Chapter 49: Winter Blues - Part I

Two Jynx, a Lapras and a Snom walk to a spring…

To Celeste, that sounded a lot like the start of a joke—but a poor tasting one, at best. Much as she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to laugh at this point.

“Come on, Polaris!” Rey’s voice thundered again, but the legendary bird of ice wouldn’t come to him. Instead, it—no, not it—he would swoop down or circle in a little closer.

Did he want to attack? Or to be with the one he thought was Oliver? Were they even right about this?

The wind picked up, as turbulent as Articuno’s emotions. Beside Celeste, the other Pokémon cowered.

Once upon a time, two Jynx, a Lapras and a Snom arrived at a magical spring…

Instead of a joke, it could be the beginning of an adventure. Perhaps even a fairy tale? When Celeste found them, the two Jynx had been protecting the Snom from the then drugged Lapras. That was their call to action. From there, the unlikely group of heroes would fight all odds and slay all the dragons until the credits rolled.

… and they lived happily ever after. The end.

Oh, how Celeste loved the simplicity of fairy tales. There was good and there was evil, and there were dragons to slay.

The Lapras behind her let out a panicky shout, and Celeste felt her feet slipping on the ground. The two Jynx were hugging one another, and the little Snom was—

“Powder, catch,” she yelled, as the bug got picked up by the mounting gusts. Her Vulpix didn’t hesitate, and once she jumped, Celeste was right behind to grab them both.

They fell down in the snow together, but the wind kept pushing them back. Whether from confusion or something else, Articuno was clearly losing hold of himself. He might not be actively attacking them yet, but the wind was just as bad.

At one o’clock, in a dark November afternoon, two Jynx, a Snom and a Lapras met by a spring.

Maybe that would be more accurate. The time and atmosphere were set, so that a mystery could unfold. A being like Articuno was not simple enough to be a dragon in a fairy tale, after all. He was ice… Celeste had decided back when she first laid eyes on him. A fact of nature could not be slain, but it could be understood—unraveled like a… well, like a mystery.

The daughter of two academics would know that much.

“Rey, this is not working…” Celeste said, but her friend kept insisting Polaris would calm down if they just talked.

If, being the important word. Despite Rey having the tact of a Rhyhorn, Celeste believed he could reach Articuno’s heart. It was undeniable there was a connection between them (or between Articuno and Oliver Silverwind, but that was beside the point). The problem was that the bird refused to come closer, and calling out to him was only making things worse.

So, what did she understand from that?

Articuno was in pain, and getting more agitated by the second. He would not listen to them. Their plan was not working.

“Can either of you create a barrier?” Celeste, now barely holding on to the ground, asked the Jynx.

If the plan wasn’t working, you tweak it. Simple enough, she just needed some space to think and figure things out. After all, Celeste was great at plans… right?

The Jynx didn’t even bother looking. Psychics they might be, but communication was hard. Harder even when they were terrified of the Pokémon who used to protect them.

Celeste opened her coat and made both Powder and the snom jump in. She quickly closed it and, once she secured them to herself, she grabbed a nearby rock with all her might. Even like that, it was getting hard not to be blown away.

She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. How else could she frame this?

Articuno’s Spring, November. Two Jynx, a Snom and a Lapras meet.

That’s not it.

Dark clouds cast their long shadows over the spring when two Jynx, a Snom and a Lapras arrived.

Still no… and her fingers were slipping.

“Can you do a barrier?” Celeste turned to the Lapras, but he cried out a resounding no.

Two Jynx, who didn’t talk human, a Lapras, who couldn’t use Protect and a Snom, that wouldn’t have been helpful in that situation anyway, walk to a spring.

That wouldn’t do either.

Suddenly, Celeste felt her hair falling back down over her shoulders. The force of the winds pushing her vanished, and breathing became easier.

She blinked.

The hail and rubble that had been swirling around were still doing so, but instead of pelting her body, they were bouncing off some invisible dome.

