Chapter 24
They kept rowing and rowing, for what seemed like an eternity, until they suddenly hit a hard surface. They were pushed forwards, and found that the raft would not move anymore. After looking around they had discovered that they had landed on a beach, with a sign not too far away from them that contained what Andy recognized as Russian characters.
“Y-yes!” West called as he tumbled out of the boat and onto the sand. “Oh thank goodness, we’ve finally made it!”
Josh laid back and put his hands over his eyes. “Well, it’s about flippin’ time!”
Andy sighed. “Save your cheers for when we get home. Let’s…let’s just get to somewhere to…sleep.” Andy said as he was gasping.
Everyone but Claire, who could not come in contact with the water, leaped out of the boat and started attacking the rail with shells, spikes, and claws. Claire, despite not being on the beach, stabbed the raft with the stick. It popped and deflated out of existence, and they all got in the car and drove away.
They didn’t drive for long. Everyone was shaking from the rowing and close calls they’ve been having recently. After about five minutes of driving, they called it quits and just pulled over to the side of the road to sleep.
After their lack of energy crash, they awoke and began driving again. The snow was everywhere as far as the eye can see, but they were able to use a GPS they found in the car to navigate the hidden roads.
Soon, Andy noticed the charm glowing, and he tapped into the Aura. However, he strangely found two paths, each were going in a different direction from each other.
“Hold up, guys!” He called, and the car was stopped.
“What, what’s the matter?” Claire asked.
“The aura is…well, it seems to be splitting apart from each other.”
“Wait, what?!” West cried. “Can I please see the map?”
West opened the map and began looking through to the locations. “There’s only one Time Gear here! What could that mean?”
Josh turned. “Andy, are you sure one of them isn’t from the gear in the box?”
“Yeah, the Aura isn’t going there.”
Everyone thought long and hard about what was going on. Is it just picking up the gear from another one of their locations? No, it didn’t happen before. Did Xander make a mistake saying there was one gear in Russia? Possibly, but highly unlikely.
So what the heck is going on?
“One of the paths takes us back to the beach. The other one goes towards the mountains. Maybe we should flip a coin.”
“We don’t have any coins,” replied Claire, “But I’ve got a stick. If it lands on it’s side, we go to the beach. If it lands on either of it’s ends, we go to the mountains.”
Andy didn’t know how that would work, but as long as they pick a path, they can find a way. They went outside the car, and Claire threw the stick like a baton. It soared high above the clouds, and disappeared before it came hurtling down back to earth.
Andy couldn’t believe the result, but an end sunk down into the earth, leaving the stick’s sides away from the ground.
“Ends,” West confirmed.
Josh went back to the car. “Great, let’s go and get already.”
They left for the mountains, and Andy was pleased to find that the other trail that bothered their travels had disappeared. They kept driving until they got to a town.
They passed through buildings and interesting types of people until the gas alarm went off.
“Oops,” Josh grunted. “Forgot the gas.” He pulled over, out of the way, and parked the car. Soon, a gasoline container was being fueled into the car. “While I’m filling up, you guys have a walk around. See if there’s a place to stay.”
So, they slipped their rings on, and walked throughout the town. They took in the kinds of shops and other places to go to, but so far no places to rest in.
“You’re one of them!”
Andy heard a voice shout from the alley they were passing. He halted his friends, and walked cautiously down the dark walkway.
“Now, fellas, I’m just trying to get to work. I don’t know what you mean by ‘them’, but…” He heard a different voice. Andy was relieved, they were not discovered, but someone else was in danger.
He heard the gas guns from the Pokextinction group get fired up. Then, he heard a sigh.
“Well, if you insist…” the second voice said. “But my victory is Absolute!”
…Did that person just make a Pokémon pun?
Soon, he heard grunting and screaming, along with a faint glow of purple that appeared just briefly. A Pokextinction grunt was flung to the wall in front of them, and slid down to the ground. They turned the corner and saw an Absol using bite on a Pokextinction grunt, which then also collapsed.
The Absol shook the gray ash from it’s coat when it noticed the group. Andy quickly ripped his ring off. If he can earn the Absol’s trust, that would mean another ally.
However, the Absol still wasn’t convinced. Even when West and Claire removed their rings, the Absol still showed aggression. A purple energy charged at it’s horn, and flung it at the party. It hit Andy, having him soar. He performed an aerial recovery, and countered with Aura Sphere, which hit the Pokémon.
“Are you with Pokextinction?!” The Absol shouted. Andy noted how it had a Russian accent.
“No! We’re on you’re side!” Andy called back. The Absol growled, possibly frustrated by the stupidity it thought it had.
“…My name is Sasha.” She walked forward to the party. “What are you’re names?”
