Snowing Cats and Dogs

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Darcy had never been in this part of the world before! All things considered, she kind of regretted not coming here sooner. She'd wanted to take her team-mate-and-sister along as well, but the jigglypuff had said she'd already seen the place and had already made plans for the next few days as well. Something about a Vulpix...? Darcy didn't knowo that Alki had made friends with a Vulpix! She'd asked Darcy if she could meet the Vulpix, but she'd acted awfully skittish after the question...

Darcy blinked at her own thoughts, before letting out a small chuckle. Skittish... Skitty. She'd been skittish towards the skitty... Darcy laughed louder, before lodging the little pun away for future use. Who knew when something like that could cheer her up? Alki seemed to enjoy those kinds of jokes, and Darcy had taken a bit of a shining to those cheesy puns ever since as well...

The Skitty stopped in her tracks, in the middle of a rather wide clearing. She hadn't bothered to check that there was no one there with her; after all, she was far too busy admiring the snow-scape to bother with small stuff like that! "It barely ever snows like this in Grassveil..." She spoke loudly to herself, scooping up a paw-ful of snow and throwing it a small distance away, watching speckling snow fall and settle in haphazard piles on top of the otherwise smooth snow. "I wish she were with me too..." The Skitty looked down, settling on her stomach on top of the pleasantly cold snow. Alki still loved her, she just needed space... She'd had some rough events recently. Maybe once she came back, they could talk about it...

"It looks like an alternate reality to ours," Opal replied, "But is that even a thing? Like, is there a world where legendary pokemon live, and that's why we never see them?"

It was intriguing to think that mythical beings could be watching them from anywhere. The pup didn't know all of the legendaries, but maybe there was an ice typed one who lived in this alternate frozen wood? It certainly paid to be careful exploring here, even moreso if this theory turned out to be true.

"Let's move slowly and remember the portal's here," Opal suggested. She wasn't scared, but she was cautious. She didn't want to rush Darcy, either. It wouldn't do to have panic in this unknown place.

"Legendaries, huh..." Darcy mumbled, repeating the Growlithe's words. What Opal said was certainly a possibility... after all, it's not like this kind of thing was normal at all outside of this one instance... But if it was, then that was truly unsettling. Frankly, this was creepy, and what was stopping something like this occurring somewhere outside of these woods? In Pecha Forest, or Shadowhue, or even Grassveil? "I mean... what else could it be? It's certainly a portal of some kind, I can say that much..." She pawed at the snow, and it felt just as cold as it had outside the portal. "Alternate realities... You really think something like that is real?"

That wasn't a comforting thought... If they were in something like that, then what would that imply? She glanced back at the portal, the clear, bright white snow on the other side seeming more and more tempting by the minute. "Yeah... let's remember it's here... but where do we go?" The Skitty said, glancing about their terrain. She didn't know her way around normal icicle woods, let alone the alternate version!

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"I don't know. Why don't we just go wherever we were going? It's not like we had a particular place in mind." Opal didn't really know what to do, either, but she did wish to explore this place. Would they find anything special here? Was her theory true? Oh, how great it would be if it was!

As the pup looked around for ideas, she saw two pokemon in the distance. They looked blurry and faded, like Darcy had from the other side of the portal, but they were there. It was as a good a start as any to see if they were friendly. "How about talking to those two? Maybe they know something."

Frebedor carried out 5 launched of one Icicle Woods :

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Frebedor carried out 5 launched of one Echo World :

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"Just... Wherever we were going?" Darcy pawed at the ground as her ears and tail seemed to droop. It was one thing to explore aimlessly in a mystery dungeon everyone already knew about. It seemed like another thing altogether to explore so callously in a place like this. For all they knew, this was the first time anyone found a place like this... She certainly hadn't ever read anything about this place in any of the books about exploration she had... "Listen... I'm all for exploring this place, but... I haven't read about a place like this, ever... I think we should go slowly, and maybe... Her gaze drifted towards the tree line, distracted by an idea that had occurred to her. Her earlier bright disposition seemed to be fading amidst the nerves, both excited and fearful. "Maybe making some markings on the tree as we go? So we know where this is... She gestured towards the portal with her tail, smiling anxiously.

Darcy glanced towards the Pokemon Opal spoke of. Talking to strangers in a place like this didn't seem like the safest bet. She had to admit though, it was probably their best bet to learn more about this place. [color:05d7=f7dead] "Sure. Why not." She said, shrinking back even as she expressed her willingness to oblige with the Growlithe.

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Icicle Woods :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Icicle Woods :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Icicle Woods :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Echo World :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Echo World :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Echo World :

"Marking trees is a great idea!" Opal approved with a smile. She sensed that Darcy was unhappy and wanted to cheer her up, and it really was such a clever thing to suggest! "You're brilliant, and you don't need to worry. I'm here to make sure you're okay, y'know?"

The pup thought about what else she could do to make the skitty feel better. "Hey, how about I go talk to them? Be right back!" she said and began walking confidently toward the snover and swinub. They seemed surprised at her approach, perhaps a little suspicious, but they weren't hostile.

"What do you want?" the snover demanded as he his behind his friend. This stranger looked like they might be a fire type, and he knew he was very weak to fire attacks. What would a fire type even be doing out here if not to cause trouble? "Just leave us alone!"

"Oh, sorry. I just had a few quick questions. Could you tell me about this place?"

"This is Icicle Woods, duh."

"Well, yes, but I think we're in an alternate reality. Or my friend and I are, anyway. We went through a portal and everything looks kinda distorted."

"What on earth are you talking about? The snover was incredulous. There was no such thing as what was being described! What was wrong with this canine? His impression that she was not right in the head seemed confirmed when she appeared to get spooked over nothing at all.

