Chapter 1 | The Search

Two pairs of shivering, gloved hands urgently arranged their scavenged timber to create a much-needed fire. The top of a mountain often necessitated a source of warmth, after all. When the arrangement appeared to be satisfactory, one of the two that were clad in thick orange coats nodded towards the other.

"G-go ahead and send him out now," one of the figures said, resolutely forcing his voice not to tremble too much in the ever-present coldness. Then, fully aware of what was to come next, he backed away from the timber.

The other figure fished inside her coat pocket for her Firestarter. Even with her gloves on, her fingers moved noticeably stiffer than usual due to the day's travels through this horrible climate. Eventually, she pulled a shrunken red and white ball out of her coat pocket.

"Flareon! Come on out, my darling~" she exclaimed, her cheerful personality remaining as persistent as the cold in these mountains. With a swift motion, she tossed her Pokéball into the air, causing her Pokémon to be released next to the arrangement of timber. "Would you mind making a fire to warm us up?"

"Flare!" The Flareon exclaimed, limping over toward the fire. He had hurt himself falling off a narrow passageway on one of the mountains they'd scaled in this mountain range. He'd have died if she hadn't recalled him in time. Even so, he'd hit a rock on the way down, breaking his leg.

Flareon inhaled, the thin air making it more difficult for him to do so, and then exhaled a glorious orange flame, setting the wood on fire without any need for kindling. Quicker than any other movement they'd made the entire day, the duo bounded towards the fire, letting the hot air bring them into an embrace - a welcome difference from the whiplash of coldness the icy winds frequently gave them.

As the sun descended, the two knew that they'd have to set up camp to survive the night. Near the peak of the mountain, the average temperature was already sub-zero. The temperature only decreases even further when the sun isn't present.

After warming his cold body next to the fire for a few minutes, Brenton decided it was time to get on with their evening. "Miya, do you mind watching the fire and getting dinner ready while I set up the tent and sleeping bags?"

"Sure!" She answered with a grin, "Then we can record a report to send back to base later this evening."

'How can she just smile through everything?' the man wondered, pulling the tent out of his backpack. 'We've been searching the mountains for fucking months. She even had to put her daughter up for adoption before leaving out for this mission.

She's always been like that…'

Brenton laboriously hammered through the ice and snow to drive the deep-snow stakes thoroughly into the frozen ground. The ice and snow often made for a hazard in their travels, but it also made for a secure foundation for their weatherproof tent. He checked again to make sure everything was secure and not falling apart. In addition, he assessed the surroundings of the tent to look for any hazards or Pokémon tracks nearby.

It was something Miyamoto had failed to do with her own tent, causing her to have to share with Brenton. The snow on a tree had burdened it to extend further than they'd believed possible when a small snowstorm hit, causing it to fall on Miyamoto's tent. It was pure luck that it occurred while she was preparing breakfast in the morning. The idea of her being crushed under a tree served as a reminder never to be careless when inspecting the surroundings of the tents.

Sharing a tent was something they both agreed was necessary, not romantic in the least. As for sharing body heat… that would only be reserved for the coldest of days, or when one of them became sick.

He laid out both sleeping bags in the tent as far apart as possible and set their heating lamp between them to keep the tent warm. The generator and the first-aid kit were set aside for now in a corner of the tent further away from its entrance.

As soon as he exited, the smell of warm tomato soup wafted through the air. Despite his confusion, the corner of Brenton's mouth curled upwards at the delicious smell wafting around the modest campsite.

"What's the occasion?" He asked with a confused expression despite his growing excitement for tonight's dinner. "Our mission isn't even complete yet."

In the mountain range they'd been exploring, canned foods were essentially a delicacy. They often had to go scavenging for the remaining edible plants at this altitude or, if luck permitted, they'd catch something to eat. On good weeks, they'd eat things like Beartic meat that they'd preserved after gutting the corpse and burying its inedible parts. Nowadays, the last of the canned foods were like a tantalizing weight at the bottom of their packs.

Miyamoto smiled widely, looking at the peak of the mountain not too far away. "We're going to be reaching the peak of this mountain tomorrow, and I just KNOW we'll find a clue about Mew's whereabouts this time!"

"But we're going to run o-!"

"Dinner's ready!"

"Miy-!"

"Come and get it before it gets cold~! Which is probably within the next three minutes…"

The two shared a laugh at this, Brenton having calmed down.

'This is how it should be,' He thought, the smile returning to his face, 'Two easygoing friends enjoying some time to themselves before returning to the harsh journey ahead of us. As long as we don't recklessly go through our resources, we'll be fine.'

Even with her thick gloves on, Miyamoto skillfully ladled him a portion of soup and poured it into his bowl, adding a spoon to it. She went on to do the same thing for herself before pausing and joining her hands together. Brenton, who knew what this meant, quickly did the same.

"Itadakimasu!" They exclaimed before plowing into their soup. Sure the soup would be considered bland and textureless to your average person - probably made more so due to the flavor being dilated with water to be enough for two - but hunger is always the best spice.

The soup's essence filled their bodies with the warmth and energy to face another day, its nutrients thoroughly nourishing them in this time of need. Its warmth melted the cold weighing down their bodies, practically defrosting the blood in their fingers and toes.

The two greedily gulped their food down, savoring every drop. The two set their spoons down and sat contentedly around the fire.

"Ahhh…tomato soup is the best!" Miyamoto contentedly spoke, setting the bowl down. "I wouldn't mind having it every day!"

