Chapter Seven

An Endless Field of White

Dark.

And then, with a sharp stab, something surged through her body, crackling through her veins, her heart, her head - and she sat up with a gasp, suddenly wide awake.

Panting, winded and confused, she stared wildly at the dark that surrounded her. Where was she? What happened? Why was it so… dim?

Something shuffled around on her lap, and she looked down, squinting, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, and saw a familiar electric-yellow glow.

Pichu. He was there. He must have shocked her awake. That explained the sharp pain then.

She shivered, scooping her little mouse into her arms and hugging him close, more to try and calm herself with the familiar action than a search for warmth. It was freezing, though. Where were they? The walls - if that's what they were - were bluish white, but she could barely make them out. There was light coming from somewhere - behind her maybe? - but her body was sore and it hurt to move. What on earth had happened?

Something groaned in the shadows beside her. Not the groan of a person - more like the creaking groan of metal under stress. She turned her head, wincing at the sharp pain that flickered through it, and after a moment her eyes made out the form of her Aegislash beside her, its metal body just barely visible, trembling in the dark.

At first, for a wild moment, she thought that it, too, was shivering from the cold. Then memories of the avalanche came crashing down on top of her like - well, like an avalanche - and she realized that it was shaking from the effort of keeping the wall of snow away from her.

How? How on earth had it managed to… She looked around, noticing for the first time that the tiny space they were enclosed in was roughly the shape of a sphere. It must have used Protect, encasing them all in a shield of psychic energy. The snow was piled on all around them - behind, in front, above, below - but in this tiny bubble, they were safe.

For now. Until Aegislash's energy ran out - how long had she been unconscious? - or until they ran out of air. Whichever came first. And if that didn't get them, exposure to the cold certainly would. Or starvation. So many ways to die, who would the lucky winner be?

Wait… it was dim, but it wasn't pitch black. Light was coming from somewhere.

She twisted around, wincing again as her injured body protested. Aegislash may have shielded her from being crushed, but she'd clearly still been hurt. How? Not important. Need to get out.

There. It was hard to tell, but it looked like the wall of snow behind and above her was a little lighter than the rest. What did that mean? Moonlight? Was the moon bright enough to pierce through the snow? How far down was she?

There was really only one choice. They needed to try to dig their way out. Arcanine would have been the most obvious pick, but the bubble of protection Aegislash was providing them wasn't big enough for him. She could try to get Aegislash to tunnel a way out, but if it stopped focusing on their shield, the snow might come crashing down on top of them.

She and Pichu could try it on their own with their hands, but… She reached out and touched the snow overhead. It was densely packed, and her fingers, mostly numb, stung at the touch. Right, the cold… She wondered if she was developing frostbite, or at least pneumonia. She didn't know if she had the energy to dig her way out.

That left one option. Fumbling at her belt with deadened fingers, she managed to grab Milotic's ball and summon her in a flash that briefly illuminated their tiny pocket of air in a dull red haze.

Milotic appeared, long, sinuous body completely filling the space, tangling around itself, wrapping around Aegislash, crushing AJ and Pichu against the dense wall of snow.

It let out a confused, musical cry, but AJ didn't have time to explain. Trying her best to gesture to the wall of snow above them, she said, "Milotic! See the light above us? I need you to try to bore a way out for us with Hydro Pump. Think you can do that?"

She prayed this would work. It was the only thing strong enough that could do it. If it failed… Well, then she and Pichu would drown, or else freeze to death a little bit faster. But what other options did she have?

There was a momentary pause as Milotic tried to shuffle awkwardly around so it could find the correct section of wall to blast, but before long, AJ felt more than saw its serpentine body undulate, pressure building up inside of it before, with a blast like a cannon, it sprayed its Hydro Pump upwards toward the dim, distant light.

Water sprayed in AJ's face, freezing cold, making her gasp and her lungs freeze up, but right as she thought they'd failed, the Hydro Pump burst through the wall of densely-packed snow. Light flooded into their hidey-hole, accompanied by a gust of chill wind. The water quickly fading away, leaving in its place a hole roughly wide enough for AJ to squeeze through.

"Amazing!" AJ breathed, shivering violently as she tried to hug Milotic. After a moment, she returned her to the ball and ushered Pichu through the hole first.

As it scrambled up ahead of her, she turned back to Aegislash and said, teeth chattering, "Just hold out for another minute, bud. I'll return you as soon as I get out.

It groaned in assent, and AJ turned, pulling herself into the tiny tunnel, shivering and shimmying for all she was worth.

It was surprisingly long - about three feet, which was more than AJ had expected - but she breathed a sigh of relief once her head finally broke the surface with Pichu trying - and failing - to help pull her out. Once out of the hole, she rolled onto her back, breathing heavily, then fumbled Aegislash's ball out of her pocket and recalled him.

As soon as she did, there was a muffled 'woomf' from within the hole as the snow caved in.

AJ lay on her back, staring up into the sky, panting.

