1:18 a.m. August 16th, Sunday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 68.

Events: Having made it through the rough part with her mother, now Rhea has to face the bittersweet experience of her first kiss with Jason. He’s gone to Kalos with the boys, leaving her wondering about her own feelings. It’s time to put all that confusion into training! Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (110 days away).

Rhea sat back and pulled out her phone to message the gang to have everything packed up to ship out by dinner as Amira left to order them lunch. She had to giggle at how ridiculous it was to travel with Legendary-tier Trainers, who could just teleport across whole regions in the blink of an eye.

8:49 a.m. - Rhea: Hey, be dressed to get down in the mud because we’ve all turned into Hippopotas! Heavy duty! I’m talking vine swinging, cave spelunking, mountain climbing Muk! So, don’t be bringing anything fancy to

Half completing the message, her fingers paused over the hologram keyboard as Ash scooted over to talk to her. Lori was Obstagooning Dawn about the photo of Ash and her sleeping against each other, which she’d swiped off her phone when they were in the spa.

The blue-haired woman was actually in love with it more than angry, wanting a copy and taking the wind out of Lori’s sails. Rhea’s attention was focused on the dark-haired man next to her, though.

“Hey, Rhea.”

“Hmm?”

Following his gaze to her teammates, she sat her phone in her lap as he continued.

“You want this to be about growth, right? You want to get as strong and as Aura stable as possible. Correct?”

“Mhm? We have 110 days until the Silver Conference. How long do you think this will take? Is it unrealistic?”

Ash shook his head. “No. To get where you want? I think it is very realistic. However… it will come with some sacrifices. I get you want to bring in all the girls and push hard. Maybe you think your Helping Hand will do a bunch of heavy lifting for your friends, but here’s the problem… You get too distracted when together.”

Rhea looked down at her lap, fiddling a bit with her fingers. “We’ll need to do our own individual training? How long?”

“Wait, what?” Lori paused her next angle of attack against the ‘Snowflake Princess’ to jump into the discussion. “You’re breaking up the dream team? Aww… C’mon, man! Some people need coffee. I need that and my hit of Sunshine every morning. Work with me here!”

Rhea laughed, suddenly realizing how dull it might be without the casual, loud, assertive, and debased Unovan girl around. And the redhead’s return with menus in hand made her realize how much she’d come to depend on the Rocket girl. In just 68 days of knowing each other, they’d become pretty close. Of course, that would happen with the experiences they’d shared together.

“What was this I heard about separating for this training?” She passed out the menus before taking a seat. “I can see the benefits of it, but the logistics are concerning. Wouldn’t that mean you’d need to leave us on our own in the wilderness? Should we be packing supplies for long-term survival?”

Ash rubbed his chin and breathed out a heavy sigh, taking off his hat for a second to rub his forehead. “Kind of. I already have a place picked out for each of you, and your Pokemon will need to go on their own bonding adventure, leaving you with your Buddy Pokemon to rely on each other.”

“Oh…” Rhea’s gut twisted at the prospect of running into another Pokemon situation, like what happened in Viridian Forest, and only having baby Lulu to count on. “I guess Pokemon do grow up quickly due to the spirit bond, but doesn’t nurture by the Trainer’s other Pokemon help that, too?”

Dawn leaned against the table, blowing up the image of Ash and she cuddled up in adjacent chairs after whatever challenge Mewtwo gave them. “I think I can guess where Ashy is going with this. He’s got contacts all over the Orange Islands with individual specialists, so I wouldn’t worry too much about total wilderness survival. It’s more about growth as a Trainer.”

The Sinnoh woman began playing with different filters and effects as she continued. “From time to time, it’s good for Pokemon to go out and experience the wild as a party, without their Trainer. Usually, for Masters, that time is them entering the Dream World, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good to do it in the real world.”

Ash threw an arm over the back of his chair and swung his foot up onto his knee. “Look, I told you it is going to be hard—very hard—on all of you. I’m thinking… fifty to sixty days.”

Rhea’s throat went dry, and she looked at her teammates. “That’s… almost as long as we’ve been together. And won’t that leave us fifty or sixty days before the Silver Conference to get the rest of the Encrusted Badges?”

Amira flipped open her paper menu to browse the contents. “It’s certainly more than doable, and with some time to spare, if we use the Magnet Train or first class flying taxis.”

