"Come on, Snivy, show me your strength."
On a sunny afternoon, Raven brought Snivy and Dratini to the training ground with wooden stakes, testing what Snivy could do.
"Snivy."
On the snow, the little beast folded its arms in an elegant pose.
At Raven's signal, it demonstrated its moves one by one.
Snivy fixed its gaze on the stake. Its small body darted forward like a cannonball, colliding with the wood.
The stake shook.
"Leer and Tackle… not bad. Stronger than Dratini's version," Raven thought. Pokémon-wise, Snivy clearly had more bite right now.
Snivy landed lightly, then snapped a vine whip from its neck. With a sharp crack, it lashed across the wood, leaving a welt.
"Vine Whip." Raven instantly recognized it.
Then came a move that puzzled him.
Snivy's body tensed, shrinking slightly, its frame looking frailer instead of stronger.
Growth? But why weaker?
Raven quickly realized. The beast's ability was Contrary—buffs became debuffs, debuffs became buffs. Growth had been inverted.
A troublesome but interesting trait.
It meant Snivy couldn't strengthen itself with normal moves, but if an ally used something like Screech on it, the effect would reverse and power it up instead.
Next came Wrap.
Dratini knew it too, though Snivy's version lacked finesse compared to Vine Whip.
Finally, Snivy stirred Grass energy beneath the earth. A knot of green sprouted silently under the stake.
Grass Knot—if that had been a real beast, it would've been tripped.
"Good. A useful interference move," Raven nodded.
Silent, concealed, perfect for ambushes.
"Well done, Snivy."
"Snivy."
It acted aloof, folding its arms and raising its head proudly.
Raven glanced at the gray sky. Despite the sun, the cold gnawed at the air.
Grass-type Pokémon always struggled in winter. The cold made them sluggish, weakening their techniques. In warmer seasons, they'd regain their vigor and hit harder.
That was Snivy's natural ecology.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Let's head back."
On the way, Raven sighed.
No Poké Balls in this era.
Two Pokémon were fine, but once he had more, he'd be followed everywhere by a whole entourage of beasts. To the locals, it would look absurd.
That thought reminded him of Apricorns.
A strange fruit, hollow inside, growing in different colors.
In the future he remembered, craftsmen would make Poké Balls by hand from Apricorns long before technology.
His "tech tree" wasn't there yet—but why wait? Maybe they could craft them early.
He sketched a rough Poké Ball and gave it to the blacksmiths, asking them to experiment.
Human ingenuity was endless. Maybe this was the chance to create the very first Poké Ball.
He then drew an Apricorn on parchment.
When Aelif entered, Raven handed him the sketch.
"Aelif, have you seen this fruit before?"
The old butler studied it. "This is… a cone. Yes, I've seen it in the royal city. But Your Highness, it's useless. Hollow inside, with a bit of pulp and seeds, not fit for eating. Nothing more than a strange beast fruit."
A cone to them—but Apricorns to him.
"I see," Raven said, hiding his thoughts.
＊
The next morning, Raven meant to resume training.
But before dawn, the howl of a blizzard swept through the valley.
By the time they stirred, the hearth had burned to embers, the air chilling the room.
"Another snowstorm?"
Raven lay under the blankets, surrounded by beasts—no, Pokémon—and felt oddly at peace.
The maid replaced the firewood, and the hearth roared again, filling the cabin with warmth.
Through the narrow wooden window, Raven saw only a world of white. Wooden houses stood muted in the storm.
"Woo?"
"Minccino?"
"…Snivy."
They blinked at him, just waking.
Raven slid back under the blanket and smiled.
"Go back to sleep."
On a winter morning, what could be better than warmth, Pokémon close at hand, and the storm shut out?