Chapter 2: Prophecy
Absol's claws gripped the ice as she walked down the narrow trail, finding sure footing with years of practice. A bitter cold wind whipped up the slope of Mount Freeze, ruffling her thick coat and blowing stinging crystals of snow into her face, but it was only a minor discomfort. Squinting into the glare of the afternoon sun on fields of snow, she could see a herd of Swinub rooting in the valley below.
In the valley, she could see that a few hardy shoots were already poking up through the snow. She stopped hopefully to check the occasional berry bush along the way, even though she knew it was a wasted effort. The Swinub had cleaned out last year's crop months ago, and it would be another month or more before the first of this year's crop began to ripen. A startled Delibird flapped out of one bush, squawking at her as it rose. Absol leaped up, swatting at it playfully.
"Too slow!" Delibird teased, swooping down again, just out of reach. Delibird spread her wings, catching the wind and gliding further up the valley. Absol spun and chased after her, Swinub scattering from her path as she charged through the herd.
Soon she lost sight of the bird against the glare of the snow, and she stopped under a bare tree, panting and laughing. "Beautiful day for a run, eh?" Delibird called down from a branch above. Absol nodded and Deliberd fluttered down beside her.
"You know, I was flying over Frosty Forest this morning and I saw something interesting..."
"Oh?"Absol prompted.
"The Swinub missed a patch of Ice Berries by those two big oaks in the west."
"Really?" Absol grinned. "I might have to go pick some. Mother and I are so tired of last year's dried berries."
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Linoone darted from behind a rock, brushing against Absol's chest as it ran under her. "You're it!" Linoone shouted, scurrying away. Absol gave chase. They headed for a group of Pokémon talking in the shade of an old Apple tree; Poochyena, Purrloin, and the Furret brothers. Purrloin raised her head and yawned, her lack of motion indicating that she wasn't playing right now. The other three scattered at Absol's approach. Absol knew Poochyena was too fast for her, and the smaller Furret had already been 'it' several times that afternoon, so she turned to pursue the larger Furret. They ran through the bushes along the stream which formed one of the agreed-upon boundaries of the game, and Absol cornered Furret at a bend in the stream.
Poochyena appeared again, charging at her and breaking off before she could hit him. He leapt back and forth, keeping just out of reach. Furret tried to make a run for it while she was distracted, but Absol swatted his tail on the way by.
Poochyena tagged Furret, making himself 'it,' and circled Absol, head low and tail waving in the air, challenging her to run. She did, heading back toward the center of the meadow. Poochyena chased her for a while, following a body-length behind without touching her. Absol swerved around a bush and Poochyena tackled her. They rolled together in the grass, snapping playfully at each others' faces. Sylveon wandered by, stopping to watch them play.
"Which of us is 'it' now?" Poochyena whispered.
"Maybe we're both half 'it'," Absol suggested.
"So if we tag her at the same time…"
"Hey, Sylveon!" Poochyena said as they both stood up, "do you know who's 'it' now?"
Sylveon shrugged and sat down to scratch her ear. Absol and Poochyena both bumped into her at the same time.
"You are!" Absol shouted as the two of them broke into a run.
Eventually, everyone tired of the game. Pokémon wandered back to the old Apple tree, sitting or laying together in the sun, or the shade. Braixen had some dried berries in her bag, and Linoone had some Apples from last fall, which were getting soft, but still smelled okay. Absol accepted a couple of dried Orans and stretched out beside Poochyena to eat.
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Absol woke to the shock of something cold and wet on her nose. She raised her head, prepared to growl at whoever had thought it funny to splash her, and found that she was alone beneath the Apple tree. That was strange, she thought; she didn't feel like she'd been asleep long, and how had they all snuck off without waking her? Poochyena's and Sylveon's scents on the ground were hours old. Maybe a Sleep Seed had gotten mixed in with Sylveon's dried berries? Even so, everyone wouldn't have just left without waking her.
"Poochyena?" Absol called, "Furret? Sylveon? Braixen? Purrloin? Where is everyone?"
Another fat raindrop splashed on her face, and another. Absol looked up and saw that the sky was now heavy with clouds. She couldn't see the position of the sun. It had been clear before, hadn't it?
Treetops began to rustle as the wind picked up. Absol shivered. It was a cold, biting wind, which seemed to cut right through her thick winter coat.
Something was wrong here, very wrong. All the Pokémon here were her friends. She'd known them for years; they wouldn't all just disappear like this, not even as a joke. It was spring, and storms didn't just come up unexpectedly in the afternoon like this, especially not on a north wind. Absol shivered again, and not just from the cold this time. She wasn't afraid, not here at the base of the mountain which had always been her home, but she was worried.
She'd best head home, Absol thought. If something was wrong, Mother would know what to do. If something wasn't wrong, she could bring in some extra branches for their beds, help clean the rest of the winter detritus from their den, and maybe beg an extra story before they went to watch the stars with Ninetales. The rain fell harder, and she shifted from a quick walk to a trot to a run. Before long, her coat was soaked through.
The temperature was dropping quickly, and before she reached Frosty Forest, the rain had already turned to hail The hail battered down the flowers around her as she ran, stripped the new leaves from the trees, and pelted painfully on her head and back, and she darted from tree to tree, seeking what shelter she could find. The ground turned to mud beneath her pads, sticking to her feet with each step.
The hail turned to snow as she ascended Mount Freeze, and the wind whipped it around her in great white sheets, stinging her face and blinding her. There was some sinister presence there, a shadow half-glimpsed through the blowing snow. The mud froze into ice as she ran, sharp ridges that cut into her pads. The snow was up her ankles now, her knees, her chest. It seemed to grab at her, pulling her down; soon Absol was breaking through drifts taller than she.
For an instant, she thought she caught a glimpse of something following her, its coal-black body silhouetted against the white snow, but it was gone before she could identify it. Exhausted and freezing, Absol reached the cave and collapsed beside Mother. They lay there together, shivering, as the snow continued to fall. Soon, it had piled up over then entrance to the cave, entombing them in absolute darkness.
"Come, little one," Mother said, "we have to keep a way open to the surface through the night. In the morning we'll try to make it down off the mountain."
They took turns digging through the packed snow for what seemed like hours. Eventually Absol broke through to the surface. There was nothing at all above her; no clouds or stars or moon, just an infinite, dark void.
They huddled together in the cave for a day, a week, waiting for a glimmer of sunlight to find its way down the tunnel, too tired and cold and hungry to move.
Morning never came.
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"Absol! Are you okay?"
The first thing Absol saw when she woke was Poochyena's nose, centimeters from her own, his muzzle wrinkled in concern..
She was cold. Not just chilly from laying in the damp grass in the shade, but achingly, painfully, bone-chillingly cold. In eight winters on Mount Freeze, playing in the snow and watching the sky at night with Ninetales from the peak of the mountain, she didn't think that she had ever felt this cold before. The feeling seemed to originate in her horn and radiate throughout her body in the throbbing waves of pain.
Absol raised her head and looked around; five concerned faces looked down at her. The meadow was the same as it had been when she'd lain down to eat. The sky was clear, the breeze gentle, the ground lush with grass and flowers, and free of snow. She'd been in the sun when she lay down, but the shadow of the big Apple tree had moved to cover her; probably less than half an hour had passed.
"Wh-wh-" Absol tried to ask, but she was shivering so badly that she could barely speak. "Wh-why is it-t-t s-so c-cold?"
"It's not cold," Braixen said, "it's the same temperature it was when we all lay down."
"It-t i-is," Absol insisted, "H-h-how l-long w-was I as-l-leep?"
"Maybe ten minutes?" Poochyena offered, "we were grooming, and you fell a sleep while I was washing your ears."
"You were kicking and crying and muttering something," Linoone said, "Furret went to get your mother."
"If it were anyone else, we'd have woken you," Sylveon said, "but we thought maybe..."
