Chapter 41 - Through the Woods

Without warning, the entire world changed.

It felt like she hadn’t moved, yet the scent of smoke was suddenly replaced by the crisp air of the woods. Celeste hadn’t exerted a single muscle, but the hard concrete beneath her feet transformed into soft snow and grass. There were no dramatic fade-outs or light effects, Jenny simply vanished, her yells giving way to the rustling leaves and whistling wind.

She felt her head spinning and blinked rapidly, trying to regain her bearings. Cautiously, she took a step forward but lost her balance, only to be caught by the steady hands of Topaz and Lorelei. Ragged breaths and a racing pulse drained her of energy as her friends guided her to a nearby rock where she could sit. Her stomach seemed to have started a riot, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands in an attempt to maintain some dignity.

“Just focus on something still and take deep breaths,” Lorelei said weakly. “It’s like motion sickness. It will go away soon.”

Celeste looked up at her friend, noticing Lori’s messy hair and her overly pale complexion. Her glasses barely concealing the bags that had formed under her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Topaz chimed in, sounding a lot more cheerful than her companion. “Red over here spilled her guts when she arrived. You’re already handling it so much better.”

Celeste’s gaze shifted between everyone around. Topaz appeared perfectly fine, but the Pokémon by her side, Celeste suspected, had seen better days.

Frida, the Smeargle, clung to Topaz’s leg, her tail coiled around her trainer’s knees, leaving streaks of golden paint that dripped down to her ankles. Behind them, Rod, the enormous Bibarel, lay splattered on the ground, lazily spitting water onto the Mr Rime who was grimacing beside him. While the Water-type seemed relatively unscathed, with just a few bruises, Twilight was covered in burns, revealing patches of charred, blue flesh.

“Things got bad, huh?” Topaz said, glancing back at her Pokémon. She took a seat beside Celeste and briefly looked at Lorelei before letting out a chuckle. “Turns out our friend here hates teleporting because it makes her super sick. Since she didn’t give me the heads up, I thought there was something really wrong. Lucky break for us, as I stuck with her instead of taking off.”

Celeste let out a deep breath and, already feeling much better, turned back to Lorelei with a questioning look.

“It’s called sensory dissonance,” she explained, also taking a seat. “Some of your senses feel like you’ve moved, while others don’t. It’s like motion sickness, where your brain gets confused by the disagreement in the information its receiving. Only, in this case, it’s worse, since the change is usually more sudden and drastic. Not everyone gets bad. Some people are just… more sensitive.”

Topaz shivered and blew on her lips in discomfort. “Some people, huh?” she raised an incriminating eyebrow. However, with the lack of an answer from Lori, her eyes trailed to the smoke rising in the distance.

“Anyway…” she began again. “Since we didn’t go far, Frida decided to teleport my Pokémon back here instead of somewhere else. Imagine my surprise when Twilight arrived, burned and throwing a fit. He said you were trapped in the fire and literally screaming for help in your thoughts.”

Lorelei gently bumped shoulders with Celeste. “We were worried.”

Celeste mustered a weak smile, her attention also drawn to the distant smoke. “You know we’re probably going to be blamed for that,” she said quietly, prompting a heavy silence around her. “So, what do we do now?”

“Frida’s exhausted from teleporting so much,” Topaz began, petting her Smeargle’s head. “And we should find some shelter. My Pokémon need to rest, and I don’t have any of my pokéballs with me...” She sighed. “I could use some rest too, actually.”

“I was planning to head to Olga’s house,” Lori said, her eyes fixed on the spreading smoke. “Retrieve my team and go into the caves to find the poachers and help the Lapras.”

Celeste slumped her shoulders. “I teleported right in front of Jenny. My guess is that people will be knocking on Olga’s door as soon as they deal with the fire, maybe even before that.”

The girls remained silent for a little while longer, until Lorelei finally stood up. “There are some caves north of here. We can shelter there while we figure out our next steps.”

—*——*—

Celeste grunted as her feet sank deep into the snow, feeling the cold and wetness seeping into her body. After all she had been thorough, the discomfort of being out in a blizzard while underdressed began to sink in. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, and her body shivered with each gust of wind.

“How much longer, Lori?” she asked, her voice barely audible over the rising winds. She rubbed her arms in an attempt to generate some warmth and comfort, but it was too hard not to shiver. Their surroundings were dark and terrifying, with only the towering trees and the heaps of snow visible.

Lorelei, seemingly less affected by the blizzard, raised her hand as a signal to stop. Though barely discernible, a group of Snorunt passed by, trudging through the snow in single file. “We’re almost there,” she whispered.

