similar to chu-e's roserade, reuniclus had some fun pounding on some wild water types with his newly learned thunder punch; the sparks often carelessly crackling around him and zapping some other poor pokemon along the way. he knows that they are headed to some place cold, though, which is why he chooses to bundle up a bit and bring growlithe in the event of another, err, nasty encounter. the thought of abomasnow sends shivers down his spine, and he still recalls how it was very close to killing both of them, not to mention its leg sticking out of the rubble when it was finally defeated. eesh.

he eventually gets to the cave's entrance, to which he sees a familiar, comforting face. it pains him and swoobat 1 that he had to leave swoobat 2 behind for this particular trip, but he needs all hands on deck for this one. he doesn't know what they could encounter, and as much as slowbro is a complete dope, she is still a water type. at the very least she could be a wall or something against the cold, though the white-haired boy has no clue how rain dance could help in some place like shoal cave.

"so, care to fill me in again on what exactly we're looking for?" he asks chu-e. "i know that there are some materials only found here to craft a particular item, but..." the changing tide can easily be hiding a lot of things. he wouldn't be surprised, actually, if somehow there was treasure underneath. if only the water wasn't so cold.

---

tags: Chu-e Choi
notes: lets grab that eggo

"Kay, so..." When Arthur arrives, Chu-e has to fight back the little grin. He knows they are currently in the honeymoon phase of... whatever this is. As much as he likes the little thrill of being close he needs to push that away for the mission at hand. "Some of the Mossdeep Eggheads suspect something is in here. Some type of water current shifts that happen every few years, boring science stuff.... but basically when the tides down there's a weird cave that's not usually open to explore. Could be treasure brought in by the tides or could be the spawn area of a rare pokemon or something. Could be nothing. Thought it was worth taking a look."

With that, Chu-e headed on inside. There had been some more info he had managed to gather, too, but it was written in science jargon he couldn't make out. "I don't have any water types. You brought Slowbro, right?" Arthur hadn't told Chu-e he had a Slowbro... but they sometimes recorded Gym Battles and put them online. Arthur didn't need to know he had maybe watched a few of them. Or all of them.

---

@arthurwright
we got this >:u

arthur doesn't hide his smile. seeing chu-e makes him happy and he's not afraid to show that. why they're here though is a curious case. the young man does not strike him as a spelunking type, and yet here we are. he only tagged along because he was asked to, but he does have to admit that finding some treasure sounds exciting, almost like they were two boys in front of a mysterious, large cave; its gaping maw so pitch black that anything could be inside. even the way chu-e had described it––when the tides are down every few years––as if it's an opportunity so rare that another chance would not come again no matter how hard they tried.

"at the very least we'll be able to keep the memories along the way, hm?" he says with a grin, referencing to how these types of journeys often lead to friendship being the most "valuable thing of all." he follows chu-e deeper into the cave and shivers a little at the temperature. he's all bundled up, but that does not necessarily mean that it is enough against the cold. for a moment he thinks about hugging the other man to feel warmer. he decides against it––sike, he goes for it and snuggles him.

"i have slowbro but that doesn't mean she'll be able to carry us both. maybe we can ask reuniclus to help." he mutters before realizing that chu-e had mentioned the water type, "how did you know i have a slowbro? i only used her once or twice in a gym battle." he asks while raising a brow. he then shows a smirk, flattered by the thought, "have you been watching my battles?"

---

tags: Chu-e Choi
notes: FINALLY. A RESPONSE.

Arthru's comment and sudden snuggling startles a laugh out of Chu-e, which has him snort, which has his get pink and cover his mouth with his hand. Looks like that was something he never really grew out of. Who knew. He slides closer, the warmth nice, and glances away at the accusation. "I just know things. Don't worry about it." While his murder and acts of violence were what he was known for both in and out of Rocket, the few lucky enough had seen just how skilled he was in information gathering. It was a perk of traveling so much as well as being smaller and physically weaker. He had had to adapt to knowing how to hit where it hurt and sometimes you had to do research for that. Maybe Arthur knew that. Or.... Well, he had guessed right.

"If I timed this right the water should be low enough that we can walk over most of this, anyway. Our shoes and pants just might get soaked. is all." Submitting to his urges, Chu-e sought out one of Arthur's hands to hold in his own as he moved for one of the natural rock-faces that looked stable enough for stairs down to the water. "I bought some of my new Ice types, too. maybe they can freeze the way for us?"

---

@arthurwright
i mostly just rambled this post akdfhgaskjd

oh no, he snorts. that is the cutest thing ever. arthur makes sure that his arms are dangling over chu-e but does not lean on him so that the other does not lose his footing. the part where he asked if he was watching his battles was actually more of a guess. the gym leader is aware though that his matches are being posted online, though he has yet to watch any of them mostly out of embarrassment. after all, many trainers have challenged him over a short period of time just to test his mettle--well, also because a number of them think that a completely new leader would mean that it would be easier to get the badge. some others were just in the area and wanted a challenge. with an incomplete team, arthur did not win as many as he would've liked, so he presumes that some of his losses were posted online.

anyway, enough about that. he doesn't want to feel bogged down by those things in this mission, and he is with chu-e. the warmth is inviting and makes him smile. he leaves him for a moment so that the rocket can hold onto the other's hand properly. "normally i'd be fine with that, but the weather makes walking in water, well..." he picks up on chu-e's suggestion about freezing the water. they'd have to be careful, but he'd rather try to walk across some ice rather than get soaked. he grins, "we're in luck. slowbro just learned a move that can help with that too." he pulls out one of his poke balls and lets out the large pink pokemon; her cry lightly echoing in the cave and her face as dim-witted as ever. "ladies first?" he says with a bit of a smirk. he also commands slowbro to be ready with ice beam when chu-e lets out his own pokemon to help freeze the water.

