I squinted at the black and white words as I sipped my coffee. Glancing at the clock, I loosed my tie. It was nearly two and I was nowhere near being done with these reports. I closed my eyes and tried to remind myself that if they weren't done by tonight, or technically in the morning, that I would have another restless week. I opened my eyes, and they felt heavier than a sack of Oran berries tied to my leg.

"Chan." I shifted my head to the left and saw my worried ghost type. I patted its head lightly.

"Hey Chan. What's wrong?" I asked. It nudged my shoulder with its burning head and whimpered. Its ominous eyes locked onto mine and I sighed.

"I can't. I need to finish these." I said as I turned my attention back to the reports. My Chandelure emitted a low growl. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry Chan, but I really have to finish these. Otherwise, I'll have to finish them day by day by day…" I yawned. It was times like these when I envied my brother. Ever since he and the supervisors proposed a new "Management and Recruitment Official" position, Emmet and I have been splitting the duties until we found a person. He took the "recruitment" part, which meant he just interviewed any person that wanted to work at the Gear Station, while I took the management part. This usually meant I did all the paperwork and stayed up till three, while he got his beauty sleep before ten.

"Chan!" I jumped from my seat at my Chandelure's howl. Its purple eyes were slated and it's usually neutral mouth was curved to the bottom.

"No matter how many times you yell, I'm going to…" I watched as my Chandelure shot a ball of mystic energy at me. My eyelids drooped and I started snoring.

"No fair….Hypnosis." I groaned. I felt Chan using Psychic on my body to lift me into my bed.

"Chan de lure!" It growled softly. I took it as "Good Night Ingo!"

"Good night to you too." I yawned.

"Brother, are you really doing this to Chandelure? It's only concerned for your health." Emmet said. I ignored him as I sent my Chandelure's pokeball to Professor Juniper.

"I'll keep your Chandelure safe Ingo!" She promised as I flicked the screen off. I turned to my frowning brother.

"Don't give me that look Emmet. Since I couldn't finish them last night, I have to pull all nighters from now until next week. Besides, you hate fire pokemon." I remarked as we walked towards the Gear Station.

"That doesn't change anything; it's still a pokemon. You shouldn't distance yourself between your partner." Emmet said. I pushed the doors to the big, brass building of the Gear Station.

"Just go and interview some more people." I sighed. I headed to the Single Train Line and waited. I picked up my new book, "How to tell if a Pokemon is a Zoroark!", and started reading. A wave of sleep aroma overwhelmed me as I leaned my head to the side.

…..

…

"Hello?"

"Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooo?"

"Alright then…boo!"

"Fine, you're asleep." A voice grumbled. I felt something lean against my shoulder but I ignored it. A soft breathing flew into my ears and I dreamed of a white flurry of leaves.

Suddenly, a screeching sound woke me up.

"Hello?" I said, opening my eyes. I turned to my left to see a girl, no older than sixteen, sleeping on my shoulder. She shuffled slightly.

"Excuse me Miss. The train has stopped." I said. She yawned and wiped her eyes.

"What? It's over? Does that mean you won't battle me?" She frowned. Her cobalt eyes met mine.

"N-no. I shall grant you a battle. I deeply apologize for my unprofessional action." I apologized. She grunted.

"It's ok. You look like you could use some sleep." She commented. My face flushed to a reddish color.

"Anyway, would you like a battle?" I asked. Her eyes suddenly changed to a serious, determined look.

"Bring it!" She yelled as she threw her first pokemon. I nodded as I sized up her Servine.

"Very nice." I remarked as I launched my pokeball, revealing my Crustle.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to go easy on you." She wiggled her finger. The corners of my mouth twitched.

"I could say the same thing."

"Leaf Tornado!"

"X-Scissor!"

A flurry of leaves and sharp lights illuminated the subway car. But nothing in the battle shined more brightly than the eyes of the beautiful trainer.

*Hey guys! Hope you like the first chapter of The White of Winter. I was studying for midterms when I was like "Screw Economics, I need to write about how they freaking met." So after that life-changing moment, I finished the first chapter. And will probably upload the next in about three weeks, lo siento. Like "Advice from an Alder" I will probably have multiple routes of where you can read, which will be interesting cause they'll be longer and hopefully descriptive. Keep the Reviews coming, they help out a lot!