Chapter 9: White Winter Hymnal

Cold.

That was the only thought Daniel was capable of making. A violent shiver tore through his body. Even curled around his magby and wrapped in a thermal blanket, he couldn't stave off the chill seeping into his bones.

Cold.

The storm hit so quickly. The weather changed so abruptly. They didn't have time to find or make a truly resilient shelter. Daniel had Drift dig out a trench into the frigid ground large enough for him to lay down in to escape the wind. Daniel then staked his tent flat over the trench as an additional shield against the elements. Even with the added barrier, snow and wind seemed to constantly penetrate the meager refuge.

So cold.

If this storm lasted as long as the first, Daniel had no hope of surviving. As it was, he felt his chances dwindling faster than the minutes were passing. This was why so many people warned against him making this journey. Pokemon, while just as threatening, could be avoided or overcome. But the weather was unpredictable and unforgiving. Now that Daniel was within her grasp, she wasn't going to let him go.

Would this be his legacy? Would he serve as just another face and name in the crowd of other unfortunate - or foolish - first year trainers? Would Snowpoint use him to push even more prospective trainers away from their dreams and into the world of academia?

What would his parents think? They trusted in his decision making and his capabilities. Now they would lose their only child to the world because of his stubborn stupidity. What about Cal? The older trainer believed in him enough to gift him with a magby from his family's ranch.

What would happen to his pokemon?

Another brutal tremor rattled him, though he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or the thought of his pokemon being left alone in this storm. Even safely encapsulated in their pokeballs, they would likely never be found again as they would be lost with Daniel amidst the storm.

As if responding to his trainer's morbid train of thought, Kai coughed out a plume of black smoke. Daniel's heart twinged, knowing the smoke was a sign that his pokemon's health was deteriorating like his own. He mumbled an apology to his magby and returned him, though he immediately missed the heat source the fire type provided.

With Kai now safe within his pokeball, only Drift was left to accompany Daniel through the storm. The ice type sandshrew was made to withstand harsh wintry weather atop mountains, and he even seemed to enjoy being out in the storm. Drift would outlast the blizzard, though Daniel wasn't sure how his starter would fare being left alone in the middle of the snowy route.

Another gust of wind and snow pushed into the trench causing Daniel to violently shake from the cold. He heard Drift grunt out a warning. A moment later his starter began backing up against his feet, nudging him with concern. Daniel uncurled enough to investigate what had spooked his starter.

Though the lighting was poor, Daniel could still make out three orangish triangular shapes. Three pairs of bright blue eyes stared back at him. It took him a minute to recognize the creatures as snorunt. Though the small ice types were reclusive, they were thought to bring good fortune and prosperity to anyone it encountered, which was in stark contrast to its two evolved forms. Glalie were known to freeze travelers to feast upon while the fabled froslass were believed to display their frozen victims in macabre scenes for their own entertainment.

The snorunt at the front of the pack motioned him to follow before all three left the shelter. Drift looked at him before accompanying the trio. It took Daniel a few more moments to trust in his starter and exit his refuge.

He was immediately buffeted by gale force winds and ice that stung even through his thick jacket. Again his body convulsed due to the sheer cold, though he managed to remain upright. Once he overcame his body's response, he found that another two snorunt were outside the shelter along with the three he knew about.

When the pack of five saw him emerge, they set off into the storm with Drift following close behind. "Wait!" he called out as he knelt down to pack away his tent that had been covering the trench. The stakes had frozen into the ground causing Daniel to struggle to remove them. He frantically pulled harder as the snorunt and his starter disappeared from view. He called out again desperately.

He didn't know how long he struggled unsuccessfully to recover his tent, but eventually one of the snorunt reappeared. The small pokemon gestured for him to follow. When Daniel didn't obey, the ice type pointed its stubby arms to somewhere behind Daniel.

He turned, curious to what the pokemon was trying to show him. It took him a moment to notice a pair of blue lights rimmed in yellow that were glowing malevolently through the storm. The lights were slowly creeping closer, the malice in them growing more and more clear the closer they got.

