I wake up in the morning and it's snowing outside. I look around and find an unfamiliar room only to remember the events of last night with a sigh that fogs the window. I remember Korrina's silent awe as she listened to her stories, how Shauna conveniently skipped any mention of the two of us being anything but friends (but by the way Korrina eyes me, she might already know), and most of all the grave statement she made when we were finished: "So it really is almost time, then."
After that, she got up and left, taking Hazel with her. "See you in the morning."

I look over at the clock in the hotel room and find that luckily, we still have time to get out to the Frost Cavern. I set the alarm for seven thirty and begin getting ready for the day, taking a nice hot shower and slipping on fresh clothes. The steam follows me as I open the door, and I can see Rune's nose twitching in his sleep. He's spread himself across the couch and a slight moan leaves his mouth every time he breathes out.

Pich is by his side, as are Ginger and Shruikan, all four of them in a pile on the couch. Rune's sensitive canine ears get the full blast of the alarm as the clock ticks forwards and he pushes everyone else off as he gets up, spluttering. Pich flaps her wings wildly with an angry caw of surprise and just manages to get out of the way before the other Pokemon fall on the floor. Shruikan wakes up, his long Greninja tongue getting a taste of the carpet. His eyes widen with disgust and he gets to his feet.

"Thisth thucks." he says, holding his tongue up. "Ith bruithed again."

"He what?" asks Bronze, who is still clutching his pillow.

"Bruised tongue." Luna the Delcatty echoes from across the room.

"Not a very glamorous way to wake up." Faye adds, stretching to his tiny feet and spreading his fairy wings.

"Right, right, we have that Frost Cavern thing." Chrona gets up slowly, shaking her flower a bit as she stretches. She's almost like a big cat, if cats were reptilian and had a death stare 24/7. "I realllly wanted to go out in the frigid cold and freeze myself to death. Thanks."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to. I can't force you to fight anything." I say quietly.

Chrona grunts, shifting herself upwards a bit with a look of absolute boredom.

"Speaking of that, we really need something to keep warm. Do you think there's a ski store in town?"

"I have lots of jackets." Shauna volunteers. She holds out an entire duffel bag full of snow wear. I swear, I have no idea how she fits all of her stuff in her bag half the times, but I'm eternally grateful to her regardless.

"How did you know we would need jackets?" I ask, putting one on and feeling at once as if I'm a Mareep again, locked in a warm fluffy wool coat.

"Well, winter is coming. Thought I'd stock up. I do a lot of shopping when you and Bronze are training or challenging gyms." She shrugs, though her eyes are full of silent glee as I sink into the immense warmth.

"You two have jackets?" Bronze asks. "Uh, not to be rude, but do you think I could borrow-"

Shauna pushes him a big, fluffy jacket with a smile on her face. "Anytime."

Bronze takes the jacket and puts it on. He turns to his team. "Will you all be alright?"

"Fine." Nephthys says.

Ginger flares his tail, indicating he'll be fine and Pacifica nods quietly. Shruikan looks distasteful but says nothing.

I look to my team but I realize abruptly that none of my Pokemon would be able to wear a coat anyways, with the possible exception of Rune, who's a fire type.

"You know what? Let's just go." I say. "We'll sort this out later."

The team shuffles out and finds the town even colder than it was earlier. Pich is staying close to Rune, making flustered cold bird noises, and Nico looks totally chill with all of this. "We should head out."

"You have to wonder where all the snow is coming from." says Chrona quietly.

"The sky, duh!" Shruikan exclaims. "It's not popping out of the ground, obviously!"
"That's not what she means. This snow is irregular. I believe we mentioned it earlier?" Pacifica says.
"Yeah. Snow Warning or Hail. Those attacks only last a few turns in battle, so it could be something more sinister." Ginger shudders.

We approach the route, and find it covered with at least a foot of snow. Trees are buried up to the lower branches and the powdery flakes are coming down practically in sheets.

"Oh, come on! There's no way we're going to be able to push our way through all of this fluffy white bullshit!" Rune says, hands stretched outwards in exasperation.

Footsteps crunch in the thick snow, and though she's bundled up well, I can see Korrina, accompanied by not one but two Pokemon- Hazel, naturally, but also a large and feral looking Meinshao. "Who said you had to?" she says through a large scarf.

"How do we get around this?" I ask. "I mean, it's not like any of our Pokemon are big enough to carry us all across." I feel my clutch tighten around Crypt's Pokeball.

Korrina shakes her head. "Don't bother. He won't have calmed down yet." She points to a small cabin with no sign on it. "Friends of mine live there."

We all shuffle inside, covered in snow, to be greeted by warmth and hot cocoa laid out on a table before the fire. "Come on in, sit down. I'll be with you in a moment." says a female voice.

