Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Sam and Eva

Chapter 15 - Snowy Weather

We woke up early the next morning feeling pretty good. We ate breakfast, packed up, and resumed our trek up the mountains. The view was stupendous, the sun starting to shine over the tops of the peaks around us. We decided to get up early so that we can get there as fast as we can. I really want to know what I'm supposed to be doing here.

As we trekked up the mountains, it got more and more chilly. At first we thought it was just the early morning chill, but as time went on we started seeing some snow. I was actually really excited to see it at first for some reason. Did it snow a lot where I lived back home?

Sam was very cautious about walking in the snow. It seemed that he was trying to avoid it with each step. I guess it makes sense that a walking, talking fire lizard wouldn't want to touch snow. He hopped over puddles and avoided large lumps of snow.

Rou, on the other hand, seemed to be fine with the snow. He would fly up high to get a good view, then plunge straight into a snow bank. He seemed to be happy doing this.

Me? I don't know. I guess I'm just happy that they're happy. I felt somewhat excited that maybe now I could finally get some answers about what I'm doing here. I assume that's why Pos sent us to the peak of the tallest mountain in Far 'or. I mean, aren't mountains places of revelation in stories and things? At least I think they were back home. They've got to be the same way here!

Speaking of Pos, didn't she say I could communicate with her with the Elucide pendant? I looked down at the small blue rock, swinging back and forth with each step I took. "Pos." I said.

The rock flashed a small blue light. "Yes?" Pos' voice emanated from the stone, it's glow pulsing in sync with her words. "What do you need?"

I was surprised by this. I had nearly forgotten that this was a possibility! "Pos! How are you!"

"Good, good! Things are going well. I see that you're already in the Far 'or region, making your way up the mountains!"

By now, Sam had noticed me talking to Pos. He was next to me, listening with eyes sparkling with amazement.

"You can see us?" Sam exclaimed in excitement. "How?"

"Well, it's not something easy to explain... it's more like I can understand your surroundings because you can see them."

"So it's like you can see what we can see?" I asked.

"Sort of. I only know what you know about your surroundings. Think of it as me reading your mind."

"Cool!" Sam said, eyes still sparkling. "So how can you communicate with us? Is it like telepathy?"

"Sort of. I am using the rock's communication powers in a different way to project my voice. This way, not all three of you have to be touching it in order to hear me."

"Oh, so it's like you are using telepathy to talk to the rock, and it's working like a speaker?" I said.

"Yes." Pos replied. She must've read my mind in order to know what a speaker was.

"Yes I did." She replied.

"Oh!" I exclaimed slightly. "I didn't realize... you know what? I'm just not gonna finish that statement."

"Fair enough." She said with a chuckle.

We spent a lot of the morning talking with Pos. Even Rou joined in! We had a little bit of fun walking up the mountains before we hit more mystery dungeons.

These mystery dungeons weren't that much harder, especially with all three of us together, but they were still difficult. There were more ferals, and the dungeons were longer than the last.

After the third dungeon was finished, we camped another night to wake up the next morning in a small snowstorm. Hiking moral had definitely gone down by this point. We were all tired of the snow, and we were bundled up tight.

We went through another dungeon, and got what Sam called a 'monster house'. Basically, we entered a large dungeon room and suddenly a ton of ferals appeared around us! I thought we were gonna die! Rou showed us that if we get out of the room fast enough, we can hide around a corner of the path and knock down the ferals as they come. I guess this works well because the dungeons always create walls of moss, wood, stone, snow, or whatever nature gives them. It's still kind of strange to be honest.

Anyways, we hid behind the walls of snow and got through the ferals that way. It was getting pretty cold, and little triangle Pokémon called Snowrunt were popping up all over the place! Them, along with other cold Pokémon, kept using 'powder snow' and giving Rou and I what Sam called a 'frozen' status condition. I believe it! I've never felt so cold in my life, and I only felt better after eating some of the Aspear berries we got back in town.

We hiked for another day, got over Izwell peak, and camped at the base of Mount Faron. The next morning, we found that Rou had had some trouble sleeping. He seemed very drained of energy. It was also far colder and windier this morning. Rou started hopping behind us instead of flying.

"Sam," I said while Rou was quietly hopping behind us. "I'm worried about Rou."

"Me too." He confessed, casting a quick glance to check on the bird. "Both flying-types and grass-types are weak to ice, and with all this snow and cold weather I think it's getting to him."

"Let's both keep an eye on him, alright?"

"Right."

We kept going up the mountain, and eventually it started snowing. A lot. After walking in the snow for a while, I looked back to find Rou slumped down face-first in the snow.

"Rou!" I hollered. I ran back and flipped him over. His eyes were closed and he had some frost on his feathers and beak. Sam joined me, and pulled out an Aspear berry. Sam then hesitated.

"Sam, give him the berry?"

"It's- it's our last frozen-healing item.." he said, looking at me knowingly.

I shuddered. "Just- g-give it to him anyway..."

Sam fed the bird the Aspear berry. I saw Rou's face glow a little more red and warm, but I knew the cost. That was our last healing item for ice, so we needed to stay as warm as possible.

Rou lasted a while after that, and although he was trying not to show it, I knew that he could only last so long. Eventually I offered to give him a ride on my back, and he happily obliged. It was kind of comforting, in a way. Kinda like when you put a niece or nephew onto your back and pretend you're a pony. It reminded me of that feeling.

Sam and I eventually started taking turns carrying Rou after Sam saw me getting really tired. We needed to keep up the pace without getting worn out too fast. After making it as far as we could with the daylight we had left, Sam and I set up camp again inside a small cave. We all ate, and huddled close together that night to stay warm.

The next morning, we awoke with a surprise. There was a wall of snow in front of the mouth of the cave! After digging ourselves out and packing up camp, we resumed our trek up the mountain.

Rou was able to hop for a good part of the morning, before needing to be carried again. I used one of our sleeping bags and some rope to make a makeshift sled for him. We then pulled him along after us for the rest of the day.

We hit another mystery dungeon, and this time, we were extra careful to not get hit with an ice beam or anything. We did a lot of sneaking and running from ferals. There were also many Froslass and Vanilluxe around that we took special care to avoid.

After making it through that dungeon without getting frozen, we decided that staying close to Sam would likely be our best bet, especially because it had gotten even colder and windier.

"How much farther is left?" Rou asked me a few times. I asked Sam, but he kept giving me vague answers. I knew what that meant.

Sam didn't want to say it, but I knew we were all thinking the same thing. We were lost, and worst of all...

We were definitely not prepared for this.