looked up at the large creature in the ice.

‘This one, though… Hoo, boy! It looks like a league above what we’re used to around these parts! It may be time to take a trip to Cooldome City and ask for the help of someone strong…’

Anise took a moment to collect herself and then stood up and gave Isaac a proper martial-arts bow. ‘Thank you for your aid.’
Isaac nodded to her with a smile. ‘Hey, mining’s supposed to be fun and productive! It wouldn’t be if things like that threaten our miners. Of course we have to have countermeasures!’ and so he laughed.

Earl, holding onto two Budews and a Cleffa, sighed in relief and just put his Pokémon back down on the cave floor.

What does Basil do?



Connected areas:
Route 5. Exit the mines and you’ll be right there.
Frozen Cave. The Frozen Cave proper awaits beyond the mine.

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

Sno and Tara had Malamar flinched between the pair but swiftly moved out of the way, coordinating with Rose as sdhe shouted. That left the evolved and rather scary Malamar floating in between a chorus of Rounders that let their soundwave again blast the giant squid Pokemon. The Malamar fainted and Erika breathed a sign of relief. "Good work but..." She started, trailing off as the director of this establishment started to rouse her employees and their Pokemon.

Time to leave, for sure.

"Right! Come on guys, let's get out of here!" Erika slipped out the door leading the party. Sno swished in and pushed against the center of Musharna to help push. Tara clasped her talons onto Musharna's heads and fluttered with her wings to keep the momentum going. The trio, with Rose and her party in tow, climbed the staircase and emerged out into the reception...

It was a bit chaotic with the patrons and staff quarreling, no doubt from lack of sleep. Erika caught the eyes of the receptionist as she passed by. "Oh sorry! Wasn't deep enough down there but that's okay I'll leave you a review for trying!" She found herself hollering over her shoulder. Rose had just cleared the stairs and Erika risked moving a hand off of Musharna and pointed at the stairs. "Sno, Frost Breath on the stairs!"

Sno slipped away and and let the sheer cold of her breath freeze the top few stairs in an attempt to slow down any pursuers. Erika turned back to push Musharna and picked up speed to barrel through the reception area and out the front door. The cacophony of eager employees looking to please Lotus stumbled out from the stairs behind them, hopefully tripping over themselves.

Erika moved out the door with Rose. She thought about having Tara sing but now it was better to just keep running and get clear of the building. Erika would pull the door shut. "Sno!" The Froslass emerged from the wall as Erika pointed at the front door. "Frost Breath on the handle!" She commanded hoping that the frozen lock would make it difficult to get in an out.

With that Erika would rely a bit on Rose to guide them. "We should get the circus and hideout, Rose. Wait for this all to cool off." Pun not intended.

Somehow it had failed to cross his mind that the mines were heavily supervised. It was just after all of the dangerous situations he found himself in he just started to assume that there was just danger around every corner. Maybe that wasn't exactly a healthy way to think.

Basil looked up at the Abomasnow as it used its icy cold abilities to refreeze the ancient Pokemon. He took a sigh of relief though he felt a tinge bad for the Pokemon. It was just this close to experiencing life once again though the risk of it running rampant before they could calm it down was just too great.

"I think I've had enough mining for one day," Basil said with a slump in his shoulders. It was a bit too exhilarating. He turned back to his companions and then said, "Let's head back to the base camp and share what we found. Maybe we can bargain with the other miners over what they found."

@Pirouette

Erika and Rose made their way up the stairs, Rose had her Pokémon send various sound-waves down to dissuade them from following. They came up to the scene of the reception, where a very annoyed Jigglypuff was angry that all her audience were for some reason not asleep. They were standing up and complaining to the receptionist, who had her hands up and trying to calm them all down, while at least one guy was standing with a phone in his ear in the back. When Erika came up, the receptionist aimed a couple exceedingly wide eyes at Erika emerging with the facility’s pride and joy giant Musharna pushed in front of her, and then she gave that excuse.

‘… What the-’ and then she just cursed and started shouting at the customers that the establishment would momentarily close and they should all get out of here and return at a different time.

Meanwhile, Erika had Sno Frost Breath down the stairs, creating nice tiles of ice on each step, and as they started pushing Musharna out the door, Rose helping now, they could hear the distant noise of Drowzees stumbling in the stairway as they slipped and fell, causing a pileup they would not soon be able to push through. And then, as they got out, for good measure, they froze the handle, too. Locking all the customers that refused to leave in there, as well. Erika had her message to Rose. Rose nodded.

‘I agree! Let’s hightail to the-’ Rose started, then her eyes widened.











Connected areas:
Route 12. A long, peaceful plain stretching far west towards Redcoast City.
Route 13. A route of eternal night, leading east towards Worldedge City.
Route 26. The calm waters north of Bigfjord City, leading towards Ironcliff Town.

_______________________

@Remram

His companions agreed and they went back to the Miner’s Lodge, the indoor area properly heated and with various miners showing off what they’d found.

Though, immediately when they came in, it seemed like there was a bit of a scene going on. A bunch of people were gathered, looking at two Pokémon lying together against the wall. One larger, one smaller.



Lots of people were just looking at them, calmly sleeping together.

‘They were freed from the ice together, and they just… were overjoyed to still be together,’ one guy explained.
‘Yepp! Doesn’t matter what we’re doing with them, we’re not separating them!’ another declared. Nope, these miners were now dedicated to protecting those two.

Anyway. The two people in his own party could look at their findings and figure out if they wanted them.

‘I don’t even know what these do,’ Anise stated, looking at the various rocks she’d found. Her proud party had uniced a Hard Stone, a Damp Rock, a Lagging Tail, an Icy Rock, a King’s Rock, and a Water Stone. ‘Well, this one I do,’ she said, lifting up the Water Stone. ‘But are there actually any Pokémon I would be interested in that evolves with this thing?’

‘… Hm,’ Earl, meanwhile, sat with his Leaf Stone, seemingly fascinated by it. He seemed happy enough with it. Cleffa cheered by his side.

Meanwhile, there were numerous miners selling their findings to the Miner’s Shop, it seemed that was always an option.



‘Bony Fossil? What’s a Bony Fossil?’ A person inspecting the list of items asked, seeing the cheap bottom fossil.
‘Oh, those, yeah…’ the shopkeeper looked apologetic. ‘They just become Magikarps when revived,’ he said.
‘… Oh.’

Meanwhile, there were three people that had found Pokémon in the ice and seemed open to potentially trading them, not as ancient as the previous two.

‘I found this guy,’ one person was lifting up a purple shell, with two big white eyes and a tongue sticking out of it. ‘Anyone want to give him a home?’


‘I’m willing to trade these guys for something,’ another said, holding up a pair of creatures sticking out of a rock. Despite the note of “guys”, they were female.



Then there was a girl, staring blankly at a rock floating in front of her face. The rock had five odd white prostitution, and two black eye-like spots, and cracks dividing it into four parts. She stared at it, quite confused. She eventually just said. ‘I have no idea what you are.’

‘Miniooor~’ the floating rock replied without any outer lips or anything moving.

While it was only the rock visible here, the Pokédex also showed the contents of the shell as a separate picture.



Anyway. What does Basil do?



Connected areas:
Route 5. Exit the mines and you’ll be right there.
Frozen Cave. The Frozen Cave proper awaits beyond the mine.