Our travel up the mountain proves harsher than anticipated. After passing the night at the lake next to the glacier, and defending against multiple waves of monsters from both the ground and the sky, we resume our travel toward the distant wall of ice.

  The multiples streams coming from it make our travels difficult. The humidity makes most of the terrain slippery, which only slows me down, but we still continue.

  We finally reach the foot of the glacier late in the morning. The wall stands imperiously before us, and we already know why we have reached it. We want to attempt climbing atop the glacier.

  More exactly, I want to. Mewtwo just floats up. This climb is easier time than my two previous ones. My steel fingers and toes easily penetrates the ice, and I can use my pickaxe as a makeshift ice pick. As I climb however, Mewtwo informs me the weather appears to be turning.

  As I look up, I can confirm that dark clouds are gathering above the mountain, threatening to unleash their cargo of water upon us. I attempt to climb the tall wall of ice as fast as I can, and clear its edge just as the skies open.

  What it opens with however, is not rain as we expected, but fluffy snowflakes. We stop to let the surprising cold fluffy water fall upon us, our eyes sparkling in wonderment. It is our first time seeing snow.

  Our wonderment cuts short however, as we realize the snowfall is getting thicker. Already I can see my feet getting covered. The previously cracked glacier now appears as a perfectly flat and covered with white.

  This will be a problem. I am going to be holding you passively with telekinesis. Mewtwo warns me, and I can feel his aura cover me.

  More and more the snow falls. As we begin our trek, we quickly realize just making sure we are going the right way will have us rely on my mapping system and compass. The map being generated seems unbothered by what I can actually see. Using it with the compass, I can direct us to where the forest meets the edge of the glacier.

  The snowfall slowly morphs into a snowstorm, and soon, winds howl around us as snow lashes upon us. Mewtwo summons a safeguard around himself, protecting himself from the rage of the elements, while I simply let it wash over me. The cold only seems to help me conserve coolant. I had doubts, but it seems only heat will be a problem for me, or really cold temperatures. I raise an eyebrow at that. I am surprised I do not have a thermometer display somewhere. I let that silly idea out of my mind as we continue further upon the glacier, toward the forest.

  Mewtwo's warnings end up being worthwhile, as he has to get me out of holes and fissures multiple times. Each time I suddenly feel weightlessness take me, I feel his psychic grip tighten and drag me back up. It slowly becomes a sort of game for us. I try to feel where the snow is about to open into fissures, and Mewtwo is my life jacket should I fail to recognize one. It slows our travel time, but we do not mind.

  By the end of the afternoon, we finally reach the forest. I actually have to double-check the time, as the dark clouds makes the ambient light close to a late evening. Before us is the coniferous forest where Astra once met one of his demises. Our only experience with the zoroark species only comes from the one serving as Princess attendant, Ozo. We did not take the time to read further into Aster's journal to learn how their next encounter happened, if there was a next encounter. Our goal in going in is actually twofold. Mewtwo wishes to see if they can teach him how to master the dark type, or at least give him pointers, and thus end the quest asking for hims mastery of almost every types, and I want to see how their illusions will affect us.

  Yet, as we stand before the forest, we feel anything but welcome. Aster did not write about it, but an aura of hostility seems to seep from the forest itself.

  As we enter the cover of the trees, the snowfall thins, and we can see deeper into the forest. Well... as deep as the low light allows us to. The trees are close enough together that we can only see as far as a few meters in front of us. Deeper in, an unnatural darkness obscures our sight.

  Mewtwo takes a deep breath and then the first step. I do the same and follow after him.

  The oppressive silence that falls the moment we truly enters the forest is almost deafening. Darkness envelops us, forcing Mewtwo to light up our way with psychic glow. I take out a torch afterward, letting the gentle glow illuminate our surrounding.

  The moment we take our light source, a sudden and violent gust of wind extinguish my them Along with the wind the snowstorm rejoins us, unnaturally pushed beneath the trees. Snowflakes fly all around us, making it harder and harder for us to see anything.

  As the snowfall thicken impossibly, we lose sight of each others. And then the cold tempest abates, and I am left alone.

  "Mewtwo?" I call, warily looking around me.

  I am close Astra. He sends back, his though making me feel him almost next to me. I can sense you, but I cannot see you.

  "I cannot see you either. It's like I have just gone into another part of the forest. I'll try to guide us forward." After all, I still have my map. "How much can you sense me?"

  Your aura is veiled, but still visible. I am unsure if I will be able to find you should you go too far. He warns, and I absentmindedly nod.

