Disclaimer: Eternal Winter is rated PG-13, if only for its underlying dealings with same-sex relationships.
This is an original character story which includes a few characters from the anime, the most well-known being Tracey. This is also slightly alternate-universe, and doesn't particularly coincide with the Johto Journeys season.
EW is overtly shoujo. That means its main themes are romance, friendship, and introspection. There isn't much in the way of action or violence around here, so don't come looking for it.
---
*nervous wave* Thanks for clicking on my story! (/cheese)
EW debuted on FFN over two years ago. The support and encouragement from there helped me build my little OC fic into a trilogy in planning. This is a rewrite. If, by some chance, you've read EW on FFN, or even my website (to which I would be impressed indeed), then know that this time around, things will be a lot different, and, in my opinion, many times better.
I won't beg for comments/reviews, but they would be greatly appreciated, and would help me build a better fanfic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy working with it.
~ * ~
I came to this land to protect you.
I was born to meet you.
The moment I wake,
prisms start to spin around me.
I'm here now to love you.
I was born to hold you.
Lies and truths...
All lies within me.
I won't let the days I abandon my heart get to me.
Tenderness and love
let's take them back once again!
--Megumi Hayashibara, "Successful Mission" (Saber Marionette J)
opening song for Eternal Winter
Chapter 1
Destiny Waits! The Ambitious Ice-Type Trainer!
In the distant sky there was lightning. Rain would come within the hour, cooling the balmy summer air for a little while, a breath of relief for the evening. Was there some benevolent force at work?
Noelle gazed out the window. The only good part of summer was the storms -- the rush of rain, the announcement of thunder, the show of lightning. It was beautiful when the stagnancy of summer was disrupted by a lively storm, the oppressive heat defeated. Noelle took in a deep breath. She was interpreting her surroundings in much more of a poetic sense than they needed to be.
She was glad when her TV program returned from commercial. Coverage of the annual Indigo League championships -- the biggest in the country -- took place at the beginning of every summer. Noelle turned the volume up, watching enviously. Most of the contestants were her age or even younger, and all of them had spent long months doing nothing but training pokémon. What a life! Could there be anything better than being a pokémon trainer?
"Miss Noelle?" one of the maids, June, stood before the girl's open bedroom door. "Afternoon tea is ready."
Noelle blinked at June, then glanced at the clock on her wall. "Okay," she said softly. "I'll be down in a second." June nodded, smiled kindly, and departed. Noelle stared at the television screen one last longing time before shutting it off, smoothing the material of her plain t-shirt and shorts, and descending the long flight of stairs.
Winter Manor was just one of the opulent mansions in Pine City, a town at the base of the Kanto mountains. There was little to do with pokémon here, no centers or marts. The specialty grocery was known to sell trading cards that were popular with small children, and some of the newsstands carried Pokémon Friend magazine, but that was about it. Noelle, having grown up and lived in Pine City all of her fifteen years, never knew there was more to pokémon than the fact that they were wild animals until she flipped through a magazine and watched documentaries on television. When she turned ten, she begged her parents to let her go to the closest center and obtain a trainer's license, but they refused. It was Noelle's duty, as the sole Winter heir, to complete her private education and prepare for marriage, as the family name and fortune needed to flourish.
But on the side, Noelle collected information about pokémon. Boxes in the back of her closet held many years' worth of Pokémon Friend issues, some books, and newspaper articles. She'd read and reread them, and knew almost as much about pokémon as a novice student of the famed Pokémon Technical Institute, located outside Vermilion City. Thinking about pokémon kept her mind clear and optimistic while her parents consistently reminded her that etiquette was everything, money was her key to power, her future husband would be happier if she'd change from those ridiculous shorts into a nice light dress.
Contessa Winter's cobalt-blue hair was drawn into a round bun, and she sipped her tea with the same vapid expression she always bore. Noelle felt her own locks of the same shade, unbound and cascading over her shoulders in a neat wave. They wanted her to turn into her mother, a society wife for a business-minded man. Noelle's father was engrossed in the day's newspaper, and if he noticed his daughter's appearance at the table, he gave no sign. Noelle snared a scone, as light and soft as her heart wasn't.
"Do remember to go to bed early tonight," Contessa spoke suddenly. "The carriage will be here come sunrise."
"Carriage?" Noelle repeated.
"For Palm Springs."
Noelle held the scone inches away from her mouth, which was open in her confusion. "You never told me we were going to Palm Springs tomorrow."
"Of course we did. You should listen to your father, dear."
"That's right." Clayton Winter lowered the newspaper and raised his black eyebrows expectantly at Noelle. "Besides, the announcement's already in the paper." He pulled out a loose page and handed it to her. The top of it read "Engagements," and among the names, she saw her own. She was mentioned in two sentences, which followed an entire paragraph about one Daniel Sparks III, the eighteen-year-old son of one of Clayton's business associates.
"What... what is this?" Noelle asked shakily.
"It's your publicized engagement. And tomorrow's the formal party."
"It'll be so lovely, an early summer soirée," Contessa sighed.
"But..." Noelle's head spun. "But I'm only fifteen! I can't get married! Especially when I barely know him!" And can't stand him, she added to herself, having met young Daniel before at required social gatherings. If ever there was proof of inbreeding among the upper class, he was it. He was slow-witted, ill-mannered behind his elders' backs, and, worst of all, he boasted his favorite hobby, hunting pokémon.
"Well, we've got to find something for you to do," Clayton said. "Your education's finished, after all."
"Is that all I'm good for?" Noelle spat. "To teach me a few history and music lessons, then marry me off and expect me to make children?"
