The winter winds were relentless. Rearing and sweeping wildly across the side of the mountain, throwing both snow and debris against anything that stood in its way. It wasn’t until the gusts temporarily settled that any sort of organic movement could vaguely be seen.
Step by heavy step, a bundled mass of clothes marched through the layers of white. Not an inch of exposed skin could be found, as any flesh that had direct contact with outside temperatures could lead to potential health concerns.
The figure fell slowly to the ground for a moment, before urgently trying to stand back up. Bulky clothes didn’t exactly allow for the most movement. With a little bit of muscle, momentum and moxy the figure managed to stand once again.
Padding away the snow that clung to the human’s large jacket, it continued taking slow but long strides. After another ten minutes of climbing uphill, the figure disappeared into a cave that was formed on the side of the mountain.
As the person stepped inside and got a break from the howling winds, they immediately reached into their pocket and withdrew a pokeball. Bits of snow were still stuck on it from the tumble earlier. The red and white sphere glistened with moisture as the figure cleaned it off with a gloved hand before holding it up and staring at it.
“Let’s see what we can do to get warmed up,” came a muffled female voice. She followed this up by tossing the pokeball into the air and shouting, “Lovely, go!”
The ball opened and a beam of light shot to the ground with a cracking noise followed by a distorted whirring.
Light shifted and formed where the beam had struck, eventually growing into the elongated shape of a snake-like pokemon. Once the light settled, the creature was revealed to be a female Serperior.
Her nose was pointed upward as she materialized, and a smug grin was on her face.
That grin faded into that of a frown as her head swiveled to look at their dire situation. She then shot a glance to her trainer, or more so, the trainer who was borrowing her for this trip.
The heavily clothed figure began taking off her mask and goggles, revealing a very soft face underneath. All the bulky attire would be misleading to most, as her head seemed like it was disproportionately small compared to how big the jackets and undershirts were.
Diana sighed, misty breath escaping her mouth. She caught the glare of the Serperior.
“...what? You had to have known this is what you were signing up for when you were presented to me as an option.”
“Serp...hmph!” Lovely turned her head away as if offended by the trainer’s words.
“Look,” Diana said, uneasily kneeling down to pick up what looked like a dry twig from the ground, “why don’t we simply relax for a moment? It’s been quite the journey, and we could use something to eat. I’m sure I have our snacks in one of these pockets. I just need you to give me a leaf that I can use to ignite this fire so that I may start undressing.”
“Erior…erior, ser.” The serpant pokemon summoned a burst of leaves and fired them towards Diana in rapid succession. They hit the ground in front of her with sequential thuds, piercing the soil at a velocity that suggested the Serperior was threatening her. When the girl slowly looked up, she saw that the pokemon was smiling triumphantly.
“Thank you…” Diana said with a hint of caution in her voice. She then gathered the leaves into a pile and placed the dry stick in the center. Holding the stick between her gloves she began twisting it back and forth at a rapid pace. It took many minutes of twisting and blowing, but alas a small ember grew into a flame big enough to keep the two cozy for the time being.
Diana rose to her feet and took off her gloves, then began removing a few layers of her clothes. She could already feel the cool air nipping at her through the fabric. Her eyes fixated towards the entrance of the cave. After removing the first two layers, she dared not to go further until that entrance was blocked.
The young girl spotted a large rock next to the opening, and an idea came to her. Perhaps she’d be able to cover the entrance by piling rocks on top of one another. As barbaric as it sounded, it was the only thought that’d come to her mind at the moment. The cold was distracting her enough to only warrant simple thoughts.
Warmth. Diana need warmth. Cover entrance with rocks to keep warmth in.
With that in mind she approached the big rock and tried to lift it. It wouldn’t budge. Her next attempt was to roll it towards its objective. She placed one hand on top of the rock, while the other was on the lower part of the rock facing where she wanted it to be.
Diana pushed with all of her might until the rock finally moved. Unfortunately, her hand got caught between the rock and the hard ground.
“Ah!” the trainer yelped and withdrew her hand quickly before putting her mouth to where the pain was. There was no relief. A dull ache shocked her body whenever she tried to move her index finger indicating that it was broken, or a the very least fractured.
Nevertheless, the objective remained the same. Close her and her pokemon in the cave, or freeze to death. This task would take quite a bit longer without the use of one of her hands, but it still needed to be done.
