Ainsley - FrostFall

Steam floated out from the mouth of an open thermos, dented and scratched up from years of use, but still in good enough condition to do its job. Ainsley held the bottle in his hands, letting it warm them from the inside out. As they took a deep breath, they got a ping on their system with another piece of news.

Putting down the thermos, they sighed lightly and focused in on the new information. With the chaos caused by battling Groudon, the criminals of Wintervale have been taking down the propulsion systems one by one. The city was starting to feel it too - every once in a while Ainsley could swear that they could feel the entire city shift slightly.

Excelsior scampered over to them, breaking their line of thought. She squeaked as she bumped into their legs, causing their attention to fall upon her. 

“What’s up Exci?” they chirped, feigning a smile to keep their dearest pokemon from catching a drift of the possible graveness of their situation. 

They hadn’t needed to ask though, as they knew exactly what the Sythaquil was asking for. She had been raring for a fight for weeks, but Ainsley hadn’t had the energy to go out and face the cold, especially with the chaos that had been stemming from the fissure.

Now that said chaos had come to an end though and repairs were underway, perhaps it would be alright to step out. Just for a while… After all, Excelsior needed her exercise, and even if they hadn’t wanted to admit it, Ainsley was starting to get sick of hiding out indoors and needed a stretch as well. 

“...yeah, I know. Let’s go. However, we're going to stay IN TOWN, and just play it safe, okay?”

Even before they finished getting their sentence out, Excelsior had bolted out the door, more than excited to finally stretch out her legs. Flames shot off her back in anticipation of running across some poor wild pokemon that she could take down.

Chuckling, Ainsley followed her out. Her joy was infectious, and they were hoping that her passion for battle would finally be sated so that she would stop tearing up their sofa for once. After locking the door, they glanced at their precious pokemon again - only to find her chasing around a poor Sinistea who had been trying to hunker down in the snow.

“Oh, Exci… leave it be. We’ll find you someone who actually WANTS to battle, okay? That poor little critter’s just trying to find a good place to hunker down in the cold, not to find a sparring partner. Now let’s go, we both need to stretch our legs anyway.” 

Reluctantly, Excelsior returned to her trainer’s side and the pair started off towards the city’s center. As the duo walked, Ainsley tucked their hands into their pockets in an attempt to stave off the cold. When not tucked away in their home, they had taken to wearing warmer clothing than their traditional garb, which on one hand definitely helped prevent frostbite, but on the other hand, made them feel like they were giving up a distinct part of their style and identity.

They were once again snapped out of their thoughts by an icy breeze that alerted them that the ever fiery Excelsior had once again left their side. They quickly snapped their head around in an attempt to find her once more, only to narrowly catch her ducking around the corner of a building. 

With a groan, they took chase after her, only hoping that they weren’t drawing unnecessary attention from sprinting through town. Ignoring the eyes that had certainly fallen upon them, they skidded around the corner only to find Excelsior in a hunting position, creeping up on a pair of shady looking individuals.

“Exci, get back here and leave them be!” they yelled, catching not only their pokemon’s attention, but the attention of the trainers who until this moment had been hunkered over the  screen of a holopad.

As soon as the pair’s eyes snapped up to look at the owner of the offending voice, Ainsley took a step back as a chill rushed through them. Excelsior, on the other hand, bristled - fire leaping off her back as she readied herself on the offense. 

“You should forget what you saw here,” one of the figures said in a low, growly voice.

Ainsley took another step back, trembling a bit as they did so.

“Well, uh… I’m inclined to believe you and do just that but…” they glanced around for any possible help nearby. Failing to find any, they took another half step back.

“But?”

“But… it doesn’t matter what I want, I don’t think… After all, I think Excelsior has her own plans.”

Already squared up and prepared to fight, Excelsior leaped at the duo just as Ainsley finished their sentence. With their scythes raised and back aflame, she crashed into the wall right behind the pair as they ducked out of the way. 

Whatever it was they had been doing, they clearly hadn’t been ready to be interrupted by a battle hungry pokemon, and hightailed it back into the city to hide amongst the crowds and recollect themselves.

Excelsior started to go after them after shaking herself out, but her arm was grabbed by Ainsley as she tried to run past them.

“It’s okay… let them go. Whatever they’re doing, we at least stopped them for the moment. Let’s go home before you end up in any more trouble.”