She had almost died. Her, and all of her pokemon with her. What about Jade and Sammy? Had they managed to survive? Were they buried under the snow, too? Somewhere down below, stiff and cold? Had this stupid adventure really become their last?

No, don't think like that. Giving up never helped anybody. One of them had summoned a pokemon right before the avalanche hit them, remember? If Jade had gotten her Metagross out - or even Sammy's Corviknight - they could have escaped. Both of them, together.

But if they had… wouldn't they be here, searching for her? Wherever 'here' was.

Actually… where was she? The landscape looked completely different now, which was probably to be expected, but the mountain… it looked further away than it had when they'd stopped yesterday. Had the avalanche pushed them further down the hillside? That might explain why, if Sammy and Jade were alright, they were nowhere to be seen. It also explained why her body hurt. Aegislash may have protected them from being crushed from the snow, but if momentum had swept them downhill, then they'd probably been bounced around a lot.

She lifted a hand to her temple and winced again as a sharp pain lanced through her head. She had a lump the size of a Voltorb there. No wonder she'd been unconscious. Her hand continued upward and she let out a short, humorless bark of laughter. After all that, she still had her cap on? Amazing.

For the first time, she noticed the sky. It was cloudy, thick with the promise of more snow, but it suddenly occurred to her that it was daytime. She had no idea what time of day it was, with the sun completely lost behind the heavy cloud cover, but she must have been down in that hole for at least a couple of hours.

Pichu made a noise beside her, and she turned her head, seeing something swooping down out of the sky. For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating. Then she recognized her Togekiss.

It had escaped the avalanche after all and had come back for her. All of a sudden, she felt the overwhelming need to cry.

As Togekiss touched down in front of her, AJ pushed herself to her knees and threw her arms around her pokemon, letting the horror of the past several hours wash over her. She'd almost died. Her, and Pichu, frozen to death under a mountain of snow, her Milotic and Arcanine and Hydreigon trapped forever in their pokeballs, never to be found again. Sammy and Jade, lost, possibly dead. And Togekiss, who she'd at least managed to save, had spent the entire night in the freezing cold, flying around searching for her.

How long would she have continued looking? Her body was trembling from the long exposure to the frigid air, her feathers bent and ragged from the violent winds. Togekiss weren't built for these harsh climates. She likely wouldn't have survived much longer on her own, not if she stuck around searching for her.

She sniffled, hurriedly wiping tears from her eyes. No. Now wasn't the time for this. Her friends were lost, her pokemon needed help, and she… well, she was pretty sure she had hypothermia - or would soon. She needed to act. Her thoughts felt thick and syrupy. What was the next step?

Her supplies were gone. Everything - her clothes, her food, her shelter, had been buried under the snow along with their tent. Should she focus on that first, or on finding Sammy and Jade? If Togekiss was in better shape, she could try both - send her out to look for her friends while she focused on surviving - but it was obvious that Togekiss wouldn't be doing any more work today. She was in almost as rough shape as Pichu. They needed a fire, stat.

Fire. There was no wood around to burn, but…

She plucked Arcanine's ball from her belt and summoned her loyal pokemon once more to her side.

In a flash, Arcanine was down at their side, trying to curl its long body around AJ, Pichu, and Togekiss at the same time, sharing its surplus of body heat with them. It wasn't until the warmth washed over her that she truly realized just how cold she had been. She curled into his side, tangling her deadened fingers into his fur, trying to think through the haze of cold and pain.

Togekiss couldn't fly, but… Aegislash? It could phase through the snow, search for anyone who might still be below… But no. Even if it wasn't completely exhausted from the effort of saving her life, the search area was far too large and he moved too slowly to cover enough ground.

There was also Hydreigon. She was blind, but she made up for it with superior senses of smell and hearing. Plus, she was an empath. She'd be able to track her friends from their emotions.

Assuming they weren't unconscious like she had been. Plus, Hydreigon was still wild and hard to control. There was no telling how much help she'd actually be, and if there was another incident like with the Abomasnow, she could trigger another avalanche. No, no Hydreigon while in these mountains. Bringing her along had been a mistake.

That meant AJ had only two usable pokemon; Milotic, who wouldn't be much help on land, and Arcanine.

She could set Arcanine to digging through the snow… but no. It was obvious to her now that AJ and Pichu needed his warmth to stay alive. They wouldn't be able to stay pressed up against him like this if she set him to burrowing around under the snow. And again, there was the problem of the search area being too wide.

No, she'd have to abandon the idea of searching under the snow for now. She had to trust that her friends had managed to escape. That meant looking for them above-ground, and that she could easily do from atop Arcanine's back. Use his superior sense of hearing and smell to track them. Yes, that would work.

She recalled Togekiss, thanking her, then explained the situation to Arcanine as she climbed up onto his back. Her body still ached and she couldn't stop trembling, but she couldn't afford to waste any more time either.

