Love Me Like You Do (Ash Ketchum x Reader x Calem)

- 47 -

A puff of vapor escaped [Name]'s lips as she stared at the snow-covered city. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as the snow lightly rained down on them. Residents of the city were seen walking around with their Pokemon following after them. Calem pulled his scarf upwards so it could cover his face. The cold air was kissing his skin. A mischievous glint could be seen in his gray eyes.

"Race you to the Gym!" Calem playfully shouts over his shoulder, taking before [Name] could react.

"Hey, that's not fair! You had a head start!" she chases after him, almost slipping on the icy concrete.

Calem looked over his shoulder and laughs as he watches [Name] struggle to run. [Name] playfully narrows her eyes upon hearing him. She noticed a shortcut leading to the Gym and immediately heads towards it. As she slides down the snowy hill, she begins to lose her footing near the end. Before [Name] could fall face first, a strong hand grabs her arm, stopping her from falling. [Name] gasps, realizing she didn't fall.

"Thank y...ou..." [Name] trails off as she makes eye contact with a pair of gray eyes. A man, who looked in his late-thirties, stared down at her with a familiar gaze Calem looked at her. In fact, this man looked like an older version of Calem except he had brown hair and tanned skin color. She didn't even know why he looked like Calem.

"[Name]! Hurry up!" Calem calls out to her, snapping her out of her gaze.

"Coming!" [Name] pulls back her arm in a polite way as she smiles at the man. She then takes off but not before giving one last glance at the man. He had begun walking away, trudging through the snow.

[Name] decided to forget about the thought as she came to a stop in front of Calem, who stood in front of the Gym. It was made up of complete metal as icicles hung from the building. It was stationed on top of a hill, overlooking the city. Since it was at the top, it felt more chilly than when standing in the middle of a city.

"Geez, you're so slow," Calem chuckled, playfully flicking her forehead causing a small yelp to escape her lips.

"Am not. You just had a head start; had you not taken off, I would have beat you," [Name] stated as she rubbed her forehead.

Calem shook his head with a laugh and looked back at the Gym. "So this is it, huh? This is where we'll get our last Gym Badge before heading to the League. It feels like only yesterday when I first began my journey and..." Calem grabbed [Name]'s hand as he looked in her eyes. "...met you. Crazy how fast everything went."

"Yeah. This will decide if we advance to the next level," [Name] agreed, looking up at the Gym.

Calem tugged [Name] along with him as they pushed the set off doors open. A cold breeze blew past them, indicating how cold the Gym was. The inside of the Gym was almost what they expected. It was frozen completely with the field being completely made of ice. At the end of the field, there were crystals of ice as if it was meant for someone to sit in. Above was the spectator's area.

"Welcome to the Snowbelle Gym. Your final challenge will be here to decide whether or not you're capable to move on," A young man voice could be heard as a figure popped out from the side of the crystals of ice. He had blue hair and eyes with black glasses on his face. He wore a pair of earmuffs and had a blue winter jacket. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. "I presume you're here for a Gym Match, correct?"

Calem and [Name] simultaneously nod their heads.

"Unfortunately, the Gym Leader isn't here at the moment. Had you arrived fifteen minutes earlier, you would have caught him," he gave them both an apologetic smile. "You'll have to come at a different time."