I wish to speak with you.

Please come meet with me at the mountain.

I'll be waiting for you where I always am, in the cave at the peak.

...Please visit as soon as you are able. This is important.

The powerful snowstorm tore across the mountain trail, the slopes of solid rock holding fast against the gales as they were splattered with fresh coat after fresh coat of sleet and slush. The moon only occasionally dared to peek out from behind its cloud cover, the brief glimpses of light sending sparkles down the bits of ice that were beginning to form on the surface of the rock.

A Pokemon wearily forced his way through the raging blizzard, tugging a hefty cloak tighter to his chest as the wind attempted to pick it up and carry it away. From underneath his hood, he glanced at the crumpled letter he held in his fist, trying his best to keep it safe from the miserable weather. "Ugh... this had better be worth making me come through all this."

Thankfully for the traveler, the storm let up for a few precious moments, and the icy fog lifted just enough for him to spy the darkened maw of a tunnel just close by. He began to jog towards the inviting shelter with gusto, kicking up soft white flurries as he eagerly stomped away, and with a heaving sigh, the Pokemon finally made it into the entrance of the cavern. He let himself fall to his knees in a rare display of vulnerability, his breath turning to mist as he inhaled and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled.

"Finally...! I'm finally at the top of this big, stupid mountain," He muttered between gasps, pushing himself back up onto his feet as his fatigue faded away somewhat. Shaking the drenched hood off of his head, he took a step forward. "Old man! Hey, old man!"

He continued further into the depths of the cave, soon emerging into a small, rounded dead end with almost nothing remarkable about it, save for some flattened rocks and a few holes poked into the ceiling to allow light inside. He stepped into the center of the room, trying to listen for any noises; somehow, not even the storm could be heard from up above. "Kekekeh! Hey, old man, I got your letter! Show your face like you were wanting to!"

The sound of someone clearing their throat made him spin on his heels in shock, ready for an ambush, but he relaxed just as quickly as he spotted the familiar figure standing behind him. The color in his fur had faded into a muddled mix of cream and gray, and his nine majestic tails had become scraggly and unkempt since they'd last met, but there was no doubt in his mind as to who it was.

"I see you are as pleasant now as you always were," The old man's voice was rough and scratchy, another victim of his increasingly-great age. "...human."

Gengar's face dropped into a grumpy frown as he let his cloak fall fully onto the floor, thrusting forward and holding out his letter for the fire type to see. "And you're just as big of a nag, too, geezer. I'm not human anymore, and besides, how did you know where I was after all this time?"

Ninetales took a few steps forward and leered smugly at the purple-hued Pokemon. If nothing else, the ancient fox's eyes had retained their sharp, piercing glare throughout the years. "I may keep myself hidden here on Mount Freeze, but do not presume that I am just so uninformed. You have forgotten the scope of the benefits that my life has provided me."

"Hmph." The ghost looked away defiantly, putting his fists at his sides. "Oh yeah? Well then what else do you know about me, huh?"

"How are your friends, Medicham and... Arbok, now, perhaps? You had ended up disbanding your rescue team after your search through the Murky Cave," Ninetales asked, his head held high as he ambled past the befuddled ghost, and he seated himself atop one of the flat rocks, beckoning at Gengar to do the same. "Has Pokemon Square flourished since the Meteor Crisis?"

The fox's guest was silent for a moment as he walked over and hopped onto a stone, brushing some snow off of his cloak as he avoided eye contact. "Pfft! If you knew where I was, how come you don't know the answers to those questions?"

"Maybe I already do, and simply want to hear your thoughts." Ninetales shot back. The ghost type grunted at the infuriatingly snide answer, looking up from his damp cloak. The old Pokemon waited patiently for his reply.

"...Yeh. Everyone's been doing fine," Gengar replied, letting his hands rest in his lap as he watched the fire type's muzzle twitch upwards. "I don't see why they wouldn't be. It's been almost sixteen years since it all happened, heheheh!"

Ninetales kept silent as the ghost cackled to himself, his laughter echoing around the cavern walls, and after a few seconds Gengar trailed off, his arms folded and a much-more casual expression plastered on his face. The old fox shook his head slightly, his tails starting to wag up and down for the first time since they'd started talking. "Yes... sixteen years. I imagine that the children growing up now only think of it as history, don't they?"

