AN: Due to a lack of this character pairing, I thought I would like to be the first.


Snowflake


{スノーフレーク}


"And just where do you think you're going young man?" Delia asked somewhat angrily as she saw her son marching toward the door. "You haven't been home even a day, yet, and you're already leaving again?"

Her son, a young man of just barely twenty years, was Ash Ketchum, an accomplished Pokemon Trainer that had faced down Leagues and Legends alike; but the fact remained that he was her little boy, and she barely got any chances to see him since he had turned ten years old; the bare minimum age of becoming a licensed Pokemon Trainer.

Ash sighed as he turned and looked at her, "Mom, you know I can't sit still for long," he said, his partner, Pikachu, nodding along in agreement from his shoulder, "I'm sorry, but I just - "

"Just what?" Delia frowned, her hands on her hips, "Ash, you've been all over the world in the last ten years of your life, collecting badges, and competing Pokemon Leagues time and again only to come up short. I don't doubt that you'd one day reach that goal of yours, but couldn't you start thinking of something other than that?"

Ash ground his teeth, "It's all I have!"

"Don't you take that tone with me!" Delia huffed, "And it is most certainly not all that you have! You've done so much, and learned more than enough to become a Pokemon Professor if you wanted to. And you have the offer to become a Frontier Brain here in Kanto!"

"Sitting around waiting for a battle to come to me isn't going to work." Ash countered, shaking his head, "I feel empty if I'm not training."

Delia sighed, "I understand that, Dear, but you have to understand that I worry about you," she said, moving toward her son, and hugging him tightly, careful of Pikachu being perched on his shoulder, "I'm so proud of you, no matter what, but I can't keep watching you come home and then leave again. It's too much for a mother to bear when you're all I have left."

Ash sighed, and hugged her back, "I'm not even going off to a new region, I just - "

"I don't care, Ash, just please...stay home for once, and maybe find yourself a girl?" Delia pleaded, making the boy frown, "I know it's not something you've thought about, but you at that age when - "

Ash pushed away from her, "The last thing I need, or want right now is a girlfriend." He turned and resumed his march toward the front door.

"I'd be happy if you brought home a boyfriend at this point!" Delia shouted, making the young man fall flat on the floor while Pikachu went flying from his shoulder and slammed into the wall face first.

Ash was up an instant later, "I am not into guys!"

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped as he clambered back to his perch.

With that the pair barged out of the house, the door slamming behind them so hard that it shook the framing. Delia frowned as she watched him walking down the path of their yard, "He's still upset about Alola, I'm guessing."

Ash had previously competed in Alola to become the first Champion, and had fallen just short of the title having failed to defeat a rival Trainer. It was the last straw in many ways for her son. Oh, she was proud of him, and the research data that he had brought back from his Rotom Dex had been invaluable to Professor Oak, but he was still no closer to his goal of becoming a Regional Champion.

No other Trainer from Pallet Town had ever accomplished so much, not even her late husband. But somewhere along the lines, Ash had forgotten that it wasn't a Championship that he wanted so badly, it was being recognized as a Pokemon Master. She didn't know what that entailed, but she felt that her son had already achieved his goals long ago.

The only type of Pokemon that he had yet to catch was the newly discovered Fairy Type. All others he had caught, trained, and battled with to the very best of their abilities. What more could he have done to prove he was a Master?

"Maybe I just went a little too far this time?" She wondered before sitting down on the sofa, "Really, after all these years, couldn't he just settle down?"


{スノーフレーク}


Ash made a beeline for Professor Oak's laboratory as soon as he was on the path, fuming from the way he had acted with his mother, [How could I act like a kid?] He wondered to himself, [More to the point, how could she think I liked guys?]

"Pikapi?" {Ash?} Pikachu patted his shoulder, looking worried.

Ash sighed deeply, "Do you think I should stop?" He asked his oldest friend, making the little Electric type's ears shoot straight up. "I mean, I like traveling, but maybe she has a po- OW!" Pikachu gave him a small shock in the ear, "Jeez, what was that for?"

"Pi pika pi!" {For being stupid!} Pikachu snapped, and slapped him in the back of his head with his tail.

Ash chuckled, "Sorry, buddy, just...feeling drained, is all."

"Pika pi chu cha?"{How about another vacation?}

Ash huffed, and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "No, thanks. Not after the last one." He sighed and continued walking. "After we get through at the lab, we're heading to do some hardcore training in Sinnoh."

