Cold wind cut through all of the layers of clothes I had on, chilling me down to the bone as I struggled up the path closer towards Spear Pillar.

  Everybody who had told me that it wasn’t smart to climb Mount Coronet at this time of year had been completely correct, but I still pushed through. The snow had only gotten worse as I walked up the path, going from just a centimeter or two, to being up past my ankles.

  Jira had to be withdrawn - she was too dense, and getting through the snow proved to be far too much of a problem.

  Zetian flatly refused to leave her Ball, the cold and the wind was more than uncomfortable to her.

  Kōjin gave it a good go, he really did, but even as he used his fire to melt the snow, the freezing temperatures and cold wind often meant that whatever he melted soon froze again. The third time I fell after slipping on some ice he had inadvertently made was the tipping point, and he went back into his Ball.

  Venus simply emerged from her Ball, put one paw onto the cold snow and ice, then went back inside on her own.

  So I was left to struggle through the wind and the snow alone.

  It wasn’t the worst time I’d ever had, there had been winters back on Earth that were worse, but it was still unpleasant. I’d strapped some cleats onto the bottom of my boots for more grip after accidentally slipping thanks to Kōjin, so things were going better, at least.

  Eventually I came to a vaguely familiar bend in the path, and I fumbled at my coat pocket, pulling out the map.

  There, according to the map and the help that Marie had given me, was the turn-off point for where I could get to Spear Pillar.

  A part of me wanted to keep going on the current path I was on to get to the viewing platform, but I was on a mission - and besides, I could always return to see the sights another day.

  Maybe when it wasn’t quite so cold and snowy.

  A gust of wind picked up and caught the map at just the right angle, ripping it from my hands.

  I cursed and flailed as I tried to grab it, but it was swept into the air and pulled away from me, disappearing as it flew over the rocks.

  I stood there for another minute, cursing life, before sighing.

  “Guess it doesn’t really matter.” The turnoff was right here, after all.

  After a few minutes of searching, I finally found it - one of the rocks on the wall was fake, and with some effort I managed to push it to the side.

  A small, narrow path was carved into the rocky ledges, and I sighed as I looked at it.

  “No wonder the Pokémon League blocked this off.”

  There was not a single world with a competent safety organization that would have allowed people onto this path. There were only the remnants of railings, all of the steps were completely covered with snow and ice, and from what I could see they had been worn away by time and the elements.

  Still…

  I looked up, and could see the tips of the ruined columns of Spear Pillar from here.

  So close.

  Sighing again, I stepped onto the path, and began the final part of the climb.

  /^\

  It was slow going, climbing up the secret pathway to the summit of the mountain.

  More than once I slipped on some ice or a particularly eroded rock despite my climbing cleats, and I barely managed to stay on the path.

  My only saving grace was that, due to the way the path was carved into the rocks of the mountain, I was sheltered from the wind. It was still bitingly cold this high up, but at least I wasn’t directly in the wind like I had been earlier.

  I could only guess that another hour or two had passed as I made my way along the pathway, and all of my plans and schedules had been well and truly discarded.

  The hope that I could manage it all in a single day was seeming increasingly distant, considering it was already past noon, and I was becoming convinced that I would have to spend the night on the mountain.

  It wouldn’t be the worst place I’d spent the night since coming to this world.

  I smiled as I thought about my first time sleeping here. I’d had to find a ditch in the ground in the middle of the forest.

  Thank Arceus and Jirachi I had shown up in the summer, because I likely would have suffered from exposure if I had been brought here in the winter.

  Looking back on it, that night in the forest had been the best night of sleep I’d had in ages.

  My attention wandered as I was reminiscing, my foot slipped on some ice, and my knee crashed into a rock.

  I’m pretty sure they could hear my shout from Sandgem Town.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  /^\

  After the knee incident, I stopped to have some lunch in a lee in the rock and give my legs a break. Once that was done, I had to keep going and reach Spear Pillar.

  It was obvious the exact moment I reached the separation point between “Mount Coronet” and “Spear Pillar.”

  There was a perfectly clean line in the snow. On one side was ice, and on the other perfectly clean and dry stone, a small platform of rock before the marble steps leading up to the plateau of Spear Pillar itself.

  I blinked at it, stopping just before the division. It was like somebody had rendered a different environment, and hadn’t bothered with a transition.

  One step was all it took. I was on an ice and snow covered mountain top, then I was… not someplace else, but something in the air had changed.

  The temperature jumped from “freezing” to “cool,” and the near-constant sound of the wind howling over the rocks cut out like somebody had turned off the radio. It was as silent as a grave, and even the sound of my own breathing seemed too loud.

  I fumbled at my waist and summoned Venus, who looked around in surprise.

  “Yeah.” I said softly, the whispered words sounding like a shout. “Weird, huh?”

