Waking up from my position cuddling against Charm, I realised that I might have overdone things. My plan had been to go out and train some more today before returning to town in a day or two, but looking out, there was no way I could get back today. Or do anything but remain in the caves I was in, not with the amount of snow falling outside. I could see maybe ten, fifteen metres, any further and my vision was completely obscured by the falling snow.

The snow outside was already piled out to the middle of my shins, though I wasn’t sure if there would be more, once I got a bit of distance from the mountain my cave was in.

“Guess we won’t be going outside today,” I told Charm, pulling myself a little closer against his hot body. For a little while, I remained that way, quietly talking to my closest friend, trying to truly understand his growls, chirps and grumbles. I had always been able to understand my partners’ emotions, at least at a rudimentary level, but I wanted to understand their meaning, not just vaguely guess. I doubted I’d ever manage, to understand the language of Pokémon, for there seemed to be a shared language between the various different species, had been a dream of many-a-trainer but, to my knowledge, nobody had succeeded before. There were tales, but they were at the level of those about a talking Meowth, nothing that the library of Professor Carolina deemed even remotely trustworthy. Arceus, the tale I had read didn’t even mention a name, merely the letter N, so that pushed credibility even further into doubt.

But either way, I couldn’t stay in my sleeping bag for the entire day, I would soon grow mad with boredom and begin not only talking to my partner but talking to myself or the voices in my head. My imagination would begin to interpret my partner’s answers and I’d be truly talking to myself, slowly descending into madness.

Maybe descending was the right idea, I had taken a small peek deeper into the cave I had sought shelter in but decided not to bother too much last night. I had been exhausted and didn’t want to bother, instead, I had simply eaten and snuggled up to Charm.

“Charm, how exhausted are you?” I asked my partner, knowing that I had him resting for a bit in his Pokéball and he likely had slept during the night, just as I had, but I wanted to make sure he was fine. His response was a growl I could only describe as happily anticipating, the flame on his fail flaring up to almost twice its normal height. He was clearly ready to get into some sort of adventure with me, a sentiment I could support.

Letting him lead the way, we began moving deeper into the cave, sometimes squeezing through narrow passages, sometimes climbing downward, though avoiding any really steep slopes. We moved together, always cautious as falling and injuring myself would be incredibly dangerous, but luckily, Charm was clever enough to help me. Knowing that I could call him back into his Pokéball if he ever fell, I stayed back, said Pokéball at the ready in case I needed to save him.

It was hair-raising, and maybe a little reckless, but compared to drifting into insanity sitting in the cave, it felt like the better option.

Soon, the path levelled out somewhat, into something almost smooth, as if the path had been carved by something. Maybe some Pokémon digging through the rock, maybe simple water, maybe a combination of the two, I wasn’t sure. Whatever it was, the smooth path allowed us to make good speed, heading deeper under the mountains. As we moved, I made sure to mark the path we were taking, getting lost down here would almost certainly be fatal. Even with my markings, I wasn’t planning to go much further, just look around a little before returning into the dreary cave.

Charm let out a soft chirp and I paused, staring ahead. There was, for some odd reason, a light at the end of the tunnel, a soft light, though it was bright enough to be clearly visible in the darkness. I had no idea what I was looking at and didn’t plan to charge forward recklessly, so Charm and I continued our path, curious about what we were seeing.

It didn’t take long, and soon, we could make out more. The tunnel we were in opened up into a huge cave, the walls faintly visible due to some strange, softly glowing plant, some sort of lichen or fungus or something. Either way, it was a fascinating sight, not nearly bright enough to light up the whole thing, but I could see the outline. And movement, something that both fascinated me and creeped me out just a little. With the light from Charm’s flame being introduced into the cave, the barely visible movement became agitated and I could hear some clicking noises that managed to send shivers down my spine. I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out what was in there that made the noises, but I couldn’t recklessly flee.

After a second of consideration, I decided to risk a glance, before I’d retreat where I came from, post haste. Stepping up next to Charm, I looked out, into the chamber and had to swallow for a moment. The entire chamber was filled with odd, Ant-like Pokémon that I had never seen before. They were skittering around everywhere, some apparently fleeing from the light, while a few were on their way towards us.

Flipping open my Pokédex, I managed to scan one of them and after an inordinate amount of time, I received a bare minimum of information, little more than a stub. Durant, the Iron Ant Pokémon, they were called, but other than that, there was nothing. Far too sparse for anything I was expected to encounter on my journey, making it something I should report.

Realising that I wouldn’t be able to escape, not without risking injury by running across the uneven ground in the near darkness, I gave Charm a glance, stepping back to give him room.

“Retreat a little with me, we can’t fight them openly,” I told him and we both moved a couple more steps back, making sure that the Durants would have to move into the tunnel with us.

“Heat the rock, scatter embers and set it ablaze if you can,” I ordered my partner, one of my hands pressing against my chest as if it could keep my heart from beating so hard I was worried it would escape any moment.

Charm did as I directed him, scattering massive amounts of embers against the rocks, turning the air hot enough that I began to sweat. It almost looked as if the rocks themselves were starting to glow from the heat and Charm didn’t let up, he simply added more flames to the fire, even as the first of the Durants tried to suicidally cross the flames.

I had never heard an ant scream before, but scream, they did. Their screeches were enough to send me to my knees in pain and even Charm looked shaken, but he pushed on, keeping the flames going longer than I had thought he could.

Finally, after what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, the screeching stopped and Charm’s fire breath abated, the flames quickly dying off without new fire added to them. There simply was no fuel and only the scattered embers remained, dimly glowing compared to the previous inferno.

Just as I was about to hug Charm, a new glow banished the light of the cave, a glow coming from my beloved partner. My heart, still beating hard from the combination of fear and excitement, started to pound once more when I realised what was going on. He was evolving, taking on the form I had been dreaming about for months.

Wide-eyed, I stared at him, the light burning into my eyes but I wanted to sear every moment of his success into my memories. His silhouette, shrouded in light, started to change, growing up and becoming a little bulkier, his neck elongating, while two massive wings were emerging from his back.

His new form barely fit into the tunnel, his wings scraping against the rocks above when he tried spreading them with a glorious roar.

Unable to stop myself, I jumped forward the moment the light ceased to be, wrapping my arms around my dear friend, just as he wrapped his clawed arms around me, carefully cradling me while his wings formed a cocoon around us.

“I can’t wait to fly with you, my dear friend,” I told him, briefly considering whether I wanted to check out what had happened to the ants but deciding against it. With the rocks as hot as they were, we’d have to wait hours for them to be cool enough for me to pass.

“Let’s go topside, and you can get some rest. I’m afraid I can’t call you back into your Pokéball, I need your light,” I admitted, enjoying the warmth of his embrace and even the gentle nudges he gave me with his snout.

After one more squeeze, he let go and we started to move back the way we came. I had gone looking for an adventure and certainly found… something.