"Pikachu pika pi chu pika chu?" {Think we'll get to see Dawn again?}

"No idea, but maybe we will?" He sighed, thought he himself doubted it. His training, he felt, would be best spent in the harshest area in Sinnoh. The only place that came to mind that was perfect was the area around Snowpoint City. Nearly freezing to death once had brought out the best in him, and showed how much his Pokemon cared about him when he first started out, and now he couldn't think of a better way to train than to face the elements.

No Mega Stones, no Z-Crystals, just hard as nails training. Maybe then he could finally win a League.

As soon as Ash made the arrangements with Professor Oak, and obtained a newly updated Pokedex, the young man was on his way again to the port to catch an express cruise ship to the Sinnoh Region.


{スノーフレーク}

Five Months Later


"Okay everyone, that's it for today," the young woman smiled as the class she was teaching let out for the day. "Remember, we have a test tomorrow in type advantages and disadvantages. Both practical and written. So remember to bring your Kiai with you!"

"Yes, Miss Senior!" The students chorused, leaving the room.

The woman, Candice Senior, gave them all a small wave as they left for the day, and stretched her arms above her head, smiling in satisfaction. "This class sure has some good ones in it this time." She smiled as she shrugged into her sweater, "I wonder how they'll do in the practical exams?"

She stepped out of her classroom, and headed for home.

Snowpoint City was always covered in snow, even in the summer months of the region, but Candice never noticed the cold, having grown up in the city, and only ever noticed how high the snow was in the plains and canyons outside the city. This year, she had seen them deeper than she ever remembered. It was a bad time to be a traveler.

She could already see a storm rolling in from over the mountains. She sighed and decided to take a quick stop at Snowpoint Temple. Ever since the incident with Team Galactic, she had had to up her game for a few years in guarding the Temple, but no one had dared set foot near the Temple since Regigigas had shown itself. She had gotten even fewer challenges at the Gym, as well. Apart from the school, her daily life had become boring.

"Miss Senior!" She turned and saw one of her younger students running toward her.

"What's wrong, Rory?" She asked the boy, "Is Mia bullying you again?"

"No!" The boy blushed, "I just saw someone out in the canyons!" Candice paled, "He's all by himself, and that snow storm's gonna be here any minute!"

Candice nodded, "I'll take care of it," she told him, and rushed off toward the Western edge of the city, "You get back home, and out of this storm!"


{スノーフレーク}


The storm had hit before the young Gym Leader had gotten far into the canyon. And it wasn't just a simple storm, it was a full on blizzard! Even she was forced to take cared with the snow falling as hard as it was with the wind whipping it passed her like miniature blades.

Shielding her face against the wind, she pulled out one of her Pokeballs, "Abomasnow, I need you!" She called out against the wind as her mightiest Ice type appeared in front of her, acting as a wind block.

"ABOMAAA!" The giant of a Pokemon roared as he braced against the wind, looking down at his trainer.

She grinned up at the behemoth, "Thanks, Abomasnow, but we need to find whoever's out here right now." She told him, "I don't know who it is, but he won't last long out in this weather."

"Abomasnow," the Frosted Tree Pokemon nodded, and turned about, looking through the blizzard. The large Ice and Grass type was more than capable of navigating his way through such a storm, having had to do so on more than a few occasions when people were lost in the snow.

Candice climbed onto his back as the massive Pokemon trudged through the snow without care, hoping to find the Trainer before he froze to death. Abomasnow suddenly stopped and pointed down at the ground, "Aboma!"

Candice peeked over his shoulder, and spotted a large indention in the snow; a footprint...one much larger than her Abomasnow's. "What could've made that?" She wondered, following the tracks through the snow, and saw that they led to a forested area that she knew had a few caves hidden away. "Alright, it's our only lead," she sighed, "Let's follow them."

Abomasnow nodded and trudged through the snow, following the trail into the treeline before it could disappear with the storm raging around them. Once in the treeline, she could see that there had been another set of prints alongside the larger set, but had been covered up by the snow. The Trainer she was looking for, perhaps?

Soon, as she had predicted, the tracks led to a cave. What they found, however...

"Melmetal!" Roared an angry voice from inside the cave as a massive form came barreling out. Candice yelped as the Pokemon thundered toward them, having to be at least eight feet tall, or taller, the ground actually shaking as it lumbered toward them.

Abomasnow readied himself for a fight as Candice slid from his back, "Wait!" The woman shouted, rushing into the Pokemon's path, "Please, we don't wanna fight you! We're friends!"