It wasn't just a dream, Absol thought, Sylveon was right. Mother had a vision, eight and a half years ago, before Team Go-Getters came looking for Ninetales. She tried to remember all the other stories Mother had told her. She had heard them dozens of times, but now that it was important, they all seemed jumbled together in her head. Great-grandmother had one, more than two hundred years ago, in the year that the volcano far to the west had erupted.
The previous one had been hundreds of years before that, so many generations that Mother couldn't remember how many 'greats' to add without looking at the family tree carved into the rock just inside the den entrance. Absol had never expected to have a vision herself. She had premonitions, feeling in her horn like any other Absol. She knew when there would be an avalanche, or a rockslide, or a blizzard. Visions were different.
No one remembered now why their ancestors had chosen Mount Freeze, or why they saw things that even other Absols didn't, but in the thousands of years that the duty had passed down from mother to daughter, there had never been two visions so close together.
"It was, wasn't it?" Sylveon asked soberly.
Absol nodded. "I n-need-d t-to get-t h-h-home."
"Can we come with you?" Poochyena asked.
"I'm f-f-ine. I'll t-tell you ab-bout it lat-t-er."
Absol ran, retracing the same familiar path she had taken to their den in her dream, and thousands of times before. She knew it was only her imagination, but she could almost feel the presence of the malevolent black figure from her dream behind her, and the wind-driven ice slashing at her face. She ran faster and faster as the terror of her dream returned.
As she rounded a switchback, Absol looked back down on the trail below. Poochyena and Sylveon were there, following her a respectful distance. Her panic eased, just a little. They wouldn't admit it in front of her, but they were worried about her. She was fortunate to have such good friends.
Halfway up, she passed Furret without slowing down.
"Absol, what's wrong?" he called after her as she passed.
Furret was a good Pokémon, and he'd run all the way up here to help her. She should have stopped to thank him and explain the situation. Sylveon and Poochyena were probably still close behind, and they would explain; she could apologize later.
Mother was stretched out on the flat rock ledge in front of the cave, dozing in the sun. A bag's worth of earthy-smelling Drash Berries lay on the ground beside her, freshly dug and washed and waiting to be sliced up and spread out to dry. Winter was six months of the year, here, and it was never too early to begin preparing for the next. The clear afternoon sky gaped above her like a dark abyss, and she needed to be out of its view.
She dashed past Mother and into the den, past the side chamber where they stored food and wood, and all the way to the back where soft, long-needled pine branches were piled as a nest . She wriggled under the old Mareep-wool blanket and covered her face and horn with her paws, as if she could block out the cold that seemed to come from within.
Mother's tattered blanket settled around her, and Absol felt a little bit better. It was the one thing besides her treasure bag that Mother had brought back from her time on Team Go-Getters. It had been far from new then, stained in dozens of places and fraying at the edges, but it was still thick and warm. The two of them spent countless hours nestled in it each winter, Mother telling stories, and her listening raptly and reciting them back.
"Are you alright, little one?"
Mother's claws ticked across the stone floor of the den, and her muzzle lifted the edge of the blanket, letting a beam of daylight in. Her eyes shone in the dim light.
"S-s-so c-cold." Absol curled herself more tightly into a ball, "It h-hurts."
"Cold?" Mother asked, confusion and concern in her voice.
Absol nodded.
Mother's face pushed further into the blanket, sniffing over her head and forelegs. "You saw something, didn't you?"
Absol nodded again.
"The ledge outside is warm from the sun. Will you come lay with me and tell me about it?"
Absol hesitated at the mouth of the cave, remembering the darkness and terror that had waited outside in her dream. The sunlight felt faded and far away; she tried to assure herself that it was only her imagination. The ground was muddy from melting snow, and she held the blanket up, carefully picking her way around the puddles as she climbed onto the ledge.
She shook the worst of the mud from her paws and lay down, curling into a ball again. Mother jumped up beside her and spread the blanket over her, then lay down against her back.
"Better?"
"St-till c-cold." Absol leaned back, pressing herself against Mother's warm body. It did feel better, though.
"Now," Mother said, "what happened?"
"I was d-down below the f-forest, playing with some other Pokém-mon," Absol began, "we had some berries Braixen brought for lunch, then we all lay out in the sun."
"I woke up in my dream because it was raining, and everyone was gone. Th-then it was s-snowing. I ran b-b-back to the cave. S-something ch-chased me. Something black, but I couldn't s-see it through the s-snow."
"It k-kept snowing, over the top of the cave. We had to d-dig out for air, and everything was d-dark. We said in the m-morning we'd-d g-go down the mount-tain, but th-there was no morning. J-just cold and d-dark..."
Mother leaned over her, pushing her paws away from her face. Mother's warm tongue brushed against her cheeks, and Absol realized that she was crying. A few minutes passed in silence as Mother groomed her.
"You're sure we were on Mount Freeze?" Mother asked eventually.
"Y-yes."
"We dug out of the cave, and it was night? Could you see the stars?"
"Th-there was n-noth-thing in the sky." Absol was certain. It hadn't been clouds above her to block the moon and stars; just pure, terrifying emptiness. "Nothing at all."
"And the thing that chased you?"
"I only s-saw it f-for an inst-taant th-through the s-snow. It was j-just b-black, l-like the s-sky."
"Big or small?" Mother prompted, "quadruped or biped or something else?"
"I d-don't k-know."
Mother continued to ask questions, teasing out all of the details of her vision which she hadn't thought to describe. Afterward, she was silent for a while. Absol could almost feel her thinking.
"I don't know what to make of it," Mother finally said, "but I'm certain it was important."
"Y-you're more s-sensitive than me, M-mother. Why d-didn't you see it t-too?"
"I don't know, little one. We don't get to choose our visions...If you're up to it, I think we ought to see what Ninetales thinks."
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"Is that better?" Ninetales asked as they settled around the fire in his cave.
"Yes." Absol lay as close as she dared without catching her fur. The warmth from the flames drove back the chill from her horn, and for the first time since she'd awakened in the meadow, she wasn't shivering. "Thank you"
The main chamber of Ninetales' cave was huge and impressive, and uncomfortably cold and drafty most of the year. It was where he saw visitors from elsewhere who came to ask him to read the stars for them. The smaller chamber where they lay now was Ninetales' bedchamber. He and Mother shared the several blankets which made his bed, while Absol lay on another on the floor, polished smooth by what must have been millenia of use before Ninetales had claimed it. The smoke from the fire found its way up through a crack in the ceiling.
When outsiders came to consult him, Ninetales made a show of being mysterious and aloof. It gave more weight to his predictions, he claimed; Pokémon who traveled from around the continent for his wisdom didn't want advice from a normal Pokémon, they wanted the secrets of the heavens revealed. He gave it to them.
With the Pokémon who lived around Mount Freeze, he abandoned the act. They came for advice, or omens, or just to chat and share stories. They brought gifts of food, mostly, and firewood, and the occasional blanket or other useful item, not because Ninetales couldn't gather them himself, but because they knew he preferred to spend his time thinking or watching the stars. Ninetales was old, and wise, and knew the stars better than any other mortal Pokémon. He had also traveled further than anyone else around the mountain, even Mother.
"I'm glad that you came." Ninetales told them, "every night, these last few weeks, something in the sky has been troubling me. I had hoped that one of you would see it as well, because I'm not certain that I'm correct."
"I've not seen anything out of the ordinary," Mother answered first.
"Nor I." Absol shook her head.
"It's not an omen," Ninetales said, frowning, "it's, well, I'm not certain. After two hundred years staring at the stars, I know before I look up what I expect to see. Now, everything seems the slightest bit...off."
Absol looked back and forth between her parents. Ninetales always knew what the stars meant; for him to be completely at a loss was possibly even more disturbing than her dream. Feeling cold again, despite the heat of the fire, she pulled the edge of her blanket across her forelegs.
"So, little one," Ninetales gave her a reassuring smile, "tell us what you've seen."
Absol began her story again, trying to remember to include all the details that Mother had questioned before.
"Just a moment," Ninetales interrupted, halfway through her telling. He raised his head and turned to look back out toward the main chamber. "No need to skulk outside," Ninetales called, "come join us."
