So last chapter had Will and Pyro finally heading out on their adventure in earnest. Will had a panic attack for some reason when they heard about a trainer dying on the news. Before anyone could notice it, though, Will decided that he was finished with letting people worry about him, and just before finally leaving, his mother asked him to come home to them? Seems just like her asking him to be safe, but we'll see the full meaning behind it start to form this chapter. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

TheGreat0ne: You're definitely right when you say Will is getting a lot of development in comparison to his past incarnations. However, considering how flat of a character he was back then, a stick could probably compete. This time, Will is going to have a lot of development, and I'm excited for it. You were right that someone important will be met at Lake Acuity, but it's not a rival. Thanks for your kind words and thank you for the review!

El Torro: I'm glad that everyone is liking Will's final incarnation. He's going to go through a lot of development, so I think you'll enjoy seeing how far he comes from the man he is now. I'm also glad that you enjoy the equality among people and Pokemon. It's an important part of the story that I hope to show well. And there will be some major plot points that have to do with that conflict over equality. I can't thank you (And BouncingFish) enough for all of the help when writing. Thanks for all of your help and for the review!

Will's Team:

-Pyro (Torchic): Scratch, Growl, Ember

Will sat on a fallen tree in the snow as he watched the scene in front of him with a frown. For the past hour, ever since they had arrived at Acuity Lakefront from the Knight home, Pyro had been training. He was practicing for the battle that they were hoping to soon have with the Gym Leader of Snowpoint City. Pyro was attempting to hone his accuracy with his Ember attack—something that the two had been working on for several months by that point.

Despite all of his practicing, Pyro still had trouble hitting multiple targets at the same time. To train, he had been firing off barrage after barrage of fireballs towards their "targets," which were piles of sticks they had gathered from the surrounding area. The mounds of kindling were set on top of a snow-covered frozen lake to ensure they could easily put out any fire by dropping them into the water. Another reason was that any stray fireball would only hit the ice. Fortunately, though, most of the fires had died instantly as the small piles burned up.

Before they began, there were twenty mounds of branches arranged into four rows of five. There was about five feet in between each row, and the first row stood ten feet in front of Pyro. So, for the past hour, he had been shooting fireballs towards the targets in rapid succession. It began well, with him completely burning up the three targets in the middle of the front row. However, after that—be it because of the further distance, the cold, or a mix of the two—Pyro didn't hit another target for several minutes. Now, an hour later, the entire back row still remained.

Will stared at the back line with a frown. A thin layer of snow sat on top of the pile, almost as though it was taunting Pyro.

"Again," Will said, stoic as ever without ever even turning towards his companion.

Pyro sighed. The practice had begun well, with Pyro hitting most of the targets. However, as time had gone one, he hit fewer and fewer. In the previous round, Pyro had only hit one pile of twigs despite firing off several rounds of fireballs.

"If you can't fight at the same level for a whole fight, the only thing that our opponents will have to do is tire you out and wait for you to fail," Will said as his partner stared down the remaining five targets, still never looking towards Pyro. "You have to be consistent."

Pyro nodded. He took in a deep breath as his face sagged slightly. Sweat was visibly dripping down his face, but he still didn't voice any complaint he might have had. Instead, he exhaled slowly, prepping himself. Then, within a second, Pyro stood straight up at the edge of the lake in the snow and inhaled even deeper than before, taking in as much air as his lungs could hold. Then, after opening his beak, he released his breath and shot out three fireballs in a straight line towards the left-most pile, and each one of them hit their mark. The twigs immediately erupted into flames, disintegrating into a small ash pile that was quickly blown away by the wind.

Pyro didn't end there, though. he shot out two more triple bursts of fireballs. The middle-left and middle piles were struck and burned as rapidly as the first. Only a bit of smoke and ash remained where the two piles once stood. There was no time for Pyro to feel proud of his accomplishments, though. If Will wanted him to work on his ability to push past his limits, then that was what he was going to do.

As sweat continued to flow down the sides of his face, though, Pyro felt not only the effects of his exhaustion. The frigid cold temperatures had begun to chip away at his energy as well. He felt as though the snow and ice around him sucked away all of his heat and left him with nothing. Pyro knew that he couldn't stop there, though; he couldn't just yield that easily. As he stared down the remaining two piles from thirty feet away, Pyro took in a deep breath. Fighting past the cold and his exhaustion, he fired off two more triple bursts of fireballs towards the middle-right and right targets.

