I do not own Pokemon
The climb was getting slower, the temperature dropping by the minute as Parker continued his ascension towards the peak of the mountain. By dusk, he could see his own breath creating a small cloud of condensation.
With no real way to pause the ascension, he pushed forward, proceeding with much more caution, feeling every nook and cranny in the dark, his fingers getting numb by fatigue and the drop in temperature, until he finally reached the top of the cliff face, pulling himself up and dragging his hands to his mouth, his labored breath fighting off the sheer coldness that had overtaken his fingers.
He dove into his bag, revealing the Abomasnow coat and putting it on, the thick white and green fur removing all the feeling of the biting cold. He pulled the coat's hood over Pan, feeling herself snuggling within, while Vike flew inside the coat, his frame far too large to perch on one of the inside pockets forcing both of them into an awkward pose. Worp, seemingly undisturbed by the temperature, floated stoically next to his trainer, seemingly confused by the reaction of its fellow Pokemons.
The group advanced through the dark, one careful step after another, reaching for the silhouette of massive trees and started to gather up small branches in a pile.
Despite the apparent calm, however, Parker felt something was off. Something stepping on a branch right outside of his field of view, rustling in the grass, the shadow of a movement in the corner of his eye. He rushed through the wood gathering process and pulled out the ferro rod, trying his best to start the fire as quickly as possible while ignoring the sounds of danger. After a few strikes, the embers sparked to life, illuminating the area. This time, he felt the movements all around him, and the light of the flame showed him something: a group of humanoid pokemons, no taller than a meter, diving into the tall grass, hiding away their claws and the single red feather on their head.
"Sneasels" muttered Parker.
He knew the pokemon was supposed to steal eggs, but he had heard many tales of packs of hungry Sneasels assaulting hikers when they became unable to find eggs to eat, viciously attacking anyone or anything that they might consider edible.
He glanced around, spotting the reflection of the fire into the gem the pokemons were sporting in the middle of their head.
He frowned. It seemed like the hungry pack was waiting for him to fall asleep before attacking. This would be a long night.
Dawn, snow-tipped peak of mount Moon
Parker did not sleep. Every time he felt his eyelids closing, he could hear the Sneasels approaching, waiting for him to lower his guard. Worp was at his side, perhaps ghost pokemons didn't need to sleep? Every time he turned around to gather a piece of wood for the fire, he could see the Sneasel's shadows, hiding barely out of range.
At one point he had approached them, only for the wild pokemons to retreat, two steps back for every step forward he had made, far enough to be out of reach while close enough to jump him as soon as he lowered his guard. After the third try, it became clear that the Sneasels were determined to stalk him and would not back down with a simple intimidation tactic.
After two hours, Parker decided that since he couldn't sleep anyway, he might as well make progress. He had placed a still sleeping Pan in his hood, gently lifted Vike in his arms, picked a piece of burning wood and started to walk.
After a few hours of walking, he noticed the weather worsening, the frozen wind on the verge of extinguishing his torch as white dots started to cover the environment. Quickly heading toward the cliff face in the hope of finding a cave to bear the brunt of the storm, Parker could almost feel the Sneasels getting bolder.
Worp turned around, swinging at the tall grass, barely missing the approaching Sneasel and forcing them to back off with hisses, the display enough to scare them off from attacking but not enough to convince them to abandon what they had already decided was their next meal.
With an eye on his back, Parker pushed forward, the snow starting to pick as the temperature got colder and colder. Worp sheathed itself and snuggled into Parker's coat, the cold metal of the scabbard giving the man a deep shiver for a second.
Unfortunately for Parker, the wall of rock showed no signs of a cave of any sort.
At every step the snow grew in intensity, the wind was picking up speed by the moment, and soon Parker was forced to slowly advance in the snow storm. He glanced back once again, noticing the now familiar presence of the stalking Sneasels waiting for him to collapse. He was getting tired, but could not afford to stop. He could now afford to lay down: he knew that was what the Sneasels were waiting for and even with his pokemons, he wasn't convinced he'd be able to fend off the pack. No. He needed to push forward, stay strong until he either found a safe place to rest or the Sneasels gave up their chase for an easier target.
The first hailstone hit his helmet, a loud thunk that woke him from his dazed, half-asleep form of sleepwalking through the snow. He paused for a second, only to feel another hailstone hitting him, the heavy Abomasnow coat dulling the impact to little more than a gentle push, but he definitely felt wrapped herself around her own tail and Parker pulled the hood over her, preventing the hailstones from reaching her. He felt both Vike and Worp under the coat, protected from the worsening weather.
He turned his head and dashed forward, kicking the Sneasel behind him back into the white storm, away from view. He heard more hisses of the wild pokemons circling around him, but none of them dared to approach him yet.
With a resolution in his steps, Parker continued walking, ignoring the hailstones that hit his helmet and his padded coat.
As he pushed forward, Parker suddenly noticed a shift in the weather. The hail was still falling, pelting him, but the wind had ceased. The sounds were muted, he could barely hear the sound of the hailstones hitting his helmet.
Yet, he could hear something. A voice in the snow, beckoning him. Calling for him. It wasn't a voice he recognized, yet he understood its meaning. It was a song of longing, a wail of pain and a cry of loneliness.
Parker felt himself drawn to the sound, the mysterious melody calling for him. He didn't notice that the Sneasels had given up in their chase, scared away by the mysterious voice in the snow. He only had eyes for the shadowy figure beckoning him in the middle of the blizzard, her white, floating figure barely noticeable in the snow and hail only thanks to a red sash around her hips and purple skin beneath a frozen mask clinging to her face.
