A flash of red slowly trudged through the snow.
Shivering viciously and buried up to her chest, Sparky had her scarf coiled as tightly around her as many times as possible. She pushed headlong into the biting winds and endless white, aiming for the palest silhouette on the horizon.
The feeling in her lower half had dulled ages ago. She wasn't sure if the only thing keeping her moving forwards was stubbornness at this point. There was no guarantee she would get there, even find this Path of Souls, or if it was even possible. All she had at her disposal was memories, and the blind hope that the mountaintop would provide her with answers.
Sharp blades of snow chiselled their way into her skin, slicing away at her waning stamina. Her eyes were barely slits, keeping out most of the pain. Every moment she let her mind wander even slightly, her vision started fading, and the threat of passing out crept in. Stopping for a breather wasn't an option. If she stopped, she knew she wasn't going to get started again.
She was a pitiful sight, creeping forwards at a desperate pace. Tiptoeing carefully to avoid the deeper snow trenches. There was no getting out of one of those. Some of them were several metres wide, meaning a huge detour sidetracking around each and every one of them. And if she turned any direction except headlong into the wind, the gusts just pushed her back…
"C-c-c'mon!" She muttered to no one, wrenching her numb body forwards. "Nearly… there!"
The mountains in the distance were barely any closer. But they had to be, because she was heading towards them. Eventually, she was going to have to make it there.
Every crunching footstep felt like she was dragging a bag of rocks. The furious winds were about to burst her eardrums. There was no shelter, not even a stray tree. Frozen blades continued to grate her poor exhausted body, weathering away what was left of her vitality. Her spirit was strong, but there was only so much a tiny, starving Emolga could take.
And then it took her.
Without so much as a warning, her legs gave out on her, and she collapsed face first into the freezing snow. A pitiful squeak escaped her, but her tiny body was simply spent.
The winds and snow continued to bluster on, slowly burying the little Emolga where she lay.
There was a sharp whoosh as something carved through the snow like butter. Darting between rocks and trees as if the howling blizzard were nothing, it shaved a clean line through the powder on the look for something.
Without much more than a snide chuckle, the creature stumbled across the peppered outline of a bright red beanie hat.
"What the…?" They said, kneeling down and plucking the hat from the ground, only to find an unconscious Emolga underneath it.
The dark figure gasped and raised two hands to their mouth, before letting loose a shrill whistle.
*feeeeeep!*
"Found her!"
Eve the Weavile folded her arms and smirked, as a distant rumbling descended upon the route. Eve knelt down and placed the back of her hand against Sparky's face, and her smirk dropped.
The kid was barely holding on.
"Hurry Mo! She's cold, dammit!"
"Am comin', Eve!" Mo sent plumes of snow billowing out in his charge, before shuffling to a massive halt. "Good job findin' her, lass!"
"Yeah, well she's a popsicle, so save your praise til she's warmed up." Eve muttered.
"Ohh, so that's where yer wee hat went!" Mo guffawed. "Ah was wond'rin'!"
"Mo, the kid's freezing," Eve deadpanned. "Pick her up already!"
"…oh, right!" Mo stammered, carefully scooping her up in his tusks. "Think ye can help? Ah cannae."
"Don't look at me, I've got claws for hands." Even shrugged. "You want her shish-kebabbed? Sure, I can do that. But you'll need someone else if-"
"No yersel, Eve…" Mo chuckled nasally. "I was asking Glace!"
As he spoke, the Glaceon burst from within his fur. "Of course, Mo! I'm rather good at keeping things warm!"
"….huh." Eve narrowed her eyes. "And why did you bring Glace along?"
Mo's face dropped as the Glaceon smoothly jumped down from his back.
"Thought I would?"
"You're kidding." Eve groaned. "I only brought you along in case I needed some muscle. What's Ros gonna say when she's left with just Phil for the next-"
"Aye, am kiddin'," Mo chuckled, and Eve practically burst a vein. "I just figured Sparky needed a friendly face, a'right? Glace knows her best, so I thought-"
"No, you didn't." Eve shot him down instantly. "Glace doesn't have an off switch. Now the entire trip's gonna be endless talking. Are you happy with yourself?"
"Says the lass who didnae ken he was here." Mo waggled a pair of bushy eyebrows. Meanwhile Glace had secured an unconscious Sparky by the scruff of the neck, and was climbing back up onto Mo's back, settling into the shaggy fur.
