Chapter 21 - Chores

The frosty wind roared down from the hills that surrounded Four Island, whipping through the surprisingly bustling streets below. It was not even five in the morning yet and the roads to the town’s main square were choked with large trucks and people lugging construction materials for the upcoming festival. Celeste and Delia, however, moved against the flow of people. Long before the first glimmers of dawn offered relief from the cold, they arrived at their destination: an old warehouse on the outskirts of town.

“Are we in the right place?” Celeste asked through clenched teeth and a stifled yawn. Her arms, folded in front of her body, were desperately trying to produce warmth. Her brain, fogged by sleepiness, struggled to comprehend how could it be so much colder this far south.

Well, they were well into October now… maybe the other island had been the weird one.

Delia nodded as she studied the PokéNav in her hands. Luan had lent it to her so they could find the address Olga had provided. “Looks like we are.”

“She isn’t here,” Celeste grumbled, wondering if she should have listened to the voice in her head that warned her against training with Olga. Would Powder be upset if they left? “We tried,” she shrugged, turning to leave, only to come face to face with Olga’s unamused face.

“Giving up already?” Olga asked, cold as the wind itself.

Delia’s gaze shifted from Celeste’s pained expression to Olga and her Vanillite, who seemed almost amused at the entire situation. She greeted her boss and started to excitedly chat about the upcoming festival right away.

Fun.

Olga didn’t pay much attention to Delia, however. She simply unlocked the door and gestured for them to enter.

The inside of the building was bright and tidy, but much colder than the outside. There were boxes and crates neatly stacked together under different labels, indicating the type of product they held. At the back, a door led to some cosy office space with a window overlooking the rest of the facility.

“Why haven’t you released your Pokémon yet?” Olga asked, eliciting yet another grumble from Celeste.

Hi girls, how are you? Did you get to explore the city yesterday? It is cold today, isn’t it? Want some coffee?

Just a little small talk wasn’t a big ask, but whatever. Olga simply kept looking at them with an eyebrow up and not a word of sympathy. There was no arguing, so Celeste released her Pokémon, who at least seemed to be right in her element.

“Lesson one, discipline and endurance,” the older woman said, wasting no time as she walked towards a rack where several coats hung. She picked one and threw it over to Celeste. “This place is where I keep some of my supply for the other shops on the islands. The temperature here needs to be minus eighteen degrees Celsius or below,” she pointed to a thermostat. Its display showed the current temperature and some numbers that showed energy consumption. “The lower the temperature, the more energy we need, but if an ice Pokémon cools the place down, we won’t need to spend as much. Your job today is to maintain the energy consumption close to zero for as long as you can.”

Celeste hesitantly took the coat and looked around. “You said ice Pokémon should do more than your freezer.”

“They need to do at least as much first,” Olga turned over to Delia and gestured to the door on the back. “We’ll be inside running inventory and planning for the festival.”

—*——*—

Celeste paced around for a while. This did not feel like training. It felt like Olga was using her to save on the energy bill.

She huffed.

Bet she’s gonna go around bragging that her ice cream is sustainable, Celeste thought to herself before turning to Powder, fully prepared to talk her Pokémon out of this “training with Miss grouchy” idea. But the sight of her Vulpix, tails wagging in perfect harmony, eyes sparkling with joy, stalled her thoughts.

Leaving was not an option.

“Okay.” Celeste bounced on her toes, trying to both warm and pump herself up. She needed ideas, but her brain was refusing to come up with anything. Maybe she was overthinking it? Her Pokémon knew only one move, after all. Simplicity was the answer. “Powder, try a Powder Snow attack.”

Powder responded with an eager cry, releasing a burst of icy winds. The wind barely moved the boxes around and the meter refused to even acknowledge anything had been done.

“Keep it up,” Celeste encouraged.

Powder could freeze things. She had seen it… at least on a small scale. Freezing, however, happened at 0°C, at least for water, which was leagues away from -18°C. And this place was enormous… dropping the temperature even a little would require a lot of energy. Insisting on Powder Snow was not the solution.

Less than a minute later, the Vulpix’s breath grew ragged, and she stamped her tiny paws on the floor in frustration.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Celeste soothed, cupping Powder’s snout gently. “No rush. We’ll figure this out. And if we don’t, that’s okay, too.”

Powder looked right into Celeste’s eyes and spit some ice on her face before standing up and starting another Powder Snow. This time, the wind was a little stronger, but it lasted even less.

This was taking too much out of her. If only she could save a bit of energy herself…

That was it!

“Can you use Powder Snow without the wind?” Celeste said, gaining a tilt of head in response. Her adorable little Powder would crush in the beauty competition. Why weren’t they doing that, again?

Focus.

She took a deep breath, trying to translate her budding theory into words. Sitting cross-legged beside her Pokémon, she began, “Think about ice… It’s calm, still. Heat’s all about energy and movement, right? Cold is just… the absence of that.” She gestured to her own body. “Earlier, I was pacing to stay warm. But sitting here, the cold settles in.”

