Cold. Very cold. Cold and dark. And big. Not too easy on the feet, either. To Gem, that was Mt. Coronet in a nutshell. Even the rocks and minerals weren't any good. Not like back in Hoenn at all. Maybe that was why there were no other Sableye in those parts. Fine by him.
He and his trainer, Klaww, had worked long and hard to make it into the Hoenn Hall of Fame a little over 2 years back, before taking a well-earned rest. In the last few months, they'd soon found the Sinnoh League to be a little more difficult. Gem had barely made it past the last gym; he didn't even know what to expect when they reached the next one. If they ever did, that was. It was freezing, to say the least, and this was inside the cave and out of the snow and wind they'd been told to expect around Snowpoint City. At least Klaww always let Gem ride around on his shoulders or sit on his head; he hardly weighed much and Klaww was young and strong. If anything, he liked the exercise.
Though Gem could hardly see at all, his eyes emitted an otherworldly emerald glow to allow some vision in dark caves, and this one wasn't even all that dark. Not like the lower part of Hoenn's Victory Road. Soon it wasn't even needed; there was a bright light at the end of one long, final tunnel. Gem shielded his eyes upon exiting, but Klaww walked on without so much as blinking, gaze unwavering even as the icy wind hit them like a tidal wave and ruffled both Gem's fur and Klaww's similarly colored, spiked-forward hair. The taller of the two stepped on through the nearly knee-high snow as if it weren't there. Gem would've been in snow up to his chest at the least.
Going further and passing a few skiers, he shivered and hunched over slightly, but for once, kept quiet, thinking it better to observe the local trainers who planned to challenge or maybe already had challenged the gym than bugging his trainer. Most of the Pokemon were ice types, and most of the trainers were wrapped up in huge coats. None of them looked, smelled, or sounded like anything too strong.
'Seel…' he mused, sniffing the frigid air and finding it a little harder than usual to use his normally sharp sense of smell. 'Piloswine… Glaceon… Snover… ?' He stopped at one scent in particular.
It was familiar. All too familiar. He couldn't quite place it; it must've been centuries since he smelled it last, and the snow didn't help… Then he found out.
"Sneasel! Slash attack!" Some female human yelled out. A sharp ripping noise followed the very instant after. A trainer was practicing her Sneasel's Slash attack on a now torn-up tree. It also ripped open other old wounds…
"Master, how much farther is it from here?" he brought up, eager to get away from the Sneasel but trying not to sound like it. "It's freezing cold out here…"
"It shouldn't be too much farther, Gem," Klaww answered dryly. "We'll just get a room at the lodge and maybe go out and practice battling near ice and snow. I'm sure it's harder for you to smell like this."
"You're just always two steps ahead, aren't you Master?"
"For the millionth time, Gem, stop calling me that."
"Yes Master."