For a moment there was no response, and Absol thought perhaps Ninetales was mistaken; then she heard the scraping of two sets of claws on the stone outside.
Sylveon appeared around the corner, and Poochyena behind her. Their heads were lowered and their ears back in embarrassment. Ninetales waved them in.
"We're sorry," Sylveon began, "we were just looking for Absol..."
"I'm sure." Ninetales' lips pursed as he tried to hide an amused smile. "Since you're here, you may as well hear the rest."
Ninetales and the two Absols waited as Sylveon and Poochyena found places by the fire.
Absol continued. These were her family and friends, and she shouldn't be embarrassed to relate her vision to them, but she found it easier if she stared into the flames rather than look at anyone. Their dance was hypnotic, freeing her mind and loosening her tongue like the Berry wine which visitors sometimes brought for Ninetales.
Everyone was silent for a while after she finished. Absol was grateful; she would have liked nothing better than to stay just where she was beside the fire for the rest of the night, or the rest of her life. She had begun to nod off when Ninetales finally spoke.
"Nothing at all in the sky," Ninetales said grimly. It wasn't a question, Absol thought, just a repetition. She nodded in confirmation. Ninetales was staring into the fire as well; looking around, she saw that all of them were.
"So, there is something wrong with the stars," Ninetales said slowly, "but what? The old legends say that in the distant past, the First One and his children fought, and their wrath shook the very stars and planets from their courses..."
"What do we do?" Absol asked quietly. It seemed far too large a problem for the five of them to deal with.
"Whatever this is, it is beyond our capability here on Mount Freeze," Ninetales said, "we must seek aid, and other Pokémon must be warned, but after two hundred years here, I no longer know who to turn to for help."
"Team Go-Getters," Mother said immediately.
"It's a long way to Pokémon Square..." Ninetales said.
"I'm not sure I can go alone," Absol said. Ordinarily, should would be excited to go; it would be a great adventure, traveling the world and seeing all the places in Mother's stories for herself. Right now, though, she didn't even want to be outside.
"I could go with her," Mother said, "I would like to see everyone again…but I don't think it's wise for both of us to leave at once. If there is another vision, one of us should be here."
"There is an easier way," Ninetales said, "I've told you stories about sailing with Lapras, haven't I?"
Absol nodded.
"There is a cave on the coast about two days to the east called Iceberg Cave," Ninetales said, "it's been years since I visited, but I think he still lives there. I trust him, and I don't think he would mind ferrying you to Pokémon Square."
Riding Lapras would be incredible, she thought. Ninetales had told her stories of their adventures, but, like Mother's stories, they had always seemed exotic and far away; somehow, she had never thought about Lapras being right there nearby. Iceberg Cave was further from home than she had ever been. She had a vague idea where it was, and an even vaguer idea of where Pokémon Square was, far to the south and west, but the distances between didn't have any meaning to her.
She would be very, very exposed, on Lapras' back out on the ocean. Ordinarily, she didn't think that would have bothered her. The ridges and peaks of Mount Freeze were exposed too. Could she do it now, though? She swam in the lake below Frosty Forest sometimes, but if she fell off in the middle of the ocean, could she swim well enough to stay afloat until Lapras retrieved her?
"It will be cold, won't it?" Absol asked, "how will I stay on his back?"
"He has a raft with a tent," Ninetales said, "it's small, but I must have spent a hundred nights aboard. You could take a blanket, too. Whether that will be enough in your current condition...I don't know."
"I'll do it," Absol decided, "do we have to leave now?"
"Time is important," Mother said, "but I think you'll feel better in the morning. Why don't we stay the night with Ninetales, and leave at dawn?
"Can we help?" Poochyena offered.
Ninetales thought for a moment, then nodded. "We'll need another bag or two; a large one. Also, I need to speak with Articuno. If you and your friends could watch his cliff and let me know when he returns, I would be grateful."
"Wait," Absol said as Sylveon and Poochyena rose to leave, "thank you for following me earlier. I'm sorry I left in such a hurry."
Sylveon shook her head. "Absol, you shouldn't apologize to us. We don't understand what's happening, but we can see it's not easy for you. We just wanted to be sure you were okay."
"Thank you." Absol stood, and leaned forward to touch noses with Sylveon. Sylveon's body brushed against hers as she passed; shoulder, flank, hip, and tail. Poochyena did the same.
"Don't say goodbye yet," Sylveon said, "we'll be here to see you off in the morning." Absol turned to watch as they walked out of the cave.
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Absol woke to the sound of footsteps and quiet voices in the main cave. The fire was long since out, and she was alone in Ninetales' bedroom. Sometime during the night, Ninetales or Mother had pulled a blanket over her. It smelled familiar and comfortable, she thought, rubbing her face into the wool; decades of Ninetales' scent, and wood smoke, and herself and Mother and all the other Pokémon who had spent a cold winter night with Ninetales over the years.
She didn't want to get up. She had slept wonderfully peacefully last night, cuddled between Mother and Ninetales, and she wanted to stay right here and think about being warm. She could tell by the light through the doorway out into the main cave that it was well past dawn, and everyone was probably waiting on her. Stalling wasn't going to make the trip any easier.
Absol began to shiver again as she emerged from the blanket. She walked hesitantly out of the cave, half-expecting to see endless black sky above her again.
Everyone from their game of tag the day before was waiting for her; Sylveon, Poochyena, Linoone, Braixen, Purrloin, and both Furrets. They weren't the only ones; a dozen other Pokémon from around the mountain were there to see her off.
"I brought you a bag." Sylveon shrugged the bag off and lifted it with two of her ribbons and placed it around Absol's neck. It wasn't just any bag, it was her bag, the one she had carried for as long as Absol could remember. "It's lucky," Sylveon said, "I haven't drowned or fallen off any boats while wearing it, and neither will you."
"Oh, thank you!" Absol laughed. Sylveon's ribbons wrapped around her shoulders, pulling the two of them together in a hug.
Poochyena stepped up next, something round and yellow and faintly luminescent in his jaws, which he placed on the ground in front of her. It was an Orb, but Absol didn't recognize what kind.
"It's a Sunny Day Orb," Poochyena explained, "I found it in my very first mystery dungeon. Maybe you can use if you run into a storm."
Absol leaned down, resting her chin on Poochyena's head.
Poochyena pushed back. "Absol, be careful."
"I will. Thank you."
Braixen held a bottle of wine. Each fall, Pokémon from around Mount Freeze and the surrounding area brought loads of berries to Braixen's family by the river near where they all played in the meadow, and helped mash them all underfoot, in exchange for a share of the finished product. "Aspear and Oran with a bit of Tamato," Braixen said, carefully tucking the bottle into Sylveon's bag, "it's just the thing for keeping warm on a cold night."
Others brought token gifts, Apples or Berries for her to eat on the way, and soon Sylveon's bag was bulging. Absol thanked them each with a smile or a hug or a nuzzle. Had Mother received such a wonderful sendoff when she left with Team Go-Getters, Absol wondered. Probably not; there hadn't been time to gather everyone. Absol was sure she would have, though; she was such a nice Pokémon, and everyone loved her too.
Despite the freezing feeling emanating from her horn, Absol found that she was almost enjoying herself as they started down the long trail toward the coast. This was familiar territory, and the trail was wide and easy here; she walked in the center, with Mother on her right and Ninetales on her left. With so many friends around the mountain, she was never lonely, but it was such a rare treat to get to go somewhere with both Ninetales and Mother at the same time. Sylveon's treasure bag bumped against her chest with each step, stocked with Poochyena's Sunny Day Orb, Braixen's wine, and at least a week's worth of food. Mother caried another, stuffed with one of Ninetales' blankets
"Have I ever told you about the time Lapras and I discovered Wish Cave?" Ninetales asked.
"No," Absol said, suppressing a grin, "never."
All three of them knew that he had, of course; she could probably repeat it herself, without missing too many details. Where was the fun in that, though? Mother and Ninetales' stories were still enchanting, no matter how many times she heard them, and they still appreciated when she acted surprised or worried or excited at the right moments, even if they all knew it was an act.
