Chapter 18 The Mind over the Heart and A Surprise

Faust twirled the icy cold Rift Core in his hands. The core glowed with ethereal light and exuded a coldness that made a chill run through his body. However, it wasn't the kind of chill that hurt when you held an ice cube in your hand, it was a comfortable chill. Perhaps the comfort was psychological for Faust. The confidence he felt knowing that there was a plan. The only downside was it would come at a sacrifice.

"Hey, Faust! What're you doing out here so late? Damn man I'm telling you, once we are out of this place, I'm going on a week-long vacation. Just me, my bed and I. Oh, whatcha got there…lemme see!"

Hearing Kyle, Faust quickly retracted the core into his system storage and replaced it with a Pokeball. Faust turned around holding up the Pokeball for Kyle to see.

"Ah yeah Eevee. Damn man, I'm really sorry. Wait…I don't mean like sorry sorry. I mean like it must be pretty rough being separated from her like that. I mean I've known Articuno for three weeks and I can't imagine leaving her to face that Anti-Articuno or whatever alone. I'm just glad you decided to stick around you know, to help with the solution", said Kyle walking up next to Faust on the cliff overlooking the entire east side of the rift.

Faust couldn't help but a feel a bit guilty and his mind wandered back to the conversation with Articuno.

"Why not hand it over to Kyle? You've known him longer and probably trust him enough given how he's so taken up by you."

Faust could swear he saw sadness in the Pokemon's eyes as it answered him.

"This is precisely why. This is my kindness to that child. I once knew a person who was exactly like your friend. There was never a dull moment when I was with him, as annoying as he could be, he had in his heart a purity. Untainted. The three weeks your friend spent here were perhaps the best of my life in a long long time. Kyle will not be able to do the needful when the time comes, he is too loyal and kind for that. Even if he does, the guilt of the action will weigh him down. But you. You are not like him. You can be counted upon to do the worst if necessary."

Faust didn't like the way she spoke of him. It wasn't as if he would do it without a care in the world. The decision, he knew, in the moment would weigh him down as well. He wasn't heartless but there really was no other choice.

Articuno, as if aware of his thoughts let out a soft laugh and her eyes became kind.

"Young one I don't mean it like that. You are a person who uses his mind in all situations. I'm not saying you're cold and calculating, but in a critical situation your emotions, no matter how genuine and truly strong they may be, will not interfere with your judgment. You realise what it means for me to be sealed in the rift with the Cruel One but you also realise what will happen if you don't do it."

The Articuno stopped talking at this point and simply looked into the mist over the cliff as if seeing through it. Faust also realised what she meant to say and she was right. She was right about Kyle and in that moment he made a resolve to see what needed to be done through.

"Faust, Faust, Faust! Damn man don't space out like that. You gotta have faith man, we'll find Eevee. Don't worry", said Kyle shaking Faust out of the flashback.

"Yeah I know we will. Thanks, Kyle", said Faust putting back the Pokeball into his pocket.

Kyle smiled and plopped down on the ground. Faust also sat down next to him and they both just sat there staring out at absolutely nothing. Kyle being Kyle couldn't just keep quiet and started talking.

"Though seriously man, next time we better get trackers on our Pokemon. I mean it would definitely make things easier. You know even Miss Daphne, the actress uses trackers on her Pokemon. You know one time I read how her Skitty wandered off during a shoot. It was an article in that magazine PokeStars...…."

But Faust had already tuned him out because he suddenly remembered something. All Eevees involved in the experiment had been injected with micro trackers. This was something Professor Ross had told him when he was in Grand Coast City. Moreover, his own Eevee's tracker had not been removed because the Eevee wouldn't let anyone close to it. Eventually, the matter was forgotten since Faust hadn't paid much attention to it because the tracker only worked in when in range of the handheld console. Professor Ross had stuffed in the console with rest of the research material when he was leaving the base. Which meant it was still with him, stuffed away in the same bag as the research material!

Faust wanted to immediately take the bag out of his storage when he realised that Kyle was next to him. Not bothering to explain himself, he quickly ran back into the cave ignoring the shouts of Kyle.

