Mountain Hike

“C'mon, wake up! I know that bed's comfy but this is important!”
Once more, I find myself being nudged awake early in the morning by Wooper. Reluctantly I climb out of my makeshift bed, grumbling to myself. Maybe someday I'll be able to sleep in.
“Unless the guild's on fire again, it can't be that important.”
Even though I'm still half-asleep, Wooper looks more excited than ever before. “No, but you gotta listen! There's a mountain not too far away and I hear there's a really cool treasure near the top! We gotta go check it out!”
Instantly, I begin to feel apprehensive. “I dunno, a mountain? Aren't the tops of those really cold? I don't want to fight any Ice types again, not after...” I shudder, recalling the icy cave. “I still have nightmares about that!”
“It's not like that, honest. It's only a small mountain, there's no snow at the top of it! It's more like a big hill than anything. So, are we gonna go?”
I have a bad feeling about this. Who can blame me? Most of my journeys so far have involved fighting against something much bigger than me, one of which even involved my biggest fear. I take another look at Wooper, who eagerly awaits my response. Against my better judgment, I say, “...Okay. But I'm not leaving anything to chance. We eat breakfast and make sure we're well-stocked before we go.”
Wooper hops up and down. “Yeah, that's the spirit! Let's hurry up and get ready, Chespin!” I grab my bag, sticking a few bottles of Gummi drinks into it before leaving.

Heading for the kitchen, I can't help but notice that the guild's cook looks more frustrated than usual, punching the spot between his eyes. “Hey Beast, what's wrong?”
His expression seems to lighten a little when he sees me. “What's wrong is my stupid STOVE isn't as hot as I need it to be. Dinner's NEVER going to come out right unless this thing heats up.”
“Your stove? What's wrong with y-”
Beast merely points towards the center of the room. A very annoyed Numel stands there with a pot on his back, staring a look of hatred towards us. Beast continues explaining, saying, “My STOVE talks all kinds of NONSENSE about being an 'assistant manager' and all kinds of stupid garbage, all while refusing to do his JOB.”
A smirk crosses my face. “A former assistant manager, is he?” Normally I wouldn't be one to act how I'm about to, but after hearing the things this Numel did before coming here a few days ago on top of having a good idea of his past... “Don't you worry one bit, I happen to be an expert at using this kind of stove!”

I walk over to the Numel, his angry gaze fixated on me. “For the LAST TIME, I am NOT A STOVE!”
Putting on a voice of exaggerated annoyance, I say, “Hey Ronnie McDooonieee, see my partner here?” Pointing to Wooper, I continue with, “He asked for no pickles last night and he got them. Again. Seriously, you people never learn, huh?”
“You WHAT?!” Red and orange flickers of light came out of his back hump as he lets out a shout of anger, his voice cracking. “I'M GONNA SHOVE A PICKEL UP YOUR F-”
“Tsk tsk, this is some VERY poor customer service. I'd like to speak to your manager. The REAL manager.” I give the Numel the smuggest look I can muster, all with the intent of angering him.
“AAAAAAHHHHGGGG! I'm gonna MANAGE your LIFE into THE GRAAAAAAVE!” Fire erupts out of his back as he spews forth a pitifully tiny Ember at me, hitting the back of my right hand. Even though I'm part plant now the pathetic attack stings only a little, showing just how weak Numel really is.
Getting another idea, I say, “Ooh! I think I burned myself on your coffee! Weren't you guys sued for this once already?”
“THE HOT COFFEE LAWSUIT WAS A FRAAAAUD!” Flames were pouring out constantly at this point, warming whatever it is that Beast was trying to cook.
My work here is done! Nodding towards Beast, I say “That oughta do it!”
“An anger-powered stove?”
“You got it! Just think of any complaint you've ever gotten as a chef and use it against him.”
“Interesting...” For a brief second, I could swear I saw the faintest hint of a smile on him. “I was able to make a few pancakes earlier, feel free to help yourself before leaving.”
“Will do!”

