[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]As she made her way deeper into the Safari Zone, the wet slush covering the ground deepened into true snow, piled thick and dense over ground in glittering blankets of pure white. Rather regretfully, Aurelie stomped through the snowbanks with her boots, marring their pristine perfection with footprints. Her breath hung in mist in the air as she alertly looked about her surroundings, but nothing else moved in the quiet stillness of the park except her Volcarona and her.

After a few minutes, the silence started to get on her nerves. Without even realizing it, Aurelie started to hum the first bars of an old favorite song, "La Vie en Rose," under her breath. The familiar melody made Aurelie smile nostalgically, taking her back to helping cook dinner alongside her mother back home and listening to her mother's beautiful mezzo-soprano voice filling the kitchen with the strains of this song.

As if equally swept up in the melody, the flame-cloaked Volcarona beside her began to flap its wings and pirouette through the air in a FIERY DANCE. Aurelie couldn't help laughing a little in delight as she watched the moth-like Pokemon circling and spiraling through the air. She raised her voice and began to sing the rest of the song in earnest, inspiring the Volcarona to continue its fiery airborne dance.

In the midst of their performance, an ALOLAN SANDSHREW poked its head out of the snow, no doubt startled by the sudden racket in the middle of the park. As it emerged from the snow, one of the flames shooting from the Volcarona's wings struck the Sandshrew squarely in the head, causing it to keel over. It happened so quickly that Aurelie almost didn't notice until she heard the thump of its body as it fell over in the snow.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, startled and abashed by the effect of their little impromptu performance. "Poor thing. I'm so sorry!"

At once, she stopped singing and gestured for her Volcarona to cease its dance. Looking at the stricken Sandshrew with remorse, she threw a Poke Ball to capture it before any more harm could befall the unlucky Pokemon. Perhaps she could keep it safe in the Poke Ball and take it to a Pokemon Center to atone for the accidental injury.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Tucking the Poke Ball away, Aurelie and her Volcarona proceeded through the park in relative quiet, with the red-haired smith still humming softly to herself and the moth-like Pokemon swooping gently through the air but no longer dancing. It was perhaps this relative quiet that let her hear the surprising sound of running water deeper within the park. Aurelie cocked her head inquisitively, wondering where the sound was coming from on such a cold day with so much ice and snow in the park.

The two of them moved deeper into the Safari Zone, following the sound of the burbling water, until at last they came upon a fast-moving stream running over rocks. Aurelie paused at the bank to enjoy the soothing, rhythmic sound. So, when a STARYU suddenly popped out of the water and whirled about in a RAPID SPIN, the red-haired smith let out an undignified yelp of pure shock.

"Oh Arceus!" she exclaimed, jumping back and nearly losing her footing on the snow. "Where did you come from? Were you in hibernation in the water, and I woke you up just now?"

Of course, the Staryu didn't answer, except to begin spinning again. Beside her, Aurelie heard a low, ominous buzzing noise as her Volcarona swooped forward in a counter-attack, responding to the Staryu with a BUG BUZZ. The Staryu reeled backward. Before the combat could get any further out of hand, though, Aurelie reached for one of her Poke Balls and tossed it at the Staryu, hoping to draw it within and capture the Pokemon before things escalated too far.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]When the wild MAREEP wandered into view along the bank of the running stream, Aurelie was simply overcome at first with pure adoration. It was so fluffy, so delightful! Her childhood pen pal Georgette Bluebottle had sent several photos of the Mareep herd at her family's farm and told her many stories about their antics, but the red-haired smith hadn't seen a wild Mareep before.

As the Mareep dipped its head toward the icy-cold water, Aurelie had to conclude that wild Mareeps were every bit as cute as she would've expected. She signaled to her Volcarona to stay back, before walking forward slowly and carefully to alert the Mareep to her presence without startling it or scaring it away. The Mareep looked up and watched her cautiously, soft static noises coming from its wool as it shifted from side to side.

"Hello," Aurelie cooed gently. "Hello there! I'm sure this ice water can't be that fun to drink when it's already so chilly out. Want to come with me? I can get you clean, fresh water or berry juice or whatever you'd like!"

The Mareep kept eyeing her and tilted its head to one side, as if considering her offer. Still moving very slowly and gently, Aurelie took out a Poke Ball and held it toward the Mareep, rather than throwing it or attacking aggressively. She would much rather have the Pokemon join her willingly, rather than force it or surprise it into coming along without realizing.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]As the day wore on, the air became a little warmer, and Aurelie found herself loosening the scarf wound around her neck and tugging at the zipped-up collar of her coat. Though she'd never been as hardy as her childhood pen pal Georgette Bluebottle when it came to cold temperatures, she'd experienced her share of frosty winters growing up in Anistar City. Especially when combined with the heat continuously given off by the fluttering Volcarona, the current temperature felt brisk and refreshing rather than chilling.

