Of course Arashi wasn't alone!

When those rumors about unknown treasure being hidden within the winding Shoal Cave, Hideo couldn't resist the natural urge to investigate. More so when there were people requesting he do so; who could resist being paid to do the thing they wanted to do?

So Hideo made his way into the cave, accompanied by two Pokemon: a Froslass, who was well-acclimated to the cold, and an Ariados, who was...less so.

But rather than let herself freeze in Hoenn's sole natural refrigerator, she'd webbed herself up a nice sweater - with stripes running along it.

The inspiration for that fashion choice would be obvious.

But before any of them could travel far into the cave, they heard someone arrive a small distance away from them. Hideo didn't immediately know who they were, but he didn't discard the idea of working alongside them - this kind of stuff was easier in groups. "You here to look through the cave too?" Hideo asked aloud, waving to whoever it was he just spoke to.

Arashi Akiyama

While he could definitely recognize the hissing of a Salazzle (which immediately put his two Pokemon on guard), Hideo’s attention was more towards the voice he recognized.

“Hey Arashi!” he said, waving his hand towards where he heard the voice. “Yeah, I’m here for some treasure. Heard there’s stuff to be found here, if we look hard enough.” Could be something as exciting as a rare pokemon, or as dull as a frozen fruitcake someone left here years ago. Either way, there had to be stuff to find here.

“Last time I did something like this was with Doug.” He could remember his little dungeon-delving session with John Sullivan . “Though that was in some ruins in the desert, so the terrain’s a bit different than this. But I’m sure we can handle it!”

“We” meaning “you and me”, not just his Pokemon.

As for Arashi’s question if he thought there was anything here to find, Hideo just grinned. “Well, only one way to find out if there’s something here.” He pat his Ariados on the head, urging her on. “Squeeze here can lead the way. Come on.”

The Ariados nodded, a small line of webbing shooting from her mouth and wrapping around Hideo’s wrist - which Hideo grabbed onto with his hand. The other end wrapped around one of her legs, she advanced into the cave, Hideo and the Froslass following them.

Arashi Akiyama

Hideo nodded along. “Yeah. And even if there isn’t any treasure, we might find some other stuff along the way.” Special stones, rare Pokemon, or some kind of (hopefully pleasant) surprise.

As Hideo walked along, he could feel something familiar under his feet. Ah, the familiar threat of sliding along ice. Hideo remembered the last time he came to this cave, he’d spent almost the entire time sliding around; not a fun time for him, though his Dedenne and Minun had a blast.

Fortunately, Hideo was prepared this time around. “Mind helping out, Squeeze?” Hideo asked, his Ariados nodding. A line of web shot out from her mouth, reaching to the end of the icy floor. Planting it on a nearby wall, the Ariados guided Hideo over to it, which he grabbed on to.

He’d have to walk carefully, but having something to hold on to - and control his movement - helped tremendously. And Arashi could use it too: her String Shots were tough.

And the best part was he’d have something to talk about along the way, about his little adventure with John Sullivan .

“We did, yeah. It was a little bag of gems that I traded with some meat buns I’d brought. We had to go through a hall of traps to reach it, and I’m pretty sure if we messed up on the swap, we would’ve had one more.”

“He had me take point, ‘cause it was some kind of test to see how well I could do. I’d say I passed, but I dunno if Doug actually knew there’d be something down there. I doubt he set everything up, 'cause some of those traps could’ve really hurt.”

Arashi Akiyama

“Yeah, it’s nice she can do that stuff,” Hideo said, his Ariados giggling at the compliment. “You should see the kinds of clothes she can make too! She even made me a neat pair of socks with her silk!” Though they wouldn’t be visible through his boots, and he didn’t intend to take them off to show them.

So he focused on his walk, clingy tightly to the line. The Ariados did as well, though she still held on to the line wrapped around Hideo’s hand.

The Froslass was fortunate enough to just float over the ice.

“Nah,” Hideo said. “Shiny rocks don’t really mean much to me, so I gave them to Doug after we got out. I think Doug gave them away to a museum or something afterwards.” What use were shiny, colorful rocks to him? He knew he could sell them, but that was before he was preparing for the gym circuit; he was content with the money he was earning doing odd jobs back then.

“You ever go treasure hunting before, Arashi?” Hideo asked as his feet reached non-icy ground. “It’s some pretty fun stuff! You just gotta be careful of traps laying around. Helps to have the right Pokemon around; I had a Lycanroc and Aipom with me for the desert adventure.”

Truth be told, he actually didn’t know much about what Arashi did in his free time. Never really crossed his mind until now.

Arashi Akiyama

It took a moment of thinking for Hideo to recall what story Arashi was referencing. "Oh yeah, I've heard that one! Fletchling Hood, right? Went around with his band of Merry Men&Mons, stealing from the rich to give to the poor."

It took him a moment to process Arashi was implying he was similar. "Well, I guess that's a pretty interesting way to live." He could at the very least be relaxed in that himself and his family wouldn't have ever been one of Arashi's "targets".

Hearing the mention of that Type:Null hunt didn't bring much relief, though. "Yeah, I'd rather not have that happen again," Hideo said, "But Shoal Cave is pretty stable, from what I hear. And I don't think the Pokemon here are keen on destroying their home."

From what he remembered, the main reason for the previous cave-in was the Type:Null going nuts and destroying everything - not helped by their own Pokemons' indiscretion in a life-or-death battle.

"Besides, it's not like we're hunting a deadly Pokemon this time. We're here for treasure." Rumored treasure, yes, but still treasure.

His otherwise silent/bemused Froslass made a noise, trying to get the others' attention. "Find something?" Hideo asked, his Ariados guiding him towards the icey Pokemon.

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Arashi Akiyama