Ethan used the thirty minute window to grab what little he’d set-up in Bill’s tent, then proceeded to be corralled by League Officials and Joys until he was in a convoy along with the sixty or so other trainers who’d been conscripted into helping out in the disaster. The tents had been swiftly collapsed and bagged into the all so useful magic bags, and said bags were thrust into the backs of two large sleds, which were pulled by some of the stronger pokemon in the large group.
Ethan walked alongside one of the sleds next to the trainers who’d he’d been tutoring, making idle conversation. He asked how their journey was going and what they hoped to achieve, and they asked about life in Eterna Forest and his pokemon. As they froze in the winter chill and talked to pass the time, Ethan caught the fleeting looks sent his way from the biggest pokemon he’d ever laid his eyes on, who was pulling the sled beside them.
The twelve foot tall Ryperior, clad in bulky metal plates trudged along as silent as it could. Each of its steps thumped the ground and pulverized the snow beneath it. Ethan wasn’t sure whose it was, but whoever they were had a beast on their hands. The thing must have weighed upwards of a thousand pounds and moved with surprising dexterity for something its size.
Cynthia’s Garchomp was a monster in its own right, but this thing was the immoveable force to Garchomp’s unstoppable object.
As the trainers in his small group began chatting about where they were going next, Ethan slid a few feet closer to the mighty’mon and decided to talk to it. Even though Ryperior wouldn’t be able to respond to him verbally, it felt like the big guy was a little lonely with nobody to talk to. “You’re the biggest pokemon I’ve ever seen.” He said as he watched the snow by Ryperior’s thick legs part with ease like the guy was a snowplow.
The Ryperior looked towards him again and blinked when it realized Ethan was actually talking to it. It turned to look around as if it could have been anyone else that Ethan was referring to, before looking bad and nodding. “Ry.”
Its voice was just as expected; low, gravelly, and fierce. Ryperior shrugged its shoulders to re-settle the rope harness it was using to pull the sled, then peered over to the moving bundle of blankets settled on top of his cargo. Gloom, who had finally gotten a break from riding in Ethan’s coat, had been upgraded to a luxury passenger allocation. Gloom swiveled his body about for a few seconds to figure out who Ethan was talking to. He then shivered, regretted his decision to leave his fortress, and immediately burrowed back into his warm blankets.
Ethan shared a smile with Ryperior at Gloom's antics, then spoke again. “Are you on your journey with your trainer?”
“Ry!!!” Ryperior barked a sharp laugh, leaning back to bellow, finding his question somehow the funniest thing it’d heard all day. The mighty ground/rock-type then vehemently shook his head as everyone instantly swiveled their attention to the massive’mon making noise. With a human-like gesture towards Ethan and a nod of the head, he figured Ryperior was throwing the question back at him.
“No,” Ethan patted his pokeballs. “Never been on a journey. I live in Eterna Forest on a ranch. I tutor and watch pokemon sometimes, but not many people make their way to me. Probably a bad location mixed with being new.”
“Per-Perior” Ryperior pointed to his pokeballs with some gusto.
“Oh, you mean what pokemon do I have?” Ethan asked, getting a pleased nod in return. “Well,” He smiled, “With me right now are Smeargle, Ursaring, Chatot, Pachirisu, Snorlax, and Gloom here—but he’s wild and not mine…”
The next hour went by with Ethan talking to Ryperior as they made their way to Wayward Cave. Nearly everyone left them alone, with only Joy coming by to check on Ryperior’s straps once. She had quickly done her job then let them return to their conversation, seemingly pleased. But, soon enough they found themselves at the end of the metaphorical road.
They slowed to a stop as those in front of them began to spread out. So engrossed he was in his conversation, that he didn’t properly take in his surroundings. Concrete pillars plumed upwards like tree-trunks from deep within the snow, connecting to what Ethan assumed was the mid-part of the famous Cycling Bridge. In a few hours, the towering concrete slap would darken their surroundings, as it’d block the sun. Peering ahead, Ethan saw that a group of people were using large poles as they paced forward, stabbing them into the ground to gauge the snow's depth.
“Ry, time for your break.” A gentle voice called out, causing Ethan to abandon his sightseeing. Walking up from the front of their little caravan, the old-woman he’d seen when he arrived at Cynthia’s little introduction meeting gingerly padded her way through the snow. She wasn’t unfit for someone her age, but she was obviously taking extra precautions to be careful.
Ryperior shrugged off his harness without another word and walked over to the old Elite 4 member like it was Christmas morning. That sight alone made the woman A-Okay in his books. Any pokemon who reacts to their trainer like that must be a good one. Ethan let them have their moment, not wanting to interject and start up a conversation. She was a member of the Elite 4, she probably had people wanting to talk to her 24/7.
Instead, Ethan unclipped Smeargle’s pokeball and released his painter. Smeargle looked about his surroundings, seeing everyone already getting to work unloading and pounding snow down flat to have a stable base for erecting the tents. Funnily enough, Bill was ordering about a bunch of people about placements and codes. “Wanna use your fancy-smancy Psychic to help us unload?”
Smeargle pretended to think about it, like there was ever a chance he was going to say no, before nodding his acceptance. As Smeargle got started levitating boxes and supplies, Ethan released Snorlax. Snorlax appeared with a thud in a very deep spot of snow. His glutton instantly looked around, saw his situation, then waved his arms with a joyful smile as he tossed the snow all about like a child.