"It was a hot summer day, and we were sailing along the coast of Southeastern Archipelago..."
Ninetales left out the part where Lapras had gotten lost, swum into the bay full of grumpy Stunfisk, and they'd both nearly drowned in the electrical assault before making it back out into the ocean. That was just as well, Absol, thought, she didn't want to think right now about all the things that could go wrong on the way.
The three of them took turns as they walked, Ninetales telling stories about his adventures with Lapras, Mother about Team Go-Getters and Pokémon Square, and her some of the old stories about the Legendaries.
It was much warmer at this elevation, the snow already melted and flowers blooming, but still she was cold. As the sky darkened that evening, the terror which she had felt looking up at the empty sky in her dream began to creep back. At first, Absol tried to ignore it, knowing that she would be even more exposed on Lapras' back, but the feeling grew more intense.
"We n-need t-to f-find sh-shelter," Absol admitted eventually, "I c-cant d-do th-this at n-night."
Ninetales found them an old Diggersby den to spend the night. It didn't go very deep into the hillside, but was wide enough for the three of them to lay comfortably. She wanted to ask Ninetales to start them a fire, but there wasn't enough airflow, and she knew it would quickly smoke them out.
Absol set her bag, Sylveon's 'lucky' bag, down, pulled open the drawstring, and used the last of the daylight to sort out some dried berries and the bottle of wine. They may as well all enjoy it together, she thought, when they could cuddle together afterward feeling all warm and relaxed. It wouldn't be any fun alone.
"Not tonight," Ninetales said of the wine, "you'll want that to help you sleep on the way. Not too much at once, though, or it will make you more seasick."
Her horn ached as they lay together after eating, and even with Mother and Ninetales stretched out against either side of her, Absol was still chilly. It wasn't really cold in the burrow; she knew it wasn't, because her parents were both stretched out full length, with their legs spread, giving them more surface to cool off on the sides which weren't touching her.
They were both asleep within minutes, but Absol lay awake, worrying. Ninetales said the raft had a tent, but would that be enough to protect her from the sky at night? What if it wasn't? If Lapras had to stop every night for her to find shelter, it would more than double the time they took to reach Pokémon Square. What if she fell off the raft, or slid off in her sleep? If she was scared now, with Mother and Ninetales and still in sight of Mount Freeze, how terrified was she going to be later, alone on Lapras' back on the ocean? By the time she reached Pokémon Square, would she even remember her vision, or would it have faded like dreams usually did?
They started off again at first light. Another day's travel brought them to the top of the cliffs which lined the eastern coast. The three of them found another burrow to spend the night, and in the morning they turned south, following the coastline.
"This is it." Ninetales stopped abruptly at a fork in the trail. One path continued along the top of the bluff, while the other descended into a crevice in the rocks. If Lapras swam in and out, Absol thought, the cave had to be at sea level. They were still at least a fifty meters up.
"Is it a mystery dungeon?" Absol asked.
Ninetales shook his head. "Just a tunnel."
Ninetales led them into the crevice, which opened into a tunnel about a meter across and two high. It was obviously carved rather than naturally occurring, but the marks on the walls weren't from any Pokémon with which she was familiar.
The tunnel descended gently for about fifty meters, then opened into the top of a large grotto. The grotto floor was half submerged, and open to the sea on the east side. Lapras was there, resting in the shallows by the shore; his head was erect, but he was still, and Absol thought he must be sleeping.
The path curved around the perimeter of the grotto as it descended, and as they approached him, Absol could see more detail. Lapras' shell was chipped and battered and patchy with lichen, and several long scars adorned the wrinkled, leathery hide of his face and neck. He must be quite old, she realized, if he had adventured with Ninetales in his youth. She didn't know how long-lived Lapras' species was; probably more than the hundred and fifty or so years that most Field-group Pokémon could expect, but certainly nowhere near Ninetales' thousand. Somehow she had expected him to be young still, like Ninetales was.
"Hello, old friend," Ninetales called as they reached the cavern floor.
Lapras' head swung around toward them. His big eyes blinked several times, slowly, before focusing on their group.
"Ninetales?" Lapras' loud rumble filled the grotto, "it's been too long."
"It has."
Ninetales looked guilty; he hadn't thought about how old Lapras would be now, either, Absol thought.
"I'm glad you're here." Lapras said, "I was just dreaming about how warm the water was off the coast of Marine Resort."
Lapras bent down as Ninetales approached. They nuzzled, and Ninetales forelegs wrapped around Lapras' long neck.
"I'm sorry," Ninetales said, "I should have visited more often."
"You're here now," Lapras said, "and your lovely daughters?" Lapras sniffed at Mother and then her. "I don't think I've met this one before. You're not here to chat though, are you."
"I'm afraid not," Ninetales said, "we need your help."
Ninetales explained the situation briefly.
Lapras didn't answer immediately. His eyes lost focus, and Absol wasn't sure whether he was thinking, or had fallen asleep again.
"I haven't been further than Bay Town in years," Lapras said slowly, "but I suppose I have one more voyage in me. It will be fun to have a passenger again...like old times"
"Do you still have your raft?" Ninetales asked.
Lapras turned his head toward the back of the cave, and all of them followed his gaze.
The raft itself was mostly intact. Three large logs, wider than her torso, ran from front to back. Dozens of smaller boards, running from side to side, were lashed to them with rope, forming a flat deck about a meter wide and two long. A few were broken or rotted through, and the rope was broken in places, but Absol thought she could still stand safely on the deck. A row of vertical poles stood along each side, and these were mostly broken. Tattered scraps of cloth hung from the splintered wood.
"I never had it repaired after that fight with the Gyaradoses on our last voyage," Lapras said, "I always meant to..." He shrugged.
"This isn't going to work for you, is it?" Ninetales asked.
Embarrassed, Absol shook her head. She wanted to be brave and say it would be okay, but she knew that it wasn't true; she would go mad on the first night, trapped on that open deck beneath the terrible sky.
"If we hurry, I can make Bay Town by evening," Lapras offered, "I haven't been there in a decade, but surely they will remember me. Someone will be able to repair it, there."
"Th-they c-can c-cov-ver it?" Absol asked, "all th-the w-way ar-round?"
"Yes," Lapras said.
"I th-think th-that w-will w-work."
"I'm afraid you three will have to get it to the shore," Lapras said, "it's been years since I've been flexible enough to leave the water."
The raft was heavy and difficult to push over the rough floor of the grotto. Working together, the three of them could push and drag it only a few centimeters at a time. If there hadn't been a slight slope down toward the water, Absol didn't think they could have moved it at all. It took them more than an hour to haul the raft close enough that Lapras could stretch his neck out and reach the tow hawser, and all three of them were panting heavily.
With Lapras' strength, the last few meters were easy. He rocked the raft side to side before slipping his neck into the hawser to pull it in a circle in the water of the cave. The deck flexed and wobbled more than Absol liked, but it seemed in no danger of breaking apart or sinking.
"It will have to do to Bay Town," Lapras said, "we shouldn't run into any weather today."
It was time, Absol thought. She wasn't ready. She had expected at least another meal with Mother and Ninetales, one last chance to groom together and cuddle. The longer she delayed now, the darker it would be when they reached Bay Town.
It would be weeks or months, or maybe even years before she saw Mother and Ninetales and all of her other friends again. She had always assumed that some day she would have the opportunity to explore the world, like Mother and most of her other ancestors had, before returning to Mount Freeze and her duty. Until yesterday, that 'some day' had been a distant hypothetical. Now it was immediate and real, and she didn't want to go.
Mother and Ninetales were standing side by side, and she pushed her head between theirs. They leaned together, their muzzles pressing against either side of her neck.
"Be careful out there, little one," Ninetales said, "most Pokémon are good people. Many of them will listen to your story. Some of them will help you, but don't trust anyone too readily. Stick to the main roads. Go directly to Pokémon Square. Don't leave town with anyone you don't know well."
