"Wake up every one! Time to go to Zverev!" Said Akira.
The rest of the team then woke up. It was 9 am in the morning and the sun shined brightly.
"Great! No blizzard and the weather is nice! Should we go sightseeing in the city?" asked Brendan.
Akira didn't say anything and gave Brendan a mean look.
"I was just joking Akira...don't give me that look..." said Brendan.
"Zverev is just 5 miles away from here. Just a little more, then we get our hands on the icicle plate." Said Akira.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to Zverev!" said William.
The team finally set off. As they travelled from Moberec to Zverev, they were in awe of the scenery. The road between Zverev and Moberec had a very magnificent view. The view was so beautiful, that they forgot about their mission to retrieve the icicle plate for a moment. Eventually, they reached the gate of Zverev. It was heavily guarded by Prinplups. The leader of the guards, which was an Empoleon, then talked to Akira.
"Welcome, knights of Arcadius! We have been expecting you! Lord Alexandrovich is waiting to meet you in the palace of winter to give you the icicle plate!" said the Empoleon.
Strange, I thought minister Darkrai told me that Lord Alexandrovich doesn't know about the plate at all...Thought Akira.
The retrievers of the icicle plate went straight to the palace of winter. There, Lord Alexandrovich was sitting on his throne, ready to greet the knights of Arcadius.
"Greetings and Salutations, o brave knights of Arcadius!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"We are here to get the icicle plate, your highness..." said Akira.
"Yes, yes. We already know about that. You know, one of my ministers hid the icicle plate from me out of fear that I might return it to the dragons so they can hide the plate again elsewhere, but I assure you; Avangard stands with the oppressed. We ice type pokemon also hate the dragons as much as others do..." said Lord Alexandrovich.
"If that is the case, why didn't Avangard join the war against the dragons?" asked Ryo.
"Because Avangard is already dealing with a lot of internal problems...Also, we ice type pokemon love peace and don't believe in violence. Instead, we believe in diplomacy, because ice type is a peaceful type!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Well, that is a good alibi, your highness, but I know deep down that you either don't care about the suffering of the fairies, or are a cold-hearted coward!" said Ryo.
"Hush Ryo!" said Alicia.
"Forgive me for his rudeness your highness...That won't happen again..." said Akira.
"Ah! Don't sweat it! He is just a child anyway who knows nothing! And I am a very forgiving king!" said Lord Alexandrovich gleefully. He was a master of acting.
"Now, I shall give you the icicle plate. Minister Yekaterina! Can you bring the icicle plate here?" said the Beartic.
"Yes, my lord..." said the Froslass. She went to the inner sanctum to get the icicle plate and gave it to Lord Alexandrovich.
"What I have in my hands is the icicle plate! Beautiful isn't it?" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Yes, your highness... Now can we please have it?" said Akira.
"Sure...It's all yours!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Wait! Are you sure that this icicle plate that you are giving us is not fake?!" said Ryo.
"Fake?! Hoho! Of course not! You can test it!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Very well then. Natalie! Hold the icicle palate and use the move blizzard! If the plate is not fake, then it should increase the power and magnitude of the blizzard!" said Ryo.
"Okay...sure..." said Natalie as she went outside.
Natalie then held the plate and used the move blizzard. The plate was not fake. It was real as it increased the power of the blizzard by tenfold. A few moments later, the streets of Zverev were covered by thick snow due to the blizzard that Natalie summoned. The snow shovelers groaned in frustration.
"Wow... I have never felt power like this before..." said Natalie.
"See? I told you that the plate is real ^^! " said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Thank you, Lord Alexandrovich, ...Now we must leave..." said Akira.
"Leave? No! Please No... I have arranged a dinner for all of you...We want all of you to try the Avangardian traditional delicacies!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Dinner? That would be great your highness!" said Brendan
"Yeah, I have always wondered how Avangardian traditional cuisines taste like! Akira, instead of today, why don't we return to Arcadius tomorrow after we have dinner tonight? It would be rude to refuse an offer from a king!" said William.