“Snorlax,” Ethan waited for his big’mon to settle down, much to the mirth of everyone in their surroundings. He smiled alongside them, glad to at least bring a little bit of cheer to this doom and gloom situation they were all in. “Help those people over there flatten the snow, please. I’ll have Pachirisu charge up the PokeBlock machine later and I’ll make you whatever combination of berries you want as a reward.”
He didn’t need to say anything else to put the pep in Snorlax’s step. Snorlax proceeded to roll though the snow on his side, becoming a flattening machine himself. It was slow, but effective and caused lots of laughs.
“Glooooooooom.”
Hearing Gloom, Ethan turned his attention to his wild friend, who’d just bundled himself up in the blankets he was buried in. You could barely make out his red scarf underneath it all. Gloom looked about at everyone working, then hopped into his dance. Seconds later, the familiar ball of Sunny Day launched and rested in the sky up above.
Ethan walked over and gave the weed a big headpat on his fronds. “Thank you.”
Gloom dripped drool in response. His maw hung low.
Hours passed before things were set-up once again. Ethan had vastly underestimated the amount of time it would take to set-up as he’d wrongly assumed it would have been just as fast as taking it down. By the time everything was at least functional, with only some minor things needing to be installed or moved, the sun had passed overhead and was blocked by the remaining bits of bridge overhead.
Seemed like a massive safety hazard to be underneath the thing that had broken, but he wasn’t the decision maker.
Snorlax was asleep, having passed out about a third of his time through helping. He’d done a lot of work according to those that he’d helped. So, it was a well deserved rest. As Snorlax seemed to love and was unbothered by the snow, he let him rest outside his ball for now. If he was going to be in the way, someone could come get him to recall him.
Smeargle was by his side, having worked up a big appetite from helping move everything off the sleds and raise the tarp up high with his moves. He’d also gone out of his way and lit some of the roaring fires around camp, without even being asked. Smeargle was something special, and Ethan was glad that the specialness was ‘his’. Unlike some other trainers out there.
Pachirisu had spent some time charging some of the various generators or batteries about the camp. It wasn’t for long, as his first friend quickly got bored and annoyed. Right now, Pachirisu was slumped across his shoulders and using his fluffy tail as a makeshift scarf, content and resting.
He sat down to rest himself after lots of manual labor and as he waited for his tutoring space to be created. Deciding that a late lunch was better than no lunch, he started to cook. Turns out, knowing Joyce did him some favors. Without any fuss at all, Ethan requisitioned some simple foodstuffs to make a hearty stew. In return, he pawned off many of his surplus berries. If he’d known that berries were a hot commodity to the Joys in situations like these, he’d have brought a whole lot more. Maybe, in the next day or two, he’d teleport home and stop in for some downtime and for some berries.
As he poured some flour into the pot of bubbling potatoes and carrots, the wonderful smell billowing into his nose, someone sat down right next to him. “Saw your Snorlax. He’s a big one.”
Cynthia jostled her coat as she sat, making herself comfortable. “Thank you for coming, by the way.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be honest, this is not what I expected the end of the year to be like.” Ethan used his wooden spoon to taste his creation, then hummed and threw in some more flour and spice; for thickness and flavor. “So, what are you here for?” He asked.
Cynthia’s sigh let him know his guess was correct. “I can’t just join you around the fire?”
“Cynthia can, Champion can’t. You’re the Champion until this is over.” He replied as he tasted his creation again. Needing a second opinion, he offered the spoon to Cynthia, who took the spoon and tried it as well.
“No meat?” She said, then quickly realized what she’d said and who’d she said it too. She ran a hand through her hair from her mistake, alongside the stress she must be feeling. Being in charge… he couldn’t do it.
Ethan waved away her slight mistake. “It’s okay. I actually had some meat not too long ago. Ursaring hunted it for me. I also went to Floaroma town and had some nice fried Magikarp. Baby steps, but steps are steps at the end of the day.” He then gestured around the hellish snowscape they found themselves in. “Also, it doesn't feel right to hunt around here, given the situation.”
Cynthia leaned back on her hands and stared up the concrete ceiling high above, her golden hair trailing back, tips touching the snow. “Sometimes, I forget how much you don’t know—or the complete opposite, how much you do know.” She tilted her head toward the large red tents of the Joys. “You think we didn’t bring a bunch of food for carnivorous pokemon? Ethan, while you may be self-sufficient at home, most people just buy what they need or want from a store. We’re well equipped, make use of what we have. That's why we have it.”
This may have been a barrier from what she thought of him from Earth, but Ethan lived twenty-seven years going to the grocery store for all his needs. That wasn’t a foreign concept. What he was doing now, self-sufficiency, was foreign. “I am well aware.” He said blandly. “You do know I sat in a cubicle for my old job right? I was the farthest you could possibly be from anywhere close to nature.”
Pachirisu shifted, twitching in his nap around his neck. “I can guarantee you that the city I lived in put the biggest city in this entire world to absolute shame. You could walk for miles upon miles and not see a tree, or even grass. Eight and a half million people crammed into a city thirty miles wide.” He shook his head at her bewildered look. “What? You never asked. Now you know.”
“I also never had long hair.” Ethan pointed to his head with his wooden utensil, then grabbed another spoonful of stew. “Now,” Ethan held it out for Cynthia. “Try it again and don’t complain about there being no meat. It’s too late to add or cook some for it.”