A frozen heart of fire

IT had been months, but it felt like longer to Sorren. After a particularly nasty breakdown, He knew he needed to get ahold of his emotions. So he left. He continued his practice of living out of doungeons, exept he made a home out of icicle forest.

He practiced taking a beating, time and time again. Eventualy he had no more tears left to shed, but they had left their mark. The flesh below his eyes was raw with the sting of a million frozen tears.

Sorren had avoided all but wild pokemon, for he knew that if Anyone were to find him, He knew his will would waver and he would be convinced to return. But, He had made a mistake. Sorren knew this, but didn't care, maybe he wanted to be found, maybe He just didn't care what happened to him anymore.

Sorren had lit a fire to warm himself.

The smoke would lead curios souls to His small camp skirting the edge of the dungeon. A simple rock outcropping with wood piled up to keep the snow out. Sorren let out a pleased sigh as the fire warmed him, for the first time in a long time.

"Do you think i can change?" Sorren asked the sky. "Even if i can hide my fears they will still be there, pulling the strings of my mind, no mater how much I try to think otherwise."

Almost invisible in the cold blankets of snow, that were enveloping the area, a tiny Bug type fought his way through the white desert. It was not a nice place to be, but any place would be better than ho-...than there.
But still...he had to get out of this forest soon. The trees' bark was frozen stiff, so he could not drink from them, he was freezing and from anywhere a feral Pokémon could attack him.
"I...have...to...go...on.", Ned kept reminding himself in a more or less futile effort to find the concentration and motivation to keep walking. He didn't even know, where the next civilisation was! He didn't know anything about the area! How else would he have stumbled into these horrid icelands?
The Nincada would have to get out of here soon and find some help.

But of course the next hour of marching revealed nothing but snow, ice and trees as did the hour after that and the hour after that other hour. But finally, after what felt like an eternity, Ned noticed a faint glow in the distance...
Was there someone else here? And should Ned risk it? That creature could very well be a predator, just waiting for smaller Pokémon like him to stumble upon them.
Then again...did he have a choice?
He could either freeze to death here, or try hius luck with the glow.
Unsurprisingly the small insect chose the light, crawling towards it with ever growing anxiety.
What...or rather who would await him there?

Sorren Looked up for a second, and jumped. there was someone out there headed for him. He mentally cursed his fear for the billionth time, and waited until he could see who it was.

The situation grew tense as the pokemon was shivering, meaning it couldn't be native to the forest, besides, Sorren had memorised the forest pokemon long ago. He eventually made it out to be a Nincada.

"Aee-aare you alright?" Soren's voice died in his throat, curses #1,000,000,001

A Torchic. Great. A Fire type. Why did it have to be Fire types?
But as it seemed, Ned didn't have any other choice. He'd have to overcome his fear for now.
"Greetings...n-no, I think I am not alright, but I am too cold to actually f-feel, whether that is the case."
At least the Torchic hadn't attacked him yet. Hopefully that was a good sign.
"D-do you know the way to Grassveil town? Or any civilisation for that matter?"
Hopefully the Pokémon here really were honest, unlike the clan Ned had just escaped from. If not, this Torchic might just demand the Nincada's entire fortune for its help and might then just attack him anyway.
It would all come down to fate.
How would the Fire type react?

Sorren knew he could just send the bug on his way, But then what would happen to him? Sorren Sighed. He looked to the sky one last time, now completely engulfed by the storm, and spoke

"First come sit by the fire, I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that not feeling at all is a lot worse than feeling pain." Sorren said, motioning beside him with his stubby little wings.

"T-thanks, I guess...", Ned stuttered as he crawled closer to the fire, still keeping a much larger distance than the Torchic. Being in a terrbile condition may have reduced it a bit, but the Nincada was still afraid of the burning horror in front of it.
Yet, his numb limbs slowly regained a bit of sensory capaciry as warmth flowed through them once more.

"My name is Ned."

"I'm Sorren." Sorren replied. he didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, feeling rather awkward.