It took much longer than she had expected to actually get seated. Her limbs seemed devoid of energy, and try as she might, she couldn't stop shaking. Even Arcanine's excess heat didn't seem to be enough to ward off the chill that had seemingly settled deep into her bones. Pichu was curled up in front of her, tucked between her legs where Arcanine's thick mane and her body sheltered him from the icy sting in the air.

They set off at a soft gallop, angling down the hillside. She had no idea where to begin looking first, but she instructed Arcanine to keep his nose to the wind and his ears alert. If he scented anything, or heard anything that might be another person, he was to alert her immediately.

She didn't know how long they walked for. The fog was clouding her brain, a haze of ice and pain that seemed to be draining her of purpose, making it hard to focus or even keep up a coherent string of thought.

More than once, she blinked and found the landscape around her completely changed, trees appearing where there had been none, sudden rock formations forming seemingly from nowhere. The very earth seemed to rise then flatten between blinks. When had they traveled so far? How long had they been searching? She wanted nothing more than to curl up and fall asleep, but knew, in some dark part of her mind, that to do so here and now would be dangerous. She might not wake up this time. And who would find Jade and Sammy?

Before long - or maybe it had been a long time and she hadn't noticed - Arcanine seemed to perk up, ears at attention as it turned and began heading up the slope and towards what she thought might have been the east - though it was really hard to say. It picked up its pace, the wind whipping through AJ's hair, and she almost hunkered down into Arcanine's mane - something she'd been avoiding doing in case she fell asleep - when she noticed something in the distance.

It was a figure, heading towards them. A figure with two legs, and two arms, and a coat, and - it was a person. A person! They found someone!

Thoughts of Jade and Sammy seemed to energize her for a brief moment, and she dug her heels into Arcanine's side, spurring him on faster.

Only, as they drew close, it became clear even to her in her foggy state that this person, whoever it was, wasn't either of her friends. She felt her newly-kindled excitement suddenly snuff out like someone had dumped a pile of snow onto a dying campfire. The exhaustion and cold seemed to return with a vengeance.

Whoever it was, they were an older man, and alone, calmly - but clearly - heading directly for them. He was older, maybe in his sixties, with the hard, weathered face of a man who spent years toiling in the wilderness. His thick gray beard was short and well-kept, however, indicating that he at least took care of himself. His eyes were as hard as ice as they neared him. He looked as cold and merciless as the mountain itself.

"Who are-?" he began once they'd gotten close enough to speak, voice like iron, then stopped as he took in the state of her appearance. His tone shifted to one that was softer, more concerned. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Not Jade. Not Sammy. But that didn't mean she was giving up. After all, he might have seen something, heard something. It wasn't over yet.

"Have you seen anyone else around here?" she asked, voice rasping, ignoring both his questions and the ones popping up in her mind about who he was and why there was some random old man up here in the mountains where no one was supposed to be. There wasn't time. "A boy about my age with sandy brown hair, and a girl, a little taller, dark and really pretty?"

He shook his head slowly, letting his eyes scan the distant hilltops as though they might pop up from behind a tree. There was a look of concern and consternation on his face, like he didn't appreciate hearing that there were more strangers about.

"No, I'm sorry. I came to investigate last night's commotion, but you're the first person I've seen. You're injured."

He placed an emphasis on that last bit as though it somehow mattered.

"I'm here with two of my friends, Sammy and Jade," she said, once again ignoring him. "We have permission to be here from the League."

She wasn't sure why she added that part. Whether he was a poacher or some lost hiker, he likely didn't care one way or another whether she had permission to be here. A wry look passed across his face, as though permission from the League didn't mean much to him. Figured.

"We were attacked last night after we set up camp. Some Abomasnow - I don't even know why Abomasnow are here in Johto - and they caused an avalanche. My friends and I were separated, and I don't…"

She cut off, realizing that she was rambling. Her voice had become somewhat strangled. She cleared her throat, trying to appear calm and in control. She was a Champion now. Champions don't panic. Champions always have everything in order.

Something like sympathy - or maybe pity - showed in the old man's eyes, but AJ turned away, refusing to acknowledge it.

"Girl," he said quietly, "if you haven't found them yet, you won't. Have you been out all night? You look like you're about to fall on your face."

She sniffled. Her head felt tight like a drum. She didn't have time for this.

"I need to keep looking," she said thickly "If you'll excuse me."

"Stop," he said, not demanding yet still fully expecting to be obeyed. To her surprise, her Arcanine hadn't moved. Hadn't she nudged him with her foot? Why wasn't he obeying her? "My cabin isn't too far from here. Come with me - I can put some hot food in your stomach, and I have some bandages for your head. And more importantly… I have some friends who might be able to help."

She stared, not understanding.

"Friends?" she asked, only now registering that he said he had a cabin nearby. People didn't live here. "Who…?"

"Come," he said, turning around and motioning her to follow. Again, to her surprise, her Arcanine seemed to obey him.