The Pokemon didn't seem to listen as it bulldozed toward them rapidly, and Abomasnow prepared to push his trainer out of harm's way. Suddenly, a powerful bolt of electricity shot from the cave and struck the irate behemoth, stopping it in its tracks. Candice looked toward the cave in time to see a little yellow bundle of fur come bounding out of the entrance. A Pikachu.

The Pikachu bounded out into the snow, looking at the larger Pokemon in anger. "Pika pika pi chu!"

The Pokemon he was raging at scratched at its nut-shaped head with its similarly shaped hands, looking sheepish. The Pikachu then bounced toward the young Gym Leader and lept into her arms, surprising her with his friendliness.

Candice giggled, "Hey, now, I think I know you," she smiled, reaching up to pat the little Pokemon between his ears, "You're Ash's Pikachu, aren't you?"

"Chaaa!" The little ball of energy cooed, then lept from her arms and bound back toward the cave, motioning urgently for her to follow. "Pika! Pikapi!"

Realization suddenly dawned on her as she rushed forward into the cave, "ASH!" The cave had been half-way blocked with snow, packed down by human and Pokemon hands until the large Melmetal had barged through the barricade, but the inside was still colder than what was tolerable for most humans. As driven home when she found Pikachu's trainer shivering inside his sleeping back around a dying campfire. His clothes had been hung up with a clothes line and tent spikes from the cave walls, frozen solid.

Candice crouched down next to him, shaking him, "Ash? Ash!" She yelled, trying to bring him back to awareness, only succeeding in getting him to crack his eyes open only by a fraction. He was fading fast.

"Abomasnow! Get as much firewood as you can, and hurry!" She hollered out to her friend, turning to Pikachu, "You help him, too, and get that friend of yours helping, then pile it all on the fire. Get it blazing."

"Pi!" Pikachu saluted as he bounded out of the cave, chirping orders out to the larger Melmetal. The trio were soon gone, and Candice was acting as quickly as she could in getting Ash warm again. Which meant one thing.

She took off her clothes, underwear included, and slid into the sleeping bag with him, yelping as how cold his skin felt against her own, and wrapped her arms around him, hoping that her body heat would be enough until the Pokemon returned with the firewood.

Ash's body shuddered violently as she uncurled his body and held fast to him, his teeth chattering like jackhammers.

"Shh, shh," she rubbed his back soothingly, "You're alright, Ash. It's gonna be fine." He cracked his eyes open again, wider this time. His eyes were slightly glazed over with exhaustion, giving her doubts that he actually recognized her, but she felt his arms wrapping around her body, seeking out warmth. Candice shuddered again. "God, you're freezing!" She moaned, holding him tighter.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu shouted as he and the two behemoths returned, arms laden with wood.

Candice smiled at them, "Good. Pikachu, trim some of the pine needles off and throw them into the fire first; they'll act like fuel, but you'll have to pile on the smaller twigs and sticks next before it burns out. Once you've got them going, you can add the larger pieces." She instructed, and the trio got to work, Pikachu using his tail to cut and split the needles from the branches and throw them into the dying embers, which soon flared up as if he'd thrown gasoline on them.

Soon, the fire was roaring to life.

Candice rolled Ash over the top of her so that his back was to the fire, the heat already seeping through the sleeping bag. Ash was still shivering even as the fire began to warm him, holding fast to the woman in his arms. Candice felt fine, used to the cold as she was, even in her undressed state, the bag was enough for her.

"What were you doing out here?" She questioned the young man, looking over at Pikachu, Melmetal, and Abomasnow, the latter keeping a keen eye on the other large Pokemon, not trusting it. Pikachu was curled up near the two humans, looking at his Trainer worriedly. The Melmetal, she assumed that's what it was called given that most Pokemon only spoke their species names, was hunched over by the wall of the cave, its head turning this way and that, its one eye trained on the prone Trainer.

She frowned for a moment before laying her head against his shoulder, letting her eyes close as the storm raged on outside. She smoothed out her hands across his back, feeling the tense, hardened muscled beneath her fingers, a blush rising to her cheeks. Ash hadn't been a scrawny trainer when she had first met him, certainly not, but now that he was...how old was he? Nineteen? Twenty? She knew that he was close to her age of twenty-one, but she didn't know just how close...

She shook her head, [What the hell's wrong with me?] She admonished herself, [He's close to freezing to death, and here I am copping a feel!] She bit her lip as her heart began hammering into her rib cage. The rise and fall of his chest against hers made her very much aware that her nipples had hardened against the cold, and were brushing against his skin. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. [Stop it!]

