Welcome back! These first few chapters will get progressively longer as the story develops. I hope the pace works for everyone. This is going to be a fun, character-driven story.
The cold weather was more than Marnie expected. Victor and Gloria had warned her over and over that it wasn't just the chill of winter in Spikemuth, or even Circhester. Her hometown was chilly, but it was a drafty chill, the type you could get away from with a light jacket or a bonfire. Living through that was a point of pride for her, the girl who preferred short skirts as an aesthetic choice year round. She avoided the frozen paths around Circhester if she could. They were just unpleasant, and the people who lay in wait in those areas, looking for fellow trainers to challenge, they just rubbed her the wrong way. Who stood around in the cold that long for battles?
"What do you think?" Victor broke her daydream. He placed a hand on her back, and with the other gestured at the scenery outside of the station. In spite of the frigid air, the view was incredible already. The snow covered everything, from trees and rocks to the few buildings set up here to welcome visitors. The afternoon sun glinted off of it, and the entire hillside shined. Marnie wasn't one for expression, but she placed a curled fist over her chest as she took it in. There were Pokemon walking throughout. Cryogonals floating by and letting out chiming sounds, Amauras rearing up on their back legs to pull pine needles from the trees, a Mamoswine lumbered by, coming close to the station but paying the group of teenagers little mind.
"Dibs!" Gloria shouted, running after the Mamoswine. Hop laughed and ran after her. Bede sighed, walking out from the train station after them. Allister, wearing the facemask he tended to put on for public appearances, was by his side.
"S'shiny here. Shiny and… and cold," Allister said to nobody in particular.
"You!" A girl's voice called. A young woman with a deep tan and short blonde hair, ending in purple tips came spilling out of one of the shacks ringing the train station. She held a tray full of steaming cups in her hand. "You are ten bloody minutes early and they rushed these for me! Thank the barrista and don't complain that there aren't marshmallows."
"Your friend, I assume?" Bede asked, cocking his head slightly. His immediate contempt was disregarded by the others, at it was his common first impression.
"Everyone, this is Peonia," Victor said, gesturing to his friend. "She helped me set this whole thing up."
"New business venture, need good reviews, everyone take a bloody cocoa so I can go back inside and grab my coat!" Peonia thrusted the tray she was carrying out for everyone to take from. "Er, wasn't there supposed to be more of you?"
"They'll be along," Victor said, grabbing two cups and handing one to Marnie. "Hold on a tick and you can go get your coat."
Once Marnie had her cocoa, Victor reached to his belt with his free hand. Six Pokeballs were clipped to his waist. He tapped the buttons on two of them. Quick beams of light emitted from both, and Victor's Centiskorch and Grapploct appeared. A quick word from their trainer, and the two Pokemon went to work. Centiskorch twitched the flaming antennae on its face, and the air around the group warmed up. Grapploct gathered everyone's luggage in his long arms, and clutched them close to his body. Victor grabbed the tray with the remaining cups from Peonia and let her run back to retrieve her coat.
"Got it!" Gloria called, racing back to the station, a slightly dejected Hop in pursuit. "Anyone want to ride a Mamoswine? Do we know where we're going yet?"
An hour later, the group was situated in a spacious cabin on the outskirts of Freezington. The facility wasn't exactly meant for roughing it, but Victor hadn't been looking for that. As much fun as there was to have this week, it was still, ultimately, about Marnie, and camping was not her forte.
The first time Victor came to the Crown Tundra, it was on a simple tip from Sonia, one of his old mentors, that there were rare Pokemon to be found. It was after he'd been through the gauntlet of stopping Rose and the Darkest Day, becoming region champion, and earning the right to catch the legendary Zamazenta. He hadn't started dating Marnie yet, and his sister had insisted on taking a trip on her own to refocus after losing the league. She had ended up on the Isle of Armor, he felt restless and decided to see the Tundra. He'd met Peonia there, with her ever enthusiastic father Peony, almost immediately. As eventful as it all was, there was enough to see without the distraction of, say, helping a local legendary Pokemon reunite with its companion. Calyrex, the strange psychic creature of which he was technically trainer, had yet to present himself, but he always did eventually when Victor came down here.
A few months prior, Peonia had e-mailed Victor, letting him know about her family's new project. Her dad had found a new obsession in hiking the Tundra, and especially in meeting the ancient species of Pokemon that lived in its southern reach. He also, she suspected, wanted to do something productive with the resources that had come his way after his brother, the former league chairman Rose, had been imprisoned and his assets divided up. So, they had purchased land in the Crown Tundra, and proclaimed themselves in charge of helping it develop its nascent tourism industry. Peonia was particularly fascinated with the Max Lair, and had set up a side business notifying guests when certain types of Pokemon started to appear within. An offhand comment that something new had appeared got Victor thinking, and a few weeks prior, he let Marnie know they'd be doing more than sushi and a concert this year. A group rate discount led to the what a few trade blogs liked to call "The Rattata Pack" being brought aboard.
Marnie had posted up on a bean bag chair close to the fireplace. Her Morpeko was back out of her Pokeball, and Victor had brought out his Toxtricity, the little creature's best friend from his own team, to play. This was her first time traveling to the Tundra with him. She enjoyed his stories about the shenanigans that occurred whenever he visited the area, usually amounting to stumbling on strange legendary species whenever he thought he could just camp and explore, but she had never asked to come along before. It took effort to gauge her level of excitement about most things, and he still hoped she wasn't just going along for the ride when he brought up this entire expedition. But then he remembered what he had in store for her, and knew it was going to be worth it.
