Mairin darted around the corner, heart thumping as she ran. She pressed herself up against the wall of the building, trying to catch her breath. Puffs of white air rose from her mouth, the freezing wind blowing around her. Her legs ached from running, her entire body shivering from the cold. Despite this her face was flushed, panting in exhaustion.
She hesitantly peered around the corner, eyes nervously scanning the empty streets for the one pursing her. She gulped, chills racing through her despite not seeing any sign of him. She knew that the one after her was smart and patient, out running him now did not mean safety later. She knew that it would only be time until he caught up, and she had to be ready.
She closed her eyes, before taking off down the sidewalk at an uncertain pace. The icy cement below her was nothing but a hazard for her, and she considered if it would be worth the risk to go back to the park. Yes it was more open– but if she fell down on the ice here there'd be no chance of her getting away from him.
Mairin hesitated as she reached the end of the street, peering down both ways. Nothing but icy roads and snowy rooftops– and no sign of him.
She turned to the left, deciding to take her chances with the park. Surely he had gone looking for her, so he wouldn't be there still. If she could just get to the park and rest she could plan out her next steps, properly catch her breath, and hopefully make a break and find Professor Sycamore. This thought made Mairin's steps swifter, her heart warming as she saw the park up ahead. The lab would be able to protect her, she'd be safe!
She kept glancing behind her as she approached the park at the end of the street, making sure that she was still safe. The silence around her was getting to her, but Mairin knew that would be safety soon. She was almost there, park then the lab, the park then the lab...
She at last reached the end of the street, and she bolted towards the park. A frozen playground met her eyes, a huge field of practically untouched snow in front of her. She could find the lab from here, she was going to be okay...!
"Found you."
Mairin skittered to a halt– freezing in her tracks as heard his voice.
Panic rushed through her and she spun around to face the speaker– which was her mistake.
She was able to catch a glimpse of gleaming triumphant blue eyes and a cruel grin– before a speeding white shape collided with her face, blinding her.
Mairin staggered, the force of the sphere sending her stumbling back, and she collapsed into the snowbank. Any warmth that Mairin had left as taken from her as she sat there, a cold liquid running down her face. She sputtered at the coldness, wiping it away from her face.
"A slushball, Alain?!" She cried, and she heard Alain cracking up in laughter. "That's low– even for you!"
"All's fair in love and war!" Alain said, smirking as Mairin pushed herself to her feet, snow covering her coat and snow pants. "You're the one that started this!"
Mairin growled, scooping up some snow from the park ground, swiftly packing it into a snowball. She raised her hand to throw it at Alain in retaliation– only to realize that he had a second, dripping slushball waiting in his hand. He step-sided her snowball with ease, smirking as he threw his slushball.
Mairin attempted to duck– but he had been anticipating that, and had aimed lower. The second slushball knocking her cap off of her head. The slush dripped down into her hair, and Mairin shot a glare at Alain.
"You're going to pay for that," She growled, teeth chattering together, her head now turning just as cold as the rest of her body.
Alain was still grinning. "Hey, I warned you not to throw any snowballs at me, but you still went through on it..."
It had been one snowball– a simple sphere of snow thrown at his back. It had only hit his coat, harmlessly falling to the ground!
Mairin would have never thrown it if she had realized it would lead to a full out war against Alain– down to him chasing her down the streets in retaliation. Mairin had lost track, but she was sure that he had pelted her with at least twenty snowballs at this point, and the two slushballs now as well. Meanwhile she had landed only six (however four of them had barely hit him), including the first one that had started this all.
Mairin was soaking wet from the melting snow and slush, and exhausted from trying to escape Alain's revenge. He on the other hand looked like he could go on all day, already leaning down to scoop up more snow.
"Truce?" Mairin asked uncertainly, taking a few steps back. It was quite clear that she wasn't going to win this ridiculous snowball fight, and the cold was starting to get to her.
Alain was packing another snowball together, but he regarded her for a moment. "Hmm... a truce huh...? How about on the condition that you have to take my shift of feeding the Pokemon at the lab this week."
Her eyes widened. "No way– I'm not doing your dirty work!"
He grinned, a rare playful look gleaming in his eyes. "Snowball fight is on then!" He tossed his snowball up into the air. "I'll give you a two minute head start."
Mairin took several steps back, before diving down and hastily forming a half-formed snowball and chucking it at him. This time she caught him off guard, her snowball nailing him in the arm.
"Ha!" Mairin cried triumphantly.
Alain glared at her. "One minute head start then."
Mairin hesitated– but realized if she lingered here without the plan she'd be going back to the lab looking like a snowman. She turned on a heel– and took off racing down the street. She quickly darted around a corner, nearly running into an older couple, but she hurried on. She had approximately sixty seconds until Alain would be after her– and he was faster.