At that moment, all Celeste could think about was that they were deep in the woods with only Topaz’s injured team to protect them if anything went wrong.

Well, that and whatever was in her shadow, but she wasn’t dwelling on that now.

More alert, Celeste began to notice the other Pokémon around them. Groups of Snom crawled along the trees, and a few Frosmoth glided on the icy gusts of wind. Nearby, an Eiscue sculpted its ice mask, while a cluster of Snover danced in a clearing.

Despite the weather, the woods were teeming with life—just not the kind she had expected.

“T-that’s so strange,” Topaz stuttered, huddling closer to her Bibarel for warmth. “L-lots of Snom, but not a single C-Caterpie?”

Celeste shrugged, her gaze lingering a bit too long on the soft fur of the Pokémon by Topaz’s side. She conveniently remembered hearing that Bibarel fur was excellent at repelling water and retaining heat, and discreetly edged closer to the massive creature.

“B-Bet they are hiding s-somewhere warm,” Topaz continued, closing her eyes and sinking deeper into her Pokémon’s furry coat. “A n-nice warm hole in the g-g-ground, maybe?”

“I wouldn’t complain if we found one,” Celeste muttered, shifting her feet nervously when she thought she saw an Abomasnow in the distance. “Lo-ri?” she called again.

Lorelei nodded curtly in response, leading them even deeper into the woods. After fifteen more minutes of an uncomfortable hike, they arrived at a massive rock wall crawling with Bergmite.

“Are these Pokémon even supposed to be here?” Celeste finally asked, curiously approaching the creatures, only to be sprayed with some ice on her face. Topaz burst into laughter at the scene, and Celeste grumbled for a moment before joining in. It was nice that she could find some warmth during that ordeal.

“Enough fooling around, you two,” Lorelei cut them off, urging them to keep moving along the wall.

Since the rocks provided some shelter from the blizzard, Celeste made an effort to stop annoying Lori even further, as they pressed forward in silence. And… it wasn’t even that bad. This was the life of a trainer, after all. Being out in nature, facing the elements alongside your Pokémon in order to become the very best... or something like that.

“Look! A cave!” Topaz exclaimed, interrupting Celeste’s thoughts. She seemed so happy to have finally found shelter that she even jumped out from under her Bibarel’s coat in excitement. At once, Celeste joined, also rushing toward the entrance.

The cave turned out to be small and unremarkable. It wasn’t connected to the rest of the Icefall system, and the only Pokémon inside were a few wooper and Poliwag huddled on the corner. The greatest highlight of the place was that it was dry and there were some almost comfortable rocks for them to sit.

As soon as they stepped in, Rod, the Bibarel, threw himself onto the ground and his trainer wasted no time to follow suit. Topaz immediately plopped herself onto his side as if he were a comfortable cushion for her to hug, and they both seemed happy and relieved. Even the Smeargle joined in, snuggling against one of the beaver’s legs.

Celeste giggled, feeling a twinge of jealousy.

“Cosy.”

—*——*—

“What now, fearless leader?” Topaz asked once they had settled in.

Lorelei paced around while Celeste searched for dry wood to start a fire. Unfortunately, the cave was too small, and they knew a fire was just a pipe dream. So Celeste simply turned around and joined Topaz in staring at Lori, hoping for some direction.

It took a moment for Lorelei to notice their expectant gazes, and she became flustered once she did. “I’m not...” she began, before shaking her head and straightening herself, almost as if she wanted to look the part. “You two should be safe here,” she said, enunciating the words calmly and clearly. Her voice, however, still trembled. “I’ll keep going and get you some help.”

“Great leading…” Celeste muttered, but held her tongue as Lori glared at her with cold eyes.

“You know I can’t afford to wait out the blizzard,” Lorelei continued. “But you two can. The best way forward is for me to head towards Olga’s house and send help once I reach her.”

“What’s your plan if the place is crawling with police officers?” Celeste shot back. “Hope the police department got too burned for an arrest?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Lori insisted. “I told you—”

Celeste waved her hands. “I know, I know. Save the Lapras, stop the poachers... Can’t we skip the arguing and find a plan that won’t backfire horribly?”

Lori closed her eyes and let out a forceful exhale. It was evident that keeping her frustration in check was becoming a struggle. “I’m used to the cold, and if I don’t have you two slowing me down—”

“Twilight says he can go instead,” Topaz interrupted, her voice small and uncertain.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You mean the injured Ice-type that somehow caused a fire?” Lori’s patience was clearly wearing thin, even more so than during their time in the prison.