"Uh, So why are you headed to grassveil? The guild?" Sorren asked, trying to make conversation. Curse his social awkwardness that stems from a deep fear of strangers #1,000,000,002

"Well, actually I'm not headed to Grassveil in particular. I just want to get away from...there. I ran away a few days ago and have't met a single civilized Pokémon before you."
Okay, the Torchic did not seem to be hostile yet. Still Ned remained wary, especially since he had been revealed a horrifying truth regarding the clan he trusted only a few days ago.
"And what are you doing out here in the cold? You don't look like the type to be in an environment such as this voluntarily."

"That's exactly why I'm here. I came here for special type of training. Besides, I've always loved the snow." Sorren said. He was handling his first conversation in months rather well, all things considered. Maybe in this time he had helped him control his fears. or at least their control over him. The wind had started to die down a bit. sorren grabbed a twig with his beak and placed it in the fire, he repeated this several times until he was satisfied that it had enough fuel.

"Interesting. Well, you discover something new every day I guess. But what are you training to grow strong for? The motivation is at least as important as the goal itself."
Why would anyone voluntarily travel here? Wouldn't it make more sense to train in a safer environment?
But then again the Fire type would probably feel differently regarding the cold, as he had the inherent ability to make fire, something, that, while Sorren's helpfulness seemed to be confirmed for the moment, still frightened Ned.
Fire was uncontrolable, destructive, painful.
Hopefully the wielder of its power didn't have the same temperament.

"Well Belive it or not I'm a coward, or at least i was. I'm scared of so much in this world. I'm training here because I need Control myself and not let my fear control me." Sorren said, Watching as the snow came down les violently. "Heck, This is actually the first fire that I've lit. ever. I've been too afraid to even attempt to use my fire for so very long."

Sorren felt better for saying it out loud, even to a stranger's ears. A thousand times he told his story, every time he felt like he needed to say it again.

"Sounds like an honourable goal to work towards, but I have to ask: Why this place? How can it help you control yourself? Wouldn't the cold just supress the fire and thus make training more difficult?"
Great. The Fire type couldn't control his fire properly.
While his anxiety grew exponentially, Ned attempted not to let it show as he didn't want to offend the Pokémon, who had so kindly saved him.
Hopefully he would be able to stop himself from running away screaming.
And even more hopefully the Torchic would be able to keep his fire under control.

"It's not about the fire. I want to conquer my fears. I go into that forest to exercise control. I can't tell you how many beatings I've taken. But with only ice and grass type pokemon around, it means I Don't have to worry to much about getting killed. not that I actually worry less, mind you."Sorren said.

The fire cracked and a log snapped in half. Sorren jumped, ritualistically cursed his fear for the 1,000,000,003rd time, and checked the fire before setling down again.

"Are you feeling any better? You hurt anywhere?"

As the log cracked, Ned jumped in fear as well, quickly burrying himself in a mound of snow out of instinct.
Only after some time had passed and the cold began to seep into the Bug type's body again, he left his improvised fortress.
"I think I can understand, what you are talking about. I really envy those huge, powerful Pokémon. They don't have to be afraid of anyone or anything. Noone would even dare to attack them. Meanwhile I am a tiny bug with horrible typing, who has to watch out for birds almost constantly. And thanks, I do think I feel better. I don't think I am wounded, although I don't know for sure. By the way, don't worry about this."
The Nincada pointed at the grisly burn mark, that was covering his stomach.
"That thing's almost as old as I am. Still scares the Arceus out of me, you know? Well...I guess some Pokémon are just born luckier than others. It's what we make of it, that counts."

Sorren didn't know what to say in response. He had never thought of it that way before. Maybe he just didn't notice, or maybe he ignored it.

"I never put much thought into stuff like that. If it makes you feel better, Bugs kick my butt on a regular basis." Sorren chuckled. The winds were down so much that the snow came down in lazy flurries one snowflake at a time. "Storm died down, When you are ready, circle around the forest until you see a path, go downhill on it and you should reach Grassveil."