Summit Crisis (2023 Halloween Event)

Melt couldn’t stop a sigh from escaping his lips. He felt he’d been sighing a lot lately, but given the circumstances could anyone really blame him? Well, probably, people always find a way.

“I’m really falling behind...” Melt collapsed onto the hard rocky ground. It wasn’t the most comfortable ground to sit on, but the location did provide a lovely view. He didn’t have any strong feelings towards hiking one way or the other... but on an island like this it did prove one of the best ways to get some exercise in. Originally he had no intention of climbing all the way to Wedgner Summit, he just needed to get away and be by himself for a while. Just like the year before the camp started to get crowded by a myriad of wild children coming and going excited for the holiday. He wouldn’t describe himself as someone who dislikes kids, but they could be a bit exhausting. Their insistence on some scary shadowy monster out there was annoying in particular.

Melt found himself sighing again as he looked out over the cliff. For an island it sure looked pretty big from so high up. The different environments and areas of the island were clearly seen from this spot, and he could even spot pokemon flying in the distant skies. Other than the wind and occasional, though rare, pokemon cry the area sat in silence. Even more breathtaking than all of it, though, was the sight of the setting sun. Beautiful colors mixing in the sky and the sun just low enough to not be completely blinding; Melt didn’t know if any other sight could beat it.

“Mosa...” Sangria floated over to Melt, careful to stay out of the way of strong gusts of wind. She lowered herself to the ground, using Melt as protection, deciding to watch the sun set with him.

“How hard is it for you to float up a mountain...?” Melt wondered with a rhetorical question. Sangria did try to give an answer, though he couldn’t understand her anyways. He shrugged the thought away and turned his attention back to the sunset. “I still don’t know what to think of my ending up here.”

The days seemed to meld together. He knew it hadn’t quite been a year since he arrived on Nozama, but the day was drawing very close. He thought back to that time but, even then, he didn’t really know what to make of it. Originally he decided to treat the situation like a vacation; he was on an island FULL of pokemon and with diverse environments so why not relax and explore it a bit?

“Fla, fla.” Sangria poked at Melt’s side though he barely felt it. He did give her a look, but she was clearly just trying to cheer him up. Did he even feel bad though? He couldn’t really tell.

“It’s not like I think the whole ordeal is bad you know...”

He did enjoy the “vacation” for the short time he considered it one. But as time went on he couldn’t call it that anymore, and his worries began to come back full force. It’s true that he complained a lot during his line of work. The constant rushing about, the harsh training, the fact he felt like he had no personal life... they were all annoying parts of being both an idol and contest star. Still, the more he gave thought to it, the more he found that he missed it all. 

“Just because I landed here didn’t mean I had to stop improving and practicing but...”

But for whatever reason something blocked him. Like when an artist got art block or a writer got writer's block... something prevented him from being able to perform whole heartedly and unashamedly. Was it the shock from having suddenly become someone unknown? Was it the thought that this island, with its myriad of trouble, had more important things to think about than some idol performance? Or did he simply think it beneath him to perform in a place like this?

No... Melt wouldn’t claim himself to be a good person, necessarily, but showing off is what he did. The island might not have a fancy stage or venue, but he could just as easily and comfortably perform on something shoddily made so long as he had enough room. It was a mental block, his own problem, and nothing to do with the island or the people.

“Uuuugh this is frustrating.” Melt stood up suddenly. He started to stretch, preventing his joints and muscles from aching and stiffening up too much. Sangria, startled by his sudden movement, floated up next to him still trying to use him as a shield from any unpredictable wind.

“If that’s how it’s going to be then I’ll just start from scratch! Everything... I’ll build everything from the ground up. Again.”

Briefly the thought of how much work that would be, and how long it would take, flooded him with dread but he just as quickly pushed the thought aside and buried it. What else was he going to do on this island anyways? The first thing he needed to do, though, was get over the sudden anxiety that plagued him whenever he tried performing with others around. That said... who would even be interested in watching an idol or contest performance?

Not to mention... Melt looked at Sangria who swayed in the air gently. She turned and looked at him back with a confused look... or, well, he thought so. She was pretty small and her facial expressions were hard to make out sometimes.

“I wonder how many of you would be interested in learning how to be contest Pokemon in the first place...”

The area around them gradually grew darker as the sun, no longer visible on the horizon, sunk even further. Thankfully the moon shone brightly in the night sky giving off enough light to see. The cave to get up here, though, would be too dark to see. Melt did bring a lantern with him, but he worried it might not have enough fuel to make it.

“We should start leaving soon.”

“Mosa~” Sangria agreed and spun in the air joyfully. Turning around, though, the two found the cave entrance obscured. A dark cloud hung in front of it waving and shifting in the air. Melt squinted, unable to make out what it was, exactly. They were high up it’s true, but were they really high up enough for a thick cloud to suddenly descend on them? Not to mention the sky had been spotless the entire day.

Before he could ask any sort of question the shadow shifted more violently before forming into something much clearer to see and make out. Melt still had to let his eyes adjust to the dark, and let his brain catch up to what was in front of him, before he understood what he saw.

