Chapter 8

Ian felt like his eyes were going to freeze shut. He was shin-deep in snow, trudging along, hoping and praying that he could find somewhere to stop. The boy was wrapped head-to-toe in three layers of clothing and still the wind bit into him and even seemed to go straight through him, at times. Through the dark of night and the snow blowing in his face, Ian could barely see any farther than five feet in front of him.

This was insane! He had heard about how bad snowstorms could get in the mountains of Route 217. But as a thirteen-year-old, first-time Pokémon trainer, how could he be prepared for this? What was he going to do? Did trainers seriously walk this way, chasing after a badge just to get buried in snow? What had he done wrong? For crying out loud, it was June! What the hell was winter like?

His thoughts pounding at him and the cold threatening to tear him apart, Ian could do nothing but keep pushing forward through the blizzard. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Just a little bit farther, just a little bit farther, he kept telling himself until it was just a mantra playing in his head. But that little bit farther felt like it was getting bigger with every step he took.

"Holy, Arceus!" the voice was so quiet through the howling wind that Ian wasn't sure if he had heard it at all, "what in the world are you doing out here?" Not able to do more than flop his head from side to side, Ian searched for the owner of the voice.

Then, she walked straight through the blizzard in front of him, so calm and confident, but also gentle and afraid for him. Ian was positive he was hallucinating as the girl strode towards him, unconcerned about the storm.

The vision in front of him was a girl in her early twenties. She wore a sky-blue dress with a short skirt that whipped around her, in the wind. The dress had fur lining, as did her shin-high boots, but it must not have been for comfort. The girl had an unusual amount of skin exposed for this kind of weather. Her shoulders, arms and knees were completely bare. The freezing temperatures apparently did not bother her at all.

Taking her in, Ian thought that this was what love at first sight must feel like. He felt his knees start to buckle as she started to run towards him. He passed out, falling forward into the snow. He had tried his best, now all he could do was lie down and let her take him. There was no question that he was hallucinating and the most beautiful creature he had ever seen had come to help guide him to the next world. He was so absorbed in the certainty of his death that he didn't take any notice of her tail and ears, which were both the elongated diamond shape of a Glaceon.

When Ian next woke, the wind, the snow and the cold were all gone. They had been replaced with a soft warmth wrapped around him. It hugged him tight and reminded him of days when his mother had made cocoa for him. They would both sit in cocoons of warm blankets, watching something on TV. Maybe it would be a Pokémon tournament, and Ian would excitedly tell her how desperately he wanted to be a Pokémon trainer. How wonderful it would be to be a famous Pokémon master. And she would smile and listen and tell him how proud she would be to see him competing on TV.

But this wasn't home. He sat bolt upright the instant he realized it and there was immediately a hand on his chest, gently pushing him down. A soothing, wispy voice told him to relax and calm down. He listened, but only because it was the voice of the stunning vision that had appeared through snow and ice to come and get him.

Ian was lying on a plush sofa, directly across from a blazing fireplace. The girl knelt on the floor next to him, watching over him the way a mother watches over her sick child.

"It's okay," she whispered, "you're safe here." She stood up, smiling at him, the way the light from the fire lit up her face made Ian swoon. After a second, she asked, "do you want some cocoa?" Ian blushed and grinned, the warmth returning to his cheeks made it hurt, but he didn't care.

The girl walked away and Ian looked around the cabin. He was in a parlor, furnished only with the couch and a single recliner, closer to the fire. There wasn't much decoration, save for a few pictures of people that Ian didn't know. The one in the center of the mantel, above the fireplace, was by far the largest and the four people in it were in every other picture somewhere else in the room. Two boys, a girl, and an old man grinned at the camera. They didn't look much older than Ian, except for the man, who could pass as Ian's grandfather, maybe even his great-grandfather since his face looked so wrinkled.

Ian saw his new love in only one of the pictures. She was standing on the far left side of a group of seven people. They looked like they were in costume, since they were all dressed like Pokémon, except for the very serious looking guy in the center. Ian thought that he looked an awful lot like one of the boys in the main picture.

"Awake, are we?" Ian jumped as the deep, sorrowful voice came from behind him, on the other side of the couch. Ian sat up and twisted around to see a man, probably in his mid-twenties, sitting at a wooden desk and writing. He looked an awful lot like the center man in that picture with all of the costumed people around him, maybe just a few years older. The man didn't look up, but continued writing as if he hadn't said anything, and Ian wondered if he had imagined him speaking.

"What's your name?" the man spoke again and this time Ian was sure because he had watched it happen.

"Ian," he whispered, "I'm from Orreburgh City."

"Alright," the man said, disinterested, "what were you doing out in that storm at night and so far away from the main road, Ian?"

"I'm trying to get to Snowpoint City," Ian said, "to get my seventh badge."

"You're a Pokémon trainer?" the man put his pen down.

"Yeah," Ian nodded excitedly, "I'm gonna be the best ever!"

