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A loud, dull thud echoed through the Crevasse Passage as your head hit the ground. Snow lightly drizzled down onto your face, while a sharp, intense pain began pulsating through your skull. Vision doubled, and everything around you blurred into a biting, cold, white nothingness.
"And you’re supposed to be the Galaxy Team's most capable member, tsk." A faint laugh reached your ears, barely audible over the deafening buzzing that filled your head. "To think I lost to you." You squinted. The frigid, distant voice was familiar, but you couldn’t quite place it. "Oh dear, did you fall that hard?" You felt something pressing against your cheeks—warm fingers— squeezing—rather painful. "Nothing," the cold voice noted. "Try following my finger with your eyes." You flexed your muscles, ripping your eyes open—trying to at least—attempting to follow the voice's command, but you couldn't—not really, no. "Could be better." The warm finger loosened their grip, letting you fall down into the snow again. Cold, wet, bleak snow.
"Where am I?" your eyes flickered as the cold air was biting at your face.
"Mmh. Did you forget again?" the voice inquired, somewhat annoyed.
A familiar dread washed over you. No, you truly recognized nothing around you. It was as if you'd been spat out into a foreign land by some higher power. Yet, deep down, you knew that wasn’t the case. Not this time at least.
"No," you muttered. "Nothing."
"Interesting." You struggled to identify where you knew the voice from. It seemed familiar—intimate, yet hostile. Warm, but somehow cold at the same time. "It’s hilarious. Arceus’s favourite has fallen so low. Where is your saviour now?"
Your eyes darted wide open. In a matter of seconds, the voice that had felt so foreign suddenly became painfully recognizable. But no that couldn't be.
"What... what are you doing here?" you muttered, instinctively crawling away. "Don't touch me!" You coughed, nails digging deep into the pearly white frigid snow.
"Oh no, is the chosen one scared?"
"No!" you screamed, even though you could barely feel your own head. "I hate you! I hate you! Get away from me!" You kept crawling backwards, inching closer to the cavern wall. You tried to spin around digging your hands into a brisk icy wall, nails hopelessly scratching against ice and snow. You couldn't get out. You reached the end. You were trapped. "Help!" you cried out, panicked as he approached, desperately hoping someone would come to save you. Volo, who looked so much like the man who had once saved your life, the man who used to be your friend—the man who tried to kill you atop Mount Coronet. "Help, please!"
"Oh, come on. You know no one will come here. No one will help. It’s just us." He grabbed you by the arms, dragging you through the snow into a dark passage, a cave maybe. He loosened his grip, and your head hit the hard ground once again. Your eyes darted around trying to make out where Volo now was. Suddenly he loomed over you. "Now, don’t struggle." He grabbed you by the hair and forcefully poured something into your mouth. "Here." He muttered as he stood up again. "You should feel better now." He picked up a few things that had fallen from his uniform before turning away to leave again.
"What?" You tried to sit up straight. "You're really doing this again?!"
"What? What am I doing?" Volo rolled his eyes, turning back to face you.
"Walking away," you hissed, your head still throbbing.
"Why? Should I stay and watch as you miraculously heal, thanks to Arceus? Does that amuse you?"
"No," you squealed, hot tears welling up in your eyes. "I didn’t choose to come here. I’d rather go home too, but I can’t! So stop antagonizing me!" you screamed, worsening your headache.
"Oh, please," Volo scoffed, rolling his eyes again. "As if that makes it any better. You didn’t want to be here, and yet you were the one chosen by Arceus. Despite everything I did." The blonde merchant growled. "You ruined everything. You—"
The dizzying buzz in your head suddenly shifted to a wave of nausea. "I-I didn’t do anything. I just wanted to go home. And I thought you were my friend. I-I thought you loved me. I would've done anything for you." You wanted to scream, stand up, let out all the things that had kept you awake for months—the things that had torn you apart. But you couldn’t. Nausea took over, and the only thing you could do was turn away as vomit, not words, spilt from your mouth.
"Pathetic." Despite your sobbing, you could hear Volo's contemptuous sigh. "Now, now." Another sigh. "Don’t you want to calm down?" You continued to sob, the new burning in your stomach nearly unbearable. Hot tears streamed down your face, melting every snowflake that landed on your skin—until something cold gently grazed your cheek.
"You need some water." Volo dangled his canteen next to your face. "Open your mouth, and I’ll pour some." After hesitating, you decided to comply and slowly opened your mouth. "Good," the blonde man muttered, pouring the water in your mouth. The cold liquid slid down your throat, temporarily soothing the ache in your stomach. But the vomiting had left you weak. "You need to get up soon, or you’ll freeze to death."
