Illumination Theory

May the warp be the white light of morning,
May the weft be the red light of evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow,
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness.

– The Tewa People, "Song of the Sky Loom"

Chapter One – The Beckoning Light

Clemont set down his screwdriver and rubbed his hands together, warming them over the campfire. His breath rose and dissipated in the still night air. It was a damp, cloudless night in the foothills of northeastern Kalos.

Holding his hands comfortably above the gently crackling flames, he paused for a few moments and pictured a schematic in his mind. Numbers ran through his head like a processor as he double and triple checked himself. He knew the output from this servomotor had to be correct. The equations balanced correctly every time he attempted them! This was so frustrating.

Modifying the Aipom arm to operate a can opener was proving to be far more difficult than he had anticipated.

He powered on the device and watched it fumble the can opener, knocking a rather badly dented can of beans off of his work table yet again. He sighed. Not since his attempts to upgrade the arm to shake the last of the ketchup from a bottle had his efforts been so fruitless.

Dismayed, he leaned over and picked up the misshapen can, setting it back on the table. He hoped all this commotion was not disturbing everyone else, who had long since retired to their tents for the night.

Clemont adjusted his glasses, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long, deep breath that momentarily shrouded his face in fog as it disappeared into thin air. He thought he could see his sanity disappearing with it. He tilted his head back and looked upward. The cloudless night was beginning to show some signs of becoming overcast. A faint halo had become visible around the moon.

He sat upright again and reconsidered the situation. If he knew the servo output was correct, then perhaps it was the input that was wrong. Perhaps he had made a mistake elsewhere in the circuitry. That seemed to him like a much more promising line of inquiry, and he picked up his pencil and began jotting down the circuit equations.

Then, he broke his pencil lead on the paper when an alarm siren sounded from the radio in his bag. Startled, he scrambled to reach into his bag and turn down the volume, lest he disturb the others. That had always been part of their agreement; Clemont could stay up as late as he wanted to work on his inventions as long as he was quiet about it. At the present moment, that agreement was in real danger of being violated. He struggled to find the volume button, and he dreaded how much grief he was going to get from Bonnie if she was awoken by this.

But then, Clemont went still as he listened to a mechanical, monotone voice.

"URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED.

HISTORIC AND LIFE THREATENING BLIZZARD TO FORM OVER THE MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS OF NORTHEAST KALOS BY NIGHTFALL TOMORROW.

THE KALOS WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING, WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7PM TUESDAY TO 7PM THURSDAY.

LOCATIONS - EASTERN ROUTE 15, EASTERN ROUTE 16, DENDEMILLE TOWN, SNOWBELLE CITY, ROUTE 17, ANISTAR CITY.

HAZARDS - HEAVY BLOWING SNOW AND DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS.

ACCUMULATIONS - UP TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW IS FORECAST OVERNIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. AN ADDITIONAL 18 TO 24 INCHES IS FORECAST THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING, WITH 6 TO 8 INCHES FORECAST THROUGH DAYLIGHT HOURS ON THURSDAY. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 30 TO 40 INCHES ARE EXPECTED, WITH LOCALLY GREATER ACCUMULATIONS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

WINDS - SOUTHWEST 25 TO 35 MILES PER HOUR WITH GUSTS TO 50 MILES PER HOUR.

TEMPERATURES - IN THE HIGH TWENTIES OVERNIGHT TUESDAY, FALLING TO THE LOW TEENS OVERNIGHT WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY.

TIMING - SNOW IS FORECAST TO BEGIN MID AFTERNOON TUESDAY, WITH CONDITIONS RAPIDLY DETERIORATING BY NIGHTFALL. THE HEAVIEST SNOW AND STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR WEDNESDAY, PARTICULARLY AFTER NIGHTFALL WEDNESDAY.