Had the Jynx put up a barrier?

No, the two psychics were still shaking in their own corner.

“Are you okay?” A voice from behind asked, prompting an immediate smile from Celeste.

That was exactly what she needed.

Seeking a magic wizard to help them, two Jynx, a Snom and a Lapras arrive at a spring.

“Better now you are here, Luan,” she said, feeling the satisfaction of an idea blooming.

Now on to the next sentence.

—*——*—

“What the fuck?” Rey snarled, finally tearing his eyes away from Articuno.

Celeste instinctively backed off, raising her arms defensively.

Seeing Luan there was a relief, truly. His usual beanie was missing, and his dark, wet curls hung over his eyes. He was a mess, with blood on his clothes, but thankfully, he didn’t look hurt.

“Luan…?” she managed to say.

She was also thankful for her friend’s Lunatone and Munna. Their psychic powers were creating a protective shield against Articuno’s winds. And his Hoothoot had already got herself busy with explaining to Jynx how they could provide some much needed help.

It was quite amazing that his entire team was still standing after all they’ve been through.

Rey wasn’t letting up, though. “You better have a fucking great explanation for having him with you.”

‘Him’, or, more specifically, Ryder, was in rough shape. He was limping, blood trickling down his head, his eyes barely focusing. Luan was propping him up, while his backpack slipped off his shoulders, revealing the Zubat that still slept inside.

Luan started to explain himself, clearly on edge, as Ryder lifted his head, maybe trying to object.

He saw Celeste then.

Despite Powder immediately wriggling herself back to the ground and getting in front of her trainer, ice shards ready to cut through the air, he laughed. His teeth were bloodied, and his eyes red.

“Once I saw a little bird; Come hop, hop, hop,” the poacher hummed some eerie little rhyme, making Luan visibly cringe. He patted Ryder’s back, trying to be reassuring, and helped him sit on a rock. The same one Celeste had been gripping earlier.

“So I cried, ‘Little bird; Will you stop, stop, stop?’” he continued, with a laugh almost as chilling as the ice around them.

Above them, Articuno’s screech sliced through the air

Ryder’s voice dropped to a murmur. “Once I saw a little bird… hop, hop… hop,” he hummed, his head hanging low.

Luan faced his friends, biting his lip. “He was like this when I found him.”

Rey’s sceptical eyebrow arching did nothing to ease the other boy’s nerves.

“I, uh, got dragged away by Rev and Lulu when Articuno started attacking,” Luan stumbled through his story. “When things calmed down, I went back for you guys but found Ryder instead… I really wanted to leave… I just…”

Rey shrugged. “You’re as bad as Celeste.” He turned back to the legendary bird, muttering something about how she was messing with their sanity, then shouted, “Polaris, up for a conversation now?”

Celeste let out a heavy sigh. Ryder’s nonsensical humming continued, and Luan tensed up.

“Why didn’t you leave?” she asked her friend, her tone soft. “I mean, not Ryder. I get not wanting to have… him… weighing on your conscience. But why stay here? Why not take him to a hospital, away from all this craziness?”

Luan hesitated, then shook his head, cutting himself off. “I really wanted to find a way out, honestly. But I kept thinking about what you said in the woods. How you needed barriers. How you needed me.” He offered a small, self-conscious smile. “Silly, right? You’ve even found some Jynx to help you out and everything. But I felt… like I had to be here.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s not silly,” Celeste smiled. “Actually, you gave me an idea—”

Her words were cut off by Articuno’s shriek, startling everyone, especially Ryder, who jerked upright.

He clapped his hands over his ears, his voice growing louder. “Once I saw a little bird; Come hop, hop, hop.”

At that moment, their barrier rattled.

“We have a problem,” Rey muttered, his gaze going up as he took small steps backward.

Celeste slowly mirrored her friend. The legendary’s eyes were narrow slits of rage, focused intently on Ryder, and his tail whipped with the powerful wind.

