How has your morning, afternoon or evening been? I hope it’s better than mine, because I think I’ve just made an enemy for the rest of my time here in Hisui.
Somehow, it’s not Sneasler, but her warden-in-training, Miss Sadorn.
I can’t blame her. If I’d been trying to bond with a Pokemon for months, only for it to imprint on a seemingly-random passerby, I would be frustrated, too. The situation isn’t fair to any of us, and I don’t know how to fix it.
I suppose the best I can do is stay on task. The less time I’m here, the less of a problem I present.
---
Species: Mamoswine (Alpha)
Location: Avalugg’s Legacy, Alabaster Icelands
What I know: Ice/ground type. It evolves from Piloswine upon learning Ancient Power. It’s said that ancient civilizations depicted this Pokemon in their art more than 10,000 years ago (or… possibly fewer, depending on what century one calculates from). Working from that theory, a common belief is that warmer temperatures caused the population to thin, so very few are seen in the wild. Its most common abilities are Oblivious and Snow Cloak.
Notes: None, as I went out of my way to avoid it at this junction. Gligar is at a rather steep type disadvantage, and I didn’t have it in me to run-- through packed snow-- from a creature with three foot tusks composed entirely of ice.
Species: Avalugg
Location: Avalugg’s Legacy, Alabaster Icelands
What I know: Ice type in some capacity. It must evolve from Bergmite, but I’m unsure whether it’s the same method as modern day Avalugg. It’s certainly not fast, but is faster than its modern counterparts, and it still ferries Bergmite around on its back.
What I think I know: Looking at it, I’m relatively certain it has an earthy secondary typing. Ground or rock? Kleavor and Arcanine both share the rock type, if that has any bearing. I don’t know enough to hazard a guess what abilities it might have at this station.
Notes: I observed it for some time, but haven’t engaged it in battle yet. While it held the type advantage against the greater portion of my team, I was confident that I would be able to outpace it if need be, and ducked into range to retrieve a cluster of salt. It could be that this particular specimen was tired or of a nature disinclined to attack, but it made no move to approach me. That seems odd, since the surrounding Bergmite were surprisingly aggressive.
Species: Stantler (Alpha)
Location: Avalugg’s Legacy, Alabaster Icelands
What I know: Normal type. Evolves into Wyrdeer, but how? Is this an evolution that’s been lost to time, or could it be replicated in modern Stantler? Regardless, their antlers are shaped in a way that causes air to flow through them to dizzying effect; some believe this is due to its latent psychic abilities, others connect it to the fact that the orbs from shed antlers were once ground to make sleeping aids, and suspect that the air currents spread something akin to a mild sleep powder for short distances. Its most common abilities are Intimidate and Frisk.
Notes: They’re incredibly quick to startle. Fascinatingly, the alpha I encountered didn’t attack me on sight, but attempted to flee, instead. Could it be possible that I trigger a fight or flight instinct in alpha Pokemon? I threw a pokeball as it turned its back and was surprised when it resulted in a successful capture. If I’m unable to narrow down its method of evolution, I’ll ask Warden Mai’s advice.
Species: Sneasel (Alpha)
Location: Avalugg’s Legacy, Alabaster Icelands
What I know: Standard Sneasel evolve into Weavile when exposed to a Razor Claw after sunset, but I doubt the same is true here. These Pokemon are predators, but they show a great preference for eggs over meat. Their hooked claws are particularly good for ensnaring prey and ensuring that escape is either impossible or incredibly painful. You can tell a standard Sneasel’s gender from the length of its ear plume; females have relatively short feathers while a male’s is longer.
What I think I know: Sneasler is a fighting/poison type, and after encountering the base form, I’m relatively certain the same is true of the pre-evolution. Their abilities are yet to be determined.
Notes: I encountered two: one wasn’t an alpha and one was. Gligar was able to handle the first without issue, but struggled with the second, and I had to send Oshawott in to finish it off. They seem aggressive on the whole, and I can attest that they’re inclined to chase their targets down.
Species: Dewott
Location: n/a
What I know: Water type. It evolves from Oshawott, and into Samurott once you train it properly. With the development of a second scalchop, they put dedicated work toward developing a number of two-handed combat techniques; no two Dewott use the exact same set of forms. They’re quite serious about ensuring their tools are in peak condition, which is an admirable trait. Unless it has a hidden ability, it will keep Torrent.
Notes: This seems to confirm what Professor Laventon told me: captured Pokemon will not evolve spontaneously here in Hisui. Rather, they signal to their trainer once their needs have been met, and the trainer helps trigger evolution. Wild Pokemon still evolve without human interference, so what’s the difference? Why does this phenomenon vanish by modern day?
---
[A photograph of a snowy incline. It’s the same one from many, many texts prior. Unlike last time, the slope itself seems to be the focus, and not the absent blur of a Sneasler.]
