Have I mentioned how much I dislike writing in 1st person? I really don't like it at all, but this story needed to be in 1st person and there was really no getting around it. Anyways, I don't know if anyone is going to be following this fic seriously, but I want to let you know that there is an ending and I know exactly where the story is going. I just need to keep writing until I get there. Cheers!

"Keep up, Akane Ru, we don't have all day," Mundi Ka barked at me.

I had been struggling against the snow in my attempt to follow the older zoroark. She had no issues walking through the frozen blanket that covered the forest floor. It only reached her ankles as she walked, but for a small zorua like me, the snow came up to my chin. I was forced to hop through it and, unfortunately, I wasn't very adept at it yet.

The large female glanced in my direction and scowled, "Have your parents taught you nothing child?"

"They ha-," I tried to reply while I was mid leap but at that exact moment I landed into a particularly deep patch of snow. My world suddenly became a claustrophobic canvas of white and cold. I struggled to free myself, but I felt a paw scruff me from behind and pull me free of the prison.

Mundi Ka glared at me with contempt as she held me above the snow and sneered quietly, "You'll never make it to spring at this rate. You're going to die out here."

My eyes widened in surprise at the malice in her tone. I did not understand why she treated me this way. Looking back, I wish I could say I snapped at her in defiance like my father had several days ago at the gathering, but in that moment, I could not find the courage. The scarred face of the female zoroark filled me with dread in those early days before I knew what real fear was.

When I refused to answer, she placed me back on more solid ground and snorted dismissively, "Watch for hills and valleys in the snow before you jump. Aim for the valleys, but land on the hills and you'll wind up in another snowdrift."

Without another word, she turned and continued to march on through the trees. It was a strange thing. Her behavior seemed so contradictory. Snide remarks and insults about my survivability and her lack of confidence in me. Yet, she gave me advice about where to jump. Was it a trick? Somehow, I didn't think so. I never wanted to do this with her, but Father said I had to. Mundi Ka was one of the most experienced battlers in the pack and it was time, as they told me, to begin my training.

I don't remember how long it took us to reach our destination. It seemed like ages and by the time we arrived at the clearing, my paws were frozen, and my coat was dusted with frost. The low temperatures had never bothered me to this extent before, but this was also my first real excursion into the forest without the protection of my mother's warm mane. The numbing sensation in my toes and outer extremities was uncomfortable, but not unmanageable. I had to be strong to survive, like they kept saying.

The clearing was a wide expanse of white that made my eyes blink from the brightness of it all before they adjusted. The frosted earth was mostly flat across the fifty or so yards of open space and the trees lining the perimeter were packed so tightly together, I had no line of sight beyond them once I entered the area.

"Ack, what are you doing here Cato?" Mundi Ka hissed angrily, eyeing the large zoroark standing serenely in the middle of the meadow.

My grandfather, who had been gazing towards the grey sky with an unreadable expression, spied us emerging from the trees. His unfathomable dark eyes met mine for a brief moment before they narrowed towards my soon-to-be teacher, "Why must you continue to disrespect my leadership every time we interact, Mundi? Is there something deficient going on inside that brain of yours, or can you simply not help yourself?"

The scar on the side of her face stretched wide as Mundi Ka's eyes widened in mock surprise and exclaimed dramatically, "Oh great and merciful leader, my deepest apologies."

I watched her take a deep bow in front of him, before straightening again. Her expression remained repentant, but there was a malicious undertone to her voice as she continued, "Cato Rak, greatest of all leaders. Noble defender of the pack and most gracious-"

"Enough of this foolishness!" The larger zoroark snapped irritably, but his anger only seemed to amuse her. "Have you explained anything to the boy yet?"

The female's expression sobered, but there was still something mocking in her eyes as she glanced my way, "No, he had enough trouble battling the snow just to get here. I didn't want to distract him."

My grandfather rolled his eyes at her before addressing me directly, "Akane Ru, it is time for you to learn how to battle."

"Battle?" I asked him uncertainly.

He nodded quickly, "We are pokémon and we must battle to get stronger. Has your father explained any of this to you?"

"He said there's all kinds of pokémon living in our world, and they're all different, with different abilities. I am called a Zorua, and when I get strong enough, I will become a Zoroark, like you," I repeated to the best of my memory.

