And lastly, here is the final chapter of 'Journey to Snowpoint City', a subsidiary and spinoff of Catharsis, as part of the Catharsis timeline.

Here, Mars' journey to Snowpoint City is truly finished. For those who are unclear about Mars' parents, please read 'Christmas This Year', which is the prequel to this story. Enjoy the read!

Epilogue: Home Again: Floaroma Town

Canalave City: midday

Now Mars was wandering the streets of Canalave City, where the iconic library stood at the far end of the city, and the port faced the coastline. In truth, Mars wanted to head to her home first; first by travelling to neighbouring Jubilife City and then detouring to the road to Floaroma Town.

But actually, before Mars could even think about Floaroma, her mind felt like visiting her parents first, who had moved to Canalave City.

Slowly, Mars walked away from the port and past the high-rises and houses of the port city. She knew well enough that her parents lived in a house across the library, having been told since last Christmas, so Mars saw to walking across the mechanical drawbridge to the other side of Canalave City.

Although the ocean breeze made the atmosphere in the city a little chilly, it was certainly and significantly warmer than that of Route 216 and 217, not to mention Snowpoint City. It wasn't a blistering wind. It didn't have snow. No ice. Nothing cold. That suited Mars just fine.

Nevertheless, being the girl she was, the ocean breeze was cold enough such that she felt a lot of heat drain from her thighs and her arms. Still, she preferred to stay dressed in her usual attire, but a coat was still needed to stop the suffering. Reluctantly, Mars took out the coat in her bag and wore it on.

On the way past the library, there was a posted sign near the door reading "Berries! Berries! Freshly Picked!" in neatly printed writing, not to mention a permanent kiosk. Upon close examination, to Mars' amusement, the berries were those imported from her business in Floaroma Town and were sold from the kiosk. The kiosk, in short, was an outlet.

Mars eventually made it to the doorstep of her parents' house. Despite being in close proximity with her home in Floaroma, Mars visited her parents' house infrequently, due to her busy travels around Sinnoh or ventures in the berry market.

When she knocked on the door of the two-storey house, Mars waited for a half-minute before the door swung wide open.

"Hi, mom," Mars greeted.

Mars' mom seemed surprised at first to see her daughter here at a time like this. That is – arriving without notice, but then she hugged Mars after. "Oh! Mars… Long-time no-see. Well, maybe not. It's only been a week or two."

They broke the embrace, and then Mars followed her mother into the home. To be honest, it was very modern compared to the last time Mars had been here. Every time she came there was always something slightly different about the house, like new furniture or shifts in positions or the smell of different kinds of food good and bad…

"Where's daddy?" Mars asked, as they went to sit down at a lounge room complete with (Mars noticed) a coffee maker, a snack fridge, and a near paper-thin TV. They went into the room but did not sit down yet.

"Off to work, as usual," her mom replied. "He won't be back for a few more hours, when he finishes his office hours."

Mars allowed her Pokémon to roam around the house as the Trainer sat down on one of the lounge chairs. Her mom, on the other hand, did not sit down yet, but instead went to the coffee maker instead.

"So, Mars. Want anything to drink?"

"Tea, please, mom."

By the time Mars' mom had finished preparing the hot drink, with milk and sugar, she saw Mars toying around with her badges when she set down the steaming cup in front of Mars.

"So… Mars. How was your day?" she asked.

Mars stopped playing with her badges and looked up, like she was frozen in thought (and she was!), while feeling the heat flow back into her body. "It's a long story."

Canalave City: twelve hours later…

Mars remained in Canalave City for twelve hours straight, in which she had ample to see her father when he came back. With her parents, and her Pokémon, Mars ventured around the city for a while. To think she had her fill of touring a city like Snowpoint City could have been enough for her, but Mars was optimistic on looking around a little more. Plus, Mars quite enjoyed spending time with her parents walking around the city.

After the twelfth hour, when it was dusk, Mars began walking to the city border with her parents.

"You have to go back to Floaroma Town already?" her dad said. "Well, it's not like you drop by Canalave City every week, which you do."

Mars smiled and hugged her parents for a while before leaving for Jubilife City. "I'll try to drop by next week if I can. Bye, mom. Bye, dad."

Indeed, the trip was considerably shorter than that of Route 216 and 217. Only grass got in Mars' way, and thankfully there wasn't a lot of it either thanks to joint development efforts between Canalave City and Jubilife City. There was plenty of paved road, but there was enough that the ecosystem around the road was preserved.

After many, many, minutes of walking, no sooner did Mars reach the edge of Jubilife City, and when Mars headed in the direction of Floaroma Town, she was back on the grounds of a short, but very familiar, road.

That is, Route 204: the gentle connection existing between Floaroma Town and Jubilife City.

Floaroma Town: dusk

The sun had almost set down by the time Mars had arrived at Floaroma Town, no thanks to the pace she was walking at. Under general circumstances, most of Sinnoh would have already been dark by now. But the Floaroma community, which was located on a flat meadow at ground level and on the west side of Sinnoh, still had the luxury of experiencing way was left of the daylight – where sunshine glittered on the lime-green grass and blossoming flowers of the town.

Mars, as fast as she knew it, finished her walk through Route 204 and was at the town gates.

She sighed at the familiar sight.

"Back home again," Mars felt a rush of emotions, like goosebumps, overwhelm her senses. As a personal reward, Mars released Purugly and Kangaskahn from their Poké Balls before walking in the direction of her house.

Purugly and Kangaskahn were likewise relieved to be back. They followed Mars around the town streets, past the Pokémon Centre, and finally behind the Flower Shop, where Mars' house was strategically located.

Approaching the steps of her front door, mars unlocked the door to enter the welcome premises of her innovative-appearing house hidden under a humble-looking exterior. With all the installations and renovating she did over the past while, such as polished wood and frosted glass, Mars welcome the feeling of home.

"Oh, hey, Bronzor," she greeted her third Pokémon – the one she didn't take for the journey. Bronzor perked at seeing Mars and the other two Pokémon rush into the house at once. What was Bronzor's first reaction? Bronzor danced in the room in midair. Purugly marched in first and curled up on the carpet, whereas Kangaskahn willingly went back into her Poké Ball.

Once Mars placed her bag on the glass table, unloaded the contents, hanged the snow gear on the sofa to dry, and rested her badge case beside the bag. Already feeling exhausted, despite having done nothing much since travelling from Snowpoint City, Mars propped herself on the low sofa to rest.

Finally, the toughest journey in her experience as a Pokémon Trainer was over with. It may have been equally challenging for any Trainer, no surprise, to take on the mighty adventure through Mount Coronet to Snowpoint City. But to Mars, in particular, this was a journey that really tested her physical limits. At least she earned the Icicle Badge and made a friend in Candice, which was well worth the effort.

Now, Mars could stay at home now and put her exhausted self to rest.

From 122 Generation, thank you for reading Journey to Snowpoint City.