//------------------------------//
// 18. Frost and Flame 
// Story: A New World, A New Family 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	Deep within the Everfree Forest, Alonzo and Gatsu were walking, this time accompanied by Kunoichi, Alonzo's Greninja.
“It really is great to see you two again,” Kunoichi said in a sort of whispery voice. “Have you been keeping well?”
“About as well as we can be,” Alonzo replied with a shrug. “You know… on a new world, going a new way. It's not easy, but we're getting by. What about you?”
“I woke up at that pond you found me at,” Kunoichi replied. “The atmosphere there, it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. It was so calm, so clear, so tranquil. When I heard what Arceus said, I knew that the answers to my problems would reveal themselves if I'd just stayed at that pond. So that's what I did. I trained, meditated, and lived there for the past few days, hoping to sharpen myself to the point where I'd be able to discover-”
“Hold up!” Gatsu suddenly said loudly as he came to a halt, indicating for the others to do the same. “Something's not right…”
“What's wrong?” Alonzo asked.
“I don't know…” Gatsu said, carefully surveying the area around the three. “But it feels almost…” Suddenly, without warning, Gatsu donned an angry expression and barred his fangs. “YOU!” The Umbreon then suddenly took off into the bushes off the path the team was following.
“Gatsu!” Alonzo called as he and Kunoichi ran after Gatsu. The Umbreon was fast, and Alonzo was still getting used to running on all fours.
“Don't worry about keeping up,” Kunoichi said as she was sprinting next to Alonzo. “I'll keep on his tail and make sure he doesn't hurt himself.” With that, Kunoichi leapt forward and began moving so fast, Alonzo could swear she was teleporting.
“Well, at least that's not new,” Alonzo said as he pushed himself to move faster. As he advanced, however, he noticed that the air was getting progressively colder. His internal fire was enough to keep him moving, but something about this cold made him feel… uneasy.
After a few more minutes of running, Alonzo finally made it to a clearing, at the center of which lay a Leafeon on top of a Tropius, Gatsu and Kunoichi standing in front of them. Kunoichi was the first to turn around and notice Alonzo.
“Alonzo, I think these two are on the verge of hypothermia,” Kunoichi said. “Can you get a fire going for them?”
“Um… I think so,” Alonzo said, running up to the center of the group and trying to ignite the flames on his back, which seemed to succeed. With his flames burning at a comfortable temperature, the Typhlosion turned to Gatsu and Kunoichi. “What's the story with these two?”
“Gatsu hasn't spoken a word,” Kunoichi replied with a shake of her head. “He's just been staring at these two. But whatever's going on, it's serious.”
Alonzo cast a worried glance at his Umbreon, who was just staring straight ahead at the two Grass-types before him. Carefully, Alonzo leaned down towards Gatsu. “Gatsu? Are you alright?” he asked.
“She's somewhere here,” Gatsu replied coldly, not turning towards Alonzo.
“Who is?” Alonzo asked.
With a shiver, Gatsu replied, “The one who murdered Wade.”

