PARAGON

  Hisui Incursion Arc [17]

  Chapter 69 : Hell

  When Akari opened her eyes, all she could see was gray and white. A flurry of snow blew across her vision, burning her eyes, and she cmped them closed on instinct. But a second ter, as ice water ran down her neck beneath her clothes, her eyes snapped open again and she bolted up, sucking in an invigorating breath. Her body felt stiff and she noticed her coat was crusted in a thin yer of ice.

  As she sucked in oxygen greedily, she blinked rapidly, trying to restore her biological faculties. With the amount of ice on her, she must have been out for a decent length of time. Luckily, her gloves and boots were still on so frostbite didn’t seem likely, but her face felt cold and she covered it with her hands as she thought.

  What happened?

  How long was I out?

  Where are…?

  Her stomach turned and she shifted onto her feet. Snow streamed across her as far as she could see, with only the vague outline of hills and the silhouettes of lonely evergreens in the distance.

  She was alone.

  She took one step forward, then another, then stopped. Turning, she looked around the spot where she’d just been ying, but only the depression in the snow she’d left broke the snowy monotony. She spun back around, hoping she’d see someone, anyone, but there was still no one. Surely she was just missing them. She was groggy still, after all. But no matter which direction she looked and how meticulous her search was, none of her friends availed themselves to her. Her bag was also missing.

  Panic began to rise and her breath came out in cloudy puffs. “Rei…,” she mumbled. “R-Rei!” she screamed, her voice breaking. If he were near, he’d hear her and come.

  But he did not appear either.

  Akari sniffled, but who knew whether that was to stop tears from falling or because of the frigid ndscape. She almost yelled again, but caught herself just before the sound left her throat.

  These were the Abaster Icends. Yelling and screaming would invite a predator soon enough.

  Upon that realization, Akari felt up her belt. Horror billowed up from within her.

  She only had two of her pokéballs: Cranidos and Staravia’s. Her breathing now closer to panting, she fumbled Cranidos’ off her belt and clicked the release, and he appeared in a muted fsh.

  “C-Cranidos…,” she stammered. “Help me find Sneasel.” She knelt down and started pawing at the snow. “H-Help… She has to be here somewhere.”

  Cranidos simply stared at her, then looked around. As Akari frantically dug through the snow around her depression, Cranidos trod around the area, never straying too far from her.

  No, no, no, no… Akari crawled across the ground, shoveling aside as much snow as she could. Yet like her friends, the missing pokéball remained elusive. Please… Please…! Please!

  Why was this happening?

  Last she recalled, they were all in high spirits after getting through Mount Coronet and were on track to reach the Pearl Settlement within the week. Her and Rei’s pokémon had both become loads stronger after Sabrina’s training began, and according to Riley and Ash, they both had evolutions to look forward to in the near future.

  So why?

  It’d all happened so fast. For some reason, they found Volo, and then…

  Akari had never known her parents, yet Volo’s betrayal felt like she’d been stabbed in the back by one of them. For as long as she’d known him, he’d just been the friendly merchant of Hisui, always ready to flick her a berry or two when no one was looking. But all of that had been a lie. He was evil. He didn’t care one bit about Hisui’s wellbeing. In fact, he seemed like he may have been personally responsible for unleashing the scourge of Alpha Pokémon that pgued Hisui right now.

  The emotions in Akari were so overwhelming she didn’t even know how to describe them. Anger? Despair? Pain? Betrayal? It didn’t even feel real. Not Volo’s true character and not her current predicament either.

  With the formerly pristine ground now ruined from her frantic searching, Akari stopped and slumped back, staring at the pockmarked snow in defeat. Sneasel was gone. She started to shake and her breathing came out in uncontrolble bursts.

  Before a tear could fall, Cranidos’ head brushed hers and he released a low grunt. Akari turned and met his stoic gaze. His stone skin provided no warmth yet his presence soothed her infmed emotions, and she rubbed her eyes furiously with her sleeve. She would not let this predicament defeat her. She could not.

