The warmth and softness of her thick blanket created the perfect cocoon. Awareness slowly returning had the girl crack her eyes open, greeted by the soft glowing of her dorm's window panel. The scene was of a darkened sky, a black stretch dotted by twinkling stars. Whatever technology behind the screen's ability to correspond with time cycles and display accurate depictions of the natural sky was appreciated, as her dorm and all other rooms of the academy couldn't have actual windows after all. Lest people thought gazing out into the undersea void was appealing.

The scene was slowly switching to resemble dawn, gradually lightening into dark blues and oranges with the coming of the sun. So, she had awoken a little early. Not an uncommon occurrence.

Around her, gentle breathing of her pokemon was a pattern within the quiet. It was easily mistakable for part of her blanket, but Tari's fluff in his huddled up roosting position was pushed against her backside. Lulu and Mims were dozing at the foot of her bed. She would happily allow Sally, Rei, and Thea out to sleep as well, but their larger body sizes didn't exactly fit well into her dorm's already small space for them to stick around in it. Thankfully, they understood.

Alysa was feeling far too comfortable to move, so...she just laid there and did what she did best: think. Think about a variety of things, like what to have for breakfast and what potentially fun thing to do with her team today. Then, it hit her.

She had made plans with Drayton last evening. She was supposed to go to the Polar Biome around noon. The flare of adrenaline she got made her sit up, previous desire to stay still gone. It wasn't noon yet though, not even close. Waiting was a necessity.

"Ugh..." She pressed a hand to her face, but removed it when Tari shifted next to her. His eyes were open and head raised, crooning questioningly.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" She rubbed the cuddly dragon's chest, smiling at his quiet trill. "'M just antsy. It is still pretty early though, huh...?"

The Altaria huddled closer, until he was perched right on her lap. Alysa took the cue, leaning back and slowly running her fingers through his cottony plumage. She did her best to not disturb or worse, pull out any of his feathers on accident.

Melodic humming entered her ears, low in volume. It was a familiar beat, something she has heard from Tari before; during a time just like this one: where she had awoken too early to get the day started. The sounds induced a stupor, where her grogginess was pulled to the front of her mind. Wakefulness was fleeing her, and a yawn signaled her descent back into sleep. Her head fell back against her pillow, it and her hand playing with the edges of Tari's feathers going limp.


Arousing once more, Alysa's blurry vision was filled by a tattered, creme-colored cloak decorated with a crudely-etched face.

'Kyu!'

Mims waggled his head around, and climbed up to stand on her stomach.

'Kyuyumi!'

"Oook, ok." Alysa's scratchy voice croaked. She rose into a sitting position, as the Mimikyu hopped off of her. Rubbing her eyes to clear them allowed her to see her window panel was displaying a clear sunny day. It was morning...still? Maybe? She had to reach for her phone to check the time. Past 10am.

However many extra hours did Tari's singing give her, she had no idea, but at least the scheduled time was much closer now – yet she still had plenty of time to get ready. And feed her pokemon. Mims, Lulu, and Tari were staring up at her expectedly from the floor. She cleared her throat.

"Oh, don't give me those looks. None of you are starving."

She half-heartedly squinted at them, and pulled her blanket off so she could properly get up. The girl got her pokemon's breakfast going, sending the others out so they could eat as well. A simple bowl of cereal was her choice of the day's first meal, through prepping it the trainer had the passing realization that she was running low on Moomoo Milk, then hustled into the bathroom to freshen up.

It was 20 minutes 'til noon, and she figured it was good a time as any to go. Worse that could happen is Drayton wouldn't be there yet, so she'd have to wait a while in the cold. It shouldn't be so bad.


The Polar Biome's biting air was not something she missed. It currently whipped at the exposed skin of her face hidden in her hood while she flew on the back of her Salamence around and over the frozen terrain, but the reason they were here made it all worthwhile. She breathed a sigh of relief at the plaza finally coming into view, even though she knew it was going to be just as cold there as anywhere else in this biome.

She had Sally land some distance away, and recalled her with a thank you. The chill had already started to set in past the thick fabric of her mittens, so Alysa rubbed them together and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her parka while she stepped through crunchy snow. There was barely anyone present at the plaza at this time, but she doubted there were ever really that many students around.

Part of her suspected Drayton had yet to arrive, but the feeling was wrong. She caught sight of Drayton standing at the main counter, speaking with a League Club member. It made sense for him to be here early, but heat still pooled in her chest nonetheless. Alysa's approach was noticed, and a point was done in her direction.

"Hey there." Drayton's smile exuded warmth, a drastic contrast to their environment. The club member left them alone to chat.