With the blizzard still growing stronger outside of the cave, all the two humans and three Pokemon could do was wait until it ended. Candice soon found herself falling into a blissful state of sleep as she rested her head against the young man that was still wrapped in her arms.


{スノーフレーク}


Ash awoke to the feeling of his limbs thawing. His hands, and feet felt like he was being cuddled by a pair of angry Togedemaru. He flexed his fingers, making sure he still had mobility in them, and found that they were brushing against something warm...and incredibly soft. When he tried to move his legs, he found that they too were up against something; another pair of legs.

Tickling his nose was something that held the scent of snow and fresh cedar. A gentle pressure rested against his chest as he felt a warm puff of air against his skin. Cracking open his eyes, he found a head of black hair beneath his chin, resting against his chest. Below that were bare shoulders that rose and fell slightly as the person breathed in their sleep.

Her right cheek was pressed against his bare chest, allowing him to see a small, almost unnoticeable smile across her face. A face he recognized. "C-Candice?"

"Pi..." He craned his neck and saw Pikachu blinking sleepily next to Melmetal, and a large Abomasnow, which cemented the fact that he was snuggling against the Snowpoint Gym Leader, stark naked.

"Oh, boy..."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu chirped happily as he saw his Trainer awake at last, which alerted the two dozing behemoths beside him.

Pikachu bounded over to him and rubbed against his face affectionately, causing him to laugh, "Hey, take it easy, buddy!" He chuckled, carefully moving his right up and out of the sleeping bag so that he could pet him. "Did you bring her here?"

"Chuu." His friend cooed happily at his touch.

"Mel..." Melmetal groaned as the large Pokemon lumbered toward him.

Ash smiled at the large Mythical Pokemon, "Hey, big guy," he smiled at the giant Steel type. "thanks for getting me here."

"Metal." Melmetal said happily.

Suddenly, the woman next to him stirred, moaning in her sleep. She raised her head from his chest, and cracked open her eyes, blinking sleepily. Ash kept completely still as the young woman awoke.

She looked up at him, still half asleep, and smiled, "Ash," she slurred sleepily, "You're awake."

"Yeah, thanks to you, I guess." Ash half-smiled, still uncertain of the situation.

Candice smiled before her eyes widened and an angry expression overtook her face, and lept up. "What the hell were you thinking?!" Candice shouted out, her voice ringing off the walls of the cave.

Ash scrabbled back from the woman, but not because of her fury. "C-Ca-Candice!"

"Honestly, Ash Ketchum, I thought you had more sense than to waltz out in the middle of a blizzard?!"

"W-w-well, I didn't know that there was a blizzard coming, but that's not important right now, -!"

"Of course it's important!" Candice shouted, her hands on her hips, in full teacher mode, "If I hadn't heard that there was someone out here, then you'd be a popsicle by now! You're lucky to be alive!"

"I know I am, and I can't thank you enough, b-but Candice -!"

"Stop interrupting!"

"YOU'RE NAKED!" Ash yelled, his hands covering his face, which did very little to hide the fact that the Gym Leader was fully exposed in front of him. Candice finally let off on her angered tirade when the words left the young man's mouth, and remembered what she had done to keep him from freezing to death. She looked down at the young man, who was trying very hard not to peek through his fingers at the moment, and failing, and then at the clothes he had hung up, noticing that his boxers were up there as well.

Her own clothes were hung up alongside them to keep them off the frozen ground.

Her face lit up like a roman candle, "ASH KETCHUM, ABOUT FACE RIGHT NOW!" She screeched, crossing her arms over her body.

"Right!" Ash hurriedly turned himself around while the young woman quickly grabbed her clothes. [Dear God, and Arceus, please don't let her be mad!] He silently prayed.

"Alright," he heard her grumble, "You can look, now."

Ash gulped and turned his head slightly just in time to see her finish buttoning up her blouse with her sweater tied around her waist as usual. He also noted a prominent blush right across her nose and cheeks as she kept her eyes away from him.

"Uh, Candice?" Ash hesitated, but the woman kept her eyes glued to the cave walls.

"What is it?"

"Thank you," the young man said, "For saving me, that is." She turned to him and saw him looking sheepish, "If you hadn't come along, then I don't know what would've happened."

Candice's face softened slightly, "You're welcome," she gave the young trainer a small smile, reminding him of the look on her face when she had been asleep next to him, "But what in the world were you doing out here?"