There was a hint of astonishment in Mundi Ka's expression as I said this. Perhaps she was surprised that I had retained any knowledge at all. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, my grandfather nodded with a smile, "Very good. There is more that you will have to learn, like, for example each pokémon has a different typing."

"Typing?" I piped up curiously.

"Yes. Each kind of pokémon is attuned to a single, or in some cases two, elements that influence our innate capabilities," Mundi Ka cut in, throwing a sideways glance to Cato Rak. "Both Zoruas and Zoroarks are considered Dark types."

"This is true. However, it is not important for you to understand what this means just yet," My grandfather added, ignoring the female's interruption. He motioned me over with his paw and I hurried to stand in the place he indicated. I was several feet away from both adults when he continued, "First you must learn the basics of battling."

"Move aside, Cato Rak," Mundi Ka said, shooing him away from her as she took her place several feet away in front of me. She still emphasized his honorific with a smirk of amusement. "This is supposed to be my lesson after all."

My grandfather gritted his teeth but complied with her request. I watched him move a distance away from both of us with questioning eyes. He sighed apologetically to me, "Traditionally this training would begin with your fellow ruas in the spring, but as you are the only zorua in the pack, at the moment, Mundi Ka will be your battle opponent."

My eyes widened in concern at these words, and I stared across from me at the grinning female, "There's no way. She's going to…" The words that came to mind was 'kill me,' but I couldn't form them in my shock.

I gulped nervously as the scarred female leaned into a crouch. Her predatory gaze bored into mine and I felt a vibrating sensation build inside my gut. I could sense my grandfather speaking, but it seemed like he was suddenly miles away from us. All my senses were completely focused on the pokémon in front of me. All my fear suddenly condensed into a hyper awareness of this predator about to pounce.

She moved. Her ambush was so impossibly quick that I nearly lost sight of her. Luckily, my eyes were sharp, and I reacted instinctively. Mundi Ka's claws were suddenly rushing towards me, and I barely dodged her in time. The momentum of my desperate leap splashed snow all around us and carried me past her lunging form, where I landed just behind her; the tip of her wild mane brushing my cheek.

A rush of excitement flooded my entire being. It tickled my ears and fueled the fire in my belly. I erupted with laughter and lashed out with my claws, slashing at my opponent's back. I expected her to retaliate but instead, Mundi Ka froze and turned around to face me. I couldn't name the expression on her face. Confusion? No, it was more like surprise mixed with something else.

"That was…," She muttered in apparent speechlessness.

I decided to answer for her.

"Incredible!" The exhilaration made me giddy and, oblivious to the reaction of the two adults, I laughed once more, "Let's do that again!"

Mundi Ka stared down at me, before she exchanged a look with my grandfather, "For once the boy is right, that was incredible."

Cato Rak trotted up to us and glared at her, "Especially considering how you never explained the basics before attacking him."

"I've always said the best way to learn is to get down and dirty with it," She shrugged unapologetically and then smirked, "Of course, it could have just been a fluke."

The basics, as the name implied, were not that complicated. In formal battles, two pokémon would face off against each other, exchanging different attacks until one opponent was victorious over another. However, sometimes battles could be unfair, and one opponent could get ganged up upon by several other pokémon. This was why, according to both Mundi Ka and my grandfather, strength was essential, and the only way to get stronger was by battling.

And battle I did. The three of us spent hours in that clearing as I battled with Mundi Ka repeatedly. My grandfather occasionally joined in and continued his teachings about typings and the different kinds of attacks I would eventually learn. He and Mundi Ka continued to bicker with each other throughout this, and it made me wonder why they were teaching me together, since they seemed to dislike each other so much.

To my own enjoyment, I discovered my initial dodge had not been a fluke. According to my grandfather, my speed was impressive, and he encouraged me to lean into my strengths while we trained. However, battling was not as easy as I initially thought. Was I fast for a zorua my age? Yes, but Mundi Ka could easily overwhelm me with the power of her strikes, and for all their talk about the variety of attacks that zoruas and zoroarks could use, I only ever saw her strike at me with the same attack. A quick scratching slash of her claws.