The poacher met the legendary bird’s gaze, grinning a bloodied smile. “So I cried, ‘Little bird’…”

Celeste’s voice was anxious. “Can our barrier hold?”

Articuno was gathering energy, ice spikes inching their way towards them.

Luan glanced around frantically. “M-Maybe… if Articuno goes easy on us?”

“Polaris, please…” Rey’s voice was almost a whisper. Ice started to creep over their barrier, the temperature inside plummeting.

Ryder’s laughter filled the air again. Pointing at the bird, he repeated, “Will you stop, stop, stop?”

Then, Articuno let out a cry.

—*——*—

Celeste’s breath fogged in the air. Ice crept up their psychic barrier, weaving intricate patterns like vines on a tree. Threads, just as the ones bandaging her arm, began to form and divide. Each new branch repeating the same pattern over and over.

Fractals. Chaos made into order, solidified into… does it even matter?

Articuno might have been hesitant to attack Rey, but, in the end, they—not just Ryder, but all of them—were the reason for his pain. You didn’t need to be stillness to desire for the storm in your heart to be quelled.

Celeste felt her eyes heavy.

The frosty spikes kept growing, inching closer with a cold, relentless pace. Ryder’s unsettling laughter was a constant background noise, and Rey responded to him by clenching his fists, ready for a fight.

Luan stepped between them, but a sharp cry escaped him as a shard of ice struck his shoulder, spreading its frost just as quickly.

Rey’s response was a cold mutter, “Serves you right,” as he watched the Hoothoot swiftly knock the ice off with an Air Slash.

“Cee, you said you had an idea?” Luan asked, rubbing his shoulder.

“The plan is to talk to Polaris,” Rey spat, his patience running out.

Celeste pursed her lips. “But shouting is not working, is it?”

“He’s hearing me.”

“He’s not listening, though,” she insisted. “And most importantly, he’s not calming down. I say we try putting Articuno to sleep. I doubt we’ll be able to, but maybe calm him a little? With Luan’s Pokémon, the Jynx and the Lapras, we have five who can use some sleeping move. Six if Pat’s woken up—”

“You want to attack Polaris?” Rey scoffed, wrapping his arms around himself to ward off the cold. “Fucking brilliant. That’ll definitely not backfire.”

“Do you have any better idea?” Celeste muttered. Her eyes were really heavy.

“I do.” The young Silverwind turned around, looking for an opening on the walls of their icy prison. “Hey, Polaris,” he shouted again, his voice quivering. “Stop playing around and come talk.”

Articuno didn’t even bother screeching in response this time. Within seconds, ice encased their barrier completely, spikes inching dangerously close.

Ryder’s laughter slowed, his lips turning blue. Luan, frantic, shoved the Zubat’s backpack into his arms, shaking him. The poacher had all but stopped humming, but the odd word still came out of his mouth. “Hop… stop,” he mumbled incoherently.

Luan could only stutter. “G-Guys, there really isn’t time f-for arguing!” His teeth chattered loudly. Nervous or cold, he wasn’t doing well. “Let’s g-go with this sleeping plan. My Munna can help by using D-dream Mist…. I-I think.”

Darkness closed in around them, the ice layers thickening as the cold bit deeper.

Shivering was slowly giving way to numbness, and Celeste’s eyes were so damn heavy. She remembered a movie she’d watched with her dad. One of those action-packed “surviving a disaster” stories, where a few people were trapped in a tunnel and needed to escape.

“Hypothermia,” the main character explained to the leading lady. “It’s when your body loses heat and shuts down. When your body is getting tired, really, you’re getting dead.”

Shit.

“Powder… need warmth,” she murmured, but her Vulpix was focused on rallying the other Ice-types. The barks that ensued were loud and commanding, and a pale blue aura began emanating from her body.

Celeste’s head was light. Part of her wanted to sit for a bit. Maybe she could lay down on the soft snow and close her eyes for a quick—

No. No, no. She had to stay awake.