Akira thought for a moment. He still had a little bit of a trust issue towards Lord Alexandrovich, but since Lord Alexandrovich had given him the icicle plate, there was no reason to distrust Lord Alexandrovich anymore, just like minister Darkrai said. After a while, he eventually decided to have dinner with the king.
"We thank you for your hospitality, your highness...We accept your offer...We will have dinner with you tonight..." said Akira.
"Excellent! Now in the meantime, why don't you all go sightseeing in the city? Zverev is the second most beautiful city in Avangard after Moberec!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Yes, your highness! Come on, lets go sightseeing!" said Brendan.
The team then walked around the city of Zverev. They were mesmerized by the architecture and the mountain view. A large cathedral was located at the centre of the city. This cathedral was the main tourist attraction in Zverev. The team asked permission to enter the cathedral and their permission was granted. As they walked in, the interior of the cathedral was even more marvellous than the exterior. Paintings of Arceus and the saints were on the wall, decorating the cathedral's interior. The team then went to the top of the cathedral's tower. From there, they could see all of Zverev from above.
"You guys go on without me...I want stay here for a while" said Renard as the knight's guild members were on top of the Cathedral's tower.
"Why?" asked Akira.
"I want to draw a sketch of the city. The city is too pretty..." said Renard
"Alright then. Have fun drawing, Renard!" said Ryo.
The team than continued to walk around the city, now without Renard. This time, they went to the palace of Svershad, which belonged to an aristocrat named Rachmaninov. Rachmaninov was a close friend of Lord Alexandrovich and they allowed the knights of Arcadius to enter the palace.
"Rachmaninov? I think I have heard that name somewhere...Wait, do you perhaps know my father?" asked Natalie to sir Rachmaninov.
"Who is your father?" asked Sir Rachmaninov.
"Sir Nicolas van Deventer..." said Natalie.
"Van Deventer? The Arcadian aristocrat who owns a lot of farms and mines even outside of Arcadius? Yes! I know him! We got acquainted years ago while he visited Avangard on a business trip! You must be his daughter...am I right?" said sir Rachmaninov.
"Yes sir...you are right..." said Natalie.
"Oh! What a pleasure to meet you! Come in to the living room and have some tea!" said sir Rachmaninov.
"Guys...I, Jordie and Julius are gonna stay here for a while..." said Natalie.
"Okay, we'll go on without you three..." said Ryo.
The team eventually reached the marketplace. When they arrived at the marketplace, Brendan and William decided to stay to look for souvenirs. Now there were only three pokemon left; the Riolu, the Lucario and the Braixen. Like Moberec, there was also a lake at the city of Zverev. The only difference was that the lake in Zverev was very shallow, because it was in fact an artificial lake built for the purpose of ice skating.
"Oh Gosh! I love ice skating!" said Alicia as she jumped onto the frozen lake and began ice skating gracefully.
"Big brother, you should try ice skating too..." said Ryo.
"But I can't..." said Akira.
"Try it" said Ryo.
Akira tried to ice skate and he tripped miserably. But he was not giving up. He tried again to ice skate again but he quickly tripped again.
"This is embarrassing..." said Akira.
"Big brother! Why don't you hold Alicia's hand so you don't trip again!" said Ryo.
"Fine..." said the Lucario.
Akira started holding the Braixen's hands. Alicia then started to blush. She lost balance and tripped, but Akira was quick to react and caught her in his arms.
"Alicia, are you okay?" asked the Lucario.
"Yeah...thanks for catching me..." said the Braixen. Now both of them were staring at each other and blushing as Ryo watched from afar.
Good, let the love flow through you, big brother... hehe thought the Riolu.
Time flowed so fast as the knights of Arcadius were enjoying themselves in the city of Zverev. It was evening already, and they returned to the palace of winter to have dinner with Lord Alexandrovich.
They were escorted to the fancy dining room.
"Welcome back! Now let's begin the feast!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
The knights started eating the appetizer called Shashlik or Avangardian kebab and Caviar. They were very delicious. However, the main course was even more delicious. The knights of Arcadius could not stop eating, especially Renard. They stuffed themselves and before they knew it, they all fell asleep at the dining table. As they fell asleep, Lord Alexandrovich smiled.
