He was almost impossible to make out from a distance, simply due to the color of his fur blending him in with the glacier. Like me, he was a quadrupedal creature, but that’s about where the similarities ended.

A Glaceon!

Yes, given the common root of the word glacier, it at least made sense why such a Pokémon would have chosen this place to wander. Even for an Ice-type, Kumotta Glacier was known to be extremely dangerous, and it didn’t have that reputation for no reason.

If I couldn’t get myself off this massive hunk of ice fast enough, then the best course of action would be to warn this Glaceon that maybe he shouldn’t be here. When my obituary was written one day (probably one day soon), it would probably contain the line “he could save others, but not himself.”

“Go away!” I yelled with all my might. “Get off this glacier!”

This did not dissuade the Glaceon, however. The baby blue creature kept ambling toward me, and soon the Ice-type was looking directly at me.

“What did I just tell you?” I exclaimed. “You don’t want to be here when…”.

The Glaceon held up a paw. “Now now. Is that any way to treat somebody you just met?”

“What are you talking about? I’m trying to help you.”

“As far as I’m concerned, that is not a treat. That is a threat. Those words are only one letter apart, but that one letter makes all the difference.”

I narrowed my eyes, fixing my gaze right between the Ice-type’s peepers. “This glacier is extremely dangerous” I snapped as powerfully as I could muster. Admittedly, that wasn’t too much power.

“And you think I don’t know that? Listen, Persian, you don’t look great.”

My legs were shaking from the exertion and cold temperatures, but the snow didn’t seem to be healing my ankle the way I’d hoped it would.

“You’re r-right,” I mumbled, shivering as I realized just how drained I felt physically.

“You should come with me,” the Glaceon asserted. “I’m sure I can help you with…whatever you need help with.”

I could barely keep from choking up as I responded thusly: “There’s no solution to my problems, Glaceon.”

The Ice-type shook his head. “There’s always a solution. My father kept telling me that.”

Suddenly a sense of dread rose within me. My stomach dropped as a horrifying possibility occurred to me.

This guy seems nice enough, though. I’m sure he has good intentions.

That’s what my abilities told me, at any rate. Still, seeing a Glaceon had “triggered” me to no small extent.

“So Persian, why do you think there’s no solution? I thought every locked door had a key.”

“Well, this lock is made of titanium,” I muttered. “There is no key.”

The Glaceon looked as though he were about to burst into song, but resisted the urge to do so. Perhaps it was only my hard glare that talked him down from this proverbial ledge.

Finally, he sighed. “I’m not going to press you any further. It doesn’t seem like you feel comfortable talking about it.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. So what’s your name?”

“Saclux” I told him. “I know - it sounds weird. Like they picked random letters out of a hat.”

The Glaceon smirked. “That is exactly what it sounds like.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You weren’t supposed to agree with me!”

“Couldn’t help it. Anyway, my name is Marcel. I’m on a solo journey with Skipper’s Guild - I’m seventeen, so I’m allowed to do that.”

“That’s insane.”

“Well, insane is my middle name. Marcel Insane Glaceon. Has a nice ring to it.”

I rolled my eyes, and then Marcel snorted. “You’ll have to get used to it, I suppose. I like telling jokes, it adds levity to any situation. And you need all the levity you can get when you find someone stranded in a glacier.”

“I’m not stranded,” I insisted. “I can get off this glacier if I need to.”

“Based on what you said,” Marcel remarked, “it sure seems like you think you need to. And I agree - it’s going to get dark soon. You don’t want to be wandering the glacier at night.”

I noticed then that Marcel had been carrying a leather bag slung over his shoulder. His species had drawn my attention first, but I now saw the blue-and-green logo of Mystery Dungeons was sewn onto it.

“I’m afraid I only have one tent,” Marcel admitted. “And maybe we could share it…”.

“No. You can have the tent. You brought it, it’s yours.”

