Snowpoint City

I can't fight these members of Team Galactic. They're blocking my way to the lake. I want to fight them. I want to kill them. But I can't. Some force is stopping me. It's infuriating. I hear them talking and they don't even seem to be aware of me. They aren't there to stop me. I don't hear anything about Slave either. Maybe whatever they're up to here is different from what they did at Lake Valor. From what I hear them saying, they seem to be here to stop the local gym leader. Since I am apparently incapable of dealing with these two pawns myself, I'll have to try to find the gym leader. That's my only lead.

As Nyx clears another wild Machoke from my path, I think about Team Galactic. Something one of the morons standing around at Lake Valor said. I just can't place it. Someone is in charge of this. Someone is the real villain here. The ones I've been fighting really have been mostly idiots. And that lulled me into complacency. But whoever is behind all this is truly dangerous. Who is their leader? Hanuman incinerates a Snover. I need to find the leader of Team Galactic. That's the only way this is ever going to end. Even if I stop them at Lake Acuity, even if Slave already did, they'll try again with some other scheme. Apsu beats a wild Medicham. I stopped them at the windworks and they still went on to do what they've done at Lake Valor and Lake Acuity. Legendary pokemon are connected to their plans, but I don't even know much beyond that. Nyx deals with another Machoke. If I can't find the leader, I need help. Well, let's get to this gym leader then. Maybe I'll find Slave along the way.

I enter Snowpoint City. It's small. I ask around, but the locals don't seem to know anything. There's no sign of Slave. I check the Poke Center. Still nothing. I heal my team, although I haven't the slightest idea what it is I'm preparing for right now. I investigate the rest of the city. There's a sailor who longs to ferry a powerful trainer somewhere. There's a temple I'm not allowed to enter. All that's left is the gym. Well, that seems a logical place to find the gym leader.

Of course, there's this big, stupid puzzle to reach the gym leader. And I'll have to fight my way through other trainers. Oh well, I was going to defeat every trainer in this gym eventually. And the gym leader really is my only lead right now. I modify my team slightly: Nyx goes back into storage and Nanabozho joins the team again. Now to solve this snowball puzzle and reach the gym leader.

My first opponent in this gym makes some stupid ice puns and leads with Pelipper. Sekhmet's spark makes quick work of it and does the same for the Golduck that follows. Her last pokemon is Steelix. I switch in Hanuman and have him use close combat. Steelix strikes back with ice fang. Hanuman hits with flame wheel and finishes the battle with a rock smash. My second opponent uses only Snover, so a flam wheel ends the battle as soon as it starts.

The third trainer I face leads with Floatzel. I switch to Nanabozho, but that works out poorly. Floatzel easily defeats him. Aqua Jet hurts Sekhmet, who devastates Floatzel with a spark. Floatzel nearly finishes Sekhmet with quick attack, but my feline perseveres and triumphs with a second spark. My opponent brings in Sneasel. Hanuman closes the battle with flame wheel again. I heal my team.

My fourth opponent leads with Sneasel. Flame wheel. Then she calls in Tentacruel. I switch to Sekhmet. Tentacruel hits Sekhmet with poison jab, but goes down after two sparks. Number five uses only Snover. Flame wheel again. Hanuman has really been on a tear since he evolved into Infernape. Number six has only one pokemon, but this time it's Quagsire. I don't really know what to do here, so I switch in Nanabozho. Quagsire puts Nanabozho to sleep with yawn. I switch Apsu in on an earthquake and have Apsu use strength. Quagsire uses yawn again. I switch back to Nanabozho. Quagsire uses amnesia. I switch Apsu in on another earthquake. Apsu's strength eventually brings Quagsire down. I wake Nanabozho up and break the remaining snowballs in the stupid puzzle. Now I can reach the gym leader.

"You want to challenge Candice?"

I was more concerned with this Team Galactic problem...

"Sure thing! It was waiting for someone tough!"

Uh, if you insist. I'll try to make this quick and painless...

"But I should tell you, I'm tough because I know how to focus."

That's cool, Candice. Oh no, I just made one of those stupid ice puns. It was an accident!

"Pokemon, fashion, romance...It's all about focus! I'll show you just what I mean. Get ready to lose!"