"Good...The poison worked perfectly...Bernatsky!" said the Beartic to the Emploeon.
"Yes sir?" said the Empoleon.
"Retake the icicle plate and Lock them up in Fort Amol!" said the Beartic.
"What should I do with the icicle plate sir?" said Bernatsky.
"Just put it back in the inner sanctum. I'm going to give it to the dragons as soon as they come." Said Lord Alexandrovich.
"What about the knights' weapons and other items?" asked the Empoleon
"Just put them in Fort Amol's dungeons" said the Beartic.
"Right away sir!" said the Empoleon.
An hour after midnight, Akira woke up and was surprised to find that he and the rest of the knights were locked in the cells of fort Amol.
"What is the meaning of this?! Where are we?! Let us out!" said Akira.
"Ah, you're finally awake young knight. You are in Fort Amol, the maximum-security fort in Avangard. I never thought that the famous knights of Arcadius would be so gullible and easily tricked!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
Ryo woke up and soon realized that his hunch was right. The rest of the knights then woke up as well.
"I always knew that you were a traitor!" said Ryo.
"You think you can imprison us like this?! We are trained knights! We can break free from prison easily!" said Brendan.
"Oh I'm afraid you can't young knight...You see, the food that you ate earlier was poisoned with sleeping poison, zero pp poison and zero stamina poison. You won't be able to use any moves for the next three days and you also will have no stamina to use swords and other metallic weapons!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"Damn You! Lord Mewtwo will hear about this!" said William.
"Unfortunately, he won't. Tomorrow, the dragons will come to execute you. Well, if you are lucky, they will kill you right away, but if you are unlucky, they will torture you so you will die slowly...and painfully...hehehehe...HAHAHAHA!!" said Lord Alexandrovich. He laughed hysterically, showing that he was mentally unstable.
"Why do you help the dragons?! Why are you siding with the bad guys?!" asked William.
"What choice do I have?! The dragons will invade Avangard if I don't capture you and give them the icicle plate! Furthermore, the dragons have agreed to help me defeat the separatist movement and exterminate the annoying fairies in my kingdom and that damned Dusk tribe! Without the aid of the dragons, this kingdom will fall!" said Lord Alexandrovich.
"You are such a heartless loser!" said Natalie.
"Yell all you want girl. You will all die tomorrow when the sun rises. There is no denying that, haha. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to contact the dragons..." said Lord Alexandrovich.
The Beartic then left the fort, leaving the knights of Arcadius in anger and despair. Julius started crying while Akira and Ryo were thinking how to get out. But their efforts were in vain. When all hopes were lost, two dusk tribe members looked at the fort from afar. It was a Zoroark and a Weavile.
"Are you sure that the knights are imprisoned there, Neo?" asked the Weavile.
"Yes Erik. Princess Diana's spies told me so..." said the Zoroark
"So, what is the plan, Neo?" said the Weavile.
"I will steal the icicle plate while you free them..." said the Zoroark.
"Alright! This will be fun I can tell..." said Erik.
The two split up. Then, at dawn, around 4 AM, grand master Erik Douwes Dekker the Weavile approached the fort's outer territory.
"What are you doing here, villager?!" said one of the guards, who was a prinplup.
"Stop you trespasser! Hold immediately!" said the other guard, who was also a prinplup.
Erik smiled and took out several silver spikes. He threw the silver spikes at the guards and the silver spikes hit them right in the eyes.
"ARGH! I'M BLIND!" said the guards. The noise alerted the guards at the fort.
"General Bernatsky! I think the fort is under attack!" said one of the guards to the Empoleon.
"Then tell lieutenant Yaroslav to sound the alarm bell! All archers and ballista, prepare to attack!" said the Empoleon
"Yes sir!" said the archers. Lieutenant Yaroslav the gallade took out his telescope and looked at the attacker with his telescope.
"Lieutenant! What do you see?!" asked the Empoleon.
"I can't see clearly because of the mist...wait...is that a Weavile?!" said the gallade.
The Weavile then sprinted towards the fort.
