Chapter 48: Sullen Snowscape

Marie flopped onto her bed and groaned. “It’s only now when I lay in bed that I realize how tired I am.”

“Yep,” said Ceailean. “I think I could even sleep in tomorrow.”

Marie stuffed her face in her pillow. “No C! We gotta go to the gym as soon as possible!” she said with a muffled voice. “I owe grant a rematch!”

“Have you thought of a strategy yet? If you can’t beat Grant’s Tyrantrum with two Pokémon, I doubt we’d even have a sliver of hope if it's a 2v2. Even with Scolipede.”

“You’d be wrong about that.” said Crisis, walking in. “Grant’s gym battle is a 3 on 3. A much bigger challenge than we first thought.

Marie sat up. “Really?” She looked at Fennekin and Snom. “It looks like this is gonna be harder than I thought. Even with how strong Scolipede is.”

“I know! Why don’t we look up some forums and see what other challengers say his other Pokémon and their moves were? Then we can form a solid strategy.” said Ceailean.

“Hhmmm.” Marie put her hands behind her head and flopped back down on the bed. “Nope.”

“Huh?” asked Ceailean, confused.

“Nope. I don’t wanna.”

“Come on Marie, this isn’t the time to be lazy.”

“This ain’t about being lazy, C. Strategizing just doesn’t feel right to me, you know? I feel more comfortable performing in the chaos of battle.” Marie spread her hands out in front of her eyes, “It just really clicks for me that way.”

“You know what? I kinda get it.” said Ceailean, sitting down on his own bed. Noibat and Solosis dived down on the bed, both sinking comfortably within it.

“So! The best thing for me right now is to get some sleep with my Pokémon!” said Marie, slipping herself inside her sheets. Snom blasted itself to Marie’s side while Fennekin spun around a few times before lying down. Marie then hung grabby hands over the side of her bed. “And Fomantis? You wanna sleep with me? Huuuuuuh?”

Raboot jumped up onto Ceailean’s bed, sitting on its edge with Fomantis in its arms. Fomantis turned its head away from Marie, not even humoring the idea. It then wriggled out of Raboot’s arms and hopped over to Ceailean’s side, closing its eyes and laying against him.

“Fomantis, I still need to get under the sheets.” said Ceailean. Fomantis didn’t care and hung on to his jeans.

“Come on!” Marie whined. “Didn’t you wanna try getting along with me?”

“I dunno, I’d call not attacking you on sight pretty significant progress.”

“But I wanna be friends, Fomantis! Could we go that little bit further?” The group was silent for a moment. Then they heard the slight sound of snoring. Fomantis had already fallen asleep, its head nodding off of Ceailean’s leg.

“Oh yeah, you must’ve been exhausted.” said Ceailean, silently.

“But it looked so lively just a minute ago.” said Marie, matching Ceailean’s tone.

“Must’ve been a crash. Just hit it all at once.” Raboot then stretched its arms up towards the ceiling, yawning tiredly. It flopped back onto Ceailean’s bed and closed its eyes.

Marie then yawned herself. “Raboot, your yawns are contagious.” Noibat raised its head and yawned as well. It drearily looked over to Solosis, to which it watched it grow and shrink from its own snoring. Noibat waved it off and plopped its head back down on the bed.

“It appears that you all will not last much longer.” said Crisis, “So I will make myself scarce. But Marie,”

“Yeah huh?”

“Please reconsider your approach. I’d hate for you to get stuck in the city for a little longer than you’d have to.”

“I’ll be fine. Plus, it's more fun this way.” Marie said, giving Crisis an okay sign with her hand.

Crisis sighed, trying hard to hide his own annoyance. “Whatever you say Marie, don’t blame us once you become impatient. Goodnight, you two.” He then left the room, turned off the light, and shut the door.

“Let’s get you into a better place to rest.” said Ceailean, daintily cupping his hands under Fomantis. He put himself under the sheets and placed Fomantis on the pillow on his side. Fomantis sank an inch into the fabric and wriggled its body to get comfortable.

“You sure you won’t roll over on it?” asked Marie, laying on her side.

“I’m sure my unconscious self will know better than to roll over.” Raboot and Noibat then scratched their heads and groaned questionably. “Hey! Stop lying!” Raboot and Noibat both chuckled quietly.

Marie chuckled as well. She then looked up towards the ceiling and smiled. “I’m excited, C. I’m really really excited.”

“I hope not enough to keep you from sleeping.”

“I’ll force myself to sleep if that’s the case.”

“Ha! If we could do that, we’d be unstoppable”

“No kidding!” Marie then sighed. “Hmm, well, I’ll see you tomorrow, C.”

“Yeah, goodnight Marie.”

Ceailean took off his glasses and put them on his nightstand. He closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

----------------------------------------

() After a moment, Ceailean’s eyes flashed open. His left arm was in a cast and he wore a big white puffed up winter jacket with a red beanie, a blue and green striped scarf, and blue snow pants. He found himself in the middle of a frozen forest, the area around him being eerily silent. His breaths were visible in the air and his nose stung from the cold. But he exhaled sharply, determined to keep walking on. He had to meet Marie where she told him to.

His black boots scrunched the snow with every step he took. He shivered a bit and rubbed the one shoulder he could, still not used to the cold.

“Marie, did it really have to be this far out of town? I know it's your special spot and all, but this is a lot.” Ceailean then sneezed, the cold stinging his little red nose. “I actually think I might freeze out here.”

He then made his way through two big trees, their barks gray from the cold. There in the middle of the clearing stood Marie. She wore a white beanie with gold accents. A thick leather-like tan coat. Dark red puffy snow pants. Black snow boots. And cyan mittens. Her back was turned on Ceailean and she looked back and forth worryingly.

“Hey ya, Marie!” said Ceailean, waving. Marie jumped in place and faced him. “So what was it you wanted me to see?”

Marie’s lip quivered. She worriedly looked side to side while crouching down and backing away cautiously. “C-C, I-I’m… so sorry.”

Ceailean gave her a confused expression before a hand aggressively grabbed his bad shoulder, making him give a deep grunt of pain. He was forcibly turned around and was met with a somewhat familiar face.

