This time, the dream wasn't much of a nightmare. I was almost getting used to it, anyway. I stood in a vast, white world, with no light source and no shadows. It was a little blinding. I tried using an arm--curiously missing a cast and feeling fine--to shield my eyes, but it didn't do anything. So instead I squinted, looking around for the source of yet another odd dream.

I spotted it off to my right, tiny paws folded in front of the red stripe across its middle.

"Froslass," I called to it. The ghost bobbed its head in response. "Are you the one making all of these weird dreams?"

Yes, it replied in a high, feminine voice. It--she--hovered a bit closer, still keeping a safe distance. I wasn't complaining.

"Are you intentionally giving me nightmares?" I asked critically, raising an eyebrow. I was not happy having ghosts drip flames onto me and being encased in ice. The Froslass shook her head, shaking frost off into the air.

That was an accidental side-effect. I'm not used to prying into others' dreams, she admitted.

"Why are you trying to get into my dreams in the first place? What do you want with me?"

The Froslass looked up at me with icy eyes, shimmering with tears. You must help my trainer, she said softly.

"Why me?"

You're the only one who can.

"But why me? Why not invade Hanna's dreams and get her to beg her rich dad to help your trainer?" I may have seemed heartless, but I was also scared of the Froslass. She was not only a ghost, but a ghost that repeatedly nearly gave me hypothermia just by being near me. Not to mention the nightmares. Plus, she was not my Pokemon. I didn't have to help her.

The female human isn't kind enough to help. She is… not very altruistic, she said delicately, fiddling her fingers.

I frowned, but accepted the point. Hanna really wasn't the type to go out and help others all willy-nilly. "You know… Even if I wanted to help--don't get your hopes up, because I'm not saying I do--I couldn't. I'm stuck in Snowpoint. You have to have realized that by now."

Snowpoint is not that bad of a town. It's nice and cold.

"Yeah, I know it's cold." I crossed my arms, relishing the gesture while I could. It wasn't easy to do with a cast. "I can't help anyone where I am now."

The Abomasnow will be taken care of eventually. I will take care of a route out of the city, the Froslass said sharply, narrowing her eyes. I flinched and took a step back. She sighed a cloud of crystals and ducked her head with a, I'm sorry for frightening you.

"It-It's fine," I lied. "How will you get us out of Snowpoint?"

The female human may not be able to help me in my quest, but she may be able to help you in yours, she replied indifferently.

I decided not to pursue the matter. "…How are you able to get into my dreams, anyway?"

I am a ghost.

"That's not very specific."

I know Dream Eater. It's why you had nightmares at first; your mind was trying to reject me. By the way, I did not appreciate getting brushed aside two nights ago.

"I didn't appreciate having monsters attack me!" I retorted hotly, bristling. We glared at each other, neither of us willing to concede.

I woke up after a blast of cold air hit me. I shivered and found myself coated in ice. Instead of looking for the Froslass, I just burrowed deeper into my sleeping bag and tried to get back to sleep. Normal sleep.

-.-.-

The next morning, Hanna was excitedly telling anyone who would listen about her idea. "Once the weather clears up a bit, I know how we can get out of Snowpoint! There's a ferryman, right? Just south of the city. He normally takes trainers to like, Battle Frontier. But I'm sure for the right price, he'd drop us off at Sunyshore instead! Aren't you guys lucky I came up with this?! Now we can all get out of here!"

I didn't bother correcting her.

I still felt moody after hearing the Froslass' plea, and was still pretty unsure about helping her at all. I didn't know who her trainer was or what kind of trouble he or she may be in. I didn't want to get tangled up into something worse than what I could handle. It was hard enough being a trainer. I didn't need to be a hero, too.

About noon on our third day there, the electricity came back on. The tired electric Pokemon who had been powering the emergency generators happily collapsed while the fire Pokemon took over melting our way out. If the power came back on, it stood to reason that the weather was okay now, right?

"Come on, Des!" Only somehow, my Numel missed out on the excitement of freedom. He yawned and twitched an ear before going back to sleep. "Come on! We should help the others get out. Don't you want fresh air? And sunshine?"

"Nu," he mumbled through his paws.

"Some Pokemon. Doesn't even listen to you," Rena said in passing, marching out proudly with what looked like a red, humanoid chicken. "Let's go, Amber. We can dig ourselves and the lazy ones out."

I glared at them as they left. Then, turning back to my Numel, I resumed my begging. "Pedestal, come on! You're not going to let her get away with that, are you? She called us lazy!"

"Nu." It sounded as if he was agreeing with her.

"You're horrible to me. I bet Carlita would help us out."

At this, he raised his head and set my cast on fire with an Ember.

-.-.-

By evening, Hanna had escaped out into the world, headed to the harbor, and secured a deal with one of the ferrymen. It would cost an untold amount of money, but she managed to secure passage for all those in the Center who wanted to leave. Surprisingly, not everyone jumped up at once. Some of the trainers were actually there and wanted to be; they had stuff to do, like challenge Candice. Still, over supper, about half of the Center agreed on leaving on the boat.

