The white fox flew towards me and I am not talking in a metaphorical way but it literally flew over the ground. A flurry of snow shot towards me like a miniature snowstorm with Snowflake at its center, her paws not even touching the ground as she crossed the distance.

Before Snowflake could reach me she was stopped cold in her tracks and yes, pun intended.

The Ninetales hung in the air in front of me, frozen in the same position she was in before. She was held in the air by an invisible force, it looked like a video that had been paused.

"Wow," I said in awe. "Damn that's a cool party trick."

"Party trick," Sabrina muttered, sounding slightly winded. Her eyes remained fixed on the Ninetales as she kept her hand raised at Snowflake.

Snowflake whined as she kept trying to escape from Sabrina's grasp but couldn't move more than a muscle. Ultimately, Snowflake retorted to giving me a sad look, something that should be illegal seeing how cute it was; all the big snowy fox wanted was to hug me, her gaze told me that much.

"I think she's just happy to see me." I told Sabrina.

"She just broke down an entire door in her excitement to reach you, imagine if she accidentally broke a bone in your body because she was too excited." Sabrina spoke calmly before turning to face Snowflake.

"Now Snowflake, when I release you, promise to approach him calmly, okay?"

Snowflake gave Sabrina an excited bark as an answer.

I kept watching the scene with great interest, wondering what was about to transpire.

"She likes you," Sabrina told me after she had Snowflake's agreement.

"Wow," I blinked, "How did you notice, are you some kind of psychic?"

Sabrina smiled menacingly and a second later Snowflake dropped to the ground, released from the psychic's hold.

A grin stretched out on Snowflake's face and I saw her muscles tense to prepare for another leap. Knowing that Snowflake hits like a truck, I acted fast and did the first thing that came to mind.

I took a quick step towards the Alolan Ninetales and petted her on the head.

The effect was immediately visible. Snowflake melted underneath my hand, she pressed her head against my palm as I petted her surprisingly soft fur.

The fox happily wagged her nine tails and a satisfied smile was drawn on her face.

I read somewhere that petting animals releases a hormone in your brain called dopamine, if I'm correct it's the same hormone that makes you enjoy things like food, compliments and sex, also it's fairly addictive.

Right now, I felt like I could keep petting Snowflake all day without ever needing to worry about silly things like food, water or sleep. I had the idea that Snowflake felt the same.

"Hhmm, Interesting." Sabrina watched me with big eyes. "You really are an anomaly."

"What?" I raised an eyebrow, "You never figured out you can pet her instead of using telekinesis?"

"Yes," Sabrina approached the white Ninetales slowly. "Except she doesn't act like this with anyone else."

She stretched her palm out towards Snowflake.

Snowflake zipped away from Sabrina like well… a fox and hid behind my back despite the obvious size difference.

"See that?" Sabrina looked at Snowflake. "She doesn't act this lovey-dovey with anyone, most of the time she just ignores others."

Snowflake softly nudged her head against my hand and looked at me with her big cute icy blue eyes.

I continued the holy duty known as petting the fox while at the same time trying to figure out what Sabrina was talking about.

"Since she saw you in the desert, she has been acting more lively than ever."

"Wait, she was the one with a hole in her chest?" I asked incredulously. My memories of the battle were a chaotic blend of violence and sounds, but I do recall seeing a Pokémon with a gaping hole. I gazed down at Snowflake. She looked physically fine, her fur did not even look dirty.

Sabrina nodded. "Yes, she had a hole in her chest this time, though she has since recovered and she's been ecstatic about your arrival."

"Huh, weird shit," I mused. "So whose Pokémon is she? I mean she's named Snowflake right?"

Wild Pokémon don't name themselves very often, it can happen but it is very rare because they don't feel the need to do that by nature.

"Actually she does not have an owner and we don't know why she is named Snowflake."

I stopped petting Snowflake, "What?"

Sabrina knelt down, purple flames flickered to life around her eyes.

"There are two things that make Snowflake very special, even amongst her own kind. First off, Snowflake is mute."

Snowflake barked excitedly and she began licking my hand.

"Duh."