"I've bored you with stories of Pokémon Square for years," Mother said, "you probably know everyone in there as well as I did, by now."
"You know I was never bored with your stories." Absol laughed as she wriggled further between them. "I'll be careful. I promise."
"Also, write," Mother said, "I know I've told you about the Pelippers."
Absol pushed the rest of the way through; rubbing the entire length of her body against both of her parents, then circled back to the front. She wanted, more than anything, to be back in Ninetales' cozy cave, by his warm fire, cuddled between them in Mother's warm blanket and listening to their stories all night. She thought about how cold she had been on the road down to the coast, and how dark it would be at night. She thought about being trapped on Lapras' back in the middle of the ocean . Would the tent be enough? Could she could make it through a night outside alone, imagining that awful empty sky overhead? It was too much and too soon and she was going to die out there alone and no one but old Lapras would ever know. For a moment, she almost turned and dashed back up the cliffs they way she had come.
"Are you alright?" Mother asked.
Absol forced herself to stand still, and nodded.
"You don't have to do this, if it's too much. We can find another way to get you there. I can go instead."
She really didn't have to, Absol thought. Mother and Ninetales would trust her judgment. There would be no scorn if she said she couldn't do it; Mother would go, and she could walk home with Ninetales to the safety of their cave.
Mother didn't know all the details of her vision, couldn't know, no matter how thoroughly she tried to explain. What if one of those details turned out to be critical? What if Mother and Team Go-Getters failed because of it and something awful happened? Even if Mother succeed, she would have to live with the shame of knowing that she was the first in thousands of years of Absols to fail in her duty. Even if Ninetales and Mother and all of her friends never said it, she would know it was true.
"I do have to," Absol said, feeling her throat tighten and her eyes begin to sting, "you didn't send someone else, and neither did great-grandmother."
Mother smiled, but it was forced smile, Absol thought; Mother was worried too.
"You're a good Pokémon, and smart," Mother said, "trust your instincts, and you'll do well."
Lapras was waiting in the water behind her. Absol leaned forward, touching muzzles with Mother and Ninetales one last time. There was nothing left to say, so she turned and walked quickly to the shore. A leap, and she was across the gap and over the broken rail.
"Are you ready, little one?" Lapras rumbled.
"Yes." Absol hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.
It was a strange feeling as the raft began to move beneath her, the ground sliding past on either side as she sat still. The deck rocked slowly beneath her paws with each stroke of Lapras' fins. Absol turned back to look at Mother and Ninetails, tails curled around each other as they sat together on the shore.
Her eyes stung, and she blinked rapidly as tears began to soak into the fur on her cheeks. She shouldn't be so upset, she thought; she wasn't leaving forever, or even going anywhere dangerous. She would deliver her message, maybe explore for a while with Team Go-Getters like Mother had, then come back to Mount Freeze, and everything would go back to normal.
They exited the cave, and suddenly she was squinting in the bright noon sun. Lapras began to paddle more quickly, and she leaned against the rail to steady herself. Absol sat, motionless, staring back at where Mother and Ninetales had been standing long after their two white forms had disappeared in the darkness of the cave.
"Are you okay back there?" Lapras asked eventually.
It was hard to judge their speed with water all around, but she thought they must be moving at what would have been a trot for her. Droplets of salty water sprayed back at her with each ripple that broke across the blunt prow of the raft, dampening her coat, and she thought about how cold and wet she was going to be at night, even if the weather remained calm.
"I'm fine!" Absol called back.
"We can still make Bay Town by sunset," Lapras said, "we'll talk more then. Shout if you need anything, and try not to move around too much until you get a feel for how the raft moves."
Now that they were underway, things really didn't seem so bad. Lapras kept in sight of the coast on their right, but to the left, she could see for what she imagined must be hundreds of kilometers. The ocean wasn't as featureless as she expected. There were islands out there, on the horizon, and they occasionally saw other Pokémon in the distance; Wingull and Cramorant overhead, and various marine Pokemon swimming in the water around them. It didn't matter that the deck was tiny, because she was sure that if she tried to walk around, she would lose her balance and slip off into the sea.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The sun was just beginning to set when they arrived at Bay Town, and Absol huddled at the very center of the raft, fighting the urge to pull Ninetales' blanket out to hide herself in. Lapras pulled alongside the single, dilapidated wooden pier which jutted out into the bay. A path from the pier led up the rocky shore to the town itself, about twenty wood and stone buildings of various shapes and sized arranged in an arc around the central square. Bay Town was small compared to Pokémon Square or Treasure Town, she knew from Mother's stories, but for her, it was still an impressive sight.
From here, Absol could see several Pokémon in the square, and in the field outside town, mostly water types. No one seemed to have noticed them, yet.
"Sh-should-d I g-go g-get s-someone?" Absol asked.
"No need. I'll get their attention."
Lapras raised his head and let out long jet of water into the air in the direction of town. It dispersed before reaching town into into a mist of droplets which sparkled orange in the light of the setting sun.
Pokémon turned to look and point down toward the bay. Croconaw and Buizel started toward them.
"D-do you kn-now th-them?" Absol wondered.
"I don't think so," Lapras said, "but it's been quite a long time since I was here, and my memory's not what it used to be."
"Evening!" Croconaw called as the two of them drew close, "can we help you?"
"Is Swampert of Team Sandcastle still around?"
Croconaw and Buizel looked at each other before Croconaw shook his head. "There hasn't been a Swampert here in decades, and I'm not familiar with Team Sandcastle."
"Empoleon or Vaporeon of Team Splash?"
"They disappeared in Magma Cavern," Buizel paused to think for a moment, "more than ten years ago."
"Feraligatr of Team Seaberries?"
Croconaw's face broke into a smile. "He's my father. You're the Lapras, aren't you? The one who used to travel the coast every spring and fall?"
"A long time ago." Lapras nodded slowly.
"You know, he still talks about the time you saved him from the school of Wishiwashi. I'll go fetch him."
Croconaw returned several minutes later, followed by a Feraligatr who looked even more ancient than Lapras
"Lapras!" Feraligatr roared, "it's been a long time."
"Indeed," Lapras rumbled in reply.
"You know, I wondered occasionally whether you were still alive."
"So do I, in the mornings."
They both laughed, then Feraligatr's face became serious. "I see you've a new rider. There's not trouble, is there?"
Absol could feel his stare. It was cautious, she though, but not quite hostile. Mother had warned her that not everyone away from the mountain would welcome her for fear of the disasters which she could sense.
"Not here," Lapras said, "we're bound for Pokémon Square. I need repairs, and she needs a place to stay the night; indoors, and private."
"Aye," Feraligatr said, "your deck's in rough shape. Run into trouble?"
"Forty years ago, off Purity Isle."
Feraligatr looked surprised. "Has it really been that long?"
Lapras nodded. "That was enough adventure to last us both a lifetime."
"Have you seen Ninetales since? How is he these days?"
"Still young and healthy," Lapras sighed, "and he will be long after we're gone. This is his daughter."
Feraligatr looked at her again; his gaze was more respectful this time. "Any family of Ninetales is welcome here..." he hesitated, a little bit longer than was comfortable for any of them.
"She can stay with us," Buizel offered, "our two eggs just hatched, so it'll be a bit crowded, but we can make room. There's also the warehouse, if you'd rather be alone."
"Th-the wareh-house is f-fine," Absol said, "I d-don't want t-to be in th-the way."
She didn't want to have to explain her mission and why she was cold and scared of the dark, though Buizel seemed nice, and it would have been pleasant to have company. She looked to Lapras for approval.
"Go ahead," Lapras said, "Feraligatr and I have a lot to catch up on."
Absol jumped to the pier and joined Buizel, eager to get under cover.
"Are you okay?" Buizel asked as they walked side by side up the path toward Bay Town.
"F-fine." she fought the urge to leave Buizel behind and sprint the rest of the way to town. "Just c-cold. Th-thank you."
Buizel looked dubious, but didn't press her any further.