The first barrage rocketed towards its mark with each and every one of the orbs smacking against the brush. Upon impact, the pile erupted into a quick inferno, but died shortly after. Pyro felt relieved as he watched the scene, glad to know that he was finally becoming more consistent, even when as drained as he was. As his gaze shifted slightly right to follow his final burst, his face dropped.

The final mound of branches remained untouched and still held a cloak of snow on top. Around it were three scorch marks where the snow was melted and the thick sheet of ice begun to melt. Pyro's heart sunk at the sight. He fell to his bottom unintentionally, as though his legs could no longer support his weight. His thin legs shook as he tried to stand back up, but to no avail.

As he looked back up, his eyes were drawn to the movement in front of him—Will was walking across the snow-covered lake from Pyro's left towards the final mound, his face unreadable from the side view Pyro had. He stopped just in front of the target that Pyro missed with his back away from the exhausted Pokemon. Pyro couldn't tell whatever his partner was doing from his spot, but he was too tired to get up and check. Despite being a fire type, the extreme cold of northern Sinnoh took its toll on Pyro after training for so long.

"You need to do better."

The sentence, though not loud, echoed across the lakefront. Pyro felt as though he was struck by the comment, but he couldn't disagree. He knew that he need to be more consistent, to be better able to fight for longer, but he still couldn't. Before Pyro could say anything, however, Will spoke again.

"If we don't get stronger, we can't stop others from being hurt. We have to do better."

Just as before, Will spoke no louder than a conversational level, but his words still carried to Pyro, even with Will's back to him. Then, with one swift movement, Will kicked at the brush and knocked all of the branches flying towards the snowy grass. Then, again before Pyro could find anything to say, Will walked off to his right, towards the edge of the lake and away from their makeshift training camp.

"I'll be back later; I'm going to take a walk. Take a break."

And with that, Pyro slumped down even further. He gave everything he had, but it wasn't enough. He needed to do better.

Sitting on a large rock in the snow, Will looked back towards the lake where Pyro had been training. He could still see the far side of the frozen water in front of him but could no longer see his partner. After leaving, he thought that walking would help to clear his head but soon learned that wouldn't be the case. Since leaving his parents' house with Pyro, Will had a feeling that he couldn't shake. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew what caused it.

"Just come back home to us."

Does she just mean that she wants us to stay safe? Will thought.

His mother's final words to him as he left had been at the forefront of him mind. There was the obvious meaning: she wanted him to stay safe. However, the thought that there might be more to it than the figurative first glance sent Will's mind racing hundreds of miles per hour.

Am I just over-analyzing? It seems weird coming from Mom, but if she just wanted us to stay safe, she would've just said it.

Seconds flew by and then minutes, but all the while, Will never stood up. He sat deep in thought without showing any signs of discomfort due to the cold despite still wearing nothing more than his usual attire of jeans and an unzipped jacket. He was so encompassed by his thoughts that he didn't even notice.

But what else could it mean? "Come back home to us" isn't exactly a complex phrase…

By this point, Will was becoming frustrated. The thought of there being something more to his mother's goodbye than he could understand annoyed him.

If you wanted to say something else, why not just say it, Mom!?

Unable to think of why, Will stood up and glared at the sky. He didn't want to feel upset with his mother; she always did everything in her power to care for him. He just didn't understand, and that feeling of ignorance was not something Will particularly enjoyed.

"Whatever," he muttered, kicking around at the snow by his feet. "She probably didn't mean anything more anyways. It's just me freaking out over nothing."

With that, Will began to walk further away from the lake, hoping to clear his mind, as was his original intention. The snow seemed to start picking up as he walked, but Will paid it no mind. His attention was still on his mother's words. Despite his own words, there was still something in the back of Will's thoughts telling him that there was more to this than meets the eye.

"Just come back home to us."

The snow continued to come down harder and harder as Will walked through the spruce trees. They blocked him from most of the snowfall and wind, so he could think in relative peace. There wasn't even any noise that Will could hear around him, almost as though nature was doing everything it could to help him relax. However, his mind could not stop echoing the same phrase on repeat.

"Just come back home to us."