“That’ll be expensive, though,” Lori countered, her own phone out and scanning many sites with her weird, custom app. “Well, I suppose it would work fine if we win all of our Encrusted Challenges, which is the whole point of doing this.”

Rhea went to her home screen, hologram projecting up from her lap; she looked at her parents, Sabin, Jason, and Kate, with her somehow ending up in the middle.

“We aren’t doing this for a vacation or break…” she whispered, drawing everyone’s gaze. “I want to get strong… really strong. I want to see Amira beat her grandpa,” she added, giving the thoughtful redhead a small smile. “I want to see Lori tackle Misty’s Gym without a problem, dropping her in the water—pregnant or not!”

“That’s the spirit!” Lori grinned. “Yeah, I’m with Ms. Shooting Star; let’s blast off into space, Ms. Rocket!”

Amira gave her a slightly dirty, dull-eyed stare, making the Unovan girl giggle and hold up an alien sign. “It will be oh so difficult being away from you, Violet, but it would be nice to reevaluate myself in more of an isolated setting again. It is incredible how much you can change in a short time.”

Ash waited for each of them to accept it before dropping cold water on Rhea’s head. “Great. So, I’ll be taking Rhea first since she’s going to be going to the northwest peaks of the Sinjoh Mountains while you girls all get the Orange Island treatment.

Feeling the hair rise on the back of her neck at the mention of the frigid, icy, and extremely dangerous region reserved primarily for Champions, Rhea choked on her tongue. Not even the rangers patrolled the area.

“H-Hold up! Ack. I’m going where; the Sinjoh Desolation?!” she exclaimed, her throat suddenly dry and voice rattled. “The place where time, space, and dimensions are all sorts of wonky and messed up?”

Lori whistled, leaning back with a grin. “Have fun freezing your tits off while we enjoy the sun, Sunny; maybe you’ll melt the place. Haha! Maybe you can take Dawn’s title of Snow White.”

Amira rested her fist against her cheek, vision drifting to their Pokemon, still playing on the beach. “I’m sure Dawn will have fun with your training, Lori. And he said the Sinjoh Mountains, not the Desolation, Rhea.”

Lori’s grin became strained at the tempting gleam in Dawn’s eyes. “Truce?”

“Ah-hehe. Oh, we’ll have fun.”

“Yikes. Wait, and I’m paying for this meal, too? Ugh…”

They chuckled as the purple-haired girl sank to the table, and Ash nodded. “Amira’s right. It’ll be easier to show you. Anyway, why don’t you girls go out shopping for something warm for Rhea, and I’ll go make a few calls to set all this up.”

Rhea didn’t totally feel better at the prospect of her frigid training environment, but she was sure he had his reasons. Giving him a thankful smile, she turned to face the casual Legendary Trainer.

“Ash… you’ve been so amazing to us. And I know it’s not fair to all the other Trainers in the world, but I am grateful for everything Pikachu and you have done in teaching us. You are really an inspiring guy, and not just for training.”

Lori’s joking demeanor fell into a true smile. “I’ve never been around a guy that’s so chill and, eh, I guess the only word for it is honorable. I expected to feel uncomfortable at least a few times around some old dude traveling with us, but it’s been the total opposite.”

“Wow,” Dawn snickered. “Well, obviously, you didn’t know him when he was younger because he could be a real brat! Man, that time when you blamed me for making poor Pachirisu sick because of my pancakes when everyone ate them and said they were great. Ooor, that time you made me miss a cute Buneary and said I was stupid. I mean, the nerve!”

Ash lifted an eyebrow. “I remember you starting that argument by blaming me because I gave him a bath. And you have to admit, you were a kind of a snotty, arrogant twerp back in the day. I mean, the head on you was bigger than Piplup’s.”

“Pip-pip…” the Pokemon protested against Pikachu, sleepily waving a fin before sinking back into his dreams.

Dawn shot to her feet. “Twerp?! Big head?! You didn’t just use Blue’s nickname for you on me! I wasn’t overconfident; I was optimistic! I totally became a Top Coordinator… eventually, just like my mom and Cynthia—now, if only I could beat May.”

“Well, you have the edge in battling,” Ash slowly answered. “It’s just…”

“Performance. Ugh. But… yeah,” her anger died as she sank back into her seat with a soft smile. “No, that’s one thing no one can deny.”