Powder watched, intrigued, as Celeste continued.

“When you’re moving around, launching ice and wind, it’s exciting, and I know you’ll be doing that someday. But let’s strip it back for now. Focus on the essence of cold. Focus on the stillness.”

With eyes closed, Powder breathed deeply. Steadily.

“Think of Powder Snow,” Celeste pressed on. “You blow out the snow, but have you ever stopped to think how you make it? I think this is something you know instinctively.” Celeste had always asked herself what would it be like to manipulate energy to create fire, ice, electricity?

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

It must be something else, no doubt.

“I’m not a Pokémon, so I don’t really know what that is like,” Celeste said, eyes fixed on her little Vulpix. She didn’t know, but Powder did. “I want you to concentrate, pick the move apart. Find out how to make the world stop for you. Freeze it.”

Powder remained quiet for a moment longer. She was thinking, searching for something.

Celeste watched her breath cloud in the increasingly chilly air, a smile playing on her lips. Her baby didn’t even realise she was doing it. It was still not enough, but the numbers dropping on the meter in the wall showed a clear victory.

—*——*—

“… aaand five minutes!” Celeste celebrated, pointing to the wall. The energy consumption had dropped by a third and Powder had just kept it steady for a record-breaking five minutes.

Her little baby didn’t like the results nearly as much. Between pants, she let out a cry that Celeste had come to understand meant “again.”

“Come on, I can see you are tired,” Celeste said. “How about we break for lunch? You can practise more afterward.”

Hopefully Olga would offer them some actual non-ice cream food.

As Celeste stood, her limbs felt as though they were made of ice. Just then, Delia appeared, mercifully bearing a steaming mug of tea with her. Olga wasn’t far behind, but instead of niceness, she came glaring.

Delia handed over the tea. “So, how did it go?”

“Tons of progress,” Celeste said, sticking out her tongue as she sipped the tea.

Delia chuckled. “It’s hot.”

The girls shared a laugh, but Olga wasn’t amused as she inspected the energy meter. Powder shuffled closer to her, with big expectant eyes filled with hope.

“I think she wants you to tell her she’s doing great,” Celeste grinned, taking a more careful sip of her tea. “I mean, she’s figured so much today. Bet her battle skills are stronger already!”

Olga raised her eyebrow. “Are you… serious…?”

“Absolutely,” Celeste shot back, heading for the door. If they were going to chat, then sticking in a freezer wasn’t on her agenda. “We started from nothing and now we’re down a third on energy. Plus, she’s sustaining it for five whole minutes. That’s a big win in my book.”

Powder watched Olga intently, who muttered about the open door and followed the others outside.

Stepping into the warm sunlight, Celeste sighed in relief. “She’s made all this progress in just a few hours. Just imagine what she’ll be like in a few days.”

Olga crossed her arms. “She will be average,” she said. “I told you to reach zero in the meter for as long as possible. Why are you patting yourself on the back for not getting even close?”

Delia, ever being so Delia, muttered something about trying a little harder next, and, before Celeste even open her mouth to complain, Powder’s little voice cut through the air.

“Not now,” Celeste said, facing back Olga. She felt her own eyebrow forming wrinkles on the skin as her eyes narrowed. “Sorry we didn’t save you as much money as you wanted on our first try.” She was being bratty, wasn’t she? Well, Olga was being worse. “We made real breakthroughs today.”

Olga’s sour expression deepened. “Good for you. But coddling your Pokémon with hollow praise will only hold her back. At this rate, you won’t get past the first round in the tournament.”

Powder barked again, and Celeste shivered with a frosty breeze coming down from… wherever.

“We don’t care about any stupid tournament. We are doing things in our time.”

“You are doing things in your time,” Olga tapped foot impatiently. “Do you really think no one can see how much time you keep wasting? Chatting, praising, taking lunch breaks. Maybe it’s not your Pokémon who’s the problem.”

As Powder’s cries grew louder, a shadow fell over them, as if a massive cloud had just obscured the sun. Delia shuffled awkwardly between them, clearly uncomfortable.

“How are we supposed to have the energy to train without having lunch?” Celeste’s voice rose, her body trembling as the temperature plummeted. “Looking after my Pokémon is part of the process.”

Olga scoffed. “Takes a lot of energy to gab, I bet.” She huddled deeper into her coat, shielding herself from some frozen droplets. “Let’s be clear. You wanted to eat. Your Vulpix actually wants to achieve something,” she finished by nodding toward Powder, who barked again.

Celeste, getting somewhat distracted by the sudden hailstorm, turned to her Pokémon. Ears perked. Tail raised. Clearly distressed.

“You’re upsetting her,” Celeste said, flinching as a large hailstone struck her shoulder. They needed shelter from this. “Powder, that’s enough for today. Let’s get back—”

Powder let out another loud cry, this time directed at Celeste specifically.