  If she was alone, perhaps that meant the others were too, but they couldn’t be too far, right? She needed to find them before hunger took her, or worse, the hunger of the Icends’ wilds took her. And looking at things optimistically, at least she had pokémon to protect her, ill-suited as they were for a blizzard like this.

  Yura.

  And the Professor.

  She needed to find them as soon as possible.

  With a clearer head, she elected to move on. There were three possible fates for Sneasel. If she’d been released in the chaos, then she was strong enough to survive on her own in this climate. She could defend herself, and even she’d know to flee from any wilds she couldn’t defeat on her own. If she was still confined in her pokéball but had ended up near one of the others, then Akari trusted whoever it was to find her and pick her up. And the worst possibility: if she was still confined to her pokéball and said pokéball was missing amidst the snow on its own, then she should be safe for now, and Akari could return with the others to look for her once she found them. Surely Sabrina, Riley, or Ash had some mystical trick up their sleeves to ease the search.

  Pulling out Cranidos’ pokéball, Akari recalled her partner and repced him on her belt. Although she would’ve liked to keep him out if for no other reason than staving off her loneliness, he’d only tire himself out needlessly. She had no idea how long she’d remain separated from the others, or how long it’d be still until she found some source of food, and maintaining Cranidos’ health was her only ward against any potential wild pokémon.

  Staravia would not fare well in this blizzard.

  Wait…

  Blizzard…?

  Akari stared up at the blustering snow and frowned. It wasn’t snowing when we faced Volo… There wasn’t a cloud in the sky… It certainly didn’t look like it was about to snow… The skies above were a frosty white, so ft that it was impossible for her to tell what time of day it was.

  We encountered Volo in mid-morning. Assuming I wasn’t out that long, it’s probably about noon now. Which means I should have plenty of time to find shelter before it starts to get dark, maybe six or seven hours. Akari’s frown deepened as the snow continued to whip over her face. This blizzard looks natural enough… It doesn’t look like the result of a pokémon attack or ability. Though with the Alpha Pokémon walking around, she could’ve been dead wrong. However, she elected to trust her instincts and determined that this was a natural blizzard.

  That means… Akari felt her stomach turn weightless at the realization.

  It meant she was in a completely different part of the Icends now.

  This time, her confusion outweighed her fear. She repyed everything she could remember up until she passed out. Staravia had distracted Avalugg long enough for Growlithe to fire a Fmethrower into its mouth. Riley felled it with a single punch after that. And after it fell over…Ash and Volo looked like they were about to csh… Then there was…that. Akari shivered upon remembering it. A giant tornado of darkness… Here was where her memory started to taper off. The st thing she could remember was the abject fear she’d felt upon seeing it. She’d run toward Rei… She was pretty sure of that. It sounded like her too. But then…?

  Since she was alive and uninjured, surely that meant Volo hadn’t won, right? He’d talked callously enough about murdering them all; since he hadn’t, did that mean Ash won?

  Akari furrowed her brows and shook her head. Those were details for ter. For now, she needed to find out where the hell in the Icends she was. At the very least, she could say something had gone awry and their group had been completely scattered. Maybe she should count herself lucky that she’d escaped Volo’s clutches, however it’d happened.

  But it was as Rei had bluntly said a couple days ago. Navigation was easy in the Icends, unless there was a blizzard. The Professor took charge of navigation, but Akari had studied the map of Hisui enough to know about the main ndmarks of the Abaster Icends: Icepeak Arena, the Icebound Falls, Lake Acuity, and of course, Avalugg’s Legacy.

  Given the total ck of identifiable ndmarks through the blizzard, Akari had no choice but to continue in one direction until it let up and she got a better sense of the surrounding area. She had time at least, and confidence in her pokémon, that she could defeat or escape from any wilds that took interest in scrawny little her. For now, she’d keep her eyes peeled for her friends and reassess once she was out of the blizzard or the sun started to go down, whichever came first.