I wasn't about to complain about this however, because the power of that one simple attack nearly knocked me out each time I reacted too slowly to one of her advances. Additionally, my retaliatory scratching attacks, the rare ones I happened to land, never phased her. I don't even think they damaged her at all. Each time she would simply smirk at me with that mischievous glint in her eyes and then wallop me with a surprise attack. I never managed to dodge these hits.

It was after one of these such attacks that I groaned dazedly, "Ugh, I ain't givin' up…"

"Aw, your little grandson there doesn't know when he's beat," Mundi Ka snickered at the other zoroark.

"Determination in the face of overwhelming odds is not a detriment," Cato Rak said seriously, walking up beside her.

Pretending to be more interested in the sharpness of her claws, she snorted derisively, "So that's where your son gets it from. If you hadn't intervened the other day, he would be nothing but a stain on the forest floor right now."

My grandfather's face flushed with anger, but I was still too dazed to follow along with their argument. I was lying on my back nearby, trying to recover. As I laid there, I noticed snowflakes beginning to fall from the dark storm clouds overhead. The weather had been brisk, and the sky overcast all day, but it had been clear until now. I wondered briefly if evening was approaching when my ears picked up something strange. There was rustling in the tree line about twenty feet away from us. I flipped over and squinted towards it, trying to distinguish where it was coming from.

I only noticed the two adults had stopped squabbling when Cato Rak's harsh yell jolted me to attention, "Get back Akane!"

My hackles rose in alarm, and I only ducked out of the way in time to avoid the artic blast launched from inside the trees thanks to my grandfather's warning. I didn't understand what was happening at first. The meadow had been perfectly calm one minute, but then the next everything was in chaos. The blast was like a wall of ice that hungered to freeze anything in its vicinity. The trees from where the blast originated now looked like ice sculptures frozen in time.

Suddenly, I felt the thrill of tight paws around my middle and the rush of wind against my fur. I only realized what had happened when I hit the ground again and skidded into the snow. Cato Rak stood in front of me and growled, "Stay back!"

My grandfather must have dodged the ice blast, picked me up, and rushed me back here. I was now at least twice the distance from where I had been moments before in relation to the tree line. Where was Mundi ka? I no longer saw her anywhere in the clearing, but then a high-pitched piercing, snarl split the heavens. I winced in pain as the frequency of the noise sliced through my eardrums.

The trees that had been frozen from the previous attack abruptly shattered into a million pieces as a hulking form bashed through them. It was the first time I had seen another pokémon of a different species. This enormous creature was three times as tall as my grandfather and completely covered in bright white fur. It stood on two legs and its flailing massive paws were larger than my whole body. A beard of icicles hung down from its gaping maw and its eyes were two beady black coals.

A dark foxlike form clung onto the beast's back and then I realized where the piercing snarl was coming from. Mundi Ka was riding this creature like a pony and screeching right into its ears, making it rampage around wildly. The creature's rage was so intense that its aimless attacks eventually caught the female zoroark in the chest, sending her flying.

Cato Rak took this moment to rush in at the pokémon and I watched, wide-eyed, as my grandfather transformed into a different pokémon. No longer did he have the sleek, honed body of the famous pack leader. Suddenly he was a hulking four-legged, spherical beast, with a blazing red coat and flaming eyebrows that extended from his head.

It was the strangest thing I had seen in my very short life. The bear-like pokémon eyed this new threat with hatred and jumped back as the grinning red beast let loose a jet of fire from its gaping mouth. The bear creature screeched in pain as it had not completely dodged this attack, and I watched tongues of fire lick at the pokémon's white fur. In retaliation, it charged to the red monkey's side, faster than I thought possible, and raised its paw in preparation of an attack. However, it was distracted by the sudden appearance of Mundi Ka. The female zoroark was suddenly standing in between the hulking red form of the zoroark leader and the ice-bearded pokémon bawling her eyes out. Big fat tears fell from her snout like waterfalls, catching both the bear and me by surprise.

I backed away from the battle in horror. Training had been one thing, but this insanity was a whole other business. Nothing made sense. What was happening? In another moment, none of these concerns would matter anyway.

My senses had been completely focused on the battle, so the attack from behind nearly got me. The thing that saved my life was my speed. I felt the presence of another pokémon at the last second and heard the whooshing of something heavy through the air behind me. As I rolled instinctively, the dark pad of a white paw with gaping claws crashed into the ground in the exact spot I had just vacated.