“Please tell me there's a good chiropractor in this town,” Felix complained as he and the others were walking back home from Carousel Boutique, Felix trying to no avail to re-straighten his neck.
“Rarity did go a little overboard when she saw you…” Lyra commented. “Sorry, she tends to do that when she gets a sudden burst of inspiration.”
“Well if that's the case, remind me to never go near that side of town again,” Felix replied as he turned towards Tiny, only to suffer another pop in his neck. “Tiny, can't you Wish my neck back in line?”
Tiny was silent for a moment before rubbing his chin. “You know, I hadn't even thought about that. Sorry Felix.” With that, the Togetic rubbed his hands together and threw them upward, sending a fine yellow dust into the air, where the manifested into a shooting star that shot across the sky for just a brief moment before disappearing. Tiny then turned back to Felix. “Alright, you'll be back to normal in a minute or so.”
“Thanks,” Felix said.
“No problem,” Tiny replied with a smile. However, his smile quickly faded and he turned around. “Mangol's headed this way. And fast.”
“Marcus!” a black earth pony mare with a red mane shouted as she ran towards the group, an injured Butterfree on her back. She was followed by a yellow stallion, also an earth pony, with a black mane.
“Mangol! Is that you?” Marcus asked as the two ponies skidded to a stop in front of the group. “What's with the disguise?”
“Precaution,” Mangol replied. “Drake and I weren't sure how the ponies here would react to us. But that's not important right now. This Butterfree's hurt real badly, and he mentioned something about Felix before he lost consciousness.”
“The second time, she means,” Drake added. “He's been fading in and out since we found him. He's suffering from hypothermia.”
“Well, it's a good thing you got him here then,” Marcus said as he leaned in to try to help warm the Butterfree. However, Tiny quickly pulled the Rapidash back.
“Not a good idea, Marcus,” Tiny said with a shake of his head. “That'll work usually, but this Butterfree's really badly injured. Thawing it too quickly, especially with open flame like yours, might do more harm than good. Wishing his injuries away might work, but the ice I'll have to be careful with.” Tiny then turned around and used Wish on the Butterfree.
“Did he tell you his name?” Felix asked Mangol.
“No,” Mangol replied with a shake of her head. “He did say something about someone named Breeze.”
“Breeze?” Felix asked, surprised. He tried to raise his head quickly to emphasize his surprise, but his neck was still in pain. “Ow. Tiny, when's that Wish gonna kick in?”
“Few more seconds,” Tiny replied.
“Alright,” Felix said while rubbing his neck with a vine. “This Butterfree, it's Butters. I sent him and Breeze after Aria when she ran off.”
“And he's frozen over…” Blitz said, looking down at the unconscious Butterfree.
“Blitz, don't start thinking what I know you're thinking,” Marcus said, quickly realizing what was going through Blitz's mind.
“Look at the evidence, Marcus,” Blitz replied. “What are the odds it was any Pokemon other than Aria?” With a shake of her head, Blitz added, “Trust me, I don't want to believe it either, but something happened to her, and she's not in her right mind.”
Marcus looked down with a frown. “If Pinky were here, she'd be able to sort through Butters' memories and answer our questions,” he said.
“Keep thinking that,” Felix said. “She's likely to hear our thoughts and come to us.” It was at this moment that Felix suddenly felt relief from the pain in his neck. “Ah, that's much better,” he said while straightening himself. “Thanks Tiny.”
“No problem,” Tiny replied. “But back to the problem at hand…”
“Which I'll get to the bottom of,” Pinky called as she hurried towards the group from behind. “Sorry I took so long. I was on the other side of town when I heard Drake and Mangol head this way, and you know I need to work on my sprint.” Pinky paused for a moment to try to catch her breath. “I already looked through Butters' mind. The one who attacked him and Breeze… it really does look like Aria. The only thing is that it isn't Aria.”
“How do you know?” Blitz asked.
“The Froslass told Butters herself,” Pinky replied before pausing to pant once again. It was in this time that Marcus cast a quick glare at Blitz. “But that begs the question. If it wasn't Aria, then who-?” Pinky cut herself off and turned to Marcus, who was looking down with an angry expression. Pinky's ears quickly drooped. “Oh… I guess it's not much of a question after all, huh?”
“What is it Marcus?” Felix asked.
Marcus looked at Felix with a serious expression. “I'm going to ask you this as a friend, Felix,” the Rapidash said. “For the sake of you and your family, don't follow us when we leave.” He then turned to Blitz and Tiny. “We need to go find her as soon as possible.”

Somewhere in the Everfree Forest, Froslass had met Froslass.
“I was wondering if you'd show up,” Froslass said as she turned slowly around to meet the gaze of Froslass.

“You mean Aria, right?” Felix asked.

“You caused me enough pain back on Earth,” Froslass said as she clenched her fist. “It's time I finally confronted you.”

“No,” Marcus said with a shake of his head. “Remember the other one we talked about passingly?”

“You know the only way to get rid of me, don't you?” Froslass asked with a sinister smirk.

“You mean that other Froslass who the Ranger Union mistook for Aria?” Felix asked.

“Yes… I do…” Froslass replied. “But I'm not a little girl anymore. I understand now more than ever that the only way I'll ever be rid of you… is to finally kill you.”

Marcus shook his head. “She did far worse to Aria than that…”

Froslass cackled evilly. “It's about time you embraced who you really are, Aria!” she said. “All it took was some bait.”
Aria readied herself for battle. “If it means stopping you from ending more innocent lives… then my own innocence will be a worthy price… Lassie.”

Felix took a step back, a look of shock on his face, when Marcus told him exactly what Lassie had done to Aria. “But… but there's no way Arceus would bring Lassie here if she'd done that!”
“It's confusing me, too…” Marcus said. “But if Lassie is on the loose in this world, we have to find her before she finds Aria.”
“Come on,” Tiny said. “We don't have any time to lose.”
Marcus and Blitz nodded in reply, and the three were about to head off when Pinky spoke up. “Blitz, hold on!” the Slowbro called. Blitz turned around. “I know you'll need to talk to me when you get back. Even if it's late, I'll be out.”
“Thanks Pinky,” Blitz said with a slight smile. She then turned to the others and nodded before they all finally took off.