  With a pn in pce to straighten her mind, Akari set off, the wind and snow buffeting against her as she hiked. The cold was harsh and she could feel it seeping beneath her clothes but it was the least of her worries. This wasn’t the first time she’d braved winter in the Icends, and hopefully, it wouldn’t be the st. She fully intended on surviving this and continuing her tenure in the Survey Corps.

  But Volo… What in the world did he want, and how far would he be willing to go to get it? For a certainty, he coveted the Ash’s Pte of Arceus, but to what end? If he’d somehow snatched them from out of the future in order to get it, what else would he be willing to do to wrest it from Ash? At this point, it felt like all of Hisui was in danger. The Alpha Pokémon were just the beginning, a mere byproduct of Volo’s machinations. Tools for him to use, if he actually was responsible for sending that Unown after them.

  Would the Survey Corps even exist when Volo was finished? Would Hisui?

  I mean…Ash and the others are from a future where it doesn’t seem like anything terrible happened to Hisui, so maybe? But with time travel involved, Akari really had no idea, and she wasn’t nearly optimistic enough to assume that everything would turn out fine just because Ash and the others came from a future where it seemed like they did. At the very least, Volo was a rogue element. They’d been completely caught off guard by him.

  The Ptes of Arceus…

  Akari hadn’t thought too much of it when Riley had first expined it. She’d just considered the Ptes to be in the same category as the Aura Guardians: mysterious existences that she didn’t have to concern herself with.

  Yet clearly these Ptes demanded her attention. If they’re called the Ptes of Arceus, does that mean Arceus is actually real? No, surely they’re just named after him. But then again, given what Volo can do, and Ash himself…

  Somehow, she just revived the long-dead debate of Father Sinnoh’s true identity in her head. The Diamond Cn thought it was a pokémon called Dialga and the Pearl Cn thought it was a pokémon called Palkia. But it was the Jubilife Church who said it was Arceus…

  So they were right, then?

  Yay… Akari wiped the snow from her face and forced herself onward. Who cares anyway?! All she knew was that the Ptes were extremely dangerous, and in the wrong hands, it could spell the end of Hisui. Volo’s calcuted malice was far more terrifying than the bestial carnage of the Alpha Pokémon.

  As she continued forward, the blizzard only seemed to worsen and the snow became deeper, making her trek increasingly difficult. She began to become conscious of the burn of exertion in her legs, not for the discomfort it caused, but because she was starting to worry about how much further she could realistically go before she had to stop. And she’d need her strength if she encountered a wild and had to run away.

  However, her mounting fatigue did not deter her relentless search for her friends and she swept her gaze over the stormy ndscape, looking for anything that looked out of the ordinary, any slight disturbance in the snow. Since she was up and moving, the others may have had the same thoughts as her and set off. If that was the case, she prayed she’d find their tracks before the snow filled them in.

  As she walked, Akari periodically bent down and scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it back into her mouth. The cold was surprisingly invigorating but the thought that she was keeping herself hydrated was a meager soce. If she could find a river, she might be able to whip up a shoddy fishing rod and catch some Magikarp to solve her food problem. She wasn’t even going to bother hoping she’d find a frozen berry bush in this wastend; that’d just be greedy. However, she was hoping she’d find a cave or something to shelter in. Even a boulder would be nice so she could chip off some flint to start a fire ter.

  Though she’d tried to keep her thoughts from wandering to anything too morbid, Akari couldn’t help but pray for Yura’s safety. If that girl was stranded like she’d been…

  No, no, no.

  She’d be fine.

  Yura should have had Shieldon with her, at the very least. And she was nothing if not a survivor; her long journey to the Sanctuary and then the life she’d maintained after had proven that.

  Rei would be fine no matter what. Somehow Akari just knew that. If she was trudging along without incident, then he definitely was as well. Most likely, he’d reach the Pearl Settlement before her and have something snarky to say once she rolled in after.

  Akari couldn’t wait.

  She could feel her entire body getting heavier, from her limbs to her eyelids, as she trudged across the snowy pin. She never stopped scanning the snow’s surface for her friends, but it was becoming painfully obvious that she would not be able to keep this up until sundown. She didn’t even know where she was going. The terrain had changed little since she set off. The trees peppering the ftnd before her had gotten slightly less sparse, and she found herself pushing toward them unconsciously.