“Miss me?” said the familiar hall monitor. He pushed Ceailean down on the snow, making sure to make him land on his bad arm. Ceailean groaned in pain and inhaled sharply through teeth. “Don’t think I forgot how you humiliated me 3 months ago, now it's time I got some payback!” He kicked snow into Ceailean’s face, making him flinch as it specked his face and glasses.

“Stop it! Please!” pleaded Marie.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll be done as soon as I get what I want from you.” The monitor then kicked more snow on Ceailean’s body. “You do have it, don’t you?”

“Y-Yes! It’s just that… I left it back in the cave. So it wouldn’t freeze.”

“Aw, how considerate of you. Why don’t you get it for me while I patiently wait here.”

“B-But, it's scary down there. Can I have C come with me? You know, to feel more comfortable?”

“Actually, I have a better idea.” The monitor snapped his fingers. “Jozy and June! Come help our little ‘friend’ out with her little problem!” Marie’s breath grew shaky as she witnessed another person exit the woods and walked into the clearing. It was a black skinned girl with bubblegum pink hair tied back with braided pigtails. She wore a sleeveless army green vest with white fur on the inside, blue jeans, green army boots that were slightly too large for her, black fingerless gloves, and a backwards orange and army green cap, in which a single pink bang hung through. Her eyes were as orange as amber and stared excitedly along with a mischievous smile, brandishing her two tiny fang like teeth as she did so.

Marie’s knees buckled as she stepped back in fear. Eager to change the subject by any means necessary, she blurted out, “H-Hey, where’s the other one you mentioned?”

The monitor and Jozy look to the side and saw that no one showed up. The both of them sighed in disappointment. “June?” called the monitor. No response. “June?!” he said a little louder. Still nothing.

The monitor was about to call again, but Jozy jumped in before him. “JUNE!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, lurching her body forward as she did so.

“WHAT?!” shouted a voice from inside the woods.

“You were supposed to make a cool entrance with Jozy, you know, like we practiced?!” said the monitor.

Ceailean chuckled. “You guys practiced?” The monitor then kicked more snow into his face.

“Oh yeah, that. I guess I didn’t hear you.” said June.

“Well, come on then!” Nothing happened. “Now would be nice!”

June sighed from within the woods and exited while scratching the back of his head. He wore a matching puffy navy blue snowsuit and pants with white fur in the interior. His hair was black with a tinge of dark blue in it and was combed to the side. He wore black and yellow sneakers and no gloves. His expression was bored and his gray eyes gave little interest to whatever they set their sights on.

“You’re such a pain, Jeremiah. So, what exactly is it you want me to do again?” June asked.

Before Jeremiah could respond, Jozy jumped in. “We’re SUPPOSED to keep an eye on that girl over there and make sure she gets the thing that Jeremiah wants without running away! Were you even listening?!”

“Not really.” said June with a sigh.

Jozy clenched her fist tightly. “Why I oughta! I should pound some manners into that empty head of yours!”

June’s eyes flared up slightly. “Promise?” Jozy growled at his response and ran forward wildly, ready to throw hands. June cracked a tiny smile and got ready to defend himself. But then Jeremiah ran up and restrained Jozy by holding her up in the air under her shoulders.

“Come on, Boss! Lemme at ‘em! He needs to learn his lesson!” shouted Jozy, wriggling wildly in his arms.

“First of all, I’m the leader of this group! I’ll decide what punishment to give and when to give it! I make the orders around here! So know your place!” Jeremiah threw Jozy on the ground behind him, creating a small trench of snow as she tumbled through. “Second, I want to get out of here as soon as possible! It's freezing out here. It’s only a wonder how you’re able to stay warm out here with how light you packed!”

“It’s cause she’s a hot head, Jeri.” said June. Jeremiah gave a brief chuckle. Jozy wiped the snow off her nose and growled in annoyance. Jeremiah coughed to stifle his laugh.

“Anyway, let’s just hurry up and get the thing.” Jeremiah quickly waved the two of them off. “Off you go.”

“Ugh! Fine!” Jozy shot up to her feet and walked over to Marie.

“Whatever.” said June in a bored tone, the excitement fading from his eyes. He walked up slowly behind Jozy.

Jozy aggressively pointed to the cave behind Marie. “You heard the man! Turn around and get the thing, we don’t have all day!”

Marie was shaking in her boots. “Eh…! Um…!”

“Could you try not to scare them off with that brutish attitude of yours?” said June. “If they break down, they won’t be able to do anything.”

“I’m just doing what I do best, strong-arming the boss's order to anyone that receives them! If she breaks, that means I’m just not doing it hard enough!”

June sighed. “Ugh, you’re such a tool.”

Jozy stamped her foot in rage. “WHAT?!”

“Whatever, let's just hurry.” June walked up to Marie. “What’s your name kid?”

“Ma-Marie.” she stammered.

“Marie hmm,” June then placed his hand on her head and swiveled her around to make her face the cave. “Get the thing Jeremiah is asking for, please.”

“B-But it's scary down there…” said Marie, on the verge of tears.

“Like hell! Watch this!” Jozy picked up a rock and threw it hard down the cave. Marie gasped as it loudly clacked around in the cave. Eventually it stopped and nothing happened. “See kid, you’re scared for no reason-” Just then, a horde of Zubat rushed out of the cave. Then all screeched and flapped their wings wildly as they flew off. Jozy and Marie stumbled to the floor, but June took this opportunity to jump wildly at the rushing Zubat.

“Come on! Come on!” he said to himself as he desperately tried to catch one with his hands. He then caught one just as the horde thinned out, wrestling it to the ground. “Yeah! I gotcha now! You’re gonna be mine!” June said confidently. But then the Zubat bit his arm, making him shout in pain and making him release the Zubat. The Zubat flew off to join the rest of the horde. June inhaled through his teeth. “Damn it! Lil’ dude bit me!”

Marie shivered and tucked her head as far inside her beanie as it would go. A scream continuously sounded out, but Marie realized that it wasn’t coming from her. She slowly peeked out of her beanie to see Jozy on the ground with her eyes tightly shut, hands over her head, and her behind in the air, all while shivering and screaming in fear.

“J-Jozy?” asked Marie. Jozy immediately stopped screaming and her eyes flashed open. She then shot herself back on top of her feet and stood confidently with a slight amount of blush on her face.