"Don't raise your voice, dear," Contessa corrected her. "It's unbecoming."
"I'm still a child myself!" Noelle paid her no attention. She had always tolerated her parents, and always carried out their ridiculous yet traditional expectations with one thought to maintain her spirit: Someday I will have my pokémon. But if she was to be married off right away... all her suspicions that her parents had no care for her as a person were coming true. She wasn't meant to do what she wanted, just what they wanted.
"Now, I wouldn't say that." Her father picked the newspaper back up. "You should be grateful. Ordinary fifteen-year-olds complain that they are treated like children. Now's the time for you to act your age."
Noelle felt short of breath. "I guess I'll start packing for the trip, then," she said softly, and pushed back her chair to stand up. It was, of course, futile to argue further, as it would only earn her a lecture on how such matters weren't her place.
She opened her bedroom closet, eyes falling on the half-buried boxes of pokémon reading material, her grandest fantasies and dreams, all packed away and pushed into a corner. In her daydreams, her parents would let her be her own person, and she'd rush to get a trainer's license and a starter pokémon, just like she'd read about. She would choose a water-type. In fact, she'd build a team of water-types, because in relation to water were ice-type pokémon, living embodiments of the perfect beauty found only in ice and snow.
Everything I need in my life is being taken away from me, Noelle thought darkly. Pokémon friends, beautiful ice, happiness... freedom... why can't I throw everything away and be a pokémon trainer?
She reached for a random dress on a clothes hanger. As her fingers brushed the pink silk, she was struck with one thought. Well, what's to stop me?
There were maps of every pokémon-related city in her magazines. She had more than enough basic know-how on raising, caring for, and battling. Pokémon centers had overnight rooms and complementary meals for licensed trainers. She had a bicycle in the garage. What, indeed, was to stop her?
Noelle's heart pounded while her mind generated images of herself biking from city to city, free from social obligation. She could be just like those kids on TV.
She released the dress and rooted through the depths of her closet for a backpack. Outside, the sky flashed with lightning, and thunder pealed.
The storm reached Vermilion City -- located on the opposite end of Kanto as Pine City -- by daybreak. Midori, who slept rarely during the night, was desperately in need of bodily rest by this point. However, his mind was wide awake and well at work, and his ears in tune to the thunder. He sat on the topmost stair of a building that may have passed for a pokémon gym, if it wasn't shadowed by the questionably official Vermilion Gym of Lieutenant Surge. The roof overhead was barely enough to shelter him from the rain.
He saw the lightning blaze through his closed eyelids. It is fitting that I am here at this place, in this city, on the first dawn of summer, your birthday, he mused. Thunder inevitably followed, low and solemn. Is this your gift to her, thunder god? Midori silently continued. Are you watching over her, if not with her?
He sighed heavily and fingered the pokéball around his neck. He forced his personal thoughts aside and concentrated on matters of more importance.
By the time another thunderclap sounded, he had a distinct mental image. After so long... he'd almost given up. His mission was one step closer to its goal.
Perhaps you are aiding me after all, wherever you are, he thought. Did you loan your gift to me through this lovely storm?
His cerebral search drained what was left of his energy. Midori Rougan stood and stretched, stumbling even through that small effort. He was gratefully looking forward to a long morning's sleep.
Daybreak in Pine City found Noelle biking into town, fearfully glancing over her shoulder every few seconds. By now they must have noticed she wasn't in her room, and were most likely launching into fits of composed anger. She wished she could have left a note with June and the other maids, telling them not to worry -- she liked them, how sympathetic they were -- but a note could be found by her father, which would lead to the whole town searching for her. She had to get out of the city fast.
Well, I wanted an adventure, she said to herself. Route 3 due east went straight into Pewter City, the closest place with a pokémon center. Ignoring her growling stomach, Noelle pedaled hastily.
She was exhausted when she reached Pewter, but never more relieved of anything. She wiped her sweaty brows with the back of her hand and chained her bicycle to the provided rack outside the center. Then, looking up at the building's sign with a determined smile, she went in.
"Good morning," the pink-looped-pigtailed young woman at the desk greeted her. "How may I help you?"
"Can I sign up for a trainer's license here?" Noelle asked.
"You certainly can!" She beamed cheerfully and turned to her computer, inputting Noelle's personal information as it was told to her. "Now, you'll have to step this way for your photo." She motioned to a door behind the desk.
"Oh..." Noelle fingered the ends of her limp hair. "Um... I'm sorry, but must it be now? I kind of left in a hurry... and I didn't get to take a shower." Her voice became quieter. What would people think, a lady of her stature appearing in public unwashed?
"I understand. Since you're one step away from being a licensed trainer anyway, I'll go ahead and give you access to a room and the showers, okay?" She smiled sweetly again.
That's right, Noelle reminded herself. She has no idea who I am... anyone so involved in pokémon has no knowledge of the business world. She stopped her thoughts for the moment and thanked the attendant profusely.
"After your shower, you can help yourself to the cafeteria, too. If you need anything, just ask for me. My name is Joy," she said, handing over a key. Noelle clutched it to her heart as she walked down the hall to her appointed room. The Winter name has no significance in the pokémon world, she kept telling herself. Already I am free from expectation here.
After her shower, she tied her hair back into two pigtails at the base of her neck, which she thought was a cute style after seeing it on the older Nurse Joy. Hers was too thick to make loops, though, so she left them to hang down her back. She all but devoured a large breakfast, then returned to the front desk.
"You seem much better now," Joy said as she lead Noelle to the back office, which contained sufficient lighting and a white screen before a camera. She took Noelle's photo, sent it to her computer, and returned to the office to retrieve the finished product. She handed Noelle a little plastic card. "There you are. Your registration gains you the use of any pokémon center around the country. I just need the fee now."