"Damnit!" Will shouted suddenly.

His knees buckled immediately after, and Will's legs smacked against the snowy grass. The anger and frustration he felt over his confusion was prevalent in his actions. His fists were clenched so tightly that he was restricting blood flow to his fingers, causing them to turn white.

"Why does nothing make sense right now!?" he yelled at no one or thing in particular. Looking straight upwards, glaring at the sky, he continued, "Nothing in my life has made sense since that day! Now I can't even understand my own damn mother!? Why!?"

Will began to punch at the ground in frustration, smashing his fists against the wet grass through the snow as he stared daggers down at his victim. He did naught but get his hands wet and cold, but he visibly calmed down after ten seconds of it. His breathing—having been sporadic and heavy in the beginning—calmed to a point where he was breathing regularly once again.

"Why couldn't my life be normal?" Will said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Why did that have to happen to me?"

Will looked upwards once more through the trees towards the snow as it fell down all around him. The white specks descended peacefully, but despite seeing snow almost daily, Will seemed slightly confused by it. In that moment, his eyes suddenly went wide, and his gaze ever-so-slowly once again fell towards the ground. At the same time, Will's hands rose upwards from their place in the snow until they stopped at chest height.

"No…" Will trailed off as he stared directly at his own two hands. "She couldn't have…" Sighing, Will knew he was right. "But she did…"

Before he could think any further, though, Pyro came running towards him through the trees. He looked to be out of breath as he stared over towards Will with a concerned look on his face. Sweat still dripped down his face so much that between it and the snowfall, Pyro's feathers were soaked. If it wasn't for the fire in his stomach, he would've froze.

"What's wrong?" he asked frantically. "I heard you shouting from at the lake and ran over here as fast as I could!" Already exhausted from training, Pyro looked as if he would fall over at any second after the sprint from their camp. "Were you attacked!? Is the Pokemon still nearby!?"

Meanwhile, he continued on forwards towards Will, wavering to either side dizzily as he stepped. Will watched the scene with his face in its usual stoic state, any traces of the confusion and frustration he felt only seconds ago completely vanished.

"I'm fine, Pyro," he said coolly. "There's nothing to worry about. Are you ready to train again?"

Pyro titled his head slightly to the right and looked at his partner with a curious expression. He knew something had happened that Will didn't care to explain, but he wasn't sure what that was. Will was visibly uninjured, so Pyro assumed that if Will hadn't yet told him what went down, he wasn't going to. With that actualization, Pyro just sighed and nodded his head.

"Uh…Sure, Will. I can train some more." As he spoke, sweat continued to fall from his face, but Pyro looked at Will dead-on, unyielding.

With that, he turned around and walked back towards the lake, struggling to stay standing. Will saw the struggle but said nothing as he followed behind him, heading towards their training site. The same phrase haunted him still, though, despite the distraction in the form of Pyro. However, unlike before, he was certain that he knew what it meant.

You expect me to change so easily? he thought. Do you actually think that's still possible, Mom? I'm different now. Will shook his head as he walked, his eyes wide and lip quivering. I can't go back to who I was anymore…This is me now, for better or for worse, and if she thinks anything can change that…

Will shook his head and composed himself mid-step. His eyes trained on Pyro as he walked.

"I hope so."

Will spoke so softly that even Pyro, only a few feet ahead, heard nothing. However, Will's face was stolid again, appearing as though nothing had happened in the last minute. He simply walked on, silently wishing his mother's goal of going back was as easy as she thought.

Watching Pyro continue to struggle with his training wasn't exactly what Will had planned for the first day of his journey. Even with the break from the first set of accuracy and endurance training that he had been through earlier, Pyro was still unable to fight for long. He could only shoot off two or three fireballs at once and after several repetitions of it, became too exhausted to continue.

"How are we ever going to be able to beat the Gym Leader, Pyro?" Will asked, the disappointment in his voice apparent. Pyro said nothing in response, though, taking the verbal beating. "Do you think the gym won't be cold as well? Or that she won't try to stall and tire you out?"

Pyro still stood in silence as Will continued to speak. He looked downwards so as to not see his partner's face as he scolded him. Pyro knew that he had to improve if they were to get stronger. He just didn't know how.

"Take two minutes. Then we're going again, and I expect you to remain accurate for the entire duration of the training."

