After picking berries, harvesting his garden, and doing some meetings at the Pokemon Center’s GTL machine, Ethan, Smeargle, and Snorlax were all set-up and ready to embark on their journey into Eterna City. Unlike Ethan and Smeargle, Snorlax was very excited for this trip. Now that he’d thought about it, Ethan wasn’t even sure if Snorlax, or Munchlax back then, even ever went on a trip with him into the city.

  This might have been his first outing?

  Snorlax was bouncing on his large oval feet while his two pointy teeth jutted up through his wide smile as he eagerly held his hand out toward Smeargle, initiating the contact required for Teleport.

  Ethan watched as a single bead of nervous sweat pooled on Smeargle's brow. With a quick glance, his painter’s eyes flicked to Snorlax’s pokeball, which was resting on Ethan’s hip. Picking up on what Smeargle was worried about, Ethan saved his move-sketcher from the arduous task of teleporting the half ton goliath by recalling Snorlax into his new decorated Pokeball.

  “Smear-gle…” Smeargle thanked him with a shaky sigh of relief, causing him to laugh.

  “C’mon,” Ethan held out his hand, which Smeargle grabbed. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  After a few seconds of phantasmagorical colors, Ethan and Smeargle appeared right outside of Jocelyn’s new—and Joyce’s old—workplace. Without a second of pause, Ethan released Snorlax out of his ball and watched as the white light expanded into his massive form. Looking around, Ethan was surprised to see that the city appeared quiet.

  Unlike his earlier shopping trips, where many trainers could be seen walking through the roads and on top of sidewalks going to and from their various destinations, there was hardly anyone around. He spotted two people walking away from the Pokemon Center, but nobody else. The white snow which coated the entirety of the city was pristine and only a few footprints marred its otherwise untouched nature.

  Snorlax looked around with curiosity as Smeargle huddled into the much larger mon’s side. Snorlax was a warmth generator, easily showcasing what his monstrous caloric intake was going towards, and Smeargle quickly used it to his advantage.

  “Alright guys,” Ethan started. “First things first.” He looked at Snorlax, grabbing his attention. “Joyce said Berry Fall’s Pokemon Center doesn’t have the facilities to properly ensure your health. It wasn’t equipped to deal with a pokemon your size. So, you gotta go through your checkup here with Jocelyn.”

  Seeing Snorlax nod, Ethan carried on. “After that, we have to go to the PokeMart and check to see if they carry a PokeBlock machine or if we’ll need to order it. They seem to have everything under the sun, but this is a special item.” Ethan then pointed to Smeargle. “Our third stop will be to a painting supply store. You went there with Max when the bad stuff went down. We’re going to give them our thanks for their help with our patronage. Also, I think you’d like the—the… little fire-aligator pokemon… I forgot its name…”

  Smeargle’s little smile faltered a bit at the mention of his former trainer, but he otherwise stoically nodded. He too wanted to thank them for their help with reuniting them when he was at his lowest.

  “After that… Well, I suppose we’ll find something to do. Maybe go to the park or find something special to eat?”

  Snorlax’s head locked onto Ethan like an automated defence laser at the mention of food, and a glint sparkled in his eye. “A small one… One for taste, not filling.” Ethan cautiously warned, running a hand through his long brown hair in mild exasperation as he did.

  When they walked through the automated doors to the Pokemon Center, the main lobby was in a lull, coinciding with the lack of activity from the streets. The spare few trainers in the lobby instantly noticed their arrival, as Snorlax’s massive frame, jiggling body fat, and thunderous steps drew the eye.

  The shock and awe on their faces from the infamous Snorlax showed clear as day, and his newly evolved friend embraced their looks with pride.

  Ethan was pretty sure he had the wrong idea about their shock. It was more likely they couldn’t fathom someone feeding a Snorlax than just the fact of seeing his majestic might.

  Within seconds, they were already up next in the line, as there was only one person getting help when they entered. The receptionist wasn’t anyone he was familiar with, and definitely not a Joy. “I’d like a checkup for my friend here.” Ethan threw a thumb over his shoulders towards Snorlax, then side-eyed Smeargle. “Do you want one while we’re here? It’s been awhile.”

  Smeargle shrugged, not really caring if he got one or not. Ethan looked back to the receptionist. “Him as well. If possible.”

  “Well…” The young man before him looked slightly off-kilter. “With the recent troubles down at the 206 Bridge, we are down our licensed Joys, but if you don’t mind one of our standard nurses doing the check-up, then there shouldn’t be an issue.”

  “Trouble?” Ethan asked. “My friend Jocelyn was sent here not even a month ago. Is she not here?”

  “You know Jocelyn?” The receptionist asked, eye brow raised questionably. “She was sent down to the bridge two days ago with the other two Joys that work here. The recent snow caused an avalanche which buried a quarter of the bridge and the valley beneath it in totality. It’s all hands on deck there, searching and rescuing the wildlife and the trainers who were unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a mess.”

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  “She missed Christmas?” Ethan asked. For some reason, it was the first thing that came to his mind.

  “They all did, as well as many of those trapped…”

  Ethan didn’t know what to say or do about any of that. It wasn't like he was in some fanfic where he was the main character who would solve all these issues the minute they crop up. He was just a dude. At most, he could make some calls… but those who he’d call most likely were already aware and working on the situation.

  “I’m fine with someone else doing the check-up. It’s more of a formality…” Ethan said awkwardly, completely doubling back on the disaster talk.

  Thankfully, the receptionist didn’t want to talk about it as well. Soon enough, Snorlax and Smeargle were being led to the back of the Pokemon Center for their check-ups by two nurses—who were not Joys—while Ethan waved them away with a reassuring smile. Once they were out of sight, Ethan whipped out his phone and dialed Joyce.