  Though determining anything for certain was impossible through the blizzard, she seemed to still be on Avalugg’s Legacy somewhere. She wasn’t aware of any other region of the Abaster Icends that had such sprawling ftnd. However, wherever she was now cked the Legacy’s characteristic scattering of boulders and gcial towers. It also wasn’t known for its trees, so heading toward a possible woodnd area would provide a greater chance of shelter and food, and an escape from the blizzard. Priority one was figuring out where she was. As long as she could do that, she was confident she could reorient herself back toward the Pearl Settlement.

  The next hour, or at least it felt like it to her, sent Akari over a series of hills of increasing steepness. Despite the fact that each one devoured a sizable portion of her precious stamina, she was thankful for the change in terrain. If all her walking had only resulted in more of the same, that would’ve been far more demoralizing. However, the snow was getting deeper and harder to traverse due to the unrelenting blizzard. With how much snow had fallen since Akari awoke, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it had already covered any potential clues for her friends’ whereabouts. Nonetheless, she kept her reddening eyes peeled as best she could.

  She realized what was happening half a second before it happened. The moment her right foot came down, the ground beneath her cracked and shattered, and then her foot kept going, plunging down into ice-cold water. Akari cursed as her entire body buckled. She caught herself and tore her leg out of the frozen river as fast as she could, swinging back onto what she believed was solid ground.

  The entire ordeal happened in a second and she was left panting, adrenaline firing through her system from the sudden shock. As she calmed down, Akari stared at the nearly perfect hole in the ice her leg had created. Dark water sloshed just below and she cursed herself for not noticing it. Perhaps if she weren’t so exhausted or she’d been paying more attention to what was right in front of her, she’d have noticed she was stepping atop a frozen river whose surface had long been covered by a yer of snow thick enough to hide itself yet not thick enough to support her weight.

  Akari wiggled the toes on her right foot but she could not feel them. She squeezed her soaked thigh, but her leg had no feeling either. The cold had caused it to go numb. Actually, there was a feeling there: a ncing pain that felt like her blood had turned to ice in her veins and had expanded as water does when frozen. Her face wrinkled as she tried to alleviate it by repeatedly flexing the muscles in her leg, but it didn’t help.

  So now, over the course of one second, she’d ruined everything.

  Why.

  Why did this have to happen.

  Akari slumped back, ying in the snow, the blizzard kissing her freezing face.

  How was she to warm her soaked leg in a pce like this? How long until she’d start losing toes to frostbite? Or her entire leg?

  She stared across the frozen river and hated herself for not seeing it. It was so small too. She could’ve easily jumped across to the other side if she’d seen it. In another world, she was still trudging along through the blizzard, this damned river far behind her.

  But this was reality. She was stopped, with an ice-cold leg, her clothes soaked, and no bearing on how to continue.

  Were her tear ducts frozen? She wanted to cry but she couldn’t even do that, it seemed.

  Her whole body began to shiver as she y in the snow.

  If only she’d stayed in the Sanctuary, none of this would have happened. Not the Unown, not Volo, and not this. She would’ve been training with Rei as usual right around now.

  If she’d stayed behind, would Rei have stayed with her?

  After a moment of pondering, Akari didn’t have an answer.

  Really, there was no chance that either of them would have stayed behind so it was a moot question to begin with.

  But even after they’d come, what had they accomplished?

  Strongest members of the Survey Corps?

  That title sounded insulting after what Volo had just done to them. What he’d just done to them all.

  He was after Ash, she thought. Ash has one of Arceus’ Ptes. Because of that, Volo and the Alpha Pokémon both are trying to kill him.

  Her breath condensed above her as she thought. Soon, her brows curled into a gre and she smmed a fist against the snow. And I’m compining about a wet leg?