"Oh no here he comes...ARCHERS! ATTAACK!" said the gallade.
The archers attacked the weavile, but Erik dodged all the arrows easily as he sprinted forward.
"WHAT?! Impossible!" said the archers.
"You fool! Close the gate!" said the Empoleon. The fort guards closed the gate, but it was not a problem for the weavile, since Erik could run on walls to get to the other side.
"Damn it! Don't let the weavile get to close!" said the Empoleon.
One of the guards, which was a grovyle, shot an arrow from his crossbow at the weavile, but the weavile caught the arrow easily with his right hand. When the grovyle shot and arrow again, the weavile threw the arrow that he previously caught and the two arrows collided in the air, surprising the grovyle.
"What the hell?! IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!" Said the grovyle. The other guards, which were mostly prinplups, attacked the Weavile with bubble beam, but none of them hit the target. Erik jumped from wall to wall as he evaded all the attacks easily.
"That's it! I'm using my ultimate move!" said the grovyle.
The grovyle used the move leaf storm, but Erik already predicted the attack. Erik then pulled out his sword and deflected all the leaves using his sword as he kept sprinting.
"MY ATTACK HAS NO EFFECT ON HIM!" said the grovyle.
"My turn..." said the Weavile.
Erik used the move ice shard and it was extremely accurate. It took only one ice shard to bring the grovyle down since the ice shard pierced his heart, causing it to stop beating. The grovyle died on the spot. After the grovyle was dead, Erik grabbed his crossbow and started shooting at the prinplups. The died one by one because the arrows hit right at the heart. Nobody beats Erik when it comes to accuracy. The Weavile had mad weapon skill.
"Lieutenant, use aerial ace! That attack will never miss" said the Empoleon to the Gallade.
"Yes sir!" said the Gallade as he used the move aerial ace on the Weavile, but Erik was faster.
Before the gallade used the move aerial ace, the weavile used quick attack to get behind the gallade. The movement was so fast that it looked as if the Weavile was teleporting, but it was really just a flash step.
"Oh no, HE IS BEHIND ME!" said the gallade. Erik then used the move shadow ball at the gallade at point blank range. The shadow ball was so powerful, that the gallade got blown back violently to the wall and the wall broke.
"It is just you and me now," said the Weavile to the Empoleon.
The Empoleon refused to back down and started fighting speed with speed. That's right, he believed that he could defeat Erik using the move aqua jet. The empoleon used aqua jets after aqua jets, but he failed to hit the weavile at all. He then got tired and stop. As soon as the Empoleon was tired, Erik used the move brick break to destroy the general. The brick break completely disintegrated the Empoleon's iron wings.
"Curse you...Weavile..." said the Empoleon as his wings were broken into pieces.
"Give me the cell keys, or else!" said the Weavile. But the Empoleon refused to give Erik the keys. Erik then killed the Empoleon by using brick break right at the Empoleon's chest. As soon as the soldiers were dead, Erik rushed to the second floor, where the knights were imprisoned.
"Hello there! Wake up you sleepy heads!" said Erik.
"Who are you?" asked Akira.
"I'll explain later, but first let me free you guys!" said Erik. He then used his lockpicking skill to free the knights.
"Get your stuffs in the dungeon and come with me! Hurry!" said Erik.
"Okay..." said Akira.
The knights then get their stuffs back from the dungeon and left fort Amol with Erik. As they travelled, Renard quickly recognized the Weavile's face.
"Wait...I know you! You are the Weavile at the palace of Mezinec! What was your name again?!" said Renard.
"You know this guy?!" asked Brendan.
"Heya Renard, remember me? Hehe! It's Erik Douwes Dekker and don't you forget it" said Erik with a smile.
"Where are we going, Erik?" asked Renard.
"We are going to Winterhold!" said Erik to the knights.
"But Winterhold is like 15 miles away from here!" said Ryo.
"I know a shortcut through the forest, just follow me, okay..."said Erik.
"Lead us!" said Akira.
The knights of Arcadius then went to Winterhold, a city in Avangard where princess Diana and the rebels were hiding.