"No, really! Don't tell me you can't see-watch out!" Opal tried to warn the two locals as a tall, slender pokemon came sauntering up behind them... and then went right through as if they weren't there!

The snover nudged his friend as he said, "This pokemon's gone crazy. There's nothing here. Let's go before she thinks we're food and eats us."

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Darcy blushed as the Growlithe began to praise her. "O-Oh. Thanks." She pawed at the ground, smiling bashfully. "I-It's not completely original though. I read it in a book once, and I guess it just came to mind." That much was true. The Growlithe said that she was there to make sure Darcy was ok. The sentiment was very much appreciated, but Darcy wasn't quite worried about that... She could take care of herself adequately. That wasn't the problem. It's that she didn't know what they were up against. There were limits to what anyone could protect themselves against. Suppose Opal's theory was true... Now suppose they found Giratina?

Darcy followed the Growlithe as she began to speak with the Pokemon. The exchange didn't go anywhere close to as well as she'd hoped. The others didn't seem to believe her... just as they were about to leave, Darcy stepped forward. "H-Hey, wait! We're from the guild, it's just... l-look. We're lost... We've never been to Icicle woods before. Is there anything you can tell us about this place?"

"You're with this crazy mutt? Get her away from us!" The snover cried out. It wanted nothing to do with either of the visitors, and resumed its exit. The swinub stayed a little longer, saying before he went to leave as well, "Not really. We're in the woods. There's icicles. Nothing special. If you want to leave, go back the way you came."

Opal plopped her rear to the ground and let out a defeated sigh. She noticed some more pokemon in the distance, who had seen the incident and hastily moved away. Why couldn't they see the slender pokemon who had passed, or the haunter who had also just appeared? Was it the portal? Was this what was on the other side?

Darcy remained standing, even as the Snover cried out in her face before rushing off. She turned to the Swinub as he seemed to... was that sarcasm? She couldn't ever really tell... There were, in fact, icicles. They were, in fact, in the woods. There was something very, very special about this place, although it was rather independent of those two facts. Namely: The freaking portal the duo had come in through! Was it just them? Were they really going crazy? Darcy brought a paw up to her head, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Thanks anyways..." She managed, rubbing her forehead softly. Still, she remained standing. No use in getting that frustrated...

"I mean, whatever's going on, I guess it's just us two that notice it..." She managed after a few long seconds. "And I guess we're not getting any information from the locals..." Darcy turned back to the portal and gazed at it longingly for a few seconds. All the stories of guild members she'd ever read always had them brave, excited at the prospects of a new land to explore. She wouldn't be any different, even if her inner self wanted to be. She was no coward! Not really!

"C-Come on! Let's get going, then. We don't have a choice except to explore it ourselves." She walked slowly towards a tree, marking it clearly with a claw so as to remember it by, before leaning on it as she waited for the Growlithe. This would be a rather interesting exploration, wouldn't it be? But hey! Maybe when she came back to the Guild, she'd have a lot to report to Faye. And maybe impress that one Glaceon as well...

Opal got back up and trotted over to her skitty friend. "You're right," she said with a little smile, "I don't think we're going crazy, but if we are, we may as well learn something while we're at it. I mean, imagine the discoveries we could make in this place!"

The pup took note of the claw marks made by Darcy. She would do well to memorise the pattern that was to serve as their trail back to the portal. Exploration and discovery were wonderful things, but they wouldn't be able to share whatever they found if they couldn't make it back, now, would they?

"My love... My love..."

"Sounds like that haunter is looking for someone. Think we should help it?"

"Alright! Sounds good, then, Darcy said, her ears perking up excitedly. She was frightened, certainly. But she was willing to press on too, especially if the company she'd have was as nice and as endearing as the Growlithe. She hadn't really gotten to know Opal very well the first time they had met, but ever since encountering her in not-Icicle woods, she'd warmed up to her quite a bit! She seemed so eager to explore, and so eager to help... Darcy wondered, briefly, if maybe introducing her to Alki might be something her sister would like, but... that wasn't something she should be focusing on at the moment. She should be focusing on what they were going to do...

Suddenly, Darcy was jolted out of her thoughts by the nearby sound of someone's moaning: My love... My love... Darcy looked around, pulling her scarf tightly around her neck. It was pretty cold, but usually, Darcy was fine with that. But that voice gave her chills... and it sounded so desperate. She was about to ask it what was wrong, when the Growlithe turned to her and asked her whether or not they should help.

To be completely honest, t hat question hadn't even really crossed her mind... It sounded so desperate, and even a bit sad. Actually, a lot sad. The Skitty stood still for a few seconds, taking in the question, trying to think about a good reason that she shouldn't help. She supposed it could be dangerous. But that was the only thing that came to mind, and even then... it didn't seem very risky to her. Why would someone fake that?

"Y-Yeah... I think we should." She finally said, before trotting over to the Haunter in question, and tilting her head at him. Darcy smiled softly at him, and in a worried voice asked him: "What's wrong? Can we help?" She flicked her tail at her companion so as to indicate Opal's presence, and waited patiently for the Haunter to respond.

The haunter stopped in its tracks and turned to stare at the duo. Opal wasn't sure if it looked particularly ghostly because of the portal, or if ghost types were supposed to look like that.

"My love... Gardevoir... She's not here..."

At least it wasn't hostile. It didn't seem like it was, anyway. The growlithe decided to enquire further.

"Who's Gardevoir? Does she live here?"

"We met here... She should be here..."

Opal looked toward Darcy, hoping she knew something about a Gardevoir and where they might be found. It was a long shot, hoping the skitty would have information when she knew nothing herself, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility, was it? At the very least, the other pokemon might be able to think of a good question to ask the haunter.