"Who are you?" she asked, suddenly remembering Ethan's story about the strange hiker he had battled. But this couldn't be him… could it? He didn't have a hat, or a Pikachu, but that didn't mean anything. It could still be him. Only… wasn't he too old? This man had to be in his sixties, at least.

"Just an old hermit," he said, chuckling lightly. "I've lived up here for - oh, about forty-odd years now?"

Forty years. Of course. Much too old to be her dad. She knew that. She was being silly.

"And… your friends?"

"You can't live in the wild for forty years without getting to know the pokemon around you," he said with a shrug. "Some of 'em are friendly. Some, not so much. But none of 'em like visitors, so they tend to stay away from hikers. The nice ones do, at least. Point is, I know a pair of friendly Froslass who I think would be willing to search out your friends if I ask 'em nicely. They owe me a favor anyway, and better they do the searching than you. They know the land better, and… well, you look like a strong breeze could do you in, girl."

Of course. Wild pokemon were his friends. Not other people. That made sense. And he was right; the pokemon who lived here would know the mountain better than she. They probably would stand a better chance of finding her friends.

And honestly, in this moment, that was all that mattered to her. She didn't want to go with him to his cabin. Didn't want to have her wounds treated and eat warm food while her friends were lost or possibly dead.

But he had a point. At best, she was hurt and exhausted and wandering aimlessly, hardly even able to think straight. She would be of no use to anyone. She hated it, but the logical part of her brain seemed to have awoken at least somewhat and was telling her to listen to this strange old man. After all, she wasn't the only one in need of treatment, and if Pichu and Togekiss could get some help too…

She had a million questions, but she quieted them all, letting Arcanine continue plodding alongside her mysterious savior.

All questions but one, which came tumbling out of her mouth as though of its own accord.

"Who are you?"

He turned, casting her a long look, as though sizing her up. She had no idea what he was looking for.

Whatever it was, he seemed to find it. Or maybe he didn't find it? Regardless, a moment later, he turned back to continue facing down the path he was guiding them along.

"Cole," he said finally. "The name's Cole. And you?"

"AJ," she replied.

The snow was picking up again. She wasn't much of the praying type, and didn't believe in gods anyway. But if any of those stories about legendaries ruling over life and fate and nature were true, she prayed to them now.

Please, someone help her find her friends. Don't let her have led them to their deaths.

Jade let out a violent sneeze, then muttered sullenly to herself, wiping fitfully at her nose and lamenting that she didn't have any tissues as she bent to clean the snot off of her fingers in the snow.

The campfire in front of her crackled, the dull snapping seeming in tune with Jade's mood. She could feel the heat from the flames, but it seemed distant and muted, most of the warmth siphoned off by the frozen landscape that surrounded her. Instead, she snuggled even more deeply into Ninetales' fur, letting her tails wrap around her like a huge, fluffy blanket.

For once, her pokemon didn't seem annoyed in the slightest by her master's obsessive need to cuddle. Instead, she was gazing at her with evident concern, her sapphire eyes thick with worry.

Jade tried for a smile, knowing it was pointless.

"I'll be fine, girl," she said, averting her gaze back to the flames. "We'll all be fine."

Her grip tightened around the belt in her hands, feeling the round bumps of the pokeballs under her knuckles.

Four. Four pokeballs. Meaning he only had two pokemon to help him. And from the looks of things - though admittedly she didn't know his pokeballs as well as she knew her own - he didn't have Corviknight or Dragonite to help him.

She fought down another wave of guilt and frustration.

It wasn't her fault. He wouldn't blame her. She shouldn't blame herself.

The crunch of footsteps in the snow behind her caught her ears, and she and Ninetales both turned to find her mysterious savior returning to the campfire, accompanied by his rather sour-faced Indeedee, who, bundled up with specially made boots and coat against the cold, was carrying with him two trays of food.

Not for the first time, Jade stared, trying to decide if she was really seeing what she thought she was. What kind of person went hiking up in the mountains alone but brought along their personal butler pokemon?

The man settled down across from her with a polite, though still somehow commanding, smile. He was an older man, well past his prime yet somehow still managing to exude an aura of power and authority. She'd rarely ever felt the same from other people. Only Champions like Lance or Cynthia managed anything of the sort. Only this man was no Champion. He couldn't be. She would have recognized him otherwise. Right?

The other thing that was immediately noticeable about him was the obvious air of affluence. His coat was posh and clearly tailored, Tauros leather on the outside, Minccino fur on the inside. His gloves seemed to be made of the same material, sleek black against the white snow, and his pants, black and slim-fitting, were clearly Wooloo wool. Imported from Galar, then. His boots, based on the pattern, had to be Druddigon skin. Everything he wore seemed to be expensive.

And that was just his outfit. When he'd found her wandering in the cold just before dawn, she'd been astonished to see his tent. She'd thought the tent they'd been using had been nice - decently spacious and built for the cold - but this man had somehow brought along a full-on yurt with sturdy metal legs that kept it up off the snow and thickly-padded walls to keep out the chill. She assumed his Indeedee must have helped set it up with its psychic powers, because otherwise, it would have been too much work for a man his age.

