Once again, a bleary Emolga found herself waking up somewhere strange. A fierce brightness surged into her vision almost immediately.
"Ungh…" she groaned. "Am I dead?"
She raised an arm to shield her eyes for a bit. What was this place?
Her haze memory throbbed with pulsing machines, the clapping of shoes, and a whole lot of white. She remembered falling into some snow and that was freezing, too.
Maybe she really was dead. Her stomach didn't feel empty any more, if that was any indication.
Her eyes had finally adjusted enough for her to lower her arm, and she squinted at the walls of… ice?
The walls, the floors and even the ceiling had that see through, wobbly look, yet somehow it wasn't even cold. It was pretty, but also really confusing.
'Why would someone want to live in ice?' she mumbled inwardly. Further inspecting her surroundings, she discovered that she was resting on a huge pile of cushions, which maybe explained why she wasn't cold inside this ice castle. Soft and squishy to the bounce, the sensation brought back echoes of the crate, and a tendril of fear crawled down Sparky's back. Soft and squishy scarves were the reason she was in this mess… whatever this mess was. Speaking of scarves, she brought her hands to her chest and noticed the bright blue one draped around her.
"…huh." She muttered, running her fingers through the gentle, fuzzy material. If she was dead, then how did she take this scarf with her? Surely that was against the rules or something.
The novelty of the scarf was forgotten when she finally noticed the huge bowl of berries, though. Piled high with assorted flavours, it was the most beautiful thing she'd seen in days. Screw the rules; even if she was dead, there were free berries.
Sparky practically bounded forward at the sight. Her poor body protested at the movement immediately, but that didn't stop her sniffing merrily at the veritable mountain of berries.
Her stomach gurgled happily in response, when;
"Oh, finally! It's about time you picked up!"
Something terrible clutched at her. Who was that? Why were they here? What were they going to do to her?!
Eyes dilating, Sparky dropped the armful of berries she was holding and dashed back into the pile of cushions.
"Who's there?!" She squeaked.
"Don't try to kid me with the 'I was busy' gag, buddy. I know you've got plenty of spare time right now!" The voice echoed towards her. "Anyway, I don't care. You'll never guess what Candice has found!"
Sparky quivered among the cushions. Who was Candice? Were they the human who brought her here? Whoever was talking sounded friendly enough, but they were still human and therefore not to be trusted!
A petrified shriek left Sparky as her hidey-hole was invaded by another face peering into it.
"Oh, you're awake!" The Pokémon said, its cold blue eyes shining with surprising warmth. It stood on four legs and was many shades of blue, with three big squares of darker blue on its forehead that sort of looked like ice crystals.
"Wh-wh-who are you?!" Sparky cried, squashing herself farther still into her cushion fortress. "Where am I? What is this? Why?!"
All the while, the human voice in the background continued blithely. "Aw c'mon! You could at least guess once! Where's the fun if ya don't guess?"
From the corner of her spyhole in the cushion fortress, Sparky could finally put a face to the voice. Casually strolling into the room, with a phone practically glued to her right ears, a young woman – maybe as old as Miss Holly, maybe a bit younger – made her presence known. Her long black hair had been tempted into twin braids, with a stray curl of fringe draped over her coffee brown eyes.
"Ugh, you're so boring… She groaned into her phone. She had a blue sweater wrapped around her waist, over a plain white dress shirt, with its sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a blue bow about her chest. The dark-haired young woman giggled into her phone; "Yes you are! You won't even make one guess! Here's a hint – it's your specialty!"
"Who's… that?" Sparky gulped from amidst her cushions.
"Oh, that's Milady Candice!" The strange, light blue Pokémon explained softly. "You don't need to be afraid of her! Milady is very nice and friendly! Look, she left you these tasty berries!"
The Pokémon backed out of Sparky's hidey-hole and pointed to the bowl of berries.
"She… did?" Sparky asked slowly. An angry gurgle escaped her stomach and tempted her closer.
"Yes indeed!" The bluish Pokémon smiled. "Now you eat these tasty berries, and I shall fetch her for you!"
The bluish Pokémon meandered off to wards the young woman on the phone. Sparky slowly shuffled out of the cushion fort. Could she really believe all this? This woman was talking about herself in the third person. That wasn't normal! And why would some random stranger be so nice to her! It had to be a trap or something!