  Dragging her numb leg up, she hauled herself to her feet, careful to settle on her leg properly. She couldn’t feel it now, but hopefully as she walked, the feeling would return. She’d check for frostbite ter, if given the luxury. But she needed to keep moving. She’d never forgive herself if she froze to death in a pce like this. And she couldn’t imagine Rei forgiving her either.

  She bent her legs and unched herself to the other side of the river, nding in a mound of snow. She swallowed a handful before standing up, then continued her endless journey forward with a renewed determination. She pced each step on her right leg carefully, and she did fall a few times, but continued her match onward.

  The snow clung to her leg and before long it felt like she was lugging a block of ice through the snow. And unfortunately, feeling eventually did return to her leg, albeit barely, but all it granted was a gnawing cold that just felt like straight up pain. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to ignore the growing agony but eventually, she had to stop.

  Clenching her teeth, she knelt down, trying to ease the pressure on her leg. It was still soaking wet but her pant leg was becoming stiff as it gradually froze. The ice crackled as she moved and she raised a shaky hand to brush it away. However, she lost her bance and tipped over into the snow.

  Her entire body shook. It was so cold. It permeated her winter clothes effortlessly and it felt like not just her leg, but her entire body was soaked in ice water. It probably was, given how long she’d been beneath the blizzard.

  Snow and wind whistled indifferently as she y motionless in the snow. Snow clung to her chapped lips and both her nostrils dripped.

  In this moment of defeat, Akari realized just how much she’d been deluding herself up to this point. She’d been walking for hours through this blizzard. Did she really think willpower alone would carry her across the frozen tundra? There was a reason the Professor hadn’t wanted them to come along. Beyond the danger of the pokémon they’d inevitably cross along their journey, the very journey itself was fraught with danger. They’d nearly met their end in the Coronet foothills. But survival in the Icends was a far simpler calcution. A colder one. Warmth and shelter were a necessity, or death was guaranteed.

  As Akari shivered in the snow, oddly, she didn’t feel despair. She’d done nothing wrong. This was simply the inevitable outcome. It was an inexplicable situation she’d been thrust into, but at least the end made sense.

  The ground rumbled beneath her, accompanied by a rhythmic pounding which got louder by the second.

  Great. Wild pokémon… About time…

  A low snort bred out from somewhere nearby and Akari closed her eyes.

  Is that a Mamoswine? Or an Abomasnow? Ah, it doesn’t matter…

  Just as long as it wasn’t Volo, she could accept an end like this. Even with how much praise the people of the Sanctuary had showered over her and Rei for their prowess as members of the Survey Corps, never once did Akari ever grow arrogant enough to think she’d truly triumphed over this untamed nd. Nor did she ever bor under the delusion that she ever would. Every time she ventured beyond the Sanctuary’s walls, she was prepared for death.

  Whatever monster was on its way unleashed a horrid screeching and Akari cringed. The footsteps became chaotic and she thought she heard another roar, but she really couldn’t tell. It almost sounded like two monsters fighting each other over her, and all she could do was keep her eyes cmped shut and wait for it to end. Eventually it did after something heavy crashed to the ground, and the sounds of chaos stopped.

  Akari’s heart hammered in her chest, waiting for the silence to be broken again. Her hand curled around Cranidos’ pokéball and the adrenaline shooting through her now actually abated the pain in her leg a bit.

  She barely had the strength to move but she could at least thumb her pokéball’s release. Even if she couldn’t move any further, she could at least set her pokémon free so they didn’t have to share her fate.

  “Ahhh!” Akari yelped, recoiling back.

  She’d turned ever so slightly and out of the corner of her eye, she’d seen him, his face inches from hers. Snow crusted his stony face, but his deep orange fur shined like the sun in her periphery.

  “Growlithe!” Akari excimed, a smile breaking across her frozen face.

  Rei’s Growlithe stared back bnkly, snow covering his body. He nearly looked as exhausted as her, and for a fire-type, the amount of snow on him was concerning. He was panting and Akari savored each hot breath on her skin. Her lips quivered. “R-Rei…” she groaned, shifting her body and trying to stand again.

  Growlithe snorted and circled her. Even after a minute, Rei did not appear.