“Well, my name is Andy. That’s West and Claire. We’ve got another one named Josh, but he’s not here.”
“Nice to meet you.” She nodded towards West and gave Claire a handshake. “But we can’t stay here. I need to go to work. Do you have a place to stay?”
“No, we’re looking for one.”
“Okay. You can come with me to my base. Come and see me at Café Snow at 6:00. I’ll know it’s you when I ask if you want the special and you say you’d prefer it a noon!” She took a bound and leaped away.
“…Okay. That was odd, but…we found a place to crash!”
***
They drove for a while around the mountains, until the aura trail took a turn off-road. It lead to a mountain, which was incredibly tall it went beyond the mountains.
After they stopped the car, West looked outside, and a huge smile was on his face.
“Wow! It’s Mount Elbrus!”
Josh snickered. “You can recognize this mountain out of all the others? Ha, what a nerd.”
“Well, of course! I love hiking!”
“I guess you must love hittin’ the books, do ya? Oh, yeah, I can totally see you sitting in a calculus class and actually enjoy it!”
“That’s not true!”
“’Oh teacher, that was a marvelous class! Please, tell me more!’, or maybe, ‘Oh, teach, I’m so sorry those hooligans don’t get the true beauty of number magic!’”
“Shut up! I hate math!”
They were about to walk towards it, when a snowstorm suddenly blew in. It clouded their view of the mountains, and everything in general.
“Yo,” Claire shouted, “to the car, quickly!”
They all got in, and Josh immediately cranked the heat up.
“Guess we shouldn’t go today. Maybe we oughtta get a place to stay for the night.” Josh shivered.
“Not a problem,” Andy responded, “we’ve got a friend!”
***
Back at town, they went to Café Snow, and sat at a table. A waitress came over with a slip of paper.
“Hi, welcome to Café Snow, would you like the special?”
“I’d prefer mine at noon.”
The waitress seemed to have her eyebrows raise slightly.
“Ah, you came! My second shift should be here soon. Meanwhile, anything for hot drinks?”
“I’ll think we’ll be good with hot chocolates."
“Coming up.” And she left.
They drank out of their cups for a while, until Sasha returned with her uniform in her arms.
“Ready to go?”
“Shouldn’t we pay?”
“It’s on the house. C’mon.”
She went to her car, and they went to theirs. They followed her through the snow, out in the middle of nowhere, until the drove up to a log cabin. They parked their care in the garage and shut the door. They entered the cabin to find mounted heads, a bear skin rug, and a fire that was left blazing in the fire place.
“We are safe in here. Take your rings off.” Sasha removed her ring, revealing the Absol they met earlier. After everyone put their rings away, Sasha nodded towards the flame.
“Follow me,” and she dove into the flames, disappearing.
Andy was shocked, but with faith, dove in after her. He landed on a smooth slide that was winding through the dark. It felt like going through a water slide at an amusement park, with all sides covered. He soon landed on soft, cushiony material. He quickly got out of the way for his friends to join, and found Sasha at the wall.
“Through here.” She disappeared through the wall. Knowing this must be another trick, Andy stepped in to see a base, though not quite as neat as the one back home. It looked like it was built with low budget, but knowing Russia’s economics, Andy didn’t feel too surprised. “This is my home.”
“Wow,” Claire exclaimed, “who’s your headmaster?”
“Hm? Oh, we don’t have one. It’s just me, a few others, and the Hariama brothers. They help hiding our cars.” Sasha nodded them down a hallway. “You will need to sleep. Come, I have extra rooms for you all.”
***
The next day, Sasha joined them for a nice breakfast of trail mix, when West asked her a question.
“How well do you know mount Elbrus?”
“Lots. I hike up there with my family sometimes. Do you need a guide?”
“Yes, please! We’re just going through the base of the mountain.”
“Oh, you’re going to the lava veins! As a dormant volcano, I’m surprised nobody but us knows of its existence. Well, I do have the day off, so let’s go explore.”
After breakfast, Sasha lead them to a room they passed when they came down. In it, two Hariama were in the midst of a garage of cars hidden underground.
“Excuse me,” Sasha called, “would you two take two cars to the elevator? I’ll tell you which ones need to go.” The Hariama nodded, and they both carried the two cars they need, and gently put it on a platform. “Alright, get in.”
Sasha went to her car while Andy and friends went to theirs. Andy felt the platform rise. Looking up, he saw the elevator move to the side while another empty platform came down. It re-centered as it finished its ascent, and the garage door opened to lead them outside.
The continued to drive, when Andy found a faint pillar of smoke coming out of a place that looked eerily close to their destination. Andy’s fear were confirmed when they arrived to the base of the mountain. Where the aura trail previously penetrated the ground had been cleared away with a gaping hole.
