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Maylene trudged through the snow of Route 217. Even with the blizzard violently raging on, for the first time in an area like this, she felt warm. Of course, this was because she was now wearing proper clothing for such weather, after Candice had chastised her the last time she had struggled through nearly knee deep snow barefoot and without a jacket. The last time Maylene saw her, Candice had uprooted two coats, a pair of mittens, a scarf, and a beanie for her along with a pair of pink snow boots from her closet. Candice always had an eye for fashion and as a result, her closet was usually overstuffed anyways. She liked to go out shopping with her gym trainers and friends and this included Maylene but Maylene couldn’t help the way her face flushed when Candice handed her the stack of items. She was incredibly bashful when it came to gifts and Candice had even added on “You’d be a lot cuter if you weren’t nearly freezing yourself every time you came to see me.”
The day before, Candice asked to meet her at Lake Acuity. Apparently, she wanted to show her something. It was unusual for them to meet up outside, when Maylene would come to Snowpoint, she always spent the day in Candice’s home or they would train at her gym. Even when the weather was considered less severe by northern Sinnoh standards, the temperature was nearly bonechilling. As the snowstorm died down a bit, Maylene could finally see the lakefront in sight just up a rocky cliff. Getting a running start, Maylene hopped off the ground and grappled onto a particularly large rock that bulged out of the cliff. Snow boots and mittens were less than optimal for rock climbing but Maylene managed to make it work as she hopped from rock to rock and finally reached the top, gripping the snowy ground as she hauled her bottom half upwards. As Maylene got up from the ground and dusted herself off, she heard a familiar chuckle. “You know you can teach your Pokémon rock climb right?” Candice stood in front of the clearing to the lake, leaning against a snow topped tree. “There are also stairs to get up here if you cut through the tree line in Snowpoint.” Candice continued as she walked up to Maylene. Maylene looked away “Yeah, I know. It just seemed a bit quicker to do it myself, you know? I didn’t want to keep you waiting.” Maylene felt her face grow warm as she felt Candice slightly adjust her scarf and beanie as they were jostled around and askew from her rock climbing. She jolted as she felt a pair of frosty lips against her cheek, turning to face Candice as she pulled back with a smile. Her lip gloss always got cold when she went outside. “You’re so considerate, Maylene. That’s one of the things I love about you.” Maylene buried her face in her scarf, if only to hide how red her face was as she mumbled out a thank you. Candice took Maylene’s mittened hands in her own, and led her to the lake. Nobody else was there and the water was almost eerily still, reflecting the orange of the sky as the sun was steadily setting. Belatedly, Maylene noticed a blanket laid out on the ground.
“Ta-da! The thing I wanted to show you is really special when it gets dark, so I decided we can kinda wait here until it’s darker!” Candice presented the blanket with outstretched hands and Maylene saw the little picnic blanket placed on top of it. Come to think of it, she’s never had a picnic before and it was warmer at the lakefront than on Route 217 anyways. “D-do you like it?” Candice’s smile wavered a bit. She had seen this cute date idea in one of her magazines and though it said that Floaroma Town was the best place for a picnic, Candice really thought it could work here, where the romantic idea she had in store for later could work. There had to be snow for it to work and it had to be dark. Besides, the evenings in Snowpoint were always darker than the evenings in Floaroma.
“I… I love it! I’ve never had a picnic before…” Maylene made her way to the blanket, sitting down in a way where her boots didn’t touch it, careful to not get any snow onto it. Images from picture perfect storybooks and cheesy movies floated into Maylene’s mind at the thought of having a real picnic. It was so overly romantic and sweet, especially with the view of the sunset on the horizon, only partially obscured by pine trees and mountains farther away in the distance. Candice’s smile returned, warmer than ever as she took a seat next to Maylene on the blanket. “Oh! I almost forgot!” Candice turned towards the trees behind them and carefully removed a picnic basket from underneath the frosty branches, placing it between the two of them. “I have a thermos with some tea and some egg salad sandwiches if you want.” Candice said as she opened the basket, taking out one of the sandwiches for herself. Maylene took out one of the sandwiches for herself and happily hummed as she bit into it.
This was nice. Maylene couldn’t recall Lake Acuity feeling so… still. She couldn’t hear the cry of wild Snover or Psyduck in the distance, didn’t see any Magikarp or Goldeen leaping out of the water. Even the usual howling of the wind was absent. She’s been here countless times with Candice, to train, talk, generally be around one another in some place private just for them. For some reason, today just felt so much more serene. As Maylene was thinking this, she heard the crunch of snow as Candice shifted slightly on the blanket, scooching closer to Maylene until their shoulders bumped together. Evidently, she had finished her sandwich first. Maylene looked up at Candice and noticed her face was rosy and she was purposefully trying to avoid eye contact , her gaze instead focused on the sky. Maylene gently leaned towards her, her head resting on Candice’s shoulder. Ironically, the cool and collected ice type gym leader froze up at the movement before relaxing and leaning her own head close to Maylene’s as Maylene continued to scarf down the sandwich.