“Y-Yep! Nothin’ scary at all!” she said with shaken confidence.

“Yeah, keep tellin’ yourself that.” said June, walking into the cave with his usual bored expression. Jozy, instead of her usual hothead response, lowered her head in disappointment and embarrassment. “Marie, looks like Jozy cleared the way. Should absolutely be nothing to worry about now.” June said while pointing inside the cave.

“U-Um, okay.” said Marie as she got up to her feet. She hesitantly made her way inside the cave.

“Hurry it up short stuff!” said Jozy. “I’m getting impatient!”

“It looks like you’re only about half an inch taller than her, Jozy.” said June.

“I’m older than her by two years also, so that makes me double her superior!”

“And how would you know her age?”

“You would know if you’d actually listen to Jeremiah while he gave us pep talks!”

The two bickered as they entered the cave, their voices echoing along the walls as Marie lead the way.

Jeremiah looked down on Ceailean. “Well, you’ve been awfully quiet.” He tapped Ceailean’s body with his shoe. “What, kitty got your tongue? Or are you just scared?”

“Hmm…” said Ceailean, muttering nothing else. His tone seemingly uninterested in the events happening at the moment.

“Don’t think you're just gonna get today off scott free either. We’ll be coming after you day after day. Maybe tomorrow will be for your lunch money.”

“We qualified for free lunches, so good luck with that.”

“Oh, a poor boy huh? Livin’ in the dirt, are you? Must be why you’re so comfortable down there!”

“If that’s what you wanna believe.”

Jeremiah scoffed and became agitated. “What’s this piss poor attitude you’re giving me? You think you’re better than me?!”

“Yeah, duh-”

“Wrong answer!” Jeremiah slammed his foot down on Ceailean’s spine. Ceailean writhed in pain, doing his best to stifle his moans of pain. “Just for that, I ain’t going easy anymore! Just you wait, we’re about to see how long you can keep your cool.”

----------------------------------------

() “Why would you leave the thing you asked for in the cave anyway?!” shouted Jozy. “Why not just have it for the boss outside so we don’t have to go through with this crap?!”

“It’s like I told him, it's because I just didn’t want it to freeze. That’s all.” said Marie sheepishly.

“Whatever bozo! So considerate of you, now hurry up and find the thing!”

June sighed. “Do you have any other setting other than angry?”

“SHE has me set to angry!”

“I still haven’t seen you use any other setting than angry. So maybe that’s just a you thing.”

“I’m more than just an angry person June!”

“Coulda fooled me.”

“Ugh! And I don’t think I’ve seen you be anything other than bored!”

“That’s fine. I’m bored being here anyway.” Jozy clenched her fist and tried her best to restrain herself from hitting him.

“I-I found it.” said Marie, daintily holding a white box in front of her chest. It was the latest model of smart phone.

“Finally! Let’s go!” said Jozy, running out of the cave without waiting for anybody.

“Yeah, I probably don’t want to be here as much as you do.” said June to Marie.

“R-Really?” she asked.

June pondered for a moment. “Eh, maybe not AS much as you don’t want to be here.” He then pushed Marie along towards the exit of the cave. “But anyway, getting out of here is what we both wanna do. So hurry please.” Marie subconsciously nodded and made her way out.

----------------------------------------

() “Ah, there she is.” said Jeremiah. Marie and June walked out of the cave. Jozy waited by Jeremiah’s side, looking as annoyed as ever.

“By Arceus, did you really have to take so long?!” she asked.

“We’re here, aren’t we?” said June. He then gestured to Marie. “Just give him the thing so we can leave.”

“Y-Yes.” said Marie. She hesitantly approached Jeremiah and held out the box at arm's length. “H-Here, just like you asked. Now please let me and C go.”

“Why thank you.” said Jeremiah, snatching the phone boss from Marie’s hands and inspecting it as if it were a precious gem. “But I’m afraid you ‘friend’ here ticked me off a bit after you went off on your little adventure. So I think I need someone to vent out my frustrations on!”

“U-Um… and that would be-” Jeremiah suddenly pushed Marie down on the snow. Ceailean was then seemingly snapped out of a trance. He stood up quickly and faced Jeremiah.

“HEY! Leave her alone! I thought you were after me!” he said.

Jeremiah gave him a smug look. “Oh? Now you say something.” Ceailean looked away, knowing he let himself get caught so easily. “So what are you gonna do, big guy? Gonna tell on me? Hope an adult shows up? Oh, how about this? Are you gonna fight me?” Ceailean continued looking away, hesitant to say anything as he grit his teeth.

Jeremiah waited for a response, but Ceailean never spoke up. Jeremiah sighed in disappointment. “I guess your ‘friend’ doesn’t care about you, Marie. That means I can do whatever I want.” Jeremiah wound up his leg to kick snow in Marie’s face. Marie yelped and covered as much of her head as she could with her arms. But before Jeremiah could swing, a snowball pelted him directly on the head, making him fall to the ground.

Ceailean stood behind him, his hand peppered with snow. “I won’t let do ANYTHING to Marie!” He stood straight up, ready for the worst to come. “So yeah, I think I am gonna fight you.”

Jeremiah stood up and aggressively rubbed the snow off of his head. “Augh! Throwing such a cheap shot like that! Now you’re really gonna pay!” Jeremiah snapped his fingers. “June, you look kinda bored. Why don’t you handle this one?”

“You’re not gonna fight me?” said Ceailean.

“Why would I when I could get others to do it for me?” said Jeremiah with a shrug. Ceailean grit his teeth and stepped back.

June stepped forward and yawned. “I don’t usually fight people who don’t want to, but I at least have to play with you a little bit to keep Jeri from complaining.”

“Don’t push it, June!” said Jeremiah.

June sighed. “Whatever.” He then beckoned Ceailean. “Come on then, I'll let you swing first.”

“What?!” said Ceailean, confused.

“Yeah, do it. I dare you.”

Ceailean took a hesitant step forward. June just continued to watch with his hands tucked in his pockets. Ceailean gave one last shaky breath before winding up his right arm and charged at June screaming at the top of his lungs. Junes' eyes barely moved as he merely sidestepped out of Ceailean’s reach, making him miss his swing. Ceailean turned around and tried again, but June simply backed away once more. Ceailean threw as many haymakers as he could, but June dodged every single one with ease.

