Alora Anophis yawned, and looked up at the sky. Life was good. She was sixteen, and was about to set out on her own. Alora smiled tightly and closed her eyes. Things could hardly be better for her. The cold, salty breeze washed over her and she drank it in greedily.

She had always loved the sea, and now that she had no home, little money, and the clothes on her back, she enjoyed the little things, while letting the major things take care of themselves. After all, she had an appointment with that Pokémon Prof that was visiting from Alto or Johto or wherever. She was going to get a Pokémon license and a Pokémon, and that would be the end of her worries.

Alora sat up, and stared out at the ocean. She had come to this fjord many times before, but she had never come here without a problem. This had been her get-away, when her parents were too much, when her boyfriends were being too pushy, or life in general was getting her down.

The old saying that even a Fentis summer would shine no heat was bang on the money. Being so close to the planet's northern pole, the frigid country of Fentis rarely got warm. In fact, heat waves usually got as high as fifty degrees.

Which was pretty much how Alora felt the entire country and her entire life were, too. She didn't know where she had come from, only that she had been the sole survivor of a shipwreck off the country. She had been sent to a foster family, but they didn't get along at all. She didn't like to think about the time she had spent with them. The past was the past.

Alora brushed one of her stray, auburn hairs out of her face, and adjusted her gloves as the sun dipped down towards the horizon. She sighed. Just a few minutes and the sun would be rising again on the opposite horizon. It was something that she had accepted, but could never get used to.

It was as unnatural as the months-long darkness.

Alora got to her feet, feeling the snow crunch underneath her feet. It wouldn't be long before she traveled this ice cube the width and breadth, which wouldn't take too long, and defeat both Gym Leaders. Then she'd take her chances somewhere else. Somewhere warmer.

Alora watched the sun set slowly, smiling to herself. It was a beautiful ending to a wonderful day. She turned around and headed back towards town. No one would miss her, but she didn't want to be late for her meeting with the Pokémon Prof.

Professor Peat was passing through, waiting for a ride from Manny Quinn, the local Pokémon Musher. Apparently Peat had been out studying Moyferar and had gotten lost. Someone had picked her up and brought her to town. Now she needed a ride back to the lab that she had been using here in Fentis.

She had agreed to meet with Alora when her parents gave her a Pokémon. It would be an honor to meet a real live Pokémon Prof. Then she'd break out of this icicle stand and go find her real parents. The Fosters were nice people, but lately she wasn't able to stand them. Alora wasn't really sure why, though.

Telchakka was a small town, even by Fentis standards, and wasn't much of a notability except it was supposedly the starting point for the Fentis "League." If you could call it that. Two gyms separated by a freezing desert. With Telchakka smack dab in the center, which was the only reason why it was the "League" capital.

Alora grinned as she spotted a pair of Arcanine shivering next to a building. Well, not so much shivering as desperately trying to get their flames to phoenix up from their ember-like selves. Foreigners always brought Fire types to Fentis, but she wasn't exactly sure why. Ostensibly it was to keep the trainers warm, but what trainers didn't realize was that if fire type Pokémon weren't used to this level of cold, the Fire Pokémon themselves could freeze to death.

Of course, Alora and the other Fentians had grown up in it, so they were used to it, and were fine—as long as they wore adequate clothing. Alora shook her head and motioned to the Arcanine. "Get over here!" She called out, heading for the Livery Stable.

Jake Livery, the owner, had built the stable for people to have a place to put their non-Ice type Pokémon so they wouldn't freeze, assuming that they couldn't be in the Pokémon Center, hotel, or staying with someone local. This made it very popular with foreign trainers. And considering that Fentis was one of the rarest leagues beaten, probably owing to the devilish temperatures, Telchakka got a lot of visitors. Of course, very few of them stayed in the country over more than a few days.

Alora threw open the tall, wide doors, and gestured for the Arcanine to enter. Alora grimaced as the warm air rushed out, and quickly closed the doors behind the grateful Fire-type Pokémon. In a minute the trainer would be running outside, screaming that someone had stolen his Pokémon. It would take another few minutes for someone to explain to him that they would have been brought to the stables.

Alora smiled as she glanced around town. Everything was brand spanking new, or so it seemed. Brick was the building option of choice, and the entire town, if you could call it that, was coated in a light sprinkling of snow.

Barking caught Alora's attention, and she glanced over her shoulder to see the mail man pulling into town, pulled by his faithful Moyferar. Manny Quinn was a decent enough guy, if a bit annoyed by all the jokes poked at his name, and was well known all over Fentis, since he was pretty much the only delivery person in the country.

Engines froze, Wheels stuck in ice, but he and his faithful team of snow-white Pokémon had never missed a delivery. While other delivery people tried to offer the same service, you just couldn't beat Manny's price—a hot meal and somewhere for him and his team of Canines to sleep for the night.