Mairin knew how seriously he took battles– she should have known that a simple snowball fight would turn into this. But if she could get back to the lab before he reached her she would be safe. She grinned for a moment, the challenge sounding almost thrilling.
She still wasn't going to forgive Alain for the slushballs however, she was definitely going to get payback for that...
Mairin looked skyward for a moment, and noticed an orange shape flying overhead. She stiffened, for a moment thinking that Alain had cheated and was using Pokemon to find her– before she remembered that Alain had let out Charizard before she had even thrown that first snowball.
Besides, would using Pokemon even be cheating? 'All is fair in love and war', as Alain had said...
Mairin cupped her hands together. "Hey!" She called up to the sky. "Charizard, come down here– I need your help!"
The fiery lizard banked about, tucking in her wings and diving. Mairin grinned, feeling that the odds were about to be evened.
Alain was still grinning to himself as he left the park, though the thrill of the fight was starting to wear off. The snowball fight had been fun while it had lasted, but there was no way he was going to torment Mairin forever– he knew just how much she hated the cold.
He chuckled to himself, letting the snowball in his hand fall to the the ground as he headed down the street Mairin had taken. He was sure that she was heading back to the lab, and it was about time he did as well. The cold was starting to reach him, and there was work to be done at the lab.
Alain looked up towards the sky, trying to see if there was any sign of Charizard. He had let her out when he and Mairin had headed out on their walk, but he knew that Charizard would make her way back to the lab eventually, and as a fire type she would be just fine in the cold.
He kept his eyes peeled for Mairin– but he was sure that she was going out of her way to avoid him. Maybe he had gone a bit overboard in the snowball fight... but honestly, Mairin was adorable when she was flustered. And with his superior snowball throwing skills, it had simply been too easy.
Perhaps he'd take a few of her shifts at the lab– just to make sure there were no hard feelings about the slushballs.
The walk back to the lab was very quiet– but Alain allowed his thoughts to take hold of his mind as he walked the familiar path back to the lab, practically in a trance until he arrived at the gates to the lab.
Alain blinked once, pushing them open. He glanced at the windows of the lab, but saw no sign of Mairin. Then again she was probably up in her room in the lab getting into warm and dry clothes. He tugged at the end of his coat sleeve, planning on doing the same once he got inside.
"Hey, Alain!"
Alain paused as he heard Mairin's voice, and he swiftly glanced around– half expecting a snowball to be launched at him. However nothing came his way, and the area around the lab was clearly Mairin-free.
"Mairin?" Alain asked uncertainly, her voice sounding somewhat distanced, but clearly outside. He heard her giggling, and he swiftly turned around.
"Up here!" Mairin called, and he could hear the grin in her voice. Alain hesitated, before peering up.
Sure enough there was Mairin– perched on Charizard's back. The lizard was on top of the lab, sitting proudly three stories up. Her clawed feet kept her in place on the icy roof, wings flared open for balance.
"Mairin! What are you doing up there...?" Alain trailed off, suddenly paling as he noticed what was in Charizard's arms.
The lizard gave her trainer a jagged grin, one mirroring the small human on her back. In Charizard's arms sat a mass of snow she had scooped off from the roof– easily the size of Quilladin– and Charizard was perched directly above Alain.
"Charizard..." Alain said in a low voice to his starter. "Don't you dare..."
Charizard's and Mairin's grin only widened, the snow in Charizard's arms slowly starting to melt in the heat of the fire type– making the snow nice and slushy. Charizard let out a happy roar, opening her arms and letting the mass of snow fall down onto her trainer. Alain tried to stumble back, but the slick ice failed to give him any traction, leaving Alain unable to avoid the huge pile of snow as it fell right on top of him.
"Urgh..." Alain groaned under the mass of snow that had buried him. A frigid cold had taken hold of him as he tried to push the snow away from his face. The force of the falling snow had knocked him to the ground, and he was sure he was going to have a few bruises.
He heard the swush of wings, and moments later he could see Mairin's gloved hands pushing the snow away from his face. He sat up, giving her a glare as he brushed the rest of the snow off of him, and she laughed.
"Ready to accept that truce now?" Mairin asked, grinning as Alain rose to his feet.
"No way!" Alain shouted– no way was he about to let this go now!
Mairin smirked. "Are you sure about that?"
"Zrrhhh..." Alain heard a low rumbled behind him, and he swiftly turned. There stood Charizard, a fresh mass of snow in her arms.
"...Truce sounds good," Alain muttered after a moment, looking pale.
Mairin's smirk grew. "Awesome!" She grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the lab. "Come on– you owe me like five cups of hot chocolate!"