Bay Town was even more impressive up close. The buildings were sturdy and moss-covered, most of them built with stacked boulders on the first level and logs on the second. They looked like they had been standing for centuries. The smallest was the size of Braixen's family's home and winery, and the largest could almost have held Ninetales' cave.
It was to the largest building which Buizel led her. He lifted the latch, a simple set of metal hooks accessible from both sides of the door by all but the shortest of Pokémon, and led her inside.
Absol relaxed as soon as the door thunked closed behind them, shutting out the darkening sky. It was darker inside, lit only by the fading sunlight through several small windows, but it was a safe, friendly darkness, like a cave, and her Dark-type eyes adjusted quickly. The building was two stories tall, but lacked a second floor inside; crates and barrels and lumber were piled three or four meters high, filling the single large room with the scents of Apples and Berries and pine sap.
"There's plenty of room in here this time of year," Buizel explained, "there's some open crates of food by the door; help yourself, if you want. My partner and I live in the building to the left, if you need anything during the night. You're sure you're okay?"
"I'm s-sure." Absol nodded. The warehouse was only a little warmer than outside, but it was out of the wind, and she was feeling better already, just having solid walls around her. "I j-just got wet and c-cold on the w-way." That wasn't entirely untrue, but she still felt a little bit guilty as she said it; Buizel really did want to help.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The sun was barely above the horizon when Absol arrived at the dock the next morning, feeling better after a night of relative comfort. Lapras' raft was already ashore, and Feraligatr, Buizel, and several other Pokémon were talking and working around it. They had wooden boards and poles, and rope, and several large sheets of cloth, and she had no idea how it was all supposed to go together.
"They wanted to build me a new one," Lapras explained, "but I told them we were in a hurry and this would probably be the last time I would use it. They're replacing some of the damaged boards, and building a canopy over the back."
Feraligatr saw the two of them talking, and came over to join them. "Lapras asked us to keep it simple," he said, "we should be done by lunchtime."
"Thank you! I don't think I would have made it without."
"It's the least we can do for an old friend," Croconaw said, "I wanted to build a wood hut, but Lapras thought it would be too heavy."
The wood hut sounded like a great idea, Absol though, but it was going to be Lapras pulling the raft, not her, so she didn't say anything.
"You should offer to pay him," Lapras prompted
Absol hesitated. People paid for things in some of Mother's and Ninetales' stories, but she wasn't quite sure what that meant. The Pokémon around Mount Freeze shared and gave gifts and sometimes traded, but paying sounded awfully formal. "I don't have any Poké, but I have some items..."
Absol opened her bag for Feraligatr to see, and he looked inside. There were some dried Berries, she though, and the gifts that Poochyena and Braixen had given her. The Sunny Day Orb glowed slightly in the warmth of Feraligatr's hand as he examined it. He replaced it in the bag, withdrew the bottle of wine, and sniffed the stopper.
"It's Aspear, Oran, and a little Tamato," Absol explained, "Braixen's family near Frosty Forest makes it."
"The bottle for repairs?" Feraligatr asked.
"Is that fair?" Absol asked hesitantly. A bottle of wine didn't seem like much, even if Braixen's family made amazing wine; it would only be one mouthful each for all the Pokémon working on Lapras' raft.
Feraligatr shrugged and smiled. "I can't take your Sunny Day Orb, you might need it on the way, and we've plenty of Berries. Besides, Ninetales is an old friend."
After Feraligatr had returned to work, Absol turned to Lapras. "Was that okay?" she asked.
Lapras nodded. "I should have asked what you had beforehand. I think he's satisfied; he's an honest Pokémon, and he saw that you value his work, and that's more important than the actual payment."
Feraligatr was true to his word, and they were underway again after lunch. The raft felt much sturdier now. The rail around the deck had been reinforced, and now supported a cloth wall and roof around the back half, with a flap at the front as a door. At the very back was a cubby with solid boards on five sides, open only to the front, just large enough for her to crawl into at night, or to lay on top of like a bench to keep out of the water it the deck was wet.
She wasn't sure how sturdy the whole thing would be in a storm, but if it blocked out her view of the sky at night and survived the trip to Pokémon Square, that was good enough.
They were barely out of sight of Bay Town when the wind picked up. The gently rocking of the deck under Lapras' paddling hadn't bothered her, but as the wind pushed the waves higher and the raft rocked more steeply, she began to feel ill. Water sloshed across the deck with each wave, soaking her legs.
"Are you alright back there?" Lapras called.
"I think so," Absol shouted back.
Trying to keep dry, she lay on the bench at the back of the raft. It was high enough to stay above most of the water which sloshed across the deck, and the tarps blocked most of the spray. It didn't help at all with her stomach.
She huddled on the bench for what seemed like hours, growing slowly colder and wetter and sicker and more miserable. Her stomach heaved, and she forced it back down. She didn't want to vomit in here where she would have to smell it for the rest of the voyage. She also didn't want to do it out front where it was even wetter, and Lapras might see her.
Eventually, Absol couldn't hold it in any longer. She rushed outside, jammed her head through a gap in the railing, and vomited over the edge. She stood there for a few seconds, panting and shivering. It was getting dark, now, and the cold wind cut through her wet fur. At least Lapras hadn't seen her, Absol thought. He kept on, his head low to the water, seemingly unbothered by the waves which broke around his face. Ninetales's blanket was probably still dry in the bag, but it wouldn't stay that way long of she got it out. It would be nice to have huge, fluffy tails like Ninetales. Maybe he could have taught her a Fire-type move before she left. Her tails would be wet too, and so would anything she brought along to burn. Returning to the shelter, Absol huddled back onto the bench with her forepaws covering her face.
Though she couldn't see it, the night sky seemed horribly close with nothing but the tarp over her head. The chill and her stomach kept her awake through most of the night, and when she did sleep, she was tormented by nightmares of an indescribable something stalking her through an endless wasteland of dark and ice.
She wobbled out of the shelter at sunrise, cold and exhausted, debating whether to admit defeat now and ask Lapras to return to Mount Freeze to so that Mother or even Ninetales could go in her stead, but the morning light strengthened her resolve which had waned overnight. She was not a cub, she told herself, to be frightened by nightmares and imaginings; what she saw was the future, or a representation of a possible future, not a real and present danger. Many of the Pokémon in the legends had endured far more discomfort than she.
"M-morn-n-ing!" she called to Lapras, as cheerily as she could manage. He'd been swimming all night while she tried to sleep, and it wasn't his fault she was cold and miserable.
"Good morning," Lapras' voice boomed back, "doing alright back there?"
The wind had died down, and the sun shone brightly. They were entering a shallow cove, surrounded on three sides by towering pines.
"F-f-fine!" Absol lied, "Wh-where ar-re we?"
"I don't know it has a name," Lapras answered, "but there were some excellent Sea Berries in the shallows here forty years ago. Would you like to go ashore while I eat?"
"P-please!"
Lapras ducked out of the hawser and pushed the raft the rest of the way to shore. The logs underneath scraped against the rocky bottom about a meter from shore, near the mouth of the stream which flowed out into the cove.
Her legs were shaky, and Absol wasn't sure whether she could make the jump over the rail and across the shallow water between her and the land. Well, she thought, she was wet enough already that wading the rest of the way wouldn't hurt her. The water in the stream was fresh and delicious, and cold, and Absol debated trying to wash herself. She didn't want to, but if the weather stayed clear, she would dry in few hours. If she didn't, the salt and gunk in her fur from the seawater was probably going to itch when she started to dry.
After shivering her way through a bath, Absol went for a run. Her legs were still shaky, at first, but by the time she reached one end of the bay, she was feeling much better. She settled on a rock near the shore, pulled an Apple from her bag, and lay down to eat. Out in the bay, Lapras dove, and surfaced with a mouthful of stringy green seaweed bearing several pale Berries which she didn't recognize
The next few days passed in much the same way. When the weather was good, she sat on the front of the deck and traded stories with Lapras. Some of them she'd heard before, from Ninetales, though Lapras' perspective was very different; many others were new to her. When the weather was poor, she huddled miserably on the bench, wishing helplessly that she had given in to her fear and let Mother take her place. Every night as the sun fell, she thought about the Sunny Day Orb in her bag, and extra few hours of comfort that it would give her.