She'd heard that Volcarona Pokemon had historically been extremely rare and even worshipped almost as gods in ancient times. Especially in cold regions, they were depicted as deities of fire and the sun, which made sense with how the Volcarona's wings scattered burning scales with each flap. It felt strange to be able to walk about routinely with one at her side, floating calmly about as she tramped through the snow.

What must it be like to be able to walk like this alongside a legendary Pokemon? she wondered, glancing sidelong at the fiery moth Pokemon. Probably ancient and modern people would see you as a god! Aurelie had to chuckle at the thought. Hmmm, if I were a god—or goddess, rather—I wonder what I'd be the goddess of?

Preoccupied by deific thoughts about what realms, concepts, or ideals would be sacred to Hypothetical Goddess Aurelie, the red-haired smith didn't even notice as a small flock of EISCUE waddled past in the distance. Beside her, the Volcarona whirled in their direction, but then spun back toward Aurelie and evidently reconsidered. When his trainer didn't show any interest in capturing the penguin-like Pokemon, the Volcarona continued gliding smoothly through the air without skipping a beat.

And so they continued through the Safari Zone, as Aurelie shook her head to herself and forced herself to look about at her surroundings again after a reverie of being a fiery goddess of smiths, artisans, and craftsmen, presiding over her anvil and creating all manner of amazing wonders. Pleasant though it was, it certainly wasn't her current reality. So, she took a deep, cooling breath and kept her hand hovering over her pocket of Poke Balls, watching for other Pokemon to wander past.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Still walking through the Safari Zone, Aurelie began to pick up the pace as one hour passed and then another, without seeing any more Ice-type Pokemon. She had dithered a little too long amidst the snow and cold, and the slow descent of the sun in the west reminded her that the amount of time allotted to trainers in the Safari Zone wasn't infinite. Given how little free time the red-haired smith usually had to venture out to catch Pokemon, she surely didn't want to waste it not actually finding any Pokemon.

Unfortunately, she picked up her walking pace so much that, when it approached a light jog, the Poke Balls stashed in her pocket started falling out one by one into the snow. Aurelie didn't even notice at first, so focused was she on swinging her head around from side to side in search of movement. It was her Volcarona who hung back over the dropped Poke Balls, flapping its wings rapidly to call Aurelie's attention to them.

"Oh Arceus!" Aurelie exclaimed in dismay, once she noticed. "I can't believe I would have lost them, or left them behind, if you hadn't gotten me to notice in time! What a waste that would have been!"

She frantically patted her pockets to make sure the Poke Balls holding the Alolan Sandshrew, Mareep, and Staryu were still safely stowed. Then she ran back along the way she'd just walked and swooped down to grab every Poke Ball that she'd just carelessly dropped. Concentrating on this task, she utterly missed seeing the PINECO hanging from a nearby tree. Once Aurelie had collected all her Poke Balls, she breathed a long, heartfelt sigh of relief as she tucked them securely back into her pockets and zipped up the pockets for good measure.

"That was foolish of me," she muttered with a little shake of her head. "Now...where was I?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]As Aurelie began trudging back toward the entrance to the Safari Zone, a shrill squawk overhead caught the red-haired smith's attention. She looked up to see an unusual purple-and-white bird flying through the sky. The motion must have caught its eye as well, for the bird began descending toward her in a slow, graceful spiral.

Once it landed on the ground, the bird began waddling toward her Volcarona. At this range, Aurelie was surprised to be able to identify it as a Delibird, but one with an unusual coloring indeed—definitely not the classic berry-red that she was expecting. As she watched, the Delibird appeared to delve into its pouch-like tail and produced a brightly colored berry, which it offered cheerfully to the Volcarona.

Touched by the generous gesture, Aurelie pursed her lips in thought for a moment. Then she fished out a berry from her pocket and displayed it to the Delibird, which let out another shrill, excited squawk. She offered the berry to the avian Pokemon, before taking out her final Poke Ball and rolling it cautiously toward the Delibird.

"I'll let you choose," she said in a low voice, glancing once toward the Safari Zone entrance again to see if any wardens were approaching her. "You look fantastic, and you clearly have a friendly nature. I'd love for you to join me, if you chose to touch the Poke Ball and go inside. But if you'd rather keep giving out presents, I certainly couldn't fault you for that."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT