Single post in The Valley Between

Chapter 10

After what seemed like days of walking, Winter caught sight of flat land beyond the mountain range behind them. "Frostbite, look," whispered her mother, Aayana. Specks of light dotted an area, marking it as a city. "Pokemon city or trainer city," he grumbled. Kisterash looked expectantly at Winter, who stared determined at the light. "It has to be trainers," said Aayana. "The light is steady. Nothing fire can make. Which means..." "Which means Mother and Father must've been taken by them," whispered Kisterash. Frostbite looked pitifully at Kisterash, then glared at the city. "Wonder if it's one of those filthy parks with those breeding programs," he spat. Winter shuddered and felt a stab of sadness for the pokemon kept in the city. "We gotta rescue Lumin and Flare," she said. "Quickly and quietly. Let's not split up so the trainers won't catch us one by one." The four pokemon nodded at each other and slinked down into the edges of the city. Night fell as the group approached a fenced-in field. Winter felt the field radiate an odd chill, one that didn't fit with the surrounding humid air. "Whatever they did to this place, Flare wouldn't be put here," whispered Aayana. "The trainers like to make their captives as comfortable as they can." Moving on, they snuck to one that felt very warm. "Here." Frostbite stood up on his hind legs to peer over the fence and saw a sleeping form of a lynx. "Flare," he hissed quietly. "This is Frostbite. We've come to rescue you!" The lynx lifted her head and said, "My name isn't Flare. It's Solynx 99%." Winter cringed at the demoralizing name while Frostbite continued, "We're looking for a Solynx named Flare. Recently captured. Do you know where he is?" She shook her head and said, "I'm not allowed anywhere except the Daycare. Sorry. If my trainer was the one who captured him, she would put him in the 'Sort' field. To the front. Good luck." Frostbite dipped his head in thanks and dropped to all fours again. Flicking his tails, he signaled for the three other pokemon to follow him. They slinked in between the fields towards the glowing light up ahead. Indistinct conversations were heard up ahead as Winter was pushed forwards to investigate. Trainers were crowded around a section in front of the fields making happy sounds to another trainer, who was flamboyantly waving her arms around. A Charizard sat nearby, obediently alert. Next to the Charizard was a Lunupine and a Solynx wildly looking around, appearing very disoriented. Kisterash sidled up to Winter and hissed quietly, spotting her parents confined to whatever they were stuck on. "How do we get them out," she whispered. Winter shrugged and suggested, "We can attack the trainer and take them by force. Mother and Father can probably take the Charizard." Kisterash lay tense while Winter relayed the plan to Frostbite and Aayana. Winter crept to the front again, raised her tails up carefully, then rapidly brought it down. The two Kyukori leaped out of the darkness and onto the Charizard, scattering the observing trainers. Winter and Kisterash darted to Lumin and Flare and looked at the platform they were on. Kisterash growled with frustration, then slammed a fiery claw onto Flare's platform. To her surprise, it shattered and he leaped away from it. "Do the same to Lumin's platform," Flare ordered. Kisterash nodded and slammed another fire claw onto Lumin's platform, and it shattered as well. The four pokemon ran from the trainer while Flare called out to Aayana and Frostbite to go. They gave the Charizard one final ice blast and sprinted away from the trainer park.