"…fine," Eve deadpanned. "But if Glace asks one dumb question, I'm goin' home and leaving you guys behind, got it?"
"Don't you worry, Eve!" Glace called from amidst Mo's fur. "I will concentrate on keeping our friend Sparky warm! You won't even know I am here!"
"She's your friend, not mine." Eve huffed.
"But ye gave her yer lucky hat?" Mo smirked.
"Al-right, I get it! Can we go now?!" Eve cried.
"…right y'are, lass." Mo said. "But err… where we goin'? We takin' her back te Lassie?"
"Well…" Eve bit her lip. "Kid said she wanted to go to the Path of Souls, right? So who's up for taking her there? Solves both problems at once."
"B-but Ros said!"
"Ros said go save her." Eve interrupted. "She didn't specify what we had to do afterwards. She ain't here, and she sent me, not you, not Glace. So I'm in charge, got it?"
"…got it." Mo nodded.
With Glace keeping the tiny Emolga warm on Mo's back as he travelled, and Eve flitting past alongside them, darting about as she pleased, the little group headed towards the towering peaks in the distance.
"Stupid kid…" Eve muttered to herself. Why did the kid want to come all the way out here on her own anyway? There was nothing there, unless she knew something they didn't. Even if there was, heading out on her own in a blizzard was just dumb.
Though none of them were about to offer her any help, she had to concede. Ros basically told the kid to run off, yet was oh so shocked when she actually did. It was kinda shameful, to be honest.
She slowed to a halt, watching Mo billowing after her. "She's got guts. Can't deny that."
"Hunh?!" Mo bellowed. "What'd ye say, Eve? Didnae catch that!"
"I-I wanna tear someone's guts out!" Eve flustered. "But don't you worry about that! Just focus on keepin' up, dammit!"
"Gotcha!" Mo trumpeted, stamping down the snowy pathways after her. "How's the wee lass daein, Glace?"
"Nothing yet, Mo!" Glace called back, snuggling up against the ice-cold Emolga. "She really is very cold!"
Eve swore. How long were they going to have to wait for the kid to wake up? A few minutes? A few hours? Maybe even longer?
They didn't have that long. Ros was already going to kill them when they got back for skipping out on her…
Eve scratched to a halt. "…wanna take a breather?"
"What?!" Mo yelled. "Cannae hear ye lass!"
"I said did you wanna take a break!" Eve yelled even louder.
Mo scrabbled and crashed to the floor at Eve's feet. "…aye, nae bother!"
"Great," Eve rubbed her paws together. "I'll source some firewood, you guys find shelter."
Eve zipped off into the blizzard once again, leaving Mo and Glace in her dust.
"D'ye… think she actually cares about the wee lass?" Mo raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, of course she does!" Glace said. "Why else would she ask us to come with her?"
"Hmm…" Mo murmured. "Aye, ye could be right…"
Meanwhile…
"Phil!" Ros demanded, staring down the colossal Abomasnow. "Where are the others? Lady Candice has a challenger!"
"Umm…" Phil's eyes were wide. He slowly looked left, and then right, before squaring his gaze with Ros again. "…I dunno! They must be out having a snowball fight or something!"
"Oh really?" Ros' expression hollowed. "Care to explain how Glace is playing? He can't throw snowballs."
"…referee!" Phil stammered. "I-it's a one on one, and they called Glace out there to keep things fair!"
"And yet you're in here all on your own?" Ros narrowed her eyes. "Don't you love snowball fights?"
"I-I do, but…" Phil groaned. "But I have a bad leg, see?!"
He pointed vaguely at one of his legs. Ros' face just darkened further.
"I'm disappointed in you, Phil." She shook her head slowly. Summoning up dark blue flames, a glint shone in the Froslass' eyes as she launched it at Phil. The yeti let out a high-pitched yelp and ran around in pain as blue flames licked at his hide.
"Perhaps this will teach you not to lie to me." She huffed. "Why didn't you just tell me that they'd left to go save the Emolga?"
"I-I didn't wanna concern you…" Phil grunted. "Sorry Ros. I guess I was bein' kinda dumb, huh?"
"You were." Ros deadpanned. "But thank you for coming clean. I will deal with the others later."
Phil just looked down at her sheepishly. "So uh… Candice has a challenger huh?"