Chapter 25: Next
They kept rowing and rowing, for what seemed like an eternity, until they suddenly hit a hard surface. They were pushed forwards, and found that the raft would not move anymore. After looking around they had discovered that they had landed on a beach, with a sign not too far away from them that contained what Andy recognized as Russian characters.
“Y-yes!” West called as he tumbled out of the boat and onto the sand. “Oh thank goodness, we’ve finally made it!”
Josh laid back and put his hands over his eyes. “Well, it’s about flippin’ time!”
Andy sighed. “Save your cheers for when we get home. Let’s…let’s just get to somewhere to…sleep.” Andy said as he was gasping.
Everyone but Claire, who could not come in contact with the water, leaped out of the boat and started attacking the rail with shells, spikes, and claws. Claire, despite not being on the beach, stabbed the raft with the stick. It popped and deflated out of existence, and they all got in the car and drove away.
They didn’t drive for long. Everyone was shaking from the rowing and close calls they’ve been having recently. After about five minutes of driving, they called it quits and just pulled over to the side of the road to sleep.
After their lack of energy crash, they awoke and began driving again. The snow was everywhere as far as the eye can see, but they were able to use a GPS they found in the car to navigate the hidden roads.
Soon, Andy noticed the charm glowing, and he tapped into the Aura. However, he strangely found two paths, each were going in a different direction from each other.
“Hold up, guys!” He called, and the car was stopped.
“What, what’s the matter?” Claire asked.
“The aura is…well, it seems to be splitting apart from each other.”
“Wait, what?!” West cried. “Can I please see the map?”
West opened the map and began looking through to the locations. “There’s only one Time Gear here! What could that mean?”
Josh turned. “Andy, are you sure one of them isn’t from the gear in the box?”
“Yeah, the Aura isn’t going there.”
Everyone thought long and hard about what was going on. Is it just picking up the gear from another one of their locations? No, it didn’t happen before. Did Xander make a mistake saying there was one gear in Russia? Possibly, but highly unlikely.
So what the heck is going on?
“One of the paths takes us back to the beach. The other one goes towards the mountains. Maybe we should flip a coin.”
“We don’t have any coins,” replied Claire, “But I’ve got a stick. If it lands on it’s side, we go to the beach. If it lands on either of it’s ends, we go to the mountains.”
Andy didn’t know how that would work, but as long as they pick a path, they can find a way. They went outside the car, and Claire threw the stick like a baton. It soared high above the clouds, and disappeared before it came hurtling down back to earth.
Andy couldn’t believe the result, but an end sunk down into the earth, leaving the stick’s sides away from the ground.
“Ends,” West confirmed.
Josh went back to the car. “Great, let’s go and get already.”
They left for the mountains, and Andy was pleased to find that the other trail that bothered their travels had disappeared. They kept driving until they got to a town.
They passed through buildings and interesting types of people until the gas alarm went off.
“Oops,” Josh grunted. “Forgot the gas.” He pulled over, out of the way, and parked the car. Soon, a gasoline container was being fueled into the car. “While I’m filling up, you guys have a walk around. See if there’s a place to stay.”
So, they slipped their rings on, and walked throughout the town. They took in the kinds of shops and other places to go to, but so far no places to rest in.
“You’re one of them!”
Andy heard a voice shout from the alley they were passing. He halted his friends, and walked cautiously down the dark walkway.
“Now, fellas, I’m just trying to get to work. I don’t know what you mean by ‘them’, but…” He heard a different voice. Andy was relieved, they were not discovered, but someone else was in danger.
He heard the gas guns from the Pokextinction group get fired up. Then, he heard a sigh.
“Well, if you insist…” the second voice said. “But my victory is Absolute!”
…Did that person just make a Pokémon pun?
Soon, he heard grunting and screaming, along with a faint glow of purple that appeared just briefly. A Pokextinction grunt was flung to the wall in front of them, and slid down to the ground. They turned the corner and saw an Absol using bite on a Pokextinction grunt, which then also collapsed.
The Absol shook the gray ash from it’s coat when it noticed the group. Andy quickly ripped his ring off. If he can earn the Absol’s trust, that would mean another ally.
However, the Absol still wasn’t convinced. Even when West and Claire removed their rings, the Absol still showed aggression. A purple energy charged at it’s horn, and flung it at the party. It hit Andy, having him soar. He performed an aerial recovery, and countered with Aura Sphere, which hit the Pokémon.
“Are you with Pokextinction?!” The Absol shouted. Andy noted how it had a Russian accent.
“No! We’re on you’re side!” Andy called back. The Absol growled, possibly frustrated by the stupidity it thought it had.
“…My name is Sasha.” She walked forward to the party. “What are you’re names?”