She shook her head and gave him a helpless grin. “Say what you want, Ash Ketchum makes every girl that meets him a better woman. I couldn’t have done any of it without you pushing me, and surprisingly, you were the more mature out of the two of us.”

“Hyperbolic much?” Ash chuckled, shrugging and showing a reflective smirk while glancing at his sleeping yellow buddy. “Plus, I was older. I’ve got my flaws, too. I’ve always been pretty reckless, which is why we usually always end up in sticky situations. I never could say no to an adventure or something new.”

He laughed sheepishly and gave Dawn a look that even melted Lori’s heart, leaving the violet-haired girl cooing at the cuteness. “I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. You saved me so many times, even in the last crazy adventure we went on.”

Dawn sat back, not a blush or nervous edge in sight as her soft smile met his. “We make for quite the pair, don’t we? Your recklessness and my overconfidence. Two troublemakers that can’t keep our heads down… It’s been fun traveling with you again.”

Ash held up a fist for the woman to bump. “Hey, it’s nice having someone that can watch my back again, eh?”

“Haha! Shut up. You didn’t block it because you were too busy rushing in, and I thought I could take it… Stupid, overconfident me.”

“Stupid, reckless me,” Ash returned. “The Calamitous Duo!”

Dawn doubled over with laughter, shocking the three of them as tears came to her eyes. “I forgot about that nickname! Brock was always having to mediate, wasn’t he? What a wholesome, hopeless guy, but he got his woman in the end, and I’ve never met a more dutiful husband.”

“Yeah, Brock’s great,” Ash whispered.

Amira nodded and cleared her throat. “Brock was there for Rhea and her mother at the drop of a hat. He really does have the heart of a true doctor. As for you, Ash, I echo my teammates. Your guidance as a friend and mentor has been more than exceptional. I see why my grandfather respects you so much.”

Ash rubbed the back of his neck. “No joke? Ol’ Giovanni thinks highly of me, huh? Man, that takes me back to the Rocket Trio.”

“Which one?” Dawn snickered, leaning against her chair to stare at their sleeping Pokemon. “No, I know which ones you’re talking about.”

“Mhm.” He reached over to rub Pikachu’s cheek, making him chirp with pleasure. “The good ones… I can’t believe we attended their wedding.”

“Right?!” Dawn’s stomach shook as she covered her mouth, trying to suppress her mirth. “And they tried to steal Pikachu and Piplup during the flower throwing—so stupid.”

“Ahh. I love them,” Ash sighed. “And flipping Meowth, gold, and donuts.”

Dawn rolled her eyes as if that was supposed to mean anything to them. “Meowth…”

Rhea’s mind snapped into gear, gut-twisting as she remembered something. “Oh no!”

“Hmm?”

Everyone turned to give her a questioning look, but Rhea was already scrolling down her contact list, depression hitting her belly as the man’s info wasn’t in her phone.

Amira shifted in her chair to get a better look at her. “What’s wrong, Rhea?”

Swallowing, Rhea looked at the beach, where her dutiful Eevee was playing, currently a Vaporeon; she knew this would mean something to her cuddle ball. “Does… anyone have Chase’s numb—no,” she redirected as a new plan came to mind. “Does anyone have Janine’s number?”

Ash pulled up his phone and typed in the name, and several came up, all with different regions or indicators of who they were. He pressed the High Master Ninja’s grinning picture, taken with him in the photo, where several more popped up.

“Uh… yeah?”

Getting the digits without explaining, even her teammates looked bewildered since no one knew about what was going to happen in two days. Janine picked up on the first ring, well, probably vibration for the kunoichi.

“Yo! What’s up, girl; everything okay?”

Rhea tried not to focus on everyone else looking at her. “I know this may sound a bit… weird, but obviously, you teach your students a lot of things, so… Can I like… hire you?”

Lori’s head tilted to the side. “Huh? Why do you want to hire a master kunoichi? And, like, do you know how much that would cost, Sunshine? She probably gets offers in the millions.”

“Oh. Shoot. Uh, yeah, sorry to bother you,” Rhea groaned, not having thought this far ahead. “I’ll figure something else—”

“Woah, woah!” Janine giggled. “Hey, if it’s important enough to give me a call, then lay it on me. I might be interested enough to do it pro bono. What juicy thing does the great Rhea want from a humble young girl like me? What dirty secrets do you want brought to light? Jason’s secret collection?”

“His what?!” Rhea sat straight up, tingles running up his spine. “What secret collection?!”

The others around the table gave each other questioning looks, the phone not on speaker. However, the kunoichi pivoted away. “Oh. So you didn’t know. Yeah, never mind! What’s up?”

Now really wanting to know about that detail but forcing her panicked brain to heel, Rhea returned to the original topic. “Champion Chase is about to propose to Champion Elaine in two days, and I wanted to be there, but I can’t. Pikachu managed to translate it for me. So… I wanted someone to record it so Nova can see it. She’s excited over whatever her mother told her.”

Everyone around her looked floored by the news.

Ash gave his rat the stink-eye. “He didn’t even give me a hint! That’s big news.”

“No joke,” Dawn snickered, messaging someone. “I bet Green knows; she kind of sees them as her pupils.”

Amira snorted, halfway through taking a drink and choking a little. “Pupils?! Ack-ha-ha. More like her adorable Pokemon. Hehe. My mom is more her pupil.”

A low hum moved Janine’s tone. “Well, color me most interested! Spying on a Champion, both of which likely have some measure of Aura Sense… A tall order. I’ll take the job! What juicy details can you give me?”

The table quieted, all centered on her as Amira tried to recover.

“Umm. Well, Ambrosia told Nova that their teams were setting it all up with Chase, and they’d been extremely secret about it. I don’t know where, but it is going to happen on Tuesday.”

“Mhm. Mhm!” Janine chimed. “More than enough of a timeframe for me to snoop out the rest! It looks like I’m back in the game! Hey, Asuka, call the girls to the Room of Shadows—we have a job to plan. Eh-hehehehe. Thanks for the tip, Rhea! I’ll leave it with Dawn when it’s done.”

She hung up, and Rhea dropped the phone from her ear, looking up at the cobalt-haired woman as she rubbed her chin. “Elaine is so funny when it comes to cute, stressful moments. And… yup! Green messaged back… She knew, and she wants to know where the leak was. Hehe. I better respond before she teleports in and kidnaps me.” She scooted out and walked away while tugging on her red bikini to adjust it. “I’ll be right back.”

Rhea figured Janine and Green would connect without her mentioning anything, and the atmosphere toned down as Ash gave them a wave, moving off himself to make calls for their training. With nothing else to do, she ordered a healthy lunch—all at Lori’s expense, of course—and chatted a bit with her team about her exile to the snow-verse.

It took a decent amount of time before Dawn returned, practically bouncing on her toes after the call with the infamous Kanto bad girl. “Green gets so personable yet defensive when things like this happen. It was the same when Blue and her little sister got together, Red and Yellow, or your mom and dad, Amira.”

Lori finished her soda, flipping through a data sheet. “Probably because she’s the only one that never married out of her friend group. I’ve seen it happen to a few Gym Leaders and Masters back in—ouch! Amira, what was that for,” she hissed as the redhead pinched her.

Rhea stiffened at the looks and sudden atmosphere that came between her two teammates, Amira showing real anger.

“No need to be mean about it,” she huffed, surprisingly aggressive about the topic and showing she took it far more to heart than any of them would have believed. “Green has trouble connecting with people, and she’s sensitive about it… It’s because of what happened to her when she was a little girl.”

Lori rubbed the tender area, scooting a little away from her. “Well, not like I’d know. Geez. I was just speculating from what I knew—you know me. No need to get physical. Ouu.”

Amira took a deep breath, heat falling as she looked between them and rubbed between her eyes. “Sorry, Lori. Green, Leaf, Crystal, my grandma, and my mom have all been women I really look up to… I grew up around them, so I’ve seen them during their highs and lows. It can feel personal sometimes. Again, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s cool,” Lori mumbled. “Water under the bridge. Man, you’ve got a strong pinch, though. Muk… I’m even bleeding a little, Ms. Nails.”

Amira drew in her bottom lip and reached for the small purse she’d bought. “I have some bandaids and ointment.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lori said, nibbling on her bottom lip and clearly holding back from biting back. “I get Green’s like an aunt to you. I didn’t mean it to be mean; I was just talking…”

“Ahem,” Rhea broke in. She paused for a moment when a former promise the Sinnoh show girl made came to mind that might just put them in a more positive mood. “Dawn… didn’t you say you had these super-secret images of my aunt wearing a Gothitelle style?”

An impish grin brightened the woman’s face as she scooted in. “Okay, here’s the goods. By the way, I have way more than that, but you girls impressed the Cubchoo out of me. Check it out… young, teenage fashion model on the rise, Pre-Legendary Cynthia in all her short skirt, garters, and tights glory! The tattoo under her right eye is painted, of course.”

“Hot!” Lori snickered, tapping phones to get a copy as Dawn made it available. “She’s that innocent Gothitelle chick. Haha! I can see why she couldn’t let these get out.”

Amira smiled, getting her own and passing the bandaid to Lori. “In her younger, less mature years, no doubt. I can see my mother doing the same.”

Rhea forced a laugh. “Yeah… you have no idea how petty and immature my aunt can be at board games. She cheated against me when I was a kid all the time! She made up her own rules on the spot, not that seven-year-old me would know the difference. Even Bi does it sometimes… Aww. She is pretty adorable, though.”

“Maybe to you!” Lori giggled. “Those thighs would crush boys’ hearts and brains! I’m telling you, girl, they’re on that Muk. Oh, hehe, you should send this to Jason! No, your own Gothitelle fashion shoot. I’m sure Amira could set it up.”

Rhea rolled her eyes, not falling for it. “Uh-huh… I’m not going to blush, so cut it out.”

“I’ll get you, My Sunny!”

Her thoughts went to the cute, little, awkward rabbit of Jason’s. “Sure you will. I’m going to put that on my background slideshow; I’ve been collecting some pictures. Okay, Dawn. We’ve got to pack and get me some thermal gear, right?”

“You girls finished?” Dawn asked, passing over a few more with longer skirts or tiered dress variants, all with her aunt’s signature hair ties. “If so, let’s get the giant here to pay for us and hit the strip mall!”

“Right… I’m paying,” Lori groaned, pushing the plate away and sinking to the table. “Kill me! Wait, Fire Head over here already did. For real, though, what is up with that Pinsir force, girl? I thought I was supposed to be the one with the Physical Allocation buffs. Geez.”

Her off-handed joke made them smile; Lori could be very mean if she wanted to, but things seemed to have smoothed over, which was a relief to her.

They got up and called back their Pokemon, leaving Ash to his calls in the corner of the sand bar on the phone as Dawn went to throw on a summer dress over her swimsuit. Soon enough, the four of them were strolling through Fuschia with their Pokemon, visiting stores with a toothy-smiled Dawn flashing her aunt’s black card.

The woman made a few joking pokes about cashing out the TM shop that Lori went along with, but Rhea didn’t like spending other people’s money. It was something she didn’t really think about in the Master Community; Amira had influenced her in a lot of positive ways, and it was for that reason that Rhea was so surprised about her reaction to Lori.

Amira was always the level-headed, cool girl who thought things through, was rational, and could be relied upon. She’d seen the redhead break down and cry, but anger like that was something shocking; to have actually physically pinched Lori hard enough to make her bleed was on a whole different scale for the girl.

She updated her friends in Vermilion while shopping, keeping an eye on Amira and Lori’s interactions throughout their trip, and holding their bags on their way back to the spa, she saw her two teammates getting along again. The pair were talking and even passing a few light jokes off one another, which was nice to see.

Things were on the up. There were still sides to her friends that she didn’t know. Why would she think she did? It had only been sixty-eight days since they met.

Rhea didn’t even have a full recollection of what had triggered Amira since she usually tuned Lori out when she got into her Impish phases. It had been something connected to Green and the two lovebird Champions, their wedding, or the proposal, but Amira took something very personally because Amira wasn’t usually prone to physical violence. She was very respectful about where her hands were, which was something Lori and she could take note of.

Looking back at the video with Jason and having gone over it with her teammates last night for the play-by-play, she realized how often she’d touched Jason. Had she always been like that? She’d slapped, punched, and poked him quite a few times.

He never seemed to mind or protest it. Did he like it? No. That was stupid; not commenting about something didn’t mean they enjoyed it. Maybe he just didn’t mind since he was such a big guy? Then again, why did she do it in the first place? Was he just used to her being physical like that? She was a hugger, for whatever that added to the topic. In Saffron, she’d comforted that suicidal man, and she’d been physical there, too.