IMPACTS - BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS TUESDAY EVENING AND IMPOSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY THROUGHOUT THE REGION. WIND CHILLS FROM 10 TO 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO WILL PRODUCE LIFE THREATENING CONDITIONS FOR ANYONE LEFT EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS."

The siren repeated. Clemont grimaced. He knew the damage was done. He heard movement from inside the nearby tents.

"Clemont, cut it out!"

Bonnie stuck her head out of her tent. She glared at her brother, but received no response other than Clemont jumping in surprise and stammering something incoherent.

"Did you hear me?!" Bonnie said, shouting this time. She stomped indignantly out of the tent and over to Clemont.

Now, there was motion in the other tents. This time, it was accompanied by a sleepy groan.

"Ugh… what's going on…" said Serena.

Bonnie advanced upon Clemont, appearing ready to launch into a tirade. Clemont locked eyes with her and held his finger up to his mouth in a panic.

"Shh!" he whispered. "You're being even louder than my radio!"

Clemont's eyes shifted behind Bonnie, which prompted her to turn around. Bonnie saw Serena looking quite disheveled, peeking her head out of her tent and rubbing her tired eyes. Bonnie's eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth, trying to take back the noise she had already made. Her attempt was not a success.

"Sorry," Bonnie said, the sound dulled behind her clasped hands.

Serena knelt in the entrance of her tent and squinted as she tried to read the time on her Pokedex.

"It's one in the morning," Serena said. She whined, slumping back onto the bottom end of her sleeping bag. She bundled it up like a pillow and tried to use it to cover her eyes. Mostly, it just muffled a tired groan.

In the adjacent tent, Ash snored.

Clemont put one hand on the back of his neck and waved apologetically with the other.

"I'm sorry, everyone," he said, "but it's kind of an emergency."

"An emergency?" said Bonnie. "You breaking your Aipom arm again is not an emergency!"

"I mean the alert that just sounded on my weather radio," said Clemont, pointing at it. "I don't mean to cause alarm, but it sounds like we're in the path of a massive snowstorm."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of snow," Bonnie said, giving Clemont an incredulous look.

"You woke us up because of snow?" Serena groaned, still clutching her sleeping bag over her face.

"Yes, but for good reason!" said Clemont. "This is not an ordinary snowstorm. The warning said the storm is going to be a dangerous blizzard!"

There was a brief silence. Perhaps it was just fatigue, but both Bonnie and Serena appeared unconcerned. Clemont began to dread the task of convincing them that he was telling the truth. Fortunately, his weather radio handled it for him.

The siren sounded again. Serena uncovered her face, and she and Bonnie listened as the warning repeated itself.

When the radio went quiet again, Serena sat up, looking rather worried.

"Did that thing really say forty inches?" she said.

Bonnie looked at Clemont, confused.

"Is that a lot?" she said.

"Forty inches is taller than you are," said Clemont.

Bonnie's eye grew wide.

"Oh wow!" she said. "This is awesome! That's so much snow!"

Clemont mirrored Serena's look of concern.

"Actually, I'm not so sure I'd say it's awesome," he said, causing Bonnie to give him a sour look. "I think we're in danger."

"Danger?" said Bonnie. "From snow? It's just fluff! It melts!"

"Yes, but the snow is only part of the problem," said Clemont. "The more serious issues are the wind and the cold."

"It's cold enough already," said Serena. A trail of her breath dissipated in the air as she wrapped her sleeping bag around herself like a blanket.

"It's going to get much colder, I'm afraid," said Clemont. "If that much snow falls, we're going to trapped out here. We'd be in real danger from hypothermia, frostbite…"

Clemont was trying to list additional perils, but he stalled. Bonnie then interrupted him.

"Do you mean we would freeze?" she said. "I mean, freeze for real?"

Clemont nodded.

"I don't wanna freeze out here!" said Bonnie. "I wanna play in the snow and then go inside where it's warm!"