There’s nothing stopping me from going up there again. It’s daytime, the weather is fair, and I have Pokemon and supplies this time, but I… don’t think I can do it yet.
Isn’t it enough that I’m here at all? Do I have to face the entirety of it at once?
I’m afraid of returning to that place, and I hate it.
---
A picture is taken and promptly filed under Miscellaneous.
It’s snowy.
There’s a Stantler far off in the distance.
The primary subject is a very large hole.
...there isn’t much more to say about it.
---
A video starts, aimed at a splotch of blue amongst greys and whites.
When it comes into focus, the water is vibrant, and steam visibly rolls off of it. Lickitung, a Machop, and a Buneary bask in the warmth. Most of them seem unbothered by the human nearby, though the Buneary keeps a cautious eye out.
It’s an incredibly peaceful scene, and it lingers long after the Pokemon have gotten their fill and left.
Once the hot spring has remained vacant for several minutes, a Dewott and Tangela clamber in and pick up where the others left off. Several minutes later, a Stantler warily wades in as well.
At one point, the barbed tail of a Gligar flops into frame on the snowy ground and a hand herds it back. A content chitter sounds.
Roughly half an hour in, movement flickers near the upper left hand corner, but by the time the human eye catches it, its source is nowhere to be found.
It’s some time before the recording ends, but the space is a comforting one while the viewer is allowed to occupy it.
---
The trainers you passed most recently are:
Warden Ryder
Custom Survey Question: What faction are they from?
Answer: The Diamond Clan
Custom Survey Question: What is their role?
Answer: Warden to Lord Braviary (Warrgle) of the Alabaster Icelands.
Custom Survey Question: What Pokemon do they favor?
Answer: She keeps a Heracross, and a Staraptor seems to keep her.
Miss Sabi
Custom Survey Question: What faction are they from?
Answer: The Diamond Clan
Custom Survey Question: What is their role?
Answer: Associated with Warden Ryder, but I don’t know in what capacity.
Custom Survey Question: What Pokemon do they favor?
Answer: Unknown, but she claims to be psychic, which might predispose her toward psychic types.
---
Sabi woke me up this morning to inform me that I have a friend, and then walked away.
What did she mean? What am I supposed to do with this information?
---
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.
There’s a crisp wind blowing past the receiver and a shiver in the caller’s voice, but nothing like it once was. Pokemon chatter to one another cheerfully in the backdrop.
“My theory was correct; the Icelands are much more tolerable with company. It’s invaluable information, but it stings just as much as it helps, some days. I would never want to replace you, but there are times where I can’t help but feel like that’s exactly what I’m doing. Every new Pokemon is another species to study in depth and another set of eyes to keep us safe out here, but I can’t shake the idea that what I’m doing is building a new team.”
He speaks more softly than usual, and the reason why becomes clear as a young voice rings out, not so far away.
Even so, he drops to a whisper to add, “Is it wrong for me to get attached? Will they have to remain here when I finally come home, or can I bring them with me? What would our Pokemon think?”
Snow crunches nearby in a staggered set of four footsteps and something presses in, snuffling against the receiver.
“Yes, I-- thank you. That’s enough, please. If you want another berry, you’ll have to beg from Miss Sabi.”
There’s an emphatic, relieved breath as the Pokemon presumably removes itself from his space. The invasion does seem to have cheered him up somewhat, however. “In brighter news, Warden Ryder was able to direct me here, where I’ve been able to observe the local colony of Chansey and Blissey. She said she thought a Happiny might have hatched recently, and went to survey the area with Lord Braviary’s help. She has no reason to trouble herself on my behalf, but it’s kind of her to lend a hand. Miss Sabi has also been helping me with Stantler today. Still no word on what she meant by my ‘friend’, but I-- oh.”
The receiver picks up undefined movement and, when Ingo’s voice sounds again, it’s both perfectly audible and directed firmly away.
“Warden Ryder! Change course! Your— I don’t know the— your altitude is not enough to--!”
Somewhere above, a Staraptor shrieks, and even at a distance, a dull ‘THUD’ is audible.
A sympathetic hissing comes across, followed by footsteps running through the snow.
“Warden Ryder! Are you alright?”
Nearby, there’s a prolonged sputtering, almost a raspberry, and then a woman laughs. Whatever she says is lost in the language barrier, but her tone is jovial and just the slightest bit consoling.
“You are not hurt? But that impact was…”
Several hearty pats sound, and the woman speaks again, the only recognizable word Ingo’s name. A younger voice chimes in.
It nets a sigh, and first a response in Hisuian, then Unovan muttering. “Thank you for your help. I appreciate it, but I didn’t want anyone to injure themselves in the process.”
The two other voices focus on one another and, belatedly, Ingo says into the device, “My apologies, it seems the Happiny has been sighted. I’ll call back once things have… settled down.”