Lapras seemed tireless, despite his age, stopping only to drink and forage for food when they passed the mouth of a river. The shoreline progressed as they traveled southward, from rocky cliffs to pine forest, badlands, then mixed forest and grassland
After a week, though, Lapras had begun to noticeably lag. His pace slowed, and he rested longer and longer at each stop.
"You're getting tired, aren't you?" Absol asked on the ninth day, as he floated in the shallow water by the shore. He had finished eating, and ordinarily they would have been underway again.
"I am," Lapras admitted, "I'm old, Absol, and I haven't swum like this in decades."
"We can go slower," Absol offered, "I could walk the rest of the way; we're more than halfway there."
As uncomfortable as she was on the raft, walking sounded even worse. She would be alone, and she'd have to find shelter every night. She also didn't know the geography here at all, except that they were still on the wrong side of the continent, and it would probably take her weeks to reach Pokémon Square on foot.
"Don't worry about me, little one," Lapras said, "I may not be as quick as I was, but I'll get you there."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The fourteenth day dawned cold and windy, the sky heavy with storm clouds. Her horn ached with cold even more than usual, but she could feel something else as well; the tingle of approaching danger. Lapras' head was low to the water, and he paddled harder than to had in a week. He must be worried too, Absol thought as she stood shivering on the deck. She wasn't sure how the weather worked, this far south and out at sea, but Lapras would know. Her horn knew.
Should she greet him, Absol wondered. She didn't want to interrupt his concentration, but it seemed inauspicious to break their routine after so long together.
"M-morn-ning!" Absol called, her cheerfulness even more forced than usual this morning.
"Morning." Lapras grunted in reply, not breaking the rhythm of his strokes to look back at her.
She knew he must be tired. He knew that she was cold and seasick and scared. They both knew a storm was coming. Politeness was the ritual by which hundreds of different species of Pokémon lived together mostly in peace and cooperation, and all of their troubles made it more important, not less.
"Th-there's a st-torm c-coming, is-sn't-t th-there."
"Yes," Lapras answered. His unusual brevity was enough to convey how concerned he was.
Despite the wind, Absol remained outside, determined to dry off as much as she could before the storm inevitably drenched her again. There was nothing she could do to help their situation; she couldn't help Lapras swim faster, or affect the weather, or make the raft any sturdier than it was. She hated the feeling of helplessness even more than the cold.
After a few hours, it began to rain, and Absol retreated into the tent. She climbed up on the bench, wrapping her damp, cold blanket around her damp, cold fur, and burying her face and horn under her paws once more. They were almost there, she told herself. Lapras said one more day. She could tolerate anything for one more day. The sea surged under the edges of the tarp and across the deck with each wave, splashing her, and the wind-driven rain penetrated the cloth in a fine mist. There was nothing left in Sylveon's bag, now, besides the Sunny Day orb, and she clutched it tightly through the fabric. She couldn't use it yet. They would need it later. Lapras knew she had it, and he would know when it was time.
The wind grew stronger and stronger, beating at the canopy until she was sure that it would break, but Croconaw's work held. The waves threw the raft about like a leaf in the autumn wind, and each time it came down, she expected it to overturn, plunging her into the icy water. Somehow, it remained upright. She clung to the bench for hours, not even moving to vomit for fear that she would lose her balance and slide off the edge.
"Absol!" Lapras' voice roared over the sound of the storm, "use the Orb!"
Fumbling with half-numb paws, she pulled the Orb from the bag. She didn't know what was going to happen when she broke it; the stories said it would make the weather sunny, for a little while, but how could such a small thing affect the wind and the clouds and the sea all around them? She dashed it against the deck.
As the orb shattered, Absol felt some unseen force rush by her, briefly blowing all her fur back like starting into a stiff wind. The fabric of the tent billowed outward briefly, then was still, no longer beating in the wind and rain of the storm. The heaving of the raft settled down to the gentle rocking of Lapras' swimming, and sunlight shone through the wet fabric overhead.
Absol pushed out through the front flap, still incongruously dripping, onto the front of the raft. In a perfect bubble about twenty meters in all directions from the raft, it was a peaceful, calm, sunny day. She could still see the clouds overhead, but a sourceless sunlight shone down from the top of the bubble, illuminating and warming them just like the real thing. The waves parted seamlessly around the bubble on one side, to resume of the other side as if nothing had interrupted them, but inside, the water was still. She shook vigorously, sending droplets of water flying in a sparkling cloud.
"Th-that-t's am-mazing!"
"Isn't it?" Lapras agreed. He was breathing hard, and his strokes were slower now. "Won't last...long though. Have to get...you to shore."
"Are y-you ok-kay?" Absol's excitement at the Sunny Day Orb's effect was replaced by worry. She couldn't see the coast from here, through the storm which still raged outside the bubble. She knew it had been to their right for most of the journey, but there was no way she could keep a constant heading in the waves, and she wasn't strong enough right now to swim far anyway. She was helpless out here, completely dependent on Lapras.
"Just tired," Lapras said, "we'll make it."
She hoped desperately that he was right.
With the unmoving false sunlight of the Orb and the clouds still blocking the sky outside, there was no way to measure time, but Absol though that an hour or two must have passed since she activated the Orb. Still, there was no land in sight. Had they drifted too far out in the storm, she wondered. Was Lapras lost?
As she stared vainly over the right rail, the invisible barrier between them and the storm wavered, then began to rapidly contract.
"Look out!" Lapras bellowed.
She dashed back into the shelter as a wave crashed over them. The raft heaved and bucked, and one of the poles supporting the canopy broke with a sharp crack. No longer stretched tight, the fabric whipped violently in the wind, and through the gap she could see that it was nearly dark outside. She panicked, flailing for the fabric as it flapped past her, and felt it snag on her claws. The terror of the night sky overwhelmed the discomfort of being cold and wet. She dove into the cubby under the bench, pulling the tarp in after her, and crammed herself back into the corner as tightly as she could.
Water surged around her with each wave, stinging her eyes and filling her mouth and nose with brine, but it was better than facing the darkness outside. She was going to die here. Lapras was lost. The raft would break apart in the storm, and she would freeze or drown in the icy water, or die of terror exposed to the night sky.
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"Absol?"
Something wet and cold and salty covered her face. She couldn't be dead, she thought, because she could see light filtering through; warm, yellow, friendly daylight. Her back hurt, and her legs were cramped, and she was still freezing. She tried to move, and felt something constrict around her chest and shoulders. The tarp, she thought; she'd been trying to hold on to it last night, and it must have somehow gotten tangled around her.
"Absol?" Lapras' voice came again, urgent and worried.
"I-i'm h-h-here."
Still tangled in the fabric, she managed to wriggle out from under the bench tail-first. It was wrapped around her forelegs and caught on her horn, and she didn't know where to begin unwinding herself. Instinct told her to back out of it, but she didn't think that was going to work. He hindquarters could move side to side, though, while her head and shoulders seemed to be stuck in place. It was probably still attached to the pole at this end, she thought. Maybe she could cut herself free?
Absol Night Slashed upward, raking her horn side to side in an attempt to sever whatever part of the fabric was still attached. She felt something part around her horn, and the end covering her face loosened and fell free. She blinked and squinted in the suddenly bright daylight as she looked around. The back end of the raft was beached on a sandy shore which backed up to a rocky cliff, while the front bobbed gently in the shallow water of a small bay. Her bags and blanket were nowhere to be seen. Lapras towered over her, looking down with a worried expression on his face.
"Are you alright?" Lapras asked. He sounded exhausted, and very old.
"I th-think so. Wh-where are w-we?" She wriggled free of the rest of the tarp, shook, and stretched.
"We're here."
"Wh-where?"
"Pokémon Square."
Absol looked around again, uncertain; she didn't see anything that looked like a town.