Afraid of whatever was drawing near, Daniel scrambled after the retreating snorunt. He looked back once to lament his lost tent, hoping that it wouldn't affect him later on in his journey.

It didn't take long for him to catch up with the larger group of snorunt. Together they travelled slowly through the storm. Time and space became irrelevant as Daniel was unable to keep track of how long or far they walked. The only reference point he had was the pair of blue eyes behind them that was inching closer.

At some point during the journey, Daniel noticed, in a brief window of clarity, that his body stopped shaking. Energy seemed to flee from his body. His mind began to wonder, flitting from thought to thought without pattern. His gait became as ragged as his breath, staggering every couple steps.

Eventually they came across a log cabin, with soft glowing lights shining through the windows. One of the snorunt hurried ahead to knock on the door with its stubby arm. The world spun around Daniel and he turned back to face the storm.

Everything around him stopped spinning. The snow seemed suspended in midair and the wind calmed. From the storm emerged a beautiful woman floating towards him. She was dressed in the most elegant robe that was white as snow with a sash of scarlet wrapped around her waist to accentuate her curves. Her brilliant blue eyes beckoned him closer.

Somewhere behind him, Daniel heard yelling, though he ignored it in favor of the maiden before him. He stumbled forward, shedding his coat to move quicker to the enticing temptress. The shouting grew closer and something tugged on his pant leg. There was a flash of red light, a loud roar, and something hit Daniel in the back of the head. The world around him faded to black as he crumpled to the ground.

"I'm going to be the greatest pokemon trainer ever!" declared the boy. The proclamation was met with a round of snorts from the boy's two companions.

Daniel, Austin, and Brady - Daniel's two best childhood friends - were in the process of building a fort out of branches and rocks in Daniel's backyard. They were young. Daniel had been eight at the time. Austin and Brady were twins, with Austin just a couple minutes older than Brady.

It was odd, watching a memory like a movie.

Austin pushed his younger brother playfully, arguing, "Nuh-uh! I am going to be the best. Might as well start calling me Champion Austin now."

Daniel snickered at his friend, "Champions go by their last names. Everyone knows that!"

The younger brother laughed while the older one gave a faux pout. "So what are you gonna do, Danny? Gonna be the youngest gym leader or are you going for champion too?" Brady finally asked.

Dream Daniel thought for a moment before responding, "No, I'm gonna explore the world! I'll get famous for some awesome discovery or something!"

"He thinks he's going to be next Cynthia," Austin said, dissolving into a fit of laughter. Cynthia was the famous champion of Sinnoh who abdicated her throne to explore the region. She was the last recorded person to have seen the legends Dialga and Palkia hundreds of years prior.

Brady had a different response, "Yo, that would be so cool! What if you found some legendary god or something? What if you caught one?!"

Before either of the younger boys could respond, Daniel watched as their skin turned purple and their hair a shocking green. From the woods, a familiar woman dressed in white floated towards them.

"Pretty lady," Daniel muttered as he slipped into consciousness. His head throbbed and his body was overcome with chills.

He tried to pry his eyes open, but was only somewhat successful as they had crusted over with sleep. He saw a blurry pink blob move towards him and place what felt like a warm, wet washcloth over his forehead. A gentle melody filled the room and Daniel was lulled back to sleep.

"Hey! You guys want to come over and explore the forest? Maybe see if we can't find any pokemon?" Daniel asked as he ran to catch up with his two friends.

They had just finished the first week of high school. Daniel hadn't seen his friends much over the summer as they seemed to always be on some sort of trip with their parents. And the entire first week they had blown him off in favor of studying ahead.

The brothers exchanged an uneasy glance before Austin responded, "I dunno, man. We have a lot of work to do this weekend."

Daniel pushed back, trying to appeal to the love of battling the twins shared, "We could head over to the gym and see if there are any late season challengers."