"Yes indeed," Ros echoed. "Perhaps the two of us will be enough."
Phil just sighed gently and limped after Ros. He should've just taken a nap. Nothing bad ever happened in naps…
The blizzard wasn't showing any signs of slowing, but Mo in his infinite wisdom was able to bulldoze his way into a cave and block out most of the wind. Eve had found some dry wood and scratched a fire together, and Glace was wrapped around Sparky like a crescent moon, keeping her as close to it as possible.
"Where on earth did you find Aspear berries, Eve?" Glace gulped down several of them. "I'm impressed!"
"Yes, cold resistant berries growing in the snow. Who would've thought?" Eve prodded at the fire with her claws. "Anyway, you get back to keeping the kid warm. I'm not supposed to know you're here, remember?"
"I shall!" Glace beamed, and nuzzled Sparky tighter still. Meanwhile Mo just sat there, slowly chewing on berries and grimacing.
"…sorry about them," Eve frowned. "Tell the truth I'm not fond of Aspear either, but-"
"I love them!" Glace chipped in, only to back down at Eve's glare.
"…as I was saying, there wasn't much else available." She sighed.
"No bother Eve. Any food's better than nae food." Mo said. "So uhh… what now?"
"We wait for the kid to wake up." Eve deadpanned.
"Aye, but… after that?"
"What do you mean after that?"
"Well we're no just leavin' her here are we?"
"Aren't we? It was her decision to climb this thing."
"And it was your decision to go save her. I cannae mind Ros tellin' ye."
"O-of course you can't! It's not like she's gonna announce it to the world."
"Aye, just keep tellin' yersel that Eve." Mo smirked. "You've a big heart, la-"
"Oh, shove it you," Eve scattered a handful of pebbles at Mo. "Anyway, how is the kid doing? She woken up yet?"
"I don't think so, Eve." Glace said. "She is still very-"
But he was stopped mid-sentence by a weak shuddering. "O-oh, perhaps not!"
Glace beamed down at the tiny Emolga like a first-time mother as two bleary eyes fluttered open.
"Hello there, silly! You gave us a fright, you did!" Glace cried.
"Speak for yourself…" Eve muttered.
"…huh?" Sparky grimaced. "Whuh? Where… who?"
"You fell asleep in the snow!" Glace chimed, his face about an inch away from hers. "S-so we saved you, friend!"
"We…?" She blinked slowly. Slowly fuzzing into her vision was the gargantuan silhouette of Mo, and the less ecstatic shadow of Eve.
"You guys…?" She mumbled. "But I… but I have to go alone…"
"Oh, you do huh?" Eve stood up calmly. "Never mind what we all went through to save your butt, you have to go alone like some goddamn hero. You heard her guys, let's move out."
"Huh?" Both Mo and Glace grunted at her in unison.
"…did I stutter?" Eve looked back. She slowly walked back towards the mouth of the cave. "Remember we've got responsibilities to take care of. Poor Phil's probably been crucified by now."
"W-well, erm." Mo shuffled to his feet, scattering fur everywhere and putting out the fire. "I er, s'pose you've a point there, Eve…"
"After coming all this way…?" Glace unwrapped himself from around Sparky. "But we are only at the bottom of the path! The rest is surely a-"
"A cakewalk, sure." Eve interrupted. "And I'm sure she'll have no trouble making the climb all on her own. Ain't that right kid?"
Sparky gulped at the menacing silhouette at the cave mouth. A sullen glint staring back at her, waiting on her answer. What was she supposed to say to that?
She writhed and strained into a sitting position. "…I guess so."
Even talking was tough. How was she going to find her way up this huge mountain by herself? She couldn't just ask them for help. They'd already done way too much for her. And Eve obviously didn't even want to be here. They had to get back to that Candice lady. Who was she to ask anything of them?
"Sounds like you've made up your mind," Eve's voice was distant. "So I guess we'll get going then. Best of luck on your way up, okay k-"
"Wait!"
Eve bared her teeth. Stupid kid, interrupting her like that. She waited until now to beg for help? Too little too late. Eve smirked and turned to face her. This was gonna be-
"Y-you forgot your hat." Sparky said, pulling the thing off of her head and handing it back. Eve just stared, wide-eyed, at the tattered red beanie in her paws.
"I-I guess I won't need it any more, since I'm inside the mountain now…" Sparky mumbled, her eyes lidded. "So uh, I go this way, right? It's as good as any I guess..."
