Finding Magnus

Jonathon touched down just outside the city. "Thank you Braviary. You did well." He said, recalling the pokemon. "You sure this is the place. It's kind of...cold." He said, his clothes not suited for the cold of Snowpoint city. "Well, what's the plan? How are we gonna get Magnus back?"

"I believe so, at least in part..." Summer trailed off, shaking the GPS. "It's this mountain terrain, it's having trouble picking up an exact signal. Really any signal for that matter." She sighed, the cold only making her more frustrated. "He was definitely here sometime, but I'm not sure if he still is. Let's split up and question everyone around town, sure someone will have noticed anything suspicious. Just be careful, be casual about it. If you've been shot at before, obviously these people aren't messing around, try not to bring suspicion that we're getting close to them. If in doubt, run. Don't worry about me."

Jonathon nodded. "Technically I wasn't shot at. Your brother shot the guy that was tailing me. Just saying." He said, heading into the city. "This place is really cold. I need a jacket or something at least." He said, the aura trainer began to search the smaller city for a store that sold clothes.

There was one small shop near Jonathon. It was a shabby looking thrift shop that was bound to have some sort of warm jacket for a decent price. If Jonathon wasn't picky, it was probably the best place. If he was vain enough to care about more costly, but better clothing, he could search elsewhere.

"I just need to get warm." Jonathon said, walking into the store. "Uh...Hello? Anyone here? I'd like to buy a coat?" He asked, looking through the racks.

A peppy looking teen looked up at Jonathon while pushing a stray lock of hair from her face. Her wide eyes told that they probably didn't get many strangers in the store, and she hastily pushed the fashion magazine she was browsing away from her and farther down the counter she was sitting at.

"Well," she shyly giggled, "that's pretty obvious. We don't have much of a selection, but we got a few donations last week. Follow me." She walked toward a rack near the back of the room and motioned toward them. "They aren't much, but they'll keep you warm."

"Thanks." Jonathon said, following the girl. He began to browse the coats, forcing a smile. He had a lot on his mind and didn't really read the girl's aura. She seemed nice though. "Hmm...I'll take this one." He said grabbing a coat and trying it on. "Yeah, this'll do. I'm Jonathon by the way, nice to meet you."

(That be Jonathon's new coat...and what he looks like overall now, he hasn't had a hair cut in who knows how long)

"I'm Cynthia, named after the great Champion of Sinnoh. Let's just say this," she motioned to signify the inside of the store, "isn't exactly what my parents envisioned for me," she laughed. She gingerly grabbed the coat from Jonathon and scanned the barcode once she reached the counter. "That'll be $10," she said, handing the coat back to him."

"Ok." Jonathon said, pulling out the cash and handing it to her. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, have you seen anything weird going on around here? And I don't mean just some little thing out of the ordinary, I mean really REALLY weird. As in something that makes the whole feel of the city be off." He said, trying not to blatantly mention any of the wrong he'd found himself stuck in.

Cynthia tilted her head slightly to the side with a considerable amount of thought crossing her face. "Well," she lead after a heartbeat of thought, "there hasn't been anything considerably weird around here. The only thing I can think of are the strangers that came through a few days ago. We don't get many visitors here," she yawned, showing the information didn't mean much to her, "they came through town and left an hour later."

"Strangers?" Jonathon said, his interest peeked. "Did they say anything about where they were headed or why they were here? I know it doesn't seem important to you, but I need to know. I'm looking for someone, and they were here recently."

Cynthia thought for a moment, but shrugged. "Dan down at the Inn said that they were oddly quiet. Paid for a room and left the next day early in the morning. He was amazed they left the room so tidy when they went, but I don't think he knew where they were going." She gave Jonathon an apologetic look for the lack of anything solid. "If I had to take a guess, they'd probably head toward Mt. Cornet from here, other than the Lake, there's nothing much else in Snowpoint to be of interest."