Brady was the one who shrugged him off his time, "Nah, there's some things we want to research when we get home tonight."

"What gives?" Daniel finally asked, "You guys disappear over the summer and now suddenly you don't want to go watch gym battles or try to find pokemon in the woods? You guys used to love that."

"We're in high school man! It's time for us all to grow up and start making real decisions about our future like adults."

Daniel was dumbstruck. "Grow up? Adults? We're freaking fourteen! And in case you forgot, pokemon training is a real career!"

The twins snorted before one of them shot back, "It's not a real career. You're barely going to make enough to survive unless you're a prodigy. A real career is a lawyer or doctor. If you want to be around pokemon so much, be a biologist. At least that is something Uxie would smile down on."

"Uxie can rot with Giratina for all I care," Daniel spat as he turned away from his friends. As he turned, there was a flash of bright red light, a loud roar, and something hit him in the back of the head.

He came back to the land of living with a groan. The world was still distorted and unclear when Daniel managed to crack his eyes open. Two figures stood at the edge of the room talking quietly to each other. A moment after he started waking up, the pair took notice.

"Hey there, Snorlax," one said, but Daniel was already falling back asleep, unable to muster the energy to remain awake.

"Welcome to Basic Trainer Survival," the instructor started off the class. He looked to be about forty with peppered hair and pale skin. His voice was kind, but slightly gruff. "I like to start off each of these courses by going around the room and sharing your name and why you've decided to become a pokemon trainer. I'll start. My name is Tommy Rumley. I became a trainer twenty years ago because I wanted to become a gym leader. As you can tell, that didn't quite work out."

He pointed to a girl off to the side of the room who spoke up confidently, "My name is Taylor Bigelow. I want to become a zoologist. I don't want to work in a stuffy research lab though, so I'm going the trainer route."

The boy next to her followed stating that he wasn't able to afford going to college and chose to become a trainer instead of working in construction or fast food. Next boy had dropped out of college deciding that he'd rather become a field tech for a lab rather than become a professor. The last person before Daniel said he was given the choice of jail or becoming a trainer.

It was one way the region kept people out of jail: by offering to let them become trainers. It was akin to dual enrollment. They attended survivor class during the day and a rehabilitation class in the evenings. After the first year, they would be given a pokemon to bond with while under the watchful eye of the League. Once they graduated the survivor class and a mental assessment, they were allowed to start their journey. Sinnoh boasted a seventy percent success rate for the system, though Daniel doubted that was entirely true.

Once he was done, the class looked to Daniel. He was the last person to go. Every one of his peers had chosen this profession either to go into research or because they felt they had no other option. It was times like these that he really hated how revered Uxie was. Everyone wanted to go into academia, leaving him as the ugly ducklett.

"I'm Daniel Pugh," he stated hesitantly, "I want to be a trainer to explore the world and compete with my team."

There was a snort from the boy who wanted to be a field tech, but no other response. After a moment, the instructor officially began the class, though his words were muffled. Wind started blowing through the room and snow gently fell from the ceiling. Daniel leaned back in his chair to investigate the phenomenon. As he did, he lost his balance and fell backwards.

Daniel jumped awake, his arms and legs flailing to keep himself from falling. It took a moment for him to realize that he was safe in a bed. As his heart rate settled, he took a moment to check in on his body and his surroundings. He was naked except for a pair of underwear, though he was warm from the numerous blankets wrapped tightly around him. Daniel attempted to shift his body around within the blanket burrito, only to wince in pain. His entire body was aching and sore.

The room he was in was fairly spartan. He was lying in one of three metal framed cots, though after the weeks he spent camping, it felt as if he was reclining on clouds. Along one wall was a long window that looked out into a bare hallway. Perpendicular to the window was a sink and a cabinet on the wall. Potions, gauze, and a box of gloves sat on the countertop next to the sink.

He found his clothing folded neatly upon an empty chair at his bedside. His pokédex had been carefully placed on top of the pile. He didn't see his pokeballs or any of his other supplies. He extracted himself from his warm cocoon to check his pokedex. He was shocked to find that half of November has passed. It took his wearied brain a minute to do the mental math and figure out that he had been unconscious for nearly two weeks. He had dozens of missed calls and messages from his parents emphasizing his absence.

He typed out a quick message to his worried parents before getting dressed. His parents were concerned, but he was okay and his priority was his absent team. His body protested loudly against even the simple motion of putting on his shirt. Every joint seemed to strain and pop at some point during the process.

Once dressed, he draped a blanket over his shoulders to help against the slight chill and exited the room. He followed the sound of voices to find two people lounging on a pair of couches watching and discussing a recorded battle. The pair both looked to be in their thirties, though the woman appeared to be a couple years older than her counterpart. Both had a couple pokeballs visible. A lycanroc raised its head from its paws to look at Daniel in the doorway, alerting the two trainers to his presence.

"He's finally awake!" the man exclaimed as he stood up from the couch. The lycanroc rose with the man, trailing gracefully just a step behind as the man approached Daniel. He was an inch or two taller than Daniel, with a thin brown beard.

The man clapped him on the shoulder as Daniel asked, "Where are my pokemon?" He was shocked at the gruff scratchiness that was his voice.

The man let out a snort and turned back to his partner who was now standing off to the side. "See, I told ya he'd want his team," the man said. The woman merely raised an eyebrow which the man waved off, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Didn't want him to wake up feeling confused and threatened with pokemon capable of burning the building down. There's a room downstairs you can let your team out safely. Come on, I'll show ya."

As Daniel followed the man, he learned that he was in one of the two ranger outposts along Route 217. His hosts, Rangers Julia Tiger and Adam Wilson, were the only ones at the outpost. The two stations along the most northern route were only staffed with a pair of rangers each during the winter season. This was due to the lack of travelers along the route during the time period.

Ranger Wilson explained that during the blizzard, the pair had been surprised to find a pack of snorunt banging on the door to the settlement. Their shock continued to grow as they found a trainer whose skin was beginning to turn blue out in the brutal storm being stalked by a froslass.

"It was terrifyin' honestly," the ranger said with a slight southern drawl, "the froslass fled once we came out guns blazin', but you were touch and go for a while. 'Cause of the storm, we couldn't teleport you out safely. Once it was over, you were stable and we were just waiting on you to wake up."

The ranger led him into a decently larger exercise room where the man's rock wolf took off, loping around the room joyfully. He handed Daniel his pokeballs and Daniel enjoyed an euphoric reunion with his team.

Daniel stayed with the rangers for a number of days following the storm. Part of him yearned to set back out on the road, but he knew that after an extended stint in bed, he needed to rest and strengthen his body before leaving. The ranger duo were nice. Ranger Tiger was strict, often telling her partner off for some shenanigan or another. Ranger Wilson was the younger of the two and a rock type specialist, though his character did not align with his type of choice.

Type specialists were a unique vein of trainers. They were people who chose to master in a specific type. These trainers were often at the forefront of research in their given types. Being a specialist was also a prerequisite of becoming either a gym leader or an Elite Four member. In order to gain the distinction of specialist, half of a trainer's team needed to be composed of the given type and the trainer needed to have all eight badges in the region.

Daniel spent much of his time in the exercise room, both for himself and to keep his pokemon in shape. Despite the mellow reunion, it took only a day for Kai and Slater to renew their feud. It started with the piplup giving the magby a contentious snort over some perceived slight. Within seconds Kai had tackled Slater and landed a thunder punch. The fight intensified from there to the point where Daniel had to return the pair to end it.

"You need to discipline them," a female voice spoke coldly from behind him. A rigid Ranger Tiger stood watching the events unfold with a bubbly wigglytuff bouncing in place beside her. The ranger stepped forward, continuing, "Allowing them to continue will only let their anger and resentment towards each other grow. You need to nip this in the bud."

Daniel had to physically bite his cheek to force back the initial, defensive response that welled within him. After a moment, he asked, "What do you suggest I do?"

"Isolation, make them forage or hunt for their own food, whatever. But you cannot allow that to continue if you truly want them to be a team," Tiger responded.

Daniel nodded slowly, "I was hoping that they would get over this after a couple fights. It seems to have only gotten worse. Are there other ways to help them bond?"

The ranger raised an eyebrow at him before releasing two of her pokemon. In a burst of red energy, a large ruby red lobster that stood nearly six foot tall appeared before him. The menacing pokemon snapped its pincers at Daniel in warning but remained stationary. Beside the water type was a lithe, orange monkey. The ape stood a foot shorter than its companion, though the flames on its head rose above the lobster's star crown. It bounced lightly on its feet and flexed its fists.

"Blaine and Tamatoa, similar to your magby and piplup, are fundamentally different. Not only are fire and water opposites, but fighting and dark types are opposites as well, exacerbating the issue. Fire types are, for lack of a better term, fiery. They burn hot, they do not want to be put out, and they want to be the center of attention. Water types are proud. They are stubborn in their pursuit yet flexible in how they push. They are resilient, and though they recede for a time, they will come back with a vengeance."

The ranger paused and stepped between her infernape and crawdaunt, carefully stroking the fire type's back while avoiding its flaming head. "I had to teach them to work together," she said about her pokemon, "And until they learned, I needed an outlet to control their anger and aggression towards each other. Give them tasks and set boundaries. It will take time, but you will be a better trainer for it."

Daniel nodded and thanked the ranger as she walked out of the training room. After a few moments, he released the difficult duo and demanded their attention with a loud yell.

"Listen up! This petty feud ends now." The pair glared back at Daniel contentiously, but he soldiered on, "You guys are teammates. You are brothers. So you're going to have to learn how to work together and not hate each other. Starting now, you are not allowed to fight. If I catch either of you throwing the first punch, you're going into your ball for twenty-four hours. If I can't figure out who started it, you're both being punished. So I suggest you both get it into your heads that this is a permanent partnership."

The rest of his time at the outpost was spent relaxing and enjoying the company of the older trainers. The pair both enjoyed watching and dissecting competitive battles. Gyms, due to the type and team restrictions, were seen as just a test of the trainer's ability and the team's overall strength. Tournaments were where truly competitive battles were seen, matching the elite battlers against others of the same skill level.

One afternoon, when they were watching the Professional Battlers' Network, the battle they were watching was interrupted by a breaking news alert.

"Sinnoh's Master Elder Stefano Burgess just announced," a pretty blonde reporter said, popping up on the screen, "that he will be transitioning out of his role of Master Elder. The transition will be gradual and he will remain in Ace in an advisory role. Though his replacement has yet to be announced, the most likely candidate is the Elder Sentinel Kenneth Brady, who is the longest tenured Elder."

Ace acted as Sinnoh's military force. It consisted of four different branches, each specializing in a different type of combat - ground, naval, and aerial - and an intelligence branch. Daniel didn't know much about Ace's hierarchy, but he knew that each branch was headed by an elder who only answered to the Master Elder, or the head of Ace. There were rumors that Ace had a fifth branch that trained assassins, but no one had any proof of it.

"Holy Giratina," Ranger Wilson breathed from the couch next Daniel.

The reporter continued, "Master Elder Burgess has officially stated that the reason for his departure is due to his desire to explore more. Though with the Lily of the Valley Conference expected to begin in three to four months, many believe that the Master Elder will be taking the time to shake off the rust before returning to a battle stadium and possibly beginning his campaign to challenge Champion Aleph Akai.

"Burgess has been commonly referred to as Champion Akai's only rival. The two famously met in the 2416 Junior Lily of the Valley Conference Finals where Burgess overcame Akai. Afterwards, the two reportedly battled each other on multiple occasions but did not meet in any official capacity until the 2424 Lily of the Valley Finals where Akai was victorious. From there Burgess rose through the Ace ranks, becoming the youngest Elder Corsair at the age of thirty-five and then Master Elder a mere five years later where he has served since."

