The pale, filtered light of a Snowpoint morning bled through the heavy hotel curtains, casting a soft glow over the room. Julian stirred, but his body felt like it had been encased in warm, heavy concrete. His limbs were leaden, his chest felt constricted by a fuzzy weight, and there was a persistent, rhythmic heat radiating from everywhere at once.
He blinked, staring up at the popcorn ceiling of the hotel room. His brain felt like it was still rebooting after a catastrophic system crash.
"Wait... how did I get here? The last thing I remember was the smell of old pine needles and the sound of my own knees cracking..." Julian mumbled, his voice gravelly with sleep.
He tried to sit up, but a strange, soft resistance held him down. It wasn't just the blankets; it was like the blankets had developed a heartbeat and a significant amount of fur.
"Leafeon-flo! (Oh, look who decided to rejoin the living! Seriously, Jing, you were out so cold I thought we might have to check you into the Pokémon Center instead of the hotel.)"
Floette's voice chirped from the direction of the small kitchenette. Julian shifted his gaze to see her floating near the table, looking unusually busy for a flower-fairy at seven in the morning.
"Floette? Good morning... I think," Julian croaked. He instinctively tried to reach up and rub the sleep from his eyes, but his right arm was pinned. "Hang on. I'll be up in a second to get your breakfast started. Just let me... uh..."
He tugged. Nothing happened. His arm felt completely numb, caught under something incredibly soft and very, very heavy.
"Leafeon flo-flo! (Stay down! Relax! We've already handled the morning rush. We're eating the 'emergency' Pokéblocks today—they're actually not bad! Just stay in your nest and stop squirming.)"
Floette zipped over, her tiny face full of authority as she used her flower to gently poke Julian back into the pillow.
"Julian's brain slowly started to connect the dots. "Wait, where are the others? I see Carbink helping you with the chairs... but where's the 'High-Energy' trio? It's way too quiet."
"Flo-flo? (Seriously? You can't feel them?)" Floette landed on his forehead, looking down at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "(Take a good look at your 'bulging' quilt, Boss. You're currently serving as a communal heating pad.)"
"What do you mean—"
Julian stopped mid-sentence. He focused on the sensations beneath the heavy duvet. His stomach felt like it was being used as a footstool. His left arm was being hugged by something sleek and silky, while his right arm was buried under a mountain of coarse, radiating heat. Then, he felt a slow, rhythmic thumping against his hip.
It was a tail. A very familiar, very bushy tail.
"They... both of them... are in the bed?" Julian whispered, his eyes widening.
"Leafeon-flo! (Exactly! You were a shivering mess when we got here yesterday. You collapsed like a house of cards! We had to strip you down to your thermals just so you wouldn't freeze in your own wet clothes. Growlithe and Sylveon decided the best way to keep your temperature up was a 'triple-layer' approach. Are you complaining? Because they look pretty comfortable~)"
Julian felt his face heat up, and it wasn't just from the Fire-type next to him. "Complaining? No... I mean... it's just... a lot of Pokémon in one bed."
"Fly-ah! (How is he? Is the Master of the House finally awake and ready to be judged?)"
Suddenly, the quilt near Julian's left shoulder erupted. A pink-and-white head popped out, her blue eyes sparkling with immediate energy. Sylveon didn't just wake up; she launched herself into full consciousness, her ribbons immediately fluttering around Julian's neck like silk scarves.
"Sylveon! Good morning! But—ack! Get down! Or at least shift your weight!" Julian let out a choked gasp as Sylveon shifted her paws to stand directly on his diaphragm to get a better look at him. "You're... you're concentrated! The pressure is too much!"
"Fly-ah? (What? Am I too light for you to notice? You're always carrying me around like I'm a feather!)" Sylveon pouted, but she quickly shifted her weight off his chest and back onto the mattress.
"It's not about the total weight, it's the physics!" Julian wheezed, finally catching his breath. "When you stand on me with just two paws, you're putting twenty-three kilograms of pure Eeveelution power onto a three-inch area of my ribcage! It's like being stepped on by a very cute, very pink Ponyta!"
(For the record, the official Pokédex entry lists Sylveon at 23.5 kg.)
Sylveon looked down at her paws, then back at Julian's pained expression. She seemed to be doing the math in her head. "Fly... (Oh. I guess that would be... a bit much.)"
Feeling a wave of guilt, she leaned down and gave Julian's cheek a long, sandpaper-tongue lick. "Fly-ah! (I'll remember for next time! I'll distribute my weight evenly across your legs instead!)"
