Heat/Snow Warning [Private]

[Rex]

(OOC: RP made with Yoshimitsu's permission. For Rex and Tailon only.)

It was snowing in Mahogany Town. There was no reason for it to be doing so. It was June sixteenth, the middle of summer. The weatherman had said that there was supposed to be clear skies this week. But every time Francis Quinn, or Leon Vance as he preferred to be called nowadays, looked out the window, the amount of snow and ice outside rivaled what was inside his Gym.

There was something wrong, to be sure. Leon had gone through all the necessary precautions. As the Gym Leader, it was his job to make sure everyone stayed indoors. He also made sure the power was running properly. He had advised the populace to keep safe and wait out the storm. But it was only getting worse. It was about noon, and the snow had only intensified since he arrived at the gym this morning.

Clearly something was wrong, and it was his job to find out what. The Ice Gym Leader of Mahogany turned from his window, and looked at the Pokemon he had with him at the Gym. He had only been Gym Leader for a year, but he already had a team of six Ice Types that he made use of, Lucy, a Mamoswine, Rachel, a Jynx, Zachary, a Dewgong, Luis, a Walrein, Devin, a Cubchoo, and Cyrus, a Sneasel. As the seventh Gym Leader, he was supposed to be a major challenge for Trainers, fighting Johto League hopefuls with Lucy, Rachel, Zachary, and Cyrus. It was only occasionally that he got out of region trainers, and thus ones he used Luis and Devin on as well.

While they were his Gym team, they weren't the only ones he had with him. As per regulations, he could only keep six on him, but he liked to bring a few from his home with him here. Only Devin and Cyrus went home with him every night, the others staying to take care of the Gym. Everyday he flew to Mahogany on Grant, his Tropius. Today he had also brought Jack, a Toxicroak, Scott, a Krokorok, and Tim, an Excadrill. They were all staring at him now, expecting their master to give an order. This was his first real challenge as a Gym Leader, and he couldn't falter now.

"Okay, we're going to patrol the town and nearby areas," he said, "See if we can a Pokemon that might be causing this weather." As the local authority on Ice Types, he had done a lot studying this past year. He knew definitively that only Snover and Abomasnow could cause such a Blizzard via proximity. Neither Pokemon were Johto natives, but he couldn't rule out the possibility that one had been separated from its trainer and couldn't control its snow making powers due to emotional stress.

The only other option he could think of was Hail. Leon had definitely seen large hail balls falling amongst the snow. This was too constant to be just any normal Hail though. If this was a Pokemon making a Hailstorm, it must be a powerful one to make a storm this long lasting. Leon prayed this was the work of a Snover, but he couldn't take chances.

"Just in case the cause of this storm is an extremely strong Pokemon, Jack, Scott, and Tim, you'll come with me," Leon said, "Lucy, you too, and Zachary." He stopped for a moment, and considered, "Cyrus, you might as well come to, you need the most experience of our group."

The Gym Leader grabbed six Pokeballs, and called the Toxicroak, Krokorok, Excadrill, and Dewgong into four of them. Lucy and Cyrus didn't have to worry about the snow, being Ice Types, and could move on land better then Zachary could. Leaving the others in the safety of his Gym, Leon exited the gym. The large doors were difficult to open and close, his fault for installing them so Lucy could enter and exit. He managed though.

The snow wasn't too much of a bother, thankfully. The wind was driving it near sideways, and the giant Mamoswine quickly moved to protect her master from the weather, acting as a giant wall between him and the elements.

Moving through it would be a bit more trouble though. The snow was already a foot deep, with some snow drifts large enough for the Cyrus to disappear into. Not wanting to lose sight of the Sneasel, Leon picked him up and helped him up to Lucy's back. He'd be safe there. The Gym Leader then started off, to patrol the snowbound town. Hopefully the cause of this weather would reveal itself before too long.

 

[Tailon]

It was very hot outside of Mahogany Town. This would seem perfectly natural for a mid-June day, except the heat was absolutely searing, more akin to a Pokemon's Sunny Day than natural weather. Through this heat trudged a young man, Jake Laurey, accompanied by a Cacturne and a Snorlax, both trying to provide some measure of shade for their master. Sunlight glared off of his glasses, and the blue jacket he wore normally was wrapped around his waist over his jeans, revealing the black t-shirt he wore underneath.

The weather was abnormal, to be sure, but no Pokemon could cause such weather by their mere presence save Ninetales or one of the various Legendary Pokemon associated with fire, heat, and the sun.

Jake himself was first and foremost a student of these Pokemon, and a teacher of their legends, and often found himself trailing sightings of them, though they had often disappeared before he had a chance. However, reports of the bizarre weather patterns around Mahogany had led him to the small town in Johto, situated near the Lake of Rage.

Blinking at the sun, Jake looked into the distance at the town, and confirmed the rumors he had heard. A powerful blizzard was sweeping through the town, but appeared to simply stop at the edge of it, as if contained, another a weather pattern that could only be caused by a Pokemon. As he walked up to the town, Jake put his jacket back on and zipped it closed, recalling his Cacturne, Eleanor, to her Great Ball.

After a brief survey of the area, Jake began moving toward the Gym, and was rewarded with an enormous Pokemon, like a mammoth, moving toward him through the snow.

"Hey!" Jake shouted over the din of the storm "Hey, you, with the Mamoswine! I'm looking for the Gym Leader, is he at the Gym today?"

 

[Rex]

Through the storm, Leon eventually made out a figure. A younger man, wearing a blue jacket and glasses, being protected from the snow by a Snorlax. He said he was looking for the Gym Leader, and asked if he was in the gym.

"I am the Gym Leader," Leon said over the storm. Figuring that needed more explanation, he added "Pryce retired last year, must of been in his mid seventies at least. I'm sure he's around if you're specifically looking for him, otherwise I'm your guy."

Leon was a bit embarrassed by this, to be honest. It had been a reoccurring problem. Since he was still a new Gym Leader, people still expected Pryce to meet them when they made it past the Gym's Trainers. Sure, it was well announced by the Indigo League to the cities of Johto, but traveling trainers still had no idea that Pryce was no longer around, even a year later.

That was starting to settle down now, thankfully enough. Every month fewer and fewer Trainers gave him that confused look. Leon hoped that this would be the last of them.

 

[Tailon]

As Jake stepped up to the Gym Leader, the combined bulk of their Mamoswine and Snorlax did a fair job of blocking the wind pelting them, and Jake extended his hand to shake.

"Sorry about that, couldn't see you through the storm," Jake said to him "my name is Jake Laurey, I'm here to investigate sightings of some Legendary Pokemon in the area, can we talk back at the Gym?"

 

[Rex]

Legendary sightings. Leon cursed inwardly. First year of the job, and he already had to deal with the possibility of a Legendary Pokemon. The younger Trainer wanted to head to the Gym and talk.

"Well, it's no warmer there, but at least it's out of the Blizzard," Leon noted, he shook the man's hand before continuing. "Francis Quinn. Most people call me Leon Vance though. Follow me."

Leon lead the way back to the Gym. With Lucy's help, he managed to push the large doors back opened, and entered. He waited for the man to join him, not too worried about the extra snow that was being blown into the Gym. Meanwhile, Grant, Rachel, Luis, and Devin wandered over, wanting to see the visitor.

 

[Tailon]

Jake followed Leon into the Gym, which wasn't at all warmer than the snowstorm outside, though it lacked the wind and falling ice. "So Leon, have you heard anything about these Legendary sightings? Because the way I see it, the only besides my Ninetales and an Abomasnow that could cause this sort of weather would be something resembling embodiments of fire and ice fighting it out. Considering the region, I'd say Entei and Articuno."

 

[Rex]

As soon as the other man entered, the door was forced closed by Leon's Pokemon. The man spoke of an embodiment of fire, and an embodiment of ice. In his opinion, the best bets for both were Entei and Articuno. Leon frowned, crossing his arms.

