Aipom and Piloswine

The first in line was the Piloswine. He seemed like a tall mound of brown hair wading through the sparkling snow. Acting as a natural plow, he dug his tusks into the stuff and heaved it off the sidewalk. He did not walk directly down the path; instead, he wove around clearing it of snow. Snowpoint nearly always was coated in white, but last night's storm had dumped two feet of hard icy snow on top of everyone. It crunched delightfully when one walked on it, but made it dangerous to go far.

The second in line was the Aipom. Unlike her peer, she was not happy with the cold. Over her natural violet coat of fur, she wore a bright green coat borrowed from a child, a rainbow hat knitted by their Trainer's granny, and a custom made glove over her tail. In that tail's grasp, she held onto a shovel. She used that to get spots the Piloswine missed, as he was best at clearing large amounts of snow.

The last in line was their Trainer, a ten-year-old boy who carried an old broom and pulled a red wagon. The broom was for clearing any leftover snow and scaring off wild Pokemon from his working ones. The wagon was for carrying his things and for Aipom to ride in on the way back home. While Piloswine didn't mind walking around all day, she would get tired or start fussing over her wet feet and hands.

Although it wasn't yet noon, they were starting to feel tired from the day's work. They'd been up since dawn shoveling people's walks and driveways. While it was a chore that the residents got used to, their neighbors were grateful to have a Saturday morning free. They had paid pretty well, the boy thought. His goal was to buy a heated bed for Aipom.

He had caught her during the summer when he'd been visiting some relatives in Florama Town, so she really disliked the northern city's climate. She had been sleeping near Piloswine for a while, but they wound up annoying each other. His parents did not like the two of them arguing in the middle of the night, so he had to tell Aipom not to sleep by Piloswine even though his fur was warm. Then she started digging into the laundry basket and sleeping in the dirty clothes. The boy's mother had not liked that either.

He was pretty sure that he had enough money for the bed, but felt bad in not buying his older Pokemon anything. However, his parents had limits to how far he could go from the house, even with his two Pokemon. They had run out of driveways and sidewalks to clear. But then at the last house, he got a great offer. They could get ten dollars instead of two if they cleared the path and stairs leading up to Snowpoint Temple.

The Temple was a source of wonder for all the kids of Snowpoint. Few people allowed inside, but the older kids said that if one snuck in, there were tons of powerful Pokemon waiting for a fight. He wasn't interested in doing that today, though. He didn't think his Pokemon could handle the ones inside alone. Maybe if they were stronger.

The group reached the stairs, which presented something of a problem. The Temple sat on a raised stone surface, so there was nowhere to throw the snow to except back down where they had already cleared. Piloswine stopped and turned to him. Aipom dropped her tail down, putting the shovel on the sidewalk.

"Go ahead and toss the snow down here," the boy told the older Pokemon as he parked the wagon. "And you swap tools with me."

Piloswine huffed agreeably, causing the lower parts of his fur to billow out. Then he dug a patch out of the lower step and began shoving the snow down.

"Oook," Aipom squeaked, then brought the shovel back up for him to take hold of. When she took the old broom, she playfully spun it around before figuring out how to wield it properly.

The boy then went about shoveling up the snow Piloswine threw down, then tossing that off the sidewalk. Aipom followed up by sweeping off the steps and getting into the corners. It took a long while; the houses he'd done so far had a few steps leading up to the door, at most three. The Temple had twelve long steps leading up to its entrance. Adding to that time, Aipom and Piloswine kept flicking snow at each other. But they seem to be having fun, so their Trainer only laughed.

As they finished up, the gatekeeper of the Temple came down the path. "Thank you very much for doing this," she said. "I've been busy making arrangement with a group of scientists who are visiting later." She handed over a ten dollar bill.

"You're welcome; glad we could help." He took the bill and put it into a box where he kept all the other payments. This would be enough for the heated bed and some treat for Piloswine. And maybe even some trading cards for himself.

"You three are good workers. I never liked having Fire Pokemon clear the walkway. If they don't make sure the path is completely dry, it freezes up something awful."

"Really? So, what's it like in there? Can I go see?"