“I guess I shouldn’t have expected so much out of an 8 year old.” said June, still dodging Ceailean’s advances. “Am I done yet, Jeri?”

“You’re done once you hit him back!” said Jeremiah.

“Seriously? He ain’t even worth it.”

“What I say goes! So when I say hit him, hit him! Do It before I get Jozy to do it for you!” Jozy then smirked and punched her palm.

June sighed and grabbed Ceailean’s wrist as he swung, holding it high in the air. “Sorry about this, but better I do it before Jozy does. You’d thank me if you knew.” June raised his fist, ready to deck Ceailean in the face. Ceailean turned his head away and braced. But before June could swing, there was a rustle in a nearby bush that got both of their attention.

The bush shed the snow that covered it and a Snorunt popped out, chasing a. berry across the ground.

June’s eyes widened. “By Arceus! A Pokémon, finally!” He let go of Ceailean and jumped at Snorunt with his arms outstretched, “I got you!” Snorunt yelled and dove out of the way, making June faceplant deep in the snow. June quickly popped out his head and stared at Snorunt. “You’re gonna be mine!” He made another lunge, only for Snorunt to dodge out of the way again and run back into the forest. “You’re not getting away this time!” June picked himself up and went after it.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What! Hey! Get back here you bozo!” shouted Jozy. She stamped her foot on the ground so hard that snow sprayed everywhere. “By Arceus, does he really have to do that now?!”

Ceailean stood in disbelief. “W-What just happened? he asked, gesturing toward the area June left.

“Like you need to know.” said Jeremiah. He snapped his fingers and gestured to Jozy to move up. Jozy chuckled and cracked her knuckles as she approached Ceailean. He thought back to what June said about Jozy. If it was true, things couldn’t get much worse.

Then as if on cue, Jozy’s smile faded and she stopped in her tracks as they all heard a girlish scream. Out from the forest jumped June, his face full of panic.

“Run dudes! I made its mom mad!” he shouted, leaving them all behind without much more to go on.” The group sat in silence for a moment, all confused.

That is when Marie sat up and asked, “It’s mom?”

Suddenly, a shadow ball flew through the air and exploded on top of the cave. The rocks shattered and it was quickly caved in under rubble. Marie reached out her arm desperately at the cave. “No!”

A ghastly voice then sounded out behind Ceailean, making his spine shiver. He slowly turned around to see an angry Froslass looking down on him. “Oh uh… you must be the mom he was talking about.” Froslass wasted no time and blasted the immediate area with a huge blizzard, making everyone tumble back.

Rushing, freezing winds roared all around them. Jeremiah sat up and quickly backed away. “Aw hell naw! I didn’t sign up for this!” He got up to run, but then he flexed his hands. “Wait! Where did the phone go?!” He gave a quick look around and found it near where he was just standing. He tried to go back for it, but the wind got more fierce and forced him to stay back. It felt like sandpaper grinding against his skin from how cold it was. “Jozy! Get the phone!” he ordered. Nothing happened. “Jozy?” He turned around just in time to see her sprint away and jump off a rock out of sight. “You little-!”

Another blast of wind blew the remaining people back. Jeremiah decided to get out of there and finally turned tail. Ceailean and Marie were still at the mercy of Froslass, both struggling to stand up.

“Marie! We gotta get out of here!” shouted Ceailean, crawling towards her.

“I know, but that thing blew up our only way out of here!” she said, pointing at the cave.

Ceailean grabbed Marie’s arm and hauled her up to her feet. “Then we find another way out!” He put her arm over his shoulder. She held on tightly, making Ceailean wince in pain as her hand wrapped around his casted arm. But he bit the bullet and tried to get away. But then the winds started to die down. Ceailean turned around to see that Froslass was charging up another shadow ball.

“Oh crap!” he shouted and he tried to hasten his pace. Froslass shot the shadow ball so fast it created a trench in the snow as it flew. The shadow ball exploded just behind Ceailean and Marie, launching the both of them high in the air. They flew past the tree line and saw that they were about to fall down a declining hill. Marie curled up into a ball and scream while Ceailean flailed about.

They both hit the ground hard and began rolling down the hill, snow splashing up everywhere. Roll and roll the two of them went and Ceailean started to feel motion sick just before he hit his head on a tree, and the world went black.

----------------------------------------

() Fresh snow laid flat against the ground around an area of the forest. It was as smooth as waves, untouched by anything in the area. There in the middle of it however, laid Marie. Her eyes fluttered for a moment before they fully opened.

“Wha-What happened?” she asked herself. She pushed herself off the snow and looked around. “Where are we?” Nothing was familiar and the snow was fresh. She looked up to the sky, seeing the gray clouds slowly crawl across the sky and the snow falling to the ground. Marie couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Augh…” groaned Ceailean nearby. Marie’s head snapped towards the direction of the sound.

“C!” she shouted. She shot up from the snow and ran over to a lump in the snow, desperately shoveling as much of it away as she could. Eventually she found his puffy white coat and gave it a big tug. Out from the snow, Ceailean popped out unconscious, his face grimacing in pain. “C! You’re hurt!” she said in horror. She had to think fast. She looked around and saw an area that might be good enough to set him down.

“Come on ya big lug!” she said as she then began to drag him over to a tree. “Why… are… you… so… heavy!” She gave one last tug and laid Ceailean’s back against the tree. But then his head hung down as if it were attached to a rope and he almost fell over, But Marie caught him before he could. “Oops! Uh, lets just…” Marie then set Ceailean down at a lower angle, letting his body remain still. She then took off her mitten and placed her hand on Ceailean’s cheek.

“You’re cold!” she said. A subtle amount of panic brewed up within her, but she huffed out air and slapped her cheeks together. “No! I can do something! Just like daddy taught me! We have some work to do!” She stood up and ran off to find some things.

----------------------------------------

() Ceailean felt pain at the back of his head. He grimaced as he moved his hand to massage it, but they were so cold that it was like placing an ice pack on it. His eyes flew open and he shot up, but he slumped back down as his soreness caught up with him.

“Don’t move so much!” said Marie. “We took quite a fall.” Ceailean looked around, everything was blurry and dark. “Oh uh… your glasses are right next to you. I cleaned them up as well as I could.”