"Yeah…" the man sighed, "that's what everybody says." The man started to stare at the wall, looking beyond it at something only he could see.

"Cocoa's done!" Ian's future wife materialized in the doorway behind the man at the desk. Ian couldn't help but snicker to himself when the man jumped, startled by her sudden announcement.

"Oh, right," the man shook his head as the girl placed a steaming mug on the desk, "thank you, Flurry." He picked it up and sipped tentatively at it.

Flurry, Ian thought with delight, her name's Flurry…

"Here you go," she held out a mug for him and he took it, grinning and blushing. The light from the fire place lit up her face and her dazzling blue eyes sparkled like diamonds. It was then that Ian noticed her ears and tail.

Dumbfounded, Ian held his mug and did nothing else as the grin left his face. They weren't costumes he had seen in the picture. Flurry's ears and tail were real. He was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. Flurry was a Glaceon.

"Okay, enjoy," Flurry disappeared back into the tiny kitchen, behind the man at the desk. A moment later she returned with a tray with six more mugs on it.

"Is Tempest back yet?" Flurry asked the man at the desk.

"Not yet," he replied, "probably won't be for another hour or so."

"Oh," Flurry's ears drooped in disappointment, "okay…" Sighing, she walked away, heading for the stairs behind the fireplace.

"Who's Tempest?" Ian asked, finally able to form words again.

"Why do you want to know?" The man countered.

"Is he out in the storm?" Ian pressed, "'cause it's really bad out there. I should know."

"First of all," the man closed his eyes and sighed, "Tempest is a she. And I know how bad it is. She'll be fine. She's not that weak. You were just stupid."

"Hey!" Ian cried, indignantly, "What'd I ever do to you?"

"Ugh…nothing," the man said, defeated.

"See?" Ian smirked, "and Flurry likes me. So, you should too." Without an argument for this, the man didn't respond and they sat in silence for a few minutes. Then, still unsure of how to proceed, Ian asked as gently as he could, "is Flurry…a Glaceon?"

The man turned in his chair to look directly at Ian, as he peered over the couch. Steam continued to waft out of his mug, which remained untouched.

"No," the man shook his head, "she's not. But she's not a girl either, if that's what you're thinking."

"Then…" Ian studied his cocoa, "what is she?"

"She's a human Pokémon," the man said it as if it was as natural as a sunrise but he elaborated anyway, "she's a Pokémon that evolved into a human. She still has all of her abilities. But she's not a human, or a Pokémon. She's both."

"Oh," the boy nodded, "I get it. That's pretty cool."

"'Pretty cool?'" the man was confused by Ian's reaction, "what are you talking about?"

"Well," Ian took a deep breath, "I think it would be really cool to be able to do some of the things that Pokémon can do. I'd love to be like that!"

The man smirked and actually seemed to be fighting back laughter. Ian wondered what it would be like to be able to shoot fire or water or make the ground shake the way some Pokémon could. At the very least, he knew nobody at school would mess with him. He'd probably be really popular, too…

"Kid," the man shook his head, despite the grin, "you have no idea what the hell you're talking about." He turned back to his desk and picked up his pen, still grinning and shaking his head.

"What?" Ian yelled, "why wouldn't that be cool?"

"You're too young," the man waved a hand, dismissing Ian, "you won't get it, even if I explain it."

"Try me," Ian pouted.

The man sat his pen down a second time and turned back to Ian.

"Look, just because you have all kinds of powers, it doesn't mean that everything will work out perfectly," the man explained, "I mean. Most of the time, those powers won't even help. What are you going to do? Set a bully on fire if he picks on you? I'm sure everybody will love you for that," his mocking voice felt like a slap in the face, to Ian

"And you know what's worse? EVERYONE else wants to know how you can do that. Why can you do that, but they can't? What makes you so special?" he was getting angrier and angrier as he spoke, "so, they'll want it for themselves. They'll try to take it from you. And if they can't, they'll just try to stop you from doing it. Or they'll just hate you for having something that they don't."

"OKAY!" Ian shouted, desperate to disrupt him, "I GET it!"

"Sadly, kid," the man breathed deeply, "I don't think you do." He turned back to the desk.

Setting his mug aside, Ian lied back on the couch, depressed by the man's rant. He tried to think about why a Pokémon would evolve if such a horrible life awaited them. What good was power like that if you couldn't use it? Flurry should have stayed a Glaceon, she would have been so much happier…

Ian heard Flurry's footsteps on the stairs, as she came back down. She held the empty tray underneath her arm. Ian looked up at her, but somehow she wasn't as beautiful as she had been before.

"Something wrong?" she asked, "I heard yelling…"

"Flurry…" Ian started in a hurt, timid voice, "why did you evolve if it's so horrible to be that way?" The boy sounded like he was on the verge of tears and, at first, Flurry didn't know how to react. What had happened?

