Champion's Sword, Galar's Shield (Leon x OC)

01 - Encounter

Somewhere south of Wyndon...

The blizzard had gotten worse, and it made Cassandra even more grateful for her Arcanine that pressed through the high drifts and freezing winds. Snow pelted his coat, but it was plenty thick and heat radiating from within his belly, so he was unfazed. It helped her keep warm, too, where her thermal coat and winter gear didn't do the job. Luckily, she had become somewhat accustomed to such weather in the higher raeaches of the Wyndon mountains during dead of winter. After all, she'd only been camping for months now with her Pokémon, enduring all it had to give. If anything, this was just another Monday-if it was that, she honestly wasn't sure-although it was windier than she expected. Visibility was almost minimal, but her Arcanine's nose and keen sense of direction were practically second to none.

Glancing through her ski-goggles and beneath her fur-lined hood she could just make out the rise of a ledge, the shape of which reminded her of a Dragonite's head, horn and all. The cave she and her team had come to take shelter in was that way, up on the very ledge they were nearing. It wouldn't be long now before she and the others in their pokéballs could get warm. She imagined the three she left waiting for her there were getting a little worried, but they couldn't bear the cold like the others could. She would have rather not gone out at all today, but they were a little low on supplies. They'd ventured out in originally in sunshine, but that was one of the dangers of any trek in the mountains: weather changed quickly. That, or sometimes the dangerous, and occasionally unruly ice-type Pokémon living here liked to throw a fit. This time, though, it had been only nature talking.

"You doing okay, Arc?" Cassandra spoke loudly over the wind, touching the soft, white-tan fur of her companion. He glanced back, blue eyes bright in the dimming light, and gave an affirmative bark. She nodded and urged him off, nestling her body into the back part of his mane. As always, she could trust her friend, who had her back since she was just a young girl. They had always been together, and nothing, not even Arceus itself, could tear them apart. She could say the same for the rest of her team, of course, even if some she'd only met here a year ago in the Galar region. They were her team, and she couldn't imagine life without them.

Arcanine suddenly paused, ears flicking back and forth quickly as its head turned this way and that. Cassandra watched carefully, trying to read the signs. He was uncertain of whatever it was he was hearing, no doubt the noise and scent swept up and away in the winds, but he could sense it. She felt the rumble in his chest move through his body, but it was of concern, rather than unease. Seeing nothing ahead, the young woman raised her gaze skyward, peering through the mostly white blur. There was something out there-her Arcanine was sure of it. But no flying Pokémon would dare do so during a storm, and there were no flying ice-types around here. Not that she knew of-or anywhere besides Articuno, but that beautiful creature was easily a thousand miles away in Kanto somewhere still. So, what could it be?

"Ah!" she gasped, spotting the flicker of red the same time her Arcanine did, alerting her with a bark. He bounded towards it, though not too quickly. Yet, even so, the red was approaching faster, bobbing unnaturally and seemingly against the wind. It was a Pokémon, that she was sure of. Arc wouldn't act like he was did if it wasn't, and his concern cemented one thing for her: it was hurt. An injured fire Pokémon wouldn't last long out here. Oh, to be sure they could endure the cold better than most besides an ice type, but even they had limits. Fires could go out.

The red light suddenly plummeted, a mournful cry echoing through the blizzard's howl. Arc's bounding turned to quick leaps; snow blasted behind with each push of its powerful legs. The red was flickering now, so very weak in the white, and panic filled her. The Pokémon didn't have long, but, thankfully, her companion was faster.

She couldn't help staring at the sight before her.

A Charizard.

A full-fledged, living Charizard.