Ceailean felt his face and sure enough found out that he wasn’t wearing his glasses. “Oh, thanks.” He felt around on his side and put on his glasses. He grumbled a bit in disappointment to see that there were still quite a few smears, but it wasn’t too bad. Then he looked around and saw that he was inside a makeshift hut of sorts.

Sticks were dug into the ground and propped up to pine tree branches, all close together to form a sort of roof and walls around them. All of the was shoveled away, leaving the cold brown dirt around the ground. Marie sat a foot away from him, spreading the branches to cover as much area as possible.

“Ugh! How does daddy do this?! He makes it seem so easy!” she said to herself. Ceailean watched for a moment before the memory of what happened came back.

“That Pokémon! Where did it go?!” he asked.

“Heck if I know.” said Marie. “I’m just glad it isn’t here.”

“Oh, well… if you’re sure.” Ceailean slumped his shoulders and leaned back against the tree. A few moments of time passed before they said anything to each other, Marie opting to continue fiddling with the twigs. But eventually, she took a deep breath and sighed, deciding to finally face Ceailean.

“C?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

Marie sat on her knees and bowed to Ceailean. “I’M SO SO SORRY! Those bullies met me after school and told me if I didn’t get them a new phone then they would beat me and you up! So I got it and they told me to go here and invite you and-!

Ceailean raised his hands. “Whoa whoa! Marie, calm down. I was never angry with you.”

Marie raised her head. “Really?”

“Yeah. I never expected Jeremiah to leave us alone after what happened when I met you. And I’m sure he will find something else to do with us soon. Let’s just be glad it's over for now.”

Marie then leaned in and hugged Ceailean. “Thanks for understanding C. And… sorry again.”

“It’s fine. But, where did we end up?”

“I dunno.” said Marie, nonchalantly.

Ceailean stared for a moment. “…You don’t know?”

“Nope.”

“And you don’t seem to have a problem with this?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Even though we are lost. As in we can’t find our way back home. And I’m pretty sure neither of our parents know we are either.”

The reality set in on Marie. She gasped, slapped her hands onto her face, and screamed out loud. “AAAAACCK! I spent so much time worrying about you that I completely forgot about getting home! If I’m late, my dad’s gonna kill me!”

“That’s what you’re worried about?!” yelled back Ceailean.

“Yes! What else would I worry about?!”

Ceailean sighed. “You know what, never mind. I think it would just be better to not tell you since you seem pretty scared already.”

“Tell me what? What could be scarier than daddy?”

“Nope, you lost your chance.”

Marie grasped Ceailean’s shoulders and shook him playfully. “Com’on, tell me!”

Ceailean winced. “Ow Marie! My arm, remember?!”

Marie quickly backed away. “Oh! Sorry!”

“It’s alright. Let’s just try and figure out what to do now. I know you have your own phone, are you able to call anybody?”

Marie nervously scratched the side of her head. “Um, actually I left it at home because I thought that if my little plan failed, he might want to steal my phone instead.”

“…what plan?”

“Oh yeah, I never told you. I hid the phone in the cave because I knew that the cave had an exit on the other side. I was gonna take you and the phone and escape, that’s why I lied about being scared. But I didn’t think Jeremiah would bring his lackeys. I started panicking after that.”

“Made it seem like you were acting with how confidently you told me that plan.”

Marie put her hand on her chest. “I’m the daughter of the person that owns a whole animation studio, of course I can act to some degree. But believe me when I say that I was freaking out back there. But uh… thanks for trying to help me back there.”

“But we got tossed down a hill.”

“Well, thanks anyway.”

Ceailean smiled. “Okay, you’re welcome.”

Marie gasped. “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile, C! You look so cute!” Ceailean’s face grew a deep red from embarrassment. He quickly covered the bottom of his face with his scarf and looked away. “Aww! Bundling up like that makes you look even cuter!”

Ceailean turned away even more. “Leave me alone!” Marie laughed out loud and slapped her knee. But the two of them froze stiff as soon as they heard a voice outside.

Marie gasped. “Oh! People? Maybe they can help us!” Marie moved to crawl out of the little stick fort, but Ceailean got a bad feeling and stopped her by grabbing her leg.

“Wait a minute. Let’s see who it is first.” he said.

“Huh? Why?”

“What if it's those bullies again? We definitely don’t wanna be caught by them again.”

Marie lowered her voice to a whisper. “Oh yeah. You’re right.”

“Let’s lie down and watch for a little bit.”

“Good idea.”

The two crawled up next to each other and watched for a couple moments. Eventually the one calling out revealed itself.

Ceailean made a concern expression. “Aw man, even worse.” Floating out just a little ways away from them was Froslass. It looked round worriedly and cupped its hands around its mouth calling for someone.

“Who do you think it's looking for?” asked Marie in a whisper.

Ceailean thought back to what June said when he ran away. “Wait, didn’t June say that he made that pokemon's mom mad?”

“Oh yeah!” said Marie, palming her fist. “Snorunt is the pre-evolution of Froslass. That thing must be its mom.”

“Then by the way it's acting, I don’t think Snorunt ever got back with its mom.”

“She must be worried sick.” Marie rose up a little. “Maybe we should help it?”

Ceailean wrapped his arm around Marie and held her down. “No, we were the ones that caused the problem in the first place. I don’t think it will be happy to see us.”

“But that was June!”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t wanna risk it. Just hope it finds its kid without our help and let it move on.” Marie groaned in protest, but didn’t want to have Ceailean get hurt again unless she was absolutely certain he would be fine. So she laid in place until Froslass moved on. But after many moments, they could still hear Froslass’s voice going further and closer from them.

Marie crossed her arms and laid her chin on them. “It doesn’t look like it wants to leave anytime soon.”

Ceailean then stood up in a crouched position. “Then we’ll just leave first. At this point, I think anywhere but here would be better for us.”

“But my stick fort?”

“It’s a nice stick fort, Marie. But if that thing doesn’t leave, it will find us eventually. So let's leave before it does.”

“Mmm, alright fine. I’ll follow you.”

“Okay, here we go.”