When he finished speaking, Will walked away from Pyro to a nearby stone. Pyro's head steadily rose as his partner moved off. Sweat dripped towards the snow-covered ground from the action, and Pyro exhaled a deep breath. Then, breathing in, he closed his eyes and gathered his confidence.

"Will," Pyro called towards him just before he sat down. "I am trying my best, I promise." Will slowly turned towards him as Pyro spoke, his face stone. "I promise that I'm not trying to work against our goal. I want us to become strong."

At this point, Pyro was feeling more confident. He knew Will better than anyone alive. The fact that he had not yet said anything was a good sign. With that in mind, Pyro began to walk over towards Will, who was now facing Pyro completely.

"I will never be able to forgive myself for what happened back then," Pyro continued, surprising even himself by holding his gaze with Will. "But know that I want us to become strong just as much as you do."

He was now only a few feet away from Will, so Pyro stopped in his place. His gaze steady, Pyro took in a deep breath.

"I want to help make sure that we stop others from being hurt like—" He paused, stopping himself from saying something. Taking it in stride, though, Pyro continued, saying, "Like you were. No one should have to go through that. And we'll make sure that no one does. But you have to trust me when I say that I want to help you every step of the way."

Having said his peace, Pyro finally broke his gaze. He looked downwards, silently waiting for Will's response. He might know him better than anyone else, but even Pyro didn't know exactly what Will would be thinking after that outburst. It wasn't often that Pyro spoke like that to Will, even though they were equals.

"I'm s—" Before he could even start his response, Will cut off suddenly, sounding confused.

Looking up, Pyro spotted him staring upwards to the sky, and it didn't take long for Pyro to realize what was wrong. The soft dusting of snow that had been coming all day had ceased. In its place was the beginning of a hailstorm.

"Hail?" Pyro asked, sounding uncertain. "Where did this come from? The weatherman didn't say anything about hail."

Will shook his head, saying, "The weather changes all of the time; let's just get to some cover."

Pyro nodded in response. Hail around Snowpoint came down hard and fast, so the residents knew that hiding out during a storm was the best idea. With that in mind, the two began to hurriedly walk back to the north, towards a nearby cavern.

"Hurry up, Pyro," Will warned as they left. "I want to get to cover before the hail gets much bigger."

He and Pyro picked up their pace, transitioning from a speed walk to a light jog. The light pattering of the ice pellets hardly fazed them, so they made good time towards the cave. However, a few minutes later when the entrance came into view a few hundred meters away, they heard something whooshing down towards them. Will and Pyro stopped suddenly to look up, and both of their jaws dropped.

A hailstone the size of a golf ball fell in front of them—much larger than the pellets they had been jogging through on their way. In that moment, they both looked towards each other before silently agreeing to run even faster.

"Ow…Ow…Ow…" Pyro muttered, squirming as Will patched him up.

In the final stretch towards the cave, Will and Pyro both got several bruises. The barrage of hail coming at them all but ensured they'd be hit by some. With the variety of different sized hailstones, some felt like little more than a poke, while others' collisions made Will and Pyro feel like they were punched by a Machoke.

"Just sit still and this will go better for the both of us," Will replied, looking tight-lipped at his fidgeting partner.

He was trying to apply some to Pyro's right side. One of the stones that hit him had a sharp edge and drew blood, and when Will tried to wrap it to stop the bleeding he pressed into one of Pyro's many new bruises.

"I know, I know…" Pyro muttered, standing as still as he could. "It just hurts."

Rolling his eyes, Will replied, "I got some bruises, too, you know. You don't hear me pouting about it."

At that, Pyro said nothing. He just kept still and waited for his partner to finish with the gauze. After a few more moments, Will finished up, so he turned to put the gauze back with the first aid kit in his backpack. As he put it in his bag, though, Will heard a strange sound coming from near the entrance.

"Runt. Sno. Runt."

What in hell? Will thought. It sounds like a Snorunt, but… Will looked around, scanning through his surrounding as Pyro sat, oblivious to their onlooker. Snorunt love the snow and hail and are almost always out and about during storms. What's one doing in here now?

Unable to spot the Pokemon, Will decided to stand up and look around. Pyro, spotting the sudden movement, looked up to his partner and tilted his head.

"What's up? Everything alright?"