Faust looked at the thin device in his hands. It had a screen with no buttons except one at the back to power it on and off. Quickly turning it on, he waited for the beeping yellow light that would indicate that the tracker was in range, but nothing happened. Faust wasn't disappointed, it made sense if Eevee wasn't in range after all the rift was very large and she could be anywhere. But now he could look for her and not just wander around hoping to chance upon Eevee. He quickly went back to Kyle and told him about the whole thing. In the end, they decided that they would look for Eevee tomorrow.

The cold wind whipped Faust's face as he held onto Kyle's waist. They were currently flying over the forest Faust had seen earlier. They had been flying almost the entire morning, luckily Articuno was had the stamina worthy of a legendary.

"Any sign of it yet?", shouted Kyle trying to speak over the wind.

"The tracker console hasn't lit up yet", responded Faust, looking at the device which was unresponsive as ever.

"Well, we haven't reached the centre of the forest yet, Articuno can you perhaps fly a little lower", said Kyle and the Articuno let out a cry of acknowledgement and suddenly swooped lower flying just a few feet above the canopy.

They had been flying for less than an hour when suddenly Articuno swooped towards the trees, gracefully manoeuvring through them to land on the forest floor.

"Hey, buddy what's the matter did you see someth-", Kyle had barely begun to question Articuno's action when an ice beam cut through the trees in front of them and dissipated just before it hit Articuno.

Faust immediately became alert and started scanning the trees. In a flash of movement, two bipedal Pokemon appeared in front of them. Faust immediately recognized the bright red headgear and the sharp claws of the Pokemon.

'Weavile.'

The two Weavile stayed still watching Articuno with vigilance. No one moved and Faust took this time to check the two Weavile with his identifier.

[Pokemon: Weavile(♂)

Ability: Pressure

Type: Dark, Ice

Aptitude: Yellow

Strength: Early Senior(Lvl. 37)

Moves: Agility, Leer, Quick Attack, Slash, Metal Claw, Revenge, Assurance, Icy Wind, Hone Claws, Fury Swipes, Ice Beam]

[Pokemon: Weavile(♀)

Ability: Pressure

Type: Dark, Ice

Aptitude: Yellow

Strength: Early Senior(Lvl. 36)

Moves: Agility, Leer, Quick Attack, Slash, Metal Claw, Revenge, Assurance, Icy Wind, Hone Claws, Fury Swipes, Bite, Ice Beam]

They were relatively strong with Faust's Pokemon only in the Early and Mid Intermediate stages but he wasn't all that concerned since Articuno could take them out with her eyes closed.

"Faust are those Weavile!?", suddenly Kyle exclaimed in excitement.

Faust looked at Kyle and then nodded.

"Damn! I've always wanted one! Should I try and catch it!?", said Kyle with stars in his eyes.

Faust looked at Kyle and sighed, "Your Roggenrola can't take them on, they're at least in the senior stage."

"Oh…but well Articuno can take them on right?", said Kyle dejectedly before he realised that they had another Pokemon with them.

"Yeah of course she can. But will she?", asked Faust.

As if to answer Faust, Articuno suddenly reared up a bit and a glowing silver ball appeared in front of it which it then fired at the two Weavile. The male Weavile managed to dodge it by a hair's breadth while the female Weavile was hit by the Ancient Power. The female Weavile slumped to the ground unconscious and Kyle excitedly got off Articuno's back to throw a Pokeball. Tossing the Pokeball, Kyle turned towards Faust and said, "See we didn't even need to ask. Don't worry Faust I'm sure Articuno will help you out as well if you want. Just know that I'm now gonna be a senior trainer before you! Hah!"

Just as the Pokeball was about to hit the fainted Weavile, a dark figure appeared knocking the Pokeball away. Kyle was still blabbering on about the fact that he was now a senior trainer and how Faust could catch up to him if he worked hard enough. He didn't see what had happened but seeing the amused look on Faust's face he turned back only to find that the Weavile had not been caught and that there were three more Weavile standing protectively in front of the downed Weavile.

"Hey! I defeated that Pokemon fair and square! Why'd you knock away the Pokeball!", complained Kyle looking at the three new faces.