“Actually, did you read the latest edition of Trend Tracker Monthly? I got this idea from there but it also had some other cool articles.” Maylene had heard of the magazine many times before. Candice always had her nose buried in the latest edition of it, eager to stay on top of trends. Maylene didn’t know how she could keep up with all of it, it seemed kinda exhausting. Despite all that, that wasn’t the main reason Maylene didn’t keep up with them. “No, I didn’t read it. What were some of the articles about?” Candice’s face lit up. That was the main reason Maylene didn’t read the magazines. She would always get the scoop from Candice, complete with exaggerated hand movements and over the top embellishments. It always made Candice happy to talk about what she read, gleeful to talk about gossip or gush about fashion. “Okay! Okay so-“ Candice took a deep breath. “Did you hear that Fantina is going to collaborate with that one famous boutique in Kalos to release a ghost type Pokémon themed clothing line?” Candice clasped her hands together in excitement, grinning ear to ear. “Oh, Boutique Couture?” Maylene had heard Candice talk about them before. She remembered Candice had mentioned saving up for a trip to Kalos just to shop at their boutique and to see Prism Tower. Candice squealed at the mention of the exact boutique name. “Yes! I’m so excited! They showed a mockup of a dress and it’s Froslass themed, it was beautiful!” Maylene smiled as Candice clapped her hands.
Candice turned to look at Maylene, her eyes sparkling. “I think you’d look great in it!” Maylene’s face went red. “M-me? I thought you wanted to get the dress for yourself!” Maylene didn’t usually wear dresses. She had around four or five in her closet that sat dormant until she needed to wear them for special events, usually events hosted by the league itself where she would need to attend as a gym leader. They were never overly opulent or elegant, they were mostly plain, single colored dresses. It was hard for her to think of wearing anything else than her usual training clothes and athletic wear. Maylene tried to picture herself in a high end fashion dress like what Candice described but no image was coming together in her head. It’s not that she disliked dresses—even though they weren’t usually as combat ready as she would like—she just didn’t really wear them all that much. Candice nudged Maylene’s arm with her elbow “I think you should try it out. Just see how you feel about it. The clothing line is gonna open in Kalos and in Sinnoh so we can visit the department store when it finally drops.” Candice chuckled. “Besides, I think you look good in whatever you wear. And I’m supposed to be the fashionista here.” If anyone were able to hear it, Maylene’s rapid heartbeat would be concerning. Every compliment from Candice sent her pulse into a rapid, thrumming staccato. Maylene felt her face growing warm and she put her face in her hands, her small and muffled “embarrassed sounds” as she called them making Candice laugh as she slung an arm over her shoulder, contently humming as she held Maylene close.
“Hmmm… I think it’s finally time.” Candice shifted on the blanket and got up, walking towards the lake. Maylene removed her gloved hands from her face as she stared up at her. The sun had indeed fully set, the sky dark as ink with the only major source of light being the full moon. Up so high, Maylene was able to see the many stars above Sinnoh, vaguely recalling the names of some constellations she had heard Lucian talk about before. In a brilliant burst of light, Candice revealed her Abomasnow, the Pokémon’s presence causing gentle snowfall around them. Candice turned around to face Maylene, offering her hand for Maylene to grab. Standing side by side and hand in hand in front of Lake Acuity, Candice raised her arm. “Hemlock! Use Aurora Veil!” With a triumphant cry, Candice’s Abomasnow raised its arms towards the sky and an aurora started to form over the lake.
