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"I-I... hate the cold..."
Snow. It covered the ground in the form of a frosy blanket, taking the dead, brown grass out of the picture by covering it all in white grace. Untouched, for the most part, save for the occational footprints of those who strayed off the path or young children who found it most entertaining. The sky was dark, painted a monochrome shade of gray and colored darker than usual due to the setting sun beyond. That very star had not been seen all day, blocked from view by the clouds that continued to throw periodic flecks of ice down from the heavens above. It wasn't snowing now - thank goodness for that - but, with a true storm approaching on the horizon, the human and Pokemon population would soon have to take back that statement. Snow storm warnings. Those were the worst kind of warnings. For one particular woman, that was.
Red hair contrasted greatly against the shades of white, gray, and black that made up the Lake of Rage and the surrounding areas that day, making one lone figure stand out more than most. It usually attracted attention, yes, but, when you were the drop of blood in a sea of water, eyes were likely to land on you, if only for a heartbeat. By the way the female shifted uncomfortably under the weight of their eyes made it all to apparent that there was something about the looks she was getting that was giving her a bad feeling. It wasn't as though they were glaring or anything, however - they were just simple, plain-out stares. However, the way she reacted so poorly could easily tell a person otherwise. She seemed to cringe under their glances as though each were a great wegith put on her shoulders, driving her further and further into the ground. They might as well have been, though. It was better than what she was actually feeling towards them.
Frieda hated crowds. They made her feel crowded, like she couldn't breath. They made her feel like she would be trampled, crushed under the weight of thousands of people's feet. Maybe she was claustraphobic, giving her such a distaste of the thing. Of course, she'd never been diagnosed was such, so there was no way of figuring that out. But she didn't need a doctor to tell her that, whenever more then five or so people started gathering around, she was out of there. And what attracted crowds? One of two things. First off, a scedualed meeting of the sorts. Manditory or not, people were likely to gather in one area of they were told to by higher ups. Secondly, something attention grabbing. A Poochyena doing tricks? Bingo. People are going to be there to watch. And what came before a gathering crowd? People starring. While, obviously, her oddly colored hair probably wasn't something that hundred of people were going to gather around, it still made her nervous, all of those looks. But there was something even worse than her fear of a potential gathering.
The weather.
The red-eyed knight had always had a striking fear od the cold, ever since she was little. First, there wa sthat incident when she was little and crawling inside the igloo she and her parents made when a group of older kids stomped on it and burried her under the snow. For someone so little, she was obviously a little traumitized by this. Then her dad went into the Ice Path and never came out, frozen solid in a place no one would ever find him. Then she, herself, almost died in the very same cave. Of course she'd be someone afraid - if not a lot - of ice, snow, and everything doing with the cold. Not that countless failed ice-type attacks that ended up blasting her in the face helped out much. She didn't even want to touch the white substance and, for the reason and that reason alone, she latched herself onto Applesauce, her Piloswine, in order to stear clear of it. That also tended to attract a bit of attention, a grown girl clinging to a strong Pokemon like her life depended on it, so that wasn't helping her cause much, either.
"Wh-why can't it just be... just be summer all year 'round...?" The ice-type specialist's voice quivered violently, noticably; the cold itself? Of course, it made her shiver and shake but it was not to blame for the shaking of her tone. No, instead, it was her awful fear of falling down into it, being lost in a sea of white that she do desperately hated. The duel ground and ice-type beneath her frame was not the greatest stead and - yes - maybe she could have ridden on her Glaceon's back, but the creature was far to fragile and small to carry her weight and- It was pointless, really, trying to think of what she could have done. Her hands were tied into knots, curling around the brown fur of her Pocket Monster, hindering her ability to reach for another Pokemon and demand they carry her, free her from the tide of terror that lapped at her feet closely. Too closely. "M-maybe... If ya' take me closer to the water, Apple, there'll be less snow an' I won't have ta' cling to you so closely."
If things had gone her way just hours earlier, Frieda might not have had to stoop to such a level as she was. The Knights of Arceus had swept through the tiny town of Mahogany with the Kami trio, totaling the buildings and leaving reckage in their wake. Frieda had been one of the few who was order to arrive at the scene to make sure everything went as planned and the like. Of course, afterwards, there was no place to stay for the night - guessing as the town was destroyed and even the Pokemon Center would have difficulties sheltering people and keep running during those dire hours. While the rest of the knights stationed there traveled through the Ice Path to find a place to stay in Blackthorn, she, herself, could not bring herself to do the same. The route to Ecruteak was blocked by debre and - in the end - she was left trapped, stuck in the snowy town until they made way for the westward city. That could take days - weeks, even - and she'd be stuck outside, in the cold, with no one but her frosty Pokemon to attempt to keep her "warm".
In other words, she was doomed.
The Lake of Rage. During that little story telling time, the young woman had made her way to the water. They were only on the route south of it just before, so the trip wasn't to long. And, if her memory served right, water heated and cooled at a slower rate than land, there was a chance the lake was warmer than the surrounding areas and, therefor, there would be less snow. Or, at least, that was what she expected. However, the area around the water itself was anything but warmer and the last bit of hope in her mind was stolen like a foreign soul. However, she only had a few moments to dwell on these thoughts when an idea struck her mind. Well, not an idea, really. More of something caught her attention; something out of the corner of her eye. And, really, it'd be hard to miss - harder to miss than a red-haired girl clinging to her Piloswine and walking through town like it was completely normal.
A large steel-type Pokemon - a Steelix, to be precise - was sitting out near the edge of the water, a trainer sitting atop it. The creature was so large, in fact, that she almost didn't notice that blonde's presence, sneaking over just in time to catch what he was saying. "Why do they do this? What could they possibly have to gain from destroying the cities?" For a minute, Frieda actually had to pause and ponder what he could possibly be thinking about. Of course, it when it finally hit her like a speeding bullet, she couldn't help but feel like an idiot. The Knights of Arceus, duh! He's talking about how he leveled Mahogany! Mustering up the courage, she shouted from where she sat on Applesauce, "Maybe they have their own special reasons! Every thought about that?"
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