“Rev’s b-been feeding on that Zub-b-bat… the whole day,” she heard Luan say. He’d been talking about Dream Mist. Apparently, that was something his Munna used for hunting, and he was explaining how it was theoretically possible to induce a shared dream state… or something like that. “… I-It w-will be easier to talk to A-Articuno in its dreams…”

“…theoretically?” Rey asked.

“W-we’ve n-never done a-anything like that before.” Luan admitted.

After a few blinks, Celeste’s eyes moved to the backpack Ryder had in his arms and the Pokémon that lay inside. She felt way too slow…

What were the symptoms of hypothermia again?

“Feeding on the Zubat?” she cut in, her voice weak.

Rey, his hair now speckled with ice, groaned. “We need to break free first,” he insisted. “Let’s drop the barrier.”

“And l-let the ice crush us?” Luan countered, his body trembling.

“I’ll make Polaris listen,” Rey persisted. “Let’s give him the half-dead poacher as a sign of friendship. That ought to do it.”

“N-No! The Dream M-Mist will work!”

Celeste’s consciousness wavered, and she felt the voices getting more distant. Her fingers were stiff and unresponsive. Even her eyes were reluctant to move.

She wasn’t dead yet, though.

Her attention turned back to Powder and the other ice-types. They all had that pale blue aura around them… and the creeping ice wasn’t growing anymore.

Celeste knew this.

Back when she first arrived at Four Island, Olga took them to train inside her freezer. Control the temperature had been the exercise. Powder was supposed to keep temperatures from rising at the time, but (at least up to a point) they should be able to keep them from falling any more.

With a blink, Celeste tried to find the will to stay alert. The boys had turned towards her, their faces suddenly more worried. Their mouths moved, words seemingly aimed at her, but everything was blurred.

“You look just as bad as I do,” she answered. Or maybe she just thought of an answer. Things would get clear if she just closed her eyes for just a—

No.

With great effort, she reached for Pat’s pokéball, her fingers quivering. Should she even release him in such an environment? Were pokéballs warm and comfy inside? Would he even be awake?

Powder’s sharp bark snapped her back to the pressing reality. The Pokémon were straining against the cold, but they kept holding it off.

Blinking harder, Celeste puffed a breath out, trying to rally her fading strength. Then… warmth enveloped her.

It was comforting.

Luan and Rey had wrapped their arms around her shoulders, their body heat a stark contrast to the cold. Even their Pokémon, including the hoothoot and capsakid, huddled close, sharing whatever warmth they could offer.

“No more arguing,” Rey said, tightening his hug.

Luan’s nod was decisive, his gaze flickering between Celeste and Ryder. “We’re getting out of this together,” he declared, his voice shaking.

They felt way warmer than they should.

“Guys…” Celeste said, regaining some strength. “Let’s… drop the barrier.”

—*——*—

With a tinge of hypothermia and in less than two minutes, Celeste and her friends hashed out what to do.

She was good with plans, after all.

“Lulu, Rev” Luan called, nodding to his psychics. Celeste followed his lead by locking eyes with Powder. You all get ready, she meant to say. There was no need to waste energy with actual words, though. Powder knew what to do.

Rey was tense beside her, his breath warm against her cheek as she drew in a deep breath of her own. They all clung to each other, bracing for what was to come.

“Now,” Rey didn’t shout this time, yet his voice was steady and commanding.

With a whoosh, their barrier vanished, leaving them exposed to the bone-chilling cold. The ice, now unsupported, should have collapsed, but it held firm, menacingly creeping closer.

The Pokémon were prepared, however.

Without as much as a command, the Hoothoot started slicing through the ice with sharp Air Slashes. Capsakid joined in, flinging tiny, sharp leaves from its body, adding to the onslaught. They were just the first line of attack, however.

The ground beneath them began to rumble, and the snow shifted.

Lulu was at work.