  So Growlithe was alone. But not anymore. That meant the others were out here somewhere. They’d been scattered, just like her. She just had to find them.

  She winced as she pressed herself off the ground. Growlithe turned her way after hearing her grunt in pain but he didn’t offer her any assistance.

  Fire…, was all Akari could think of. “Fire,” Akari said, hoping he understood her. “Fire…please, Growlithe.”

  Growlithe reared his head away as Akari crawled toward him, and her heart sank. She wasn’t his trainer, after all. Unlike Ash’s Pikachu, Hisuian pokémon were cold and stalwart, only showing fealty to their trainers who’d conquered them.

  However, by a stroke of sheer luck, Growlithe suddenly sneezed and a flurry of embers settled over Akari.

  Akari almost moaned in bliss, feeling warmth for the first time since she’d awoken. Not letting the momentary chance pass her by, she straightened her frozen leg and cmbered to her feet.

  Behind her, the body of a huge Manoswine y in the snow, already falling beneath the blizzard’s incessant storm. Her jaw dropped and she looked down at Growlithe, but the tiger didn’t even show her the courtesy of arrogance at having felled such a beast on his own.

  Not wasting a moment, she limped over to it and threw herself against its smelly body. “Ahhhhhhhh… Warm…”

  She circled around to its exposed stomach and pressed her leg against it. The searing warmth was heavenly and she could feel its organs pulsing beneath its thick skin. If only pokémon skin weren’t so tough, she could kill it and have food for weeks

  Growlithe watched her as she warmed herself, though he did not approach.

  Vapor drifted from Mamoswine’s wet nostrils and Akari figured she probably shouldn’t be prodding its stomach unless she wanted to wake it from its defeat. Savoring one st minute of warmth, she pulled away and sighed.

  Time to keep moving. Death averted, again.

  Through the haze of snow, over a series of rolling white hills, she could see the trees thicken into a forest proper up ahead. As long as nothing else impeded her, she believed she could reach it in the next hour or two. As she began her hike onward, Growlithe joined her at her side, and the two faced the wild together.

  Luckily, the remaining journey seemed to slowly slope downhill which made the hike easier. Also, as they neared the forest, the blizzard calmed to a soft flurry.

  Although Akari felt a renewed sense of determination to get to the forest, Growlithe’s pace was actually slowing her down. He loped through the snow as well as he could but it almost covered his entire body so each step was more like a jump for him. Akari thought he could’ve just burned his way through the snow—she’d actually been hoping for it—but he seemed to be too exhausted to muster up his fire. But he hadn’t stopped or compined yet, so they pressed on.

  However, soon Akari’s heart did sink. As they neared the forest, now a blurry sea of soft green through the mirage of snow, Akari saw another river between them and their destination, and this one wasn’t frozen. Dark water rushed through a deep channel and it was wide enough that this one couldn’t be jumped over.

  They arrived at its banks several minutes ter. The roar of the river was a welcome break from the monotony of their trudge through the snow but other than that, it only spurred despair. Just beyond y the forest, and their chance at shelter and food.

  Chunks of ice floated by, almost seeming to mock Akari with their buoyancy. If only they were rge enough for her to jump across. She was bold enough to do it, if they had been.

  Growlithe panted next to her and y down to catch his breath.

  Well, he wouldn’t be able to make the jumps even if they were.

  However, with the calmer weather, she could finally release Staravia, and that’s exactly what Akari did.

  The bird arced through the sky, immediately scanning the area. His hawkish eyes found Akari and Growlithe below and he cooed in confusion, surely wondering where Rei and the others were.

  “Follow the river, Staravia!” Akari called. “Look for a spot where it isn’t as wide, or isn’t as deep!”

  With a squawk, Staravia flew away.

  It was certainly afternoon now and hunger gnawed at Akari. She stuffed some more snow in her mouth to pcate it but she was starting to get tired of it. She needed something to munch on. Even after they crossed the river, they’d still have to find what they were looking for. But at least then Akari could climb a tree and find out where they were.