  "We are going to go to our left. We need to make our way further up the mountain."

  Left, alright. Let's get going.

  "Try to warn me if I get too far."

  I'll see what I can do.

  With our new objective laid down, I begin walking East. The forest seems to be lighting up, as if morning is coming, yet I know for a fact it is still the end of the afternoon. This fact is reinforced by my torch still casting it yellow light around me, giving what I am seeing an eerie and fake impression.

  "Do you think we could try to talk with them?" I ask aloud.

  I am unsure, they are surprisingly good at hiding themselves. I have been attempting to find the absence in my senses that normally comes with dark types, but nothing has come up at this point. Mewtwo responds, They seem to be sheltering some other pokemons however, I can sense ghost and normal type energy all around us.

  "Uh, weird. Well, let's keeaaaaaaaahh!" I suddenly scream as the ground beneath my feet turns out to be no ground at all.

  Astra! Mewtwo thoughts fade quickly as I slide down a frozen slope. The luminous environment vanishes, replaced by the return of the snowstorm along with deep darkness. I let go of my torch, its yellow glow quickly fading away as illusions whisk it away.

  My slide ends into a clearing where wind howls and snow flies thick. I can barely make out the trees surrounding me. Even worse, it seems this clearing does not exists. My map shows I am supposed to be right next what might be another cliff leading lower down the mountain and into a lower part of the forest. Just as I see that, a warm light appears in the direction of the cliff, confirming that one of the zoroark is trying to lead me into another fall.

  "Mewtwo?" I call out, hoping he can still sense me.

  No answers come and I curse. I take out another torch, letting its warm light illuminate my surrounding. The light surprisingly reveals where the illusions are, as the snow takes a minute to begin reflects the new source of illumination. Some of the trunk light up for a moment, and I decide to move toward them.

  The moment I turn away from the trapped light, it vanishes and the winds howl louder. Snow, actual snow, not illusions slaps my exposed face and attempts to penetrate every accessible parts of my armor. I mostly ignore it. The cold does not bother me. The flakes impacting my eyes however do bother me. They make my vision flicker with white and force me to blink more than I would like.

  I finally reach one of the real trees and consult my map. The cliff I on continues for a good amount of distance and , if I am understanding the pixelized rendition of my surrounding as seen from above right, should allow me to join back with the higher part of the forest. A sudden beacon light up in the distance, and I let out a laugh.

  'Frend: 54m'

  The frend beacon. Its diamond shaped icon pierces through everything, trees and illusions alike. As I look, I can see the distance lowering at high speed, until it reaches 25m and it vanishes.

  "Mewtwo?" I call out once more.

  Astra! The thought is faint, almost inaudible. They'- ing me- can't- move- coming.

  I try to make sense of what he is attempting to tell me. Something is clearly trying to stop him from reaching me.

  "Mewtwo, if you can hear me or my thoughts, continue east, I will meet up with you further up!" I scream at the top of my lungs. I raise an eyebrow as the illusions surrounding me almost break at that. Was I so loud?

  -On"t - oming- ay- More broken thoughts reach me, and I give up in trying to understand them.

  I orient myself to walk along the edge of the cliff, and begin the trek to rejoin with my friend.

  The whole process turns out to be both easier and harder than before at the same time. Easier in the sense that most illusions sent to lead me astray are ignored, but harder when said illusions change from trying to lead me astray to simply hiding as many obstacles as possible.

  I stop counting how many trees I crash into after the tenth. The snow continues to fall on me in increasing force, and I start to feel something else along with it. It is subtle at first, but my armor slowly start to freeze over. Tiny patches of ice slowly grow along the plates. I mostly ignore it at first, the ice simply helps me cool down after all. When my legging grips and almost has me stumble, I begin to worry.

  This ice is not natural. Something is trying to freeze me. And it is working, albeit really slowly. My left arm, still holding the inextinguishable torch, is completely locked in ice, and it takes me some efforts to free it. This has to be a pokemon move. Hiding it with the snow, and the winds... The winds! Okay, now I know what I am feeling and why, some pokemon is using icy wind. Now better question, what do I do about it? My first thought is also one I would consider a dumb one: I remove my armor. I am generating enough heat to simply melt any ice forming upon me, however my armor does not heat up as much as I am, making it easier for ice to form on it. The solution to stop that from happening would be to remove my armor. Which would then leave me open to more direct attacks, hence why it is dumb. Yet as I continue to move, my armor keeps freezing over and over again. Soon each steps is a battle to just keep advancing.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  I decide to cave in and remove my armor. The moment it is gone, I realize how much it had restricted my movements, and begins to move faster. However, it seems the pokemon trapping me is also aware of that. Something slashes at my back, and I barely have the time to see a blur of white and red disappear into the darkness. That was not a zoroark. I scan the place where the blur has gone with my torch, but nothing appears. A remain alert for a minute, the only sound surrounding me being the wind, the faint sound of snow falling and the hiss of ice and snow evaporating from me.