"Eh?" Gengar quirked an eyebrow upward, grinning sideways at the odd remark. "Was that supposed to mean something?"

"No... pay it no mind, human." Ninetales let out a soft, forlorn sigh, staring up at the ceiling as he spoke. "I was simply musing."

Gengar fidgeted in his seat somewhat to keep his bottom from freezing in place. "Fine then, fine. What did you want to talk to me about anyway? You said it was important and I know better than to think that small talk is what you were wanting, keheheh!"

The Ninetales didn't respond, continuing to stare at the top of the cavern with a melancholy frown. A few minutes passed as Gengar's question was left hanging, and the ghost swiftly grew impatient, kicking his heel loudly against the icy stone. "Hey, geezer! I asked you something! Did you accidentally curse someone new and need me to give 'em advice? Want me to tell you some place warmer to live? Heh!"

"...I'm dying."

Any and all pretense of lightening the mood vanished instantly from Gengar's mind, and the ghost toppled onto the cavern floor as he lurched forward in shock. Of all the things that he'd been expecting to have to talk with the old man about, that wasn't one of the things that had thought up on the way up the mountain. The ancient Pokemon was a thousand years old at the very least, after all. "Wh... wh-wh-what!? What! N-Ninetales!"

"Don't act so surprised, human. Even if I might be legendary, I am no god. I have to face death just like all other mortal Pokemon do." Ninetales snapped back to attention, fixing the ghost with a hard look. Gengar grumbled in a mild panic, dusting himself off as he got back to his feet, eyes wide and jaw agape. "I was young when we first met, and I was old when the Meteor Crisis began. I have only gotten older since it ended."

"But... b-but that's crazy!" It wasn't, and Ninetales had already pointed out as to why, but the emotional part of Gengar's brain helped to defy the fox's logic enough to make it sound crazy. He busied himself with picking up his cloak. "All that, that power you have... a-all the stuff you know! You're one of the last Pokemon left on the, the whole Northern Continent who knows anything about what it was like when h-human civilization was... was still around!"

A few beams of moonlight poked through the ceiling into the room, properly illuminating the cavern, and Gengar paused as the seat Ninetales sat in began to shine. The fox instinctively began to stretch his limbs out as the warmth of the light washed over him, revealing matted patches of fur and thin, cricking joints. It was confusing, bewildering, bamboozling, dumbfounding, and just plain old shocking all at the same time... and yet Gengar really couldn't say anything to argue against it. Denial, grief, surprise, the five stages ran their course like a roller coaster through his brain. Ninetales seemed to notice, stepping onto the floor and trotting over.

"S-so..." Gengar stuttered, not nearly as composed as he had been when he'd first arrived. "You... you called me here to tell me that you're... going to die, old man?"

Ninetales nodded. "Partly, yes. There is something else I wished to discuss with you, that is perhaps more along the lines of what you were expecting to hear me say."

Gengar felt himself take a deep breath at the news that there was more, and Ninetales waited until the ghost had returned to his seat before going back to his own perch. "...Alright, well, go on then, spit it out at me! What's the big deal and why do you want to tell me so badly?"

"You and I know each other better than we know anyone else, human," The fox replied coolly, his tails starting to wag again as he watched Gengar toy with his cloak a bit before letting it fall onto the floor in a heap, unable to bother distracting himself with it any longer. The letter he'd sent him came next, crinkling quietly as it landed atop the cloth. "Not even your dear Gardevoir-"

"Leave her out of this, geezer!" Gengar blurted out with a growl, gritting his teeth as his old, old friend popped up in his mind's eye, and he tried to push the thought away. "She's... just... what do you want?"

Ninetales shook his head shortly before staring straight into Gengar's eyes with a determined gaze. "I wished to speak with you to confide in you, human. We know each other better than anyone else does... and that means I know I can trust you the most with this."

"Just say it!"

"There is..." Ninetales paused, getting up and walking over to the edge of the cave, standing still as he peered through the tunnel leading to the mountain trail. Gengar looked after the ancient fox expectantly. "Another crisis is coming. Soon."