"I think that's what all of us want," said Clemont. "The problem is that we're still a full day away from Dendemille Town. We would need to leave as soon as possible to ensure that we make it there before the storm hits."

Serena let her head hang low, groaning again.

"Do you mean we would have to walk all through the rest of the night and all day tomorrow just to get there in time?" she said.

"To be safe, yes, most likely," Clemont said, attempting to sound apologetic.

Serena made a whining noise as she pulled her makeshift sleeping bag blanket over her head and then collapsed on the ground melodramatically, letting the fluffy bag completely cover her.

Ash continued snoring.

"We might not have a choice," said Clemont. "I don't want to do this, either, but if we don't go, we may be putting our lives in danger."

Serena sat up again, then sighed. A cloud of vapor billowed away in front of her as she did.

"Are you sure about all this?" she said.

Clemont nodded.

"I guess we really don't have a choice, then," Serena said.

Bonnie frowned.

"But I wanna go back to sleep," she said.

"You can sleep all you want once we get to Dendemille Town," said Clemont. "If we don't go soon, though, we might not get there at all."

Bonnie pouted at him, then conceded.

"Okay," she said, dejected. She headed back to her tent.

"Time to pack up, I suppose," said Serena, looking around their campsite and finding a lengthy to-do list ahead of her.

"Yes, I'd say so," said Clemont, beginning to gather his tools. "We need to wake up Ash, too."

"I'll take care of that," said Serena. She removed herself from the mess she'd made of her sleeping bag, then stepped over to the next tent. As she eased her way inside, she tried her best to hide a small, mischievous smirk.

She looked at Ash and Pikachu right there before her, sound asleep despite all the noise, and had the distinct feeling of nervous excitement that accompanied being someplace she normally wasn't allowed to be. For a moment, as she crawled toward Ash, she wondered why those rules still applied when they were on the road by themselves, and why she didn't come visit Ash to wake him up more often. But then, the thought of actually doing it made her stomach jump and she knew exactly why.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it was too late for her to turn back now. Serena put on a smile, touched Ash on the shoulder, and shook him gently a few times.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," she said.

Pikachu responded before Ash did, his ears perking up upon hearing Serena's voice. He opened his eyes and looked around a few times before he realized what was happening.

"Hi Pikachu," said Serena. "Sorry it's so late, but we've got to wake up Ash. We have to get going."

Pikachu tilted his head and looked at her curiously.

"There's a big storm coming," said Serena. "I'll fill you both in once Ash is up."

She shook Ash's shoulder again.

"Wakey wakey!" she said, this time a bit louder. This time, Ash stirred. His face contorted briefly as he blinked several times, eyes heavy with sleep. For a moment, it appeared as though he had no idea where he was.

"Wha…?" he mumbled as he looked up and saw who was kneeling next to him. "Serena?"

"Time to get up," Serena said, gently rubbing his arm a few times. She savored the delicious truth that Ash was far too tired right now to notice the gesture, or even care. "We've got to get going."

"But…" Ash said, looking through the entrance to the tent, seeing the darkness outside. "It's still dark."

"I know," said Serena, empathizing with him. "I don't like it either."

Ash grunted as he sat upright.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What are you doing in here?

Serena quickly averted her eyes and looked out through the entrance of the tent.

"There's a really big snowstorm coming. Clemont just heard about it on his radio," she said, nodding in the direction of Clemont and his work table, which he was currently packing.

"A snowstorm?" said Ash. "Why do we have to go?"

"It's big," said Serena. "Really big. We're going to be in danger if we get caught out here in it, and we need all the time we have to get to Dendemille Town before it hits."

"How big?" said Ash.

"The warning said as much as forty inches."

Ash paused for a moment, thinking.

"That sounds like a lot," he said.

Serena rolled her eyes at the understatement.

"It is a lot," she said. "That's why we have to get going. Clemont says that we have just enough time to make it to Dendemille Town if we leave now."