Fortunately, Noelle had brought some money with her, but the price of first-time registration combined with the annual fee took nearly all her funds. Good thing I can get room and board is free at centers now, she thought. I hope I don't really need anything else.
"Okay, you're all set." Nurse Joy grinned. "I trust you have pokéballs? You can get them at the pokémon mart down the street."
"Um... I don't have any, no," Noelle admitted. "I don't think I have enough money left to buy even one."
"Oh..." Nurse Joy's smiled faded. "Don't you have a starter? Young trainers are usually given a pokémon to start out with, along with some pokéballs. You can't catch wild pokémon too easily without weakening it through a battle first."
Noelle's cheeks flushed pink. She should have realized that; she'd read all the tips on starting a trainer's journey multiple times. In her rush to leave Pine City, she'd forgotten everything. "Well... where do I go to get a starter?" she asked.
"A lot of kids seek out Professor Oak in Pallet Town. He's known to distribute starter pokémon. But Pallet's a long way south from here."
Noelle nodded. She'd also read much about Samuel Oak, one of the world's top pokémon experts. "But I don't know if it's a good idea for a trainer to travel all the way to Pallet Town from here without any pokémon at all," she said.
Nurse Joy gave her a sympathetic smile as a little boy approached the desk with his hands full of pokéballs. "Can you heal these guys for me?" he asked. Noelle enviously watched him hand over the red and white spheres. "I'll think of something," she told Joy, and went to sit on one of the lobby's cushioned benches. With a deep sigh, she glanced at the magazine rack beside her, and reached for the latest Pokémon Friend, which she had not purchased yet. Inside was an article that instantly caught her eye: "Keeping Your Ice-Type Pokémon Cool This Summer," written by Professor Audrey Holly, whose pieces had begun to appear in magazines only recently. Noelle always liked reading her work. It was usually about water- or ice-types. It's a sign, she mused. I begin my journey and there's an article about ice pokémon.
Maybe Professor Holly could give her some tips. Her email address was listed at the end of her article. Noelle thought about it as she stared at the public computer terminal on the other side of the lobby. It couldn't hurt. She'd need an email address of her own first, but it wouldn't be a problem to find a service and sign up.
Something caught her eye on the computer screen, however. It seemed to be an accessible directory of pokémon officials. With rapid curiosity, Noelle opened the program and typed Professor Holly's name in the field. There was a phone number, which certainly could go more quickly than an email, and an address, listed only as "Route 3, Kanto."
"She lives here!?" Noelle exclaimed to herself. She hadn't seen any houses on her bike ride to Pewter. But then, she wasn't paying that much attention to the scenery in her rush to get to the center. But if it was true... she could visit... and maybe she could get her very own pokémon!
It's a sign. She remembered her theory when she found the article minutes ago. She wrote down the phone number and headed to one of the video phones, lined up against another wall. This is going to be great! she thought as she dialed. I love how she writes. She really likes ice pokémon. Maybe we're kindred spirits.
The other line was picked up, and an image flickered into view on the screen. There was a dark face with bizarre round eyes, huge pink lips, and platinum-blond hair. "Jyyyyyynx?" she drawled.
"Waugh!" Noelle jumped in her chair.
"Jynx jynx?" The Jynx tilted her head expectantly.
"Um... hello there," said Noelle. "May I speak to Professor Holly? Or is this a bad time?"
"Jynx." Jynx smiled and stepped aside. Noelle glanced around the center, wondering if anyone was watching this strange scene. She was beginning to feel like an idiot.
"Hello?" a woman's voice brought her eyes back to the screen. That sight surprised Noelle anew. This woman was certainly too young to be called professor, and was startlingly beautiful besides. Her hair was full and chesnut brown, fanning out at her shoulders, and her eyes sharp green behind thin, oval-shaped glasses. Had she not been wearing a white lab coat, Noelle would have assumed she was a secretary or assistant.
She also felt increasingly silly. Who was she to call and disturb this important woman? "I'm sorry!" she blurted out. "But I found your phone number in the directory, and I have to ask you something, and I love your articles, and this is really random, and um..." She couldn't bear to face the screen again.
"Well, I must admit, I don't get phone calls from strangers bearing praise," Professor Holly said in a slightly amused tone. "You don't have to apologize. What's your name?"
Noelle bit her lower lip. It was all right? She wasn't going to chastise her for disrupting important research? "I'm Noelle. Maybe I should start over. See, I'm from Pine City, and I left this morning to start a pokémon journey. I'm at the Pewter center now, and I was wondering how I get a starter pokémon... I called you because you always write about water- and ice-types, which are my favorites, and you know so much about them, so I worship you."
Professor Holly blushed. "Thank you," she said. "I... I've never been worshipped before."
"I hope I don't sound weird or anything," Noelle continued. "Or too clueless. But everything I know about pokémon is from what I've read and seen on TV. I just left home today without telling anyone, and now that I'm out here on my own, I guess I don't know what to do."
"Hmm... you're in Pewter, you say? My house is just outside Pine City, en route to Pewter. I might be able to help you, though I don't really distribute starter pokémon. But if you're so interested in water- and ice-types, you can come see the ones in my lab."
"I can come to your house? Really? Oh, thank you!" Noelle's gushing made the professor more pink in the cheeks. "I'll be there as soon as I can! Thank you so much!"
Just as it had been when she left that morning, Noelle's bike ride was both exciting and dangerous. True, she was now pedaling to the house of the gracious Professor Holly, but she was also heading back in the direction of Pine City. What if her parents had people out looking for her? And just how close to the city did the professor live, anyway? Noelle recognized her surroundings eventually. The city was right around this bend...