Alysa's shivering perpetually shook her body, and they were made worse by the visual of Drayton just wearing what he always did. His jacket wasn't even zipped up. The only indication his body gave of being remotely affected by the low temperatures was the soft red flush of his skin. It was endearing how his hair was lightly dusted with the falling snow though; the purple streak in his hair was about gone.

"How are you not f-freezing?" She pouted, invoking a chuckle from the teen. He moved to stand before her.

"Heh, I've always been a cold weather kind of guy. It's actually a little warmer here today, believe it or not. The Terarium Club's probably gonna look into it."

She couldn't feel a difference at all! And was Drayton outright immune to hypothermia? Talk about having cold resistance. He'd make an excellent trainer of Ice-types.

The boy waved over towards the three benches up on the plaza's higher elevation.

"Come sit with me."

She followed his lead, taking a seat next to him at the bench he chose. The Terarium's installed benches weren't the biggest in the world, about wide enough for two people or three if some wiggling was done, so she was almost nestled up to him. Not that she minded, and it didn't seem like he minded either.

The breeze was never-ending, stirring up loose fallen snow from the ground and causing flakes to dance about. They faintly glittered in the artificial light shining down from the dome. A genuinely beautiful sight that she might've gotten lost in, if she wasn't scrambling for some kind of conversation starter between the two of them. She settled for what motivated Drayton to make the request he did.

"So, u-um...what did you want to learn about me?"

"Well, let's see..."

She couldn't see him as her hood blocked out everything if it wasn't right in front of her, but she could see his legs, which he crossed.

"How about what region you're from, to start off?"

That was innocent enough. "Kalos."

"Oh? Is Kalosian your first language?"

"Yes."

"Could've fooled me. You don't really have an accent."

"That's...intended. Over the years, I've l-learned to suppress it in my Unovan."

"Why?"

She fidgeted. "Used to get made fun of for it."

"Oh."

The lower inflection signaled he not being thrilled to hear that, but he made no further comment. They fell into silence again. Alysa scrambled for what to say next. She was not good at small talk. Thankfully, Drayton said something else.

"Hey, come to think-" She felt him shift. "How old are you?"

A pause. On a whim, she decided to give him a lighthearted test.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Uh...16?"

Good guess. "Close. I'm 17."

"Huh! I'm 17 too."

That was strangely fitting. His calm nature often gave off the energy of he being older than the other elites, except maybe Amarys. Even then, the stoic girl's preference for being orderly had the impression of something instilled rather than something which naturally developed over time. Drayton was certainly more of the mellow type overall.

"You don't seem like you're 17. No offense." Drayton chuckled. "But it's cool to know someone the same age as me. All the students I'm familiar with are younger."

"No offense taken." He believing she was younger was fair; she did have a 'baby face' too, as she's been told a long time ago. But Alysa did match his sentiment, only excluding the tidbit about other students. She was positive that she didn't know nearly as many people as he did.

"Where are you from?" Since he questioned her on that, echoing it back was fair.

"Unova's mainland. Born and raised in Opelucid City."

"Hm? Wait, isn't that-"

"Where the Spartan Mayor Drayden lives? Yeah."

She had to look at him now. Drayton had his hands behind his head, appearing so casual, meanwhile she felt like a bombshell was dropped on her. She wondered...

"Are you and Drayden related?"

"Heh!" He laughed, lazily turning his head over towards her. "Haven't been asked that in a long time. But to answer it: yes. He's my grandpa, on my ma's side."

"Oh!" Hindsight told her such a fact was obvious. She believed Drayden had white hair and yellow eyes, Drayton possessed the same, their names were similar, and they both specialized in Dragon-types. "That's neat."

"Neat is a word for it, sure." There were implications there that she couldn't quite grasp. "I'm surprised you didn't know that. Basically everyone around here knows, even the teachers. Or, it gets found out in like the first week of attendance."

She half-laughed, hunkering down further into her parka. "I can be kind of...slow, wh-when it comes to that stuff..."

"That's alright. It's honestly nice to know someone who wasn't aware of that off the jump." He snorted. "The attention can get too in my face, every now and then."

One's family relation to a Gym Leader being public information could do that, she supposed.

"Grandpa's been mostly like my father figure. Don't know my real pops at all; ma never liked me asking about him." Drayton looked upwards in thought. "What about you? Your folks into the pokemon battling scene at all?"

"No. My parents are ph-photographers. They've done work with battling, but they've never h-had pokemon of their own. I-I've never known my grandparents." Or if they were still alive, for that matter.

"You got any siblings?"

She knew a question like that would come eventually, but she was still not prepared for it. Her mood fell. Drayton picked up on the prolonged silence.

"Sorry, is that a touchy subject?"

