Luckily, Marnie was not hard to spot against the powder snow. Her black jacket and scarlet backpack could be seen from miles away in the wintery wonderland of the Crown Tundra, even as a nighttime fog wafted through the trees. She had just reached the perimeter fence around the station when Victor emerges from the building, its rustic and mossy exterior painted a much more gentle orange than the firehouse red inside.

"C'mon Marnie, hold up will ya'?"

She does, reluctantly, with one hand grasping a black fence dowel.

Victor runs to her, puffing clouds into the cool air the whole way.

"You aren't going to look silly cause I took a picture in a poofy gold suit." He makes a vague gesture over his heart while catching his breath. "Swear on me mum."

Marnie rolls her eyes, keeping his attention on the back of her head as she stares off into the foggy expanse.

"Y'know that's not it." She takes a deep breath through her nose and huffs it out, letting her frustrations escape like a misty cyclone. "Wearin' that stupid thing just means you'll take up even more attention, yeah?"

Victor scrunches his brow. "So?"

"So." Marnie turns to face him, leaning back against the fencing as her heels dig into the snow. "As though it ain't bad enough you're the Champ of the whole bloody region, now journos'll be analyzin' your outfit choices for ten Watts a word."

She keeps her expression intense as her mouth hangs open slightly, trying to find the rest of her words. Eventually she glances away, sighing as she brushes the hanging tufts of hair away from her right eye. "I'unno… What if they see me as another accessory to scrutinize? Just some Spikemuth wanker tryin'a leech some clout off the most important bloke this side of Lumiose."

Victor blinks a few times, speechless as he runs her words over in his head once or twice. Marnie wraps her hands around her shoulders. He can tell it wasn't because of the cold.

"I just know as soon as they find out we're a thing, nobody'd see me for me."

The boy frowns, a painful throng in his heart.

"Marnie…" He brings a hand up to her cheek, trying to pull her gaze back to his. "That's not true. You're an ace Gym Leader in your own right, yeah? If a bunch of laptop-hugging dolts can't see how heavy hitters like us'd be great rivals and snog a bit on the side, who needs 'em?"

Her wind-chilled cheeks bleed a few shades darker, the edge taken off just enough for her to start shuffling into a more comfortable stance.

"I guess you—"

A shrill cry from the direction of Freezington cuts her off.

"Viiiiiiiiiiictor!"

The Champion's body tenses up as he hears the familiar voice, though Marnie looks curiously into the murky middle distance.

"The hell is that?" She asks.

Victor steps away so Marnie can straighten out as Nia races up the slope, tracks leading back to the Max Lair. Like Marnie with her leather punk gear, Nia stood out starkly against the snow thanks to her pitch-black uniform, complete with leggings and a skirt that matched her unbuttoned fitted jacket.

As she reaches the perimeter fencing, Nia tackles Victor into a hug. He grunts at the unexpected impact, and seems unsure what to do with his hands as he catches Marnie's icy glare.

"You're like, somehow, always here when I need you," Nia remarks with a gleeful laugh. Her adrenaline was clearly through the roof, as the cold seemingly had no effect on her chipper attitude. "My guardian angel, eh?"

Victor just stares at Nia as she pulls away, her sparkling teeth exposed in an open-mouthed smile.

Marnie's sharp teal eyes repeatedly scroll over the new girl, committing every detail to memory: The silver academy pin near her lapel, the light-brown loafers, the pink coating at the tips of her fluffy hair — like a dipped paintbrush.

"Hey Nia." Victor chuckles, meekly drifting between the dichotomous expressions of the girls. "Marnie, this is Peonia. Nia, Marnie."

As Marnie opens her mouth to speak, Nia steps closer to Victor, ignoring her.

"Yes, right, we can chat later." Nia clasps her hands and sways, giving Victor the biggest puppy dog expression her jade eyes could handle. "I have a favor to ask, Victor."

His eyes dart to Marnie once more, and then focus on Nia. "Uh… What—"

"Could I pawn my dad off on you one more time? 'Fraid he's being, you know, ultra-mega-insufferable again."

Victor blinks twice, but is also interrupted before he can respond.

"I mean, seriously." Nia scoffs as she paces away from the couple a few steps. "I let the geezer go on one Dynamax Adventure with me, and now he wants to go on a 'daddy-daughter dinner adventure'? As if I'd be caught dead doing something embarrassing like that!"

The Champion scratches under his right ear, and his left hand digs into the pocket of his scuffed-up jeans. "I mean… I'm a little…"

Nia twirls around and paces up to him again, hands clasped tight to her sternum. She bats her eyelashes, showing off pink eye shadow that matches her dyed hair and pursed lips.

"Please? Just one dinner, I promise. I'll, like, be able to handle him tomorrow."

Swallowing his nerves, Victor glances down at the mushy snow piled around his brown shoes. The loose top of his grey knit cap starts to droop over his face as Victor takes a deep breath.

"I guess I can talk to him for you," he mumbles through a hefty sigh, hiding the words behind a foggy cloud.

Nia squeals and tackles him again, squeezing until Victor's lets out a raspy gasp with his eyes bugging out of their sockets.

"You're, seriously, a life-saver. Bevvys on me soon, yeah?"

"Well—"

She pulls away and pats his chest with both hands. Caught off-guard, Victor stumbles back a step and nearly falls into the snow.

"I mean it!" Nia offers an open-mouthed smile. "We'll have to do some Dynamax Adventures too. I have some wicked intel on Lugia lurking about somewhere."

"Oh? Yeah that…" Victor clears his throat as he straightens out, and brushes off the front of his red polo shirt. "That sounds pretty ace actually!"

"Great!" Nia chuckles and starts to strut past the Champion, latching a hand on his shoulder as she hooks around him like a spaceship catching a planet's gravitational pull. "Now look alive, dad'll be here any minute."

"What?"

"You've got this!"

Nia walks backward to the entrance of Crown Tundra Station, pointing a pair of finger guns at her smile from the sides of her head. "He's, like, chuffed you wore his silly expedition outfit to that tourney too, so it'll be an easy sell!"

With that, she slips into the station and disappears around the doorway, leaving Victor drained. A thousand years from now historians would find a dumbfounded popsicle staring at a ruined railway, some poor soul having succumb to the cold after losing all his energy.

At least, that would be the case if he couldn't feel the permafrost burning off the back of his neck from a laser-focused glare he knew was coming in from behind.

"Right toff she is."

Victor winces at Marnie's dead tone, and slowly shuffles around in the snow to face her. The girl leans against the fence post again with her hands mostly covered by her sleeves, fingers drumming against the black leather on her hips.

"Really thinkin' the best way to a girl's heart is through her pops, eh Vic?" Though she sounded as calm and collected as usual, Victor could feel the venom in her words searing his skin.

It was going to be a long night.