After breakfast, Wooper and I grab a few supplies from town for our little hike. Wooper keeps insisting it'll be fine but after my last few outings, I don't want to chance it.
On the path out of town, Wooper speaks up, nodding towards the horizon. “See that mountain over there? That's where it is! It should only take us a few hours to walk there.”
Feeling a little unsure, I say, “I dunno...I don't think we'll be able to get there and back all in one day. Sleeping under the stars ain't exactly something I want to do.”
“All of the good adventurers and heroes do that sometimes! It ain't that bad, honest!”
Somehow I doubt that, but there's no changing Wooper's mind at this point. “At least the mountain doesn't look that tall, hopefully it isn't too hard to climb. We'd better hurry though, climbing a mountain in the middle of the night isn't my idea of a good time.”
Nodding, Wooper leads the way as we begin our hike towards the mountain.

As we walk through the plains, the sunlight and warm wind help energize me. Even now it feels weird, being something that's practically solar-powered. Wooper slows down a little, something clearly on his mind. Eventually he finally speaks up. “Chespin? Why did that Numel get so angry about what you said? Was it some kinda human thing?”
“Um...yeah. In the human world, there are a bunch of people that have to sit there and take the kind of things I said to him. By the sound of things, he was one of them.”
Wooper frowns at this new knowledge. “That's awful!”
“The human world could be a pretty rough place, but not everybody there is like Numel. By the sound of things, he had a terrible job that broke him.”
“Oh...”
Seeing Wooper frown some more, I try to cheer him up. “It isn't like that for everybody! Some humans just...have it rougher than others. Who knows? Maybe he'll manage to ease up someday when he grows up some more.” Trying to change the subject, I say, “Anyways, c'mon! We've got us some treasure to grab!”
Whatever ideas and thoughts Wooper had that were getting him down were completely eliminated with my words. “Yeah! Do you think it'll be crystals? Something cool for the guild? A pile of gold?!” I can't help but smile at his addictive enthusiasm as we continue our trip.

The sun directly overhead, we finally reach the base of the mountain. Even though the mountain doesn't look too tall from a distance and even has a path up to the top, there's no way this won't take awhile. This kind of climb would take maybe an hour as a human, but now? There was no telling how long we'd be here. Taking a moment to mentally prepare myself, I lead the way upwards.
At first, the climb is uneventful. The path makes things easy on us and there are no threats to be seen anywhere. For a moment, I think Wooper and I have finally gotten an easy exploration for once. All of that changes when we round one corner and see it. A steep rock wall. If I have to guess, maybe four or five meters tall.

Frustrated, I shout, “Well, this trip was a waste of time! Some treasure this turned out to be.”
Wooper frowns a little. “We can still get up there.”
“I don't have any climbing gear. If we had a rope, maybe we could get up there, but we don't.”
“What are you talking about? We have something that'll work!”
“No we don't! You're not making any se-AGH!”
Wooper spits a small jet of water at my back mid-sentence. The coldness makes my body tense up for just a moment, my vines instinctively shooting out. “Right there! You seriously forgot about your vines again?”
Unconvincingly, I say, “I was...testing you! Yeah, testing your uh, determination.” I wave a vine in front of myself. How long can these things get, anyways? Testing it, I stretch them up...and up...and up. Where on earth was all this vine length coming from? It had to have been more than ten times as long as I was tall! Spotting a bush peeking out from the top, I wrap my vines around it, giving it a tug to test if it'll hold. Setting my bag down, I begin to climb up, kicking off the wall as I reel myself in. Once at the very top, I ferry both Wooper and my bag up with me.
“See? We got nothin' to worry about if we work together. Now, let's get that treasure, Chespin!” Before I can respond, Wooper begins running. Slinging the bag around myself once more, I continue my journey up the mountain.

After more climbing we find a wide open area near the top, a cave on the other end. Instantly I begin to feel uneasy, remembering what happened the last time I came across a clearing like this. “I don't like the look of this, Wooper.”
“Why? There's nobody else here!”
“Something about this doesn't feel ri-”
My speech is cut off by the ground shaking, a shadow looming over us from behind. Turning around, I'm met with the largest Pokemon I've seen yet, a Charizard!
“Well well, looks like a couple of kids managed to make the climb! How about a little battle before you go any furth-”
Something snaps inside of me as I see the huge lizard. Instead of running away or fearing for my life, I'm furious. It happened again! “Oh COME ON! Can't ONE of my journeys end with me NOT fighting some gigantic enemy that's strong against me?! What on earth's your problem, anyways?”
Wooper is taken aback by my complete 180 in attitude. “Chespin, it's okay, we can do thi-”
I cut Wooper off, grabbing him with my vines as I point him towards Charizard. “I'm sick of it! And I'm sick of your stupid face! You think you're gonna get an easy win on us just because you're bigger? I'm not gonna let it happen!”
Wooper shoots me a look of pure confusion, but looks forward and fires off a blast of water, striking the Charizard in the face! Shrugging off the attack, he takes to the skies, flying out of reach of our attacks!