I slump down in front of the fire and my Pokemon follow, Chrona falling down in relief and Escargot trying to fit through the small door without much luck. Shauna, Korrina, and Bronze are luckily already inside but Shauna is trying to help Escargot through when the owner of the house comes in, a graying lady who's rather stout, though her body shape isn't terribly visible through the layers of coats she has on. "You must be trying to get to the Frost Cavern."

"We are." Korrina says, taking a sip of hot coffee with her legs up on the table. "Do you think you could give us a lift, Mary?"

"Sura would be happy to." She gets out a Pokeball and carefully pushes Escargot back through the door with more strength than any old lady I've ever seen. Under her layers must be bulging muscle, which is an imagine I'm not terribly keen to think about. "Unfortunately, I must ask you return your Pokemon to their Pokeballs until we get there."

"For once, I'm happy to oblige. It's cold as Chrona's heart out here." Rune says.

Chrona whips him across the backside with a vine, and he yelps. The others exchange an uneasy laugh, but no one's really sure if Chrona's going to come after them next and eventually it trails off into uneasy silence. Luckily, everyone easily consents to return to their Pokeball, and soon it's just the four of us and Mary standing in the snow. Mary opens her own Pokeball and out comes a huge Mamoswine. "Sura, will you please take us to the Frost Cavern?"

"Yess'm." I hear Sura say. I don't often listen to other Pokemon, though as a Goldeneye I'm more than able if I tried. Sura has a deep and soulful voice that's hard to ignore, quiet as it is.

"Climb aboard." Mary says, taking a ladder from by the house and helping us get up. Luckily, there's already a box for us to sit in on Sura's back, strapped on like a saddle.

I get on, still chilly, but Bronze sits close to me and I feel warm inside. Mary takes her place at the front and pushes the ladder away, which falls against her house. Sura begins moving slowly but steadily through the snow.

"So..." I say, "Are you two old friends?"
"You could say that. Korrina must know everyone in the region." she laughs quietly, in a manner that indicates it's not really all that funny. "She has a talent for knowing certain things about certain people. We're all lucky she's a good person or she could be the biggest gossip in all the regions."
"That would be a waste of a talent." Korrina says. "I have better things to do than go around blackmailing people. I don't hate anyone that much, anyways. At least not individuals." Her eyes narrow.

"Here's a question for you: Why are you heading to the Frost Cavern?" Mary asks, not even looking back at us to make conversation.
"You already know. It's not naturally this cold, even in a town known for its snow." Korrina replies.

"Ah. Yes. I wish you the best of luck with those hooligans. I would go after them myself, but I unfortunately am not in peak physical condition and neither is Sura. I fear for her life anytime we must go into battle."

"It's very kind of you to care for her past her battling age. You know, not all trainers are that generous." Bronze says.

"Are you implying I wouldn't?" Her tone is malicious. I'm suddenly very scared for Bronze.
"No, no. It's just touching. I've... seen some pretty nasty things so far."

She sighs. "Praise to the eternal flower, who frees us all in death."

"What?" ask all three of us at the same time. The phrase sounds familiar, especially the part about an 'eternal flower'.

"It's an old proverb. Some believe that we will only really be free from the cruelties of this world once we are dead, and there's a flower that happens to symbolize the kinder side of destruction... it's all very confusing. Only fools and heretics speak of any such thing anymore. I'm just a bit superstitious."
Korrina casts a glance at Shauna, who is bright red for reasons that have nothing to do with the snow. I feel my arm itch, and looking around, I feel a golden bond between Shauna and I tugging at my arm. There are dozens of criss crossed scars that symbolize the crueler side of life, and although I have none myself, I can feel hers as if they were my own.

They're all old. She hasn't cut once since we started travelling together.

Thank Arceus.

We pull up on an enormous gap in the mountainside, which opens like a giant maw. Sura stops beneath us and begins mumbling about an 'unseen presence'.

"This is far as she goes. Sura is worried about something inside." The store owner says through layers of clothing.

"Uh, how do we get off?" I ask, looking down.

Korrina jumps down, and looks back up. "Well?"

I sigh, opening a Pokeball. Pich soars out and helps me down, going back to pick up Bronze and Shauna in turn.

Sura turns around with a sad cry, looking back at whatever must be inside. "We'll be off. I wish you luck." With that, Mary is gone.

We stand beneath the cavern, breath freezing before us, and a loud and anguished bellow fills the cavern, causing icicles to shake. A few fall off, missing us by inches.

"What was that?" asks Shauna, clutching my arm.

"It's whatever Team Flare wants to take, and they've already gotten to it." Bronze says, holding my other arm.

"Get out your Pokemon." Korrina instructs us, her tone harsh as that of a teacher scolding students. "We're going in."