Within moments, large rocks emerged, and the Lunatone wasted no time in hurling them towards the ice dome. Rock after rock collided with the walls, breaking chunks of the structure. It was not enough, however. Only when the cracks had doubled in size, the ice Pokémon got back into action.

Powder took the lead, letting out a shrill cry. Together, they all pushed against the icy walls, their combined strength widening the cracks further. Ice shards flew around them, but Celeste couldn’t help but smile.

Powder had grown so much. They all had.

Summoning her last reserves of energy, the Vulpix leaped into Celeste’s arms. Sluggish she might’ve been, but Celeste’s arms would never fail to catch any of her Pokémon.

As the trainer’s fingers met the soft fur, the ice structure around them gave way. Powder’s body radiated a pale blue aura, erupting in a final explosion. It was like a supercharged Ice Shard, sending every chunk of ice away like shrapnel.

Luan’s and Rey’s arms were still around her when the little Vulpix let her head fall down on Celeste’s chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered softly. There was no more fight left in Powder, but this time, Celeste knew she had to ask. “Do… you want to go back? To your ball?” The words felt heavy, almost reluctant to leave her lips.

There was no hesitation in her Pokémon’s eyes, though. No, of course not. Pat was probably still asleep, and Aria was knocked out. Powder would never leave her human to face this on her own.

They’d tough things up together.

Celeste let out a long-held breath, lighter now that they were free from the ice. She raised her eyes to Articuno, hovering above them, his glare shifting between Ryder and, unsettlingly enough, her.

Immediately ignoring their plan, Rey tried to call out for the legendary again. No amount of resolve could mask the desperation in his voice. Meanwhile, Luan hurried to his Pokémon. His Hoothoot was trying to peck away the growing shards of ice creeping up on his legs and arms, but Luan’s focus shifted to his Lunatone and Munna.

The Rock-type had no muscles or any structure in their body that allowed expression, yet the deep red eyes protruding from holes on each side of their head had taken a darker tone.

On the Lunatone’s signal, the Lapras and the Jynx started to sing.

The air reverberated with the same hunting sound Celeste’d heard all those weeks ago when she first met the Lapras herd with Lori. There was something different about the song this time, however. The notes were lower and shorter. In the background, the Jynx hummed a familiar lullaby. Their pitch seemed dissonant from the Lapras, and their tempo, though nurturing at first, was filled with more.

More emotion. More power.

Luan held his Munna, now swelling like a balloon, as Articuno’s winds intensified in response to their efforts.

Lulu placed themselves by the Lapras, and a psychic energy came off them. Together with the Hypnosis, the Ice-type’s song moved up in a crescendo, and the waters around the Lapras reacted to their notes. The spring surface swayed into growing waves, rising and falling in a dance that challenged the fury of the wind.

Celeste’s heart raced with the tempo. It was as if she could hear their pleas in those notes as they became louder and angrier.

How could their protector destroy their haven like that? The Jynx sang.

With a puff of his Munna, Luan stumbled back, almost falling down on Ryder. From a small hole in his head, the psychic began expelling his strange pink mist.

The singing Pokémon felt betrayed, their pitch higher. Articuno was their king, and they were meant to celebrate another year of peace. The waves crashed, and the song soared.

Yet, despite the swirling emotions, Celeste’s eyes were heavy. This time, unbearably so. She knew she should not fall asleep, but from the moment she came up with this plan, she also knew she wouldn’t be able to resist.

It was ironic, really.

She shook her head, trying to clear it as the Dream Mist got thicker around them.

The music reached a peak, filled with a kind of raw honesty. The Pokémon were begging in their song, asking to be heard, to be understood. And then, like a whisper, the melody softened.

In front of them, Articuno started to slow down. His wings weren’t beating so fiercely anymore, and the howling wind calmed down. The bird’s glare wasn’t peaceful, but it looked like he was finally giving in, with eyes closing at last.

Celeste looked around. The pink mist rolled by, making everything seem like a dream.

And when she blinked, a dream it became.