@rrenounced - starter call prompt
Spring brought early mornings - it’s arrival beckoned the northern sun to rise ever sooner. It brought reprieve from the pitch-black mornings of winter, a season which Palmer rightfully dreaded.
Sometimes Palmer questioned why his facilities had been built so far north - where the extreme latitude brought six hours of daylight in the winter and six hours of darkness in the summer - but there was nothing he could do about it now. No amount of money, power, nor influence could move the sun, after all.
At least these spring months gave a sweet spot of normalcy between the two extremes. It made his early-morning walk around the Frontier grounds that much nicer.
To make sure that the Frontier would be ready when it opened for the day, Palmer had a simple checklist in his mind : Make sure nobody had tagged anything with graffiti, make sure the night crew hadn’t missed cleaning anything, and make sure that no wild Pokémon had managed to set up in the night. For that last task, Palmer’s Rhyperior trailed shortly behind him, her eyes scanning for any signs of wildlife that she would need to force back into the wilderness.
( Sinnoh’s Frontier was in wildlife territory, after all. More than once has Palmer had to chase off a mama Ursaring or wild Luxray who had stumbled onto the property. )
So, as Palmer turned the corner around the perimeter wall of the property, he found himself stopped in his tracks. It was barely 5 in the morning, yet there was another soul stood at the gates. This wasn’t an overeager young trainer impatient for the facilities to open, nor was this one of his employees who had forgotten their keys - this was a face he didn’t recognize at all. And, while he hated to assume things about people based on their appearance, this person didn’t exactly seem like the type of person to get involved in battles. What was this guy even doing here?
“Hey buddy, did you need anything?” Palmer offered a small wave as he approached, his friendly smile contrasting with the stern demeanour of the Pokémon behind him. “You know the place isn’t open ‘til nine, yeah?”