- “On the battlefield, I’m somebody. I feel powerful, confident. Like I could take on the world. It’s bliss; I get so caught up in them I forget my own shortcomings. That’s why I’ll never turn down a fight. That’s why I’m challenging Gyms now at the height of my abilities. I want to be strong, special.”—Winter, revealing her Hidden Depths
Our heroes are heading to Fimbulvetr Town for Ash’s next Gym Battle with an new friend in Winter in tow. Should be a simple excursion, but fate has other things planned.
The chapter contains the following examples:
- Blood Knight: It may be surprising to see Winter is a closet example, which explains her occasional eagerness in the previous chapter.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Starting to kick in beginning with this chapter. We have a bloodthirsty Pokemon, a vengeful revenant trying to "save" people, and several allusions to death. Not to mention, it's confirmed Team Hectic had a hand in this. Time will tell if this sticks.
- Death by Despair: Seems to be the case with Winter's biological father. She mentions, after her mother died of an illness, he looked "to have given up".
- Escapism: Winter uses battles as a means of forgetting her own shortcomings.
- Fainting: Winter has been plagued by weak constitutions since childhood. She’ll faint under great duress.
- Heartwarming Orphan: This chapter confirms Winter is one, although her children friend's parents quickly adopted her.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Winter admits she wants to take the Pokemon League to win battle after battle to become strong and therefore special.
- The Nondescript: As a child following her parent's demises, Winter saw herself as someone who had no special talents of note, wasn’t a good talker, and had a weak body.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: You know how Dawn (and her game counterpart) tend to parade around in short skirts? The chapter deconstructs that — she catches a cold from wearing an outfit she states is similar to the one she wore to Snowpoint City, leading the guys to stop at Silverplien's house and get roped into... something bad.
- Vengeful Ghost: Master Silverplien. Although he acts cordial and helps into his house when they're lost, he is in fact a vengeful revenant bent on "saving" people from the harshness of life. He became like this after he and his family had their lives unceremoniously taken by Team Hectic.