Sabrina shook her head, "No you don't get it. She can not speak the human languages but she also doesn't have the ability to speak to other Pokémon. All the sounds she makesely are completely meaningless."

"Nine!" Snowflake wrapped two of her fluffy tails around my arm and brought it into the position to pet her head, I automatically began petting her head but with less enthusiasm.

"And there's nothing going on in her mind either, trust me I tried."

Sabrina sounded like she pitied her. "She does not have complex thoughts like other Pokémon do, only the simplest things like emotions and basic desires."

I stared at Snowflake who relished in the pleasure of being petted.

The Ninetales species is known to be really wise and smart. Would that be stereotyping? I guess in some sense she isn't too far off from a normal dog. It kind of made me feel sad, knowing how awesome it is to be fully sentient and to express my thoughts.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"For example, she is really happy to be petted by you," Sabrina said. "Right now that's all I can find inside her."

"Wow," I muttered.

"So you can imagine my surprise when a blindspot suddenly becomes the obsession of the local anomaly." Sabrina's eyes stopped glowing. "I mean, when we found her there, she had no memories to be found, the only thing we recovered from her shattered mind was what she called herself: Snowflake."

"That...sucks." I couldn't help but feel that this was some convention for tragic people and Pokémon. We had the girl with powers that ruined her life, the Ninetales that can not talk and the man out of time and universe. Somewhere in this all there was a joke only Fate could see.

"Well it wasn't me, I would never name an ice Ninetales Snowflake, sounds kinda dumb to me."

"I agree," Sabrina frowned, "It would be like naming a Ghost Pokémon Spooky."

We stayed silent for a few seconds, contemplating the current turn of events. Only Snowflake's happy panting stopped the silence from becoming unbearable.

"You said there was a second thing that made her special?" I got tired from standing up and decided to sit down on the floor.

Snowflake dropped down to the floor as well, her jaw was slightly hinged open and she closed her eyes while I decided to rub my hand along the length of her back.

Sabrina decided to sit on the floor as well and flicked a strand of hair that fell in front of her eyes out of the way. "Want to drink something first? Talking this much makes me feel thirsty."

A bottle of soda appeared in her hand and she opened it.

"Uhm, think you can get me some Muesli with yogurt? You guys have that?"

"Certainly," Sabrina smirked before closing her eyes to concentrate.

A cup of yogurt appeared before me on the floor with a white bowl next to it, already being filled with Muesli.

As I took the first bite I realized I hadn’t eaten anything in a while. My stomach churned. I steadily kept chewing.

"Doesn't she want something?" I asked, pointing at Snowflake's head.

"No, she isn't hungry." Sabrina said, her voice having a certain edge to it, like she was telling a riddle.

"Yip," Ninetales said, her eyes lazily closing.

"In fact, she doesn't even need to eat," Sabrina continued sinisterly.

"What? How?"

There are Pokémon who don't need to eat, mostly Ghost Pokémon but there are few more exceptions. The Pokémon that don't need to eat food probably get their energy from somewhere else, photosynthesis, energy from other planes of existence or even emotions.

Not sure how that works, it shouldn't be physically possible to eat emotions since they are just hormones but bullshit like that was the norm in this world.

"So does she consume life energy?" I asked, "Broken dreams or anything else creepy and abstract?"

Sabrina stared incredulously at me, like I said something outrageous. "What?! No of course not, that would be stupid. No, if she doesn't eat anything she'll die from starvation eventually, I think."

Now it was my turn to stare at her like she was the one who was crazy. She obviously was, but hey, we are all crazy down here.

"What do you know about the Ninetales species? Especially the Aloan variant?”

I wrenched my mental gears but I had never played Sun and Moon nor had I bothered to watch the anime that far.

"Uh, something about wizards, ancient powers in the tails and something involving ice?" I guessed.

"True, those are rumors but another well-known fact is that Ninetales can get incredibly old, some Ninetales can even get older than 1000 years."

"Oh that thing," I mused, "Yes, older Ninetales are more intelligent. They can speak and all that shizzle, though they often die before they can age that far up right?” I patted Snowflake on the nose, it felt good. "So how does that relate to this one?"

Sabrina gave me a smirk. "This one is immortal."

