Day three of hiking. Joe woke up early. Went outside. Stretched. Breathed in deeply. The smell of a fresh morning. Nothing better in the world. There was still water vapour in the air. It shined off the grass as the sun rose.

He packed up, Sprigatito dangling from his collar. Only her head and front paws were outside and she was still unhappy. He understood. It was noticeably colder. He expected his jacket to handle one more day. Then he'd pull out a thick coat. Sprigatito might go inside her Pokeball until a lower elevation.

Joe had stopped at a good time yesterday. The trail was tough first thing in the morning. Big rocks on the ground. He had to be careful not to slip off one and twist an ankle. He walked along small ledges. Grass became patchy. In its place there was just dirt and rock.

Joe walked along another cliff face. Spotted a cave. He peeked inside. A car could fit inside, but nothing more. He felt a deep rumble. Grabbed his phone. Turned the light on. Aimed it inside the cave. He spotted a bulky Pokemon sleeping. Brown skin. Or was it made of rock? He couldn't quite tell. Square orange plates wrapped around the Pokemon's torso. From this angle Joe could see a horn on its head. It snored and Joe felt that rumble again. Oh, he knew this one. Rhyperior. He'd seen it on television.

Another Pokemon was here too. It rested atop the rotund belly of Rhyperior. It had a long yellow body and a black head. Blue light coursed through its droopy black ears as it breathed. Joe didn't know this small one.

The two Pokemon shifted from the light of Joe's phone. He covered the back of his phone with a hand. Moved on.

It didn't take long for the trail to get worse. Joe had to steady himself at times. Place his hands on the steep path. Green had entirely vanished.

Once he was high enough, Joe looked west. Seeing New Bark from so high up was weird. He'd never hiked up a mountain before. He didn't know what this feeling was. He couldn't see specifics, but imagining so many people going about their life in one shot made his heart rate increase a little. The hundreds, maybe thousands, of cars rushing about. Tens of thousands of people working or learning or relaxing. Joe had a hard time dragging himself away from the sight.

That night, Joe stopped right by snow. Mt. Silver was a snowcapped mountain. It had to start somewhere, but to so plainly see the border between rock and snow was odd. Joe made another campfire. Sat down. Sprigatito came out from under his shirt. She hadn't seen snow before. She moved right next to it. Tapped the white powder with a paw. Felt a chill run along her body, from her paw to her body to her tail. She rushed back to Joe. Scurried up his shirt. Stayed there. Joe grinned. Scratched her head through his shirt. Relaxed. Put a lantern on a thin pole. Pulled a book out. Watched his breath dissipate. Started reading until he was tired.

Day four of hiking. Daybreak happened a while ago. Joe wore his thick coat. Sprigatito poked her head out of the collar again. It was snowing lightly. A flake landed on the cat's nose. She sneezed. Whined. Looked up at Joe.

"Do you want to go into your Pokeball for a bit?" He asked. Sprigatito nodded so he obliged, his hand already in his pocket because he expected this. He brought the Pokeball out. He tapped her gently. She went away with a flash of blue. He pocketed the ball. Carried on. He had a strange feeling. Something was off. Couldn't pinpoint it. Another gut feeling.

Another hour passed. The path between steep and narrow. He peered down. A massive drop. Hundreds of feet. The path split. One went further up. One was along a cliff. Joe took the latter. He thought back to his earlier feelings. His instincts were still firing off, but he couldn't figure it out. He observed his surroundings. There wasn't much to look at. What was he looking for? What had triggered his subconscious?

Joe rounded a slight bend. A Pokemon came into view further up the trail. Red skin. White fur was rustled by a strong wind. Sharp green eyes. A horn ran up the right side of its head. Joe approached. He felt like he'd seen one. What was it again…? An Absol? That sounded right. He'd seen them in mountainous regions in documentaries. But this one had red skin. That seemed wrong. Joe was sure Absol had black skin.

Absol shifted. It barked at Joe multiple times. Joe kept walking. He didn't think much of it. Sometimes wild Pokemon got rowdy. And this was the only path forward. Absol lowered its body. Let out a deep, guttural growl. Its thick claws crunched snow and dug into dirt. Joe took another step forward. The horn on Absol's head glowed pink with energy.

Joe stopped. Absol was preparing an attack. From Joe's experience, confrontational wild Pokemon almost never followed through. Something had agitated Absol.

"What, you're gonna attack innocent ol' me?" Joe put on an accent. Wanted to de-escalate with humour. Bridge the gap in communication. Find out what was wrong. Maybe Joe could help.

Absol ignored his comment. Swung its head with a bark. Unleashed the pink energy from its horn. The pink arc cut through air. Struck the cliff by Joe's side. A lethal warning shot. Joe saw a gouge in the rock a foot deep. He was prepared to dodge, but where would he go? This narrow path was just about fit for two people side by side.

Joe threw his hands up. "All right, I'll back off. But if you need help, just ask. Or, well, you can't speak human language. Bark or something…?" Joe's assumption was that Absol was guarding something. Maybe an injured friend. Maybe a partner giving birth. Joe just had to wait it out. Give Absol a few hours.

Absol didn't respond. Just continued to growl and bark intermittently while glaring at Joe. Joe considered how to make himself useful. Absol gave one last extremely loud bark and spun around. Joe felt frustration from Absol. His brow furrowed but only for a moment. Something struck the mountain with a deafening crack. Joe thought he saw a flash of yellow. Electricity. Massive chunks of rock hit the path. Blocked the way forward. Kicked up snow. Created something of a fog.

Joe raised his hand. Looked through his fingers. Situational awareness. He didn't want to be blind to a threat.

It clicked. That feeling from earlier? He hadn't seen any wild Pokemon all day. He should have seen some flying around. In small nooks in the cliff. Even waddling about on the mountain path. But there had been nothing. Pokemon had intense instincts. They had sensed trouble and ran. Absol remained to scare away stragglers. Stragglers like Joe. It knew trouble was coming and wanted to help. Joe liked Absol. Selfless. His kind.

He almost wanted to laugh at the last loud bark Absol had given him. Probably calling him an idiot in Pokemon language.

Snow drifted on the wind. Joe lowered his hand. His eyes widened. A mighty beast stood atop the rubble it had created. Black, yellow, and white fur across its body. Strong legs of muscle. Four powerful paws. A long purple cape of fur across its back. Tough as diamonds fangs running down its chin. Its pink eyes were glaring at Joe.

"What the hell is Raikou doing here…?"