#also i know in the game. you go fight candice first. but narratively? my dawn would not do that

[dawnedon]

Jupiter is just leaving with her grunts when Dawn first enters the frigid Acuity Lakeshore, a victorious smile on her lips as she hefts a reinforced capsule containing the slumbering Uxie under her arm. (Yards away, Barry kneels alone in a snowy, battlemade crater off the bank, exhausted, defeated. Shocked into silence. He had been no match for the brutal Commander.)

Your Pokémon aren't bad, but you're laughably weak. The crisp Acuity air still reeks of Skuntank stink, Jupiter’s venomous words towards Barry still hanging in the smog, stinging him. The Commander brushes past Dawn, sparing the new arrival only a fleeting glance. Her work is done here. Mission accomplished.

“Oh? Don't I know you? Just a final word of advice: keep out of Galactic’s way,” Jupiter warns, casting an unimpressed look back at Barry. “Don’t come whining about poor Pokemon and other junk like that. Insolent weaklings will be crushed, just like your pathetic friend over there…”

And just like that, she leaves with Galactic’s spoils, her cold laughter echoing around the freezing expanse…

Snow was the worst thing to try and hurry through. The snowfall along Sinnoh's northern routes was among the highest on the planet, if not the highest out of any other route on the globe. She'd gone to Lake Verity immediately after Lake Valor. She and Lucas had handily dispatched Mars, and Dawn had departed for Sinnoh's northernmost lake the moment she was able to.

After nearly losing her life to the cold, and gaining a new addition to her roster in the form of the Sneasel that rescued her, the final trek to Lake Acuity was a treacherous one. Blowing snow limiting visibility, and deep pockets of flake and frost that went up well past her hips. Her breath was ever so slightly visible in the frigid air, leaving her lips in small puffs from the force she had to exert to push her way through meters upon meters of deep snow.

She and her team were worse for wear - Dawn wasn't sure what to expect at Acuity's lakefront. She'd already wasted plenty of time with her debacle along Route 216, having done the bare minimum to ensure she wouldn't get hypothermia before setting back out.

Upon entering the lakefront, she's greeted by Commander Jupiter, a group of grunts flanking her as they make their exit - with Uxie in tow. Dark eyes don't take long to spot Barry not too far, snow and permafrost blown away from the battle that had taken place. Dawn could tell by his demeanor (she'd known him for so long, after all), that the battle... it must not have swung in his favor. A putrid stench hung heavily in the air, the thick flakes of snow that fell doing little to help dampen the smell.

Her stomach churned and twist uncomfortably with guilt, unable to tear her gaze away from her rival - her best friend. If she had come here before Lake Verity, would things have gone differently? If she had been more prepared for the treacherous conditions, would she had been able to keep going instead of nearly losing her life to the cold? Jupiter had already captured the spirit of the lake, and with the amount of grunts at her side, combined with Dawn's weary team...

The young girl's teeth ground together harshly, nails digging into her frigid palms. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't stop them from taking all of the lake spirits, she couldn't get here in time to help Barry, she couldn't do anything against these numbers either - not with the shape her team was in.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Dawn whirls around as Jupiter speaks. A pointed glare only met the Commander - one of which surely wouldn't faze a woman as wicked as she.

"Insolent weaklings-" Dawn repeats, incredulously, "you should be careful with what you say to me. Especially after our battle in Eterna... You should probably take your own advice." Ice rolls from her tone, pointed and prickling.

But it didn't matter - Jupiter had won when it mattered most, and she got exactly what she had come here for. The echoing laughter from Jupiter only seemed to bounce off the snow-covered front and icy lake surface, reverberating uncomfortably in Dawn's ears.

"You won't get the last laugh." They were already gone, departed from the lakefront - her words were only heard between her and Barry now. Not a threat, but a promise.

Dawn's shoulders would finally relax, falling in time with a long exhale. Her gaze turns back to Barry again, trudging through the snow until she gets to the crater he knelt in.

She'd known him since they were young, and she'd never seen him like this. It felt like a knife was twist into her gut. A hand lifts to rest on his back, feeling the warmth radiating through his coat.

"I'm sorry." I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. I'm sorry I let you down. I'm sorry I failed you and your team.

"I promise - I promise we'll get Uxie and the others back. No matter what happens, they won't get away with it." Her voice holds strong, not just for herself, but for Barry too. Wallowing in her guilt and shame didn't help her, and it certainly didn't help her friend either.

In this moment, she needed to be his pillar of support - just as he had always been for her.