The Glaceon shifted his stance. “Saclux, you look like you’re going to get frostbite any moment. Your fur is so pale, as though you’ve exerted yourself too much.”

“Well, I used my powers to get out of a Beartic den” I muttered. It was then that I realized I’d said too much. Especially if this Glaceon…no. I couldn’t think that way. My intuition was rarely wrong.

Marcel frowned. “Your powers?”

“Yeah, I’m a Fire-type” I insisted. “I guess I’m super-effective against an Ice-type like Beartic, but my mind is my greatest asset.”

To my utter disbelief, Marcel’s reaction was not to gaze at me like I was from another planet. Instead, he gasped, which I suppose displayed a similar emotion.

“You too?” he exclaimed.

“What are you talking about?”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“You’re a non-psychic Pokémon who has psychic powers. That’s…what a coincidence that is!”

“Uh…okay” I muttered, backing away from the Glaceon. My legs were growing weaker, but if Marcel knew my secret (regardless of how he knew), he was now a threat. My continued presence near him was playing a very dangerous game.

So I bolted in the opposite direction in the direction of the weak winter sun. It was getting a lot lower in the sky now, and it couldn’t be more than an hour or so before it went under the horizon for good. But the sunset wasn’t nearly as big a threat as Marcel.

Hopping over crevasses, sprinting on the few flat zones I could find, I grew convinced I was making progress. In hindsight, I might as well have been a chronic gambler who insists he’s going to win big with the next spin of the roulette wheel.

Soon I tripped, falling back onto my front. Suddenly lifting my head took considerable strength, and I forgot about escaping Marcel - I just wanted to go to sleep and not worry about my fate until tomorrow. Or ever again…

Within seconds, the Glaceon stood over me with a glare. “What are you playing at, Saclux?” he gasped.

He’d been joking before. He clearly wasn’t joking anymore, which I could tell because…I just could.

“I…I thought you were going to kill me” I mouthed, seeing no reason to lie about this.

“If I were going to kill you,” Marcel pointed out with a curled nose, “why would I have not done so as soon as I met you? Maybe that’s because you’re a potential ally.”

Why does he need allies?

Quite frankly, if Marcel had any use for me, it was clearly far less than I needed him. He had no reason not to betray me at the slightest incentive.

“Come on, Saclux. Buck up. We can live in Skipper’s Retreat together. We can form a rescue team.”

“You sure seem to be thinking pretty far ahead, Marcel” I observed.

“Fortune favors the bold in this world” the Glaceon said. “Given how cold you are, I will give you the tent. I love the snow - I’m a Glaceon after all!”

Before I could even think about objecting, an ear-splitting roar sounded in the distance.

“He’s coming for us! But I’ll protect you!”

“B-but…” I stated, trying not to sob. How could I explain the very specific reason why Marcel should not risk his life to save me?

“I know what you’re thinking. We just met. Why should I help you?”

That’s not actually what I’m thinking, but go on.

“Because I’m responsible for my actions. And I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t fight this guy to save you.”

The Beartic, however, was unable to fight. As soon as it had lumbered within thirty yards of us, it wobbled and collapsed onto the glacier. There wasn’t much blood present, but a spear from a Cranidos was lodged in its back.

“Well then,” Marcel mouthed, “I guess I don’t have to fight. At least, not this time.”

I gazed at the Glaceon. “What the hell just happened?”

“That must’ve been one of the other teams, tasked with hunting down a Beartic or rescuing someone from this glacier. Was that someone you?”

I shook my head. “No.” What I didn’t say was that I’d already been rescued, but that was a story for another day. “At least, I didn’t hear about any rescue requests submitted on my behalf.”

“Well, we’ve got food for tonight at least” Marcel muttered.

“You’re j-j-joking, right?”

The Glaceon glared at me. Belatedly I realized that I should have picked up that he wasn’t joking. I guess that went with the theme of my power acting up when I’d rather it didn’t, and vice versa.