Manny was an unusual guy. He had once been the head honcho at Silph Company or something, but he had retired early in life, saying that he was fed up with paper work, and wanted a simple life. Something outdoors. Well, he had one now. Wherever he went he was welcomed, and whatever he did, he never paid for—nobody had the heart to charge him.

He was the nicest man anyone had ever met. He always tried to help people if he could, and it tore him up when he couldn't. He always made his deliveries on time, and ninety percent of the time he was early. He had no permanent home, and the only family that he had—at least that anyone knew of—were his dogs. He had all kinds of interesting stories from the world over, back when he was a professional trainer, before he had retired to head up whatever company it had been that he had been CEO of.

No matter who he was talking to, he could always relate to them. He had been almost everywhere and had done almost everything. If someone new was in town and wanted to know what to do in Fentis, people always pointed them in Manny's direction.

He never made a pass at any of the women, and as far as anyone knew, he was single—but not for lack of women trying to woo him.

Alora grinned as Manny pulled up to a stop in front of him. There was a group of women who had come together to try to get Manny to marry them, but they were having little luck. "How're the roads out there?" Alora asked him, kneeling to pet one of his Moyferar.

The dog turned its head and tried to lick her face, and Lorelei buried her gloved hands into its thick, white fur. Manny pulled off his goggles and pulled his scarf down from over his face, letting his graying beard to pop loose. "They're pretty good. A bit icy a few miles down, but that doesn't last for long." He got off of the supports he had been standing on behind the sled and secured his anchor on a concrete pillar that had been made especially for him.

Alora nodded. "Great. 'Cause I'm getting my license today." Manny frowned, and Alora braced herself. "don't ask about my foster parents," she muttered darkly. "They don't know that I emancipated myself yet."

Manny nodded. "Ah," he said simply, and left it at that. She and Manny had become rather good friends over the years, despite the nearly forty year age difference. It had started when she had wanted to pet his Moyferar, but her "parents" hadn't wanted to. They had actually—Alora shook her head, pushing the fosters out of her mind. "Would you mind taking care of the dogs, Alora?" he asked, leaning over his sled and starting to undo the webbing he always placed over the baggage area. "I've got to get a couple Grass-type Pokémon to some Pokémon Prof before they freeze completely."

Alora brightened. "I was on my way to see her when I ran into you!" she said. "I can take them to her right away!"

Manny grinned, and started pulling back the thick tarps that were underneath the webbing, shaking them to free them of ice, revealing his cargo underneath. "Well now, that sounds mighty fine to me. Just bring her by Lou's afterwards. I've always wanted to meet a Pokémon Prof." He turned around and handed her two large boxes, one stacked on top of the other. They were heavy. "The little suckers have got a portable heat lamp in each one, but outside even the heaters won't last long."

Alora grinned. "Don't worry about me," she said, turning to head for her encounter with the Prof. She shooke her head and grinned. "Man, what a great sunrise!" she exclaimed, taking in the grandeur of the the late-night sunrise, then glanced over her shoulder to see the last of the sun slip beneath the horizon. Alora shook her head, then hurried towards the Pokémon Center, where the Pokémon Prof was waiting for her and the Pokémon.

No matter how many times she saw it, seeing the sunset and sunrise at the same time was just incredibly fun. Vaguely, she reminded herself to go to bed after seeing the Prof. After all, it WAS midnight.

Alora hurried though the door to the Pokémon Center and hurriedly shut it behind her with her foot. "Pokémon Delivery for Professor Peat," She called out, startling Nurse Jane out of her sleepy stupor.

"Hey Alora," Jane greeted her, covering a yawn with one hand. "She's in the dining room. Said something about jet lag and not being tired." Jane shook her head and ran a hand through her mousy, jet-black hair.

"Jane, you need to quit staying up all day," Alora chided the nurse as she headed towards the hallway. "you always know that you're taking over for Joy, but you always stay up. Get some sleep tomorrow!" Alora grinned. Not a lot of people realized it, but the Nurse Joys were the day-shift Pokémon nurses, and the Nurse Janes were the overnight Pokecenter nurses. Of course, Telchakka's Nurse Jane liked having long days, and was always sleepy when she came in to work every night.

Alora tried as best she could to look around the boxes she was carrying, but they were heavy. And big. And clumsy. With a lurch in her stomach, Alora suddenly realized that the Pokémon were waking up, if the small movements she was feeling were true. Then, suddenly, more han just her stomach lurched. One of the Pokémon must have jumped at the side of the box, because it was suddenly moving, and Alora was moving with it, desperate to keep the box from falling. Unfortunately, she was moving right into a door.

The door flew open as soon as she slammed into it, and she and the boxes tumbled to the ground, eliciting cries of protest from the boxes, and a grunt of frustration from Alora.

"Here she is now," her father's voice boomed annoyedly, and Alora looked up through the hair that had fallen over her eyes to see her parents and Professor Peat talking.

Alora's eyes grew wide. This was an auspicious moment. She had to make a good impression. She took a deep breath and let out a weak, squeaking sound.