The move itself was nothing new to Maylene. She had seen Candice use it in gym battles and had even seen it used against her when they would have practice matches. She had never seen it outside though or even in the dark for that matter. Against the curtain of the night sky, Maylene was able to see the menagerie of dazzling blues, greens, and pinks of the aurora. The move lit up the sky and the surrounding area, the glimmering lights reflecting off the golden and orange scales of the Goldeen and Magikarp that were closer to the surface of the lake. In the distance, the light allowed Maylene to see a pair of Snorunt dash into the tree line, scared off by the light, while a Sneasel stood at attention near the water’s edge. The snowflakes falling down in a soft flurry around them seemed to glow in the bright light. In the moment, Maylene briefly turned to Candice. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were rosy and she had that determined, prideful look that Maylene had since become familiar with. It was the look Candice had whenever she executed a flawless battle strategy, the look she gave when things go exactly to plan. The light made her brown eyes almost look golden yellow or honeyed amber and Maylene was able to see that familiar spark of gratification behind them. Looking back at the beautiful aurora, Maylene knew Candice was right to feel accomplished. Maylene smiled as the lights continued to dance in the sky. Gently, Maylene rested her head on Candice’s shoulder and giggled when she felt Candice’s lips press against her forehead. Maylene wrapped her arms around one of Candice’s own, mittened hands holding onto her jacket sleeve, and watched their shared breaths fan out in the cold as the aurora continued in front of them.
Soon enough, the light from the aurora started to die down, along with the snowfall. Maylene lifted her head from Candice’s shoulder and stretched a bit. Candice shifted on her feet awkwardly and looked down at the ground. It seemed after her plan was over, Candice didn’t have much of a plan for what to do after. The previous pride and carefully crafted bravado quickly made way for the Candice without a plan. “Well, I guess that’s our sign to start going. Hemlock will carry the blanket and basket and stuff.” More awkward shuffling. Despite the low light, Maylene could see the rosiness from Candice’s face never diminished and instead seemed to grow stronger. “I don’t want you to travel all the way back to Veilstone when it’s dark. Do you wanna stay at my place?” Maylene smiled and walked up to Candice, enveloping her in a warm hug. Candice didn’t seem to expect it, letting out a bit of a squawk before trying to right herself—hugging Maylene back. Maylene laughed as she pulled back to look at Candice’s flustered face. “I’d love that, Candice.” Candice beamed down at her, carefully moving a gloved hand to one of Maylene’s cold cheeks and bringing their faces close together to meet in a kiss. Maylene closed her eyes as she snaked her arms around Candice’s neck, standing a bit on her tiptoes. The kiss was suddenly broken as Candice withdrew, quickly looking to the side. Hemlock held the picnic supplies in her large arms but the Abomasnow seemed shocked as it looked at something past its trainer, its violet eyes wide. “Hemlock? What’s wrong, girl?” Candice quirked a brow at her partner Pokémon, an expression like that completely foreign to them. At that moment, both Maylene and Candice’s heads snapped towards the lake at a sound. Definitely the sound of a Pokémon, but one completely unfamiliar to both of them. There, only a few feet away hovering over the water, was an odd looking Pokémon. Yellow and periwinkle, the colors were only illuminated by a glowing red gem on the Pokémon’s forehead and two more on the ends of its two tails, which gently swished behind it. Despite its eyes being closed, both girls felt like the Pokémon was staring straight through them. Slowly, the Pokémon floated towards them until they were face to face. The Pokémon tilted its head at Candice and Maylene, both of them frozen at the now clear sight they had of a Pokémon that they had only seen and heard of in ancient murals and history books. The guardian of Lake Acuity, Uxie.
The small creature’s lips seemed to curl upwards in a small, knowing smile and Uxie let out a small sound that almost sounded like what Maylene thinks stars twinkling would sound like. As the small lake guardian seemingly shook while making the noise it occurred to Candice that Uxie was… laughing? Uxie then quickly spun around the two a couple of times the lovely, chiming sound it was making filling their ears. Just as fast and as suddenly Uxie had appeared, Candice and Maylene saw the red glow of the Pokémon’s gems retreat farther into the darkness that stretched across the lake. The two stood in stunned silence for a beat.
“Did… Did Uxie just congratulate us on our date or something?” Candice spoke up, the two gym leaders—and one Abomasnow—not having moved from their spots. “I-I think so…” Maylene replied, her eyes still glued to the direction Uxie seemed to fly back towards. The two were silent for a while more, the only sounds being Hemlock waiting around for them, shifting its feet in the snow and picnic supplies in its arms. Candice let out a small chuckle before letting out a loud laugh, hugging Maylene close. “Oh my gosh! We saw Uxie on our date! Haha! I knew this was a great idea! Can you believe it, Maylene?” Candice squeezed Maylene tighter as she hopped in place a bit, her giddiness evident in her voice. Maylene couldn’t help but laugh as well, Candice’s glee as infectious as ever. Maylene leaned her head against Candice’s chest as she continued to rave about what just happened, excited chatter about how she had to tell Lucian and Cynthia about this, about how they’d be thrilled to know and Maylene smiled as she listened to the quickened pace of Candice’s heart underneath it all. It was cold out, but right then and there, Maylene believes that’s the warmest she’s ever felt.