Group RP Team Courage - Braving the Cold

Meanwhile, Kalino rose up from his laying down position and hopped down from the Mudsdale he had been riding. He went up to his two Ninetales, thanking them for helping out.
"Thanks, guys," he said while patting their heads. Turning to Mio, he mused, "Honestly Mio, I didn't see your Rain Dance coming there, haha." And then Mio blushed upon hearing that.

Looking at the bridge ahead, the ex-Skull grunt anxiously muttered, "...will we have to deal with Pokémon like that again?"

 

After her question, Rosie saw Kalino's Ninetails came closer to her, implying that they want some series. Of course, with both Ninetails worked hard to melt the ice on the Sandslash, Rosie knows they are tired and need something to restore their stamina.
So, she reached out to her medic kit on her belt to bring out some berries. Rosie knows how much the moves "Heatwave" and "Rain Dance" can drain a Pokémon's stamina if they are used for a long period of time. So, she takes out the best berry for the Ninetales, Sitrus Berry. As she doesn't know the preferred taste for Kalino's Ninetales, so she doesn't give them the objectively better berries as those can cause the status confusion to the Pokémon, even though it is very easy to cure.
Rosie takes out 10 Sitrus Berries and put them on the ground for the Ninetails. After that, she sees the Ninetails started to dig in and after consuming the berries, the foxes show the expression of happiness ad energized.

 

Now that the raging wind and Mathias' warning snapped Kalino back to reality, he returned his two Ninetales to their Pokeballs just when they finished munching the Sitrus berries Rosie gave them. He put them on his belt, pulled his skull bandanna over his mouth and nose, and hopped back on the Mudsdale as the group went through the drawbridge.

 

It might have been Claire's imagination, but the steel drawbridge seemed to rock slightly with the suddenly-strong wind. The redhead kept a hand on the Mudsdale, both to steady herself and to not get lost as visibility dropped. "Where did this come from?!" she thought aloud, though she had to raise her voice to be heard over the howling winds and the clatter of sleet hitting steel.

 

With the strong wind, Rosie felt uncomfortable. So, she takes out her jacket and wears it to help her withstand the wind better. She may be used to weather with -10˚C, but she is not used to strong wind. The same applies to her Pokémon too. So, she withdrew her pokemons.
The strong wind blowing the bridge makes a very worrying sound. Rosie looks at the moving bridge and feels worried. The fact that the Driftveil Bridge moves with the wind implies that it is not made to withstand strong wind and possibly very unstable and has a risk to collapse. The icy floor does have the case either. This made the bridge even more dangerous as one mistake can cause a person to fall to the river below.
Of course, Rosie already stays close to Mudsdale. But to be extra careful, she also wears a pair of sunglasses to prevent the reflection of light from the ice floor to cause snow blindness to her, as the last thing the team wants is their healer unable to see who is injured and where is injured.

 

After spending another 20 minutes on the drawbridge, the group finally arrived at Driftveil City. The wind had just subsided by then.
"Uncle..." Kalino called Mathias while still holding the pain from his sprained ankle. Seems like the snowstorm made it a little bit worse.
"We're supposed to meet Clay, right?"

(Fun fact: Alolan kids usually call older men with considerable age gaps "uncle" regardless of their biological ties, much like how Acerola addresses Nanu.)

 

In the Pokecenter, Kalino did a quick checkup on his Pokémon partners. He then sat down after the checkup's done, gently massaging his sprained ankle.
"Hang on there, bro. I'll take on whatever's in the mountain for ya," he muttered.

(Another fun fact: Team Skull grunts usually treat each other as brothers and sisters. Again, despite their biological ties.)

 

The Pokémon Center was a welcome reprieve from the bitter cold. Claire found a place to rest while Mathias informed Clay of their arrival. Looking around the crowded Center, the gravity of the situation became more apparent, and it troubled Claire. Driftveil was smaller than Nimbasa, so the sudden onset of artificial winter seemed to have impacted it more severely.
Looking outside at the falling snow, Claire thought aloud, "What kind of Pokémon would do this? Why would it do this? Why make so many people and other Pokémon suffer?" Perhaps Twist Mountain had the answers somewhere.

 

Inside the Pokémon Center, Rosie looks outside through the window. It is very quiet and deserted. She went here once when she is still little, and it is completely different. It is much more lively.
The current Driftveil reminds her of what happened before in Kalos. She was still a little kid with no Pokémon by her side. Kalos has an outbreak of Pokémon which caused widespread destruction. Only Elite Trainers, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members can go out(to fight off the Pokémon), and everyone needed to stay inside. The news was filled with how many casualties and destructions the raging Pokémon made. And the sight is the exact same as Driftveil. Rosie sighs, "Will we be able to help? Will this nightmare end?" Rosie thought.
She might give others a person with an "all sunshine and rainbows but a bit shy" personality(Yes, it is a very contradictory personality) but deep inside, there is a grism of negativity, she is not that optimistic as others see.

 

David shivered as he came into the Pokémon center. It was freezing out there. He dug through his hastily packed things and pulled out a well worn jacket, hat and gloves, and began putting them on,
“What kind of Pokémon would do this,” he heard Claire say,
“Well, there’s actually several theories, though I like this one supported by a few cave murals some archeologists have discovered, they say it’s a cycle that The Glacier Pokémon follows to strengthen the people.” David caught himself before he rambled to long into the empty air, “well, I won’t bore you with the details, I just wonder why here,”

 

Come to think of it, this reminded Kalino about a not-so-similar disaster back in Alola. Instead of the absurdly raging blizzards, there was a total darkness with some weird creatures invading literally everywhere in Alola. Yes, even at Po Town where he used to live after his defeat at the final trial atop Mount Lanakila. It was totally dark when he and his fellow Skull grunts tried to fight all those creatures swarming Po Town. Quite a tough cookie even with Plumeria's help, honestly.

Overhearing whatever Claire and David talked about, Kalino's curiosity kicked in. "The Glacier Pokémon?" he wondered as he got closer to them.

 

“Well,” David turned to include Kalino, “Like I said, this is just one theory, but it’s something that has been noted in geological records, this cycle of freezing and thawing.” He shrugged, “I’m not a historian so I don’t know the exact details of the story, but pictures have been found etched into stone walls in the ruins, and they show a large dragon that rises and freezes the land. Nobody is sure why it does it, but some argue that this dragon is trying to weed out the weak. I don’t think that is the best description personally, but the legendary must have some reason,”

 

"That dragon must be Kyurem," Claire mused as David explained further. "If that theory's true, then Kyurem seems more monstrous and cruel than any Pokémon I've ever heard of."
The situation and talk of legends brought back memories from Claire's childhood. When she was little, Team Aqua and Team Magma were running amok throughout Hoenn. When they somehow managed to awaken Kyogre and Groudon, the entire region's weather was thrown into chaos. Those two legendary Pokémon were provoked to wreak their havoc, they didn't choose to do so.
Kyurem, on the other hand... From what Claire knew, Kyurem wanted to cause this much destruction. It needed to be brought to justice... but that could wait. Unova's Elite Four and Champion were already on the case. Claire and the others had a job to do first.

 

Kalino intently listened to David's explanation and Claire's musing. Unlike those two (or at least, Claire), he seriously had no idea about who or what this Kyurem is. From what he could gather, Kyurem is the dragon who caused the whole freezing mess here in Unova. Heck, just thinking about it alone made him a little bit... dizzy.

Fortunately though, Mathias' appearance snapped the blue-haired boy from his own train of thoughts. He followed the group outside only to find this large sleigh in front of them. Seeing that this particular sleigh might need to be pulled by at least two horses and there happened to be a second set of reins available, Kalino decided to get a help from his own Mudsdale ride. He pulled out his Ride Pager and called the ride Pokémon with it. Unlike Mathias' Mudsdale though, Kalino's Mudsdale came with a saddle on their back per Alola Transit's standard. The horse is normally supposed to be ridden, after all.

"Well, Mudsdale, I know I called you, but sorry if it's not like what you would expect. You're okay about this, right?" Kalino asked the Mudsdale to which the latter nodded in understanding. The boy then set up the second reins by watching how Mathias did it and following it step-by-step. For him, it's roughly like setting up the reins for a wagon because he's more familiar with it rather than with sleigh.

 

David climbed into the sled, wrapping up tight in his coat. Traveling this way would be faster, and probably more exciting, but it would also be cold. David was glad to be helping out others though. If he could help clear the path to find more coal, it would all be worth it.

 

Seeing her teammates left the Pokémon Center, Rosie follows. As she catches up with the crew, she has a deep thought. "The current situation of Unova is very similar to what Kalos had. Both being affected by a raging Pokémon. But the difference is Unova's is caused naturally while Kalos' is caused artificially." But her thought process is being cut off by a massive white light shining in the distance and the sound of Pokéball opening, which caught her attention. What she saw is David climbing into a sled and Mathias tieing a thick rope to the sled. Later, more of her crew started to broad the sled, and Rosie soon followed. As she zoned out when other people are talking/discussing, she has no idea why the need to climbing on the sled, so she asked, "Where are we heading now?"

 

"Whew..."
Seems like the set-up took Kalino longer than he would like to because (almost) everyone were already on the sleigh by the time he was done. Maybe due to his smaller stature compared to Mathias' or his lack of experience with sleighs... or even both, I dunno. He then climbed on the sleigh, taking a seat on wherever remaining one available.