"No, that's not—never mind," Julian laughed, the vibration of his chest making the quilt ripple. "I'm not mad. Just... maybe don't use my stomach as a springboard in the future."
"Woof~ (Jing? Are you actually awake or are you just talking in your sleep again?)"
On the other side of the bed, the "mountain" shifted. A pair of pointed orange ears emerged from the blankets, followed by a very sleepy Growlithe. He yawned so wide Julian could see every one of those sharp teeth that had "sampled" his hand back in Solaceon.
"Hey, buddy," Julian said, his voice softening. "I'm awake. And I'm feeling a lot better. Although, I think my entire lower body has gone into a state of permanent numbness from you guys pinning me down all night."
Growlithe climbed out from under the covers and sat on Julian's lap, his weight much more manageable when distributed. He looked Julian over with a critical, canine eye.
"Woof, woof-woof. (You look less like a ghost today. But don't think you're off the hook. That was the dumbest thing you've ever done, walking until you literally fainted. If I hadn't been there to catch you...)"
"I didn't faint! I just... took an aggressive, unplanned nap," Julian countered, though his sheepish grin gave him away. He tried to raise his hand to scratch Growlithe's chin, but his shoulder muscles screamed in protest. "Okay, maybe I overdid it. But look at it this way: we're in Snowpoint! We made it through the blizzard!"
"Leafeon-flo! (Still making excuses!)" Floette flew over from the table, landing on the headboard. "(Jing, we were terrified! When Growlithe popped us out and we saw you lying there like a discarded rag doll... we thought you'd caught some kind of Arctic fever!)"
"Exactly!" Sylveon added, nudging his cheek with her nose. "Fly-ah! (You're the Trainer! You're supposed to be the smart one who tells us when to take a break. If you're going to be this reckless, we might have to start voting on who's actually in charge.)"
Julian looked at his team. Floette was hovering with her arms crossed, Sylveon was giving him the 'disappointed' stare, and Growlithe was sitting on him like a fluffy anchor. Even Carbink was watching from the floor, her eyes glowing with a quiet "I agree with the seniors" vibe.
"Alright, alright! I get it!" Julian held up his hands (as much as he could) in a gesture of surrender. "I messed up. I wanted to prove I could handle the cold as well as you guys. I didn't want to be the 'weak link' in the team just because I don't have a fur coat or a Type-advantage."
The room went quiet for a moment.
"Woof~ (Jing, you idiot,)" Growlithe barked softly, resting his head on Julian's chest. "(You're not the weak link. You're the heart. If the heart stops, the rest of us don't know where to go. So... stop trying to be a Golem. Just be our human.)"
"Fly-ah! (That's right! And no more hiding the struggle. If you're tired, you tell us. If you're cold, you let us out. We're a team, not a solo act.)"
Julian felt a lump form in his throat. He looked at these incredible creatures—his family—and realized that his "Past Self" would have probably been too proud to accept this kind of scolding. But Julian? Julian loved it.
"I promise. No more 'Martyr Mode.' From now on, if I'm tired, I'm hitching a ride on Growlithe... once he evolves, of course."
"Woof! (Hey! Don't push your luck!)" Growlithe barked, but his tail was wagging furiously.
"So... are we all good now? Can I get some breakfast?"
"Leafeon~ (Hmph. Not yet. You still have to pay the 'Worry Tax.')" Floette said, a devious grin spreading across her face.
"Worry Tax? What's—"
"Woof! (It means if you ever do that again... I'm going on strike. No more petting the fur. No more tail-pillows. No more belly-rubs. Absolute embargo.)"
Julian's eyes went wide. His jaw dropped. He looked at Growlithe as if the puppy had just suggested they jump into a volcano.
"You... you wouldn't. That's inhumane! That's a violation of the Geneva Conventions!"
"Fly-ah~ (Oh, I'm in on this too. Do it again and these ribbons are off-limits for a month.)"
"Misi! (Me too! No touching the diamonds!)"
Julian looked around at his rebellious team, his face pale with genuine horror. "You guys are monsters! Absolute monsters! Fine! I promise! I'll be the most careful, self-preserving Trainer in history! Just don't take away the fluff!"
The room exploded into a chorus of triumphant barks and giggles. As the sun climbed higher over the frozen peaks of Snowpoint, Julian realized that while he might be the one with the Poké Balls, he was definitely the one being trained.