The impact shook the earth, and I nearly lost my balance after getting to my feet. I only had seconds to understand the situation. A second bear-like pokémon had attacked me, while the other was still battling Mundi Ka and Cato Rak. Were the pair working together and had this been their plan all along? This new pokémon roared in frustration and had eyes only for me. Whatever language it spoke, it had no interest in communicating, except for making its hostile intentions known.

This was bad.

Intuitively, I knew I was in trouble. This Pokémon looked equally as strong as its comrade, and I knew my skills were pitiful in comparison, even after all that training. The creature had already recovered from its missed attack and decided to rush at me. Luckily, this bear-like beast was not as fast as the one battling my teachers. I took this advantage and leaped to the side at the last moment. The bear blew past me and slid in the snow.

"Help!" I shouted desperately to my two guardians, but my attention never left my opponent. I didn't know how the other battle was going.

"Run, Akane!" The frantic voice sounded like that of my grandfather, but I did not turn to see if he still looked like the giant red monkey.

I did the only thing that I could. I followed Cato Rak's instructions and bolted for the trees. If I could make it to the tree line, there was a possibility I could outmaneuver my foe and lose them in the forest. It was going to be easier said, than done. I had gotten very good at moving through the snow during my training session and was nearly halfway there when a massive icicle exploded next to me. The force of the shattering ice knocked me off my stride and I landed several feet away, my nose buried in snow.

The whistling was my only warning and a quick glance behind me confirmed the presence of a second icicle missile heading directly for my location. With a yell of terror, I sprang out of the way just in time. I felt the shrapnel from this impact spray behind me, but I had no time to take in my injuries, if I had any. My attacker meant to end my life and was clearly using every means of doing so.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself to run faster than I ever had before. The trees were so close. The ground shook beneath me as I ran, signaling that my pursuer was hot on my trail. Right as I hit the tree line, I felt the blast of another icicle impact the pine tree just above my head. Wood slinters and snow rained down around me as I darted beneath the base of the tree. An enraged roar echoed over the sounds of the shattering icicle projectile, and I grinned. If the bear creature was angry, then it knew my odds of evading capture had just dramatically increased. I could do this. I just needed to keep going.

The forest was thick with furs and pines, which gave me the advantage since I was smaller and more maneuverable. I heard my pursuer behind me crashing through the frosty canopy, which confirmed that it was still chasing me. I dashed through the frosty underbrush at speeds I never even thought possible. If the situation wasn't so terrifying, I'd almost call it fun.

I didn't know how long or how far I traveled during that chase, but it seemed like a long time before I heard nothing but silence behind me. Eventually, I stopped and gazed behind me. Nothing but falling snow and hunkering evergreens. The weather had grown much worse since the slight snowfall I had observed in the meadow. Flurries of snow billowed around me, obstructing my line of sight in all directions. I had definitely escaped the bear of death that had tried to kill me, but now I had a bigger problem to worry about.

I was lost.

Index

Moves Used:

Scratch, Sheer Cold, Snarl, Thrash, Flamethrower, Fake Tears, Slash, Icicle Crash

Unnamed Pokémon Appearances:

Beartic, and illusionary Standard Mode Darmanitan

*Note for Nerds: The beartic that attacked the two adults had the ability Slush Rush, while the one that attacked Akane had Snow Cloak. (Yes, the pokémon in my stories do have canon-to-the-game builds.)

Honorific customs:

It is considered disrespectful not to address a higher-ranking pack member with their appropriate honorific, except in very private circumstances. (Ex: A bonded pair speaking privately to one another or a parent/parental figure and child speaking privately to one another.)

Pack members of the same pack ranking may choose to forgo the usage of their honorifics towards one another, but typically this is only done among friends or family.

Honorific Ranking (Lowest to Highest):

Ru- signifies a newly born or child-aged zorua

Zu- signifies a Zoroark/Zorua that has reached adulthood. Generally, these adults are younger and less experienced.

Ka- signifies an experienced member of the pack. Usually, this moniker is given to Zoroarks/Zoruas who are higher up in the ranks of the pack.

Kro- signifies an elder Zoroark who has attained great wisdom in their old age.

Rak- signifies the leader of the pack. Only one Zoroark/Zorua per pack will be addressed with this honorific.