"Anna!"
The mountain path was treacherous at night. After much effort, Lucien and his men finally reached the base of the cliff.
Below stretched a flat, snow-blanketed plain, with a few hardy trees clustered in the frozen earth.
Beneath one such tree, several figures huddled together, backs against the trunk, seemingly asleep.
Ryan's shout broke the silence. Torchlight flickered, and the figures stirred, their eyes snapping open.
The Pokémon immediately fixed their gazes on the intruders.
"It's a magical beast! Your Highness Lucien, be careful!"
Ryan's hand flew to his sword, his body moving instinctively to shield Lucien as he leveled a wary gaze at the creatures.
What emerged from the shadows was a strange sight: small, squat beings resembling stunted palm trees capped with white snow. Their tan-and-white bodies, topped by snow-laden "hats," made them look like plump fir trees brought to life.
Lucien recognized them instantly.
Snover.
Three of them, sitting quietly in the snow, blinking at the humans and their torches with round, curious eyes.
"They're not watching the fire," Lucien realized, "they're watching us."
Under the wary glares of Ryan and the others, the three Snover rose slowly and padded forward.
"Be careful!" Ryan barked, blade scraping free of its scabbard as his muscles tensed.
But before he could take a step, a firm hand caught his arm.
"Don't attack!" Lucien's command cut through the night.
"Your Highness?!" Ryan's eyes widened. To lower his guard in front of monsters was madness.
But Lucien shook his head calmly, his gaze fixed on the Snover. "They mean no harm."
The men stared in disbelief.
Lucien's mind flipped through memories of the Pokédex. Snover were mountain dwellers, docile by nature, who seldom encountered humans. Because of this, their first instinct was not hostility but curiosity. When they found human tracks in the snow, they gathered near, fascinated by the unfamiliar.
And here, in the torchlight, that truth played out.
The Snover halted three meters away, their large eyes glimmering with interest but not aggression.
The silence hung heavy until Lucien broke it. "They're just curious. Because they've never seen our kind before."
Ryan blinked, stunned. "So… they won't attack us?"
"Not unless we attack them first."
Lucien reached into his cloak and withdrew three dried almonds he'd saved for Dratini. Stepping forward, he offered them to the Snover with an easy smile.
The Pokémon sniffed, their eyes widening as they accepted the gifts with surprising gentleness.
Turning back to his men, Lucien's expression hardened again. "Come. We have no time to linger."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Ryan sheathed his blade. Casting one last incredulous look at the Snover, he and the knights followed their prince.
The group continued on their way, while the snowcapped monsters stood frozen in place, staring after them in astonishment.
Only when the humans had disappeared from sight did the snowcapped monsters lower their gaze to the fruit in their hands.
One of them hesitantly took a bite.
"Mm-hmm!"
The other two immediately followed suit, quickly devouring the dried almonds.
In the snowy night, the three snowcapped monsters studied the footprints left behind by the strange visitors, then turned their gaze in the direction they had gone, their curiosity burning even brighter.
...
"Anna!"
The cry echoed far and wide across the snowy night.
Behind a hillside sheltered from the wind, Anna was shivering with cold as she clutched Zorua tightly in her arms.
"It's so cold… little monster, are we going to die here tonight?" Anna murmured softly.
After all, she was just a ten-year-old girl. When she thought about never being able to see her mother again, Anna couldn't help but shed tears.
If she wasn't there, her mother would surely be worried, right?
"Woo…"
The little Zorua in her arms gazed at the girl with a puzzled expression.
At that moment, its ears suddenly twitched, catching a faint sound from somewhere out in the snow.
Zorua instantly pricked up its ears and fixed its gaze in that direction.
"What's wrong?" Anna panicked the moment she saw Zorua'a reaction.
Could it be that the terrifying monster had chased them down?
She followed Zorua's line of sight and saw faint flames flickering in the distance.
The firelight drew nearer. Although Anna couldn't yet make out who those figures were, her heart filled with surprise.
She quickly stood up and shouted,
"Hey! I'm here!"
As if in response, the figures began to approach.
Under the pale glow of the moon, Anna finally recognized their faces.
It was Lord Lucien!
Lord Lucien himself had come to find her!
Anna's eyes immediately filled with tears.
"We've found her, Lord Lucien!" Ryan shouted, his voice thick with relief.
Lucien let out a long breath. He was just about to speak when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a monster hiding timidly behind the girl. Only half of its face was visible, nervously peering at the group.
That's…a Zorua?!
Lucien's pupils shrank in alarm.
"It's a monster!" Ryan and the others had spotted it as well, and their fear surged.
Seeing this, Anna quickly cried out, "It's not a bad monster! It saved me!"
Ryan and the others exchanged bewildered glances.
Lucien, a little surprised, looked at the Zorua and asked, "What happened?"
Anna recounted her entire journey, from her search for herbs, to her encounter with the monster, to her accidental fall off a cliff while being chased by another monster, and finally how the little monster had found the vitality root to heal her.
"W-what's going on?!"
"Is this true?"
"A monster would actually save a human?"
The surrounding knights exclaimed in astonishment.
Anna quickly insisted, "I'm telling the truth!"
She scooped Zorua up in her arms, then looked at Lucien and pleaded,
"Your Highness Lucien, this monster isn't a bad one. Like me, it's lost its family. Can I take it back to camp? I'm worried it'll be in danger if it's left alone…"
Bringing an uncontrollable, unknown monster back to camp?
For Ryan and the others, who had always feared magical beasts, and had even watched their comrades die at their claws, this sounded no different than inviting a wolf into their home!
"Please, Your Highness!" Anna begged.
"Ryan, do you remember what I told you before?" Lucien suddenly asked.
Ryan froze.
Those words from that night instantly resurfaced in his mind.
"Magical beasts are not uncontrollable beings. They are intelligent, they possess wisdom, and they can even understand human language."
If the girl named Anna wasn't lying, then this magical beast's actions completely confirmed Prince Lucien's words.
"In any case, let's return first," Lucien said. "Anna, take it with you."
Anna's eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly answered, "Yes, Your Highness Lucien!"
Now that Anna had been found, it was time to head back.
Because of her leg injury, she had to be carried on the back of a knight.
After determining the direction, the group set off.
Not long after everyone left, three round figures suddenly emerged on the desolate snowy plain.
They stood in the snow, staring at the footprints stretching into the distance, and then slowly began to follow them.