"I'd considered the thought of a powerful Hail user, though not necessarily Articuno," he replied, "the intense snow here and, as far as I can tell, Routes 43 and 44, has caused a complete shut down of all communications to and from the town. I wasn't aware of any sort of weather other then the snow, to be perfectly honest, and I haven't heard anything on Legendary sightings either."

 

[Tailon]

"Well, back the way I came, it may as well have been the desert back in Hoenn, your town just happened to catch the brunt of the snowstorm. Considering the weather patterns and where they collide, I'd say something is going on North of here, probably past the Lake of Rage," Jake said, "Just past it is a spot where the range of an Articuno and Entei could plausibly collide, and should that happen, a fight would likely break out over the stretch they met on. Their attacks would be the most likely cause of such disparate weather."

Jake began to pace across the room, and his Snorlax sat on the floor, tired from his long walk.

 

[Rex]

The Lake of Rage. Right. Leon hadn't heard anything from up there, and thus he imagined that the town was completely cut off from the Lake. However, if a Fire Legendary was up there, then fighting through the Blizzard shouldn't be too much trouble. The Gym Leader called Lucy and Cyrus back to him, and started for the door.

"The Lake of Rage? Alright, I'll check it out," he said, "You coming?"

 

[Tailon]

"Well it's my job to come along, isn't it?" Jake said ", Robert, you alright to head back out there?"

The Snorlax nodded, patting his enormous belly to indicate his Thick Fat, making both cold and heat quite manageable.

"Excellent," Jake said, stepping toward the exit, "we should move quickly, before they start moving toward us."

 

[Rex]

"Probably for the best, yeah," Leon nodded.

With that, the giant gym door was opened again, and the Gym Leader and his two Ice types returned to the storm. The Lake of Rage was due north of them. It wouldn't be hard to miss. But first, they had to get out of the city.

 

[Tailon]

The pair left the gym, heading due north toward the shores of the Lake of Rage. At the edge of town, a visible divide had formed, with the powerful snowstorm on the town side, while the Lake side had tremendous beams of sunlight bearing down on it, causing a massive heatwave, with a line of wet ground between them where the heat melted the snow. Weather patterns such as these could only be caused by excessively powerful Pokemon, Jake was sure of it.

"We're probably going to be moving past a lot of angry Gyarados, so be prepared..." Jake said as he moved toward the edge of the blizzard.

 

[Rex]

"Gyarados. Right." Leon frowned. He hadn't expected something like this, and the Pokemon he had along with him showed it. Still, he would do his best, and improvise when necessary. But really, the heat that struck them as the exited Mahogany was something else. For the moment, the Gym Leader returned his Mamoswine to its pokeball, leaving Cyrus out to travel with them on foot.

"Right, so what do we do, since you're the expert?" He asked.

 

[Tailon]

"Well, the thing about Legendary Pokemon, and the reason they're considered to be legendary at all, is them being extremely shy," Jake said, removing his jacket and carrying it over his shoulder as they walked in the immense heat on the shores of the Lake of Rage, "at least, those that have a roaming tendency also seem to dislike being seen by humans, and will generally use moves like Roar or simply run away altogether."

A Magikarp leaped out of the still cool waters of the lake, splashing back down in the manner Magikarp do all things, pathetically. However, the splash was met by a tremendous roar only slightly further North from their position.

Jake started, turning directly toward the sound and breaking into a run, his Snorlax lumbering not far behind behind. As he approached the norther shore of the lake, Jake saw them. A tremendous creature, larger than an Arcanine, launched mighty plumes of flame from its mouth. An enormous bird, larger than the largest Pidgeot, and covered in brilliantly shining feathers, retaliated with burst of icy cold energy.

As Jake approached he turned to Samuel and commanded, "Sam! Use Protect and Block!" The massive Sleeping Pokemon threw his arms out wide and cried out, sending up a tremendous spherical barrier, which surrounded them, followed by a bright red "X", which expanded out until it disappeared, forcing Entei and Articuno to remain in the area.