High up among the snow-covered mountains, three figures stood. Three sets of footprints, rapidly filling with snow, were testimony to the long distance they had walked. A cold wind whipped the snow into miniature tornadoes and plucked at the white uniforms the two taller figures wore.
"I’m cold, Jessie!" James whined. Jessie produced her fan from its hiding-place up her sleeve and smacked him in the nose.
"Be quiet, you fool! We’re all cold, James," she added more gently.
"It’s getting dark. We’re lost. I’m hungry. I’m scared. I –"
"It’s always me, me, me wid you, James!" interrupted Meowth. "Some
of us aren’t wearing any clothes!"
"You’ve got a fur coat, hairball!" snapped Jessie.
"Yeah, maybe, but my feet are freezin’ in this snow. I can’t feel my toes!" the little cat complained, lifting a hind paw and licking the ice out from between the pads. "And our beautiful Meowth balloon is gone," he mourned.
James suddenly sat down in the snow. "I can’t go on, Jessie. I’m exhausted. I’m just going to stay right here and have a nice…nap…" Meowth flopped down beside him. They lay on their backs, eyes closed.
"Don’t be such a pair of wimps!" Jessie urged. She spoke crossly because she was terrified that James and Meowth would fall asleep in the soft snow and never wake up. They were obviously on the brink of exhaustion, but they couldn’t stay here. How on earth was she going to get them moving before hypothermia set in?
An idea. "Snowball fight!" Jessie trilled, aiming at James. Her missile, thrown like a baseball, hit the recumbent Rocket smack in the face. He sat up, spitting snow. "That’s not fair, Jessie!" he protested.
"Then get me back – wimp!" called his partner, dancing round him.
James scowled and scrambled to his feet. As he bent to make a snowball of his own Jessie
threw another and hit his sticking-up butt. He squealed and jumped up, hurling his
snowball, but Jessie dodged expertly. Meowth opened one eye to see the fun.
"She’s gone nuts!" he observed.
"Come on, Meowth – help me get Jessie!" called James, who had forgotten how
cold he was.
"Wid pleasure!" An evil glint came into the Pokémon’s eye and he began scooping up snow.
Jessie shrieked as James chased her with a fistful of snow he was trying to ram down
her collar. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. She had
forgotten that she started the game to save her friends’ lives. Suddenly Meowth ran
between her legs, sending her over backwards. She crashed into her pursuer and they fell
in a heap together, panting and giggling.
"That was fun!" said James. Jessie stood up and helped him to his feet.
"Are you feeling warmer now?" she asked, brushing snow from his clothes.
"Phew! I’m boiling!"
"Then let’s go."
They marched on, cheeks glowing in the frosty air. Evening was falling rapidly, and
Jessie knew they must find shelter soon. Then they could make a rough igloo, like last
night’s, and stand a chance of surviving.
"Just over this ridge," she urged the others. The icy wind was at their backs;
over the brow they would be protected from it.
"It’s steep," James said.
"Ten out of ten. Keep climbing!"
The snow they walked through grew deeper and deeper. Heavy clots clung to their boots, making it hard to lift their feet. Meowth was floundering up to his waist.
"Me-owth! Dis is hard woik! Can I have a piggy-back ride?" he asked.
"Why don’t you go in a Pokéball, you idiot?" Jessie said.
"No way! Dose things are for loser Pokémon. I’m practically a person!"
"Look, I have a Pokéball right here. Just get in, and you won’t be cold anymore," said Jessie impatiently. Meowth wavered. Then she added "And we’ll have some peace from your whining!"
"That does it! I’m not going in any Pokéball of yours!" Meowth stuck his nose in the air and stalked on ahead. "In fact, I – MEOOOOWTH!" He disappeared from view. James and Jessie rushed forward to find the scratch cat had sunk over his head in a snowdrift. Up to their own knees, they scrabbled in the snow to release the buried Meowth.
"He’s cold, and his eyes are closed…" James said, cradling the
little Pokémon. He looked anxiously to Jessie for guidance. She took the unconscious cat
from him and held him against her body for warmth. She dried the bedraggled fur with her
gloves, massaging Meowth’s body. After long minutes Meowth began to stir and whimper,
and cuddled into Jessie’s chest. She stroked his head.
"We must keep moving, James. Just a little further, then we can shelter."
They were a sorry trio – Meowth groggy and shivering, James plainly terrified of the coming night, Jessie’s hair and clothes untidy from the snowball battle. They worked on their igloo in grim silence, broken only by instructions from Jessie and an occasional "Idiot!" when James goofed up. At last they completed their fortress of packed snow and crawled inside. It was an immediate relief to be out of the wind, and soon the heat of their bodies in the confined space began to warm them. Meowth made a sort of nest in the snow floor, curled up tightly and fell into a doze. The other two watched him for a while, wishing they could fall asleep so easily.
"How are you feeling, James? Cold?" Jessie asked.
"Oh no, not at all. My hands are quite warm," he assured her.
"That’s good," said Jessie. Then a sudden realisation hit her and she grabbed James’ hand and yanked off his glove. The fingers had gone bluish-white.
"James! You’ve got frostbite! We have to warm your hands up, or you could
lose your fingers!"
"Lose my fingers!" shrieked James, panicking. Meowth woke up and stared
at them.
"It’s OK…it’s OK, James. Just give me your hands."
She took his hands and began to rub them briskly and slap them between her own.
"Oww!" he protested a while later.
"Good, that means the feeling’s coming back," Jessie told him. She loosened
her uniform and guided James’ hands inside, up to her chest. James eyes grew huge and
he gave a disbelieving grin. Immediately the compassion faded from Jessie’s face and
she whipped out her fan. Smack!
"Not there, idiot!" she hissed. "Put your hands under my armpits to
warm them. Fool!"
They sat there for an hour while James’ fingers thawed in the warmth of his
partner’s body.
"Thanks, Jess," he said humbly, pulling his gloves back on. "You saved my fingers! If you hadn’t known what to do…" He shuddered. "Here, I’d like you to have this." He rummaged in his pocket, coming up with a small metal bottle-cap bearing the logo of Clefairy Cola. "It’s not much, but it’s my favourite," he said.
Jessie took it. "Oh thank you so much James! A lucky bottle-cap of my very own! You spoil me!" she said sarcastically. "Now let’s get to sleep." She turned away before she could see the disappointed look on James’ face, or he the sudden tears in her eyes.
On to Part II
By Agent 99
Pictures courtesy of shywolf