Evening.
A camping tent stood in the snow.
Baimu sat before a roaring campfire, with a bandaged Hydreigon on one side and a bandaged Giant Steelix on the other.
The aroma of stew drifted through the camp with the rising steam.
"Happy~"
Blissey cheerfully poured ingredients into the pot. She loved showing off her cooking on camping trips and earning praise from her trainer and companions.
Voices and music drifted from the TV drama Mawile was watching inside the tent.
Far off in the dense forest, dark shapes seemed to move slowly, accompanied now and then by strange rattling noises.
Against the snowy woods, growing eerie as daylight faded, the sight was rather unsettling.
Baimu paid it no mind.
He shoved aside the big head Hydreigon thrust toward him with a huff, ignoring how pitiful he looked with two of his three heads wrapped in gauze.
"Zahh~"
"Quiet."
"Whine."
The brief exchange drew a mocking look from Steelix beside them, but when his trainer glanced over, he immediately wiped it away and pretended nothing had happened.
Rattle, rattle.
The strange noise drew closer, followed by several calls that sounded eager for praise.
"Geh-heh-heh!"
"Yah~" "Yah!"
The two Dreepy each carried a large bundle of firewood beneath them, while Shiny Gengar dragged a half-rotten stump behind them with some difficulty.
Baimu got up to meet them. "You brought back dry wood, right?"
"Gengar!"
Gengar patted his belly confidently. He wasn't stupid. Why would he bring back wet wood?
The snow behind the camp rose. A silvery beast shook off the snow covering him and approached the stump under the others' gazes, using his claws to break it into pieces fit for burning.
Aggron growled, "Grroar~"
"I know."
Baimu stroked the Dreepy Siblings and Gengar on their heads and praised them for