  After a minute of nothing, I reorient myself, and begin jogging up the path. I have my right hand extended before me, while my left still hold my torch. I make use of my reflexes to quickly circumvent any trees I find. Whatever has just attacked me does not attempt to do so again, but I remain weary.

  And it pays off, as a sudden lance of dark energy pierces the illusion veil around me, and almost impale me. I jump left the only direction that would allow me to avoid the strike without falling to the foot of the mountain, only to impact a tree. The rebound returns me partially on the the dark pulse path, and I am sent backward from the impact. A dark laughter echoes around me, and this time, a pulsing orb of energy exits from between the trees. I once more try to avoid it, but end up finding another tree. Snarling, I decide to ignore the attacks altogether and continue up the path I have chosen.

  I look around as I run, watching as Mewtwo's marker flicker on and off as he leaves and then renter the 25 meters radius around myself. I will not get help from him right now.

  My new tactic seems to confuse my aggressor however, as the attacks simply impact me, carving deep gouges into my body, or making me stumble. I press on anyway. When I see my energy dip below thirty percent, I quickly devour some of my stockpiled food to fill it back to full.

  The attacks continue all the way to where the cliff meets back with the higher parts of the forest. Once I get there, I reorient myself east, and begins going back up toward Icen Sky Peak. From Aster's entry, we had expected hostility, but this goes beyond simple territorial defense. The attacks are meant to hurt, and have some maliciousness built into them. Whatever pokemon is behind them despises our presence, and it is making sure we are aware of it.

  As I go up, my path is suddenly blocked by ghostly apparitions. I can only describe what I am seeing as zombiefied, spectral zoroarks. Their dark and red fur are encrusted with dry blood, and all bear horrendous wounds exposing rotting flesh and white bones. Their hollow eyes lock onto me with pure hatred burning in them, and with a howl, they jump at me.

  Their claws rend me apart, their jaws crush and tear apart metal and flesh alike. Blood spurts forth, red and... hold on! The illusion breaks, and only a white and red figure stands atop my chest, its claws covered in shiny silver fluid. It seems as confused as I am. I regain my senses first, and push it off my chest. I get back up and look as the figure gracefully lands on its clawed feet. It snarls at me before vanishing in a whirlwind of snow.

  I blink as I try to make sense of what I have just seen. This looked like a zoroark, if a zoroark was white and red instead of dark gray and red. Also it seems to barely be real, like a ghost...

  Claws bury themselves on my back, and I am sent back into the layer of snow covering the ground. I roll around, coming face to face with the strange zoroark once more, who is once again looking at his silver covered claws in confusion.

  Before either of us can do anything however, a shadow ball impacts upon the zoroark. The purple energy washes upon him without the slightest of effects. It snarls, actually using the move along with his growls, and vanish. Seconds later, Mewtwo heavily lands close to me. His back sports deep gouges. Before he can get back up, the zoroark appears behind him from thin air, and adds another couple of gashes on my friend, earning a cry of pain from him.

  I get up and charge the pokemon, trying to grab his attention. I succeed, in grabbing his attention. The zoroark screams at deafening levels, making my entire body convulse even as waves of sound wash over me. My vision glitches under the sonic pressure. The distraction proves to be enough however, as Mewtwo is able to chase the aggressive pokemon away with a psystrike. The powerful psychic move sends the zoroark flying back, and my friend faintly glow as the wounds on his back close.

  The white zoroark quickly returns to his feet, and I finally get the time to have a good look at him. And the WAYLA system answers my question. This is a zoroark, however, it is an alternate form called a hisuian zoroark. It is both ghost and normal type, explaining how Mewtwo's shadow ball simply impacted without any effects.

  The aggressive pokemon flickers out of existence, and I quickly jog to Mewtwo's side. "You okay?" I ask him as I help him get up.

  I have been better. What is that thing? It looks like a zoroark, but clearly it is not.

  "No he is," I answer him, and I quickly pull up the description from the pokedex. Mewtwo eyes go wide and I can feel anger radiate from him.