"...No." Yes, actually, but she didn't want him to feel bad. "I have a sibling, an older brother. We aren't close."

That was putting it mildly.

"I get it." Drayton sat up straighter. "I don't have any blood sibs myself. Closest person I have to an older sister is a lady named Iris. My grandpa's the head of our clan and he took her in when she was a kid, about a year or two before I was born. We sort of grew up together."

"Clan?" This piqued her interest. And, she was thankful for the slight topic change.

"My family's full of Dragon Tamers, y'see. Apparently our branch is descended from one of Unova's legendary heroes, but I dunno if that's actually true." Drayton shrugged.

"Anyway, our bloodline has had this strong connection to Dragon Pokemon for generations. They're important to our way of life, so our culture in Opelucid revolves around them."

"That's cool..!" Alysa was truly starstruck by that. The tidbit about Unova's legendary hero largely went over her head, mostly because she wasn't that familiar with the region's history. She does know two brothers were once kings – or princes? – and a civil war happened because of their in-fighting where they each used a powerful Dragon Pokemon against one another, but nothing more than that.

"This cloth I got here?" He patted the purple fabric decorated by a dragon head pattern on its hem, that he always kept around his waist in public as far as she knew. "It's my cape. A person in my clan earns one when they get officially recognized as a Dragon Tamer. It's kind of a coming-of-age thing."

"Oooh. So," She giggled. "I-It's not a skirt then?"

"No." Drayton smirked. "I bet I could rock one though."

Alysa's resulting laughter was boisterous, though she put a hand over her mouth to muffle it so she wouldn't be too loud. She missed the sense of affection that softened Drayton's features.

"I can't tell ya much more about clan stuff. I've been away from home for...a while. The adults back home could tell you more than me."

"Still...! Th-That's so interesting. I love dragons a lot, but I don't think I'm descended from any Tamers."

"You got the spirit of one, I say." He grinned. "I know your dragons, your fairies too, care about you a whole lot. You've definitely treated them right."

He was flattering her now. The topic of pokemon did harken back to something she contemplated heavily last week. Bringing it up now wasn't too out of place, but she couldn't guess as to what his reaction would be. Only one way to find out.

"Speaking of dragons..." In the shadow of her hoodie, she peeked at Drayton shyly. He keenly watched, nonverbally encouraging her to continue.

"C-Can I meet your own?"

"What, that's it?" He leaned forward, and reached into his jacket. From the looks of it, there was a pocket there.

"Of course you can."

He enlarged the capsules and tossed all six out. In the clamorous volley of energy, his team of dragons appeared, all taking notice of her presence in less a second. His Dragonite and Flygon appeared to have higher levels of intrigue, as they stepped right over to her. She got up, eyes full of wonder.

"Don't worry, they're all friendly. Especially those two." Drayton wagged a finger at the two dragons towering over her. Flygon leaned down to sniff about her head and face, then went in for a nuzzle. Her giggles were full of mirth, taking a cautious hand to rub the side of the Mystic Pokemon's neck. He crooned and swayed his tail in languid arcs. Drayton's Dragonite reacted positively to Flygon's delight, and leaned down expectantly for pets herself. Who was she to deny?

His other pokemon slowly came around. Kingdra used her long snout to poke her curiously, and was charmed by Alysa mimicking what Drayton did before and rubbed her stomach. Remembering they usually hated their tusks being touched by strangers, Alysa was careful in the scritches she gave under Haxorus' chin. Sceptile accepted a head pat.

Alysa was frankly the most worried about Archaludon. He was Drayton's ace, and his opinion of her perhaps carried the most weight for that reason. With how the steel-clad dragon's eyes studied her closely, combing up and down, she didn't know how to go about interacting with him. At least he didn't seem hostile.

She did notice something particular about him, when the changing light of the Terarium's dome reflected off of the pokemon, which had her staring in awe.

"You're s-so shiny...! Drayton must polish you all the time, hm?"

Turns out, admiration of an Archaludon's body was the key to its heart. He rumbled, stomping a foot in a way that expressed his enjoyment. What a relief. She would never be as close to them as Drayton was of course, but she's thrilled none of them seemed to hate or dislike her.

"I'd try to pet you, but I don't want to leave any smudges, hehe."

~x~

This was going swimmingly. Not that he thought it'd go otherwise; he knew his team was in general well behaved. You never know though, especially when it came to dragons.

Drayton, ever perceptive and in tune with his pokemon, could see all of them felt relaxed in Alysa's presence. She interacted with them all in the best way too, which for sure helped. He sat with his hands folded and chin resting on them, watching the girl talk to his oldest companion. She was right, he did polish him a lot – once every week – like any good trainer of an Archaludon would do. Same went for a Duraludon. The whole line prided themselves on having clean, shiny bodies.