The three of them watched as the pathetic scrap of a Pokémon toddled her way over the rocky cave floor, stumbling over little stones and slipping about on ice patches. Eve glanced up to Mo's worried stare, and then Glace's knowing smile.
"Ohhh…!" She raked a paw across her face. "Dammit kid, get back here!"
Sparky tripped over a rock, "Wha-what? Why?"
"Look, you can't do this on your own. One wild and you're mincemeat," Eve explained. "So take the stupid hat back, and let's climb this together, okay?"
"B-but-"
"No buts!" Eve swiped outwards with her claws. "Now shut up and get climbing before I change my mind."
"…okay." Sparky quivered in Eve's shadow. She could barely make more than a step though, before a pale blue flash jumped in front of her.
"You're gettin' the first-class treatment, wee lass." Mo grinned, as Glace grabbed a hold of her and clambered back up. "You'll no haver, an' we'll have ye at the top of the path before ye can say-"
"Gonna keep it down?!" Eve hissed back at him. "I dunno if you've realised, but we're in a cave! Keep shouting like that and you'll cave it in!"
"Am no gonnae!" Mo raised his voice louder still. "This place is sound! She'll no be fallin' d-"
But then an ominous rumble rippled through the cave. The glinting gems quivered as dust and rocks loosed themselves, tumbling across the floor.
And then there was the groan. Low and resonating, something heavy shifted out of the shadows and lunged towards the little group at alarming speed.
"Think fast!" Eve cried, smoothly dodging out of the way as the heavy shadow smashed into the cave wall.
The creature groaned again, and two bright pink eyes lit up about its centre. Glace took a defensive stance, while Eve primed her claws.
"…alright, you guys go on ahead." Eve stretched her arms, then knuckles. "I'll catch up."
"But Eve!" Glace immediately protested.
"But nothing!" Eve sprang to the side, neatly dodging the giant metal bell as it swung past. "That's a Bronzong. Neither of you two can touch it, so get moving!"
"But we're no' wantin' to see ye get hurt, Eve!" Mo stamped his feet in protest.
"And if the kid gets hurt?" Eve retorted, slashing at the bell's tough shell with her claws. "Then this whole thing'd be pointless, wouldn't it?"
Mo let out a tiny whimper. "…we'd better stay back, wee one."
"Zonnnng." The Bronzong droned, launching itself towards Eve at a surprising speed. Eve dove behind a rock, which was no obstacle as the heavy bell smashed right through it, sending her flying.
"Oh no!" Glace cried. "Don't worry Eve, I will help!"
"Dammit!" Eve gasped. "What part of-"
Before Eve could so much as protest, Glace had loosed a powerful Ice Beam from his depths, building up walls of ice and surrounding it.
"Where are you aiming?!" Eve cried.
"I am blocking it in!" Glace said between blasts of Ice Beam. "You are better on ice than cave!"
The Bronzong whirred heavily, before launching another spinning tackle towards Eve. She flinched, and then flinched again when it crashed into one of the ice walls, but then bounced off of it harmlessly.
"…huh." Eve frowned. "Well I'll be, Glace. That actually worked. I'll grant you exactly one dumb question as thanks for that, got it?"
"Ooh, I like those!" Glace beamed.
"See? I told ye she'd be useful Eve!" Mo shouted from the background.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" Eve said, skating along the icy floor and slashing at the Bronzong with another swipe of her claws. "The bell still has a toll to pay, remember?"
The Bronzong recoiled away from Eve's claws and crashed into another pillar of ice, cracking deep wounds into the frozen wall. It groaned in pain and then suddenly faded away into the background.
"What the?" Eve grunted. Gently meandering along the ice, she kept her claws prone and her eyes sharp. "Where'd it go?"
Silence descended as all four of them started looking around for it. There was water dripping somewhere deeper in the cave, and if Sparky really listened, she could still hear the blizzard roaring outside.
"…Bronzong can't teleport, can they?" Eve wrinkled her nose. "I mean, where else could it have gone?"
"Maybe ye scared it aff?" Mo grunted.
"Hmm…" Eve narrowed her eyes. "Alright, I'll take it. Let's have that dumb question then, Glace."
"Wha? Now?" Glace gasped. "I ummm… errr…"
Eve clicked her tongue, taunting an index finger from side to side. "Clock's tickin', Glace."