“Well, my name is Andy. That’s West and Claire. We’ve got another one named Josh, but he’s not here.”
“Nice to meet you.” She nodded towards West and gave Claire a handshake. “But we can’t stay here. I need to go to work. Do you have a place to stay?”
“No, we’re looking for one.”
“Okay. You can come with me to my base. Come and see me at Café Snow at 6:00. I’ll know it’s you when I ask if you want the special and you say you’d prefer it a noon!” She took a bound and leaped away.
“…Okay. That was odd, but…we found a place to crash!”
***
They drove for a while around the mountains, until the aura trail took a turn off-road. It lead to a mountain, which was incredibly tall it went beyond the mountains.
After they stopped the car, West looked outside, and a huge smile was on his face.
“Wow! It’s Mount Elbrus!”
Josh snickered. “You can recognize this mountain out of all the others? Ha, what a nerd.”
“Well, of course! I love hiking!”
“I guess you must love hittin’ the books, do ya? Oh, yeah, I can totally see you sitting in a calculus class and actually enjoy it!”
“That’s not true!”
“’Oh teacher, that was a marvelous class! Please, tell me more!’, or maybe, ‘Oh, teach, I’m so sorry those hooligans don’t get the true beauty of number magic!’”
“Shut up! I hate math!”
They were about to walk towards it, when a snowstorm suddenly blew in. It clouded their view of the mountains, and everything in general.
“Yo,” Claire shouted, “to the car, quickly!”
They all got in, and Josh immediately cranked the heat up.
“Guess we shouldn’t go today. Maybe we oughtta get a place to stay for the night.” Josh shivered.
“Not a problem,” Andy responded, “we’ve got a friend!”
***
Back at town, they went to Café Snow, and sat at a table. A waitress came over with a slip of paper.
“Hi, welcome to Café Snow, would you like the special?”
“I’d prefer mine at noon.”
The waitress seemed to have her eyebrows raise slightly.
“Ah, you came! My second shift should be here soon. Meanwhile, anything for hot drinks?”
“I’ll think we’ll be good with hot chocolates."
“Coming up.” And she left.
They drank out of their cups for a while, until Sasha returned with her uniform in her arms.
“Ready to go?”
“Shouldn’t we pay?”
“It’s on the house. C’mon.”
She went to her car, and they went to theirs. They followed her through the snow, out in the middle of nowhere, until the drove up to a log cabin. They parked their care in the garage and shut the door. They entered the cabin to find mounted heads, a bear skin rug, and a fire that was left blazing in the fire place.
“We are safe in here. Take your rings off.” Sasha removed her ring, revealing the Absol they met earlier. After everyone put their rings away, Sasha nodded towards the flame.
“Follow me,” and she dove into the flames, disappearing.
Andy was shocked, but with faith, dove in after her. He landed on a smooth slide that was winding through the dark. It felt like going through a water slide at an amusement park, with all sides covered. He soon landed on soft, cushiony material. He quickly got out of the way for his friends to join, and found Sasha at the wall.
“Through here.” She disappeared through the wall. Knowing this must be another trick, Andy stepped in to see a base, though not quite as neat as the one back home. It looked like it was built with low budget, but knowing Russia’s economics, Andy didn’t feel too surprised. “This is my home.”
“Wow,” Claire exclaimed, “who’s your headmaster?”
“Hm? Oh, we don’t have one. It’s just me, a few others, and the Hariama brothers. They help hiding our cars.” Sasha nodded them down a hallway. “You will need to sleep. Come, I have extra rooms for you all.”
***
The next day, Sasha joined them for a nice breakfast of trail mix, when West asked her a question.
“How well do you know mount Elbrus?”
“Lots. I hike up there with my family sometimes. Do you need a guide?”
“Yes, please! We’re just going through the base of the mountain.”
“Oh, you’re going to the lava veins! As a dormant volcano, I’m surprised nobody but us knows of its existence. Well, I do have the day off, so let’s go explore.”
After breakfast, Sasha lead them to a room they passed when they came down. In it, two Hariama were in the midst of a garage of cars hidden underground.
“Excuse me,” Sasha called, “would you two take two cars to the elevator? I’ll tell you which ones need to go.” The Hariama nodded, and they both carried the two cars they need, and gently put it on a platform. “Alright, get in.”
Sasha went to her car while Andy and friends went to theirs. Andy felt the platform rise. Looking up, he saw the elevator move to the side while another empty platform came down. It re-centered as it finished its ascent, and the garage door opened to lead them outside.
The continued to drive, when Andy found a faint pillar of smoke coming out of a place that looked eerily close to their destination. Andy’s fear were confirmed when they arrived to the base of the mountain. Where the aura trail previously penetrated the ground had been cleared away with a gaping hole.
Chapter 25: Next