Having not been one to practice on strength, especially with the use of only one hand, Diana struggled as she slid, rolled and heaved loose rocks to the entrance until it was mostly covered. Wind continued to whistle through holes in the rocks, but the result was still a slightly more comfortable environment.
“Good,” she said breathily, “with that out of the way it is time to-”
Diana turned and looked at her campfire only to see that Lovely had coiled herself around it, leaving no room for Diana to sit near its heat.
“Oh...welll…” she sighed, “of course. I suppose since you feel I’ve dragged you along on this journey, you can keep the heat. I’ll just sit over here and hope a few stray heat waves come my way.”
The girl sat down with her back to one of the walls of the cave. Initially she’d thought about dancing to keep her mind clear and body warm, but the cold weather, rock lifting and broken finger just sapped whatever energy she’d had left after the hike. Closing her eyes, she could feel the exhaustion setting in. Her eyes shot open and she jumped a little bit as she caught herself falling asleep.
Diana sat a little straighter as she peered over Lovely’s body to ensure the fire was still lit. Sure enough, it was still burning as hot as ever. The trainer let out an involuntary moan as she longed for the heat, but resigned to her place on the cave wall.
After a few minutes of hearing nothing but the wind, sleep crept up on her. Soon enough her eyelids were too heavy to keep open. After the long journey, she finally suspended her consciousness.
An hour had passed and Lovely threw more leaves into the fire to keep herself warm. She turned and looked to the trainer that had chosen her to embark on this journey. The scowl that she was prepared to give turned to an expression of confusion. It’d taken her this long to notice that the trainer succumbed to her position immediately and fell asleep.
The serperior looked to the fire again, then back to the trainer. She knew that the human would definitely need warmth, which was why she wanted to keep it to herself. The mere fact that someone else wanted something made her want it twice as much. Perhaps this human was just as stubborn as she was.
Rolling her eyes, Serperior submitted to her conscience. She uncoiled her body from around the fire before slithering over to Diana. She looked over the human’s prone body as though judging its worth. Hanging its head, the serpent pokemon moved her body close to the trainer and rested her head on the girl’s midsection. It wasn’t much, but warmth would always be more obtainable while their bodies were closer together.
Lovely’s eyes gradually closed, opening every so often only as Diana stirred. After everything was still, she fell into her deep slumber. Dreaming of her early life, or at least a version of it where despair was an ingredient that was substituted by love.
Step by heavy step, a bundled mass of clothes marched through the layers of white. Not an inch of exposed skin could be found, as any flesh that had direct contact with outside temperatures could lead to potential health concerns.
The figure fell slowly to the ground for a moment, before urgently trying to stand back up. Bulky clothes didn’t exactly allow for the most movement. With a little bit of muscle, momentum and moxy the figure managed to stand once again.
Padding away the snow that clung to the human’s large jacket, it continued taking slow but long strides. After another ten minutes of climbing uphill, the figure disappeared into a cave that was formed on the side of the mountain.
As the person stepped inside and got a break from the howling winds, they immediately reached into their pocket and withdrew a pokeball. Bits of snow were still stuck on it from the tumble earlier. The red and white sphere glistened with moisture as the figure cleaned it off with a gloved hand before holding it up and staring at it.
“Let’s see what we can do to get warmed up,” came a muffled female voice. She followed this up by tossing the pokeball into the air and shouting, “Lovely, go!”
The ball opened and a beam of light shot to the ground with a cracking noise followed by a distorted whirring.
Light shifted and formed where the beam had struck, eventually growing into the elongated shape of a snake-like pokemon. Once the light settled, the creature was revealed to be a female Serperior.
Her nose was pointed upward as she materialized, and a smug grin was on her face.
That grin faded into that of a frown as her head swiveled to look at their dire situation. She then shot a glance to her trainer, or more so, the trainer who was borrowing her for this trip.
The heavily clothed figure began taking off her mask and goggles, revealing a very soft face underneath. All the bulky attire would be misleading to most, as her head seemed like it was disproportionately small compared to how big the jackets and undershirts were.
Diana sighed, misty breath escaping her mouth. She caught the glare of the Serperior.
“...what? You had to have known this is what you were signing up for when you were presented to me as an option.”
“Serp...hmph!” Lovely turned her head away as if offended by the trainer’s words.
“Look,” Diana said, uneasily kneeling down to pick up what looked like a dry twig from the ground, “why don’t we simply relax for a moment? It’s been quite the journey, and we could use something to eat. I’m sure I have our snacks in one of these pockets. I just need you to give me a leaf that I can use to ignite this fire so that I may start undressing.”