Then she saw a mailbox on the side of the road at her right, next to which was a winding driveway. That led to a sizeable house atop a hill. Was that it? Noelle didn't want to go any farther by this point. Even if this wasn't Professor Holly's house, whoever lived there might be able to tell her where it was.
To her delight, a now-familiar Jynx answered the door. "Jynx!" she said in what seemed like a greeting tone. She even held out her dark little hand.
"Hi there, Jynx!" Noelle's fear washed away with that one gesture. "I guess I have the right place, huh?"
"Looks like." Professor Holly herself came to the door beside her pokémon. "Come on in, Noelle."
While the exterior was large, being a partial laboratory, the actual interior living area was fairly small. Noelle was brought into the living room, which kind of melded into the kitchen. A hallway was at the other end, most likely leading to the bedroom and to the facilities. "Thank you so much for inviting me," Noelle said gratefully. "I was really worried I'd go too far back into the city."
"You don't want to go home?" Professor Holly looked mildly surprised.
"I ran away. My parents shouldn't know where I am."
"Oh... oh my."
Noelle blushed. Suddenly she felt childish, admitting to someone she barely knew that she'd done something so rash. "Well, you seem determined to see it through," Professor Holly said before she could follow up on her reasoning. "That's an important trait in a pokémon trainer: willingness to follow your heart."
Audrey Holly hoped she didn't come off as too awkward. She was pulling this stuff out of nowhere, but it was making Noelle smile. She was nervous -- that unexpected phone call, inviting this strange girl to her home and laboratory... these were not normal actions for her. She'd been doing her solitary research away from Pokémon Tech for many months now, out here in the foothills where the air was crisp and the people sparse. She was quite grateful for her new living arrangement, just herself, Jynx, and the rest of her pokémon research subjects, no people to disrupt or judge or forsake her. So why? Why did this friendly girl have to call her, and why did she have to invite her over?
God help my dying heart, she thought. Her eyes... they're the same shade as--
"Jyynx?" Jynx pulled on Noelle's hand. "Oh?" Noelle asked. "Does Jynx want something?"
Audrey took note of Jynx's eager expression, so similar to a human child's. "I think she wants you to meet the other pokémon," she said. "Which is a good idea, if you're going to be a water trainer."
"What got you so interested in them?" Noelle asked as they headed to the back of the house, the area annexed to serve as the lab.
"I suppose the same thing that any specialist will tell you about her chosen element," Audrey replied. "I've just always thought they're beautiful. There is nothing more profound than the cold stillness of ice, or the frozen perfection of snow."
"That's so sweet," Noelle said softly. "That's exactly what I've always thought. I never could explain why I liked them so much, but I think you just did."
Audrey couldn't help but smile.
Part of the lab included an indoor pool, which held its very own miniature iceburg at one end. Noelle paused in the middle of the room and stared at it. Audrey folded her arms across her chest, also gazing at her most prized possession, the home for her current batch of water/ice pokémon. Her present report was on their social traits, comparing them to the behavior of pokémon that lived in more tropical waters.
"Wow," Noelle breathed. "I've never been so close to any... may I have a closer look?"
"Sure. Just be careful you don't fall in." Audrey was especially interested that Jynx followed Noelle to the edge of the pool. She hadn't left the girl's side since she arrived. Jynx knelt down to the water's edge and dipped her hand in, looking up at Noelle. Audrey raised her eyebrows. This might make another interesting thesis...
"Oh!" Noelle exclaimed. She'd mimicked Jynx, kneeling to touch the cool water, but she fell to her seat and was holding out her wet hand. Audrey rushed over to her. "Something licked me!" she said.
From the water just before them came a little white head sticking its tongue out playfully. One of the Seel had come to say hello. "How cute!" Noelle declared. "Hi there, little Seel!"
"Seel seel!" it greeted back, closing its eyes as Noelle patted its head. She laughed delightfully. Beside her, Jynx was beaming.
"Noelle," Professor Holly said, "would you like to take Seel with you? You know, as a starter?"
A sharp turn, and the familiar blue eyes were incredulously wide. "Take one of your pokémon? I... I couldn't... it wouldn't be right."
"I think it likes you. And you're the one who called me asking for help."
Noelle stood slowly, wiping her hand on the leg of her brown pants. "If I do, I'll take the best care of it, I promise!" She clasped her hands together and bowed her head.
"I know you will," Audrey said with a smile. Jynx made a finalized sound.
She gave Noelle six pokéballs, one of which now held the chosen Seel. "I'm sure you know how to use these," she said. "And take these as well. They're basic potions, but you can find stronger ones in larger cities."
"I don't know how to thank you," Noelle said, placing potions and empty balls in her backpack, but holding Seel's pokéball close.
"Don't worry about it. Just helping out the first fellow ice-type lover I've met in a long time."
"I'll find something," Noelle vowed. "I'll find a way to repay you for being so nice. And so cool. You're the best."
"Oh, now..." Audrey was flustered.
She waved as Noelle biked down her driveway and back onto route 3. How strange it had all been... but if she was going to speak to the human race again, Noelle was a good start.
Well, there was that boy from Vermilion City, too...
The reminder of him shocked Audrey out of her musing. Could it be? The way Noelle couldn't explain just why she loved the element, the way Jynx and Seel took to her in an instant, the fact that Audrey herself was actually at ease talking with her...
"Jynx?" Jynx asked from the professor's side.
Audrey glanced at her pokémon, and then back at the road. "Midori," she whispered. "If your theory is true, then I wish you all the luck in the world."