Meanwhile, Faust noticed that two of the three new Weavile were holding onto two badly injured Alolan Vulpix. Remembering from his memories, he realised that the two Vulpix were actually Weavile's food. But it seemed as if the Vulpix were not dead just badly injured.

Just as Faust was about to ask Articuno to rescue the two Vulpix, the male Weavile swiftly lifted the downed Weavile and the five of them quickly jumped onto trees and fled.

"Hey! That's no fair! Articuno let's go after them! I can't just waste a Pokeball! They cost 10000 Alliance Credits a piece! I have to have something to show for it", saying so Kyle quickly got onto Articuno's back. Faust could swear he heard the Articuno sigh as it swiftly took to the sky to give chase.

The Weavile were exceptionally fast, especially since they knew their hunting grounds like the back of their claws. Faust also recalled that Weavile had exceptional speed stats in the games which hugely outclassed Articuno. But while they weren't able to outclass Articuno here, the trees provided extensive cover from any of Articuno's attacks.

About twenty minutes into the chase, Faust's tracker console suddenly lit up. Hurriedly taking it out, he informed Kyle and then checked it. A yellow dot was blinking on the screen and Faust felt relief wash over him. Eevee had been found, well not yet, but they were close. Looking at the dot on the screen, Faust realised that it was in the same direction that they were flying in. Faust didn't show it but he was really happy.

As they chased the Weavile pack, the dot on the console started blinking more rapidly indicating that they were getting closer to the target. Faust was excited and worried at the same time. He didn't know what to expect, was Eevee injured, would she be pissed at him for not finding her earlier. A multitude of questions flashed in his head until he suddenly felt a knot in his stomach as Articuno landed in a small clearing in front of what looked like an entrance to a cave. Looking at the console, it showed that Eevee was just ahead.

"Eevee! Eevee!", shouted Faust as he climbed off Articuno's back and hurriedly ran towards the cave. Apparently, the cave was home to the Weaviles since they had gone into the cave. Kyle and Articuno quickly followed with Articuno barely being able to fit into the cave.

"Damn wait up Faust!", shouted Kyle.

Faust also slowed down but not by too much, he looked at the console and the dot had stopped blinking now and was a solid constant yellow. This meant Eevee was close. He tracked led him deeper into the cave and he followed. The Articuno was having more and more trouble moving as the cave got narrower.

"Faust wait Articuno can't go in any further"

Faust hesitated for a bit and finally said, "It's okay. Wait here I'll go in a little deeper and see if she's there."

"But the Weavile, Faust they…fine but you holler at the first sight of a Weavile okay?", said Kyle looking into Faust's eyes.

Faust nodded and headed deeper into the cave. Walking in deeper Faust came to a wide opening that was similar to Articuno's cave back in the mountain. Just as he was about to have a look around he heard a vicious snarl from behind him.

"Weavile!"

Faust immediately called out Wimpod and Dreepy. As if on cue, two more Weavile came up to make the numbers. One of the Weavile gave out snarl as if charged straight at Faust with a silver energy lighting up its claws.

"Wimpod Harden and use your own Metal Claw to intercept."

Wimpod immediately used Harden and met the Weavile head on getting pushed back a little due to the strength difference.

"Okay clamp onto that arm Wimpod."

The Wimpod used its claws to grip the Weavile's arm and seeing this the Weavile raised its arm intending to use Metal Claw point-blank on Wimpod.

"Wimpod use Struggle Bug!"

The Wimpod instantly erupted in a red aura resisting which burst out in a hemisphere around it hitting the unaware Weavile right in the face. The Pokemon fell backwards and Wimpod retreated from it. It still wasn't knocked out yet and looked furious at the thrashing it had just received.

"Weavile!"

Hearing it's cry, the rest of it's packmates also came forward with a sneer on their faces. Faust was about to instruct Dreepy to use double team when an orb of pink energy hit one of the Weavile sending it flying into the cave wall. Before Faust could react, a pink shadow slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. He then felt his arms being wrapped in something soft and heard the happy cry of a Pokemon.

"Sylveon!"