Jonathon sighed a little, not out loud though. Another almost dead end for him. "Thanks anyway. See you around. Thanks for the coat." Some little voice in the back of his head made him not say good bye. Jonathon always felt good bye was something a bit more permanent. Walking out of the store he slammed a hand on a tree, dropping some snow out of it and looking up at the sky, watching the slow steady snow fall. "How the heck am I supposed to find Magnus if these guys are so good at covering their tracks." He was alone, Summer had split up with him. Then something caught his eye, the temple. "That looks important...and subtle." He began to try and pick up any strange aura from that place while walking toward it.

No strange aura emitted from the Temple, nor were there any tracks in the snow leading to it. Still, if Jonathon so chose, he could investigate it.

Jonathon sighed again. He wasn't going to investigate the temple if nothing strange was there. "Cynthia did mention the late." He said, looking out of the town. "Maybe there'll be something there." Seeing no other options, he started walking. Out of the town and through the snow. Something about this lake made him eager to get there.

The path to the lake was oddly quiet. The blizzards and chilling winds typical of Snowpoint weren't blowing, and the only thing keeping Jonathon from easily reaching the water would be the deep snow in his path. Little to no wild Pokemon were in the area, along with the odd calm, it was a forewarning to a blizzard that was bound to arrive. Though surely Jonathon would have enough time to reach the lake before then...

Jonathon, despite feeling quite cold kept pushing on through the snow. "Now I understand while it's so cut off up here. Too much snow and a mountain." He said, looking up at the mountain. Plowing through the snow he finally made it to the lake. Stepping through the trees he made his way to the shore.

From what it seemed, the lake was simply that. A lake. It was oddly less full of snow than the outer land beyond the tightly packed trees, but there was still a thin layer of frost clinging to the ground and trees. The water gently lapped at the shore, and a small rock jutted out from the center of the lake, hinting at the island that lay beneath. It was the domain of Uxie, the keeper of Knowlege. There was little the Pokemon did not know, and an aura of its power radiated from it's cave-like home in the lake.

Jonathon stood at the edge of the water, looking at the rock. There was something powerful there, he could tell be the aura. But it wasn't something evil, or dark, or anything like the people who had Magnus. He sighed again, the tracking chip was really off if there was so little proof that anyone had even been here recently. "Somebody give me a sign!" He shouted up at the sky, irritated at everything. He'd come so far and the trail was still so cold and basically just bread crumbs at this point.

As if fate had a sense of humor, there was a loud crash and bang nearby as a metal sign fell from its spot bolted to a wood board of information. The metal sign lay face-up and easily could be read:

This lake is legend to be home to the Pokemon Uxie, a being said to be filled with all knowledge. If sighted, please report the instance to the Snowpoint Lake Association and do not approach. Thank you.

Jonathon and put on hand on the gun in his pocket and another on Mist's pokeball. Reading the down sign he glance back at the Lake. "Uxie...?" He muttered, wondering what it looked like. Focus sing back on where the sign had just fallen. "Who's there? Signs don't do that on their own, I know you're out there!"

The only thing that replied to Jonathon was a strong gust of wind that carried the echoes of almost a call toward Jonathon. It sounded as if it came from the rock situated in the center of the lake, but one could never be so sure.

"What was that?" Jonathon said, looking out at the lake. Shrugging he began to walk toward the edge of the lake. "Hope I don't freeze to death." Then he began to ease into the water and make his way to the island.

The water was oddly warm as Jonathon waded through it. Well, it wasn't particularly hot, but it was as if it were a lake in any other setting, the normal cool water you would find at the shores of the other Sinnoh lakes. Perhaps some otherworldly being made it so, or the conditions were just right, but for whatever reason, Jonathon would be fine in the water. The only thing he'd have to worry about would be the piercing cold the wetness of his clothes will cause once out.

Climbing out of the lake Jonathon tried to frantically shake water out of his legs. "Why did they have to put the island in the middle of the lake and have it be much warmer then the frozen air?" He shrugged and looked at the cave entrance. "Well...This is it..." The trainer walked into the cave, not sure what he'll find.