Ceailean poked his head out from the fort and looked around. Froslass was nowhere to be seen, but it's calls could still be faintly heard. Ceailean signaled for Marie to follow. Marie stepped out from the fort and stayed close to Ceailean. The two took light steps, making sure to not crunch the snow as much as possible.

The hill they were on continued further down and Ceailean opted to keep going down, not particularly knowing where he was going. His breath became a thick fog with every exhale and his eyes darted around hoping he wouldn’t see Froslass. But then something else caught his eye.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a pile of snow piled up at the bottom of the hill.

Marie shaded her eyes and leaned forward. “Is that… the phone?!”

Ceailean looked harder. “By Arceus, it is! We can use it to call for help!” Ceailean then ran after it.

Marie reached out her hand. “Wait, C! That’s not how it works!” She chased after him down the hill. As they got closer, Marie then realized something. “Stop! Don’t go down there!”

Ceailean slid to a halt. “Huh?”

“That’s a frozen river, don’t take another step!”

Ceailean looked down on his foot and saw the water flowing underneath it. He gasped and tried to push himself back up, but the ice broke away from the pressure. Ceailean sank into the river and his body fell forward, crashing through even more ice.

“C!” Marie slid down to the bank. Ceailean quickly rose back up from the water and held onto the broken edges of the ice for dear life. Marie rolled up her sleeves and reached into the water, grabbing Ceailean by the legs. She tugged him back onto shore. “Are you okay?! Say something!” shouted Marie.

Ceailean wriggled on the ground and his breath became stuttery. “I-I-I-I’M S-SO C-C-COLD!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you back to the stick fort! Hopefully you can stay warm!”

“D-Do you think you can m-make a f-fire?”

“Daddy didn’t teach me how to yet! He said he would teach me that next when he has time!”

“Aw man… S-Sorry for getting u-u-us in this mess. I-Is the phone a-alright though?”

Marie looked over at the frozen river and saw the phone under the ice being carried away. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing it any time soon. But forget about that! Let’s worry about you first!”

Marie tugged and tugged all the way back up the hill. Ceailean held his arm, shivering severely along the way. Marie finally got the stick fort and dragged Ceailean inside.

“Welp, now I’m warm.” said Marie, breathing heavily. She then looked a bit closer and saw that Ceailean was turning pale, even a little blue. “By Arceus, C! You’re freezing! What do I do? What do I do?” Ceailean didn’t even have the strength to talk anymore. His whole body felt stiff and tired from all the shivering.

“M-Maybe if I lay on you, you’ll get my heat!” Marie flopped on Ceailean’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He wheezed and tried to get Marie’s attention. But then he looked outside and saw something.

“M-M-M-Marie! L-L-Look!” he said, weakly pointing outside. Marie looked outside and saw Froslass staring them down aggressively.

“Oh Arceus…” said Marie. Froslass quickly shot a shadow ball at them and Marie shielded Ceailean with her body. The attack exploded on impact and blew away the entire stick fort. Marie coughed from the dust and snow in the air. As the area cleared up, she saw Froslass approaching. she then looked down at Ceailean. “I’m gonna try and fix this, C. Try and hold on.” Ceailean, without much other choice, subtly nodded.

Marie stood up and walked towards Froslass. Froslass began to charge another shadow ball, but Marie threw her hands up defensively.

“Wait wait wait! Y-You’re looking for Snorunt, right? It’s lost, isn’t it?” Froslass hesitated and held its shadow ball in its hands. “I know you’re worried sick, and you want to find it as soon as possible. I’ve been away from home for a while, so I’m sure my daddy is worried about me too. So I think we can help each other.”

Froslass raised its eyebrow, giving Marie a suspicious look. “We can help look for Snorunt. You know to… clean up the mess we made. And we’re really really sorry! So, if you accept my apology, could you please help us get home after we help you with your thing?”

Froslass stood for a few moments and rolled its eyes. It dissipated its attack and beckoned Marie to come with it in an annoyed manner.

“W-Wait! My friend back there fell into the river and is freezing up! Do you think you can help?” said Marie, pointing to Ceailean. Froslass’s eyes grew a bit wider with concern and it quickly flew over to his side. Marie ran over and crouched down. “Can you help him?” Froslass nodded and began to look Ceailean over.

Marie watched it for a moment and gave it a curious look. “You never wanted to hurt anybody, did you?” Froslass subtly nodded. “So you’re REALLY worried about Snorunt?” Froslass nodded again. Marie smiled. “Don’t you worry, we’ll help you anyway we can!” Froslass nodded one last time. It lowered down to pick up Ceailean, but then a voice shouted out to them.

“Stay away from her!” Froslass’s head snapped towards the sound, only to see a wave going through the ground heading towards them. Froslass flew off and the wave passed right under Marie, making her fall down on Ceailean. Out from the trees ran Christianson and Rhyperior, throwing themselves between Marie and Froslass. “Marie! Are you okay?!”

“Chris-shin-shin? Y-Yeah, I’m okay! But why did you attack Froslass?!”

“Froslass are deceitful Pokémon, often luring trainers away to freeze them solid and prop them up as statues in their homes.”

“What?! Where did you hear that?!”

“It’s on most of its pokédex entries. Stay behind me, I’ll handle it from here!”

Marie raised her head and faced Froslass. “Is it true? Were you really trying to lure me away?” Froslass reached its hand out, wanting to say that it wasn’t. But then it saw something. Snorunt had wandered within the area behind Marie and Christianson, looking around for Froslass. Out of instinct, Froslass rushed ahead to meet it. But Rhyperior reminded it of its presence by stomping the ground aggressively. Froslass didn’t care however, desperate to re-unite with its child, it shot a shadow ball at Rhyperior feet, hoping to use the dust to get away. But there was too much snow and it cleared away immediately. Rhyperior thought fast and grabbed Froslass by the dress and threw it back in front of it.

Froslass, angry now with how it was being treated, kicked up a huge blizzard and swept the whole group with the attack. Marie gasped. “No! C!” She wrapped herself around his body as much as she could to protect him from the cold.

Christianson looked back. “What happened to Ceailean, Marie?”

“He fell through an ice river! I didn’t have enough time to warn him!”

“How long ago?”

“I dunno, maybe 10 or 15 minutes?”

Christianson scowled, looking back on Froslass. “Then we don’t have time to reason with it. We have to get it to stop. Rhyperior, let’s do it!” Rhyperior raised its arms, ready for battle.