“Erior…erior, ser.” The serpant pokemon summoned a burst of leaves and fired them towards Diana in rapid succession. They hit the ground in front of her with sequential thuds, piercing the soil at a velocity that suggested the Serperior was threatening her. When the girl slowly looked up, she saw that the pokemon was smiling triumphantly.
“Thank you…” Diana said with a hint of caution in her voice. She then gathered the leaves into a pile and placed the dry stick in the center. Holding the stick between her gloves she began twisting it back and forth at a rapid pace. It took many minutes of twisting and blowing, but alas a small ember grew into a flame big enough to keep the two cozy for the time being.
Diana rose to her feet and took off her gloves, then began removing a few layers of her clothes. She could already feel the cool air nipping at her through the fabric. Her eyes fixated towards the entrance of the cave. After removing the first two layers, she dared not to go further until that entrance was blocked.
The young girl spotted a large rock next to the opening, and an idea came to her. Perhaps she’d be able to cover the entrance by piling rocks on top of one another. As barbaric as it sounded, it was the only thought that’d come to her mind at the moment. The cold was distracting her enough to only warrant simple thoughts.
Warmth. Diana need warmth. Cover entrance with rocks to keep warmth in.
With that in mind she approached the big rock and tried to lift it. It wouldn’t budge. Her next attempt was to roll it towards its objective. She placed one hand on top of the rock, while the other was on the lower part of the rock facing where she wanted it to be.
Diana pushed with all of her might until the rock finally moved. Unfortunately, her hand got caught between the rock and the hard ground.
“Ah!” the trainer yelped and withdrew her hand quickly before putting her mouth to where the pain was. There was no relief. A dull ache shocked her body whenever she tried to move her index finger indicating that it was broken, or a the very least fractured.
Nevertheless, the objective remained the same. Close her and her pokemon in the cave, or freeze to death. This task would take quite a bit longer without the use of one of her hands, but it still needed to be done.
Having not been one to practice on strength, especially with the use of only one hand, Diana struggled as she slid, rolled and heaved loose rocks to the entrance until it was mostly covered. Wind continued to whistle through holes in the rocks, but the result was still a slightly more comfortable environment.
“Good,” she said breathily, “with that out of the way it is time to-”
Diana turned and looked at her campfire only to see that Lovely had coiled herself around it, leaving no room for Diana to sit near its heat.
“Oh...welll…” she sighed, “of course. I suppose since you feel I’ve dragged you along on this journey, you can keep the heat. I’ll just sit over here and hope a few stray heat waves come my way.”
The girl sat down with her back to one of the walls of the cave. Initially she’d thought about dancing to keep her mind clear and body warm, but the cold weather, rock lifting and broken finger just sapped whatever energy she’d had left after the hike. Closing her eyes, she could feel the exhaustion setting in. Her eyes shot open and she jumped a little bit as she caught herself falling asleep.
Diana sat a little straighter as she peered over Lovely’s body to ensure the fire was still lit. Sure enough, it was still burning as hot as ever. The trainer let out an involuntary moan as she longed for the heat, but resigned to her place on the cave wall.
After a few minutes of hearing nothing but the wind, sleep crept up on her. Soon enough her eyelids were too heavy to keep open. After the long journey, she finally suspended her consciousness.
An hour had passed and Lovely threw more leaves into the fire to keep herself warm. She turned and looked to the trainer that had chosen her to embark on this journey. The scowl that she was prepared to give turned to an expression of confusion. It’d taken her this long to notice that the trainer succumbed to her position immediately and fell asleep.
The serperior looked to the fire again, then back to the trainer. She knew that the human would definitely need warmth, which was why she wanted to keep it to herself. The mere fact that someone else wanted something made her want it twice as much. Perhaps this human was just as stubborn as she was.
Rolling her eyes, Serperior submitted to her conscience. She uncoiled her body from around the fire before slithering over to Diana. She looked over the human’s prone body as though judging its worth. Hanging its head, the serpent pokemon moved her body close to the trainer and rested her head on the girl’s midsection. It wasn’t much, but warmth would always be more obtainable while their bodies were closer together.
Lovely’s eyes gradually closed, opening every so often only as Diana stirred. After everything was still, she fell into her deep slumber. Dreaming of her early life, or at least a version of it where despair was an ingredient that was substituted by love.