The Long, Icy Road

I weave my way around some rocks and am intercepted by a trainer. I need to keep my cool. This is going to be a journey. I can't keep worrying about how much time I might have. Trainers will continue to challenge me and lose and give me money. Worrying will not make them stop. This first one only has an owl thing anyway and Sekhmet ends the battle in one hit. The next trainer has only a Bronzor, so Hanuman ends the battle in one hit. A ninja boy ambushes me from a concealed pit. Enki surfs over his Skorupi and Sekhmet knocks his Golbat out of the air with spark. I am making good progress.

Apparently, in order to reach the next road, I have to navigate tunnels in Mt. Coronet. Disappointing, but there's no avoiding it. Worse still, my path is blocked by boulders. I have to turn back and get Apsu. A wild Meditite blocks my path. Nyx makes quick work of the little guy. Another Meditite attacks me before I reach the exit. I fly back to Celestic Town and switch Enki for Apsu. I return to the cave. Apsu pushes a boulder out of the way and Hanuman clears some rocks out of my way. I enter a foggy tunnel. Just what I need. I have no clue where I'm going and I can't see a thing. Slave, I sure hope you're not counting on me to back you up this time.

I have to fight my way through another Meditite, but Nyx always handles them with impunity. A wild Graveler attacks next, but Apsu can deal with those easily. A wild Golbat appears and is much more annoying. My pokemon can't hit it through the fog and it keeps using confuse ray. Eventually Apsu finishes the bat with a bite. I would face fewer wild pokemon if I knew which way to go. Oh look, another Graveler. And another. Another. Why do they keep attacking me? What did I ever do to them? A wild Machoke appears. I have Nyx do this one because of her immunity to Machoke's attacks, but he does manage to damage her with a seismic toss. Apparently using foresight has this effect? More research is needed. My next obstacle is something called Clefairy. What is this thing? It looks weird. Whatever it is, it cannot stand up to Hanuman's rock smash. Neither can these rocks that keep getting in my way. There's another Meditite. Nyx heals herself before taking this one down. And yet another Meditite. Make it stop!

I have Apsu use surf to cross a body of water. Of course, Golbat can still fly, so one attacks me. And right after that, a Zubat attacks me. The fog makes them nearly impossible to hit. This is exceedingly annoying. Yet another Golbat attacks me. I seem to be going the wrong way. Nyx defeats another Machoke. I have to deal with yet another Golbat. Who died and made me vanquisher of bats? Oh, Graveler again. Hey, there's daylight. I rush to the end of the tunnel...

...and right into snow. At least I'm out of the caves for now. A trainer challenges me. I soon realize that the hail falling on us damages pokemon. Well, not ice-types. But other pokemon take damage over time. This seems odd, as the weather isn't hurting me and I'm more fragile than these creatures. The hail even finishes Apsu, who was severely weakened by my opponent's Kadabra. Fortunately, I invested in some medicine for occasions like this. Apsu is revived once Sekhmet gets revenge against the offending Kadabra.

The snow is thick and I have trouble wading through it. Another trainer sees me and challenges me. Sekhmet beats her Golduck with spark. Apsu beats her Ponyta with surf. Her last pokemon is Sudowoodo, a giant pickle or something. Apsu deals with that one too. I continue to struggle in the snow and some jerk shows up on skis to mock me. He seems to think that his Sneasel will stand some sort of chance against me. I don't know what Sneasel is, but Hanuman demolishes it anyway. I find a lodge where I can rest, but I don't really have time for this. The snow is thick and progress is slow.

The next trainer to challenge me has Lopunny, which is probably what Nanabozho will evolve into. Hanuman fights the rabbit to a standstill and the hail finishes Lopunny off. My next challenger leads with Mr. Mime, which Apsu takes out in one hit. Nyx eliminates his Machoke after a few gusts. Hanuman demolishes his final pokemon, a Sneasel. Hanuman learns a move called close combat and, even better, evolves into Infernape! Now he looks even more intimidating.

I march through what is turning into a blizzard. Another trainer ambushes me. What is he doing out here in this kind of weather? This guy leads with Raichu. I switch to Sekhmet. Raichu keeps using thunderbolt. Sekhmet is paralyzed and the combination of several thunderbolts and the hail is wearing her down. The hail finishes her off. Hanuman, newly evolved into a super monkey with fire on his head, is faster than Raichu, and finishes it off with ease. I have Articuno deal with the Pelipper that follows. Apsu surfs to take out Hippopotas, ending the battle. I return to the lodge to heal my team.

A skier, concealed by the blizzard, ambushes me with an icy pokemon called Snover. One flame wheel ends that confrontation. Another skier easily chases me down. The snow makes walking very, very slow. I hate this. Hanuman flame wheels his snover out of commission right away. Sekhmet takes some damage from his Golduck's fury swipes before putting it down in two hits with spark. Hanuman defeats another Snover in one hit. Type advantage is a wonderful thing. My opponent's last pokemon is yet another Snover, which calls for yet another flame wheel by Hanuman.

Another one of those ninja boys is hiding in the snow, but I see him. Apsu has just learned ice fang, so I try it out on his Zubat. And his Golbat. And his other Zubat. I have to say, ice fang works pretty well. For his Croagunk, I switch to Hanuman and flame wheel the frog. Hanuman takes a mud bomb to the face in return, but the hail finishes Croagunk off.

The next skier leads with Mantyke. Sekhmet's spark deals with that. Hanuman flame wheels his Sneasel. I collect my winnings and continue running through the blizzard. I find an HM for rock climb. I probably need that move to scale those strange paths in the sides of some of the steep slopes I've seen. I'll worry about that later. I find another house. The man there says that he lost his HM. I realize this must have been the rock climb HM that I just found. He rewards me for my honesty, even though I didn't actually tell him anything, with an icicle plate. Um, good? I don't know.

Another ninja boy bursts from his hiding place in the snow. Apsu crushes his Skorupi. Sekhmet beats the boy's Golbat. She learns crunch, which looks promising. I have no idea which way to go. The next skier leads with Marill. Sekhmet takes care of the skier's Marill with spark and her Clefairy with crunch. Immediately after defeating the skier, I run into one of those crazy, gi-clad men. Wearing a gi in a blizzard? Really? Alright, flame wheel on Croagunk, switch to Nyx and gust away his Machoke. He switches to Onix. Fine then: back to Hanuman to smash Onix with close combat, and then back to Nyx to gust away Machoke. Easy.

I find another house. The woman there gives me a spell tag. I am challenged by yet another trainer. It's like the snow lures them here or something stupid like that. They're probably part of Team Galactic in disguise, here solely to slow me down. I'll probably have to kill them. Apsu beats this trainer's Roselia. Sekhmet takes out her Seaking. I rush through some tall grass that is inexplicably thriving in the constant snow. Nyx clears another wild Machoke from my path. I see Team Galactic up ahead. Maybe I'm not too late! A wild Snover attacks. Really? Now of all times? I can see them. They're right there. Those are the bad guys, Snover. Go get them. Not me.

At last, I've made it. These two are just pawns. I'll fight my way through them and whatever else Team Galactic throws at me.