  Staravia returned several minutes ter and screeched, urging them north. Growlithe growled and stood, following after Akari at a slow gait.

  In preparation for the execution of her pn and because Growlithe was so exhausted, Akari released Cranidos as well. The snow was packed down here so he could walk easily enough on his stubby legs. Eventually, Staravia descended and touched down on a ridge that hung out over the river.

  Akari frowned as she leaned over the ridge’s edge. This was a spot that was both shallower and thinner across. “Well done, Staravia,” she murmured, and the bird gave a chirp in response. The water here was a bit foamier which suggested the bottom wasn’t as far. This would work, but they’d have to be quick, and careful.

  “Get ready, Growlithe. We’re crossing here.”

  Growlithe groaned but she could see his muscles and concentration tighten.

  Akari thrust her hand forward. “Rock Tomb, Cranidos! Create a bridge to the other side!”

  The snow around them burst apart as Cranidos ripped a volley of boulders from the ground and unched them forward into the river. Each one created a massive spsh and Akari winced at the cold mist that blew back at her. As Cranidos dumped rock after rock into the river, he began to materialize smaller rocks out of thin air and dropped them in too. Soon, the tops of the boulders peeked out above the water’s surface and Cranidos summoned a few more rocks to fill in the gaps.

  “Alright, go!” Akari shouted, recalling Cranidos.

  Growlithe bounded ahead, leaping onto the rocky bridge and Akari jumped after him, several not to slip into the river. The bridge was misshapen and uneven and Akari had to pce each step with surgical precision. The river crashed up against the wall of rock, its level slowly rising, but Akari tried to ignore the vibrating beneath her feet as she ran. Staravia swept past them, offering a coo of support.

  Growlithe made it to the other side and jumped off, and Akari dived after him into the soft cushion of a snow bank.

  Just a few moments ter, the bridge burst apart and the river raced onward, utterly destroying the makeshift dam. The rocks sunk beneath the surface, and soon, there was no evidence a bridge had ever existed there at all.

  Akari swallowed and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to face the forest triumphantly.

  Ice clung to the trees’ bare branches like beads and those that had leaves glistened, coated in a yer of frost. The snow ahead was utterly undisturbed and there was a cold peace that seemed to live within the forest. Akari couldn’t see any pokémon, but she could hear them. Every now and then, she’d hear a tree rustle and drop snow as some avian pokémon took flight, but she could not see above the thick canopy.

  And so, Akari’s journey continued, finally bereft of storm and solitude. The canopy above shielded them from the snowfall as they made their way through. Akari turned often, gncing around for a possible cave or abandoned hidey-hole where they could take refuge, but really she was entranced by the mystique of this forest. It reminded her of the winter festival they held in the Sanctuary every year to celebrate the new year. It saddened her slightly to know she’d be missing it this year, especially after making so many new friends.

  Eventually, Growlithe’s nose twitched and he raced ahead, hurtling through the snow faster than Akari thought was possible for him right now.

  He smells food! Akari thought, brightening. Berries! They must be pretty fresh if he smells them from so far away! Immediately, her stomach started gurgling. Oh, what kind will they be? Oran? Sitrus? Aspears? Even frozen, shriveled Oran Berries sounded heavenly right now.

  Growlithe barked, his tongue hanging out and saliva pouring from his mouth and Akari grinned as she chased after him.

  As they rounded around a thick tree into a clearing, Akari’s heart nearly stopped in her chest. Her breath caught in her throat and she froze. Her eyes stung and her cheeks turned hot as tears dripped down them. She cpped her hands over her mouth.

  In the remains of a tree that looked like it’d exploded from the inside, within a nest of twigs, sticks, ice, and pine needles, y Sabrina, a yer of snow coating her body and hair. Cradled in her arms as tightly as a mother holding her child was Yura.

  Next — Chapter 70 : Mortal Danger

  I can’t believe we’re at 70 entire chapters. That number just looks gigantic to me. That’s postgame legendary pokémon level. Thanks to everyone who’s read this far and especially those who share their thoughts in the comments!!