This is an original character story which includes a few characters from the anime, the most well-known being Tracey. This is also slightly alternate-universe, and doesn't particularly coincide with the Johto Journeys season.
EW is overtly shoujo. That means its main themes are romance, friendship, and introspection. There isn't much in the way of action or violence around here, so don't come looking for it.
---
*nervous wave* Thanks for clicking on my story! (/cheese)
EW debuted on FFN over two years ago. The support and encouragement from there helped me build my little OC fic into a trilogy in planning. This is a rewrite. If, by some chance, you've read EW on FFN, or even my website (to which I would be impressed indeed), then know that this time around, things will be a lot different, and, in my opinion, many times better.
I won't beg for comments/reviews, but they would be greatly appreciated, and would help me build a better fanfic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy working with it.
~ * ~
I came to this land to protect you.
I was born to meet you.
The moment I wake,
prisms start to spin around me.
I'm here now to love you.
I was born to hold you.
Lies and truths...
All lies within me.
I won't let the days I abandon my heart get to me.
Tenderness and love
let's take them back once again!
--Megumi Hayashibara, "Successful Mission" (Saber Marionette J)
opening song for Eternal Winter
Chapter 1
Destiny Waits! The Ambitious Ice-Type Trainer!
In the distant sky there was lightning. Rain would come within the hour, cooling the balmy summer air for a little while, a breath of relief for the evening. Was there some benevolent force at work?
Noelle gazed out the window. The only good part of summer was the storms -- the rush of rain, the announcement of thunder, the show of lightning. It was beautiful when the stagnancy of summer was disrupted by a lively storm, the oppressive heat defeated. Noelle took in a deep breath. She was interpreting her surroundings in much more of a poetic sense than they needed to be.
She was glad when her TV program returned from commercial. Coverage of the annual Indigo League championships -- the biggest in the country -- took place at the beginning of every summer. Noelle turned the volume up, watching enviously. Most of the contestants were her age or even younger, and all of them had spent long months doing nothing but training pokémon. What a life! Could there be anything better than being a pokémon trainer?
"Miss Noelle?" one of the maids, June, stood before the girl's open bedroom door. "Afternoon tea is ready."
Noelle blinked at June, then glanced at the clock on her wall. "Okay," she said softly. "I'll be down in a second." June nodded, smiled kindly, and departed. Noelle stared at the television screen one last longing time before shutting it off, smoothing the material of her plain t-shirt and shorts, and descending the long flight of stairs.
Winter Manor was just one of the opulent mansions in Pine City, a town at the base of the Kanto mountains. There was little to do with pokémon here, no centers or marts. The specialty grocery was known to sell trading cards that were popular with small children, and some of the newsstands carried Pokémon Friend magazine, but that was about it. Noelle, having grown up and lived in Pine City all of her fifteen years, never knew there was more to pokémon than the fact that they were wild animals until she flipped through a magazine and watched documentaries on television. When she turned ten, she begged her parents to let her go to the closest center and obtain a trainer's license, but they refused. It was Noelle's duty, as the sole Winter heir, to complete her private education and prepare for marriage, as the family name and fortune needed to flourish.
But on the side, Noelle collected information about pokémon. Boxes in the back of her closet held many years' worth of Pokémon Friend issues, some books, and newspaper articles. She'd read and reread them, and knew almost as much about pokémon as a novice student of the famed Pokémon Technical Institute, located outside Vermilion City. Thinking about pokémon kept her mind clear and optimistic while her parents consistently reminded her that etiquette was everything, money was her key to power, her future husband would be happier if she'd change from those ridiculous shorts into a nice light dress.
Contessa Winter's cobalt-blue hair was drawn into a round bun, and she sipped her tea with the same vapid expression she always bore. Noelle felt her own locks of the same shade, unbound and cascading over her shoulders in a neat wave. They wanted her to turn into her mother, a society wife for a business-minded man. Noelle's father was engrossed in the day's newspaper, and if he noticed his daughter's appearance at the table, he gave no sign. Noelle snared a scone, as light and soft as her heart wasn't.
"Do remember to go to bed early tonight," Contessa spoke suddenly. "The carriage will be here come sunrise."
"Carriage?" Noelle repeated.
"For Palm Springs."
Noelle held the scone inches away from her mouth, which was open in her confusion. "You never told me we were going to Palm Springs tomorrow."
"Of course we did. You should listen to your father, dear."
"That's right." Clayton Winter lowered the newspaper and raised his black eyebrows expectantly at Noelle. "Besides, the announcement's already in the paper." He pulled out a loose page and handed it to her. The top of it read "Engagements," and among the names, she saw her own. She was mentioned in two sentences, which followed an entire paragraph about one Daniel Sparks III, the eighteen-year-old son of one of Clayton's business associates.
"What... what is this?" Noelle asked shakily.
"It's your publicized engagement. And tomorrow's the formal party."
"It'll be so lovely, an early summer soirée," Contessa sighed.
"But..." Noelle's head spun. "But I'm only fifteen! I can't get married! Especially when I barely know him!" And can't stand him, she added to herself, having met young Daniel before at required social gatherings. If ever there was proof of inbreeding among the upper class, he was it. He was slow-witted, ill-mannered behind his elders' backs, and, worst of all, he boasted his favorite hobby, hunting pokémon.
"Well, we've got to find something for you to do," Clayton said. "Your education's finished, after all."
"Is that all I'm good for?" Noelle spat. "To teach me a few history and music lessons, then marry me off and expect me to make children?"
"Don't raise your voice, dear," Contessa corrected her. "It's unbecoming."