“Wait! You’re gonna battle it?! But it's a nice Pokémon, it was just looking for its child!”

“Must I remind you of what it does, Marie. It’s a liar! And Ceailean must be close to freezing to death! So right now, its either Ceailean or Froslass, who do you choose?”

“I-I don’t want to choose! I wanna help everyone!”

“Then you’ll just lose everything.” Christianson said solemnly. He walked up beside Rhyperior and stared Froslass down. “Keep Ceailean safe. I’ll be done in a minute.”

“No! Ch-…Christianson!” Christianson froze in place and partially turned his head towards Marie. “Please.” They stood at odds for a moment. Christianson then looked back at Froslass.

“Sorry Marie.” He then thrust his hand forward, “Use rock wrecker!” Rhyperior roared and dug its hands into the ground, pulling out a huge boulder and throwing it at Froslass. Froslass’s eyes widened as it narrowly dodged to the side. The boulder flew past and toppled a few trees in its path before shattering to pieces. Froslass looked back at Rhyperior and charged in with a shadow ball.

“Intercept with mega horn!” Rhyperior’s drill horn spun ferociously and burst with silver energy. In barreled towards Froslass, each stomp shaking the earth violently. Just as they were about to connect with each other, Froslass somersaulted above Rhyperior and shot it from behind. Rhyperior slid to a halt and swung its head around, but Froslass dodged back and shot Rhyperior again.

“Use stone edge!” Rhyperior thrust its fist into the ground, making sharp rock pillars erupt from the ground towards Froslass. But Froslass flew up high in the sky, where the pillars couldn’t reach it. Christianson scoffed. “Snow cloak.” he said to himself. The world then glowed a slight purple as Froslass charged up a full power shadow ball and shot it at Rhyperior. “Catch that!” Rhyperior caught the attack with both hands, struggling to keep it in place. Froslass charged another full power shadow ball and shot it into the one Rhyperior was holding, making it double in size. Rhyperior grit its teeth, trying to hold back the attack as its feet started to slide back. Froslass summoned all of its strength and launched a final shadow ball, combining it with the massive shadow ball to make it triple in size. Rhyperior had its arms wide trying to hold the whole thing.

“Rhyperior! Use mega horn and destroy the attack!” Rhyperior’s horn burst with silver energy and its started to grind against the attack. Froslass saw an opportunity and summoned six blue flames around its body. Christianson’s eyes widened. “Will-o-wisp! Brace yourself!” Rhyperior gasped right as Froslass shot the attack right into the shadow ball, making it detonate with a massive explosion of purple flames. Rhyperior was thrown back and bashed its back against a tree, making it fall to its knees. Other trees fell down around it from the explosion, burning with purple flames. Rhyperior inspected its arms, which were also burning with purple flames.

Froslass approached and told Rhyperior to stand down, offering to give it a chance if it just leaves it alone. Christianson had a different idea however. “This is where we turn the tide! Do it, now!” Rhyperior’s eyes flashed open. It stood up, grabbed the trunk of a fallen tree, and swung it against Froslass like a baseball bat so hard that the tree shattered to pieces. Froslass careened through the air, wailing in pain, and bashed against the side of a tree.

“Don’t stop! Grab it!” Rhyperior charged ahead full speed and grabbed Froslass by the neck as it slid down the tree, bashing it straight through the tree as it continued running. Christianson ran after Rhyperior and Marie stayed behind. She looked down on Ceailean.

“C! Are you gonna be okay?” she asked. No response. “C?” Looking closer, she noticed his eyes were closed and his breath was shallow. “No no no no no! C! You gotta wake up!” Ceailean didn’t move an inch. “Christianson,” she shouted to the sky, “Please hurry!”

----------------------------------------

()Rhyperior continued charging through the woods, handling Froslass like a rag doll. More trees got in the way, but Rhyperior used Froslass as a hammer to bash them all out of the way. Then they came up upon a cliff face, to which Rhyperior bashed Froslass against its surface so hard that the entire thing shattered into a blocky crater. Without Christianson however, Rhyperior took initiative and used superpower on Froslass’s face, only for it to pass straight through and bury its fist in the rock. Rhyperior gave a confused expression as Froslass exploded with anger, blowing Rhyperior back with blizzard. Rhyperior shielded its face from the wind, only to then look and see that its arm got frozen over.

Froslass then formed two shadow balls, one for each hand and charged at Rhyperior. It knocked them into Rhyperior like gauntlets, spinning and punching with grace.

“Counter with mega horn.” called Christianson. Rhyperior’s eyes widened as its horn exploded with silver energy. Froslass collided with Rhyperior’s attack before it could react, making its shadow ball explode in its hand. Froslass groaned in pain and grabbed its hand in an attempt to soothe it. “Now use superpower with your frozen arm!” Rhyperior’s frozen arm glowed a bright white orange as it swung at Froslass. Froslass’s eyes widened as its face was smashed in by an ice covered superpower, sending its face through a tree. Froslass toppled to the ground and struggled to get back up again.

“Finish it! Pick up that tree with superpower and crush Froslass!” Rhyperior’s arms glowed orange and it uprooted the tree it bashed Froslass into straight out of the ground. It held the tree straight above its head and threw it down on Froslass so hard it splintered the tree in half. “Now bulldoze!” Rhyperior raised its foot, ready to crush Froslass’s spine. “It’s over.” Christianson said as he turned around. Rhyperior shot its foot straight down and crushed the wind out of Froslass’s lungs. Froslass sank into the ground as it crumbled beneath it. A wave rushed through the environment before disappearing behind the trees.

Rhyperior raised its foot back up and observed Froslass. It’s eyes were swirled as its arms reached out desperately. Christianson took a look as well before sticking his finger in his mouth and holding the spit covered finger in the air.

“The wind’s dying down. I think we’re done here.” Rhyperior nodded and moved to meet back up with Marie, but then a powder snow hit it directly in the eyes, making it stumble back in annoyance. Rhyperior wiped the snow off its face to see Snorunt scramble beside it. It stood defensively between it and Froslass, making itself stare directly into Rhyperior’s eyes despite the fear flooding its body.