Flygon and Dragonite were hovering around her, clearly attached to the girl already. It broadened the smile he already had. Maybe they picked up on that vibe Alysa had. Something soft and subtle, but strong enough to draw you in. Drayton's realized he's long since fallen for it, and he has no desire get back up.

She asked a question to Dragonite, something about flying he caught, and the dragon responded in a excited way. Flygon pitched in with a vocalization, and Alysa directed an inquiry his way.

Drayton genuinely loved how she was literally conversing with them. Treating them like the living, intelligent beings they are. Not that she needed the boost, but anyone respecting his pokemon heightened his own respect for them.

Archaludon stepped closer to Alysa, and held out an arm. Quirking an eyebrow, Drayton pondered the reason for it, but she interpreted it as permission to touch him there. She cupped her hands around the arch-shaped hand (paw? hoof?), cooing over how polite he is.

It was then and there that Drayton could feel his heart swelling. Swelling to be as big as the Polar Biome's space, if not greater, all to allow Alysa into its boundaries.

This girl...she was something special indeed. She's been charming him since day one, and this outing let him know that his pokemon all liked her too. How fortunate was it, that they share the same age. He wondered what her birthday was.

The longer he sat there, watching her hang with his team, the more his fondness of her was growing. Drayton hummed quietly to himself, understanding what these specific emotions could mean...he took it all in stride.

"D-Drayton?" Her soft-spoken voice was magnetic. He couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.

"Yeah?"

"I should get going...starting to tu-turn into an icicle. Sorry..."

Alysa was trembling like a leaf caught in a windstorm, but her expression was utterly warm. Still, he felt a little guilty. It was his idea for her to come here after all, so has she just been enduring it this whole time?

He was so tempted to tell her he'd bemore than happy to take her into his arms and warm her up, but maybe he shouldn't take an experimental step over that line. Yet.

"It's all good."

"I-I did enjoy this though! So, th-thank you." Her smiling face tucked into her parka made his heart flutter.

"We should...do something like this again! M-Maybe, have a picnic?"

"Oooh." He grinned. "I like the sound of that! I'm always down for good food and fun times. How 'bout we host it in the Coastal Biome?"

The warmer air there ought to be plenty comfortable for her.

"S-Sure! But, are you okay with that? I know you like th-the Polar Biome."

Aw, was she thinking about his own comfort? What a sweetie.

"It's fine. The Coastal Biome's scenery ain't nothing to sneeze at, plus it'll be a nice change of pace."

He's not looking forward to the sweating he'll be doing, but it's a worthwhile price to pay for Alysa.

"Ok! H-How does this Friday sound? Around...4pm? I can bring my p-picnic kit, but I don't have a lot of food to bring."

"My schedule should be free about that time." That was mostly a joke. Outside of caring for and training his pokemon, he barely did anything these days! Deliberately, mind you. There was a chance Lacey would rope him into some club related business, but he'd find a way out of it. He always did.

"I can bring the food."

"Great! I'll...um." She stopped. "Hey, do I have your phone n-number?"

He had to think, but he couldn't remember them doing an exchange. It was an innocent question from her, he knew, but Drayton couldn't resist the open-mouth smirk from appearing.

"Nope. What, did you want mine~?" Nor did he try to stop the teasing, flirtatious tone.

"U-Uh...!" Her eyes widened, and she tightened her hood. Just the reaction he wanted! He snickered, taking out his rotom phone.

"Well, I for sure wouldn't mind having yours. Let's do a swap."

She was standing a few feet away, but he could still feel her giving off embarrassed heat. They had each other registered as contacts in no time, but Drayton put in extra consideration on what he should have Alysa's name be on the list. Much to his displeasure, he couldn't think of anything, so he was forced to leave it be until he struck genius.

What did Alysa put him as in her contacts? Did she just leave his name as-is or give him a nickname? Was she the type to do that? Who else had her number? Questions questions, all that weren't important but also were at the same time.

"There! Now we can talk whenever."

"G-Great..." She slipped her phone back into her pocket, and grabbed a pokeball. She fixed him with a timid, yet jovial look. "I'll, uh, see you later..."

She pulled her hoodie down more, walking away with the quiet, stammering farewell. Hooded golden eyes closely observed her stepping onto the snow and sending out her Salamence, who took off into the air with her as a passenger. His team watched Alysa go, then started chattering amongst themselves.

Drayton looked forward a stupid amount to shooting her all kinds of messages. Maybe through doing that, he could encourage her to initiate more between them. Get her out of her shell, slowly but hopefully surely.

Considering how Alysa herself suggested they have a picnic, there's a chance progress was already being made on that front.