"I'm still a child myself!" Noelle paid her no attention. She had always tolerated her parents, and always carried out their ridiculous yet traditional expectations with one thought to maintain her spirit: Someday I will have my pokémon. But if she was to be married off right away... all her suspicions that her parents had no care for her as a person were coming true. She wasn't meant to do what she wanted, just what they wanted.
"Now, I wouldn't say that." Her father picked the newspaper back up. "You should be grateful. Ordinary fifteen-year-olds complain that they are treated like children. Now's the time for you to act your age."
Noelle felt short of breath. "I guess I'll start packing for the trip, then," she said softly, and pushed back her chair to stand up. It was, of course, futile to argue further, as it would only earn her a lecture on how such matters weren't her place.
She opened her bedroom closet, eyes falling on the half-buried boxes of pokémon reading material, her grandest fantasies and dreams, all packed away and pushed into a corner. In her daydreams, her parents would let her be her own person, and she'd rush to get a trainer's license and a starter pokémon, just like she'd read about. She would choose a water-type. In fact, she'd build a team of water-types, because in relation to water were ice-type pokémon, living embodiments of the perfect beauty found only in ice and snow.
Everything I need in my life is being taken away from me, Noelle thought darkly. Pokémon friends, beautiful ice, happiness... freedom... why can't I throw everything away and be a pokémon trainer?
She reached for a random dress on a clothes hanger. As her fingers brushed the pink silk, she was struck with one thought. Well, what's to stop me?
There were maps of every pokémon-related city in her magazines. She had more than enough basic know-how on raising, caring for, and battling. Pokémon centers had overnight rooms and complementary meals for licensed trainers. She had a bicycle in the garage. What, indeed, was to stop her?
Noelle's heart pounded while her mind generated images of herself biking from city to city, free from social obligation. She could be just like those kids on TV.
She released the dress and rooted through the depths of her closet for a backpack. Outside, the sky flashed with lightning, and thunder pealed.
~ * ~
The storm reached Vermilion City -- located on the opposite end of Kanto as Pine City -- by daybreak. Midori, who slept rarely during the night, was desperately in need of bodily rest by this point. However, his mind was wide awake and well at work, and his ears in tune to the thunder. He sat on the topmost stair of a building that may have passed for a pokémon gym, if it wasn't shadowed by the questionably official Vermilion Gym of Lieutenant Surge. The roof overhead was barely enough to shelter him from the rain.
He saw the lightning blaze through his closed eyelids. It is fitting that I am here at this place, in this city, on the first dawn of summer, your birthday, he mused. Thunder inevitably followed, low and solemn. Is this your gift to her, thunder god? Midori silently continued. Are you watching over her, if not with her?
He sighed heavily and fingered the pokéball around his neck. He forced his personal thoughts aside and concentrated on matters of more importance.
By the time another thunderclap sounded, he had a distinct mental image. After so long... he'd almost given up. His mission was one step closer to its goal.
Perhaps you are aiding me after all, wherever you are, he thought. Did you loan your gift to me through this lovely storm?
His cerebral search drained what was left of his energy. Midori Rougan stood and stretched, stumbling even through that small effort. He was gratefully looking forward to a long morning's sleep.
~ * ~
Daybreak in Pine City found Noelle biking into town, fearfully glancing over her shoulder every few seconds. By now they must have noticed she wasn't in her room, and were most likely launching into fits of composed anger. She wished she could have left a note with June and the other maids, telling them not to worry -- she liked them, how sympathetic they were -- but a note could be found by her father, which would lead to the whole town searching for her. She had to get out of the city fast.
Well, I wanted an adventure, she said to herself. Route 3 due east went straight into Pewter City, the closest place with a pokémon center. Ignoring her growling stomach, Noelle pedaled hastily.
She was exhausted when she reached Pewter, but never more relieved of anything. She wiped her sweaty brows with the back of her hand and chained her bicycle to the provided rack outside the center. Then, looking up at the building's sign with a determined smile, she went in.
"Good morning," the pink-looped-pigtailed young woman at the desk greeted her. "How may I help you?"
"Can I sign up for a trainer's license here?" Noelle asked.
"You certainly can!" She beamed cheerfully and turned to her computer, inputting Noelle's personal information as it was told to her. "Now, you'll have to step this way for your photo." She motioned to a door behind the desk.
"Oh..." Noelle fingered the ends of her limp hair. "Um... I'm sorry, but must it be now? I kind of left in a hurry... and I didn't get to take a shower." Her voice became quieter. What would people think, a lady of her stature appearing in public unwashed?
"I understand. Since you're one step away from being a licensed trainer anyway, I'll go ahead and give you access to a room and the showers, okay?" She smiled sweetly again.
That's right, Noelle reminded herself. She has no idea who I am... anyone so involved in pokémon has no knowledge of the business world. She stopped her thoughts for the moment and thanked the attendant profusely.
"After your shower, you can help yourself to the cafeteria, too. If you need anything, just ask for me. My name is Joy," she said, handing over a key. Noelle clutched it to her heart as she walked down the hall to her appointed room. The Winter name has no significance in the pokémon world, she kept telling herself. Already I am free from expectation here.
After her shower, she tied her hair back into two pigtails at the base of her neck, which she thought was a cute style after seeing it on the older Nurse Joy. Hers was too thick to make loops, though, so she left them to hang down her back. She all but devoured a large breakfast, then returned to the front desk.
"You seem much better now," Joy said as she lead Noelle to the back office, which contained sufficient lighting and a white screen before a camera. She took Noelle's photo, sent it to her computer, and returned to the office to retrieve the finished product. She handed Noelle a little plastic card. "There you are. Your registration gains you the use of any pokémon center around the country. I just need the fee now."