  She didn’t even bother giving me a look, her attention was completely devoted to scanning the local area.

  “Let’s go take a look, shall we?”

  There were a set of marble steps, and we slowly mounted them together, looking around at the eeriness of the mountain top.

  I could see the entirety of the region all around us, but I couldn’t pay any attention to the sights. Instead, I was focused on the flat plateau, and the ruins of the buildings around us.

  They were all made of marble, and I wondered how long it took for the ancient Hisuians to bring the stones up here. It must have been a huge undertaking, and now… it was ruins.

  It was a stark beauty, enhanced by the silence of the summit. A monument to a bygone era, left to be worn away by time and the elements.

  The only things left here were the pillars with their broken tops, the square bases of the arches, and at the very back, a short platform with a wide, flat top.

  I stopped in front of the platform, staring down at it.

  There were nineteen rectangular holes cut into the stone. Nine arranged in a three-by-three square on the left mirrored by another square on the right, and a singular hole in the middle.

  They were all empty, waiting to be filled.

  My hands moved, almost of their own accord.

  I took the bag off of my back, and reached in. There, within reach, without a single thought, was the Mind Plate.

  A wave of memories crashed into me.

  I was standing in a clearing in the middle of some trees. A pedestal was before me, the pink stone of the Mind Plate sitting innocently on it.

  A whispered command, not of words, but of feelings, of an idea.

  Go to the Spear Pillar. Take me with you. Return me to where I belong.

  I was standing in front of the archway on the top of Mount Coronet, Plate in hand. I stepped forwards, and turned it around, revealing the writing on the back.

  The Original One breathed alone before the universe came.

  I placed it in its slot on the platform. There was no indication of which slot was the correct one, I just knew it in my bones.

  The other eighteen holes were empty, the Plates waiting to be collected and returned to the Pillar.

  But I had another one ready, didn’t I?

  I reached into my bag again, and there was the Legend Plate.

  This one, at least I knew where it belonged without any arcane knowledge.

  From all creations, over all creations, does the Original One watch over all.

  It slid into the central slot.

  All of the hairs on my neck stood on end as a wave of power washed over Spear Pillar, and my gaze was drawn to the center of the platform.

  There was a simple engraving in the center of a ring of pillars. A triangle inside of a square.

  I shivered as it began to glow gold, and Venus was looking on with something akin to awe.

  A shape formed, blurry, indistinct, but I didn’t need to see it to know what it was.

  I staggered forwards, taking a few steps closer to the god, and collapsed to my knees, where I distantly noticed the pain in my injured knee was gone.

  My mouth worked for a second, and I knew I only had a limited time.

  “Is this real? Am… am I real? For months I’ve been here, and every time I begin to get comfortable, I wonder: Is this a dream? A delusion made by a dying brain? Please, I have to know!”

  The world around me disappeared as the avatar of Arceus lowered its head towards me. I could only feel the stones under my knees, and the rest was darkness.

  A form pressed up against my side, and my hand dropped down on instinct, feeling the warm fur and steady heartbeat of Venus.

  The world returned, and tears streamed down my face as I openly sobbed.

  “Thank you.” I cried. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but thank you.”

  A feeling of warmth, of belonging.

  The shape dissolved into light.

  There were only two Plates, after all. The avatar of a god needed many more.

  The Poké Balls on my waist shook, and the rest of my Pokémon released themselves, crowding around me as I curled into a ball and wept.

  I wasn’t sure how long I laid there, surrounded by my new-found family, but eventually I drifted off into sleep.

  /^\

  It was morning when I awoke, dry tear tracks on my face, and I gasped as I saw the sun rising.

  Never before had I seen a sunrise while I was this high up. I hadn’t had the chance to properly appreciate Sinnoh the day before, but now…

  A golden light swept across the land, and I was the first person to witness it. I stared in awe at the rising sun as it crawled across Sinnoh, bringing warmth and life to all it touched.

  “Thank you.” I whispered. “I’ll make it count.”

  A distant feeling filled me, like the memory of a parent’s hug.

  My Pokémon stirred around me, each of them waking in turn.

  Jira, proud and willful, who would be a monster in her own right.

  Kōjin, full of emotion and energy, and my protector.

  Zetian, wise and strong, an empress in all but name.

  And Venus, my first, and best friend in this new world.

  “I love you all.” I said, tears threatening to spill out once again.

  And then, a splash of color in this white and tan temple caught my attention.

  In the center of the triangle where the manifestation of Arceus had appeared, was a single flower. It had six petals, going from white in the center, to red on the tips.

  A new wave of gratitude filled me as I stared at the parting gift of a god, and with careful hands I picked it up, rolling the stem in my hands.

  I turned back to my companions.

  “So.” I said thickly, a smile creeping across my face. “Who wants to go on another adventure?”