“He should be resting...” Celeste muttered, and Topaz nodded, casting a meaningful glance at the Pokémon by her side. Twilight, however, bumped his fist against his chest in response. Then he turned to Celeste and Lorelei, and his eyes—the real ones on his belly—blinked rapidly as his button nose twitched.

Neither of them got that, obviously.

“He says he wants to prove himself after what happened in the police department,” Topaz sighed. “Even though he absolutely doesn’t need to...”

Lorelei slowly shook her head, determined not to accept anyone’s help.

In contrast, Topaz jerked her head toward her partner. Her frown deepened as she tuned in to his telepathic words. “Since when!?” she snapped.

Twilight moved closer and held his partner’s hand, nodding and gesturing toward the other girls.

“He’s been poking around things he shouldn’t,” Topaz explained, relenting. “He says there is a great power on this island, and this blizzard is... special? There’s a pull here. A power that’s ancient and strange, yet it feels somehow familiar to him.”

Celeste leaned in, curiosity piqued. “You mean the reason Ice Ppokémon come here this time of year?”

Twilight shook his head and shrugged.

“He’s not sure,” Topaz translated. “What he does know is that this is a sanctuary for Ice-types. He says no Pokémon will harm him. Not in the woods, not in the caves, and not in the... garden?”

Ignoring the strange mention of a garden, Celeste turned to Lori with a small smile. “Well… he was pretty good at sneaking into the police station with no one noticing.”

Lori pursed her lips. “I don’t like to put our escape in someone else’s hands again.”

Celeste raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you trust anyone else with it?”

Lori stared at Celeste for a moment, but remained silent.

“Yeah… awesome leading,” she repeated.

“T-there is more,” Topaz interrupted the other two, her expression shifting from worry to fear. “He, very recklessly, tried to reach this power with his mind. He didn’t manage to, but he said he had a vision. The poachers you’re looking for... they were disrupting the... stillness of the cave?” She furrowed her brow and bit her lip. “But more than that, he saw they’ve been hunting tonight.”

“Hunting?” Lorelei asked slowly, suspicion permeating her voice.” Hunting what?”

Topaz shook her head apologetically. “A Fri… fridge backs?”

“A Frigibax? Here?”

“What’s that supposed to be?” Celeste added, confused.

“Well, you’ve seen how far they’d go to capture a Vulpix or Lapras, right?” Lorelei’s voice grew quick and fearful. “A Frigibax is ten times more valuable. We can’t let them have it.”

Finally, the Mr Rime moved away from Topaz and approached Lori. He took her hands and gazed into her eyes with intense focus. The two yellow eyeballs on the sides of his belly hardly blinking.

“He says it’s his duty as an ice Pokémon to help,” Topaz translated, dotting her words with an exaggerated sigh. “I don’t think Twilight will take no for an answer.”

Lorelei locked eyes with the Pokémon, glaring right back at him. She nodded slowly before kneeling by it. “Can you see the path ahead? The one in my mind?”

—*——*—

Lorelei tapped her feet on the ground, removing her glasses, cleaning them, and putting them back on. She repeated the motion a few times, sometimes adjusting her ponytail or fiddling with the buttons of her shirt, but always tapping her feet.

Breaking the silence and startling Lorelei, Celeste spoke up. It had been about forty minutes since Twilight had left, and she was clearly struggling with the waiting. “Tell me more about your Lapras,” she said. “You mentioned before that she saved you. What’s the story behind that?”

Lori redirected her gaze towards the other two girls, who were curled up, seeking warmth under the Bibarel’s fur. Topaz, cuddling her smeargle, had her eyes closed, attempting to sleep, while Celeste remained fully present.

“There isn’t much to tell,” Lorelei finally responded. “She saved me. We became friends.”

“Do you really prefer to keep looking at the rocks and counting the minutes pass?” Celeste grinned. “Come on, let’s talk. I’ll help you out. How did you get in danger in the first place?”

“I don’t know what else to tell you.” Lori shrugged. “I went to the caves alone, slipped on the ice, and fell into the water. The current carried me to a cavern where the Lapras nest was, and Fractal pulled me out.”

“You’re not the best at telling stories, huh?” Topaz muttered, opening one eye. “Maybe start by explaining why you went to those creepy, dangerous caves on your own.”

Lorelei fell silent, her fingers tracing patterns on the rock beneath her. “My parents were arguing, and I... blamed myself,” she admitted, offering a weak smile to Celeste before her gaze returned to the outside. “I went to the caves to prove that I wasn’t weak and helpless.”