Fortunately, Noelle had brought some money with her, but the price of first-time registration combined with the annual fee took nearly all her funds. Good thing I can get room and board is free at centers now, she thought. I hope I don't really need anything else.
"Okay, you're all set." Nurse Joy grinned. "I trust you have pokéballs? You can get them at the pokémon mart down the street."
"Um... I don't have any, no," Noelle admitted. "I don't think I have enough money left to buy even one."
"Oh..." Nurse Joy's smiled faded. "Don't you have a starter? Young trainers are usually given a pokémon to start out with, along with some pokéballs. You can't catch wild pokémon too easily without weakening it through a battle first."
Noelle's cheeks flushed pink. She should have realized that; she'd read all the tips on starting a trainer's journey multiple times. In her rush to leave Pine City, she'd forgotten everything. "Well... where do I go to get a starter?" she asked.
"A lot of kids seek out Professor Oak in Pallet Town. He's known to distribute starter pokémon. But Pallet's a long way south from here."
Noelle nodded. She'd also read much about Samuel Oak, one of the world's top pokémon experts. "But I don't know if it's a good idea for a trainer to travel all the way to Pallet Town from here without any pokémon at all," she said.
Nurse Joy gave her a sympathetic smile as a little boy approached the desk with his hands full of pokéballs. "Can you heal these guys for me?" he asked. Noelle enviously watched him hand over the red and white spheres. "I'll think of something," she told Joy, and went to sit on one of the lobby's cushioned benches. With a deep sigh, she glanced at the magazine rack beside her, and reached for the latest Pokémon Friend, which she had not purchased yet. Inside was an article that instantly caught her eye: "Keeping Your Ice-Type Pokémon Cool This Summer," written by Professor Audrey Holly, whose pieces had begun to appear in magazines only recently. Noelle always liked reading her work. It was usually about water- or ice-types. It's a sign, she mused. I begin my journey and there's an article about ice pokémon.
Maybe Professor Holly could give her some tips. Her email address was listed at the end of her article. Noelle thought about it as she stared at the public computer terminal on the other side of the lobby. It couldn't hurt. She'd need an email address of her own first, but it wouldn't be a problem to find a service and sign up.
Something caught her eye on the computer screen, however. It seemed to be an accessible directory of pokémon officials. With rapid curiosity, Noelle opened the program and typed Professor Holly's name in the field. There was a phone number, which certainly could go more quickly than an email, and an address, listed only as "Route 3, Kanto."
"She lives here!?" Noelle exclaimed to herself. She hadn't seen any houses on her bike ride to Pewter. But then, she wasn't paying that much attention to the scenery in her rush to get to the center. But if it was true... she could visit... and maybe she could get her very own pokémon!
It's a sign. She remembered her theory when she found the article minutes ago. She wrote down the phone number and headed to one of the video phones, lined up against another wall. This is going to be great! she thought as she dialed. I love how she writes. She really likes ice pokémon. Maybe we're kindred spirits.
The other line was picked up, and an image flickered into view on the screen. There was a dark face with bizarre round eyes, huge pink lips, and platinum-blond hair. "Jyyyyyynx?" she drawled.
"Waugh!" Noelle jumped in her chair.
"Jynx jynx?" The Jynx tilted her head expectantly.
"Um... hello there," said Noelle. "May I speak to Professor Holly? Or is this a bad time?"
"Jynx." Jynx smiled and stepped aside. Noelle glanced around the center, wondering if anyone was watching this strange scene. She was beginning to feel like an idiot.
"Hello?" a woman's voice brought her eyes back to the screen. That sight surprised Noelle anew. This woman was certainly too young to be called professor, and was startlingly beautiful besides. Her hair was full and chesnut brown, fanning out at her shoulders, and her eyes sharp green behind thin, oval-shaped glasses. Had she not been wearing a white lab coat, Noelle would have assumed she was a secretary or assistant.
She also felt increasingly silly. Who was she to call and disturb this important woman? "I'm sorry!" she blurted out. "But I found your phone number in the directory, and I have to ask you something, and I love your articles, and this is really random, and um..." She couldn't bear to face the screen again.
"Well, I must admit, I don't get phone calls from strangers bearing praise," Professor Holly said in a slightly amused tone. "You don't have to apologize. What's your name?"
Noelle bit her lower lip. It was all right? She wasn't going to chastise her for disrupting important research? "I'm Noelle. Maybe I should start over. See, I'm from Pine City, and I left this morning to start a pokémon journey. I'm at the Pewter center now, and I was wondering how I get a starter pokémon... I called you because you always write about water- and ice-types, which are my favorites, and you know so much about them, so I worship you."
Professor Holly blushed. "Thank you," she said. "I... I've never been worshipped before."
"I hope I don't sound weird or anything," Noelle continued. "Or too clueless. But everything I know about pokémon is from what I've read and seen on TV. I just left home today without telling anyone, and now that I'm out here on my own, I guess I don't know what to do."
"Hmm... you're in Pewter, you say? My house is just outside Pine City, en route to Pewter. I might be able to help you, though I don't really distribute starter pokémon. But if you're so interested in water- and ice-types, you can come see the ones in my lab."
"I can come to your house? Really? Oh, thank you!" Noelle's gushing made the professor more pink in the cheeks. "I'll be there as soon as I can! Thank you so much!"
Just as it had been when she left that morning, Noelle's bike ride was both exciting and dangerous. True, she was now pedaling to the house of the gracious Professor Holly, but she was also heading back in the direction of Pine City. What if her parents had people out looking for her? And just how close to the city did the professor live, anyway? Noelle recognized her surroundings eventually. The city was right around this bend...