Ash gave a small shrug, "I've been out here for a few months, really," he said, surprising her, "After I got back from Alola, I decided to do some hardcore training out in the wilderness."

"And this is the place you decided to come to?" Candice asked skeptically.

"I thought about Kalos, but Sinnoh was closer, and I had a lot of fond memories of this region." He admitted, smiling. He then looked up at his clothes, still hanging from the line, "How long have we been here?" He asked, reaching up to finger his jacket, finding it still cold to the touch, but thawed out, and dripping.

Candice shook her head, "It was mid afternoon when I heard that you were out here," she said, looking toward the cave entrance, "I'd say about four or five hours since it seems to be dark outside."

"And my clothes aren't even dry, yet." He sighed, looking down at himself covered by the sleeping bag. It was a good thing he managed to stay inside of it during Candice's angry rant.

"How did that happen, anyway?" She asked, looking up at his dripping clothes, "There aren't any lakes or rivers this far from the Lake, so how did you manage such a soaking?"

Ash sighed, "Bad luck, really." He said, looking at his large Melmetal, "Melmetal and I were working on his speed, and I got knocked into a snow bank while he and Quilava were horsing around." He said, not willing to say that Quilava had Flamewheeled into him and caused the snow bank to melt over the top of him, drenching him in ice-cold water.

"If you had a Fire type, then you should have brought it out right away to keep you warm," she admonished, "In weather like this, a Fire type can be really useful. It's Snowpoint survival training 101 out here."

Ash shook his head, "Quilava has to use a fair amount of energy to keep his flames going outside of battle, so I didn't want to overtax him." He sighed, "And I didn't even think of calling for one of my other Fire types because I didn't want them to get hurt during the blizzard."

"Then how did Melmetal and Pikachu - ?"

"Pikachu stays outside of his Pokeball because he hates being inside it," Ash said, gaining a nod from the little Electric type. He looked over at the large Steel type, "Melmetal was worried about me, and refused to go inside his Pokeball after I got drenched, so he stayed with me until we found this cave and I had Quilava start the fire."

Candice sighed, then noticed that he was shivering again. "Can your Quilava use Heatwave?"

"He can," Ash nodded, "Why?"

The young Gym Leader smiled, and gestured for him to call his Fire type out. Doing so, the small Fire type appeared with a worried expression on his face when he saw his trainer shivering. Candice knelt beside him and petted his fur gently, "Quilava, Ash's clothes have thawed out, but they're still dripping wet." She told him, gaining a look of guilt from the little fellow, "Do you think you can use a weak Heatwave to dry them out, and maybe warm us all up a little?"

"Quil!" The Volcano Pokemon affirmed and moved toward his Trainer's clothes. Candice recalled her Abomasnow while Melmetal and Pikachu moved out of the line of fire as Quilava's back ignited, and breathed out a breath of super heated air. Weak as the attack was, if he had been aiming directly at Ash's clothes, they would have ignited after only a few seconds. But the attack was aimed at the cave wall. The heat soon spread through the cave, warming all of them as Ash's clothes began to steam and dry out.

Ash palmed his face, "Now why didn't I think of that?" He frowned, shaking his head, "Some Trainer I am."

Candice giggled as she fanned her blouse out against the heat, "Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of." She smiled, blushing a little bit as her eyes unconsciously went to Ash's bare chest. [When did he get such large muscles?]

After a few minutes, Ash's clothes were dry, and warm. Candice turned herself around as he dressed, half tempted to take a peak just to see if those muscles were just as toned all over, but restrained herself. "So what are you gonna do, now?" She asked, trying to make small talk as he dressed. "You're not planning to stay out here, are you?"

Ash nodded, not that she could see it, "I need to keep training." He said, more to himself than to the young woman. "I'm tired of coming up short in all of the Leagues I challenge, so I need to get stronger."

He turned around and sat down on his sleeping bag, prompting Candice to turn around, looking at him with worry, "Ash, you're plenty strong, but there's always going to be someone stronger than you." She said, "You proved that to me when we battled. I get so few challengers because I'm considered a powerful trainer, and have some incredible Pokemon to help me. But you still beat me on your second try. A lot of others don't go for a second try for months, or at all."

Ash shook his head, "I've competed in every official League there is, Candice," he looked at her with a hint of sadness in his face, "In all that time, I've only ever won one League, and that was the unofficial Orange League. No one's challenged me for the title to date, but it's still just one win among eight."

