Chapter Text
January 28th, Year Unknown
Two strangers- one young and one even younger still- stumbled through snow-ladden valleys and over rocky hills, both of them silent with their sunken eyes reflecting the pale sunlight of a bone-chilling winter. The gray sky roiled overhead as a cold front howled across the hills. From the top of the valley peak, the older of them swore that they could hear something crawling about underneath the deep snow. She was ushered on through the fog by a firm hand on her back.
Jakucho shivered, her breath billowing out in a cloud before her as her teeth chattered noisily. Every second there in the frozen land was painful. Her clothes, tattered and thin, were nothing like the thick, cushy garments that the so-called natives wore and so the cold settled in like needle-sharp fingers underneath the cloth.
The younger girl behind Jakucho was no better, wearing nothing but a thin white shirt and a pair of shorts. She was curled in upon herself, her garments flapping in the wind as a stray gust whipped up a spray of snow. The skin of her face and fingers were a dangerous shade of purple.
The two strangers locked eyes for a moment. A clear message of apprehension was shared between them.
Soon, they came to a stop atop a flat hill overlooking a wide, snowy valley. There was no birdsong. There was no sound of cascading water from the frozen, winding river that cut across the untamed land. There was no sunshine on the snow nor the ice.
Jakucho could hear nothing but the wind in her ears. It would’ve been beautiful if not for the nature of the task set before the two of them. A firm hand on her shoulder stopped her from continuing her mindless march forward. Jakucho did not try to pull away.
“Here we are,” spoke the guardsman. He adjusted his fur-lined tunic and stood, his hands behind his back, as he surveyed the valley. His stoic gray eyes roamed over Akari first and then onto Jakucho. He did not hold their gazes for long and scoffed. “You two outsiders have already been briefed with your respective missions: you are to catch three pokémon each and present them to myself and Professor Laventon.” He turned his attention to Akari once more. “You are to catch a Bidoof, a Starly, and a Wurmple.” He then turned to Jakucho. “And you are to catch a Shinx, a Ponyta, and a Buizel.” He then cleared his throat and bid them forward with an outstretched arm. “Best of luck to the both of you.”