"It's up on the mesa," Lapras explained patiently, turning his head toward the cliff behind her.
She should have remembered that, Absol thought; Mother had described it enough times.
"Oh! We m-made it!" she exclaimed, forgetting for a moment how uncomfortable she was. "Well, y-you m-made it. Th-thank you s-so m-much!" She stood at the edge of the deck, leaning out toward Lapras, but he was out of reach.
"Yes, little one, we made it." Lapras sighed as be bent down to her level. Standing up on her hindlegs, Absol wrapped her forelegs around his neck like Ninetales had done back in Iceberg Cave, and rubbed her cheek against his..
"Are y-you alr-right, th-though?" She released him and stepped back.
"Just tired."
"Th-there must b-be a h-healer here. Shall I b-bring someone d-down?"
Lapras shook his head slowly. "I'll be fine. I just need to rest." Lapras smiled, but there was something sad and longing in his eyes as well. "Thank you for letting me carry you. It's been far too long since I've had a passenger. You know, your father and I had so many exciting times together..."
Lapras stretched out his neck and lay his head on the deck of the raft beside her, and Absol leaned against him. They stayed there for several minutes without speaking, enjoying each other's company and the warm sun.
"Go on," Lapras said finally, "don't worry about me, and remember to write your mother."
"Have a safe t-trip home, and...th-thank you. I d-don't know how I would have m-made it alone."
Absol hadn't realized just how exhausted she was until she started up the trail toward Pokémon Square. It wasn't just lack of sleep; fear of the night, the constant rocking of the raft, the wetness, and the unrelenting cold that flowed from her horn into every part of her body, all combined to sap her strength. Her legs felt weak beneath her, and she wanted to lay down in the sun alongside the trail and sleep the rest of the day, but she was so close now.
Daydreaming about her friends back home, Absol didn't realize that she had reached Pokémon Square until she heard voices ahead of her. Several dozen buildings clustered around the crossroads at the bottom of the valley, and many more were scattered around the slopes. A river flowed through the valley from a small lake above the town.
Pokémon Square, Absol thought, she was finally here. There were Pokémon along the road, playing, talking, picking berries, working on some of the buildings, and they stopped to stare as she passed, more different kinds of Pokémon than she had ever expected to see, all in the same place.
Stalls lined the main street, full of berries and baked goods, seeds, scarves, orbs, tools, and all manner of items she did not recognize. Pokémon gathered around her, pointing and talking. Absol was dizzy, overwhelmed by the unaccustomed assault of sights and sounds and scents. Her vision blurred and she felt her legs begin to buckle.
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The room was dark, lit only by a faint glow of moonlight from somewhere above. Absol lay curled between two blankets in a thick bed of straw. The bedding, and the air of the room, held a strange but wonderful scent which she could not identify; it was fresh and earthy like spring rain, sharp and invigorating like Sitrus berry juice, comforting like a well-used burrow. At first, Absol had no idea where she was or how she'd gotten here. She wriggled deeper into the straw, letting the blanket settle over her face. Pokémon Square, she thought, she had made it to Pokémon Square. There had been so many Pokémon, all talking at once…
"Ah, you're awake," The voice came from across the room, high-pitched and motherly, "you had me worried, darling. You seemed so uncomfortable, but I couldn't find anything wrong with you."
"Just c-cold." Absol answered from under the blanket.
It wasn't time to relax yet, Absol though; she was so close to completing her mission, but she still had to find Team Go-Getters and deliver her message. She knew exactly what their base would look like; Mother had described it to her hundreds of times, though the two of them had never expected that she would need to know. She didn't know exactly where it was, but Mother had always described it as being near town, and that wasn't a very large area to search. How long was it until morning? She couldn't search now, in the dark, but maybe her host could take a message to them?
"Cold? On such a pleasant night? You must be sick."
Absol heard footsteps approaching, and a feathered hand pulled back the blanket and brushed against her forehead.
"You don't feel like you have a fever. Oh, you must have been so exhausted, collapsing in the square like that! Let Mama Aromatisse get you something warm to drink, and you can tell me all about it."
Mother had described many of the residents of Pokémon Square, but Aromatisse hadn't been one of them. A lot could have changed in eight years. Could she trust her with her story?
The footsteps retreated, and returned a few minutes later. The blanket was pulled back again, and Aromatisse placed a steaming bowl in front of her. Absol did not recognize what kind of herbs it contained, but the tea was strong and spicy and wonderfully warm.
"Now," Aromatisse said, removing the bowl once Absol had finished, "tell me what happened."
"Go-Getters," Absol said, "I have to talk to Team Go-Getters."
"Go-Getters? I'm sorry, darling, they haven't been in town for months."
"Where can I find them? Absol asked desperately, "it's important."
"Why, no one knows," Aromatisse said, "what is it you need, a Rescue Team? It's something big, isn't it?"
Absol nodded. She could trust Aromatisse, she though; she seemed like a good Pokémon, and she had helped her already. Still, she didn't want to explain everything now, just to have to repeat herself in the morning.
"Well, if it's important, I think you should talk to Team ACT. They're mostly retired now, but they'll know what to do."
That was a familiar name. Mother talked about them a lot too. They would listen to her, she thought, and they would probably remember Mother, and Ninetales. That would give her some credibility, at least.
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When Absol woke again, it was morning. The orange light of dawn streamed through a window overhead, casting a bright round spot on the opposite wall. Nestled in the blankets, she wasn't quite warm, but she was, at least, less cold than she had been since she left Mother and Ninetales on Mount Freeze. She yawned, stretched, and reluctantly wriggled out of bed.
Across the room, Aromatisse stood in front of a small brick stove where a fire burned under an earthenware pot. The smell of tea and some sort of cooked food that she didn't recognize filled the room, and her stomach growled; she hadn't eaten yesterday in the storm.
"Ah, you're awake," Aromatisse greeted her, "feeling better?"
"Much better," Absol said truthfully, "thank you."
"Hungry? Meowth brought us some fresh Poffins this morning."
"They smell wonderful. What are they?"
"They bake them from Pumkin Berry flour and Oran Berries." Aromatisse set a plate with two Poffins on the floor for her. "Tea?"
"Oh, please."
She bit into a Poffin hesitantly, not sure what it was or how it was supposed to be eaten. The texture was spongy and unfamiliar, but it tasted as good as it smelled, and the way it seemed to melt in her mouth was amazing.
"Still cold, dear?" Aromatisse asked once she had finished.
"Just a little," Absol admitted.
Aromatisse took one of the blankets from the bed; it was Mareep wool, just like Mother's, dyed in a red and black checkered pattern. "Here, let me put this on you."
Aromatisse pulled the blanket over her back. then wrapped the two leading corners around her shoulders and tied them together under her throat. Absol shook until it lay evenly across her back.
Mother had described Team ACT's manor in her stories, but still, Absol was unprepared for how huge it was. As she passed through the arched gate into the courtyard, she had to pause for a moment and look around. A wall of packed earth a meter wide and two and a half high enclosed a courtyard a hundred meters across, planted with all manner of berry bushes and herbs, and several ancient, massive Apple trees. A stream had been diverted from its path to wander in a loop around the courtyard.
The house itself was built of stone, twenty meters across and two floors tall, each high enough to comfortably accommodate a Tyranitar, with massive logs supporting the roof. Dozens of Pokémon could have lived inside, she thought, and fed themselves in the courtyard garden. It wasn't just the size that was impressive, but the sheer amount of work that it must have taken to build it all.
Absol was still cold, but with Aromatisse's blanket tied around her shoulders and a belly full of warm Poffins and Aromatisse's tea, at least the shivering had stopped. She scratched at door. After several minutes, she heard heavy footsteps approaching. The door opened, and Charizard stared down at her curiously.
This wasn't just any Charizard, she knew immediately; he was the Charizard, the one in Mother's stories, who had helped Mother and Team Go-Getters save the world.
"Ninetales and my mother helped you eight years ago," Absol spoke quickly, trying to get the words out before she lost her nerve, "we need your help now."