"Huh," said Ash. "Well, alright then. Guess it's time for me to get up. I've gotta get packing."

Serena bit her lip. Her plans for an adorable little moment had come to an unceremonious end. She felt foolish for expecting anything different.

"Right," she said. "Yes. Time for me to get started packing, too. Okay."

Ash raised an eyebrow at her, which was all Serena needed to see to know it was time to go. With all the dignity she could muster, she crawled backwards out of the tent. She stood up, brushed the dirt from her knees, and entered her own tent again.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, and let out an excruciatingly silent sigh. Why did all of her interactions with him have to be so awkward?

It took the traveling party less than an hour to pack up and get back on the road, even with some substantial complaining. Feet dragging and heads hung low, they pushed onward through the dark. Braixen led the way, illuminating the path and keeping everyone warm with the fire from her wand. At sunrise, they stopped for a short rest to eat breakfast, then continued on.

Clemont checked the warning for an update hourly. The forecast remained the same every time. As such, it was alarming to everyone when snow began to fall several hours earlier than anticipated.

The group stopped at a road sign, and Ash reached out to clear the snow from it.

"Dendemille Town, ten miles," he said. When he received no response, the looked back and saw everyone else seated on the snow-covered road, looking exhausted.

"I think it may be time for a breather," said Clemont.

"For once, I agree with you," said Bonnie. She flopped backwards into the snow and lay there, motionless. Dedennne crawled out of Bonnie's bag and scampered up toward her head, eager to see what was the matter.

"I'm okay, Dedenne," she said. "I just really, really need a break."

"Me too," said Serena, trying her best to massage away the soreness in her legs.

Ash frowned. He was by far the most seasoned traveler in the group. He ached, but he was ready and willing to keep going. He could only imagine how everyone else felt. He removed his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. When he saw snow fall from it as he lifted it, he turned it over and shook off the rest of it.

Serena saw this and then looked up at the brim of her hat. She removed it and then turned it over, a small pile of snow dumping out of it onto the ground. She placed it back on her head, and then tightened her grip on the blanket she had long since wrapped around her shoulders.

As Ash was just about to place his hat back on his head, a powerful gust of wind whipped up all around them. Snow blew about in what seemed like every direction. Pikachu struggled to hang onto his shoulder. The blast cut through him like a knife and chilled him to the bone.

He folded his arms tightly over his chest, shivering. He exhaled deeply, briefly shrouding his face in mist.

"You know, I am getting pretty cold," Ash said, finding himself in sudden agreement with the others. "It might be a good idea to take a break and warm up for a few minutes."

"Let's at least get out of the wind," said Clemont, pointing toward a dense grove of trees on the side of the road. "We can take shelter there."

"Good idea," said Ash.

Clemont struggled briefly to get back on his feet.

"A little help?" he asked.

Ash extended a hand to him, pulling him up on his feet. He did the same for Serena, and Clemont helped Bonnie. Wearily, they trudged off the path into the minimal shelter offered by the trees. Braixen, largely unfazed by the snow, continued to lead the way.

"I'm really sorry about the mess we're in, you guys," said Clemont. "I can't believe I didn't realize it earlier, but it makes sense that we're getting snow here earlier than I thought it would arrive. The forecast was for Dendemille Town, and I failed to account for our distance from there. The storm had to pass over us first before it reached town. I really blew it this time…"

"Yeah, you sure did blow it," Bonnie grumbled.

"Hey, as I see it, it was either take our chances in a cave or something up in the mountains, or take our chances on the road," said Ash. "And I like our chances! We're getting closer. We'll be just fine."

"I'll be just fine if I can warm up a bit," said Serena, setting down roughly in front of a particularly wide tree. She sighed in relief as its trunk gave her the first shelter from the wind she'd had in hours. Ash sat down next to her, and Braixen went with Clemont and Bonnie over to the next large tree.