Parker's eyes widened in recognition of one of the few pokemons you never want to encounter during a hailstorm.
A Froslass.
Parker stared at the pokemon, gently trying to walk around the icy apparition, a desperate attempt to avoid the battle.
To his dismay, the wild pokemon seemed to have another idea, her form shimmering and seemed to be in two places at once thanks to the intensity of the snow. Without a choice, Parker got himself ready to battle, shaking his own pokemons awake. WIth a simple nod, they knew it was time to battle
Parker's pokemons charged in, ignoring the hailstones peppering them and the freezing cold biting at them. Worp dashed at the Froslass, slashing at her side, while Vike and Pan charged at the pokemon, her hands raised in a wave of ice that Vike could barely dodge, only for his sweeping attack to hit the wild pokemon's afterimage. Pan pushed herself through the ice wave, her poison dripping from her claws as she struck the Froslass, filling her body with Pan's poison.
Worp struck again, sneaking from the shadows of the ice pokemon, only for her to strike back, grasping the steel blade with her frozen fingers, clawing their way into the metal like teeth made of ice, causing the Worp to creak under the strength of her grip.
Parker lunged at the Froslass, his fists striking what he thought was the creature, only to miss the mark completely. Vike swooped down, his strike leaving the Froslass staggered enough to relinquish the grip on Worp, allowing the now cracked blade one more strike on the wild pokemon.
"Worp, get Back in your scabbard! Vike, use Bite!" shouted Parker, drawing the attention of the Froslass toward himself and preparing for the pokemon's next attack.
Vike followed the man's orders, biting down on the wild pokemon as she inhaled deeply and exhaled a Frost Breath toward Parker and Worp, the sword barely able to reach the scabbard to avoid the freezing wave of ice that struck his trainer, forcing him to one knee.
With a glare, the Froslass turned toward the flying Zubat, extending her hands toward the pokemon, her shadow elongating to reach Vike as black flames surrounded her.
Parker widened his eyes. There were a set of moves that every pokemon trainer was taught to recognize on the spot and this was by far the most insidious and dangerous one.
Destiny Bond.
"Vike, get back in your pokeball!" he shouted, desperately moving his frostbitten fingers to reach for Vike's pokeball, his only pokeball. He took a deep breath, knowing that the wild Pokemon would most certainly attack him again.
Vike released the Froslass from his jaws, launching himself toward his trainer's pokeball, trying to dodge the hail while the Froslass was hit by another one of Pan's attacks, her poison burning through the ice pokemon's body finally causing the Froslass to cough up a black sludge, just as her tiny hands clothed themselves in icy claws.
The pokemon launched herself at Parker with surprising speed, her claws digging deep into Parker's raised guard, covering his arms in deep cuts, the gushing blood swiftly congealing into a frozen sheen that covered his arms. Parker tried to move, only to notice that in his defensive stance, his foot had sunk into the snow, preventing him from moving and leaving him frozen in place.
He tried to look back on the Froslass, noticing the frozen pokemon gathering dark power into her hands, releasing a black wave of ectoplasmic mass in the shape of a screaming head rushing towards him and washing over like he wasn't even there.
Mentally, Parker thanked Arceus for him still keeping his normal type and the associated immunity to Ghost moves.
With a shriek, Vike jumped out of his pokeball, charging at the Froslass together with Pan, only for the two pokemons to completely miss their target. Pan and the Froslass were now bloodied, hurt by hail and poison, but the ice pokemon didn't concern herself with the Nidorina, taking her aim at another target. Gathering her ghostly powers again, she struck at the Zubat, the cursed energy causing Vike to flinch.
The Froslass's smug visage was swiftly erased by Worp sweeping down from the air, striking the pokemon with a second strike on its way back, just the second the Froslass turned her head toward the flying sword, only for Worp to slice clean through her neck.
The Froslass gasped for air, before a deluge of black sludge was shot straight up into the air, the pokemon spirit free as its carcass simply fell on the ground with a thud.
The instant the Frosslass's head fell to the ground, the snowstorm disappeared, leaving the snow veil to slowly fade away, leaving only a group of four travelers battered, bloodied, bruised and on the verge of death.
Notes
Boss fight: lvl 33 Froslass (Snow cloak) vs lvl 19 Parker + lvl 19 Vike + lvl 19 Pan + lvl 19 Worp
Yeah, that fight was DEADLY. A Frosslass during hail? It's a good thing I gave Parker immunity to hail dmg via the Abomasnow cloak!
I REALLY like Frosslass, it's an amazing pokemon and I felt like I had to include it somewhere in the story. And what better habitat for such a cool pokemon that a snow-capped mountain (cough title drop! cough)
And we are back on track to our regularly scheduled "how to survive wild pokemon encounters with 1% HP"
I hope you liked my take on the Sneasels, they aren't exactly wolves, but they felt like the most appropriate pokemons to recreate the vibe of the first chapter of "White Fang" (how many of you earned a Lava Cookie?). Obviously Parker couldn't die, but neither did the POV character of that chapter, so...
Now, the draft of the story is almost complete, I'm just missing the last one-two chapter (to give you a hint on the duration: the published chapters so far cover up to page 34 out of 49), but I'm thinking of having a random trainer encounter with a trainer and a full team. If you want to help, PM me a level 30 6-pokemon team and I might decide to include them in the story. Happy writing