Rhyperior’s expression softened at the sight. Snorunt shivered with fear. But just as it felt like it was going to faint, Froslass’s hands wrapped around its body and pulled it close. The weak looking Froslass brought Snorunt close to its chest and held it tightly, closing its eyes expecting the worst. Snorunt looked at its mother and could help but start crying. It held Froslass back and closed its eyes as well. Rhyperior stoically looked back to Christianson for instruction.

“Like I said, we’re done here.” Christianson turned away and headed back to Marie, Rhyperior following suit. Froslass gasped and weakly watched them walk away side by side. It looked back at Snorunt. Snorunt desperately asked if Froslass was going to be okay. Froslass started to shed a few tears of its own, elated that Snorunt was okay. The two embraced each other and sobbed in the crater, happy that they were spared.

Christianson and Rhyperior glanced back as the sound of their sobs reached their ears. A sinking feeling of guilt affected the both of them, but they continued on through the forest.

----------------------------------------

() “C! Come on! Wake up!” Marie shouted while shaking Ceailean’s body.

“Has something happened, Marie?” asked Christianson, emerging from the forest.

“C fell asleep and he won’t wake up!” she cried.

“What?!” Christianson ran up to Ceailean’s side. He placed his hand on Ceailean’s forehead. “By Arceus, he’s ice cold!” He picked up Ceailean in a princess carry. “We gotta get him out of here, now! The car isn’t far, follow me and keep up! Rhyperior, lead and clear the way!” Rhyperior nodded and made a full sprint towards the car, bashing any trees out of the way. Christianson and Marie followed close behind.

“How did you find us anyway, Christianson?” asked Marie.

“You weren’t where I normally pick you up from school. So after an hour, I asked around and the janitor said he saw you with a bunch of suspicious characters heading up to the mountains. After that I came here, searched around for another 2 hours and found that trail you made when you dragged Ceailean up the hill. It’s probably how Froslass found you too.”

“Do-Do you think daddy’ll be mad?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s rightfully pissed!”

“Aw man…”

They all reached the road and found Christianson's car, peppered with fresh fallen snow. He opened the passenger side and gently laid Ceailean across the length of all the passenger seats, making sure to secure home with the seat belts as well as he could.

“Wait? Where am I supposed to sit?” asked Marie.

“Get in the front.” Christianson said, pointing to the front seat door.

“But you said never to go up there!”

“Welp, today’s the day! Let’s go!” He then took out Rhyperior’s pokeball and returned it. “You did good today.” He then unlocked the car and threw himself on the driver's seat. Marie quickly hopped on the front seat and put on her seat belt. “Hold on tight!” Marie desperately reached up for the overhead handlebar and held on tight. Christianson started up the car and floored it. The wheels of the car spun intensely with the chains clattering loudly. They sped off down the road.

Christianson focused on driving as Marie let go of the handle bar and reached back to grab Ceailean’s hand.

“C! Please hang in there! You have to wake up! Can you hear me? You have to wake up!” Ceailean’s ears perked up at the phrase. It felt… weird, almost comforting to hear someone so worried about him.

“You have to wake up!”

----------------------------------------

() Ceailean’s eyes flashed open and he sat straight up with an audible gasp. Breathing heavily, he looked around and saw that he was back in the Pokémon center room. But it was freezing cold in the air. He looked to see the sliding window open all the way with the curtains full open as well.

“Who the heck did this?!” he said to himself in a whisper. He threw the covers off himself and moved to close the window. That was until he found Fomantis sleeping peacefully on the windowsill, looking so at peace as it basked in the morning sun.

Ceailean sighed. “Augh! You’re lucky you look so cute or I’d close this window in a heartbeat! You got it so cold in here!” The ocean breeze then picked up and blew inside the room, stinging Ceailean’s arms with the cold. He shivered and turned around to go back to bed. That’s when he saw his Pokémon sleeping on the bed. Supposedly cold themselves, Noibat had resorted to letting Raboot use it as a pillow while Raboot itself used Solosis like a stuffed animal. All of which were snoring peacefully.

“Fire types must be really warm huh?” said Ceailean with a smile. He then reached into his bag, pulled out his pokédex, and snagged a quick picture. But then the room phone started to ring loudly. All of his Pokémon shuffled around, visually disturbed by the noise.

“Oh crap!” Ceailean silently panic walked across the room and answered the phone. “H-Hello?”

Nurse Joy answered. “Hello, is this Ceailean Crimis?”

Ceailean looked back at his Pokémon and saw that they were all back to sleeping peacefully. “Y-Yeah, this is him.”

“You have a visitor for you down here in the lobby. Would you mind coming down and seeing them?”

“A visitor? Who?”

“One moment please,” Nurse Joy audibly covered the receiver with her hand and had a muffled conversation with another person. “Um, they’ve asked me not to say. They said it was a ‘surprise’?”

Ceailean pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “That sounds like Synden for some reason.” he said to himself, “I’ll be right down.”

“Okay, Mr. Crimis, thank you.” Nurse Joy then hung up.

Ceailean placed the phone down and looked at the time. “6:32? It’s way too early for this.” He sighed, put on his glasses, and made his way over to the door. That is when he noticed Marie sleeping in her bed. Her Pokémon were scrambled about in different precarious positions on the bed, each snoring peacefully as well. “Suppose it ain’t cold for ice types. And I already said my thing for fire types.” He smiled. “Good luck Marie, and get some rest. You have a big day today.” He then silently left the room and closed the door behind him.

Marie then turned over on her bed and began to whisper in her sleep. “C-C, you… have to wake up…”

----------------------------------------

() Ceailean made his way down the stairs, noticed that he was still in his pajamas, then shrugged it off thinking the visit will be quick. He thought about Marie again and the dream he had of her. Then a curious thought came to mind.

“Huh? How did I dream about the parts I wasn’t there for?” He shrugged. “A better question would be why I’m having these dreams in the first place. I know how my life went, head. You don’t need to remind me.” Ceailean knocked on his head with his knuckle.

He made it all the way down the stairs and went up to the front desk. “Hey Nurse Joy, who was the visitor here to see me?”

“Oh yes, she’s sitting right over there.”

“Thank you.” Ceailean turned around and looked to see who it was. He took a step forward and gasped.

“Y-You? Why are you here?”