The man had money, and it showed - he had his own personal Indeedee, for Mew's sake - which only made it all the more bizarre that he was here in the first place. Perhaps he was just a rich, old eccentric billionaire who enjoyed backpacking in extravagance? There were certainly weirder hobbies.

But the weirdest thing about this stranger was the fact that he wouldn't tell her his name. He 'preferred to keep his privacy', he had said. So instead, she stuck to calling him 'the old man'.

The Indeedee extended the tray toward her, the warm scent of sausages and poached eggs and buttered toast wafting towards her nose, and she found herself accepting the food with an thanks that came out almost as a groan. She was starving, and hot food sounded like the most glorious thing in the world right about now. With barely a thought, she grabbed at the fork that had been provided and speared one of the sausages, cramming it whole into her mouth, letting the hot juices permeate her mouth.

"Oh, Mew…" she mumbled around a mouthful of meat. This… This was… She had never had sausages this good. She needed an Indeedee of her own.

Indeedee paused for a moment to shoot her a pointedly revolted look before returning stiffly to his master's side, awaiting his next command.

"I'm glad to see you at least have your appetite," the man said, smiling at her across the campfire. His voice was deep, but it flowed with a confident, self-assured cadence that spoke of one who was used to command. Perhaps it was just the lighting from the fire casting strange shadows across his angled face or the deep set to his eyes, but his smile seemed somehow predatory. "I was worried when I found you, but you seem to be in better health now."

Jade swallowed hastily, picking up her napkin and wiping at the juices that had leaked down her chin.

"Yes, uh… Sir," she said, trying to remember her manners. "Thank you. For helping me, I mean. It was very generous of you."

The man made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"Think nothing of it. After the traumatic experience you suffered, it was only right that I lend a hand. It is the responsibility of the older generation to look after the new."

Jade had stumbled across this strange old man in the early morning hours, before the sun was even fully above the horizon. She'd been up for hours at that point, riding on her Metagross, spurring it to use its psychic powers to search for her friends, and it had brought her to him upon sensing his presence.

Whenever she blinked, she could see the events of last night, flickering behind her eyelids like a silent movie. The Abomasnow attack. Her, stumbling out of their tent behind Sammy, half asleep and confused and scared. He had snatched up both of their pokebelts when he left the tent and had been trying, in the dark, to tell which was his and which was hers.

There had been a tussle, then. With the avalanche bearing down on them, she'd had so many thoughts going through her head - run away, get Metagross out to save them, recall Sableye, save AJ and Sammy - that they had all crashed and jumbled together, leaving her 'd knocked both belts from his hand by mistake, their pokemon falling to the ground between them.

She'd reached out at the same time he had, clawing at the belts in desperation. She'd only meant to grab hers, not both of theirs, but she'd accidentally yanked them both out of his hands. He'd managed to hold on to two of his pokeballs, however. The rest were still on his belt, which she now held in her lap like a talisman.

She'd managed to get Metagross out just in time, jumping onto its back, yelling for Sammy to do the same. He'd tried. He'd managed to get his arms up on Metagross's side, yelling about his Gengar, while she directed Metagross to use its psychic powers to grab AJ and Pichu.

Only then, Aegislash had appeared, throwing up a Protect around its trainer. It blocked out the snow, but blocked out Metagross's psychic just as surely, and she watched, horrified, as her best friend was swallowed by the roaring tide of ice and cold.

She'd screamed, yelling for Metagross to do something, somehow, but instead her pokemon soared up and away from the avalanche, keeping her safe. She wasn't sure how much time passed between her screaming and her sobs and the roar of the mountain before she looked back and realized that Sammy wasn't behind her anymore. At some point, while she'd been focusing on losing AJ, she hadn't realized she'd lost Sammy, too.

She refused to believe they were dead, either of them. She didn't care about the probability of survival. Her best friends could not be dead - they could not be. She wouldn't accept it. Not until she saw their bodies.

Once the avalanche had settled, she had Metagross swoop down low and begin digging through the snow with his psychic powers, reaching out telepathically for signs of life. Hours had passed. They found nothing. Not even her Sableye or Sammy's Gengar.

The pokemon were probably fine. Ghosts could phase through solid objects if they needed to. That didn't mean she wasn't worried about them, but their situation wasn't as dire as the rest. She would find them when she found them. But AJ and Sammy…

In the early morning hours, Metagross tipped her off that it sensed a presence. Her pokemon was exhausted, as was she, to say nothing of how badly the cold was affecting her. Praying it was Sammy, she ordered Metagross to take her to them, only to find this strange old man instead, and…well, here she was.

They ate in silence for a moment, Jade savoring the taste of the eggs and the fresh apricot juice, wondering who this man was and what he did to afford such luxury - and how she could get the same - when the stranger spoke again.

