[Part 1]

The fighting had finally ceased.

The Dark Type was busy explaining the gist of the situation to the Glaceon. Once again, she did not understand a shred of Pokespeech to know minute details, but the Ice Type seemed to be more and more troubled by the minute. Which was probably good news for their immediate survival. And she liked the concept of immediate survival, even if her mind was constantly switching to another, slightly less crucial matter at hand.

Being encased in ice was not fun.

She was not stuck in an air pocket that could be warmed up with time - she had constant, direct contact with the frost, and it was persistently sucking out her body heat. Also, her nose itched. Now that the situation was about to be resolved peacefully, and with all the adrenaline gone, she could not help but start blacking out.

Was… Was it a bad idea to bring it up? It was definitely not comfortable, but maybe interrupting them could make them fight again? That was not a risk she wanted to take. Should've she kept quiet? Her head did not work good at the moment to make big chooses like that. Choices. Maybe a nap?.. Nap sounded good. She was going to have the biggest thinks after nap. Thoughts?.. Ugh…

Oh, wait. Someone was screaming nearby. Damn, did they start fighting again? She wished Honnoji freed her. They could fight better together. Maybe not now though. Opening eyes was hard. Could she fight with eyes closed? Ugh… Maybe?.. Sure easier than fighting while being stuck in ice.

She tried to move her fingers, and surprisingly enough, she could actually do that. Did she manage to melt some of the surrounding ice with her body heat? That was pretty coolio.

Hah, coolio.

Wait, no, she needed to help Honey. Could she help without opening eyes?.. Probably?.. If she broke ice, it would distract Gladys, right?.. And with that oftening, Honedge could win. She just needed to use all her strength and-

Uhh…

Where ice? Also, what was that pressure on her chest?..

Was… Was she lying down?.. Did she fall or something? Ah, they probably knocked her over during their second fight, huh. Weird how she didn't notice. Was that pressure from the ground?.. No wait, she was on her back.

Weird.

With great difficulty, she cracked her eyes open, and looked down at…

"Owari?.."


[Part 2]

Defrosting not-human took Glaceon mere moments. Then, Honnoji dragged her to a separate room he showed, and he somehow instantly dispelled cold in it - which was not enough, but it was a start. She then broke some chairs and tables into a pile, and breathed a spark of fire on it, making something akin to a campfire. The entire process took a few long, long minutes, and could've ended faster if the Ice Type felt particularly pressed to make sure not-human survived. Which he did not.

Well, at least his mastery over ice meant he worked fast. Otherwise, they could've lost not-human, and then-

Then she would've had to do all of this alone.

She couldn't do this alone.

The room slowly but surely warmed up thanks to the dispelled cold and the fire, but she had to do one more thing before she could call it a day. Tearing the weird-smelling thick coverings open and finding the two Pokeballs on not-human's belt, she quickly determined which one she needed, and released the Pokemon inside.

An Eevee appeared in a flash of light, blinking a couple of times, before starting to shiver. The cold from before clearly got to him while he was inside the ball.

"Oh, hi, auntie! Why is it so cold?" Owari blinked a few times, looking around. He then saw the not-human, but clearly didn't register the situation fully, "Oh, is mom sleeping? I'll be quiet then!"

"Your- your mom is also cold. Could you help- help warm her up?"

"Sure!" the kid nodded.

Sparing a few moments to watch Owari cuddle to his 'mom' in an attempt to warm her up faster, she tiredly turned to the Glaceon.

"I still do not understand what makes her oh so important, mutt," he sneered.

"Well, let's see…" she sighed. Now that the situation calmed down somewhat, she ironically felt much less comfortable explaining herself, "F-first, she saved me, and tha- that's pretty important. Second… We n-need someone to move- move us through human cities. And t-third, she's the most im- important 'variable' in my- my visions…"

"A 'variable'?"

"My vis- visions are of many possi- possible futures. They pertain to our entire g- group, and what could- could happen to us. And so far, I had no vi- no vision where we ultimately succeeded"

"Then what-"

"SHE was not in any of them"

At this, there was clear confusion in Glaceon's eyes.