  That explains... a lot. He says to me, as the winds pick back up and snow obscures our vision once more. What level is he?

  "381" I declare.

  Mewtwo shudders, and we prepare ourselves. We now know what is hunting us, and I have a slight suspicion as to where it came from, as well as why he is attacking us. From Mewtwo's pained expression, I can confidently say he is sharing my suspicions as well.

  I crank my senses up, letting every minute details flow into my mind, every hushed sounds reach my ears, even smells and tastes. I can feel Mewtwo's psychic aura flare and cover our immediate surrounding. He is looking, just like I am.

  Clawed hands erupt from the snow, the dark furred arms they are linked to are covered in wounds. They catch both our ankles, pinning Mewtwo to the ground and stopping me from moving. The zoroark strikes us as we try to free ourselves. He dashes again and again at Mewtwo, leaving wounds from shadow covered claws. He seems to be ignoring me, and I struggle to free myself out of my bounds. I really do not want to have to hurt a pokemon, yet I feel like I will have to.

  Mewtwo summons a protective bubble around himself, parrying the next attack of the zoroark. The bipedal fox recoil in surprise, and fury grows upon his face. Wisps of purple begin to escape from his body, and ethereal violet tendrils rush us both.

  The purple tentacles pass right through us. Mewtwo screams in pain, and I can feel my entire body burn and freeze at the same time. Once the attack has passed, I can see frozen spots all other both my body and Mewtwo's. Before we can retaliate, the zoroark sends another wave, his entire body glowing a deeper purple, and his screams laced with both hatred and pain. Tears seems to be flowing from his eyes.

  Mewtwo barely has time to raise a protect, and I once more get engulfed by the attack. My vision glitch, purple artifacts filling it, until it just cuts for what might have been a second. yet when it returns, I am face down in the snow.

  I raise my head just in time to see Mewtwo go onto the attack. He slashes with a psychic blade, and follows with a psychic strike. Both attacks seems to exhaust the zoroark. He attempts to strike at Mewtwo once more, but my friend raises another protect, letting the attack wash over him without hurting him. I can see the frozen spots upon his body are hindering him somewhat, yet he persevere. Another strike with a psychic blade sees the zoroark cry out in pain, but that seems to fuel his hatred to greater heights.

  Mewtwo has overextended himself, and this next attack will hit. I rise to my feet and rush for my friend. Mewtwo realize he should not have committed to another strike too late. Unable to abort his attack, he brace himself for what is to come. He never receive the attack however. Now once more fully armored, I shoulder check him out of the way. Mewtwo is sent out of the lashes of bitter malice, and I suffer the full power of the move.

  Cold and fire, fire and cold. I see tiny dark gray foxes with tufts of red upon their heads. They play happily, under the gaze of zoroarks many. Then comes the humans, and with them hate. The zoruas flee, while the zoroarks fight. Snow falls, a zoroark falls. Then another, and another. Until the zoruas are left, undefended and helpless.

  Do the humans go? Happy with their bounty? No.

  With glee they cut, with smiles they slaughter. Until none remain, until all are slain.

  Where was the man who promised protection? Where did our herald go? Why were we left alone? We are alone.

  From the corpses of the zoroarks, wisps of white gather. As the spilled blood flows, slowly it gathers.

  And I watch as the hatred of the Icen Sky Peak clan of zoroarks coalesces into a new form. Similar to a zoroark, yet filled with so much hatred. It sees not the world as a place to live and attempt to thrive. It only sees it for what the humans have taught the clan. A place where they are meant to suffer, where they only serve as fodder.

  I shall be fodder no longer! Come again monsters. Come and see what your actions have brought to completion!

  With a howl, the hisiuan zoroark makes his promise to the sky, and in the distance, the dark laughter of a thirsting god echoes upon the land.

  My sight returns into snow again. I have 'passed out' again. My hearing returns next, and the crack of attacks and cries of pains fill my ears.

  I test my limbs, and find them functional. A quick glance at my energy reserves has me worried. I am in the red once more. I wince, and quickly get back up.

  What I first see is Mewtwo relentlessly attacking the zoroark. Sadly, it seems my friend has gone blind with anger. His attacks are furious and unending, but also leave him open to retaliation. The zoroark takes full advantage of that, letting my friend's unfocused attack strike him ineffectively and striking back to devastating effects.

  Mewtwo sends an energy ball straight into the zoroark mane, only for the fox to dash forward and impale my friend with his claws. Mewtwo cough out blood, falling down on the ground. Seeing this, I get up and rush to his side.