Not even looking back towards him, Will replied, "Everything's fine. Don't worry about it."

Pyro's titled head never moved, but his gaze followed along with every movement Will made. He watched as his partner moved towards the cave's entrance without a word. Just as he made it to the opening, though, he stopped and looked outside.

"Where are you," Will muttered so quietly that Pyro couldn't hear him. "I know you're here somewhere."

As he looked around, though, it wasn't the Snorunt that he found. Staring outside, Will came to a strange revelation.

"It's…still snowing."

He spoke louder than he had earlier, so Pyro could hear what was said. Confused by the odd proclamation, though, Pyro couldn't help but check it out. However, all that he could see was the hail right outside the cave entrance.

"What do you mean, Will?" he asked. Pyro stopped right next to Will's left and looked up towards him. "It's still hailing; just look right in front of us."

Shaking his head, Will replied, "It's snowing, Pyro. Look past the hail right in front of us and check the whole area."

Unsure what he meant, Pyro decided to humor him and look around the hail he saw in front of him. He saw the trees that they walked through and, far in the distance, he spotted the lake they were training at earlier. However, he could still see the hail right in front of them, not snow. He was about to mention that fact when, all of a sudden, he spotted it.

"How in the…" he muttered in awe.

Just outside the cave was a hailstorm, just like before. However, it wasn't a normal storm. The hail fell in a twenty-feet radius around the entrance, but past that, snow continued to fall as though it never stopped.

"How is that possible?" Pyro asked his head tilted as it always was when he gets confused. His gaze shifted upwards and to his right to focus on Will. "The hail looks like it…followed us."

Will, unlike his partner, didn't seem confused. Instead, he walked away from Pyro towards the cave's opening without a word or a backward glance. He stopped by the entrance where a pile of three rocks, each slightly larger than Pyro, stood. From where he was, Pyro couldn't see past it, but Will obviously could.

"Come out from there, Snorunt," he called, his voice harsh and fists clenched tightly.

Taken aback, Pyro watched as a small black and yellow Pokemon stepped out from behind the stones, a broad grin on its face. Its bright blue eyes were shining so brightly that they stood out even in the dimly-lit cave.

"Sno!" it cheered in between sounds that resembled laughing. "Runt!"

As Snorunt continued to laugh at them, Will walked over to it, his knuckles turning white. He said nothing as he moved towards the rocks, but his usually-stoic face was dark with a narrowed gaze.

"What the hell was that all about!?" he asked angrily. "You made us run all of the way here through hail!? And hail the size of golf balls at that!"

After every sentence, the Snorunt seemed to laugh even harder. By the time Will finished speaking, it seemed to be close to tears. The sight of it enjoying what it had done set Will off even further.

"You could have actually killed us!" he snapped, lunging at Snorunt and looking dead into its eyes. "Hail of that size can do serious damage! You're lucky we came out of it with only some scrapes and bruises!"

Hearing that, Snorunt looked down towards the ground without any trace of its previous giddiness and shook slightly, as though it was crying. The sight caused Will to release some of the tension in his fists.

"Sno. Runt. Sno," it muttered, never looking at Will or Pyro.

Unable to understand what it said, Will looked back to his partner and raised his right eyebrow in confusion. Seeing that, Pyro translated what Snorunt had said.

"I'm really, really sorry…" he began, trailing off as he looked at the Snorunt in the hopes that it would continue.

Snorunt's shaking not only continued, but after Pyro finished speaking, it became even more pronounced. A few seconds after he finished translating, Snorunt looked back up while still shaking. However, it wasn't shaking from crying, as Will had thought.

"Sno…Sno! Runt! Sno!"

It finished speaking with the same excitement as before, again looking as though it was laughing. Will hurriedly turned back to Pyro, wanting to know what the Snorunt said that made the sudden change in emotion. What he wasn't expecting to see, though, was Pyro staring with wide eyes.

"Well!?" he asked, glaring towards Pyro. "What'd it say!?"

Pyro flinched a bit at the sudden shout but said nothing about it. Instead, he refocused and translated what Snorunt had said, looking a little concerned as he did.

"I'm sorry…that you both fell for such a simple prank!"

Will went completely silent upon hearing that. His knuckles once again turned white, his brow furrowed, and he turned back towards the Snorunt dangerously slowly.