"I can- I can possibly see futures of- of everyone in this world. But she is not- not FROM this world. She came from outside"

"Which means her presence makes any future you see uncertain. Which makes it a gamble," Glaceon rolled his eyes, "Follow your 'least catastrophic visions', and hope her presence alone fixes them into saving us all?"

"Our only other- only other option would be to accept the inevitable, roll over, and die. Would you- would you prefer that?"

"We could always just kill the one responsible," he said dismissively.

"W- we can't. If we try, we'll just die horribly," she shook her head, "The one responsible wants- wants to challenge Arceus himself. And she has the p- power to back her claim up. Do you really- really believe yourself comparable?"

At that, Glaceon's self-assured look dissipated into uncertainty. Good, this meant he was not THAT delusional.

"Tsk… Fine, I'll play along, mutt"

She nodded.

"That's all- that's all I can ask for"

Honestly, working with this guy felt wrong. Not in the 'maybe it went against the visions' kind of way - they needed him alright. But her gut did not like him one bit. And her gut was really precise at predicting horrible experiences.

She looked out of the room's window. It was late morning, huh.

"Owari?.." the not-human asked, looking at the Eevee tiredly, "Did you cut open my parka?.."

At the Normal Type's questioning look, she just quietly grumbled something, and went back to sleep.

Well, at least she was alright.


[Part 3]

She woke up from the uncomfortable feeling of sun shining directly into her face through the window. She was lying on the floor, in a ruined parka, with Owari sleeping on her chest, and a feeling of weakness and ache coursing through her body. Some metres away from her, in the middle of the room, were somehow still glowing embers of a freaking campfire, and in the corner of the room, she could see Honnoji dozed off.

This room was… Ah, right, somewhere in Okehazama Contest Hall. Although, it did not feel cold for some reason. Peculiar.

"Hey, Owari," she whispered, "Mind letting me go? I need to make food for everyone"

The little scamp woke up at her words, and nodded, before quickly waddling off, allowing her to finally stand up, although she did sway a bit. Yeah, she did not feel that good at the moment, but maybe some warm food could help with that.

Taking a peek out of the window, she saw a guard in a winter coat making rounds around the building. Which meant it was still cold out there, and this room was probably an exception. Well, she was not about to look a gifted horse- a gifted Rapidash? -in the mouth.

Also, was it shortly after sunrise, or shortly before sunset? No idea, to be honest, but one thing for sure - she was hopelessly late for her route job. Too bad, it was both a good cover, and a nice thing to do.

Looking through her backpack, she came to realise that despite her freezing over beforehand, there was not a drop of water out of place, nor any damage. Glaceon probably unfroze her, and this was an argument towards him having actual cryokinesis, rather than a wide-area 'frost domain'.

She put a kettleful of water over the embers, and then rummaged through the Pokemon food. She was not able to make more of agar-agar jelly for Honnoji, since they went here immediately after that taste test, but at least there was still gelatine jelly, and some berries left. For Owari and Caterpie, there was some general-brand kibble, and pokepuffs.

By the time the water came to some semblance of boiling, Honnoji woke up.

"Morning! Evening? Whatever," she shrugged, smiling to the Dark Type, "You've done great with the Glaceon. Is he still around, by the way?"

The Absol nodded, then looking at her with a worry.

"I'm fine, just need to munch on something warm. Speaking of which," she poured the water into a couple of cups of instant ramen, before looking at the Dark Type again, "I'll have to make more agar-agar jelly today. Can you eat gelatine jelly and berries for now?"

Once again, Honnoji nodded, seemingly not minding that much.

"Good. I'd say, we rest until nightfall, and then sneak out past guards"

Another nod, although after this, the Dark Type tensed a bit, looking somewhere past her. She could've guessed why.

"Oh, hello there," she smiled, turning to the Glaceon. He looked at her without much enthusiasm, but at least he did not look outright hostile. That was a win in her books, "Hungry?"