Snippet #2730138

Winter wasn't sure what to think as the smile faded from his face. There was so much stimuli heading his direction in her many actions that followed his offer. First was the way she reacted to his extending hand. It was defensive, not offensive. A lot less aggression was on the girl's face right then and a lot more apprehension. Winter could suddenly see that he dwarfed her in size by about a foot and a half. Was that...fear? Winter was surprised to learn that she could even carry such an emotion, given what Titania had told him. But the look on her face was very real. Perhaps she was more scared of him than he was of her...

The second thing he took notice of was her arms, crossed in front of her chest. Particularly on her left arm, where he noticed the scars raking across it in an unsettling fashion. Not like it had been cut or scraped by something, but like it had been shattered by something. At this point he was pretty confident the girl he was fighting wasn't human, but he was more concerned by who or what could've delivered those scars. And why? To make her tougher? To punish her for some reason?

Why was she sitting on this mountainside in the first place?

And the third was the sense of relief flowing through his own body when she nodded in acceptance to the offer. Her hands felt hard when she gripped his own while her electronic-looking eyes seemed to be searching for something within him. She wasn't smiling, but that was okay. It was the first instance of communication between the two of them and that was a breakthrough in it of itself. Who knows...maybe he did have a new friend in disguise.

His grin returned with more life to his face as their handshake broke, "It's not a trick or anything. I promise. I'm just worried for your friend."

He began walking back to his pal on the other side of their makeshift arena, glancing up at the Blastoise who had been patiently waiting. Unlike the girl, he seemed and looked very real...which brought up more questions. How did she communicate with her Pokemon? he wondered. Was it a mind link? Was it through friendship? Or maybe her team could act out on it's own...like that Chimchar he found outside Lavender Town that one time...

These were all questions he decided to hold off on asking her for now, even though his curiosity was tugging at his patience. Instead, he explained what he rationalized as the best solution for finding her, "So if we go ahead and take a Flying-Type to the sky and begin circling the mountainside, we should find your Pikachu pretty quickly!"

"Squir squir?" What are you doing? he could see the question in Lucky's eyes as Winter leaned down, inviting the Squirtle to hop onto his back.

"I don't think a Champion...well, actually no one should risk the lives of the Pokemon they encounter," he replied to his buddy, "Even those they oppose."

Lucky shrugged and glanced back at the girl. Winter reached into his parka in an effort to bring out something. A few seconds later, his clasped hand unfolded in front of her to show the whistle that one of his more intriguing friends had given him...a bird that could help him out in a pinch should he need it.

"Lemme call Arty," he said to her as he began to examine their surroundings to make sure this was a suitable place for landing, "You might wanna take a step back," he added in warning.

And then he blew the whistle. A soft, yet piercing note echoed through the snow flurries around them, even cutting through the wind. It was elegant in tone...not too harsh for ears. Winter held up a hand and began raising fingers.

One...two...three...

He stopped blowing after the third second had passed, sliding the whistle back into the spot on his concealed neck that he pulled it from. It was only a few seconds later than they would begin to hear the flapping of wings. Soft at first, but growing louder and louder with each beat. Winter smiled as he knew Arty had listened...

The Articuno suddenly appeared from the gray clouds, shimmering a bright, icy blue that seemed to encapsulate all the attention around them. The wind seemed to stop, as if frozen to the presence of the Legendary Bird. The snow even stopped falling, giving the girl full view of the incredible Pokemon. The Articuno paused for a moment, surveying the environment before landing next to Winter. It fluttered it's wings in a fluid and stable manner before glancing at Winter with an expression. You called?

"Hey Arty," Winter could actually hear himself talk for once as his tone was soft and slightly pleading, "My...friend here lost her Pokemon. It fell off this side of the cliff." He pointed to the direction he'd seen the blur move as he went on, "Any way I could convince you into helping us search for it? It's a Pikachu, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Yellow on white, right?"

The Articuno snorted in amusement as it nodded it's head and turned around, inviting the two of them to climb on.

"Thanks, Arty," Winter replied genuinely as he slid onto her back in a practiced manner. Even at his height, it was near impossible to get distracted by the notable size difference between the Champion and the Articuno. She was a big bird.

Winter turned around and offered her a hand up, remembering how hesitant she had been the first time, "It's okay. Arty's not gonna hurt you. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just take my hand and I'll help you up." He continued to show signs of pleasant and soft conversation, the smile on his face getting more vivid by the second.