"You seem to be enjoying the food. Ducklett eggs are hard to come by in Johto, and that Pignite sausage… a rare delicacy. I'm grateful that I have this chance to share them with someone. I've become accustomed to dining alone, you see."

Jade froze, mid-chew. Pignite sausage? As in… authentic Pignite sausage? Not imitation?

She forced herself to swallow, feeling suddenly grim. She'd never actually eaten real pokemon meat before. She'd never liked the idea. Not when she spent so much time working with them, training and breeding and raising them. Sure, pokemon ate each other, but… well…

She did her best to shake off the sudden feeling of guilt. This wasn't her fault. She hadn't slaughtered the thing herself, she hadn't known that was what was being served… She was alone, without food, and was depending on this man's generosity to survive. Besides, it wasn't like not eating the food now would make the pokemon any less dead. All she could do now was not let it go to waste.

She tried to ignore the voice in her head that continued to praise how delicious it was. That certainly wasn't helping.

"Yes," she said instead, distracting herself by focusing on being polite to her host. "Thank you very much. After the avalanche, I lost all of my food and supplies… I don't know where I'd be without you."

The man paused, fork hovering in the air as he gazed at her, suddenly intent.

"Forgive me, my dear, but something about your face… You seem familiar. Would you mind troubling an old man with your name?"

"Oh," she said, suddenly embarrassed. How had she forgotten? Her earlier hysteria must have driven all the sense out of her head. "I'm so sorry. My name's Jade. Jade Harrison. I'm from Kanto."

"Harrison," the man repeated, looking momentarily blank. Then he smiled again, and that mysterious predatory gleam was back. "Yes… of course. You would be related to Brock Harrison then, the gym leader of Pewter City?"

Jade blinked. She knew her dad was famous in certain circles, but wow.

"Yeah. I mean, yes, I am. I'm his daughter. How did you…?"

But the old man chuckled, returning his attention to his food.

"Please. I hail from Kanto as well. You would be hard-pressed to find a native Kantonian who doesn't recognize the name of Pewter's gym leader. Though I wouldn't have guessed you were his daughter right away, what with the Ninetales at your side - and Alolan, no less. Rare, in these parts. An exquisite creature, might I add - her coat is especially luscious. You must be raising her well."

Jade felt a brief surge of pride. She had taken great care when raising her Ninetales - and yes, she was beautiful. It felt good to be recognized for her effort.

But she instead chose to focus on his implied question, saying, "Yes, well… Pewter may be known for its rock-type gym, and I may have several powerful rock-types myself, but… Honestly, I've always had a soft spot for pretty pokemon, so…"

When serving in the gym, battling trainers, she had a whole host of pokemon to choose from - Geodudes and Onix for the newer trainers, Golems or Aggron for the experienced, Tyrantrum or Probopass or Drednaw for when she was serious.

But her personal team - the one she took with her when she wasn't on official gym business, didn't really seem like the team you would expect the daughter of a rock-type gym leader to have.

Sure, she had a Gigalith and Minior - they were rock types. But she also had Ninetales and Metagross and Mawile. Jade liked pokemon who were pretty. Her Gigalith had been specifically bred and fed only the choicest of minerals so that the gems that grew on its body - rubies, jaspers, carnelians - would be of the highest quality. Her Minior shimmered and glowed a deep indigo when its shields were down, leaving glittering trails like diamonds in its wake as it flew.

She was less concerned with battling with these pokemon - not that they couldn't take care of themselves - and more interested in appearance, and she had won more than a few contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh while traveling with AJ and Sammy. But admittedly, that had never really been her concern. She just liked pretty things, and that was that.

She wasn't sure why, but she had expected condescension from the old man after admitting that. Sure, he clearly cared about personal appearance, judging by his clothes and his food and his yurt - but when a pokemon trainer admitted to caring about things other than pure battling, they tended to be looked down on.

The man, however, smiled approvingly.

"Yes, I know exactly what you mean," he said. "I myself have always had a penchant for ground-types, yet I wouldn't dream of going anywhere without my Persian. She is my pride and joy, and I take great care in maintaining the luster of her pelt, the shine of the gem in her forehead… Pokemon should be powerful above all else, but they can also be beautiful. There is no need to choose one over the other, not if you have any talent as a trainer."

Jade smiled, relieved and - surprisingly - feeling an odd surge of camaraderie with this old man. He appreciated the importance of appearance, he clearly had excellent taste (well, except maybe in where he got his food - no matter how delicious it was), and knew that pokemon could be both beautiful and strong - and seemed to agree that they could and should be both. Not to mention he was clearly living the crazy rich lifestyle she had always wanted. And he had saved her life.

If there was, like, a contest for 'coolest old rando you ever met one day on a mountain in the middle of nowhere', he'd be holding the top place.