“It seems we both have psychic powers. That means we’re the chosen ones, apparently.”

I sighed. “It would b-be nice to be n-normal. Arceus must have chosen us to face h-h-h-hardship if anything.”

By now my teeth were chattering to no end, and Marcel glanced at me with clear concern. “I know a way to keep us both warm tonight,” he said grimly. “But you might not like it.”

“If it means s-s-sacrificing yourself f-f-for me,” I stammered, “I don’t want t-t-to hear it.”

“Saclux, would you use your Psychic to open the Beartic’s stomach?”

I nearly did a double take. “W-w-w-what now?”

“I said,” Marcel responded, “that you should open the creature’s stomach for me. It’ll be a safe place for you to hide from the elements.”

Right then and there, I started laughing in the manner of a middle school student who’s just heard a hilarious, yet very vulgar joke. I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe, though maybe that was in anticipation of the Psychic energy I would need to expend.

“G-good one, Marcel! I’m n-n-no s-s-s-surgeon!”

“No, but you’ve got psychic powers. Just visualize everything but the stomach leaving the Beartic’s body.”

“Uh…okay” I mouthed, shivering.

So I focused as hard as I possibly could, wobbling on my feet as I pictured the Beartic’s stomach remaining inside its body, yet everything else exiting it. I even closed my eyes during the process, both to stop myself from seeing anything gross and to concentrate more deeply.

“The job is done” Marcel informed me once I’d levitated the creature’s innards elsewhere onto the glacier.

“Thanks” I mouthed, and that’s when an enormous wave of dizziness hit me. I collapsed to the ground, and I heard Marcel gasp.

“That wound on your ankle…it doesn’t look good.”

“Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious” I muttered.

“Be nice, Saclux. Getting in that stomach might just keep you warm.”

Dark spots danced in front of my retinas when I opened my eyes again, and my head spun when I got back to my feet. Perhaps that extra Psychic had been a bit too much.

“I’m not going in there, though” I spat. “I just won’t.”

Marcel snorted playfully. “Oh, Saclux, you’re acting like a kid who doesn’t want to take a bath! This will keep you warm, and it’ll keep your leg from getting worse!”

I shook my head. “I still won’t do it.”

“If any other predatory Ice-types come along, it’ll be nice to have you hidden in there. I can fend them off; you’re in no condition to. In situations with no better options, a Beartic stomach can work just like a stasis chamber.”

I snorted. “Nope. Nope. Nope!”

“Why not? Is it too…gross for you?”

“Uh…” I began. Honestly, I couldn’t quite put my claw on why I felt uncomfortable using the stomach of our defeated enemy as a hiding spot. It just felt wrong somehow.

“Look, Saclux. It’s not just about what’s best for yourself. With how exhausted and hypothermic you no doubt are, you’d be less than useless in a fight. Better to hide you away so you can heal.”

I was about to protest again, but then I paused. Marcel was clearly trying to frame hiding me away as a selfless act on my part. And as my limbs grew increasingly numb and tingly from the winter’s cold, his words were working.

“Fine,” I mumbled. “I’ll do it.”

“Can you climb in? Or do I need to levitate you in there?”

“Uh…I can do it myself.”

I was determined to crawl into the creature’s stomach under my own power, as insane as that sentence might sound out of context. However, nausea crept in as I stretched my limbs, telling me that this might not be the best idea.

“Nope, I’ll do it,” Marcel said.

Suddenly I was lifted off my feet, the sensation of weightlessness spreading throughout my body. It was fleeting, however, because Marcel lowered me to the ground as soon as my long quadrupedal body lined up with the creature’s gut.

As much as I hate to admit it, the interior of the Beartic’s stomach was surprisingly cozy, just like a warm bed during a blizzard. I was no longer shivering - rather, a sense of calm washed over me.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes before I sank into a deep, peaceful slumber.