---

tags: Chu-e Choi
notes: ok i had a post and then i lost it lmao

"We could always stick our feet in Sunshine's fluff when we get back. He won't mind." Chu-e imagined that the Arcanine was miserable without him there already. Him and Sweetness hated being separated from Chu-e for very long. When he gets to the edge without slipping, so far, he hums and squeezes Arthur's hand lightly. "Don't get too smug. If I go down I'm taking you with me." And there is a sparkle of mischief in his eyes that he would certainly make good on that promise.

Two pokeballs are taken from his pocket and soon enough a Cubchoo and Alolan Sandshrew are shaking the sleep from their eyes. The Cubchoo has an odd purple sheen to his fur. The Sandshrew just looks mean. "Alright, you two." The two pokemon glance up at Chu-e, one of them looking happier than the other about it. "Both of you use Blizzard on the water to freeze us a path. Make it nice and sturdy."

The two pokemon move closer and start to do just that, the temperature dropping lower than it already was as the water almost instantly frosts over, spreading deeper as it fans out. Teddy and Snowdrift move deeper, traveling on the ice path as they go. Chu-e takes a tentative step on the solid sheet to test it, finding it solid but slick underfoot. "I should have taken up Amuro on his ice-skating offers...." He mutters, mostly to himself.

---

@arthurwright
they're gunna have gay ice time

"that sounds nice. i do hope that he really doesn't mind." he had only met the large fire pupper a handful of times, and while the pokemon seems to tolerate his presence (much like sweetness, who he has yet to actually pet), he still isn't sure if he is going to be mauled if he gets too close. well, so long as chu-e is there, perhaps nothing would happen. he hopes that his house would still be intact by the time that they get back. he lets out a small yelp when he feels the other's hand tighten around his. he does not like the idea of getting drenched in ice cold water, or hitting the thin ice that the pokemon would create. "i'm sure you would." he mutters, "that's why i have to keep you close." wouldn't want either of them catching a cold or worse.

he tells slowbro to follow the smaller pokemons' lead, though she is unable to make it as widespread as the others since she's using ICE BEAM, not blizzard. nonetheless, wherever her beam hits, the ice becomes more notably solid compared to the other parts of the body of water. it still doesn't make it any less slippery. this would be easier if they had the right shoes for it, but they don't, so...

even slowbro ends up slipping and falling on her belly after a while. arthur does a small facepalm before recalling his pokemon back into the poke ball. "okay, just have to be careful..." he mutters, deciding that holding onto chu-e is probably the worst idea right now. he is able to get both feet on the ice, but he feels that one wrong move could already send him falling either front or back. and the next solid rock area is...some meters away. damn it. "if you deliberately knock me over i'm pulling you down with me." he intentionally repeats what chu-e had said earlier, though slightly different.

---

tags: Chu-e Choi
notes: choo choo on the post train

"You make it sound more like a challenge than a threat, Silver Spoon." Chu-e grins, takes a few easy steps on the ice and only looks a little like a newborn giraffe as he keeps his footing. Feeling a little more frisky than he probably should, he turns around fully to face Arthur and tugs on the front of his shirt a little, flirting, before he tries to scoot back to avoid the other if he falls. He sort of hopes he doesn't as his intention was just to knock him off balance a little.

Chu-e turns back around, takes a few more shaky steps, but he yelps when he falls forward and onto his hands and knees. It's not a hard fall, doesn't do more than startle him a little, but the ice is so slick he keeps moving even after his tumble.

.... And Chu-e also keeps picking up a little speed. While the ice was frozen mostly smooth, the natural angles of the cave and the water didn't mean it was flat, and he is on a small slope and heading right towards one of the darker rock walls of the cavern. While he's going a little fast as he scrambles to try and get up, he's not at lethal speed; when he hits it might just leave a bruise and jar him a little.

Except Chu-e doesn't hit the wall. He seems to vanish into it, another squawk of surprise leaving him. Because that part of the wall was shaded and curved in a way that it hid a small hole deeper into the cavern; one he had happened to slide right into thanks to the ice.

---

@arthurwright
cave sliding time lol

he really needs to work on being more intimidating, arthur thinks, or maybe it's just that chu-e can never really take him all too seriously, considering that he has done more gristly stuff than the gym leader would ever do. either way, it makes him pout a little as he tries to take another step on the ice, and another; his arms spread wide to keep balance. he is following his companion at first until he suddenly turns around and--

he yelps, a blush coloring his cheeks as he's pulled close for a moment. a tease, he thinks, almost losing his footing as a result but is able to stay on his toes after a couple of slippery close calls. the gym leader lets out a sigh of relief, but then his attention is immediately shifted to chu-e, who has ended up falling on the ice. "hah, serves you right." he says with a grin, but that disappears when he realizes that he's not really stopping because of the uneven ground. "hey, chu-e--!" he attempts to follow but is unable to keep up with the speed, at least, not without falling himself.

he watches helplessly as his companion is about to hit the wall, but he lets out a surprised noise when he suddenly...vanishes? what? was it not a hole, after all? or was it an illusion? arthur decides to deliberately crouch down to pick up a bit of speed, but not so much so where he'd lose control of himself. he is able to steer himself in a similar direction, but just as when he's going to use his hand as a brake, he finds himself tumbling into the hole. the floor here eventually changes from ice to rock, and when he finally stops, he sits up and rubs the back of his head. "ouch." he mutters, "where are we?"

---

tags: Chu-e Choi
notes: let's see what we get !!