"Now," the man continued, completely oblivious to the fact that Jade had just decided he was everything she wanted to be when she was an old rando herself, "you seem to have restored your strength at least somewhat. What do you intend to do now? My advice would be to return back down the mountain from where you came, but I suppose you intend to remain and search for your friend?"

"Friends," she corrected automatically, refusing to believe that AJ was dead no matter what she saw. "And yeah. We came here together. I'm not leaving without them."

He met her gaze for a moment, considering, then shook his head.

"So be it. Then I suggest you be off. Every minute in a search and rescue is of the utmost importance, especially in such a harsh place as this. Will you be going your own way? You may accompany me if you would like. I'm surveying a bit of the nearby area for the next couple of days, so I had already planned on heading northward."

Jade hesitated, looking down as Indeedee psychically lifted her now-empty tray from her hands. What she wanted more than anything was to call her Metagross back out and go zipping across the landscape again, but… She'd had him out all night, had him shoveling through the snow with his psychic powers. Her Metagross was a phenom of endurance, but even he had his limits. She needed to let him rest while she could.

Ultimately, she decided to accompany him, at least for a bit, until Metagross had recovered enough for her to head off on her own. He nodded in acquiescence, though she couldn't tell if her decision had pleased him or annoyed him. She got the feeling he wasn't the type who cared much for company, but she, at least, wanted someone else around.

She recalled Ninetales, deciding to let her rest for a bit as well - she might have need of her later - and then joined the old man as they left his camp behind, Indeedee shuffling around, cleaning up after them and watching the camp.

True to his word, they angled northward, the skies overhead a dark gray, heavy with the promise of more snow. Lovely. At least the landscape around here wasn't as steep as where they'd camped last night. Fewer trees, sure, but more boulders. After the Abomasnow, she found she preferred her rocks more than ever.

Not long after leaving the camp, the old man pulled a pokeball from his belt and summoned an absolutely massive Mamoswine who towered over them, practically a mountain in his own right.

"Mamoswine," the man commanded, in a sharp, powerful voice that expected complete obedience, "clear a path for us ahead."

The behemoth snuffled in acquiescence, turning around, lowering its powerful tusks to the ground and clearing snow and rock alike as it shuffled forward, leaving a relatively smooth path in its wake.

Jade could admit it; she was impressed. This might just be the finest Mamoswine specimen she'd ever seen. She'd half expected, after his comments about how well he treated his Persian, for Mamoswine to also boast pristine and beautiful fur - but that wasn't the case at all.

That wasn't to say that Mamoswine was ugly, however. Its fur, like the rest of it, was tough and rugged, like the mountainside. Its tusks were white and long, but marred with numerous nicks and scars that spoke of years of toil and use.

And yet, there was still beauty there. Not the beauty of a flower or a precious gemstone, like Jade typically preferred, but more the beauty of a landscape. Mamoswine was a sight to behold, breathtaking in its own right. Beauty came in all forms.

They traveled on like this for a time, following behind Mamoswine as it cleared a path for them. With him leveling the ground, it actually made their on-foot travel quicker than it otherwise would have been, which helped ameliorate a bit of Jade's guilt about not conducting her search on the back of her exhausted Metagross. The constant up and down of the terrain helped stave off the cold a bit too, as Jade soon felt her legs begin to burn from the workout.

She wasn't sure how long they walked. An hour? Maybe more? She saw no sign of AJ or Sammy, but then, whatever it was this old man was surveying for, he didn't seem to be finding it either, as they walked on and on without pause. From the way his eyes scanned the perimeter constantly, checking trees or boulders or pokemon tracks, he was clearly searching for something in particular. But what? The only thing of value on Mt. Silver would be Tyranitar - but those lived in caves, not up on the snowy mountainside.

Eventually, with her thoughts focused mainly on her friends, the silence began to get to her, and she found herself letting a stray thought slip past her lips more to break the monotony of their endless footsteps than desire for an actual conversation.

"Mew… I hope they're alright."

The older man turned and sent her an unreadable look.

"Why do you do that?" he asked as they walked. "Swear to Mew."

Jade blinked, caught off-guard by the completely unexpected question.

"Uh… I honestly don't know. It's just a thing people say, right? Like when people say Arceus?"

But the man shook his head, looking annoyed for some reason.

"In the olden days, in ancient Hisui - the land that is now called Sinnoh - the pokemon known as Arceus was worshiped as a deity who created the world, along with other legendary pokemon, Dialga and Palkia. In those days, the Hisuians swore to Sinnoh - who it is believed was another name for Arceus - because they believed it could hear their prayers and answer them if they were worthy.

"You can see this same tendency in other regions. In Hoenn, for example, people would pray to Jirachi, who it was believed could grant wishes. Or in ancient Kalos, they would make offerings, to Xerneas, Lord of Life, in celebration, or to Yveltal, the Arbiter of Death, to appease it and keep it at bay. These are old beliefs, ones that have mostly died out as human civilization has advanced. Nowadays, not even Sinnohans pray to Arceus, not in earnest."

