WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

FERNANDO’S ENTRANCE is anything but special. no flying or teleportation. just a brisk pace jog from lilycove’s beach to get his circulation flowing and heart rate elevated. while dressed for the occasion, his sleeves cut just short of his forearm. bare hands and tight cuffs leave his hand and feet open, sacrificing warmth for sure footing.

he breaches the cave’s opening a good ten minutes after her message is received. the rosy bite of the coastal breeze nips his nose with a faint pink, chilled at the finger tips and brushed along a line of goosebumps.

“ready,” he asks upon approach. his hands remain clasped, taking the occasional breath to fill them with hot air.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

“FOR TRACTION,” he answers without missing a beat. there’s no thought or pause behind it. just a single, honed answer that comes with a pragmatic background that highlights what he values and how much thought he’s already put into it.

his fingers flex as he breaks them out of their hold. “the center is insulated enough. besides, that’s what i have you for.” the meaning is obtuse but there’s a reason they’re matched up in pairs instead of spelunking solo.

“i’ll be fine,” he reassures. to her credit, he does indeed have a pokemon fit for the occasion. however, he refrains from using it just yet.

“slipping from bad footing is more prone to injury than the temperature.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

“AH.” well, easy for her to say.

indeed, it would be ideal to rely on pokemon. it makes just about everything easier. but fernando is stubborn and for good reason. reliance devolves into dependency, a trait he wants to remove himself from through any means necessary.

so he takes the path by foot. careful steps under the watchful gaze of both eyes front and center. frozen rock is tapped, pressed, and then committed as he moves as a slow and cautious pace.

he lacks the finesse of her lycanroc but their progress is steady.

“what were you hoping to find, myrtle?”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

UNBEAT AND UNABASHED catches him by surprise. if not for his current predicament, fernando’s sudden deadpan expression would’ve been comical. instead, he steels himself against the cold. he remains serious as they descend deeper into a spiral of stone and sleet.

“volcanion?”

he’s unfamiliar with the species. whatever instances others may have recorded, they prove infrequent enough to fly underneath his radar. what once would’ve perked his interest becomes meaningless in the advent of a world ending disaster.

“between here and meteor falls? hm.”

his thought takes him back to the THREE DAY WAR. meteor falls had proved larger than anyone could’ve imagined. a whole subterranean reveals meteorites that outdate even the oldest legend. the fact they found REGIDRAGO there during the excursions only adds credibility to her theory.

“it’s certainly possible,” he muses.

the device in his pocket remains silent.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

“HOENN HAS CHANGED in more ways than one.”

he’s not sure how familiar she is with recent development but, for most, not much has changed. rockets congregating around sootopolis makes the biggest news. everything else ends up being inconsequential headliners that fill prime time news for a few weeks before dissipating in the background.

but underneath the surface, in the know of a select few, disaster brews as the world comes undone once more. each event is tangled interchangeably with one another, weaving a web that spells misfortune.

“mega evolution,” which despite its common spread in hoenn, is still a relatively new phenomenon. “radiates a specific energy output. that’s what i’m hoping to find today.”

the device in his pocket is similar to the primal nodes employed by Amor Rose. fernando’s is no where near as sophisticated or complete but prototyping is all about experimenting.

“if we’re lucky, we may discover some mega stones.”

and if they’re destined for it, they’ll find something more: an empty canvas of primal energy.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

“AH.” so she’s aware. well, that speeds things up. whatever inaccuracies portrayed by the media mean little when such matters seem to have sorted themselves out. for a moment, fernando considers correcting her, but decides against it. a proper dossier can be filled out for her later, in the warm safety of a office and printer.

“not really—there’s not much you have to tell anyone about the matter—but i’ll have you updated when we get back.”

and with that, fernando resumes their excursion. quiet unless spoken to, still unsure of how to handle their dynamic.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

WINTERY TREASURE

A BRUMAL BOUNTY

INDEED is his default response. but he never voices it aloud. it stays in his head like every other judgement he has for those around him. only those that prove aggravating enough for him to ‘knock down a peg’ ever hear his criticisms.

it goes without saying that the rest of their time is spectacularly plain and uneventful.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
francie myrtle

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