Once again, I was questioning the choices that had brought me to this point. While Charm and I had been underground, the snow had continued to fall and by now, I wondered whether I’d even be able to make it back to town, if I wanted to brave the weather. Most likely, I wouldn’t and with the wind howling as it was even Charm’s newly acquired wings wouldn’t get me there safely.

Knowing that my dear partner needed to rest, I called Charm back into his Pokéball and crawled into my sleeping bag, not planning to sleep but trying to get as warm as possible. After a moment of shivering contemplation, I called out Vio, pulling her into the bag with me and hugging her closely. While she was far cooler than Charm, obviously, she was still a warm body and together, the bag quickly reached a pleasant temperature.

“This might take a while,” I admitted, getting a cooing sound from her, while she simply cuddled into me, her arms snaking around my body. It was a little awkward, dear Vio was nuzzling into my chest in a manner I didn’t know what to think about, but I wasn’t about to forgo the warmth because of some strange feelings.

“I wonder what sort of Pokémon those were. Iron Ant, pretty sure they’re not native to Sinnoh. Otherwise, there’d have been more information on them in the ‘dex,” I mused, trying to keep my mind engaged to stave off the inevitable boredom.

Alas, there was only so much inane chatter I could produce, before my mind needed outside stimulus. Given that Vio was still snuggled against my chest, I decided to give her a bit of training. After gently poking her into awareness, ignoring the weird sensations I felt when she tried to bury herself in my chest, I wiggled around in order to get into a sitting position without leaving the warmth of the sleeping bag. Once I was sitting against the wall, I turned Vio around, so she essentially sat on my lap, her head resting against my shoulder, before quietly directing her to act.

One exercise was to block off the mouth of the cave, keeping wind from flowing in, another was to create snowballs from the snow outside and toss them into the storm. It was a purely telekinetic exercise, one to increase her control, the other to increase her stamina and I happily rewarded her with additional cuddles, each time she finished one of them.

And while she worked, I tried to get a better feeling for the tingling feeling I experienced when she used her psychic powers so close to me. It was almost as if I could feel her use, though I had no idea what that might mean, how it might affect either of us or if I could do anything with it. It was one thing to see a Pokémon’s power at work, but to feel it directly was something else. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but there was a small part of me that was happy for the ability. It made me feel closer to my dear Vio.

After a while, Vio’s breathing was laboured and I stopped trying to encourage her to continue working. She repeated the exercises one more time, before leaning against my chest once more, her large, expressive eyes falling close. I considered sending her back into her Pokéball so she could rest comfortably but given how content she looked and how happy she had snuggled up against me, I decided to leave her out. She might need some extra food later, resting in her Pokéball would allow her to conserve more energy, but it wasn’t as if I had to scrimp on food. As soon as the storm outside ended, I’d venture back to Snowpoint City, where I’d be able to restock. Maybe pick up a task or some paid work I could complete outside of town, even during the winter. Sure, I had my stipend as a travelling trainer, but if I wanted some luxuries, I’d have to get the money somewhere else.

Soft snores pulled me from my thoughts and I realised that Vio’s breathing had evened out, her head turned to the side and she was slumbering. I had never heard her snore, the sheer adorableness of her bringing a grin to my face. She was just too precious for this world.

Not wanting to wake up my cute partner, I didn’t even try to move, instead, I closed my eyes as well, letting my mind drift some more.

As I was sitting there, my mind somewhere between dream and wakefulness, I felt a strange pull, a beckoning call. I couldn’t understand where it was coming from, or how I could feel it, but I felt drawn to it. My mind started to drift after the call, downwards, into the earth beneath. I couldn’t say how far I had gone, or what tunnels I’d have to take, but I could see a strange glint in the darkness, a shining rainbow of light that gently illuminated the blackness around me. The light was comforting, filling me with calm, blissful energy in a way that I had never felt before.

Blinking my eyes open, I realised that I had fallen asleep at some point, my head resting against’s Vio’s and a few of my tears wetting her hair. Leaning against the wall behind me, I controlled my breathing, trying to understand what had just happened. Seeing that gem, feeling its pull, it was incredible. Impossible. Even now, I could feel the faintest sensation of longing, the pull still there, though muted and incredibly weak.

After a quick check on my ‘dex to see the time, I realised that I had been asleep for almost two hours, making me wonder just how deep underground the stone might be, but at the same time, I realised that I didn’t care. I wanted, no, maybe I needed to know what was going on with that stone, why I had seen it. There was a small part of me that questioned the sensation, whether it was something pushed on me from the outside, but I just couldn’t tell. Was I compelled by an outside force, or was I curious, but scared and thus imagined a reason why I shouldn’t go?

Shaking my head, I pushed the paranoid thoughts aside, gently pressed a kiss on Vio’s head and woke her up.

“Dear, can you memorise this cave? If something really bad happens underground, do you think you can teleport us back here?” I asked Vio, getting a thoughtful look in return before she gave a determined chirp and nod.

“Thank you, dear,” I pressed another kiss against her hair, her delighted chirps bringing a grin to my face, “There’s something strange down there, I want to check it out. Knowing you can get us out if need be takes a weight off my heart. But now, get some more rest, I’m planning to make you, Aura and Su do most of the heavy fighting down there,” I told her, before calling her back into her Pokéball after another brief hug.

Pulling another Pokéball from my belt, I called out my original partner.

“Charm, come out,” I pushed the button on his Pokéball and immediately, the temperature in the cave went up, allowing me to leave my sleeping bag without starting to shiver.

“Buddy, are you okay with going down there again? There’s something weird that I want to check out. I don’t plan on making you fight unless necessary. You need to get used to your new form and all that, I’m not sure how well your experience and instincts translate over,” I admitted, squeezing one of his claws.

And then, after eating a brief meal, I started to climb back down with Charm. His new form had quite a few advantages, the biggest was that he had to additional limbs to stabilise himself with, while he was easily strong enough to pick me up, allowing us to reach ledges we wouldn’t have managed before.

Just like earlier, I made sure to mark our path, otherwise getting lost in the Underground wasn’t just a possibility but a certainty. As we moved, I began to study the tunnels we were moving through, not just trying to find a path along the line of the pull within me, but actually look at the rocks Charm’s dancing flames revealed, looking for patterns and colours.

It was quite fascinating, there were a few, tiny specks of glinting crystals, and at other places the stone had strange colourations, shifting with the light of Charm’s flame. Despite the cold, somewhat wet air here, there was an undeniable beauty to the Underground. One that I couldn’t help but want to study more.