"I know," you groaned, attempting to stand up. You managed to stand but soon collapsed against an icy wall.
"Truly pitiful." Warm hands wrapped around your arms, pulling you against the soft, familiar fabric of the Ginkgo Guild uniform. You wanted to kick and scream, but you were too weak. So instead, you leaned into him, sobbing quietly.
"Why do you hate me so much, Volo?" Your muffled, tearful voice was barely audible.
"I don’t hate you," Volo mumbled calmly, occasionally patting your shoulders.
"Then why do you act like this? Huh?" you whimpered.
"I don’t know what you mean." Volo shook his head, annoyed. "And why would the chosen one care about what I think?" he sneered.
"Because you were my friend. We were happy," you said, wiping some tears from your face. "And then you just tried to—"
"I didn’t try to seriously harm you," Volo interrupted. "You were simply in my way. It’s nothing personal."
"I don’t understand."
"I know," he cut you off again. "You're like the others. Afraid of change. Afraid of a better world."
"In a better world, you wouldn’t have betrayed me," you said, trying to suppress another wave of tears.
"Once again, you were just in my way. But I didn’t betray you. I never lied to you," Volo muttered.
"You did betray me. And I won’t forgive you for that—no matter what dumb excuse you give," you yelled. "But I miss you. I just want my old friend back."
"Oh my, I don’t understand why it bothers you so much," Volo said, shaking his head again. "You don’t know me."
"Because you never let me get to know you," you whimpered softly.
"I don’t think you’d like me if you truly knew me. We’re fundamentally opposed in what we believe and desire." He pulled you closer to his chest. "I guess that’s one of life’s great tragedies." He gently caressed your cheek before reaching into his pocket. "It’s too cold for you to stay here any longer, especially in this condition. Togetic will carry you back to the surface." The white Fairy-type appeared beside you, letting out a happy cry.
You reached out to the familiar Pokémon, barely able to hold on as she carried you up the steep walls of the Crevasse Passage. Gently, she set you down in the deep, fluffy snow before disappearing back into the depths. You tried to stand but could only manage to sit as your vision blurred.
"You shouldn’t overexert yourself like this," Volo said, grabbing your shoulders from behind and pulling you to your feet. "The base camp isn’t far from here," he muttered, holding onto you tightly. "But you can’t make it in this condition."
"Why don’t you just come with me?"
"Well, isn’t it obvious?" Volo's voice carried a hint of bitterness. "Now that I’ve burned all bridges with you, nothing is stopping you from telling your precious Galaxy Team what I did."
"I wouldn’t do that," you whimpered. "Despite your betrayal, I wouldn’t want to hurt you. I’m not like that. I’m not like you."
"You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you? You little outsider. You brat," Volo hissed.
"Leave me alone!" You started to sob even louder, loud enough to nearly alert the guards at the base camp.
"Stop that!" Volo hissed angrily, clamping his hand over your mouth. "Will you calm down?!"
You struggled against him, but your body was too weak. After a few tense moments, Volo relaxed his grip slightly, no longer pressing as hard.
"There’s no need to get so upset," he sighed. "And stop crying like that. It’s only going to make your headache worse." He carefully removed his hand from your mouth and scooped you up into his arms once more. "I’ll carry you to the base camp—if you behave. Understood?" You nodded, too exhausted to argue.
The few steps to the base camp felt much longer than usual, most likely because you were slipping in and out of consciousness. Everything around you blurred into a vast white void, except for Volo’s face, which remained somewhat clear. After what felt like an eternity, you felt someone else tugging at your clothes. A guard. You could see him talking to Volo, though you couldn't make out a single word the two were saying.
"The drop seemed rather hard. I saw it from afar, and by the time I arrived, my dear friend was only mumbling nonsense. One can hope they don’t suffer memory loss again. You should be cautious."
"How fortunate you were there just in time. Otherwise, it might have been too late. We’ll hurry back to Jubilife Village for medical help," the guard said, placing you in his arms.
"Very well. I have to be on my way—I’ve got an errand for Tuli." Volo turned to leave when you whispered something.
"But will you—"
"Yes, I’ll come visit once I’ve finished my errand." The merchant smiled faintly. "But for now, I have to go. I hope you feel better soon." Before you could reply, Volo had already left the camp, leaving you alone with the guard.
"We’ll be home soon. No need to worry," the guard said gently, walking away from the base camp. "You were very lucky that merchant Volo found you in time. You’re fortunate to have such a good friend."
"Hmm," you sighed, allowing yourself to relax for a moment. "I guess I am."