Chapter 4

Sneg (Smoochum) PoV

1st Person

I was quite worried about my trainer, as she had taken to becoming more aggressive and less cautious in her actions these last few days. The Gym leaders talk about her father must have ignited something within her, and I didn't dare look into her head to find out, not only because it wasn't proper of a lady like me to do that, but also because she respected her privacy dearly and had a festering hatred of psychics born of fear, one I didn't want turned against myself. As it stood, I would have to do something sooner or later, as she had gotten bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. If only she would let me soothe her mind.

"Whatcha thinkin about?" The Weedape asks, causing me to very hesitantly hold back from casting powder snow at him.

Oh yes, that monkey she brought along. Ugh, of all the pokemon she could've catched, why a fighting type? They were not as amazing as I am, nor as properly mannered. It was almost as bad as that bug type she had caught as she wandered through the Krosnyy Taiga (Forest), though at the very least, I understood why she did it. Weedle were very capable pokemon, even if they were bug types and their mind caused me physical pain to read, and were very protective of their trainers if trained right.

The fact that this one was shiny and a beautiful gold helped it's case as well.

"Hey. Hey. I'm talkin' to you!" Sornyak says, dragging my mind away from the privacy of my thoughts and into the real world, removing the one safeguard I had from turning that little overgrown monkeys head into an ice cube.

"Ugh, what do you want Sornyak? Can't you see I'm trying to watch our backs? It's hard enough to do in this forest with all the bug types around giving me an aching headache, I don't need an uncouth fool like you making it any worse." I state, pushing my hair up slightly. Just because I had to use such vulgar words wasn't any reason to denigrate myself to his level and not be absolutely fabulous. Of course, the dumb monkey get's mad at this, being the stupid ape he is.

"Don't go talkin' to me like your superior or nothin'! You know I can go kick your ass with these fightin' moves of mine!" He says, puffing his chest out. I roll my eyes in response, not even having to use my mind reading to know that he was simply stroking his own ego. His Gallon-size advantage had made him barely ever have to fight for anything in the wild, either his sheer intimidation or his physical advantage in fights driving most of his opponents off. Plus, the fact that he looked like he was about to evolve made anything preying on him more weary, since he could evolve and beat the stuffing out of them if they tried anything. "Hehehe, oh. I've seen your type in the wild, pretending like you don't like me or anything. Always calling me baka," He says, grinning at me, running his hands through his grassy pompadour, a sign of a true delinquent. "You're a tsundere, aren't you?"

"I am no type of dere you ruffian!" I took offense to that. I was no Hoenn Gardevoir, prancing around in those skirts of there's, flirting with human men and Gallades. I was a classy type of girl, a fine wine that needs to be sipped in small measures to get the full taste, a superior psychic type. Even if official competetive scenes and contests said differently, they simply hadn't met the right Jynx, but I would show them once I evolved. "Do you think I have some sort of crush on you? Get real, the only one I love is Sasha, and that's just as friends."

"And I'm sure she'll love me even more when I evolve into my highest evolution. Treetsar are known for our big..." He wiggles his eyebrows, and I let out a disgusted groan. "Hey, back me up on this Zvesda."

"Fat chance numbnut." Zvesda said, not giving a single shit as he floated behind his trainer.

"Yeah, asking him to back you up is an exercise in futility." I reply, causing a tick mark to appear on the monkey's forehead.

"Gah, who cares what he thinks." He says, waving the floating star pokemon off.

"You obviously did. Because you asked for his opinion." I reply, smirking as he get's even angrier. It was rather fun pissing the little monkey off. Truly, I was starting to see why the villain of that animated show Sasha had watched in the pokemon center got from annoying those foolish monkeys.

While I would have liked to hear his rant, the newest member of our group, a tiny shiny female weedle called Malen, interrupted us. She was a Strana variant, and so had a small bit of fur covering her golden body. "C-C'mon guys. Please don't fight." She says in a soft voice, popping out of Sasha's backpack. "We're family and just because you aren't Kakuna or Beedrill, doesn't mean I won't p-protect you all, and I know you'd do the same for me."

"You've only been here a couple days though, why are you gettin all comfy with us when we ain't even the same species?" Sornyak asks. The little weedle looks a tad uncomfortable around the gallon-size, thought I can detect that it's less from fear of his powers and more due to his sheer size in comparison.

"W-well we Weedle are very social pokemon. If I can't be with my other bugs in the forest, then you guys will just be my family. Besides, as a shiny, my color scheme made me less desirable for mating, so I would've been lonely if I hadn't come along." She says. A tense air of silence fills the area as my team and I walk through the Krosnyy Taiga, avoiding other bug type pokemon like the bright blue Caterpeter and the Dunsparce starting to molt and evolve. While I would have liked to do battle with them, Sasha had wanted to make it to the next town so we could restock on our equipment and have access to a pokemon center.

Spoiler: Caterpeter and Dunsparce Evolutions

While the Krosnyy Taiga wasn't filled with high level pokemon, it was still massive. And with the naturally cold region beginning to chill, a light snow fall had begun to drift down. While she did occasionally come by other trainers, either camping out, catching pokemon, or trying to battle others (in which I of course, decimated the competition), it was still a long chilling journey, and with the cold starting to settle in, some of the more dangerous pokemon could come out.

Of course, Arceus decided to mock me by allowing a large presence to appear on the edge of my senses. It was like I was in a dream as I turned towards the strange pokemon looking at me from the forest, it's bright green eyes gazing at me, a tiny pulsating verdant halo over it's head, smooth green crystals covering parts of it's pitch black body. I could barely control the actions of my body, time seeming to slow down as I looked at the thing, my eyes watering and my teeth tittering as I beheld it's alien form.

"What are you?" I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me. The thing tilts it's head, before pointing with one of it's floating green arm, pitch black fingers pointing towards my trainer. My eyes glance towards her, a soft green glow coming from her pocket. When my eyes look back at the human child-sized creature, it sends me images. None of them comprehensible to my mind, instructions that hurt to think about leaving me breathless as I stare back at it.

It leaves, not even uttering a word, or even a cry common to pokemon.

As if it was a ghost.

"Sneg. Sneg. SNEG!" My trainer yells, grabbing my attention. "Are you alright?"

I nod, my trainer looking at me with apprehension, and the rest of my friends looking at me with worry, as if I was the only one who saw that.

...Was I the only one who saw that?

I shake my head as I leave those thoughts behind. Whatever happened, whether it be a hallucination or an actual occurrence, it mattered little now. All I had to do was follow my trainer, be the best companion I could be, and become the best Jynx this world had ever seen.

Either way, I didn't have time to think on such things, as my trainer came across several strange looking trainers surrounding one of her friends, his pokemon obviously in terrible condition if the blood leaking down one of their faces was any indication.