“Chespin, what's gotten into you?! It didn't sound like he was like the othe-”
“I wasn't about to give him the chance to burn us! Not only that, but I'm sick of looking at that fat MORON!”
“But you've never seen him befo-”
In the middle of our arguing, I fail to notice the Charizard swooping back down. Before I can react, he divebombs us, his wings scoring a direct hit on Wooper and I. I let out a cry of pain as I tumble across the arena, skidding to a stop. Looking over for Wooper, I feel sick as I realize he's down for the count already! As Charizard lands in front of me, I give him a defiant lashing with my vines, knowing that it's futile. In return, he flaps his wings, sending a strong blast of wind slamming into me!
I fall to the ground, only able to watch as he grabs Wooper with one hand. As he walks back towards me, my last thought before I lose consciousness is one of regret. Why'd my life have to end like this?

I wake up to a gentle breeze on my face. Standing up, I wince in pain, my entire body sore. Somehow, I'm still alive. Looking around, I find that I'm back on the path, not far from where we had that awful fight. What's more, my bag is nearby as well. Wooper lies on the ground nearby, stirring awake.
“Wooper? Are you okay?” Fetching a few Oran Berries from the bag, I feed a couple to him as I eat up, the pain leaving my body.
“I'll be fine...but I'd be more fine if you didn't handle that fight so badly!”
I can't believe what he's saying. “You're blaming me?! What else could we have done there? Face it, there wasn't any chance we could have won, but at least we put up a fight!”
“That's the thing! You were so busy getting mad at that Charizard that you went in without any kind of plan! Then we had to start arguing in the middle of it all and that's when everything went wrong.”
“You don't ge-” I pause mid-sentence, realizing that Wooper was right. It's my fault that we lost. “I'm sorry, it's just...Something snapped inside my head when I saw him.”
“We can still win against him, we just gotta think of a plan!”
Rubbing my chin, I look around as I try to think of something, anything that could tip the scales in our favor. Wooper's blasts of water weren't cutting it, we need something with a little more kick, something that'll really rock against a Charizard... “That's it! We'll throw a bunch of rocks at him!” I scoop up a few large rocks,
“THAT's your plan? I could have thought of that!”
“Yeah, well, I'm sure you can think of something after I get enough good hits on him to keep him from flying.”
With the barest minimum of a plan in place, we walk back to the “arena” for a rematch.

Just as I thought, the Charizard is waiting for us. “Back for a rematch, are you?”
Stepping forward, I yell, “Yeah, and we're still not afraid of you! We'll be the winners this time!”
Wooper follows with “Yeah! Team Cozy always wins out in the end!”

Without a word, the Charizard takes to the skies. I quickly dump the rocks out of my bag, grabbing them with my vines. “Wooper, get ready!” Wooper nods as I turn my attention to the Charizard. I wait for the perfect moment to strike. I watch as he begins to swoop back down and charge towards us. Wait for it...wait for it...NOW!
I throw my rocks as fast and as hard as I can. Charizard narrowly dodges most of them, but one of them scores a direct hit on his left wing! Losing his balance, he swerves off course, slamming into a large nearby boulder. “Wooper, now's your chance! Do that volcano thingy!”
“Yeah!” Wooper leaps up into the air, stomping down onto the ground. A streak of red light shoots across the earth, stopping underneath Charizard. An eruption of energy blasts Charizard up into the air, and I let out a cheer as he hits the ground.
“We won! Take that, you overgrown-”
My words are cut off by the sight of the Charizard getting back up, bruised but not beaten. Unable to fly for the time being, he takes a few swings at Wooper with his fists. Jumping into action, I get behind him, gripping his arms with my vines to create an opening for Wooper. “Blast him, now!”
Charizard lets out a low roar of pain as Wooper's attack strikes him in the face. Just as I'm about to grab another rock, Charizard lets out a loud shout. “ENOUGH! I forfeit!”

