When he reached the icy structure, he ducked behind it, putting a barrier between himself and the settlement. It was freezing, of course, but he wouldn’t linger here; he just needed a moment to collect himself. His arm gave a painful throb, and he slowly hissed an exhale, eyes closed as he subconsciously raising his good hand to the sling.

The moment lingered, and may have lasted longer than he’d intended if not for a new development.

Something warm puffed against the exposed skin beneath his ear. He didn’t process the sound that came with it, only that there was a large Pokemon in his space, and he frantically pushed himself away from the wall of ice, trying his hardest to put distance between them without slipping.

The snow here, however, was different from what he’d been traversing previously: a brittle top layer that had blown in over a sheet of ice. When he’d taken his time, it wasn’t difficult to navigate safely, but in haste, it told a different story. Ingo immediately felt his balance shift, and tried to angle himself so his good arm would take the brunt of the impact.

There was a twinge of pain, but not the flare up he’d been expecting– largely because the only impact that met him was the dull creak of straining cloth. The way his weight pulled against the seams of his coat, something had to have caught him by the collar.

Slowly, he looked up, and there– still– was the Pokemon.

It gave a clipped huff of laughter, but its smile was more contemplative than amused as it set him upright. As it withdrew its arm, Ingo felt something shift against the back of his neck, followed by a slow seep of the cold. When he turned to face the Pokemon in full, he realized it must have been the blunt edge of one of its long claws that pierced through the fabric.

They regarded one another for a moment. Ingo, for all that he couldn’t remember, hadn’t had a problem recognizing the Pokemon he’d passed to get here; Snorunt, Bergmite and Aipom, among others, and he’d instantly known what the Bibarel in the settlement was. The word ‘Sneasel’ briefly came to mind, but unless something horrible had happened to this creature, that… didn’t seem right.

The Pokemon, in a concerted effort to prove him wrong, grunted a low, “Sneasler” and jerked its head toward the Pearl encampment questioningly.

He shook his head. Regardless of what, exactly, it was asking, he knew the answer was no, but didn’t feel right leaving it up in the air. “It’s been requested that I depart from this station. The Pearl Clan was kind enough to provide basic repairs and chart my course.”

Sneasler’s red eyes lingered on the arm bound against his chest; it snorted in something approaching disgust.

Ingo angled his head down, the brim of his hat breaking the eye line, and raised his good hand to settle his collar properly.

“While I greatly appreciate your assistance, I’m afraid I must adhere to my schedule. Good day.”

[…]

Sneasler pointed one claw at him and then waved its paw in a wide arc. He took it to mean ‘you’ and ‘where’.

“A place called Jubilife Village is the final stop on my itinerary.”

Its face remained impassive, but, eventually, Sneasler started pointing again– first to itself, then to Ingo, and then south, away from the settlement– and gave a firm chirp.

Well alright, then. Ingo was very aware that the Pokemon could have had something nefarious in mind, but there wasn’t much he could do to stop it from walking with him.

“Does that make you my passenger, or vice-versa?” He asked, half-joking, and Sneasler straightened up. Almost offended, it curled its paw as best it could into a fist and tapped it against the gem embedded into its chest.

“Ah, apologies. You’re correct, of course; you would know how to navigate this track far better than I.”

Sneasler’s nose twitched, suggesting that hadn’t been its thought process, but it didn’t elaborate. It took a step behind him, nudged him forward with the blunt curve of its claws, and took a skipping hop to catch up when this had the intended effect of spurring him on.

It kept itself in step on his left side. Something told him that wasn’t correct, but he wasn’t about to give voice to the fledgling thought– especially not as their path drew on and he found himself relaxing, just the smallest bit. Even if it wasn’t exactly how things were supposed to be, there was a comfort in having another living being next to him, unique from the relief of seeing a fellow human in a blizzard.

He wondered why that was.

—

The first thought that crossed Ingo’s mind as they reached a giant crevasse in the ice was that it was not up to code. The second– perhaps more pressing– thought was that there was no way he could navigate this, even if both arms had been operational. He felt a prickle of disappointment in the Pearl Clan’s counsel– or maybe that was betrayal?

It was incredibly important to take accessibility into account when planning a trip; leaving a passenger to struggle on their own, without accommodation, was unthinkable. Ingo spent several seconds gauging the distance between the two cliff faces, considering where a bridge would be most feasible, and what precautions would need to be taken.

While he was doing this, Sneasler scooped him up in one arm and took a step forward, digging the claws of her free hand into the ice to moderate their descent. For what Ingo felt were somewhat understandable reasons, he yelped and seized her around the neck with his good arm. She chuffed against his hat, amused.

And now they were at the bottom of two sheer cliffs.

This was exactly why safety measures needed to be implemented.

Sneasler relaxed her grip and, with a little more trouble than she demonstrated, Ingo let go, too, turning to take stock of this new situation. There was a tunnel to the east, which looked like it sloped upwards. That was likely how travelers were supposed to get here from the upper plateau but, for the life of him, Ingo didn’t know what a person was meant to do once they reached this particular destination. Of course the journey was the important part, but this seemed rather short sighted.

—

In Sneasler’s opinion, the Pearl Clan wouldn’t know a good thing if it rent the space they were so fond of in half.

[…]

So, while the human that fell from the sky was interesting, he became far more so when the Pearls rejected him.