I watched for any signs of her making a joke for the first time but she was dead serious.

"You are serious aren't you?"

"Yes, completely serious. I could literally rip her heart out right now and she'll regenerate. Any damage inflicted will simply be reversed within time. Not just physical damage, Snowflake can survive and shrug off even fatal attacks like Destiny Bond without a hassle, she's even known to survive Celebi's Forest."

"Nineee." Snowflake nudged me again to start stroking her fur.

'How?" I muttered confused.

Legendary Pokémon were believed to be immortal as well but those are Legendaries, a whole other class on their own.

Sabrina shrugged, "We don't know, somehow she's able to restore her physical state to perfection, without any exceptions. It's what makes her a big anomaly, despite clearly not being a legendary Pokémon she appears to be practically immortal and the number of moves she has even suggests she is older than 1000 years."

She narrowed her eyes, "See the picture now? Why do you seem suspicious in my eyes?"

I nodded.

"So what is your explanation for this, Dust?"

"Well, Fate is playing her games," I grimaced. "Somehow this cutesy here likes me, I have no idea why and it seems that Snowflake can not answer that question either."

Sabrina stared at me but this time I was completely honest.

A sudden smile spread out on Sabrina's lips.

"Well, want to help me find out?" She asked with a sweet voice.

"Sure...?"

Why does it feel like I just activated a trap card?

Sabrina opened her hand and a red and white Pokéball appeared on her palm. She playfully balanced the Pokéball on the tip of her fingers, I suspected she was using her telekinetic powers to keep it still.

"They say a person's true nature shows through during a battle," Sabrina's dark-blue eyes were fixed on the Pokéball, "How about we hold a battle and show me what makes you tick, Dust?"

Was she for real?

I chuckled.

Sabrina raised an eyebrow at me, "What are you laughing about? Are you truly that arrogant?"

"Nope," I stopped chuckling. "However, I have to decline your challenge."

"What? But why!?" Sabrina's demeanor changed. Her arrogance dropped, "Surely you want to battle against me right? You do know that I am a Gymleader, right?"

I firmly shook my head. "You didn’t think I would actually accept your challenge right? I am not stupid, you are an experienced Gym leader and a Psychic so actually beating you would not be realistic at all, and even more important. I have this feeling you won't be holding back a lot and since my Pokémon will take the brunt of your frustration. I believe it would be stupid to say yes."

"Nineee." Ninetales barked randomly.

Sabrina threw her hands up. "You are impossible!"

She groaned something I couldn't quite make out, but it sounded a lot like a curse to me.

A black translucent figure with a smokey body appeared behind Sabrina suddenly, slowly shifting into existence. It did not seem to lock eyes with her at all, she remained motionless as Gengar whispered something in her ear.

The creature shot me a final grin before fading away into nothingness.

At the same time, an evil smile appeared on Sabrina's face.

"Fine, I'll do you one better, you are probably aware that I am a Gym Leader in Kanto. However, even though I am with the Hunt right now, I still have the right and privilege to hand out badges."

Sabrina smiled as a shiny Marsh Badge appeared in her hand. "Let's make it a Gym Battle, I'll even promise I won't use Gengar."

The Gym Badge? It was worthless. A Kanto badge only gives you privileges in Kanto, not in Sinnoh. At best it would just give you bragging rights and why would I want something that had only imaginary value?

Because it was shiny and cool and definitely something to hold over Chelsea's and Barry's head.

"And if you beat me I'll even teach your Kirlia a neat trick," Sabrina tilted her head, "Being a Psychic I can definitely teach her one very quick."

I did not give her an answer, I wanted to say no but I felt drawn to her offer.

"If you want even more convincing arguments," Sabrina pointed her thumb behind her. "Blink is starting to get annoyed by our presence."

She pointed at the Slowking that stood in the corner. To be honest, I had totally forgotten about the pink Pokémon.

I stared at it and at that moment two soulless eyes stared back at me.

Blink had not even moved an inch but the pupils of his eyes were now fixed at me.

A cold shiver ran over my body.

"So what do you say?"

Blink kept staring, not blinking or moving. Just silently watching.

I swallowed, "Sure, let's do that."

Sabrina smirked evilly.