Group RP Team Courage - Braving the Cold

Despite the grim discussion that happened in the Pokémon Center, Claire couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the sleigh and the Mudsdale being rigged up to it. "It's like something right out of one of those cheesy holiday movies," she chuckled. She climbed aboard, eager to get moving. It wouldn't be a slow, romantic ride through softly-falling snow, but it would certainly be exciting.
"We're heading out to clear a path to one of the mines in Twist Mountain," Claire answered Rosie's question. The younger woman must not have been paying attention to Mathias' briefing.

 

@Jeydis @ID Zeta @HiddenLore @RWBY Gaster (sorry guys, have to go WavePearl-style here~)

Seems like Kalino got lucky for the "remaining seat" he got was actually pretty close to his Mudsdale ride. He only could hope that the two horses would be able to work together...

 

Rosie sat on the shed. Soon, the shed started to move, as it will be quite a ride, so she sends out Grenija to look out for any raging wild Pokémon or bandit because they are an easy target(Having like two kids, two non-professional trainers and two Mudsdale, which are quite rare in Unova). So, she is being extra careful. Of course, she won't fight them unless it is truly necessary.

 

@Jeydis @ID Zeta @HiddenLore @RWBY Gaster (again, going WavePearl-style...)

Having Rosie's Greninja as a lookout was quite a relief for Kalino because it allowed him to focus on handling his Mudsdale. But still... he felt kinda awkward at the same time.

 

The sleigh lurched forward, and the ride to Twist Mountain began. Even with the heavy sleigh behind them, the two Mudsdale trudged through the snow in their path without much effort. Claire didn't need to worry too much about keeping a lookout since Rosie's Greninja was scouting ahead. Instead, she let herself be immersed in the experience, and she soon found herself humming a tune from an old holiday movie.

The trees grew denser as the group approached the mountain. The Greninja eventually gave a sharp croak, as if to say it had found something. Indeed, in the distance, Claire could just make out a small, spiky shape standing in the middle of the path ahead. It resembled the Sandslash the group had helped earlier, but it looked distinctly different. "What is that..?" Claire said as she struggled to see any details.

Having heard sounds coming from behind it, the small creature turned around. It vaguely recognized what was approaching it, and it began waving its ice-pick-like claws, as if to further get the attention of the Pokémon it saw.

 

Seems like Greninja's croak and Claire's question got Kalino's attention too. He had a good look at where Claire had pointed: a Sandslash that looked somewhat different than the ones they encountered back at Route 5.

"...what the heck is Alolan Sandslash doing here?" the boy muttered as the sleigh got closer to the Sandslash. His, no, both Mudsdale, seemingly knowing whatever's going on, decided to slow their steps down. Kalino then hopped down from the sleigh and checked on the Sandslash who turned out to be a female, Alolan one belonging to his miner friend.

"Iceslash? What are you doing here?" the ex-Skull grunt asked, loud enough for others to hear him. Realizing that the Alolan Sandslash knew Kalino as her trainer's friend, she leapt to him and cried in his embrace. She still cried when asked about her trainer's whereabouts, leading Kalino to deduce that said trainer was most likely missing.
"Don't worry Iceslash, I'm here to look for him too," he reassured the Sandslash, then turned to the group and asked, "Hey guys, would you mind if this fella coming with us?"

 

"Aight then. Heave-ho!" Kalino lifted Iceslash to the sleigh, then climbed on it himself.
"Hey, Rosie, do you still have berries for this girl?" Kalino turned to Rosie once he and Iceslash settled on the sleigh.

As for the Mudsdale, seems like they didn't mind Mathias riding on them. They've already got used to giving rides for all sorts of people, after all.