"Fine, since you're so boring, I'll have to just tell you Volk." This Candice rolled her eyes playfully. "I found an Emolga, okay? All the way out here in Snowpoint!"
Sparky was stopped cold.
"…why is she talking about me?" She swallowed down her bulging mouthful of berries. Carefully, she retreated back into her cushions.
"Yeah, I figured I'd ask you seeing as you actually know somethin' about Electric-types," Candice chuckled into her phone. "Ayup! The poor thing was on the brink of death! It's a good thing Candice was there to save the day, huh?"
Meanwhile her blue Pokémon was pawing at her. "Oh, hold on a sec, Glace wants something."
She placed one hand over her phone and knelt down to consult her Pokémon. 'Glace' spun around and 'pointed' back towards the cushions.
"Oh, it's awake?!"
Candice jammed her phone against her ear again. "I-it's just woken up! I'll talk to you later Volk!"
Following Glace's lead, Candice ambled over towards the cushion pile. "In… in the hole?"
Glace mewled up at her and she bent down to get a closer look. "Oh, there you are!"
The little Emolga made a sharp noise back at her, shuffling deeper still into its hole.
"Aww, what's wrong?" Her gaze softened. "Come on out, you silly thing! Candice isn't gonna hurt you!"
Sparky didn't move. Maybe if she stayed still long enough they'd all go away.
What kind of fool would trust a human just like that? If it wasn't for humans, she'd still be at her old house, with Socks and Higgle and Miss Holly and-
"…Miss Holly." She sniffled, her eyes prickling with tears.
Meanwhile Candice just sighed.
"You might have better luck than me, Glace." She raised an eyebrow. She backed away a few feet and retrieved her phone again. "I'll just keep my distance for now, huh?"
Candice slowly sauntered across the room with her phone against her ear, meanwhile Glace was squashed up against Sparky's mound of cushions.
"Please come out?" It mumbled. "Milady is really nice, I promise!"
"B-but you'll do nasty things to me if I come out!" Sparky dared to lock eyes with this obnoxious blue thing. "Like, you're gonna sell me or something I just know it!"
"…c'mon dude, I know you're there." Candice groaned into her phone in the background. "Somethin' important come up in the last ten minutes? I doubt it buddy."
Meanwhile Glace just looked bemused. "Sell you? Why do you think that, friend?"
"Your human, she's talking about me!" Sparky cried. "Why else would she be talking about me?!"
"Ohhhh…!" Glace chortled. "No, we do not wish to sell you, friend! Please, come out here and eat some tasty berries, and I shall explain everything!"
"Yeah, and the moment I do someone's gonna jump out with a net and trap me?!" Sparky raged. "Nuh-uh! Not happening!"
"Please friend, calm down!" Sympathy was shining in Glace's eyes. "If we were to capture and sell you, then why would we give you these comfy cushions?"
"…to trick me!" Sparky drummed up her excuse. "Like, you'll be nice to me, try and make me trust you, and then WHAM, net!"
"Finally!" Candice gasped in the background. "Hah, was wondering how many rings it'd take! I guess Candice's willpower finally won you over, huh Volk?!"
"Please friend," Glace was laying low in front of her. "We don't possess any nets, I promise! Milady is only talking about you because she is confused!"
"Confused?" Sparky frowned. "B-but humans are smart! Why would she be confused about me?"
"…yeah, it's like you said Volk. It doesn't trust me." Candice sighed in the background.
"Milady gets confused a lot." Glace just smiled. "And she talks to people on her thingy whenever she gets confused, and she's confused about you because you are not an Ice Pokémon like me!"
"…so she's just asking for help?" Sparky shuffled forward a little. "That does kinda make sense. But what if-"
"Yeah, that's why I've been asking you Volk." Candice was now lying on her front with her feet in the air. "It doesn't trust me, so I figured I'd ask you for help 'cause you know how they work…"
"Eek!"
Once again, Sparky dashed back into her pile of cushions. "Y-you heard that, right? She's gonna make me work! L-like some kinda torture or something!"
Glace rolled over and sighed. "Please don't be silly. Milady does not wish to hurt you, understand?"
"B-but then why does she wanna make me work?!" Sparky squeaked back. "I-I can't work! I'm too little, and I wouldn't be any good! Don't they have humans for that sorta thing anyway?!"