Gengar's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hated talking about these serious things; why hadn't he just tossed the letter in the trash and gone on with his life? "Another... meteor, you mean?"

"No." The ghost recoiled at the bluntness of Ninetales' reply. "Something different. Something that is... out of my paws... and yours, to confront."

Gengar hopped off of the stone seat and stared into his open palms, gripping at the air a few times as he let the words sink in. Now he understood – or at least he thought he understood – Ninetales' earlier remark. Like they'd both said, it had been sixteen years since Team Shockseed had stopped the meteor from crashing into the continent, and even to him it felt like it had been quite a long time ago.

And now something else was supposedly going to happen, and neither of them could do anything about it. The purple Pokemon frowned irritably, and he grumpily stomped over. "Then why in the name of Arceus are you telling me something like that, huh!?"

"Because..." Ninetales' voice drifted into silence halfway through the word, and Gengar blinked in confusion at the sudden trepidation in the fox's normally-strong voice. Was it his old age again? "Because I cannot... I cannot..."

The ghost turned around fully to stare at the fire type, who had bowed his head and stared blankly at his front paws, his eyes starting to shimmer with... were those tears? Gengar was already thrown for a loop, and things were just getting weirder and weirder. He reached forward, against his better judgment, and patted the back of Ninetales' neck. "You can't help 'cause you're gonna die? That's what's got you all worked up enough to want to talk to me about it, old man?"

The fox suddenly wiped at his eyes with his legs, and once he had dried his muzzle, he looked over at Gengar, who froze in place, his arm still pressed against the ancient Pokemon's fur. "I cannot... lend my presence to those who will need it. No... to those who should have had it in the first place. Now one is alone and the other is..."

The cryptic statement flew right over Gengar's head, and not only did he realize it, he also didn't entirely care. "You... you dumb geezer!"

"H-huh?" Ninetales jolted at the insult, and he jumped backwards, baring his teeth at his old acquaintance. "How dare you?"

"So you should have been somewhere and you weren't, so what!" Gengar replied sharply, jabbing a tiny purple finger into the old fox's face. "Your mistake, then! I made a mistake too, and I lost someone important, but I had to keep moving thanks to you! So if you made a mistake and you lost someone important..."

Ninetales' expression twisted somewhat as he listened to Gengar end his retort with an exasperated sigh, and his tails began to wag slightly as he cleared his throat. The ghost looked over at the fox at the sound.

"...Yes," Ninetales eventually said, and Gengar walked over to him, placing his hand behind one of his ears and scratching gently, causing said ear to start twitching from the sensation. "Yes... you're right. I apologize for my outburst, human. I... suppose my age is finally beginning to fully catch up with me."

Gengar led the old Pokemon back into the moonlit center of the cave, and they moved back to their stone seats. Ninetales quickly composed himself, and Gengar crossed his legs and lounged backwards, rocking back and forth. He didn't want to end up frozen in place with a nagging old fool like the fox, after all.

"So that's what you wanted to tell me, old man?" The purple Pokemon asked with a toothy smirk, folding his arms casually as he spoke up. "I mean, I don't really get all of it, but I guess that's just how things go, keheheh!"

Ninetales nodded contentedly, seeming far more relieved than he had when Gengar had first arrived at the fox's dwelling. His tails started to wag harder, and the fire type smiled slightly. "Stay here until morning comes. The snowstorm will not be ending anytime this night, and you seemed quite exhausted when you first stepped into the cavern's entrance."

"Eh? Ohhh... great," Gengar groaned, making no effort to hide his sarcasm. "Fine then. I guess I don't have any choice anyway."

The ghost quickly snagged his cloak and wrapped it around himself, resting his head on the floor as he got himself settled. He glanced over at Ninetales as the fox stepped off of the stone seat and lay flat on his belly, all nine of his tails curling up as a makeshift blanket. As the silvery moonlight glinted off of the walls of the cavern, Gengar closed his eyes, half-aware of his descent into sleep.

"Thank you..." Ninetales' hoarse voice whispered. "Thank you, Gengar."

The purple Pokemon rolled over in his dreams.

"Rest in peace, Ninetales."