Serena sat there, bundled up in her blanket, just staring at her feet. Her eyes slid out of focus as she mentally drifted away. She couldn't recall another time in her life when she had been this exhausted or this cold. She wondered how she had made it this far.

Ash leaned back against the tree's trunk beside her, arms wrapped tightly over his chest, huddling with Pikachu for warmth. As he fidgeted uncomfortably, his movements snapped Serena out of her trance.

Serena looked over to Ash. He looked so cold.

"Would you like to join me under the blanket?" she asked him.

"Yes, definitely!" said Ash. Serena unraveled the blanket from herself and moved toward him. She stretched the blanket over both of their bodies and pressed herself directly against him, getting as close as possible.

"Oh wow, it's so warm under here," said Ash, eagerly tucking his limbs beneath the folds of fabric.

"I don't know how it can feel so warm to you when I'm freezing cold," said Serena.

"You feel warm to me," said Ash.

Serena had to admit to herself that at the present moment, she was indeed feeling decidedly warmer than she had a few moments ago. She had invited Ash to share her blanket partly out of altruism, but not entirely. She looked over at Bonnie and Clemont cuddled up with Braixen and thought she saw Bonnie smirk at her.

All was quiet for a while, aside from the howling of the wind. Serena wasn't sure how much time passed. For some time, she wasn't sure if she was asleep or awake. Even the rush of adrenaline from being this close to Ash wasn't enough to keep her mind present. Her eyes ceased to see, even though they were open, and her mind went to a thousand different places at once. An unknown amount of time elapsed, and then abruptly, she blinked and found herself back in reality.

Ash had his cap pulled low over his eyes. He seemed to be dozing peacefully. Pikachu noticed Serena's gaze, and his movements stirred Ash awake. He looked surprised. Serena giggled at him.

"Oh man, I was really out cold there for a minute," he said, shaking his head.

"I think I was, too," said Serena.

Ash passed his half of the blanket back to Serena and rose to his feet.

"We've gotta keep going," he said. "We can't give up now."

Serena tried her best to smile back at him, but her face felt too frozen to work properly.

Ash extended his hand to her and helped pull her to her feet. Serena's feet painfully protested as she took a few steps forward.

She watched Ash as he helped Clemont and Bonnie get back up. Her eyelids were heavy with fatigue.

As long as Ash was staying positive, they were going to be fine.

They were going to make it.

When they reached the top of one final hill and Dendemille Town appeared in the valley below them, Serena was so relieved that she had to resist the urge to collapse on the spot and either laugh, cry, or perhaps both. It was all downhill from here, literally.

There was just one problem - they had no idea where anything was.

The snow whirled around them, appearing to blow in random directions rather than falling down or even sideways. There were visible lights and silhouettes of buildings ahead of them in the distance, but none of them seemed to have a form. They were all obscured by the snow. The streets, wherever they were supposed to be, were completely hidden beneath inches of powder. Braixen held her flaming wand aloft in the darkness, illuminating the hilltop.

"Where do we go from here?" said Serena.

"The Pokemon Center, ideally," said Clemont. He was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Next to him, Ash stood as strong as he could, carrying a completely exhausted Bonnie on his back.

"Yeah, definitely," said Ash.

"But where is it?" said Serena.

"I'm not sure," said Clemont.

"I don't know, either," said Ash. "I can't tell where it is."

"I have an idea, though," said Clemont.

"What is it?" said Serena.

"Pokemon Centers are usually some of the largest buildings in any given town," said Clemont. "If we can see from here which building we think is largest, we can sled down the side of this valley directly to it."

"That sounds great, but how are we going to sled down there?" said Serena.

"Yeah, we don't have a sled, do we?" said Ash.

"We don't," said Clemont, "but the future is now, thanks to science!"

Clemont reached into his bag and proudly held up his collapsible work table.

"I present to you, my work table! It has a flat surface, perfect for working on inventions, or for sledding down snow-covered hills! It also has sturdy legs, capable of supporting a heavy load on any surface, and perfect for holding onto while you speed down a slope with wild abandon!"

