We exited the Gym to go find Bianca and possibly find out what was causing the tremors. But when the front doors swung open, we were greeted with a blast of frigid wind and flying snow flecks.

"What in the..?" Drayden gasped, shocked at the scene before us. The rest of us were at a loss for words, just as stunned as the Leader was.

What we saw was... ice. Clouded sheets of ice covered the ground and climbed up the buildings like ivy. Walls of the stuff blocked the alleys, confining the city to a network of straight pathways. Along with the walls, huge ice crystals easily six feet tall stood at random intervals on the streets or on the sides of buildings. The once-clear sky was now shrouded in gray clouds and an unnaturally cold wind swept through the city streets. It was like Opelucid was sealed in a block of ice.

"When did this happen? How could this have happened?" I cried. I was beyond confused, we were inside for an hour at the most, and somehow the city was encased in that amount of time. It may have been obvious but no normal blizzard could have done something like this. Especially since there never was a blizzard in the first place.

As I thought this, the horrifically loud roar of a Pokémon echoed from somewhere in the city. A huge shadow then passed over the street. I thought it was a cloud or something until I looked up and saw what it was. While I wasn't able to see much of it, I could make out a few main identifying features. It was a large gray creature with a long neck, clubbed tail, and spindly gray-blue wings that didn't even look capable of lifting it off the ground, much less allowing it to fly. For a second, I thought I saw a glinting silver fixture attached to its head, vanishing before I could really see what it was.

"That was Kyurem, it had to be," Nate said, head still tilted skyward. "Come on, we have to find Bianca and Hilbert!"

"I'll catch up with you three in a minute, I need to grab something," Drayden said, running back into the Gym.

Hugh scoffed. "Talk about a responsible adult. Leave the three young teens to fend for themselves against the psychopathic team and a freaking Legendary Pokémon! Nothing could go wrong there, obviously!"

"You can worry later, we have to help the others!" I objected. I tried my best to run across the ice without faceplanting.

We skidded our way through the ice-covered streets until we reached the city square where I spotted Bianca on its far side. As we got closer, I noticed that she was kneeling over someone. It didn't take a genius to see that the person was Hilbert. He was sprawled across the ground on his side, out cold, and I was pretty sure that the dark bruise on his forehead had to do with why he was unconscious. Bianca heard our crunching steps and looked up at us with a mixture of relief and fear.

"Bianca, what happened here?" I asked breathlessly.

"We were coming back from Route 9 and... and we were ambushed here by a group of Neo Team Plasma members," Bianca said. "They demanded that Hilbert give up Design, and when he refused, Kyurem appeared! It summoned a blizzard and started attacking the city with a bunch of Ice-type moves. Hilbert tried battling it, but it was too strong, even Design could hardly stand up to it. I couldn't do anything, I was too busy trying to fight off the Neo Team Plasma members." She looked to her unconscious boyfriend. "I turn my back to him for just a moment, and when I looked back, Design was gone and he was like this!"

"Where did they go?" Nate asked.

"I don't know! They disappeared somewhere into the streets and Kyurem flew away from here."

"Yeah, we saw it. It looks nothing like Zekrom, and I'm guessing Reshiram doesn't look like that either," Hugh commented. "In case if you were wondering, Drayden is gonna be here soon. We just have to wait for him."

"That's probably for the best," Bianca said.

While we were waiting for Drayden to find us, we all were on high alert for Neo Plasma. The square was completely empty, and I was unsettled by the utter lack of people outside. They had either fled the city, were trapped inside by the ice or... something much worse. I shuddered, maybe those crystals I saw earlier weren't entirely made of ice.

Hilbert eventually came to and seemed to be in pain the moment he woke up. He curled into a fetal position, one arm wrapped around his midsection while his free hand lightly touched the bruise he had gotten. He flinched back when his hand came in contact with the darkened flesh. "Those three can sure be efficient when they want to," he muttered through clenched teeth.

"Oh Hilbert, thank Arceus you're okay!" Bianca gasped. She reached out to him, but he batted her hand away, saying that he'd be fine. He weakly pulled himself into a sitting position, propping himself up against a frozen lamp post.

"Talk about attacking from out of the blue, and right when I couldn't be more distracted too." He glanced from me, to Nate, then Hugh. "When'd you three get here?"

"A few minutes ago. And who attacked you?" I asked, already having a feeling who it could've been.

"The Shadow Triad," Hilbert responded. "The did their fancy little trick of appearing right the heck out of nowhere, and then they unleashed some kind of ambush that was anything but planned. One sucker-punched me in the gut, another smashed me in the back of the head when I doubled over, and the third snatched Design's Poké Ball. I guess I blacked out when I smacked my head on the ground. They aren't Ghetsis' top grunts for no reason, that's for sure."

"So they stole Design?" Nate said.

"Yeah." Hilbert's expression darkened. "I was supposed to protect him, you know? He chose to follow me, saying it was his duty, and I wanted to make sure he'd be safe because I know he'd do the same for me. I thought I'd grown stronger over the two years I was gone, yet I went down so easily." He hung his head. "I... really am pathetic, aren't I?"

"It's not your fault Design was stolen. Blame it on the Triad. It's their fault most of this happened," Hugh said. He was turned away from us so I couldn't see his expression. I could guess that he was scowling though. He pulled his jacket's collar up higher before pointing across the square. "Look who finally decided to show up." It was Drayden. The older man navigated the slippery square swiftly, his Altaria at his side and a black briefcase clutched in one hand. When he got to us, he wordlessly opened the case and showed us its contents.