“Better, but you’re missing some context in the middle.” Topaz chimed in, lifting her head and chuckling. “Your parents arguing and you feeling weak and helpless seem like two completely different things.”

Lorelei glanced outside once more and let out a sigh.

“Dad used to be an engineer in the factory that manufactures those teleporting machines that we have in Poké Centers. The main factory was in this small city a few miles off Celadon,” she began. “That is where I’m actually from. It’s called Gringey City. Not the most well-known place, but you’ll know you’re there when you begin to see more Grimer than Rattata.”

“Sound lovely.” Celeste grimaced.

Lori nodded and continued. “I was a very sickly infant, and living there only made my condition worse. So, my parents decided we needed to move somewhere... pristine. That’s why we ended up here. This town doesn’t have any factories, so my dad took a more mobile position within the same company. He still worked with the teleporting machines but travelled around to different places to fix them instead.”

Topaz let out a yawn. “Come on. This isn’t even the best island in Sevii. Why did they choose this place?”

Lorelei shrugged. “They wanted a pristine and affordable place that had a hospital for me. This island checked all the boxes, I suppose.” She hesitated, glancing towards the cave entrance before refocusing on the girls. “Anyway, my dad travelled a lot, and my mom stayed home to take care of me. She felt trapped on an isolated island where she didn’t really know anyone.”

Celeste offered a sympathetic expression. “I can relate. It’s tough when your parents are always away.”

“I didn’t mind the travelling,” Lorelei continued. “My dad always brought back a new pokédoll for me, which made me feel like I had a new friend. What bothered me were the constant arguments between my parents whenever he was home. They reached a point where they didn’t even try to hide it anymore.”

“You mentioned blaming yourself for it?” Celeste asked softly.

“It’s easy to forget that the people around you make their own choices.” She glanced at Celeste, who blushed in response. “Anyway, I think I was around eight years old. My parents were arguing again, and I decided that if I became stronger and didn’t need them to take care of me, they would stop fighting. That’s when I went to the caves, slipped on the ice, and my Lapras, Fractal, saved me. We’ve been together ever since.” She paused, tilting her head. “Happy now?”

“Very,” Celeste grinned. “We’ve learned so much about each other, and look! You’ve gone a whole ten minutes without nervously tapping your feet.”

Topaz leaned in closer. “You’ve got me hooked, Red. So, what happened to your parents in the end? I mean, it’s pretty awful that neither of them visited you in jail.”

“They got a divorce,” Lorelei replied, leaning back against the wall. “And both of them are much better now. Dad moved to Celadon proper, and Mom started her own journey to become a trainer. She has a blog with tips for mature trainers that is surprisingly successful.”

“Okay, one more question.” Topaz placed a finger on her cheek. “Does your father working with teleport machines have anything to do with your aversion to teleporting?”

“You know the machines are only for pokéballs, right?” Lorelei muttered. “I was a pretty frail kid. I didn’t just wake up one day with perfect health. Things like that affect me easily.”

“Yeah, that tracks,” Topaz nodded and settled back against her Pokémon, finding a more comfortable position. “Your turn, Celeste.”

Celeste glanced at Lorelei, who was already beginning to look nervous again. “Okay, I’ve got tons of stories from when I was travelling with my parents.”

Lori peered at her, uncertain, but eventually gave a nod, signalling for Celeste to continue.

“Let’s go back about a year and a half ago to Snowpoint in Sinnoh,” Celeste began. “It was a chilly morning in February, and I found myself heading towards some mountains near the city. At that time, I hadn’t met Aria yet, and becoming a Pokémon trainer wasn’t on my mind. On that cold winter day, my focus was on something far more important: winning the junior snowboard championship.” Celeste flashed a wide grin, noticing her friends’ perplexed expressions. “Got your attention, huh?”

Topaz raised an eyebrow. “You can snowboard?”

“Uh-huh,” Celeste giggled. “Just not very well. I got eliminated in the very first round.”

“So, you’re sharing a story with no real payoff? Girl, you’re worse than Lorelei.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Celeste rebutted, sticking out her tongue.

“Real mature,” Topaz said, sticking out her own tongue in response.

“Alright, fine, I’ll give you the boring version,” Celeste relented. “My parents went to Snowpoint to do some research on a nearby temple. I wasn’t allowed anywhere near it and got bored pretty quickly. So, I decided to check out the snowboarding competition taking place in the mountains just outside the city. I got eliminated early, but I figured I could at least enjoy watching the rest of it.”

