# Ava Reid turns Pokemon tactics into YA dystopia

> Winterveil blends dark academia, Cold War paranoia, and the math-brained intensity of competitive Pokemon.
- Title: Ava Reid turns Pokemon tactics into YA dystopia · Variety
- Summary: Winterveil blends dark academia, Cold War paranoia, and the math-brained intensity of competitive Pokemon. Reid’s new YA series uses competitive Pokemon’s…
- Keywords: books, gaming, pokemon, young adult, fantasy, entertainment, culture, Ava, Reid, turns, tactics, dystopia
- Source: Variety — https://variety.com/2026/gaming/news/winterveil-pokemon-new-ava-reid-book-1236863483
- Author: Jennifer Maas
- Published: 2026-09-15T22:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: books, gaming, pokemon, young adult, fantasy, entertainment, culture
## Dark academia returns
Ava Reid is launching Winterveil, the first book in a planned YA dystopian duology set at Valeran Academy.
## A school for assets
Valeran trains brilliant, criminally gifted students for a Cold War that has lasted nearly a century.

> the brightest, and precociously criminal, students in the nation
## A mission pulls them in
Four students are drawn together amid war simulations, vicious contests, and ominous new technology.
## Pokemon was the spark
Reid says the political story was shaped by her pandemic dive into official competitive Pokemon battles.

> my hobby that I got really into during COVID was competitive ‘Pokémon,’ specifically.
## VGC became homework
She watched VGC creators and played the in-game ladder, studying the format run by The Pokemon Company itself.

> the official competitive format is called VGC
## Strategy under the cuteness
For Reid, Pokemon works because casual players can enjoy it, while top competitors face a dense turn-based tactics game.

> competitive ‘Pokémon’ is like chess, but sometimes the pieces explode
## Math meets academy pressure
The game’s customization, probability, and tactical choices fed into Winterveil’s ruthless school competitions.

> There’s a lot of math and mathematical equations and probabilities and percentages.
## Other stories are moving
Reid is also writing Necromantica, the Innamorata sequel, with Waltrude and Marozia becoming POV characters.

> Waltrude will be back
## Macbeth heads to film
Reid is working with Room writer Emma Donoghue on a Lady Macbeth film script, though distribution plans are still open.

> We’re still pretty early. We’re still working on the script
## Key takeaway

Reid’s new YA series uses competitive Pokemon’s hidden strategy layer as fuel for a deadly academy story.