Within the case sat two spikes patterned with alternating shades of black, white, and gray. The spikes were about a foot long and each had a smaller spike made of topaz set into their flattened ends. "These are the DNA Splicers," Drayden said. He pried them from the case and held them out to us. "Two of you need to take and guard them. I expect that Neo Team Plasma will be here any minute, and splitting the Splicers up will increase our chances of them not falling into their hands."

"Nate and Hugh should take them," Hilbert said. "My team's wiped out so I can't take one, and the boys are the most capable when it comes to battling." He paused, realizing what he just said. "I... I wasn't trying to offend you or Bianca," he stuttered, looking at me.

"It's fine. I know I'm not the best at battling," I said, feeling my heart sink. Nate took one of the Splicers and shoved it into his backpack, making sure it was sealed tightly. Hugh took the second Splicer, but instead of stashing it in his bag, he handed it to me.

"I don't trust myself. And even if I did, I know that if Kage caught so much as a glimpse of me, he'd be after me like a Persian after a Rattata. It'd be safer if you kept it."

"Hugh, I..." I didn't know what to say. I still accepted the Splicer from him, the piece of old machinery weighing heavily in my arms.

"Think about it. They might regard you as weak, and if they find out we split the Splicers, they'd be more likely to go after those of us they think are strong. If Nate has his Splicer stolen, we'll have yours."

"I... I can use my weakness to my advantage?" I smiled a little as Hugh's idea fully sunk in. He was right, the only battle I had really fought with a Neo Plasma grunt I ended up losing. They'd think I was some weakling that always relied on my brother to fight my battles for me. Not this time, I could actually make this work. I nodded confidently and stuffed the Splicer into my backpack. "You can count on me," I said.

"As long as you know what you're doing," Drayden said. "Okay, now we need go get out of the city."

"And why would you want to do that, Leader Drayden?"

We all turned to see... Zinzolin, of course, along with nearly a dozen Neo Plasma grunts standing not a yard or two from us. It was like he knew when to show up, always as if he was on cue. It made his sudden appearances all the more odd.

"The freezing air, it chills me through and through. I'm shivering, but I've never felt more alive! This cold, this suffering, it's proof that I'm living. I want all of Unova to feel this way, so dead yet alive at the same time," Zinzolin said. "It's amazing what Colress' technology combined with a Psychic-heightened Hypnosis can do to a savage Legendary Dragon. Like a Mareep, it blindly obeys its shepherd."

The fixture on Kyurem's head, that must be what Zinzolin's referring to! I thought. That meant they were mind-controlling it, forcing it to act whether it wanted to or not.

"You always did know how to make an entrance," Hilbert said, giving the Plasma Sage a deadpan stare.

"I suggest you hold your tongue, freak," Zinzolin said. "That was the only part of you we never tested on. A wasted opportunity if you ask me."

Hilbert let out a sound that was like a choked gasp, and I saw his face drain of all its color.

"You leave him alone!" Bianca growled.

"And what will you do, missy?" Zinzolin asked. Bianca's response was to send out a powerful-looking Samurott. It silently stared Zinzolin down with unblinking red eyes.

"I can still fight. We all can. You got what you wanted, now leave us alone!" Bianca said defensively.

"Such bold words for the little girl who had once let her Munna be taken from her," Zinzolin said, shrugging. "And you still have something we want." He held out his hand. "The DNA Splicers. We know you have them."

"We don't know what you're talking about," I said, my voice trembling from a combination of cold and fear.

Zinzolin shook his head and gestured to the briefcase that once housed the Splicers. "Why else would Drayden have that case with him, he knows where they are. We scoured every warehouse in this city, and we found no sign of the Splicers."

"I don't have them with me," Drayden said. "The Splicers are safely out of Opelucid by now."

"Bluffing will get you nowhere, Drayden. We know you have them in that case. And even if you don't, one of you probably has them. You can't hide from us what's rightfully ours," Zinzolin said.

Drayden reopened the case and showed it to the Sage. "This was merely a diversion. They're long gone by now."

Zinzolin's face contorted in confusion and disbelief. "You lie! No one has left this city since we froze it. Every exit is blocked!"

"I have ways of getting things out of Opelucid if they need to." Drayden's lie was so convincing I could've believed it myself. "After all, a mayor should know every way to get in and out of his city. Running a city this huge is no easy task nowadays," he continued. I then began to pick up on how oddly he was phrasing his words. "There's no real need to hurry, Zinzolin. Whoever took the Splicers has up and left by now."

It dawned on me what he was saying. I quickly exchanged a glance with Nate and he got it too. I held up three fingers behind my back and slowly put them down, counting down until we would run. As we understood what Drayden was really saying, Zinzolin seemed to as well. Right as he was about to interject with his suspicions, I put my index finger down, the count falling to zero. We both then took off running out of opposite sides of the square, our abruptness confusing Zinzolin and his lackeys.

I ran and ran, blindly taking any clear path I laid eyes on. I didn't care where I was going, I just wanted to get as far away from the square as I could. The cold wind lashed at my face and made my clothes and hair flutter out behind me. I was fully aware of the distant shouts of people and cries of Pokémon behind me. I could only image what was happening to Hugh and the others. I didn't need to worry, they could handle Neo Plasma! A dark thought then pushed its way to the front of my mind. What if they can't..? I felt tears begin to run down my face and I tried to push every horrible scenario out of my mind. Keep running, I told myself. Run, and don't look back. Don't. Look. Back!