"Well…" Flurry started, "I evolved because a lot of my friends that were Pokémon had evolved into humans too. And I thought it would be really fun to be human, too."

"But it isn't…" Ian said the words as if he were trying to will the truth to turn into a lie, "…you don't like being human. Right?"

"What?" Flurry gasped, "Of course I like being human. It isn't always easy, but…" Suddenly, she realized what had had happened, "what did you say to him?" She narrowed her gaze at the man at the table.

"What?" the man sighed, "You want me to lie to him, or something? This isn't some stupid fantasy land where everything works out perfectly. He should know that."

"By Arceus," Flurry swore, "he's just a kid!" The man didn't reply and didn't look up, but kept writing. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Flurry walked over and knelt beside Ian.

"Ian," she said, taking his hand and looking into his eyes, "being a human Pokémon is not a bad thing. I'm proud of who and what I am. It can be hard, sure. Not everybody accepts it. But I promise you that there's a lot of people that do. Don't let this jerk over here convince you otherwise."

"O-okay," Ian stuttered, not sure who to believe anymore.

"Tell you what," Flurry brightened, "there's a big tournament coming up and-"

"We're not going," the man at the table interrupted with an angry snap.

"You don't have to go," Flurry countered, "but the rest of us want to go. And you can't stop us, anyway."

Tournament. That word was music to Ian's ears. As far back as he could remember he had associated it with Pokémon. For a person who was obviously a Pokémon trainer, something must have been horribly wrong for the man at the desk to not want to go.

"Why won't he go?" Ian asked Flurry.

"It's complicated," Flurry sighed.

"If she doesn't go," the man spoke as if repeating a recording, "then I'm not going either."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Flurry tossed her head side to side, impatiently waiting for him to finish, "like you'll do anything besides brood in a corner if you're around her, anyway."

"Around who?" Ian asked innocently.

"RiverofTears," Flurry sighed, "the girl in that picture." She gestured at the mantel.

Ian stood up to take a closer look at the photo. The girl in the picture was very pretty, but somehow not quite as pretty as Flurry. The most distinguishing feature about her was that her hair was dyed a dark blue down the center of her auburn hair.

"She's pretty," Ian complimented, "were you two close friends?"

"Something like that," the man said impassively.

"You two have a fight, or something?" Ian called.

"Mind your own business, kid," he said, his tone never changing, then after a minute, "…yes, we had a fight. She doesn't want to see me ever again."

"Did you say that you're sorry?" Ian asked.

The man at the desk stopped writing at once. He shut his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. For the first time that night, Ian actually felt sorry for him.

"No," the man said, regaining his brick-wall composure, "but I don't think she would listen, anyway."

"How do you know that?" Ian asked, "Are you a mind-reader, or something?"

"You watch too much TV, kid."

"Well, if you're not a mind-reader, then how are you supposed to know what she'll do?" Ian deduced, "shouldn't you, at least, try to be friends with her, again?"

The man turned in his chair and considered the thirteen-year-old boy in front of him.

Three years had passed since he'd last seen RiverofTears. Three years since he had seen her face. He missed her more than he would ever admit. Would it even be worth going without the chance to see her again?

He looked at the small boy that Flurry had taken in. A new trainer, eager to explore and become the best trainer he could be. The little brat reminded him of himself at that age.

Was this supposed to be some stupid sign? Was a little boy meant to re-kindle what he had been convinced to be over with? It seemed so childish, a boy freezing in the snow coming to bring warmth back into his life. Lunacy.

On the other hand, what was he waiting for, anyway? Would he honestly just sit in this cabin and waste away with his other human Pokémon? They didn't deserve this, after everything they had done for him. Maybe it was time to start again.

"Alright, kid," the man said, at last, "maybe you're right. Maybe it is worth going."

"What?" Flurry was dumbfounded, "you mean, we're seriously going?"

"Yes, Flurry," the man nodded, "we're going."

Flurry jumped a clean two feet into the air and clapped her hands together. She cheered and hopped up and down with absolute delight. She was gone in an instant, up the stairs to spread the good news.

"I guess you're coming, too?" the man asked the little boy.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Ian grinned.

"I can't believe I'm taking advice from a little kid," the man shook his head, "still, being a kid doesn't stop you from being right."

"Cool…" Ian grinned even more broadly, "hey, mister. What's your name, anyway?"

"My name?" the man took a few seconds to respond, almost as if he didn't remember what his name was, "just call me what everybody else calls me, these days. PureBlueSky."

AN: this scene ended up being a lot longer than expected. it took a while to convince PureBlueSky to go to the tournament. originally he was meant to be the rough equivalent of Lance, but i decided that that was too boring and after some thinking on the relationship between the members of the Four, he became what he is now.

as always, i thank everybody for reading and reviewing. i promise that there is a connection between the prologue and the main storyline and Mewtwo WILL return, relatively soon. in the meantime, i will say that the intensity of the blizzard in this chapter is not natural. i'll leave it to you to guess at why :)