Hot Days in Mossdeep

														Hot Days in Mossdeep

	“Damn this sun and everyone who likes it.” Ricky swore to himself, desperately trying to keep himself cool. Summer in Mossdeep City was usually mild; cold water flowed from the north and through Shoal Cave, keeping the small city cool all year round. This year though mother nature seemed to have conspired against the citizens and blasted the city with upwards of 100 degree weather all summer, and with no sign of slowing down to boot.

	The heat wasn’t just killer on the townsfolk but was even harder on the local Ice Pokémon. Regularly Spheal and Sealeo could be seen in shallow water near the island, desperately flinging mud on their bodies to try and keep cool as if they were Hippowdon. Some local citizens even began an operation, bringing cool water and shade to the Pokémon, trying desperately to keep them cold. Ricky would be with them in a heartbeat too if not for one thing; he had his own Ice Pokémon to take care of. In fact, she was why he’d been dashing around town all day.

	Ricky had a Snorunt in his youth he’d saved from drowning off the coast. Despite his and his family’s best efforts to return her to the Shoal Cave she’d always find her way back to him, until he finally gave up and made her his, christening her with the name Snow. Ricky was never very creative either, but at least he could swim. In fact a few years later Ricky won a Dawn Stone in a local swimming competition, and Snow pounced on it immediately, evolving into a Froslass.

	Now some people have said that Froslass lose most of their emotion upon evolution, becoming instead cold and aloof. Ricky would punch anyone who made that claim. Snow had always been warm and full of energy as a Snorunt, and she kept all of that energy after evolving. In fact, her newly found height and, well, usable arms gave her a new purpose; cleaning. With someone available for cleaning Ricky could focus on his passion for swimming and became a shard hunter. He was actually so good he was able to earn a wage instead of commission, and earn an additional bonus per shard he found. He and Snow moved into their own home on his eighteenth birthday off of the money he earned. The two depended on each other for everything. Well, until this summer.

	Finally trudging home Ricky pulled open the door and slammed it shut, trying desperately to keep the cool AC inside. Despite having a maid his home was dingy and messy today, clothes and dishes left out throughout the home. But first things first, Snow needed his attention. With no Pokeball Snow had to bear the heat on her own, and being so insubstantial it hit her much harder than the local wildlife. She took Ricky’s bed as of late, covering up and burring herself in bags of ice.

	This was Ricky’s schedule; wake up, replace Snow’s ice, eat, work, buy more ice, come home, replace Snow’s ice again, feed himself and Snow, clean, sleep, repeat. Every day since June and now it was late August with no sign of relief. It was starting to wear on him, after all, who could sleep on a futon for that long and not show any fatigue.

	Tiptoeing into his, or Snow’s room as of late, he shook the Pokémon awake gently. “C’mon Snow, it’s time to change your ice. C’mon, you’ve been sleeping all day.”

	Ricky was greeted with the soft coo of Snow’s cry, as she groggily pulled her form from the sheets, clinging to a half-melted bag. “Fross….” She whined, blinking her eyes rapidly.

	“There’s my little-miss-sunshine!” Ricky said with a grin, as he started replacing her bags. Snow usually went through a dozen bags a day, and at two bucks each it really ate at Ricky’s wallet. Not to mention carrying those all on his bike without them melting killed his back every day. “I’m almost done Snow, just be patient. We’ll be done with all this heat in a few weeks, I’ve got a feeling.

	Snow could only shake her head and coo. He’d been saying that since June. And the Pokémon knew she couldn’t do anything to help ease the pain either, she couldn’t even leave the room. With a sigh she resigned herself back to the bed, snuggling into her pile of ice bags.

	Ricky returned to his schedule when he was sure Snow was comfortable. Next up would be food, but Snow seemed to have gotten herself some cereal judging by the empty bowls. He picked them up and began cleaning instead. “One less step today at least.” He mumbled, hands buried in the soapsuds.

	These days continued day after day for a few more weeks. Soon weeks turned into months. It was now late November and still terribly hot outside. Mossdeep citizens started to worry, thinking that some sort of event was going on. Gal Bore, a local nutjob, had been soapboxing about global warming for years, and now people were starting to have second thoughts on throwing their garbage at him. Record highs were being hit every single day. The ice and AC bills brought Ricky’s wallet to tears, and he had to cut into his own food budget to keep Snow cool.

	Snow herself was doing worse and worse. Now she barely made her cries during the day. Any sensible trainer would have brought his Pokémon to a Pokémon Center at this point, but Mossdeep’s Center had become packed as of late, with more and more Ice Pokémon being brought in for exhaustion, and Ricky was terrified that Snow wouldn’t even make the trip. He could only sit and watch his precious Pokémon and at this point only friend, practically melt before his eyes. No more little-miss-sunshines, just hellos and goodbyes. The bags grew beneath his eyes in length and darkness as he had to work extra hours to pay his bills now.

	It was late one evening when Ricky woke up to something cold in his arms. That was certainly something he hadn’t felt for a while, and his eyes shot open. Snow had crawled over to him from her room, panting and slick with cold sweat. “S-Snow, you can’t be out of the bedroom, you need to stay cold…” he whispered, trying in vain to push her off to only be met with her headshaking.

	“Fross….” Snow cooed, crying slightly and desperately clinging to her trainer’s form. Her body shuddered at the head but deep down she needed contact, she couldn’t take the room anymore. She missed her trainer, and deep down Ricky knew he needed her too.

	“Fine, just for tonight.” He conceded to her, pulling the Pokémon close and clinging to her lithe form. His hand found her small claws, and entwined with them, desperate to not lose his closest companion. “Just tonight…”






	Ricky awoke again at sunrise, as sunlight flitted through his blinds straight onto his face, as if the lord Arceus himself cursed his existence. But something was off. He was cool but there was no pressure on his chest. Like last night. Wait, where’s Snow?

	He sat up suddenly and looked around the small living room in heavy fervor. “Snow? Snow! Where the hell are you!?”  Ricky sprung to his feet and raced around the small house, bounding around the first corner and bounding straight into his Froslass. “Gah!”

	“Fross!”

	The two bumped into each other with a thud, followed by flailing as Ricky pulled her in close. “For fuck’s sake Snow, don’t leave like… that…” he trailed off, finally noticing the eerie silence. No AC.

	“Snow? Did you turn the AC off?”

	“Froo?” She cooed, shaking her head.

	Not even daring to hope the two opened the blinds slightly to witness the miracle. Mossdeep was starting to get covered in snow. Not enough to stick yet unfortunately, but enough to blanket the buildings and grass in a white sheet. Winter had come overnight not with a blanket this year, but with more like a shotgun.

	“Wow… Hey, hey Snow.”

	“Froslass?”

	“How do you feel about ice-cream this morning? I’m feeling it.” He grinned at his companion, taking her hand in his carefully. “How’s Vanilla sound?”