There’s a pattern, she internally groaned. I am touchy-feely. Is that due to my nature or genetic engineering, though? What if—

“Space to Rhea, your shuttle left!”

“Eh?” She blinked and stopped just before running into a grinning Lori, towering over her. “Did you say something?”

Amira had an understanding smile. “You have had a lot going on. Need some time in the spa to unwind? You may regret not taking the chance once you’re in the mountains.”

“True,” she sighed, scratching her elbow as her thoughts brought on an itch. “That might be good. I am feeling a little tight. Umm. Thanks, Amira.” Walking into the fancy spa’s front gates, she waved at her friends and went to her room to get her stuff mostly ready. “I probably will only be in for a little bit to process everything. See you for dinner soon. Thanks, guys.”

Her Pokemon clustered around her, their social high coming down as they questioned what was wrong. Rhea didn’t know quite why she felt somewhat depressed. It just kind of came all at once.

Dressing down to let herself cook in the steaming water of her private spa area, she breathed. Her Pokemon were playing inside it, Lulu floating around like a boat. As the clock ticked, she became more focused on what she was about to do; everything else could be paused. Right now, she was going to give this her all, and Ash promised it was going to be challenging, so she had to be in the right mind state.

As 4:30 p.m. came around, she got out and donned her winter wear, excluding her jacket, which she tucked under her arm. Backpack thrown over her shoulder, at 5:21, she marched out to meet everyone.

Ash was in the spa public lobby, Mimey with him and her team around them; only her Wooloo Gang wasn’t present.

“Umm, hey!”

“Yo!” Lori snickered, eyeing her up and down. “Well, that’s a new look!”

“C’mon,” Rhea snorted. “You were the one that picked it out.”

“I know! I’m the best!”

Amira snagged her attention as she held up her Encrusted Badges. “Hey, I had an idea to turn them into jewelry pieces for us. I’m in contact with a jeweler, and he says it’s more than possible, and actually a popular choice for female Trainers. Lori wants some.”

“Muk yes, I do!”

“Oh, yeah, absolutely!” Rhea agreed, digging them out before looking between them and getting to the real topic she wanted to bite into. “So… Where’s Sam, Jade, Hannah, and Jay’s group?”

Ash gave her an apologetic grin. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to pick them up after taking you. It’ll just be easier not to get bogged down in a reunion. Sorry.”

“Haaa. No, I get it,” she said, seeing Dawn’s similar expression. “I’m going first since I’m all the way up north.”

“Well,” Dawn tilted her head. “Not all the way Sinnoh north, but north, yes. I love the woman you’re going to train with. She really lives a special life, surrounded by myths. Ash and I met her on one of our adventures when we were with Brandon—you know, the Frontier Brain Chief of the Battle Pyramid. It was quite an adventure. Anyway, you’ll see!” She hopped up and down with Piplup. “Exciting!”

“Mime?”

Ash held out his hands, Dawn taking his other as Mimiey stood at the center, still wearing an apron. “Ready?”

Rhea hugged Lori and Amira goodbye, her Pokemon doing the same with theirs before returning to their Poke Balls, with Lulu slipping into her jacket front.

“Ne-ne!”

“Ready.”

A flash of light and the feeling of the world giving way sent Rhea’s stomach to her throat; she’d never traveled quite this distance in a single jump. When the light faded, she winced as snowflakes peppered her nose.

Blinking, she got her first look at a veil of white outside of a giant stone door, lined with carvings of Pokemon so clear that it appeared new. The whole place was at a scale that made her belly squirm as her gaze wandered up to the massive pillars and ceiling overhead.

“It’s been a while, Ash, Dawn. How are you?”

Rhea almost jumped out of her skin at the soft, womanly tone that came from behind them. Flipping around, she saw a pretty, black-haired woman, wearing robes as white as the snow outside; the three large, ornamental aquamarine stones on her robe were only slightly brighter than her eyes.

Dawn jumped forward to hug the proper woman, who somewhat reminded her of her grandmother. “High Priestess Maria! How’s Sinjoh Temple? No troubles with Regigigas since we left?”