Then she saw a mailbox on the side of the road at her right, next to which was a winding driveway. That led to a sizeable house atop a hill. Was that it? Noelle didn't want to go any farther by this point. Even if this wasn't Professor Holly's house, whoever lived there might be able to tell her where it was.
To her delight, a now-familiar Jynx answered the door. "Jynx!" she said in what seemed like a greeting tone. She even held out her dark little hand.
"Hi there, Jynx!" Noelle's fear washed away with that one gesture. "I guess I have the right place, huh?"
"Looks like." Professor Holly herself came to the door beside her pokémon. "Come on in, Noelle."
While the exterior was large, being a partial laboratory, the actual interior living area was fairly small. Noelle was brought into the living room, which kind of melded into the kitchen. A hallway was at the other end, most likely leading to the bedroom and to the facilities. "Thank you so much for inviting me," Noelle said gratefully. "I was really worried I'd go too far back into the city."
"You don't want to go home?" Professor Holly looked mildly surprised.
"I ran away. My parents shouldn't know where I am."
"Oh... oh my."
Noelle blushed. Suddenly she felt childish, admitting to someone she barely knew that she'd done something so rash. "Well, you seem determined to see it through," Professor Holly said before she could follow up on her reasoning. "That's an important trait in a pokémon trainer: willingness to follow your heart."
Audrey Holly hoped she didn't come off as too awkward. She was pulling this stuff out of nowhere, but it was making Noelle smile. She was nervous -- that unexpected phone call, inviting this strange girl to her home and laboratory... these were not normal actions for her. She'd been doing her solitary research away from Pokémon Tech for many months now, out here in the foothills where the air was crisp and the people sparse. She was quite grateful for her new living arrangement, just herself, Jynx, and the rest of her pokémon research subjects, no people to disrupt or judge or forsake her. So why? Why did this friendly girl have to call her, and why did she have to invite her over?
God help my dying heart, she thought. Her eyes... they're the same shade as--
"Jyynx?" Jynx pulled on Noelle's hand. "Oh?" Noelle asked. "Does Jynx want something?"
Audrey took note of Jynx's eager expression, so similar to a human child's. "I think she wants you to meet the other pokémon," she said. "Which is a good idea, if you're going to be a water trainer."
"What got you so interested in them?" Noelle asked as they headed to the back of the house, the area annexed to serve as the lab.
"I suppose the same thing that any specialist will tell you about her chosen element," Audrey replied. "I've just always thought they're beautiful. There is nothing more profound than the cold stillness of ice, or the frozen perfection of snow."
"That's so sweet," Noelle said softly. "That's exactly what I've always thought. I never could explain why I liked them so much, but I think you just did."
Audrey couldn't help but smile.
Part of the lab included an indoor pool, which held its very own miniature iceburg at one end. Noelle paused in the middle of the room and stared at it. Audrey folded her arms across her chest, also gazing at her most prized possession, the home for her current batch of water/ice pokémon. Her present report was on their social traits, comparing them to the behavior of pokémon that lived in more tropical waters.
"Wow," Noelle breathed. "I've never been so close to any... may I have a closer look?"
"Sure. Just be careful you don't fall in." Audrey was especially interested that Jynx followed Noelle to the edge of the pool. She hadn't left the girl's side since she arrived. Jynx knelt down to the water's edge and dipped her hand in, looking up at Noelle. Audrey raised her eyebrows. This might make another interesting thesis...
"Oh!" Noelle exclaimed. She'd mimicked Jynx, kneeling to touch the cool water, but she fell to her seat and was holding out her wet hand. Audrey rushed over to her. "Something licked me!" she said.
From the water just before them came a little white head sticking its tongue out playfully. One of the Seel had come to say hello. "How cute!" Noelle declared. "Hi there, little Seel!"
"Seel seel!" it greeted back, closing its eyes as Noelle patted its head. She laughed delightfully. Beside her, Jynx was beaming.
"Noelle," Professor Holly said, "would you like to take Seel with you? You know, as a starter?"
A sharp turn, and the familiar blue eyes were incredulously wide. "Take one of your pokémon? I... I couldn't... it wouldn't be right."
"I think it likes you. And you're the one who called me asking for help."
Noelle stood slowly, wiping her hand on the leg of her brown pants. "If I do, I'll take the best care of it, I promise!" She clasped her hands together and bowed her head.
"I know you will," Audrey said with a smile. Jynx made a finalized sound.
She gave Noelle six pokéballs, one of which now held the chosen Seel. "I'm sure you know how to use these," she said. "And take these as well. They're basic potions, but you can find stronger ones in larger cities."
"I don't know how to thank you," Noelle said, placing potions and empty balls in her backpack, but holding Seel's pokéball close.
"Don't worry about it. Just helping out the first fellow ice-type lover I've met in a long time."
"I'll find something," Noelle vowed. "I'll find a way to repay you for being so nice. And so cool. You're the best."
"Oh, now..." Audrey was flustered.
She waved as Noelle biked down her driveway and back onto route 3. How strange it had all been... but if she was going to speak to the human race again, Noelle was a good start.
Well, there was that boy from Vermilion City, too...
The reminder of him shocked Audrey out of her musing. Could it be? The way Noelle couldn't explain just why she loved the element, the way Jynx and Seel took to her in an instant, the fact that Audrey herself was actually at ease talking with her...
"Jynx?" Jynx asked from the professor's side.
Audrey glanced at her pokémon, and then back at the road. "Midori," she whispered. "If your theory is true, then I wish you all the luck in the world."
Last edited:
