Frost on Dragon Wings

Sky's The Limit...In Chance Meetings

It was a bright and sunny day in Hulbury, the gym challenge is about to begin in a few weeks and the city is bustling with people from all across Galar. Noelle came from a different region that neighbors Galar called Lykke, it's a bit colder than Galar but it's perfect for an ice trainer like Noelle, who arrived to Galar from Lykke for a reason involving the Gym Challenge. She is the niece of Galar's Ice Gym Leader, Melony, and arrived to help her aunt with the challenge by being one of her Gym Trainers. Considering that Noelle left Lykke for...complicated reasons, Melony felt that Noelle needed not only a place to stay but something to do while she's in "exile". Regardless, Noelle finally arrived to Hulbury and now all she has to do is get to the train that leads to Circhester.

As she got off the docks, a man in what seems to be an ice gym hoodie, sweatpants and hat approaches her and waving at her. "Hello there! You must be Noelle!", the man exclaimed a little, stuffing his hands into the pockets of the hoodie. Noelle, startled by the man after focusing on her surroundings for too long, stood up straight and waved back in a stiff manner, almost worried that she might scare the man away. "Y-yes, I'm Noelle from Lykke.", she stated before looking him over and noticing the crest on his hoodie, "You must be one of Aunt Melony's gym trainers." The man flashed a smile and nodded, "That's right. The name's Micah. Guess you can say that I'll be your mentor for your training. The Gym Challenge is in a few weeks, so we need to start as soon as we get to Circhester."

Noelle nods in agreement at Micah before walking towards the direction of the train station, assuming that Micah will follow before realizing he hasn't moved. He looked at her puzzled as she started back, just as confused. Micah scratches the back of his head and tries to laugh off how awkward this sudden situation was, "I'm not sure why you're going in that direction when our ride to Circhester is that way." Micah points in the opposite direction of the train station and to a sight that made her face turn pale. A cab driver waves at the two with a smile on his face while his Corviknight perched on top of what seems to be a car, kinda like the cable cars back in Lykke for skiing but a bit smaller and made for four people instead of eight. Noelle assumes that that's where the passengers are supposed to sit in.

In the air.

135 feet high.

...

N O P E , Noelle thought to herself, almost internally screaming and begging for this to be a joke made by Gordie.

Noelle looked at Micah, her face pale and her eyes close to spilling tears, "W-w-w-we're not r-r-riding that, a-a-are we?" She stuttered, hoping that Micah would say no or that another person behind them was going to ride the car of death. Micah chuckled a bit, not sure if she was expecting something...lower. "This is what your aunt requested, since this is the fastest way to get to Circhester."

Oh.

No.

"I-I-I'm sorry.....BUT THERE IS NO WAY I'M GETTING IN THAT!", Noelle blurted out before booking it to the train station. Micah told the cab driver that he'll return before turning to chase after Noelle. It took some twists, turns and climbs before she was able to find the train station in her panic. A wave of relief washed over her when she manages to get into the station.

"Five minutes to departure!", the station staffer announced. It's crunch time to the nearest boxcar.

In her panic haste, she bought a ticket without fully reading the labels and the ticket booth lady wondered if everything was fine and Noelle nodded. She took her ticket and placed it into the ticket machine and the gates opened. Just as Noelle boarded the train (well more like jumped into the train car and crashing into the wall before she could stop herself), Micah entered the building and shouted at Noelle to get off but the doors cut-off Micah mid-sentence. Noelle gave Micah and apologetic look and mouthed 'I'm sorry' before the intercom blared,

"All aboard! First stop is Hammerlocke!"

................

Oh.

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.

And the train started to move as Noelle pressed her face against the doors.

————-

She screwed up. Again.

How did she manage to get herself whisked away to, for all she knows, the other side of Galar? She definitely is giving off foreigner vibes because there is no way a native Galarian would get end up on the other side of the very region they were born in.

Noelle pushed herself off of the door after a train attendant told her off for putting her weight on it. She made her way to the boxcar were people lounge. It looked to be that all the tables are occupied, so she tries to find the least crowded one and the only table that has at least one person in it has a man that seemed to be glued to his red Rotom phone. He's kinda cute but maybe he prefers to be alone? , she thought before she looked around the boxcar to realize that there are no other seats left.

Great.

Doesn't seem like she has much of a choice and who knows how long getting to Hammerlocke is going to take. She approached the empty seat in front of him and was about to sit in it before the man spoke, "You caused quite a ruckus back there, miss." Noelle froze at that statement. "A-are you talking to m-me?", she stuttered and hoped that he wasn't talking about her and how she literally flew into the train and crashing into the wall of the train.

"Of course I am." The man finally took his bright teal eyes off his phone and up at her with a smirk on his face. "You're the only person in this boxcar, besides the train attendant, that came through that door. So either the train attendant finally had it with their job and broke some things in there or you were the one who was so desperate to get on the train to crash into it and possibly made a mess." He stated, all while typing away on his phone and taking pictures and Noelle stood there with her jaw on the floor. Of course of all the people to notice her acting like a complete fool, it just had to be the one guy she immediately found attractive. She tossed her stuff on the seat defeated and plopped herself into the seat next to her things then laid her head on the table with a groan.

They stayed quite for a bit before she looked up at him, feeling awkward looking like a miserable Tentacool while he's just scrolling on his phone, occasionally looking out the window or looking his surroundings. The only reason she could tell is because her head was cemented to the table, she felt almost every movement being made. Noelle sat up and leaned on her elbows to think of what to talk about. "So, um..." she started, "Is there a train that goes to Circhester?" The man looked up from his phone at her again before lowering the hand that's holding his phone to give her more of his attention, "You're not from here, I take it." Noelle shook her head in response. "There are no trains that can go into Circhester. The only way to get there is either walking or a flying taxi."

...................

Ssssssssssssshhhhhhh-shoot!

Noelle puts her head in her hands, she's in trouble. If only she listened to Micah. Maybe getting on a flying taxi wouldn't be a bad idea, she could just...close her eyes and deal with it but N O O O, she just had to freak out and run away on her future co-worker, maybe. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the man's phone started to vibrate repeatedly, someone's calling him apparently. "Sorry, I have to get this, I'll be right back.", he said apologetically before getting up and leaving through the door she came through an hour ago. Hope he enjoys the view. Just then she notices some people glaring at her from across the boxcar as if she had done the unthinkable. All she wanted to do is just fade from existence at this point. She should've never left Lykke, she could've just stayed there and be the ice type gym leader that they wanted but she just couldn't stay. Maybe this is punishment for that decision. After a while, the man came back and sat right back in his spot, his phone isn't in his hand (presumably it's in his pockets) and he is looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you related to Melony, Galar's ice gym leader?", he questioned and she blinked, what brought this on? "Oh, um, yeah. She's, she's my aunt."

He hummed at the answer as he leaned back in his seat, "She's looking for you. She mentioned her niece getting lost and described you." Now she's rapidly blinking. "Wait, you know her?", she questioned fully sitting up, curious as to how this man would have any connection with Aunt Melony. Then came the answer...

"She's my colleague. We're both gym leaders. She might not have mentioned me but since I might see you more often," The man looks at Noelle with his signature grin, exposing his fang, "I'm the Great Dragon Tamer Raihan! A dragon type gym leader!"