"Err…" Glace stammered, before his eyes widened. "W-wait a second… can Bronzong teleport?"
"That's your dumb question?" Eve chuckled. "We discussed that earlier, remember? Talk about a waste of-"
Then the smirk was wiped from Eve's face. She followed Glace's stare and span around, just in time to block another spinning tackle from the Bronzong. The pair of them went sliding across the ice, with Eve digging in her heels but making no difference. Pinned against the Bronzong's weight, both of them were slammed into one of Glace's ice columns, digging deeper grooves into it. There was a crack, and Eve's eyes practically burst from the assault.
"Son of a-" She spat, attempting in vain to wrench herself free from the Bronzong pinning it against the ice. But then fear shone in the Weavile's eyes as the entire thing started glowing.
"…no!" She gasped. "Glace, Mo, get out of here! Now!"
"We're no' just leaving ye here lass!" Mo retorted.
"No time for arguing! This thing's gonna blow!" Eve strained to push the thing away. "And it'll take half the cave with it! Get as far as you can, dammit!"
"But I-"
"Just, go!" Eve shrieked.
Glace's ears drooped. He took the lead while a wide-eyed Mo chased after him silently. The Bronzong's glow slowly got brighter as Eve just stood there, her limbs limp and eyes lidded. She wasn't even struggling any more.
"What's Eve doing?" Sparky mumbled.
"You're no wanting to see that, wee one." Mo's voice was low and solemn. "We've to get you up the path, so we're doing that."
"B-but what about Eve?" Sparky cried. She still hadn't moved. She was stuck there. Alone.
"There is nothing we can do, Sparky." Glace didn't even look her in the eye. "Eve has made her choice."
"Her… choice?" Sparky mumbled. "But that means…"
"No!" She squeaked, bursting out of Mo's fur and dashing back down the cave.
"Sparky!" Glace's voice echoed after her.
Pillars of rock and sparkling jewels flashed past her. Her body was practically pulsing with adrenaline. She wasn't going to let someone else die because of her!
Scrabbling across a patch of ice, her whole body surged with electricity as she crashed into the Bronzong with full force. It clunked with pain and went flying into the cave wall, causing a huge rockslide. Dozens of heavy boulders crushed it from above, and all it could do was drone in pain as the mountain punished it.
"Zzz…onnn-g." It droned, before the light pulsing within it faded and died. Its bright pink eyes were the last to fade away into the darkness…
Sparky fell to one knee, gasping for breath. Eve did the same.
"W-what the…?" She muttered. "The hell you doin', kid?! You were supposed to be halfway up the damn path by-"
"I-I…" Sparky spluttered. "I couldn't let you do that for me. I don't want anyone to… to die for me."
"I don't care!" Eve found her feet. "I'd made my choice! But that wasn't good enough for you, huh?! You had to bust on in there and… a-and…"
"Save yer life?"
Eve looked up, and noticed Mo and Glace in the distance.
"Y-yeah." Eve said. Her voice was soft, and her paws were shaking. "You saved my damn life, ki… Sparky. And I didn't ask for it, but dammit I'm grateful, I gotta be honest. Where the hell did you learn an attack like that?"
"M-my trainer taught me…" Sparky whimpered, her voice tinged. "S-she-"
"She taught you well." Eve folded her arms. "You took on something like that and lived to tell the tale. I can tell why you wanna climb this thing now."
Eve made a few steps forward, before losing strength in her legs and staggering.
"'Mon you." Mo said. "Get yersel up here. You've done enough fer the day."
"Don't you dare!" Eve flailed, as Glace jumped down. "A-at least let me climb up myself, dammit...!"
She made an attempt to scrabble up Mo's back, but her tired limbs were refusing to co-operate, it seemed. Glace sat beside her and made the gesture, to which Eve grimaced, and used Glace as a step-up.
"You too, wee lass." Sparky got the same treatment, as Glace helped her back up again.
The Mamoswine took off again, ferrying the three of them up the mountain. Eve kept glancing towards Sparky before blushing and looking away again, meanwhile Glace just hummed to himself.
"I um… just wanna say thanks, Sparky." Eve mumbled. "Honestly, I mean that. You saved my life."
"Well you saved mine," Sparky smiled. "It was the least I could do."
"…heh." Eve grinned again. "I guess it was, huh?"