Yeah, that's not going to happen. She leads with Snover. Flame wheel by Hanuman for a one-hit knock-out, as always. Her next pokemon is Abomasnow. Flame wheel doesn't quite finish it off. But now her pokemon is burned. Abomasnow uses swagger. I switch to Nanabozho. Candice uses a hyper potion to heal her Abomasnow. I have Nanabozho jump kick, which does significant damage. Abomasnow uses swagger again. Jump kick again. Abomasnow goes down. Candice calls in Medicham. I switch to Apsu. Medicham uses bulk up. Apsu surfs. Medicham uses ice punch. Apsu surfs. Both pokemon are in danger of being finished off by the hail that Snover summoned. I switch to Nanabozho. Candice uses a full restore. Medicham's ice punch takes Nanabozho out. I bring in Sekhmet. Medicham uses force palm, paralyzing Sekhmet. Crunch weakens Medicham. Sekhmet can't take another hit. I switch to Hanuman. Medicham uses bulk up. I don't know if Hanuman can win this one. I have Hanuman use flame wheel. Medicham uses bulk up again. Medicham can almost certainly take Hanuman out now, but it's pretty softened up from all the attacks it's taken. I leave Hanuman in and hope the next flame wheel ends this. Medicham bulks up again. Candice's own hail works against her, finishing Medicham. Finally. She's down to her last pokemon: Sneasel. She has her Sneasel use faint attack, which does little damage against Hanuman. Flame wheel takes Sneasel out in one hit. I must admit, that's the hardest time a gym leader has given me so far. I never had to resort to Articuno and I was carrying an egg so I was only using five pokemon, but still, it was a pretty good fight.

"Wow! You're great! You've earned my respect! I think your focus and will bowled us over totally. Oh, that's right! I'm supposed to give you this!"

She gives me the Icicle Badge and a TM. She's just acting like a normal gym leader. Maybe she doesn't even know anything about Team Galactic. This has been entirely useless. I mean, I was going to clear this gym out eventually, but I'm trying to stop Team Galactic right now. This was nothing but a distraction.

Wait! There might be one thing I can salvage from this. Slave always beats gym leaders before I get to them. I check at the front. Slave is certified at this gym. He beat Candice already. He's been here. That means I'm on his trail, possibly. Or something. I check the Poke Mart. No sign of Slave. I'd better try the lakefront again. I fight through a few wild pokemon to get there.

The guards that Team Galactic posted are standing around. They're not blocking my path anymore. They seem bored. I rush past them. Slave is there. So is Commander Jupiter. It looks like he might have made it. I hear Slave speaking...

"You're not getting away with this, Team Galactic!"
"Oh?" Jupter responds. "Are you finished already? Your pokemon aren't bad, but you're laughably weak. You honestly thought you could save the pokemon of the lake? And become the Pokemon Champion? Dream on, little kid. But eww, it's so cold here. Let's go back to the Veilstone HQ."

She walks past Slave. She sees me...

"Oh? Don't I know you? We met in Eterna City. Listen. Team Galactic is going to do something huge for everyone's sake. That's why you should keep out of Team Galactic's way. Don't come whining about poor pokemon and other trivial junk like that. Don't waste your time coming to our HQ in Veilstone. Now, if you'll excuse me."

She runs off. I try to follow her, but somehow, I go the other way. I'm checking on Slave. He seems stunned. Then he talks to me.

"Yeah, that's right! I couldn't do anything against Team Galactic! That pokemon called Uxie...It was suffering..."

Oh no. He had to see that. And he couldn't stop them. Poor kid.

"I'm going to get tougher..."

Me too, Slave.

"It's not about winning or losing..."

Apparently not. I've won every battle against them, but we still seem to be losing the war. Team Galactic now has all three of the legendary pokemon they sought to capture and I still don't know who their leader is.

"That's not good enough..."

The thing that's driving me crazy is that I should know who their leader is. Or I feel like I should, anyway.

"I have to be stronger..."

Slave leaves. I surf across the lake. I investigate the cave. Somehow, when Commander Saturn set off that bomb in Lake Valor, it made these caves rise up out of the water. But this one is empty, just like the others. There's a wide, very shallow pool of water. The legendary pokemon were in these caves. They were but they aren't now. Team Galactic captured them. Why? What's so important about these pokemon? It's some mad scheme. These guys are a cult. A dangerous cult. What are they up to? I go back. Everyone is gone. The lakefront is empty.

I fly back to Sandgem Town. Professor Rowan is in his lab. He asks me how my Pokedex is coming along. It's as though this whole mess never happened. Dawn is nowhere to be seen. The whole Team Galactic saga has been very unfortunate. I failed. Dawn failed. Slave failed. Team Galactic got what they wanted and left. I do have one clue: their headquarters is in Veilstone City. They won't just let me walk in the front door, of course. I'll have to find a way in. But first, like Slave, I need to become stronger. Once I'm ready: I will take on the whole of Team Galactic, if that's what it takes.