Topaz snuggled closer to her smeargle. “You know, the only thing that could make this interesting is if you tell me you met Grusha there or something.”

“Who?”

“Really? The seventeen-year-old snowboarding sensation?” Topaz brought her hands up in a very exaggerated motion. “Cover of the Aha! magazine last month?”

Celeste shook her head.

“And you dare say you are into snowboarding?”

“Aaanyway,” Celeste said, narrowing her eyes and speaking deliberately slowly, “can I get back to my actual story now?”

Topaz rolled her eyes. “If you insist.”

“Alright, let me tell you what happened,” Celeste began. “I stayed late to watch the competition, but by the time it ended, I had missed the last cable car back. So, I had no other choice but to spend the night in the only chalet that still had room for guests. It was a bit rundown, but the owner was super kind. Since there weren’t many people around, everyone gathered by the fire and shared stories.” She smiled as she gestured around. “It was like this, but warmer and with hot chocolate. Plus, an actual fire.”

Lorelei glanced outside again, prompting Celeste to clear her throat to regain her friend’s attention.

“There was this couple of skiers there with a story I’ve been thinking about a lot lately,” she continued, glad to have Lorelei’s focus again. “They had gone off-piste somewhere in Kanto and ended up getting really lost. After a while trying to get their bearings, they started to become overwhelmed by the cold and hunger.”

Topaz let out a chuckle, but quickly deflated. “That actually sounds pretty rough… and familiar.”

“It must’ve been...” Celeste mumbled. “But these guys were in a much worse spot than us. You see, they eventually found a shelter for the night, but they were still lost in the middle of the mountains.”

“If they’re telling the story, then they must have made it out,” Lorelei finally said, sounding impatient.

“Yes, but my point isn’t just that they survived. It’s how they did it,” Celeste explained, her voice filled with intrigue. “According to them, as dawn broke, they emerged from their shelter and glimpsed a radiant light in the distance. They cautiously approached, only to encounter a creature beyond belief. They described it as a breathtakingly beautiful sight. Its majestic blue wings were adorned with icy feathers that glistened like stars, and its tail danced around like a ribbon in the wind. But more than beauty, they said the creature had eyes as unyielding as the mountains and as treacherous as a blizzard.”

Celeste’s gaze remained fixed on Lorelei, who had suddenly become very still.

“Don’t leave us hanging now,” Topaz exclaimed. “What was the creature, and how did the skiers survive?”

“They mentioned it had a sort of crown on its head. After a while, it glowed, and the sky darkened. Then, a radiant river of green light appeared around them. They followed its path until they reached a nearby village.” Celeste shook her head slowly and continued in a whisper. “They couldn’t be certain of what they had encountered, but there are countless stories like theirs. Tales of a legendary bird said to dwell in the frigid mountains of Kanto. Sometimes a benevolent creature that guides doomed travellers to safety, sometimes a force of nature, ready to rain down its judgement.”

“Why are you bringing that up now?” Lorelei asked, shaken.

Celeste briefly glanced at Topaz before refocusing on her friend. “I couldn’t sleep while we waited last night, and that story came to mind. Figured it might be relevant,” she replied, attempting to sound unassuming. “You know, considering our current situation in this blizzard and all. Maybe there’s a bird nearby that could guide a couple of doomed girls to safety.”

Topaz chuckled. “Well, if I met something that scary, I’d run away.”

Lorelei resumed tapping her feet, her gaze fixed on Celeste.

She pursed her lips and leaned forward, her attention fixed right back on Lori. She didn’t even notice the Bibarel’s fur slipping from her shoulders and the cold seeping back in.

She wanted to see Lori’s reaction. Part of her hoped there’d be an answer there.

Celeste paused, taking a deep breath. “I want to help you out, you know? With the Lapras, the fridge-thing, and anything else that comes our way. What I don’t want is to be attacked by—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Celeste felt a sudden tackle on her stomach. Gasping for air, she looked down to find herself unable to breathe. The fur-ball that had leaped into her lap looked up at her with big watery eyes, showering her face with licks, accompanied by a series of barely coherent “Vees.”

“A-Aria?!”

She hugged her Eevee tightly.

Aria was there.

It felt like a missing part of her had finally come back.

“You’re here.” Tears welled up in Celeste’s eyes, her smile widening. “You’re really here!”

Celeste embraced Aria once more, holding her even tighter.

“Did I really get dragged on a hike in the middle of a blizzard for this?” To Celeste’s surprise, it was Rey’s annoyed voice that echoed from the cave entrance. “I’m going to get sick.”