"No, you can't. It's too dangerous."

He was going to try pestering her into letting him in anyways. Realizing this, his Pokemon looked around for something to do to pass the time. Aipom looked up at the edge of the roof. A dazzling row of icicles sparkled in the sunlight. One of them had something stuck in it. Something dark, shiny, and small.

Cooing in interest, she hopped over to underneath it. There were columns holding the roof up, but none close enough to the icicle she wanted. There were trees growing thickly nearby, but they also weren't close enough. So how should she get to it?

She tried putting her tail hand on the ground and stretching up tall. But when she stretched her small arms out, there was no way she'd reach it. She tried hopping up, but couldn't manage the height. She even tried standing on her forearms and stretching her tail up. No, that wasn't enough.

Piloswine scuttled up to her. "Fuuff fuu?" he huffed. He rarely made significant noises, but she could tell by how his eyebrows pushed his fur aside that he was curious.

Hopping back up on her tail, she pointed up at the mystery treasure in the icicle. "Ooo, ook."

He shook his head, clearing some fur away from his eyes, then looked up. Those brown eyes squinted, though. He didn't have the best eyesight. Huffing again, he looked at her.

Aipom waved him over and hopped back. Trying not to be too excited in her gestures, she pointed at the spot directly underneath the icicle, then back up at it. Piloswine might just be tall enough to help her get the treasure.

"Mmmm?" He glanced back up, then seemed to get the idea. He shuffled over to the spot she pointed to. "Fuff."

"Aaip." She dropped down to her hands and feet, then reached her tail up to grasp onto Piloswine's back. Flipping herself up from there, she checked her reach to the icicle.

It was closer. Not quite there, but other icicles were longer and she could reach those. She grasped the nearest one. It was slick and she instantly lost grip. After trying a second time, she tensed up her tail and hopped up higher. "Ooof," the Piloswine responded, then shuffled aside to watch what she was doing.

Aipom had to scramble to get a good hold on the icicles. Once she found a rough patch, she managed to steady herself. She was now in a better position to see the treasure. It was some sort of claw, either mid- or dark-blue depending on how she tilted her head. Its owner had probably lost it climbing up these icicles too.

But it was hers now. She grasped the icicle with her tail hand and yanked it off the roof. It snapped off cleanly. The claw stayed in place. But above her, the snow pack on the roof trembled. "Uh-ooo," she murmured.

Nothing happened.

Relieved, she reached over to the next icicle in order to get a good look down before jumping off. It snapped quickly, disturbing the snow pack again. This time, it slid right off the roof, taking several icicles and Aipom down with it. The mass of snow crashed down right next to Piloswine, making him grunt in surprise.

The two humans then paid attention to the Pokemon again. "Aipom?" the boy called when he didn't see her right off. He hurried over. "What happened to Aipom?"

Piloswine huffed, then went to the new pile of snow and dug. Before long, he had enough snow moved so that Aipom could get herself free. "Brrrr," she said, shivering.

"Fuuuff fu," he responded, bumping into her.

"I'd better get you back home. Come on, you can ride in the wagon."

She scrambled fully out of the snow pile and brought her tail up to her face. The icicle was still there, along with the claw. "Oook!" she called excitedly, presenting the frozen treasure to her Trainer.

He took the icicle. "Huh? Is this a Weavile claw? Cool!"

"Now there's something we don't see in town often," the gatekeeper said. "I hear that you might get lucky if you let a Sneasel hold onto that."

"I don't have one of them. Might as well keep it, in case I manage to catch one. I'll see you later. I'm really cold right now, but I'm sure she needs to get warm more than me."

She nodded. "Right. Thanks again for your hard work."

Aipom jumped into the wagon and waved at the gatekeeper. Piloswine huffed, then followed alongside the boy as they went home.

…

Emerald entry: Its tail ends with a dexterous, handlike appendage. However, because it uses the tail so much, Aipom's real hands have become rather clumsy.

Emerald entry: A Piloswine is covered by a thick coat of long hair for enduring freezing cold. It uses its tusks to dig up food that has been buried under ice.

It's always pleasant when two seemingly unrelated Pokemon work well together.