|
Between you and me, just as unusual Pokémon are rumored to be Legendary or Mythical among people, it would seem that Trainers and Poké Balls are much talked about among Pokémon as well. For some reason, rumors have an alluring—but dangerous—scent about them, just as they do with people.
It was the morning after the first snowfall when Snorunt heard the rumor. After patiently waiting inside a cave for summer to pass, in recent days, a chill had finally come in from outside.
"Yo, it's been half a year."
With the sound of sharp claws slashing rocks, Snorunt's roommate Druddigon turned up. Even if they were called roommates, there isn't a time when they live together. The territory in this cave is to be used in both summer, by the Snorunt weak to the heat, and in winter, by the Druddigon weak to the cold.
"You're later than usual, aren’t you? Hasn’t it already turned awfully cold outside? ...since it snowed last night."
"You sure understand it well, even at the heart of the cave. Well... it was because of all sorts of things."
All sorts of things. Snorunt's round eyes opened with amazement. Reporting the things each other had seen outside became a regular occurrence during the transfer of ownership. Druddigon swiftly started telling his story.
This past spring...
While I was in the meadow, sharpening my claws on the trunk of a tree growing there, a Cherubi sent a leaf flying towards me from above. Cherubi is a talkative fellow that resembles a red berry. "There are places in this world where the sun doesn’t rise and the seasons don’t change," the fellow said confidently, as it regularly does.
"I’ve never seen that before, but how do you know? Neither you nor I can go that kind of distance, and you can't live without bathing in sunlight, right?" snapped Druddigon suddenly. Because even though he has wings, he can't fly with them.
"If you meet the Legendary creature, it's said that you can see it: all sorts of scenery from around the world!" Cherubi instantly responded, blushing even more red than usual.
The story goes that that Legendary creature, known as "traveler" or something, carries a red and white fruit that can be tossed. Only those that eat the fruit can see the world together with them.
Becoming carried away by his story, Cherubi finally disappeared from the meadow in pursuit of the legend.
"It was an interesting story, but after coming to my senses, I returned to the cave," Druddigon laughed.
"Since, on second thought, you always tell me about the heavy snow days, the frozen rivers, and the other things I can’t see. And that’s enough to get me through the winter."
Snorunt thought so too. Snorunt didn’t know about things from around the world, but when reminded of Druddigon's stories, like the whole meadow being completely covered in flowers, even those dark nights alone aren’t so lonely.
It's been a long while since that time—the time when that dazzling first snow piled up and reflected off the ground. Snorunt pondered about the legendary "traveler" he had just heard. A lie or the truth, he did not know. But, if he were to encounter this legend, and if he ended up considering wanting to eat the fruit, maybe he wouldn’t be able to return to that cave. Snorunt let out a single breath of ice, shivering. He didn't know whether it was out of curiosity... or fear.
Even this story, again, is no more than a rumor.
|