 

"Well, I do have some. But what taste does she prefer?" Rosie asked. She does have berries for Pokémon to eat, not just for healing. But as different Pokémon prefers different taste, she decides to ask Kalino about the preferred taste. As when a Pokémon ate a berry that has the taste it dislikes, there may be some side effects to them, from causing confusion to somehow causing them to rage.
Rosie also looks at the Sandslash. She looks so much different than the ones she used to see. Instead of brown spikes and shell, she has icy spikes and bluish-white skin, and the claws are so much different too. It resembles ice picks than actual claws. This makes her well interested in Iceslash. "So, this is an Alolan Sandslash? I never saw one before."

 

"Not sure, honestly. Why don't you give her some different berries and let her choose?" Kalino suggested because unlike Mako and Mio, Iceslash is not even his to begin with. He didn't wanna risk guessing about her preferred taste only to get it wrong. And Iceslash herself? She tilted her head while looking at Rosie, much like Mio to David back at Nimbasa's Pokecenter.

"Yeah. Just like Ninetales, Sandslash in Alola live in snowy mountains, so the cold here won't bother her anyway."

 

"Well, then. Let me check what I have." Rosie said and started to take out some berries. Soon, she picked out five berries: Tamato berry, Cornn berry, Magost berry, Rabuta berry, Nomel berry. And place them in front of Iceslash, to let her choose.
Iceslash looked at the berries. Smelled them and stared at them. After a minute, Iceslash picked up Rabuta berry. "So, you prefer the taste of bitterness," Rosie said and the Iceslash nodded. So, Rosie takes out 4 more Rabuta berry and put back the 4 other berries. And look at the happy face of Iceslash as she happily eats the Rabuta berries.

 

"Yes, sir!"
Somehow seeing Iceslash happily munching the Rabuta berries made Kalino happy and anxious at the same time. Where in the world is that guy -- no, is he even okay?

 

Claire took a good look at the Alolan Sandslash as it ate. She found it strange and fascinating how this Pokémon looked so different from its desert-dwelling cousins. Such radical adaptations must have taken a long time to emerge.
The fact that Kalino and the Alolan Sandslash recognized each other, and the fact that Kalino called it by name, piqued Claire's interest. "Does this Sandslash belong to the friend you mentioned a while ago?" she asked the young man. "The one who lived in Icirrus City?" That would explain how this Pokémon got here.

 

Now that curiosity ensued on Claire's part, Kalino nodded at her. "We used to be, uh, street thugs back in Alola." He then looked up to the sky.
"But sometime after that disaster, the boss disbanded our little group of mischief-makers, so we all ended up turning over a new leaf. He and Iceslash moved here to Unova, I went back home to help out in my family ranch."

 

Claire blinked as the sleigh lurched forward again. Street thugs? Had she heard him right? "I... never would've guessed that," she said. "You don't seem like that kind of person to me, Kalino."

 

"Neither did I," the boy lowered his head. "I was too frustrated with the final tri- I mean, the League back then," he mused as he realized that the final trial was Alola's equivalent to the League back in his days as a trial-goer.
"We used to annoy people here and there. Pranking people, whipping up our petty dramas, rapping like crazy -- and honestly, that was fun."

 

(This gave me more trouble than it should have)
Claire didn't immediately know how to respond. While she was curious about the details of this "street gang" Kalino had been involved with and about how he felt about it, she feared she'd seem intrusive by asking. She hardly knew the young man, after all, and this seemed like a very personal affair. Instead, she went with a safer route: "Do you think you'll challenge your League again someday?"

 

(Whoops, sorry about that )

Speaking of the League, it reminded Kalino about the new Pokémon League in Alola which was supposed to replace the final trial's role. While people older than 11 y.o. are no longer allowed to take on the island challenge (as it's supposed to be a rite of passage for Alolan kids), he heard that the League itself is open to anyone of all ages.
"Not sure, honestly," the boy shrugged. "I prolly gonna go back to the ranch when we're all done with this mess anyway."

(Fun fact: the events in USUM was set when Kalino was somewhere between 12-16 y.o. because he did the island challenge at 11 and is currently 17.)