"You're going to eat your words when we get back to base." Brenton teased, causing the two to erupt into laughter again.

For a while, neither of them said anything, just enjoying and taking care of the fire. After a while, the two left the fire to burn out, as they wanted to save the wood they had for their remaining ascent, and the descent as well.

Brenton turned his head to his companion, wanting to ask if they should return to the tent, but he found her gazing into a circular picture frame she was holding - one that he'd come to see quite often.

The little girl in the picture had a lighter shade of Miyamoto's purple hair, having a dark pink shade instead that was much longer. The little girl's exuberant smile mirrored Miyamoto's at times, making them look truly alike at times.

The picture was he'd commonly see her longingly gazing at throughout the later months of their mission. It would always be followed by her personality becoming slightly less bubbly on the exterior for a short period of time.

When he'd talked to her about it a few months ago, he'd gotten to know that her name was Jessie. A 'prodigal' daughter, as she'd once described her. With the amount of money she'd left her, she stated that Jessie would probably burn through it just after finishing secondary school… if there still is one by the time the war is over.

"Hey… Miya…, let's return to the tent and send the report." Brenton suggested. He used the same tactic of compartmentalizing emotional pain when trying to forget his longing for his wife's gentle touch. Her kind words. The warmth of her love. Her-

Miyamoto inhaled a breath of cold air, and then exhaled it, the breath visible in the coldness that was returning as the fire dimmed. After a second, she managed to regain control of her emotions. "Of course!"

The two quickly cleaned up the camp in the presence of the dying fire and headed into the tent to get their report ready.

Brenton turned on the communications device, only for it to die after just a few seconds. Wordlessly, he pulled out the rechargeable batteries and connected them to their generator.

'It's a good thing the gear ratio for the generator is low.' Brenton thought as he cranked the handle of the generator to the solid rhythm he'd established months ago, 'It should just take a few minutes of harder turns to recharge these batteries instead of a thousand easier turns.'

While he did this, Miyamoto slotted in four other rechargeable batteries that were previously charged before turning on the communications device.

The sound of static and cranking filled the tent, as the two worked on getting the device ready. After a few minutes of Miyamoto fiddling with the antennae, Brenton finally finished up with the generator and moved toward the communications device.

Miyamoto froze as the static abruptly stopped. A series of beeping noises came from the device, signaling that it had established connectivity and was ready to broadcast back to the base's terminal.

Miyamoto nodded to Brenton, who nodded back. 'Take it away, Miya.'

"Hi everyone! This is Miyamoto~!"

"And this is Brenton!"

"We're almost at the peak of the highest mountain in the Chavel Peaks!

"Right. It's almost sunset, and the temperature is going to dip far below zero again. It's alright though- we'll still give the mission our best efforts!"

Miyamoto nodded at this before continuing. "We'll be arriving at the peak of the mountain tomorrow. Since rare Pokémon like to stay in places where humans can't easily reach, there's a chance of us meeting Mew!"

"Since Mew frequents these mountains around this time of year, we should, at the very least, get another clue about Mew's whereabouts."

"Also! Brenton also has been taking very good care of the Mew fur we found! Our mission may as well be considered partially done."

"Um… So as not to waste too much battery power, we'll sign off for now. I hope everyone's doing alright back at home base!"

"Bye!" The both of them said, before reaching over to turn the communications device off.

As two Class A Team Rocket agents, they were expected to send reports back to base frequently. Brenton initially pushed for them to make formal reports back to base, but he realized that stifling Miyamoto's charisma meant that they'd be less likely to receive supply drops if they were dangerously low on something, so he let Miyamoto take the reins.

As twilight approached, the two of them climbed into their respective sleeping bags, swaddling themselves in blankets with strips of fabric torn off in times of need. They both knew that tomorrow could be very eventful upon reaching the top of the mountain.

Unfortunately, they had to send out Pokémon from their Pokéballs to take watch for the night. The last time they didn't do so, they were attacked by an angry Beartic for eating his mate. The time before that, they were robbed by wild Sneasel of their remaining food.

A Pokéball typically has stasis properties, in times of injuries and fainting to protect from further harm. In this case, the duo had been forced to use the balls in such a way that would drastically reduce food consumption upon ascending past each mountain's snow point.

Brenton grabbed the Pokéball of his trusted partner and tossed it into the corner of the tent.

"Prinplup, come on out!"

The penguin-shaped Pokémon emerged from the ball and nodded at Brenton before making its way out of the tent. By now, Prinplup knew very well what to do.

Brenton counted the days since he'd last fed his Prinplup before getting out of his sleeping bag and reaching for his backpack. His hand groped through it, searching for the familiar rectangular object wrapped in crinkling aluminum.

'There!' He thought, before using his hand to look around for more. His heart sank as he felt around that area and found that it was the last one left.

"Here, eat this," Brenton called out as he threw his last remaining Pokémon nutrient bars to his Pokémon, which skillfully caught it with a degree of unease in his gaze. He knew how tight on food they were.

Sensing the unasked question, Brenton answered, "We got to eat a good dinner at night, so you should as well. Besides, we're going to reach the peak tomorrow."

"Prinplup." He nodded, thanking his trainer for the food. With that, he walked out of the tent and stood guard outside. Even as the cold winds howled outside, the penguin Pokemon didn't so much as shiver.

As the cold draft bushed over them and faded away, the two trainers felt themselves nodding off while their heads rested on the cushioning of the sleeping bags.