  “Hello?” Joyce said once she answered.

  “Hey, Joyce. Just calling to see if you knew anything about Jocelyn going down to the 206 bridge. There was an avalanche.”

  For the next few minutes, Joyce explained that she was aware and that she herself was actually on standby to replace anyone if accidents happened. Cynthia was there being a champion, helping out and saving people…

  Apparently he was the only one unaware. Maybe he’d need to check the news more often.

  Fifteen minutes after their quick phone call ended, Snorlax and Smeargle were led out from the back with clean bills of health. Smeargle was actually more healthy than others of his kind, if by a very small margin. Snorlax was as good as he could get for being freshly evolved and would require a watch on to see if anything suddenly changed. The nurse had him sucking on a lollypop as she explained to Ethan what he should do for his diet and what berries he’d need for some of his nutrients.

  That information was almost as good as gold, as he already knew what he’d use for the calories. Flavor and nutrients is what he lacked for his upcoming pokeblock recipes.

  Without further ado, they gave the Pokemon Center nurses and receptionist their goodbyes and thanks and left the building, off towards the PokeMart to buy their special machine. The PokeMart was unchanged since he last entered long ago. It was sparkling, overly clean, and the cashier was much too composed and businesslike for it to be natural.

  Ethan had the suspicion that the benefits of this job were immense and that nobody wanted to lose it.

  After some very professional questions asked back and forth, the cashier trying to upsell him into seven different products and attachments, and Ethan explaining that he was a poor rancher, Ethan finally purchased a standard issue blue colored pokeblock generator… Which appeared as a blender on top of a compression system and dispenser. It also came with a pokeblock case, which should be used to store the pokeblocks for extended periods of time.

  The pamphlet and warranty that came alongside it boggled his mind, as it referenced what seemed to be particle and quantum physics—not that he knew anything about it. It did cause his mind to spin upon hearing how the machine could and would increase the caloric intake of food inserted… somehow?

  After melting his brain thinking about it, Ethan decided that the machine could be magic, just like his trusty bag. As long as it worked, it worked.

  Snorlax and Smeargle roamed around and browsed the shelves as he concluded his business, and both came up with items they wanted to buy. Snorlax had a bag of… what looked like dog-food. It was for omnivore humanoid pokemon. Looking at the ingredients had Ethan thrown into the past, as he couldn’t even read half of what they were. At first, Ethan was just going to say no, but the puppy dog eyes from the half-ton giant melted his heart. Smeargle had picked out a cleaner for fur, and although he couldn’t read the ingredients in that either, at least Smeargle wouldn’t be eating it.

  Ethan bought the two items for his pokemon and watched the moment Snorlax got a hold of his bag of food, tore it in half, and downed the entire contents into his mouth in one fell swoop. Bits and pieces from the tearing spilled and rattled onto the floor as Snorlax happily chomped and swallowed, sighing in contentment.

  The cashier wasn’t nearly as happy as Snorlax was, but quickly let it go when he saw the big pokemon get on his hands and knees and lap at the remnant lying on the floor.

  Smeargle watched all of this happen with shock on his face, but Ethan had seen it coming.

  After being ‘asked’ to leave, they all made their way to the park where Ethan had met Tobias. Sitting on the exact same bench, Ethan looked out over the empty park with a hint of sadness. When he was last here, children and pokemon were playing on the playset and in the sand-pit. Now, it was barren and quiet. Snorlax made snow angels (big blobs) in the snow as Smeargle put outlines around his body, showcasing Snorlax’s immense size when the bigger mon got up to look.

  As they played, Ethan thought about the bridge. The avalanche must have been the cause for the little amount of people roaming about the snow-filled city. From what he could remember from the games, the only ways to get to Eterna City were from Eterna Forest, Route 206 and its bridge, and that route that connected Eterna City to Celestic Town through My. Coronet. He doubted many people did the trek through the mountain during the winter, hence the avalanche, and not many many people were coming by his ranch in the forest either. The city must have been mostly accessed by the bridge, and with it out of commission—

  Ethan was pulled out of his thoughts as Snorlax began eating the snow, shoveling it all into his gaping maw as he laid on his belly. “Oi! Stop that! We have snow at home!”

  After a groan at being parented, Snorlax dutifully stopped inhaling the nearby snow. “We can make snow cones when we get back with some of Shuckle’s juice. It’ll actually taste good and you can eat as much snow as you want with the syrupy goodness of Shuckle’s hard work—At least, as long as he is willing to give up some of his berry juice!” Ethan shouted at the end, stopping the wheels turning in Snorlax’s mind.

  When the two pokemon eventually winded down and got bored, they all saddled up and got ready to teleport back home. Ethan recalled Snorlax into his ball to save Smeargle some heavy-teleporting and swore that he would bring Snorlax back at some later date to meet some of the trainers passing by. He felt a little bad about his first big debut in the city being a dud to do mother nature.

  After a blip and a flash of colors, Ethan landed right in front of his home and released Snorlax once more. Instantly, the big pokemon meandered off towards Shuckle’s little den, eager to beg and plead for some sweet juicy goodness to add onto his incoming heap of snow. Smeargle followed Ethan inside and went to the bathroom to use his new cleaning solution on the tip of his tail, fully cleansing it of all the paint that had stubbornly begun to pile up on it. Once it was well white and washed, Smeargle tested his best brush (tail) on one of his many canvases, smiling at the result.

  And Ethan? Ethan spent the next hour reading through instruction manuals, trying to get his new pokeblock machine to actually work.

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