“Hehe. No, Dawn,” she said, hands returning to her front as she broke away to give Ash a nod and turned toward her. “Rhea, I can feel the presence of a Victini inside you, waiting to release her flames. I was told you don’t want to be idle, so… would you join me in the storm? We have some chores to do, and it is best to make use of every moment of the day, routine tasks or play.”

Teeth beginning to chatter as she looked outside at the raging blizzard, the sudden chill of likely below-freezing temperatures bit into her lungs. Had she made a mistake? Because this was insane!

Forcing a laugh, she rubbed her shoulders as Lulu cried out that she didn’t like the cold, crawling further into her layers. “Nothing ventured, brrrr… eh-heh, nothing gained. What am I going to be doing?”

Maria pointed at her chest with a totally sane look for what shouldn’t be a sane statement. “We are going to break past some of those spiritual barriers you unconsciously put in place over the years to protect yourself from Victini’s power. I’m going to turn you into my heater. Won’t that be useful?”

“…Yay me…”

Ash, Dawn, and Mimey gave her a wave and left her to become a popsicle. She was doomed to be a chunk of ice for all eternity, bringing her mind back to the cave they’d hid from the Plasma agent in, and she made herself a promise.

If I survive this… I’m going back. I think we need to go back.

Taking her first step, she followed the High Priestess of Regigigas into the flurry, her Pokemon jumping out to join her.

* — * — *

[60 days later…]

[7 a.m. October 15th, Thursday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event. Day 128.]

[The Winter Indigo Cup starts on December 5th, 50 days away.]

* — * — *

Rhea breathed out a hot stream of air as the blizzard passed, taking in the morning rays as she stared across the snowy mountains high above the world. A light red film dissipated from around her body, only covered by her bikini, as sweat dripped to the tip of her nose, only to turn into steam.

Maria sat beside her, wearing a gentle smile—her stable feature—and Nova was lying in front of her as a Glaceon, chin resting on her paws—her Eevee glad to be returned to her, now resting after an exciting reunion. “You’ve improved. How do you feel?”

“My butt and neck hurt. I’m dehydrated… dizzy,” Rhea coughed, reaching up to rub her throat as Lulu floated down from her head, in a similar meditative-like posture; she could feel her little puff ball’s emotions without a Poke Ball—they were starting to bond. “Haha. And… there’s the cold—eeesh. Focus. Focus! Gah! I get too hot with clothes, and too cold without them! Mmg-hmm-hmm-hmm. Make up your mind, body!”

A soft throb came from within her heart, making her breathe out a sigh.

“Haaa.”

Thanks, V, she internally soothed. No, it’s not your fault. I’m just… overcompensating. You’re doing great. I didn’t know how amazing you were.

The woman put a hand on her knee, drawing her gaze as the biting, subzero gust made her jaw lock together; she was now just a girl who was nearly naked.

“Rhea, I don’t think you need to push yourself more today. I have somewhere to take you before you leave me. Let’s go inside and get you cleaned up first, though. I’m sure water will help you feel better.”

Not my butt, Rhea grumbled inside, rubbing the sore area for how long she’d been sitting.

“Cramps! Cramps!” she hissed, trying to ease out her legs. “Ack! Ack! Ack!”

“Good! It seems you did put your all into it,” Maria chimed. “You made it through the storm. It was rough, but you maintained a somewhat reasonable output.”

Rhea eyed the totally unbothered priestess; not once had she seen the woman sweat or shiver in all sixty days. In any case, she was happy to not need to go ‘full heater mode’ anymore and settled for a personal, inner warmth that calmed the thumping in her chest.

“Sounds great. Honestly, I like the spas here better than the one back in Fuschia. Hopefully, I don’t evaporate a ton of it this time…”

She chuckled and motioned her to follow. “You are far more skilled than you were when we first started this inner spiritual journey. You know the road; now, you need to keep on it and not fall into the lava below.”

“Eh-hehe. Thanks for the reminder…”

Getting up, Nova chirped brightly, congratulating her on the progress. Mya and Alice were off on some cave adventure, doing something that had them growling and limping back home each night. They had gotten stronger, and she was confident in herself now.

It was time to see her team again! Well, after whatever torture the evil and deceptively kind High Priestess had in store for her final trial. She prayed it wouldn’t be as bad as last night’s crucible. She could only hope.

Entering the top of the very deep Snow Temple—apparently, all reconstructed by this beast of a woman—Rhea steeled herself for what was to come.