Ash and Serena both stared at Clemont as if he had lost his mind, but they were much too tired to protest.

Both were equally surprised when it turned out that seating four people on the underside of a table was the most difficult part of their journey so far.

The only configuration they could find that seemed to work required two people to sit in front and two to crouch behind them. Ash and Clemont took the front, and Bonnie held onto Clemont from behind. Serena called Braixen back to her ball and did the same with Ash.

Once again, Serena's adrenaline rush from being in such close contact with Ash was overpowered. This time, it wasn't due to exhaustion, but rather fear.

They pointed the table in the direction of what they agreed was the largest building they could see. Ash and Clemont both held large tree branches, which they were going to use to push off from the slope.

"We're not going to die doing this, are we?" said Serena, practically begging to be a voice of reason. She was ignored.

"I have no idea!" said Clemont. With that, he gave a countdown from three, and then he and Ash pushed off.

Almost immediately, Serena wanted off this crazy ride. In a matter of a few seconds, they reached a reckless, irresponsible speed. A decade of Rhyhorn racing training had not even vaguely prepared her for this. Rhyhorn could be controlled. The table, however, could not. The only thing she could do was hold onto her hat and try not to scream much.

Luckily, she barely had enough time to contemplate her situation before they all went careening into a row of hedges. When they righted themselves and got on their feet again, they found themselves standing in front of a large brick building. It looked rather old.

"I don't think this is a Pokemon Center," said Ash.

"So much for my theory," said Clemont.

"I say we go inside anyway," said Ash. "Anywhere has got to better than out here."

"I agree," said Serena. She looked out toward what had clearly once been the street, but was now merely a wide, featureless expanse of snow. Streetlights, trees, signs, and fire hydrants were all there was. There was nobody outside, aside from them, as far as the eye could see - although for that matter, the eye could not see very far in these conditions.

Eagerly, they trudged through the deepening snow toward the front door. It was a glass door, the kind that slides out of the way. There was no light coming from inside.

"It looks like there's nobody here," said Clemont.

"What do you think this place is?" said Ash.

"Perhaps an office building of some kind? It's hard to tell," said Clemont.

The signs in front of the building were covered by drifting snow, and nobody cared enough to go investigate.

"Do you think this door will open?" said Ash.

"It might," said Clemont. "It looks automatic. Give it a try."

The door didn't budge as Ash approached it. He looked for a nearby button that might open it, but he couldn't find one.

Then, he released Hawlucha from his Poke Ball.

"Hawlucha, we need to get through this door, but it won't open. Can you help us pry it open?"

"Ash! What are you doing?" Clemont said. "We can't just break in here!"

It was already too late. Hawlucha slid his claws into the gap between the two panels of the door and pulled. With only a few seconds of effort, the lock holding the two of them together broke apart.

"Thank you!" Ash said. "Awesome! Now we're in. Let's go, everybody."

It took very little convincing to get everyone inside. Immediately, warmth washed over them. Rapidly melting snow dripped off of them in massive puddles, all over the tile floor in the foyer.

Serena called out Braixen again to help them navigate in the dark, but to everyone's surprise, that wasn't necessary for long. As soon as they ventured a few more steps inside, lights automatically powered on all around them.

"No way…" said Clemont.

They were standing in a hallway with several cork boards on the walls, all of them festooned with fliers attached by thumbtacks. At the end of the hallway was a large circular counter, with several computer monitors seated atop, accompanied by bar code scanners. On the far side of the counter were a few small carts with wheels, and photocopying devices. Completely covering the walls, and much of the open space in between them, were seemingly endless shelves of books. Computer terminals were stationed at desks all around the cavernous room.

Serena stepped forward into the large open area past the counter and looked upward. The shelves continued for three stories. She turned back to the others and stared at them in disbelief.

"We're in a library!"