"It's spaghetti. Your favorite. I know it is." I held the fork tauntingly in front of Des, but he just turned his head from it. I scowled at him and ate it instead. "What's up with you? Why're you so moody?"

"Numel," he grumbled.

"Just eat some spaghetti and be happy. We can resume our journey for the third badge once we're back in sane country. Don't you want to beat more Gym leaders?" I asked, trying to bait him at the same time with a meatball. It was even my last one. Des shuffled around so his back was to me.

"What's up with Des?" Hanna asked curiously.

"Glaaa?" Isabella added worriedly, looking up with sauce all over her mouth. I turned to see that Des was even ignoring her. Something was definitely up.

"Hey, can you watch Carlita for a moment? Just keep her next to Alexander and she won't even notice we're gone." Hanna nodded and watched us intently as I forcibly pushed Des out of the lobby. He resisted for all his worth, and while he was fat, I was the stronger one. (Barely.) Now in the corridor leading up to the rooms, I turned on him. "What's up with you, Des?"

"Nu," he replied nonchalantly, turning his head away.

"Don't you 'nu' me. Tell me what's wrong." I squatted down so I was eye-level with him and reached out a hand to keep his head from moving. Now he had to face me. Des narrowed his lidded eyes and butted his head against my cast, effectively moving it.

"Mel," he said in the closest thing to an actual growl I'd ever heard from him.

"Are you angry?"

After a bit of thinking, he bobbed his head.

"At me?" A shake. "At Hanna?" Another shake. "Carlita?" Yet another shake. I couldn't very well ask who he was angry at, but I was running out of suspects. "Um… Are you angry at someone in this Center?"

Pedestal nodded, ears drooping slightly. I tilted my head, puzzled by his behavior.

"Is it a human?"

He shook his head.

"So it's a Pokemon." Nod. "One of Hanna's?" The thought of him being angry at Isabella was laughable, but he was ignoring her… Des just shook his head sharply, glaring at me. I smiled apologetically. He definitely wasn't mad at Isabella. "One of Devon's?"

"Nu," he grumbled with another shake of his yellow head.

"Rena's?"

Another no. I was beginning to get frustrated, seriously running out of Pokemon he knew. Maybe he and another trainer's Pokemon had a scuffle of some sort and I hadn't noticed? It was possible, but not likely. Maybe he was feeling angry with the other fire Pokemon? But no--he had been angry even before the melting process began and the fire Pokemon came out. That's just when I noticed he was.

I stood up and sighed, using my cast-less hand to brush back my hair. "You're impossible, Des. Who are you angry with? Wait--the Froslass?"

"Nu," he sighed, shaking his head yet again. I snorted and frowned. I thought I had hit upon the answer with the ghost.

"Do I know the Pokemon?"

"Numel," he replied evenly. I may not have spoken his language, but I think 'duh' is universal.

"Des! I have listed off every single Pokemon I know that you have met! Unless you're holding a grudge against a Pokemon we battled ages ago, it's not in this Center!" I burst out, gesturing wildly. I nearly lost my balance, however, when my cast arm decided that since it was heavier than my other arm, it ought to team up with gravity and momentum to try to take me out.

"Numel," Des said in a tiny voice, butting his head against my leg. "…Nu." He looked up at me with his usual blank expression, but now I knew him well enough to read the answer.

"…Oh. Oh." I knelt down beside him, unsure of how to take this answer. He was angry at himself? Why? (I couldn't ask that, though, unless I wanted another hour of guessing.) I reached out and brushed back his bangs, scratching him behind the ears. He made a discontented sound but didn't pull away. "Des… Why are you angry at yourself? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Numel, nu-nuu!" he retorted sullenly, glaring at the floor.

I didn't know what that meant, but if my starter was this upset about something, I felt it was my duty to try to find out. I continued scratching his ears to try to placate him as I thought back over the past few days. What had happened that might've distressed him?

We started on Route 217, but he was the one battling the most, and he seemed proud of his type advantage. It wasn't that. He seemed to like the lady that let us stay with her, and he wasn't angry at the Froslass. The only other big events centered themselves around that Abomasnow.

And then it hit me.

It hit me like so many things before had: like the Abomasnow had hit me, how the floor regularly hit me, how trees and bushes and doors and walls and people regularly hit me. It was sudden and it hurt.

Des felt angry at himself because it was he who'd had the advantage over the ice types. He was the one who fainted. He was the one who left it up to Isabella and two grass types to protect the trainers. He was the one who hadn't chased off the Abomasnow.

He wasn't the one who'd evolved.

"Oh, Des. You'll evolve eventually. It's okay. It's not your fault. We're all fine, and you'll evolve and become even more awesome soon enough. We'll get out of Snowpoint and then go to Sunyshore and I don't know, but we'll get the rest of the badges, and we'll be an awesome team. So what if Carlita evolved first? We're a team. It's okay to rely on her sometimes, okay?"

I hugged him, perhaps for the first time. At least, I knew it was the first time I hugged him and meant it.