“Wait, really?” Confused, I retract my vines. “You're not like the other Pokemon I've had to fight. What's your story?”
“Every now and then, a few adventurers decide to climb this mountain to test their skills. Isn't that why you're here?”
“Umm...No? Why on earth would you think that?”
“Were you not fired up when you saw me?”
“Yeah, but...Every other outing I've gone on had me fighting for my life. I thought this was going to be like those times.” I feel myself ease up a little. At least I don't have to worry about dying to this thing. “But there's something I don't get. You can breathe fire, right? Why weren't you doing that?”
“Hah, that's an easy one. It's unsportsmanlike in a simple sparring match.”
Now I'm more confused. “Okay, but...Where's the treasure? We didn't come all this way for nothing, did we?”
“There's no gold or treasure chests up here. However, there is something on the other end of that cave over there that you may enjoy.”
Before I can respond, Wooper butts in. “You hear that? There IS something up here! C'mon, Chespin!”
“Uh huh...well uh, bye then.” Feeling a little awkward now, I follow Wooper into the cave.

The cave is more of a short tunnel than anything else. The inside isn't even dark and it's only a few minutes before we come out the other end. Walking back into the sunlight, I look over the horizon. The plains seem to stretch endlessly, and off in the distance I can just barely make out the guild hall. “Man, what a view this place has!”
“Chespin, look!”
Turning my attention towards Wooper, I see something that brings a big smile to my face. Right there next to him, I see a large hot spring! “Oh, here we go! THIS is more like it!” Setting my bag down, I run for the spring, doing the closest thing to a cannonball I can do as I leap in.
The hot water soaks into my body as I float on my back, staring up at the clouds. I can't help but let out a content sigh as warmth fills me. Next to the bed, hot water was one of the things I missed most from the human world. If only there was a way to bring something like this to the guild.
Reaching towards the bag with my vines, I pull out two bottles of Gummi soda, popping the cork off of both of them and guiding one towards Wooper. “Drink up, we've earned this!”

We slowly sip our drinks as we relax in the hot spring, watching the sun set. Shortly afterwards I let out a long yawn and force myself out of the hot spring. Shaking the water off of me, I look around for a place to sleep, only spotting a small bush. Well, it's better than sleeping on rock. “G'night Wooper. Where are you sleeping?”
“I can sleep in the hot spring, don't worry about me!”
I grumble to myself, Wooper seriously lucked out tonight. I find a spot inside of the bush where I can lie without a bunch of branches poking me. As I try to get comfortable, an odd sense of peace falls over me. What's going on? Is the mere act of sleeping in a bush awakening some kind of instinctive feeling within me? Was it the Gummi drink relaxing me? Whatever it is, I'm happy for it because it means I'll be able to fall asleep that much easier.

When we wake up the following morning, we decide to give the hot spring another go. After all, we've come all this way, why not get the most out of it? Eventually however, we're forced to make the long walk back into town. That Charizard was nowhere to be seen, figures. The least he could have done is give us a ride into town. By the time we finally return to the guild hall, everybody else has gone to bed. Or so I thought. As we round the corner to walk towards our room, I hear the angry shout of a cracking voice from behind me.
“YOU! You're the PROBLEM customer from yesterday!” It's that Numel from the kitchen!
I can't resist screwing with this guy some more. Trying to keep a straight face, I say, “Oh hey, it's you! I'd like UUUUHHHHHH...a double cheeseburger meal, and this time, don't put any pickles on it.” Holding back my laughter as I watch the Numel get even angrier, I continue. “I'd also like UUUUUUHHHHHH...an order of chicken nuggets for Wooper here, and don't forget to give him honey mustard this time. Also I've got a coupon here for a-”
“HOW ABOUT I GIVE YOU A COUPON FOR A FREE ASS KICKING? HOW ABOUT THAT?!”
“Ooh, I don't like your tone. Maybe I should take my business elsewhere.”
“THAT'S IT! I'M GOING TO DEEP FRY YOUR ASS!”
Numel charges forward, trying to Tackle me. His movements are slow and sluggish, and aren't hard to dodge at all. “Hey Wooper, how about giving the employee of the month a little rinse?”
Wooper seems confused by it all, but spits a small blast of water at him, knocking him out instantly.
“Man, that guy's a laugh riot. C'mon Wooper, now we can finally get to bed.”
“But what if he comes into our room when we're asleep? Won't that be a problem?”
I laugh, saying “How's he going to get in? He can't even reach the door handle.”

I think back to the hot spring as I crawl into my bed. Maybe there's a hot spring that's closer to town? One thing's for sure, I want more of what I found up on that mountain.