Click.
---
Three pictures are taken in relatively quick succession. They aren’t filed anywhere for some time.
In the foreground, there are the basic trappings of a campsite, while the midground focuses on a line of evergreens and several scraggly berry trees, long since been stripped of their contents. Despite that, a single ripe leppa berry nestles into the powder. There are human footsteps leading up to and away from it, leaving little wonder how it got there.
The tableau plays out for a second time seven minutes later. While the angle is slightly different, the tracks in the snow remain precisely as they were. There’s no other disturbance that might suggest a Pokemon approached from the trees, or the displacement of snow that would indicate a flying type’s presence as it beat its wings.
The berry is missing.
With a timestamp marked four minutes after the fact, the divot is filled again, this time with a cluster of pink salt.
A mystery, it seems.
---
The footage starts up in what’s clearly one of the icy tunnels running through the Alabaster Icelands. After a second to establish the shot, it pans around, revealing one key difference from the last passage the cameraman had ventured through: it culminates in a dead end.
Slowly-- almost wryly-- it angles upward, to the cloudy sky above.
This video is being shot from the bottom of a hole.
“I don’t know how I keep doing this to myself.” Ingo says, almost absently, but there’s a frustrated undercurrent, “I do my utmost to follow safety procedures, and yet here I am again: stranded in Icelands with no one around. When I first fell, it was my intention to stay put until Warden Ryder or Miss Sabi was able to locate me, but again, it seems this may be a track without an end terminal.”
Two pink ears poke in over the side of the ledge and, as slitted eyes become visible, a hand raises, waving to it.
“I’m fine. I’m going to see if this tunnel leads above ground at any point. Continue to keep an eye out, if you would.”
Gligar screeches an affirmative and catches the wind under its wings, circling over the opening in the ground. After a circuit, the camera moves to do exactly what its operator said he would.
He skirts around a large pillar and quietly explains, “As an alpha Pokemon, Gligar is incredibly large for his kind, but his species’ wings aren’t meant to create lift. If he was a Gliscor, perhaps, but as things stand, all he can do is catch a current and ride it; it would be enough to carry one of my other Pokemon out of this pit, but not a grown human.”
The narration stops so as not to wake a dozing Bergmite. He stays silent for several minutes.
Eventually, the quiet cracks with a whispered, “This place is… how do I even say this? It’s different from the tunnel leading into the Icelands, but not in a way I can quantify. Mysterious, maybe. Or oppressive.”
The path dips downward and, bit by bit, grows dimmer and dimmer. In the moment, it must be too subtle to notice, because he doesn’t comment on the change, but there comes a point where the device automatically applies a filter to combat the darkness.
“I think it may be prudent to turn around,” He admits quietly while doing no such thing, “I… don’t want to go any farther.”
He continues to move deeper into the cave.
His breathing begins to tremble.
“How did I get--? That’s not possible.” He whispers, a shiver lacing through it. “How-- how am I back here?”
The surroundings remain unchanged.
In the darkness, a pair of yellow eyes shine, fixed on the camera.
The frame shudders as fabric shifts behind it. A coat is zipped up and, while it muffles the sound of the suddenly-ragged breaths, its owner continues to shake-- even harder than before.
“I-- I can’t-- I can’t --”
He draws close enough that the camera’s filter is able to highlight a small quadrupedal body, but his attention isn’t on the camera. It doesn’t even seem to be on the cave.
“N-no, no that’s not right. He wasn’t-- he wasn’t here. I know he wasn’t here. I wouldn’t have left if he was--”
A rumbling growl builds in the darkness.
Sharp claws scratch against ice and something hurtles itself forward.
Both the camera and its owner fall back, the latter scrambling to get away.
Something tears.
For just a second, the screen is filled with yellow.
And then the camera is recording the Iceland’s dull grey sky once more.
There’s a surprised chirp from high above, and as a pink shape begins to descend, a black blotch-- indistinct in the foreground-- clutches desperately at the spot of yellow.
Several long moments pass, the only sound an uncontrollable sobbing stifled into an Abra’s body. Gligar creeps nearer and tries to mimic the embrace, wings shielding his trainer from the breeze blowing day-old snow into the air.
This goes on for an uncomfortable amount of time, the camera forgotten on the ground nearby.
Eventually, two voices ring out, and once they grow louder, a blonde woman rushes into frame. She very nearly trips over Gligar’s tail, but catches herself at the last moment and begins looking Ingo over for any sign of injury. A little green haired girl follows not long after, patting the Abra’s head as she passes it by, and then moves on to take the man’s face in her mittened hands.
In clumsy, accented Galarian she says, “You oh-kay. You friend saved you.”
The video only ends as they move toward safer territory. For a long moment, Ingo stares at the device blank-faced, and then reaches over to retrieve it. It clicks off without fanfare.