@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 87a: The Lonely Snover (part 1)


"...and if we round the corner right here, we should be able to see Mt. Diamant off in the distance." Brock began as the group made their way down a mountain path.

Ash balked as a large snow capped mountain came into view. "That's gotta be Mt. Diamant! Looks amazing!" With that, he snapped a picture of the glittering silvery mountain with his PokeNav.

Dawn smiled as she spotted a group of Cherrim cheerfully singing as they frolicked in the grass. "These little guys have always been cute to me..." she smiled as she watched the Cherrim dance. "Even more so after I competed against Lila..."

"To be honest, I kinda wanna dance with them..." Ash mused as he found a rock by the roadside to sit on. "Especially after being out in the middle of nowhere since my PokeRinger victory..."

After reflecting for a few moments on his PokeRinger win a few days before, Ash turned business like again. "But I can't rest on my laurels now! I am beyond ready for my battle in Snowpoint City!"

'I know--you've been talking about it non-stop for the last few days." Dawn smiled. "I'll have Satomi make you another victory feast if you win."

"You got it!" Ash smiled, savoring the memory of the steak Brock and Satomi had made him a few days earlier.

"There's still plenty of steaks left in our food haul, so I see no harm in making you another after you get badge number seven." Brock assured Ash as the group started down the path again.

But none of the three travelers realized that a creature with a white upper body and brown lower body that resembled a snow-covered tree was watching them...

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"Erin, Diddy, let's train!" Ash called as he heaved two Poke Balls onto a plain.

"Ready?" Brock asked as he, Dawn, Kori and Tintri watched from a small hill.

[Ready!] Diddy replied.

[I'm redy.] Erin replied with a little bow.

"Okay...three...two...one..." Some Starlies fluttered away as Brock's whistle pierced the air.

"Erin, use Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded.

[HAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!] Erin growled as she charged the familiar blue-white aura energy.

"Diddy, dodge and counter with Flamethrower!" Ash called again.

[Meet my flame aura!] Diddy taunted before jumping away from the ball of aura and heaving a wave of flames.

"Erin, dodge and try to Bite Diddy!" Ash called.

[Oof!] Erin gasped as the fire singed her face. Not one to be fettered, she lunged to bite Diddy. "I knew Erin would get stronger since she evolved..." Brock noted as Erin bit Diddy on the arm.

"The Mega Evolution ability really helps, as well." Dawn agreed as Erin threw Diddy to the grass.

Back on the plain, Ash watched as Erin let loose and backed away, allowing Diddy to get up. "Okay! We'll call the match for today!"

He smiled as Diddy collected himself. "Nice work, Diddy--your speed's improved a lot!"

He then walked to Erin, who was heaving heavily. "Well done, Erin--I was not expecting that throw."

[Was that some kind of martial art, or something?] Tintri asked.

[No--I needed a quick way to disengege.] Erin replied.

Ash noticed Erin's exhaustion. "it's okay to use your aura power to heal yourself."

[Good idea.] Erin agreed, surrounding herself with a gold aura. Once her Recover aura faded, she did not expect a wind with sparkling blue powder to come hurtling at the group. [Watch out for te--!]

A blue explosion lit up the plain, leaving the group flash-frozen in various poses of surprise, with the exception of Diddy's tail flame. The tree creature from before peeked out from behind a bush and cautiously approached the row of frozen humans and Pokemon. It giggled as it studied Ash looking oblivious, Dawn's panicked look, Brock bracing himself, Erin's warning call, and Diddy's panicked look, save for his tail flame.

It gasped as the flame melted Diddy's icy prison. [Finally, I'm out of there!]

The Snover retreated back to its bush as Diddy noticed the others in ice cubes. [Let me warm you guys up!] With that, he heaved a Flamethrower at the other ice cubes.

"What happened?" Ash asked as his ice melted away.

"I heard Erin telling us to watch out for something, and then we were frozen solid." Dawn remembered as she stepped out of her melting ice.

"Let's get going before anything else weird happens." Brock suggested. "For all I know, we could be burnt or paralyzed next!"

Ash nodded. "Diddy, Erin, return." he called. Once sure Diddy and Erin were back in their Poke Balls, he motioned for the others to follow him down the road...

---------

"So far, nothing weird's happened..." Ash mused as the group continued down the road. "Maybe things will be normal for the rest of this trip--WHOA!!!"

"I got y--!" Brock scrambled to catch Ash, only to trip on the same root Ash had tripped on, sending them tumbling down a hill.

"Maybe you two need to watch where you're g-WAUGGH!" Dawn screamed before she too tumbled down the hill.

"That's weird--there's no trees in this area, so how could we have tripped on roots?" Brock wondered as he eased himself to his feet.

He noticed two grass blades tied into a loop around his foot. "Ah ha...this is a Grass Knot, not a tree root. That means there's a mischievous Pokemon close by."

"Maybe our frozen surprise and this tripping are connected?" Dawn wondered as Brock shook off the Grass Knot.

Ash heard giggling from behind a bush. "Okay! You've got some explaining to do for freezing us and making us trip!" he vowed as he pulled back the brush, revealing the tree Pokemon.

He decided to read up on the tree Pokemon dancing before them:

"Snover, the frost tree Pokemon. Seemingly curious about people, they gather around footsteps they find on snowy mountains."

Ash did not expect the Snover to happily hug him. "Uh, hi, little guy?"

The Snover next offered Ash a white berry from its body. "Thanks, I think?" Ash asked as he took the odd white berry.

"What's going on?" Dawn asked as she and Brock watched Ash examine the berry.

"I think this mischievous Snover's actually friendly." Ash explained.

"Then why would it want to hurt us?" Dawn asked as she accepted a white berry from the Snover.

"Time to see what this odd Berry tastes like..." With that, Brock consumed his white berry.

He smiled a few moments later. "This actually tastes like chocolate--go on, eat yours!"

"Mm..you're right!" Dawn raved as she tasted her berry.

"Thanks, Snover." Ash smiled as he ate his Berry. "Is it okay if we have more to give to our Pokemon?"

[Sure--the berries grow back in a few minutes, so I can always give you more, whenever you want.] the Snover replied.

"Maybe this Snover used all the pranks so he could stop someone and share its fruit with them." Brock mused as he sliced up his new Berry.

"Well, it didn't have to go that extreme..." Ash sighed, making the Snover blush.

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That night, Ash smiled as the Snover eagerly dug into some frozen vegetables. "You like that, huh?"

Snover is part Ice, so you don't even need to cook for it--it will just eat the vegetables frozen. Satomi arrived as she brought the Snover some more frozen vegetables.

"Well, we're gonna head to bed here in a minute..." Ash started as he cleaned up his place. "We have a big day tomorrow...."

He noticed tears forming in the Snover's eyes. "Well...okay, you can spend the night; and join us for breakfast too!"

[Oh boy!] the Snover cried. [Are we gonna sing campfire songs and tell scary stories and play campfire games and...]

Dawn giggled as Brock located his guitar and started tuning up. "I see no harm in a sing along and some stories."

[I know what song we should start it with!] Tintri suggested. He waited for Brock to finish tuning, then whispered the song's name to Brock.

Brock nodded at Tintri's request, then started a brisk melody in G. I'll walk in the rain by your side
I'll cling to the warmth of your hand...

To Be Continued...