  As the zoroark prepares to deliver the final blow, I jump over Mewtwo. I land on my knees, arms extended. The zoroark strikes, unable to stop himself. His claws buries themselves through my chestplate, and into my chest. This seems to surprise our foe, and before he can recover. I pull him into a hug.

  I can feel the cold form of the zoroark against me, even through my armor. I hold him tight, even as he struggle a bit to disengage. His ethereal white and red mane tickles my face. Yet I hold onto him. Fighting is not the way anymore. I have seen what happened, may it have been willing or unwilling. Softly I whisper into his ear. "Please, calm yourself, it's over. Please, you did your best. You did all you could." Over and over, I repeat myself.

  I feel his entire body freeze. Then the zoroark begins to tremble. He howls in pain and sadness, and I can feel his ghostly aura leak into me once more. My body seize slightly, but I concentrate to make sure I continue holding him in a kind and warm embrace. Soon enough, the howl breaks into loud sobs and the zoroark hugs me back with his free arm. I continue my litany. I feel the ice cold tears run on the fox pokemon cheeks, as some land on my armor, rolling beneath it. The zoroark cries, and I let him.

  We stay like this for a minute, I let my voice fade slowly. Our savage foe has calmed at last.

  Are you okay? Mewtwo sends me, from the lack of sound I assume he is still lying in the snow.

  I should be the one asking that, I think for him, unsure how the zoroark would react to me talking to my friend.

  I am not the one with claws sticking through their back. He answers back.

  Well, at least I am not bleeding out... Although maybe I should have him remove his hand. I don't want him getting stuck within my body because the nanomachines rebuilt around my body around his arm.

  That should not be a problem, your silver blood is just wriggling around, but not doing much I think. Also, I can heal myself as well. Do you think I can move?

  Not sure... The zoroark tears have dried, and now he is simply hugging me. I can see nothing but white and red as his mane completely obscure my vision.

  Well, I'll try. Mewtwo declares, and before I can tell him no, I hear the crunch of moving snow.

  The zoroark stiffens again, and I can feel his head whip to where Mewtwo is lying. His mane begins to wave faster, and I pat the zoroark's back, hoping to calm him. This seems to work, to an extent. The presence of the zoroark suddenly vanishes, and I end up holding nothing anymore. He reappears a few meters away from us, hunched almost on all four. His mane floats around his face, letting only one his yellow eyes be visible.

  I give him a small smile and a wave. This seems to surprise him, and he looks at his right paw in curiosity, before pointing at my chest. I raise my hands and shake my head. I then point at my chest. I can already feel it close itself up. This seems to confuse the zoroark even more, and he vanishes away.

  He is gone. Mewtwo declares.

  "Oh Thank the Trio!" I exclaim, letting myself fall on my ass. I then take out as much food as I can out of my inventory and inhale it as fast as I can. A second later and I would have gone to zero again. This is not something that either of us can deal with right now.

  I take out orans, leppas, and a couple of lum berries for Mewtwo as well, and he quickly devours them.

  Once our condition is stabilized, I take a look at the map. Our little adventure has taken us halfway through the forest. The way up seems rather straightforward, and except if that zoroark attempts to attack us again, we should able to continue to the peak without problems.

  I... I am sorry. Mewtwo suddenly blurts.

  "For what?" I ask confused.

  I am still too weak. He declares.

  "You held out pretty well against something more than two times your level."

  He nods, without giving me an answer. As I look at him, I can see his head bob up and down. He is exhausted. Even the berries are not enough to fully recover him right now.

  "Get some rest, I do not think the zoroark will attack us again." And I have a feeling monsters will not bother us here. I add to myself.

  Thank you. Mewtwo begins floating, getting into a fetal position, and soon enough, he is sound asleep.

  As I expected, the night passes without a single monster bothering us, and when the morning comes, heralded by the sky turning a gentle pink, we resume our trek to the top of Ice Cap tallest peak.

  Unseen to the duo, unfelt by the one attuned to the mind and soul, a shadow lurks close during the night. It comes and go, watching the duo rest.

  When the sun rises, and the duo goes, the shadow follows.

  Curiosity has shaken the zoroark out of grief. From the death of the clan he may have been borne, but that should not meant he should forever stay bound.

  The past happened, and it may be time to see how the world has moved.

  Thus, unseen and unfelt, he follows. Where will they go? He does not know.

  And that is a call he wants to answer, the call to the unknown.