Snowpoint City

The Sinnoh region had many unique landmarks.

They included the tourist attractions Hotel Grand Lake and Amity Square, as well as the natural wonders of the four great lakes and the dense, deep Eterna Forest. But without a doubt, Sinnoh's central landmark was Mt. Coronet. Standing in the heart of Sinnoh and stretching from the northern wilderness to the southern tip of the continent, Mt. Coronet divided the entire region in two.

Snowpoint City.

Known as "The City of Snow," it was covered in snow all year round. Snow drifting down from the peak of Mt. Coronet kept temperatures low throughout the year.

Outside the Pokémon Center, a boy's breath misted in the air. His head was practically tucked into his neck, and he shivered nonstop.

"I was careless."

"I actually forgot about Mt. Coronet's climate..."

The brown-haired boy wore nothing but a shirt, making him stand out among the passersby bundled in thick clothes. His face instantly darkened.

"Master Katsumune... didn't even warn me."

Terrance was in despair!

After arriving in Sinnoh, his second stop was Snowpoint City.

Coronet Academy was located in the northern part of Mt. Coronet, a sparsely populated area whose only major settlement was Snowpoint City.

Because of the snow blowing down from Mt. Coronet's peak, the northern region was not only cold, but the roads heading north were especially treacherous.

The academy was still a long way from Snowpoint City. Holding a map, Terrance looked at the circled location and let out a long sigh.

"What a mess..."

"Those two, Swablu and Beautifly, don't want to come out now either. They keep hiding in their Poké Balls."

The difference between Snowpoint City's climate and the Hoenn Region's was quite pronounced. Both Swablu and Beautifly hated cold environments.

Terrance comforted himself with the thought that he would only let them have their way for two days. Once they reached Coronet Academy, they would have to come out and complete a set amount of training, no matter how cold it was.

As Flying-types, Swablu and Beautifly had to overcome the great hurdle of "ice."

Terrance walked through Snowpoint City, shivering.

He had to set out immediately and reach Coronet Academy before dark. Otherwise, he wondered if he would freeze to death on the way.

Passing a clothing store, Terrance looked through the glass at the fluffy padded clothes hanging inside and swallowed.

The promising young junior breeder was now facing a major crisis...

Having lived for years in the warm southern land of Hoenn, Terrance had suddenly come to Sinnoh, only to discover that none of the changes of clothes he had packed were suited to this weather.

"This is too much."

"Too much?"

"Huh... huh?"

Terrance gave a startled murmur. That voice just now hadn't sounded much like an echo... It had sounded like... a girl's voice?

Turning around, Terrance found a girl about his age standing behind him, wearing a short skirt and short sleeves...

"Are you a trainer from out of town? Are you having some trouble?"

The girl looked friendly, gazing at Terrance with clear eyes.

"Well..."

Looking at the energetic girl in the short skirt, Terrance's mouth twitched, and he forcibly swallowed the words "I'm cold."

"It's nothing," Terrance said after a pause.

"But your scarf is so cute! Hey, hey, where did you buy it?" Suddenly, the girl put both hands on Terrance's shoulders, her eyes sparkling as she stared at his scarf.

"..."

Terrance jumped, cold sweat running down his face.

"My grandma gave it to me." Smiling awkwardly, Terrance pushed the girl away.

"Your grandma? Did she make it herself? It's so cute..."

What's cute about it?

He glanced at the pale yellow scarf. It was the only thing he could find to keep himself warm. It was very warm... but he couldn't see anything remotely cute about it.

The girl seemed to notice his helplessness. She paused, then said with a grin, "Sorry! Are you a trainer?"

"Do you want to battle?" Terrance asked.

"Of course! Trainers hardly ever come to Snowpoint City, and it's been ages since I battled one I didn't know~~"

"That's pretty sad," Terrance said.

"Oh~ Does that mean you agree?!"

"No, I refuse. I'm in a hurry, so maybe we'll meet again." Adjusting his scarf, Terrance breathed out a puff of cold air and lazily walked around her.

"Hey, don't go! I'm Candice from Snowpoint Gym! Now that you're here, don't you want to challenge the gym?" the girl named Candice called out anxiously when she saw Terrance ignoring her.

Terrance stopped.

"You're a gym trainer?"

He doubted Candice was even ten years old. Even if the gym didn't deliberately make things difficult for challengers, was it really all right for it to be so lax these days?

"Uh... not yet, but sooner or later I'll become a gym trainer!" Candice hesitated, then spoke firmly.

"..."

Terrance started walking again.

"Hey... don't be so heartless! Let's battle! How can you refuse a challenge when you're a trainer? Where are you going? You can leave after we battle."

Terrance had to hand it to her.

"Compared to Jun, this one's definitely more like a ten-year-old girl."

Sigh...

"I'm in a hurry. Let's battle next time."

"Come on~ South... that direction you're going in-even if you're pretending to go somewhere, you should at least pick the right direction."

South of Snowpoint City was Mt. Coronet, where snow had piled up for years.

Even if someone wanted to leave Snowpoint City, they would never go south.

"I'm going to school." Feeling a little strange as he said it, Terrance suddenly felt much younger.

Going to school-at his age, he would still have been an elementary school student on Earth!

But people in this world generally grew up quickly, and even children matured much earlier than they did on Earth.

"School? In that direction... are you going to Coronet Academy?" Candice paused, her eyes widening in surprise.

"But Coronet Academy's term has already started, hasn't it? Hey!"

After speaking, she stared at Terrance with a puzzled expression.

"Even you know about Coronet Academy..." Hadn't Master Katsumune said that Coronet Academy had been in decline for a long time and that few people knew about it?

"Of course!" Candice looked pleased with herself. "I know! If you're going to Coronet Academy, the road is really hard to travel. But if you beat me in a battle, I'll tell you about a shortcut!"

"In that case, a battle? Fine. Where?"

In the end, Terrance followed Candice, as a matter of course.

To make the trip to his destination easier, he might as well warm up with a battle first.

Walking in front, Candice looked happy as she said, "It's just ahead, at the Pokémon Trainer School~ There's a battlefield there."

"A school?"

"Yep. It teaches some of the children in the city about being trainers."

Terrance stared at the building in the distance, a little taken aback. "Doing something like that..."

Even in a city, there probably weren't many families that supported their children becoming trainers. Setting up a small school like this took a lot of effort for little reward. But then Terrance thought of Fallarbor Town. Compared with other towns and cities, it was far too remote and underdeveloped. Not only had few trainers come from there, but it didn't even have a Pokémon Center yet.

If Fallarbor Town had a school like this too, might things be better there now?