Olga almost sneered. “Figures you’d give up.” She edged back towards the door, using the building as a shield from the hail. Delia tried convincing them both to move inside, but nobody listened. Or cared. Olga’s voice grew sharper, icier. “From the day I saw you ignoring all my rules at the shop, I knew you had no discipline. Terrible trait for an employee, even worse for a trainer. But I know your type. You do whatever the hell you want and the rest of the world be damned. I feel sorry for the Pokémon stuck with you as a trainer.”

Celeste hissed. “At least I’m not exploiting everyone around me. No wonder your son turned out the way he did.”

Sometimes she talked a bit too much… didn’t she?

Olga didn’t have her look of righteous fury. Instead, she looked… hurt?

The hail battered them relentlessly, and hiding on the side of the building did little to help them. Powder’s cries grew angrier, and Celeste knew she probably should apologise to everyone.

She knew… yet…

“We’re leaving,” was all she said.

Powder, in response, barked again. Was this really the time?

When Celeste turned back to her Vulpix, she saw her tense up. Just like they’d practised, she remained still. Rigid as ice itself. All save for her tails, that flicked erratically, and strangely enough, the hail seemed to respond to her movements. Frozen droplets hung in the air, defying gravity, coalescing into sharp ice shards swirling around Powder.

Despite the situation, Celeste couldn’t help but be impressed. Just like before, her little baby was doing something without even realising. This had to be a new move.

Her Pokémon’s achievement was enough to snap Celeste out of her angry haze. She giggled, half-ignoring the hail, and reached out to Powder, intending to praise and maybe to calm her. But her touch only startled the Vulpix.

With another cry, a shard flew into the trainer’s direction, grazing through her cheek.

Their eyes met, both widened in surprise.

“You learned a new move!” Celeste tried to be supportive, but winced unintentionally as she moved her face. A drop of blood fell from her cheek, and as if on cue, the clouds dispersed.

Powder shook her head and backed away. Her cries became high-pitched and disjointed.

“Powder, it was just an accid—.”

Celeste reached out again, but Powder moved away, and before anyone could do anything, she ran.

“Hey, wait!” Celeste jumped up, ready to follow. But Delia held her back, pointing to the bleeding cut on her face.

“You need to deal with this first, and she needs some space,” Delia said, no patience, no kindness or politeness left in her.

Celeste opened her mouth, but Delia didn’t let her speak. She’d said enough, apparently. Instead, she released Aria. Her Eevee’s smirk faded to a gasp at the sight of her trainer’s blood. Like Powder, Aria raised her tail, but she growled, searching for a culprit in the chaos.

“I’m… it’s nothing,” Celeste said, rubbing her cheek. It stung, and she probably just smeared the blood around. She didn’t want to elaborate, and Aria seemed to understand. She relaxed slightly, waiting for Celeste’s next words. “Can you find Powder? Just… make sure she’s safe.”

Aria seemed very confused, but slowly nodded, following the direction Celeste pointed.

Surely her Eevee would find Powder easily… right?

—*——*—

Olga, who had begrudgingly fetched her first aid kit from her office, rolled her eyes as Celeste flinched from the sting of the disinfectant. The room was thick with silence until Delia, who stood firmly by the door, broke it. “You two are being ridiculous.”

Celeste was taken aback that Delia dared stand up to Olga like that.

Still, she pouted. “I just need to know Powder’s okay.”

“Aria’s on that,” Delia said firmly. “Put yourself in her place—after what just happened, would you want someone fussing over you, or would you need some space to sort through your feelings?”

Celeste pressed her lips together into a thin line. She would want space, of course…

Taking a deep breath, she turned to Olga, partly to appease Delia. “I’m really sorry for what I said.” The words tumbled out awkwardly as she averted her eyes. “It was.. uh… rude. I guess… I was angry?”

Arceus, that was painful.

“We both said what we believe. That’s that.” Olga shrugged and turned back to her desk. She opened a drawer with a tad too much force and threw her first aid kit inside.

Delia sighed. “You both need to actually talk if we’re going to resolve anything, Olga.” Silence followed, so she pressed on, “Maybe tell Cee about the festival tournament sponsorship you were considering for her.”

“Sponsorship’s about picking winners,” Olga said flatly, sinking into her chair and shuffling papers without really looking at them. “No bad blood, but I don’t think Celeste and I mix well. Delia, shouldn’t you be doing something more productive?”

“This is important,” Delia countered quietly, yet firmly. “I’m sure you two can work things out if you just have a proper conversation.”

Celeste turned to her friend, both with exasperation and worry, but before this hell of a conversation went any further, there was a soft knock coming from the door outside.

Delia stepped aside, and they hurried outside, where they found Aria.

The Eevee looked up at them with anxious, urgent eyes. Her ears dropped, her fur was wet and her paws muddied. What truly made Celeste worry, however, was something else.

Aria was still alone.