"Are…you…fucking serious right now!?"

Will's voice was barely more than a whisper, but like they had earlier during that afternoon's training, his words seemed to echo all around them. If looks could kill, Snorunt would have been murdered a dozen times over.

"You could have killed us with your fucking prank and you're laughing!?" Will never moved nor raised his voice, but there was a venom in his voice that made Snorunt stop laughing. "You're strong enough to make hailstones that large that follow us for half a mile, and you waste that strength on what…pranks!? Pranks that could kill someone!?"

Not ever giving Snorunt a chance to say anything in defense of its actions, Will turned back around to Pyro.

"Burn that thing with an Ember," he said, the same anger present across his face. "Let it know how it feels to be attacked by a complete stranger."

Pyro seemed shocked by not only the request, but by Will himself. He stared in silence at Will with wide eyes, shocked by how upset he was over something that ended alright. Will looked angrier than Pyro had ever seen him.

"No."

Pyro wasn't sure what was going through his partner's mind, but he did know that if he did attack Snorunt, Will was going to regret it later. With that thought in mind, Pyro stood firm, doing what he thought was best.

"I'm not going to attack Snorunt, Will," Pyro reiterated as he planted his feet hard against the cave's floor. "This isn't what we do; we help people, not hurt them. Snorunt did nothing wrong."

Still looking furious, Will turned his glare onto Pyro. "You're kidding me, right? That thing could have killed us both! You know what hail of that size could do if it hit us!"

Instead of also shouting, Pyro tilted his head and looked straight into Will's angry gaze. Holding it unyieldingly, he explained, "Our goal is to help innocent people and Pokemon. If we just decided to hurt Snorunt because of a prank—a prank that did nothing more than leave us with a few bumps and scrapes—then we'd be no better than the people we want to stop."

That left Will silent for a bit. His face slowly morphed back into its usual stoic state as Pyro watched him visibly calm down. The anger and rage that were present earlier appeared to be all but gone after only thirty seconds. Throughout that entire time, though, neither Pyro nor the Snorunt tried to speak or move.

"You're right." He spoke softly, with all traces of the earlier malice disappeared. However, Will didn't look like he planned on apologizing anytime soon. "We shouldn't stoop to Snorunt's level. We don't attack people for no reason." Then, without ever looking back at the wild Pokemon, he continued. "Let's get out of here. There's no point staying here any longer with this waste of potential."

He then walked towards the cave's entrance without another word or glance back. Will left Pyro behind without any further explanation, causing him to hurriedly glance between the retreating form of his partner and the silent Snorunt, who had stood frozen in place since Will's shouting.

Pyro glanced at it with a commiserative look, but Snorunt never even looked back up towards him. It stared down at the ground looking downcast, and as Pyro turned away, he thought he even noticed a teardrop fall from its face. However, he couldn't take the time to check for sure. Will was already outside of the cave, all remnants of the hail completely gone with only a light snowfall remaining.

With a quick glance back towards Snorunt as he left the cave, Pyro was surprised to see it gone. He never heard any movement, but less than a minute later, it was gone. Sighing, Pyro hurried along, trying to catch up to Will.

"For all of our sakes…" he began, whispering to himself as he jogged. "I hope we don't see it again…"

Within another minute, Pyro caught back up to Will, and the two walked back towards Snowpoint City in complete silence, never noticing a pair of bright blue eyes watching them.

Like Chapter Two, this took way too long for me to post. Was it shorter? Yeah, but not by much whatsoever. For that, I apologize. I hope to get faster and faster with every chapter. With that aside, thanks for reading! I hope to have Chapter Four posted soon! It's one of my favorites so far!

1. Thoughts on Will's and Pyro's relationship so far? It will change many times throughout the story, so I'd love to know your thoughts on the first phase of it.

Next Chapter: The Rookie Among Rookies

Whenever Will runs into a clumsy new trainer, the newbie wants some help training. Will is about to say no, but Pyro lets the new trainer know that they'd be happy to help, despite only just starting themselves. What exactly did Pyro sign Will up for!?

Strength Arc:

Snowpoint City:

Chapter 5: Left Cold!

Chapter 6: Warming a Cold Shoulder

Chapter 7: A New Dawn!

Chapter 8: Avoiding the Avalanche!