[ON INDEFINITE HIATUS] Alolan Adventures: An Original Pokémon Story

20. Snowpoint

Snow's POV

     "Snowpoint City, dead ahead," Snow said. Cynthia smiled and Axol bounced on the balls of his feet. "Candice is waiting at the train station for us."

     Their visit to Celestic Town over, Cynthia, Snow, and Axol were on their way to Snowpoint City to meet up with Snow's best friend and fellow Ice-type Trainer, Candice. They had been friends ever since a lonely and confused Snow with her Eevee arrived in Sinnoh, still dealing with the grief of her parents' deaths. Candice and Cynthia took her under their wings, and they had been best friends ever since: an inseparable, unstoppable trio of powerful Trainers. After helping Snow grow stronger as a Trainer and seeing her Eevee evolve into Glaceon, the three of them could finally be matched in skill, instead of Snow being the weakest of the three. 

     "All right. We're getting off now," Cynthia said. "Wait...I see Candice!" Snow and Cynthia started madly waving out the train window, yelling Candice's name.

     "She can't hear you," Axol said. Cynthia and Snow shrugged. What did it matter? Their best friend was here.

     The train slowed, and then stopped, as Cynthia, Snow, and Axol walked out of the train, dragging their luggage behind them. Axol was wearing a bright orange T-shirt on the train, but when he felt the cold of Snowpoint City, he immediately grabbed his jacket from his backpack. It was freezing. 

     Snow and Cynthia ran to Candice, not bothering about the cold, while Axol shivered in his jacket. After five years of training on a city that was on the foot of a giant, snow covered mountain, a little bit of cold didn't do anything to Snow. They embraced each other, giggling and smiling and talking like mad.

    "Candice, it's been forever!" Snow said. "I missed you so much." She hugged her best friend one last time before picking up her luggage. "Let's get to your Gym. Axol is freezing over there. Do you want to stay in the Gym while the rest of us go to the markets?"

     Axol nodded, his arms around himself and his nose red from the cold. "Let's g-get there as soon as we c-can," he said, teeth chattering.

     Candice nodded, her face still grinning. "Awesome. The Gym isn't too far from here. Let's go!"

     After Axol was bundled away at the Snowpoint City Gym, Snow, Cynthia, and Candice headed out into the local market in their windbreakers, chatting along the way. 

     "Ooh, so I want to hear all about this Gladion kid," Candice said. Snow's face promptly turned red.

     "How the hell did you find out about him?!" she asked incredulously. "I never told anyone...wait. DID AXOL TELL YOU?!"

     Candice smiled and winked. Snow put her head in her hands.

     "Dammit. I wanted to keep it a secret just a little bit longer." she said, her voice muffled by her hair and hands. She looked up and sighed, a smile on her face. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" 

     "We're your best friends. Of course," Cynthia said. The three started laughing. "Besides, his haircut is so emo. Like, how did you even start liking him?" Snow smiled wistfully.

     "It's a long story. I'll explain while we walk. But long story short, he found me in the middle of the forest, and then it started raining, so I stayed at his motel room for a night, and then here we are," she said, smiling. "Pretty insane, huh?" 

     "Yep. That's crazy," Cynthia said. "Who falls in love with a weirdo that found you in the forest?" Snow laughed and smacked her gently.

     "I never said I was in love with him!" Snow said. "I just like him. And I don't know if we're even boyfriend and girlfriend yet. We never really talked about it." Candice looked at her knowingly.

     "We'll see, in time." she said, and all three of them laughed. "Come on, let's get to shopping. The last stall is literally right there." 

      After telling Cynthia and Candice the entire story about her and Gladion, Snow felt considerably lighter. She had kept everything bottled up inside her, and now her best friends in the world knew. She didn't have to keep such a big secret from them anymore. After all, it was hard not to tell her best friends everything about her life. She trusted them with her life, and she would die for both of them. They made her, really, turned her into the Trainer she was now. She owed both of them so much: not only for their friendship, but also for their help. She smiled to her toes. She really did love her best friends.

     "That's the cutest story ever. I take back what I said about it being crazy," Cynthia said. Candice nodded and Snow smiled.

     "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. And I really do like him a lot," Snow said. "It is a crazy story, but the way we started liking each other was pretty normal." 

     "You two are seriously perfect for each other," Candice said. "He's all dark and mysterious and emo, while you're all bright and white and cold. Just like snow." She laughed at her own unintentional pun with the other two Trainers, as they walked back to the Gym, chatting and laughing, as the cold Sinnoh wind blew by.