Shelf Life ❄️ Pokémon Short Story

5 ❄️ Breaking the Ice

7:40 AM

Finally came the hill. From the top, they could see Fema's Floor, sitting partially buried at the foot of Mount Coronet. Jim thought it looked quaint.

"I'll go by the school first," Troy told him. "Then Merrick can take you to Daniel's place. He knows the way."

"I wish I could pay you," Jim said gratefully.

"Sure!" Troy replied, only half-joking. It looked like he was going to be on time after all, and he was relieved. "I'm saving up for a pellet gun. I only need ten more dollars."

Before they could reach the Floor, they had to cross the river. It was barely discernible from the rest of the white landscape at the bottom of the hill — snow had covered it during the night, and now he could only pick out the bank by the placement of the three trees that dotted the shore. One was small and bush-like, and looked like a black Brussel sprout from afar. Troy led Merrick over to it, and then peered out across the white expanse. Jim leaned around him.

"Is this it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Troy said. "We have to choose a good place to cross."

Merrick paced, growling lowly, and Jim said, "Isn't Merrick a little too heavy for this?"

"Nope! We've done it plenty of times before. Just have to choose the right place." Troy scanned the invisible river, and his eyes caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw nothing; then Aster came down, settling on the Brussel sprout tree, folding his wings in. Troy turned back to the river.

"How can you tell where it's safe to cross?" Jim asked.

Troy shrugged. "It's hard to explain..."Pap had once explained it to him, but he'd done it so often that he now chalked it up to intuition. His and Merrick's — the Mamoswine suddenly stooped, tapping his tusks against a stretch of snow a yard in front of them. Troy heard the tusks hit ice, and Merrick growled, drawing up.

"He doesn't like it," Troy said. "I guess we'll try further down."

They moved along the riverbank and tested several other sites, Merrick with his tusks, Troy with his eyes. Soon, he began to grow frustrated — the river was frozen, yet portions were melting with the rising sun, thinning the layers of ice they needed to safely cross. Worse, some stretches were turning into black ice, which were much too slippery even for Merrick's dexterous, careful feet.

"Let me try," Jim said suddenly, surprisingly. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Aster fluttered over, circling low over Merrick, and Jim said, "Help us out, Aster. We need a good place to cross. We need thick patches of ice."

In a way Troy couldn't comprehend, the Staravia seemed to understand — two wing beats, and he came to land on the snow-covered surface of the river and stopped, drilling against the ice with his beak. He rose up, then came down again several meters away, and went back to Pecking.

"What's he doing?" Troy asked.

"The vibrations tell him how thick it is," Jim explained. "He does the same thing when searching for prey — certain bug-types only nest in trees with thick bark, some in trees with thinner bark. The thickness tells him where he should try actually foraging."

Troy was impressed — Jim called him smart, but he had some tricks of his own up the sleeves of his sports jacket. Maybe he can get a gym badge in Snowpoint City — if he makes it there!

A short time later, the Staravia squawked triumphantly, and Merrick made his way over. Out of the corner of his eye, Troy caught that flash of movement again; he turned to see what it was. Again, there was nothing. Am I seeing things?