“You forget one thing, Aria,” Lassie said. “You're not so innocent, are you? Remember Wade?'
“What you did with my hands, I'll never forget…” Aria said, “but I will take revenge for what you've done!” Aria then channeled her energy into a powerful Shadow Ball and fired it at Lassie, who replied with her own Shadow Ball. The explosion resulting from the contact of the two attacks marked the beginning of a battle almost a decade in the making…

Back with Alonzo and his crew, the Leafeon had just thawed out and regained consciousness, though there was still no luck with the Tropius. “Unn…” she complained as she got up slowly. “Where am I?” The Leafeon then noticed that she was surrounded by complete strangers. “And who are you three?”
“My name's Alonzo,” the Typhlosion said. “This is Gatsu, and this is Kunoichi. Are you alright?”
The Leafeon rubbed her head. “I think so,” she said. “My name's Ki, and this Tropius is Nana. He and I were making our way to a town not too far away called Ponyville when he suddenly hit a gust of cold air and lost altitude faster than a stone before crashing. He lost consciousness instantly, but other than a little chill, I think he'll be fine. As for me, I was able to stay on my paws long enough to chase off a shiny Froslass that was trying to get close to us. I think it was even the one that caused the cold air.”
“I'm looking for that Froslass!” Gatsu said. “Did you see which way she went?”
“I didn't,” Ki replied with a shake of her head. “A shame, too. She's one of my friends—my family members—and she looked in pain.”
“You… she…?” Gatsu asked, a little confused. “She has a family? But… but she was a cold-blooded murderer last time I saw her, which was when she killed my first trainer.”
Ki took a second to process what Gatsu said before sighing. “I'd argue with you, but Aria did have that past,” she said, defeated. “She looked ready to finish me and Nana, though. What would cause that…?”
“I don't know,” Gatsu said, “but I don't care. The second I see her, I'm going to make sure she never-”
“No!” Ki suddenly said, rising to all fours and facing Gatsu. “Look, I'm really sorry about your trainer, but my intention is to help my friend first. I understand that you might be angry at her, but you have to believe me when I say she's just sick, and she needs someone to help her.”
Gatsu was about to reply when Kunoichi put a hand on the Umbreon's shoulder. “Believe the Leafeon, Gatsu,” Kunoichi said. “You have to learn to be able to resist your urge for revenge. That's the only way you'll be able to grow.”
Gatsu shrugged the Greninja's hand off. “Your sage advice gets old fast, you know,” he said. “Alright, fine. We'll do Ki's plan. But if she goes off and tries to hurt anyone else I care about, her neck will meet my Crunch. Got it?”
“I hope it doesn't come to that,” Ki said with a glare towards Gatsu. “For your sake, I mean. No one threatens my family.”
“Alright, let's take a moment to cool off,” Alonzo said, getting between the two Eons. “I mean… not actually… let's calm down. No one's killing anyone, okay? I'm going to thaw this Tropius, we're gonna go look for your friend Aria, we'll sit down, have a civilized talk, and then we'll all be on our way. Alright?”
Everyone stared at Alonzo for a moment before Kunoichi spoke up. “Your plan is every possible definition of 'unrealistic,' but you drive home a good point,” she said. The Greninja then glared at the two Eons. “You two, take back what you said to each other this instant.”
“Hey, you can't just tell me-” Ki started, but Kunoichi intensified her gaze, and Ki suddenly felt intimidation like she'd never felt before. With a gulp, she turned to Gatsu and said, “I'm… sorry for threatening to kill you.”
“And I'm sorry for your friend,” Gatsu replied.
“Gatsu,” Kunoichi said, focusing her gaze on the Umbreon.
“I mean, sorry for threatening to kill your friend,” Gatsu corrected.
“Good,” Kunoichi said. She then turned and went back to sit down next to Alonzo.
“How… did you do that?” Alonzo asked, shocked. “You got both Gatsu and a Leafeon you don't even know to behave.”
Kunoichi shrugged. “When you have a gift, you have a gift,” she said. “Mine just happens to be keeping people in line. At least for now…” She looked over to the two Eons, who seemed to be trying to talk about something to change the subject from Aria. All the while, Kunoichi couldn't help but feel… unsettled. “There's a storm on the horizon… and it looks like a blizzard.”