“That’s not... you definitely can’t be here.” Melt tried to say it with conviction, but his words wavered ever so slightly.

“Fla?” Sangria didn’t seem to know what she was seeing herself.

A man stood at the cave’s entrance. Melt knew him well, someone he could never get over hating, and who he’d long forgotten the name of. But he knew the man’s visage well.

“There you are.” His voice, too, sent a shiver down Melt’s spine. “Are you done being a brat and quitter? We’re not finished.”

Even as a child Melt knew his fair share of strict and hardened trainers. They had to be sometimes, he knew that, and as hard as they were on him he never thought of them as bad people. Well, most of them. The man who stood in front of him was a big exception; someone not only skilled in, but who found enjoyment in, breaking someone down utterly just to mold them into their idea of “perfect”. 

Melt shook his head hoping that when he looked again the man would be gone, but he still stood there in all his infamous glory. He hadn’t seen this man since he was a child.

Melt gestured around the area which was actually pretty large, “I’m not exactly hiding.”

The man took a step forward, and Melt took a step back. Suddenly Sangria floated in front of him as if trying to protect him from the man. The image would’ve been comical with her size if Melt could’ve thought clearly.

“What did I tell you before about talking back to me?”

Instinctively Melt almost answered him, but managed to stop himself and stand tall instead. “I don’t need to be told who I can and can’t talk back to. I’m not a child.”

Thinking back on it the man didn’t seem as intimidating as he used to. Melt could remember a time when the man towered over him. When his threats and anger held more weight.

“You may as well be with the way you’re acting! Pathetic. This is the person your fans look up to? Disgusting.”

Though they might not be as weighty, the words still hurt and hit close to home. He didn’t feel like the type of person someone should look up to, it’s true, but still...

The man began walking towards Melt again. In response Melt began to back up keeping the distance between them. Sangria, with an upset cry, tried to hit the man with a vine whip and stop him. The attack didn’t phase him at all... or, no, rather the attack phased right THROUGH him. He continued to walk and phased completely through Sangria as well.

“Wait-”

Melt said the words but hadn’t paid attention to where he was going. The heel of his foot suddenly dipped causing him to lose his balance and almost fall backwards down the heart stoppingly high cliff. Thankfully he managed to stop himself from tumbling back with some mild help from Sangria and her vine whip catching his arm. Melt worried his heart was going to explode. It beat so fast and hard in his chest, but he refused to look over the edge of the cliff and see how far he almost fell.

Instead he kept his eyes trained on the man who’d suddenly frozen mid stride. In the next moment the man melted into shadows completely disappearing. Only then did Melt recall a conversation he had before leaving for Wedgner Summit earlier.

“What, so you think that creature causing nightmares exists?” Melt scoffed.

“Uuuugh you’re so annoying I said I ran into it!! Were you not paying attention?” Vivian lightly slapped his arm a couple of times. 

In the distance the sound of wild children playing games with themselves and other survivors could be heard. Melt watched as a couple of the wild children took some bad tumbles when playing tag, but got up just as quickly as they fell to resume the game. A lot of them had arrived to camp in a fright, but now that their minds had been taken off their nightmares and that “mysterious shadow” they seemed completely fine. Whenever night fell, though, they seemed to get antsy all over again.

“It’s probably just some pokemon though right? Plenty of them out there can cause nightmares.”

“I mean yeah but... that’s not the point! It’s scary! And what if it’s aggressive?! It tried to attack me after all!” 

Melt rolled his eyes. “I thought you said you attacked it first?”

A mysterious shadow haunting people with their own nightmares and possibly aggressive. Well, so far, the thing in front of him certainly fits that criteria. Melt kept his eye on the shadow but it made no effort to try and reform into the man again. Instead a cry that he didn’t recognize called out in, what he thought, was a questioning voice.

“Flamosa?” Sangria called out in response with a similar questioning voice.

Uncomfortable with where he stood, Melt decided to step forward and away from the cliff. This time it was the shadow that moved back afraid to approach. It’d suddenly stopped its illusion... but why?

“I’m... fine, if you’re worried.” Melt responded. Did it stop because of the near accident?

The cry happened again, but this time with a bit more relief than before.

“If you’re going to mess with people... you should do it in less dangerous places.”

This time he didn’t get an immediate response. The shadow just shifted slightly before completely disappearing all together and silence returned. Melt and Sangria glanced at each other trying to make out what, exactly, just happened. All Melt could tell is that this pokemon definitely seemed mischievous... but didn’t want to actually harm anyone. Probably? 

“It didn’t seem very aggressive at least. Maybe just... mean.” Melt shuttered remembering the illusion it caused and the words it said. “It’s gone now but if we ever see it again... no, no. I think I’ll just hope I don’t.”

“Mosa...” Sangria floated over to his shoulder and rested on it. She, too, didn’t seem thrilled by the idea of running into it again.

“Come on, before it gets dark. We should get off this mountain.”