Meanwhile Candice kept nodding into her phone. "Uh huh? So they like places where they can get a lot of exercise, and high energy food? Makes sense."
"See, do you hear that?" Glace said softly. "Milady is just trying to learn what will make you happy, that's all!"
"That's all?" Sparky said. "A-and you're absolutely super sure?"
Glace just nodded.
"…I'm sorry." Sparky sighed. "I've just had a lotta bad days lately."
"Do you wish to come out and talk about it?" Glace asked, its voice soft and friendly. "Milady really is nice, I promise?"
"…okay." Sparky mumbled, climbing out of the cushions. "Where do I start…?"
"S-so yeah, af'fa we… loss, Miss Horry," Sparky sniffled, her mouth bulging with berries. She swallowed, "W-we were a little confused on what to do at first because… it's your trainer's job to keep you safe, y'know? But Higgle, he was really smart, and found a way so we could grow our own food, and everything was starting to look up! B-but then some evil humans took us away in a big metal thing, and then we were dumped in some kinda prison!"
"Oh noooo!" Glace was flat on the floor, quivering. "H-how on earth did you get out of that?"
"You remember my friend Socks?" Sparky rolled an Oran Berry between her paws. She managed to squeeze through the bars, hide from the watching boxes and steal their keys! All without getting caught!"
"That is amazing!" Glace cried.
"Uh huh! A-and then Higgle put together this huge escape plan in like, moments! A-and then all we had to do was…"
The energy in Sparky's voice evaporated. The atmosphere thickened like soup, and suddenly the little Emolga was on the verge of tears again.
"A-all we had to do was stick together," she sniffled. "And I didn't. I ran on ahead…"
"Oh…" Glace mumbled. "But, but… that wasn't your fault, was it? It was the nasty prison people, surely?"
"I don't know," Sparky said. "All I know is, I went ahead, and now we're separated. Probably forever…"
Glace just sat there, quiet, as Sparky was reduced to sobbing in the cushions. Ideas of what to say bubbled, but ebbed and faded away before it could put words to them. What did you say to something like that, after all? Cheer up? That wasn't going to work…
Glace frowned. There must've been something that would-
"Hey you two!" Candice yelled, bursting in from nowhere. "Are you guys great friends now?!"
Glace's eyes shone at the sight of her, but Sparky the Emolga wasn't looking so enthusiastic, glancing up at her with eyes full of sadness.
"Aw, not so hot huh?" She deflated. "Well you're in luck," she knelt down to look the Emolga in the eye. "Because Candice has a friend coming to see you soon, and he'll be able to take great care of you, okay?!"
Sparky looked over to Glace, who nodded happily, and then back to Candice.
"Can I… can I hold you?" The young woman asked slowly, keeping her eye contact.
Sparky gulped, and toddled forwards with her arms stretched out.
"Please be nice, please be nice, please be niiice…" She muttered under her breath, before two enormous hands enclosed around her waist, and suddenly everything was terrifying!
"Eyagh!" Sparky shrieked, loosing massive bolts of static electricity.
"Oh crud!" Candice yelped, wincing from the pain and pulling the Emolga to her chest. "It's okay, it's okay! Don't worry!"
Bursts of electricity continued to flare across Sparky's tiny body, but the young woman kept her grip regardless.
"Y-you can do it." She winced.
Glace crept closer, but Candice kept it at an arm's distance. "It's fine Glace, honest!"
"Uuugh!" Sparky whimpered, furious sparks of electricity arcing through the room. Candice's arms wrapped around her tighter.
"It's okay, little one. J-just calm your beans…"
Sparky flailed against her chest, her errant bolts of electricity slowly dying down. Her panic finally ebbing because of a familiar noise;
'thump-thump-thump-thump-thump'
The soft, steady thumping of a heartbeat. The warmth of the embrace and the safety of a heartbeat… it was familiar. It was nice.
Her static dissolved away, and the little Emolga just sat there, listening to the soft, natural rhythm of life.
"Thank you…" She mumbled quietly.
"Oh, good job!" Candice gasped, her hair on end and her clothes singed. "You did so well!"
She shook her hair back into place and carefully carried the little Emolga away. "Let's go make you some more friends…"
For the first time in days, Sparky found herself smiling. What the future held wasn't clear, but right now things were… steady. And she was okay with that.