"Sure," Jade said slowly, not at all understanding where this random history lesson had come from. Why did old people always feel the need to lecture? "But I mean, you're not really praying to Mew or Arceus when you swear, right? Maybe you were back in the day, but now, it's just a thing people say."

"But that's just it," he pressed, suddenly sounding fervent. "Kanto is a land unlike most others. Kanto is a land without gods. Unlike most other regions, we do not have any history of pokemon being worshiped as deities - oh, our ancestors feared the legendary birds because they believed they were the harbingers of terrible storms or drought, but they did not worship them. The number of what we call legendary pokemon is also smaller in Kanto than in any other region. Why, then, has society come to start using Mew's name in the same way that they do Arceus in other lands, if we have no history of worship?"

Jade shrugged, keeping her eyes on the surrounding landscape, already bored with the conversation.

"I don't know. Probably because we don't have gods? Who else but Mew do we have to swear to?"

"Swear to no one," he replied sternly. "Place no one above you. Pokemon are not our gods. A pokemon is just a pokemon. Even a legendary pokemon can be made to heel to a trainer of sufficient strength. Above all else, strive to be that sort of trainer."

Jade chose to stay quiet. She had no idea what was up with this old dude, but she wasn't about to debate him. He'd saved her life and she had more important things to worry about than his self-empowerment spiel or atheism or whatever he was on about.

Ahead of them, his Mamoswine stopped, letting out a low rumbling sound that may have been a growl.

The man stopped as well, placing a hand on his pokemon's flank and examining the landscape. Jade stepped up beside him and did the same.

It was hard to say what they were looking for. The land sloped downward below them, though the angle wasn't too harsh here, no chance of additional avalanches. Honestly, she'd developed a bit of a phobia. Though dotted with the occasional boulder or tree, most of what she was seeing was an endless field of white. If there was something down there - a pokemon or another person - she was having a hard time seeing them.

The man slung his backpack off of his shoulders, reaching inside and drawing out a pair of binoculars. The expensive kind, of course. Wordlessly, he held them up to his eyes and peered down the slope. Snow was beginning to fall now, and Jade wondered if that would make the binoculars useless.

"Do you see anything?" she asked, beginning to feel impatient. Now that they had stopped moving, the cold was seeping in faster than ever.

He lowered the binoculars, and for a moment she was startled to see a look of dark triumph on the man's face.

"Look for yourself," he said. "There are two people moving just down the valley. Perhaps your missing friends?"

Jade snatched the binoculars out of his hand, no longer caring if she was being rude. Hastily, she pressed them up to her face, searching down the valley, seeing nothing but white. The snowflakes were definitely getting in the way. How was she supposed to find them if she didn't even know where to look?!

Then - a flash of orange. She turned back, realizing she'd zoomed in too close - Mew, these things were powerful. Or, not Mew - whatever.

Zooming out a bit, she moved a little slower, heart in her throat until-

Arcanine. It was Arcanine, walking beside an unfamiliar old man. Another one. Go figure. Were snowy mountains just the natural habitat for random old dudes? Thoughts of finding both of her friends alive and well died, and part of her seemed to die along with them.

But there, up on it's back…

"AJ," she breathed. She was alive. She'd seen her buried, unable to save her, swept away by the relentless tide of snow, and yet…

Tears stung at her eyes as she lowered the binoculars. She was alive. Her best friend was alive!

"Go," the man said, taking back his binoculars.

Jade blinked in surprise. She'd literally forgotten he was there for a moment.

"You aren't coming with me?"

It felt odd saying that out loud. He wasn't her chaperone, after all; they'd met up by accident and it wasn't like he was suddenly part of their group or anything. It just seemed weird to go their separate ways now, rather than introducing him to AJ and whoever she was with first.

"I'm afraid not," he said, stuffing his binoculars back into his bag. "I have other business to attend to. You should hurry before they get too far away. And remember - I like to keep to myself whenever possible, so if you could avoid mentioning meeting me to your friend, I would be grateful."

"Sure," she said slowly. She felt bad. This man had found her, fed her, and helped her find AJ who Jade had all but given up for dead, and now he was telling her to forget him? How was she going to pay him back?

Still, the urge to rush down to AJ was stronger than her sense of duty. Besides, the literal least she could do was honor the old man's wishes. If he wanted to drop off the radar for a bit, then fine. He must be pretty famous if he was as rich as he seemed to be. Maybe he was here for the same reasons AJ was.

With one last thank you and farewell, he turned and followed his Mamoswine, disappearing around one of the countless rock formations that dotted the mountainside.

Shivering from both the cold and excitement, Jade summoned her Metagross.

It still looked exhausted, though not nearly as much as it had before. When she explained that AJ was just down below and she needed a ride to catch up to her, it lowered itself down without a second thought, and before she knew it, she was soaring off down the mountainside, back to her best friend's side.

Her hands were still tight around Sammy's belt, however. One friend down. Now they just had to find Sammy, and everything would be ok.