"I heard he has a wailord," Wilson said.

Daniel and Ranger Tiger both snorted at the comment. "And how, exactly, is someone supposed to train a wailord?"

"I don't know! The man's a legend though. All the navy guys I know talk about him like he's some sort of deity."

"Wait," Daniel interrupted, "You saying deity reminded me. Did you call Giratina 'holy' earlier?!"

Again Ranger Tiger snorted mirthfully while her counterpart looked around shiftily. After a moment, Wilson responded, "Well, yeah. He is. The rest of Sinnoh might have forgotten, but those of us from Sandgem remember Giratina. One day, he will be justified before Arceus as his brothers are scorned."

The female ranger broke down in laughter, muttering something about hicks and rednecks whenever she managed to get a word out. Ranger Wilson scowled at her before grabbing a pen and paper and scrawled something out. He handed the paper to Daniel once he was done writing.

"So you actually worship Dialga but act like you worship Giratina out of what? Fear? And you're trying to tell me that Giratina can hear your words but can't read? How in distortion is that plausible?!"

"He's a pokemon! Pokemon can't read."

Daniel snorted out his rebuttal before following Ranger Tiger into a fit of laughter, "He's a god!"

After a week at the Ranger Outpost, Daniel was ready to leave. His mind was antsy and itching to get back on the road. And though his body still ached, he felt strong enough to continue traveling. The only issue he faced was he no longer had a tent to camp in.

"Ranger Wilson?" he asked the younger ranger the morning he intended to leave, "I wasn't able to recover my tent in that last blizzard before coming here. Is there any way I can take one from you guys?"

The bearded man glanced at him and began typing on his phone as he asked, "Plannin' on leaving then?"

Daniel gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah. I'm getting jumpy and want to get back out there."

"Well that ain't happenin'." The ranger was still scrolling through his phone, not yet looking up at Daniel.

"What?"

"Yeah, can't let you go. First off, Tiger would have my hide. Second, you just came out of a two week long coma from severe hypothermia. You're not exactly in top shape," Wilson finally looked up at him and continued, "And then there's a storm supposed to roll through next week. I can't let you leave, kid."

Indignant, Daniel shot back, "I have survived a blizzard! I can make it just fine!"

The ranger snorted, "Listen Daniel, you're tough. You're smart. But I can't let you go back out. What happens when your froslass friend comes back to finish what she started? Or the storm hits two days early and you're left in a trench for another week? Can't do it kid."

"I thought trainers were supposed to prove themselves by braving the wilderness and the unknown with just their pokemon at their side. Guess that's just fairy tales then, huh?" He knew he sounded like a petulant child, but he really didn't care at this point.

Ranger Wilson glared back at him, "Get your head out of your ass, Daniel and stop being so damned stupid. Your team consists of a few one badge pokemon, none of which will actually help you in the face of the storm. So stop being so stupidly stubborn and think! Think about yourself. Think about your pokemon!"

Stupidly stubborn. Daniel blinked. The words coming from the ranger were eerily similar to the thoughts he'd had while trying to weather the storm before the snorunt saved him. What would happen to his pokemon should the worst happen? What would his parents think? What would Cal? He blinked again before refocusing on the ranger.

"You're right, sir," he said with a respectful bow of his head, "I'm sorry I snapped at you, you're just doing your job and I was being an ass."

"I was a rookie trainer like yourself too, Daniel. No need to apologize, just don't let your emotions and desires cloud your judgement."

Daniel nodded, "Yes sir. Ranger Wilson? You mentioned when I woke up that you guys wanted to transport me to a hospital while I was unconscious but couldn't because of the storm. Is it possible for you to teleport me to Eterna now before the next one hits?"

The ranger regarded him coolly before responding, "I'll check with Jules, but yeah, we should be able to do that."