Candice giggled and sat beside him, "From what I hear, a certain someone was the first Trainer to ever beat the battle Frontier that Scott's so proud of." She bumped his shoulder with her own, smiling at him when he gave a small glare, "You beat Noland and that Articuno. And you even beat Brandon, a man that uses Registeel, Regirock, and Regice. That right there tells me something."

"It's not enough to be considered a Pokemon Master," he said, frowning, "I've been working at this since I was ten, and I always seem to fall short."

Candice frowned at him, "You're not planning on giving up, are you?"

Ash closed his eyes, sighing deeply, "I actually considered it, but I just can't sit still long enough to really think about it." He admitted, chuckling, "Pikachu zapped me for it not that long ago, but - "

"Listen, Ash," the Gym Leader said, catching his attention, "I don't know all of what it takes to become a so called Pokemon Master, but I do know that it takes a long time." She said, "There aren't that many that claim that title, but I know that they're not unbeatable. They're just incredible trainers...just like I know you are." She smiled.

Ash let a smile play across his lips, "Thanks for that."

"Any time," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder, "Tell you what, maybe you just need a break from it all?"

Ash shook his head, "Another vacation? No thanks."

"Aw, c'mon," she smiled, jabbing him in the side with her elbow, "Just spend a few days with me?"

"With you?" Ash asked.

"Uh-huh," she giggled, "Help me out with my classes at school. Train with me in the Gym, and maybe help me out with the Temple? It's getting kind'a boring just being by myself these days."

Ash remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Candice sighed, and leaned her head back on his shoulder, "For once, think of something other than the Leagues." She said, unwittingly echoing his mother's words to him so many months ago. "Take a chance to unwind. Pass along some knowledge. Maybe even have a little fun while you're at it?"

"I'm not good with sitting still for very long," Ash reminded her.

"Then don't," she said, "Keep training. I'll battle you every day if you like?"

Ash looked at her, blushing at the fact that she was so close to him again. "Won't I get in the way?"

"Only if you really do just sit around on your but all day." She smirked, "You could seriously help me out with some of my exams."

Ash looked out at the blizzard, sighing, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a warm bed to sleep in after five months of caves and tents."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu chirped happily as he jumped to Ash's shoulder and purred whiled rubbing against Candice's face.

Candice giggled, "Looks like Pikachu likes the sound of that."

"Just don't leave any ketchup around him," Ash sighed, looking at his longtime partner, "He could go through an entire kitchen's worth of the stuff."


{スノーフレーク}


The blizzard didn't let up until late the following afternoon, leaving the two Trainers stranded for the entire evening, and part of the next day, giving them time to catch up. Candice was curious about Ash's adventures through the other regions after he had competed in the Sinnoh League, and was not disappointed. Hearing of his travels in Unova, Kalos, and then the Alola region had her smiling. She even got to look through his Pokedex and saw the entries about the Alolan Ice types, immediately falling in love with the Ice type Alolan Vulpix.

"I still can't believe you went to a Pokemon school," she told him as he shared his stories of the region. "You really don't seem the type to just sit in a classroom."

"It wasn't all study sessions," Ash said, "I thought that if I learned a little more about Pokemon and training, I would e a better trainer."

Candice smiled, "Well, at least you got a really nice tan," she said, taking note of his darkened skin. As they spoke, he told her of what happened with the Ultra Beasts, and then the whole situation with Team Rainbow Rocket. She couldn't believe that bit, but the fact that Team Rocket had been troublesome to her in the past, she couldn't fully disbelieve it, either.

Then there was the way he had caught his Melmetal, which was then a Pokemon called Meltan. It turned out that it was a newly discovered Mythical Pokemon that had stayed behind while the rest had moved on, and stayed with Ash. It was his proudest achievement. He had battled with Legendary and Mythical Pokemon several times before, but never thought of catching one.

When the storm finally broke, the two headed for Snowpoint City. Dusk was setting in as they finally made to the city, the Gym Leader's arrival stirring up some of the more worried residents of the city. Mainly her students.

When they reached her home, Ash did something that he would later find highly unpleasant. He called his mother.


{スノーフレーク}


AN: I was planning to make this into a long one-shot, but I thought I'd make it easier on some to read by breaking it into a few parts. It won't be a long story, at all.

The pairing is a rare Ash x Candice romance. Ash has his Alola Pokemon, spoiler, which includes a Melmetal.

Be Kind and Review, please.