Arctic vs. Thaw
Chapter 1 - Stormy Meetings
The tall figure trudged through the mud, the rain pounded down, soaking him through.
He had been walking alone for over an hour through this weather, he remembered a
news report he had seen last night. Apparently all over the planet, every region was
having weather as bad as this, if not worse and experts predicted it wasn’t going to be
getting better any time soon.
The man had finally arrived at his destination. He looked up through his dripping hair at
a large temple known as Gainto Temple. It was a strange place which very few people
visited and was located west of Serian City so most trainers just skipped it by travelling
east.
He walked up the rough stone steps and stepped inside the temple. The building had no
roof so he was still exposed to the heavy rain. There were two figures on the other side
of the temple looking out over the rough seas watching a boat slowly sink into the
depths. They turned when the man entered.
“Ah, Ox. I’ve been expecting you”
“Nothing surprises you does it Glain?” Ox said, wiping the water off his face.
“Weathers not too good today is it? You’ve come to ask about the it Xatu tells me?”
Both the figures stepped out of the shadows. One of them was a tall Xatu, staring at Ox
as if watching his future. The other was an elderly man with a small walking stick
which looked more like a staff and six Pokéballs tied on his belt.
“Weather is a strange topic to interest a Pokémon Champion” Ox replied with a smile.
“Ah, no one has bested the Elite 4 of Remlia for a long time. But this weather. As you
may have guessed, this is not a natural occurrence. Weather like this has not hit the
planet for nigh on a century!”
“But they managed to stop it last time didn’t they?” Ox said, walking around the
temple. There were five podiums spread out equally around the edge of the temple.
“Indeed they did, they discovered just one way to do it. The 5 Gems had to be collected
and brought together inside this very temple. Only then would the weather return to
normal.”
“The 5 Gems?” Ox seemed sceptical, “Are you sure this isn’t just global warming?
Seems more likely than this 5 Gem stuff”
“Don’t believe me eh?” Glain said, turning round to face the sea again. “Xatu, if you
please”
There was a sudden flash and Ox fell to his knees gasping, sweat mixed with the rain

water streaking down his face.
“What…what was that?” he whispered.
“That was the future if this Gems are not found.” Glain said bluntly, “I will admit, I had
the same kind of reaction to you when I first read about The 5 Gems. Until Xatu
showed me what you have just seen of course. Still. It may not be true, it could just be
global warming like you said. However, there is something about these 5 Gems which
are special and even if it doesn’t stop the weather, it will do us some good to get them.”
“Where are they?” Ox had now pushed himself back to his feet.
“Well that’s the tricky bit.” Glain sighed. “There is one Gem in each region, one in
Kanto, one in Johto and so on. I made a trip to Canalave a few days ago to visit the
library there. I found something very interesting.” Glain paused to collect his thoughts.
“Well?” Ox asked getting impatient. A sudden bolt of lightning struck near the temple
causing Ox to jump, Xatu and Glain didn’t react at all.
“It was said that whatever is causing the weather, will know where The 5 Gems are
hidden and therefore, those places will be destroyed first in a bid to get rid of the Gems
once and for all.”
“So we just have to sit back and watch while 5 places just gets ripped apart then go in
after?” Ox said, shock spread over his face.
“I’m afraid so, but there are two more problems. One, when this problem struck last
time, a group of people got together and tried to stop the bid to collect The 5 Gems.
They called themselves Team Arctic. They did whatever they could to stop the people
trying to get The Gems. Eventually, Team Thaw was founded with volunteer trainers,
made to stop Team Arctic and let the 5 trainers, or ‘Collectors’ as they were known to
retrieve The Gems. Soon after Team Thaw and the Collectors joined forces and finished
Team Arctic off once and for all. However, seen as it happened last time, it could easily
happen again now.”
“Well, if that does happen, I shall just remake Team Thaw and stop them again,”
“Hopefully that won’t be necessary. Now, the other problem is the Collectors. Once
again, they will be needed. There are 5 Gems and therefore, 5 Collectors. Only they can
get The Gems and bring them here to Gainto Temple.”
“How are we meant to know who these trainers are?” Ox decided not to argue against
it.
“Xatu should be able to show you what they look like and give you a general location
of where they are.” Glain said indicating to Xatu.
Xatu stepped forward, there was another flash and Ox suddenly looked dazed.
“What if I forget?” Ox asked.

“You’ll find it very difficult to forget anything Xatu tells you in that manner. Trust me.”
Ox nodded and turned, leaving the temple heading back into the soaking mud, pushing
through the down pour. Off to search for the 5 Collectors.
Glain turned back to face the sea, huge waves crashed against the cliff face. The boat he
had seen earlier was gone, just off planks of wood floated over the waves.