Okay, before we start this chapter properly, I want to aplogize my long absence. First I was on summer holiday and then I got massive writer's block :( But now I'm here again with new chapter and I hope you like it! And now on the chapter!

Previously:

Oleana revealed her true nature, Serena changed her team , Ash promised to return a lost Gengar back to its trainer and the group set off on a trek towards Spikemuth and Ash's seventh Gym battle. But little do they know that the journey there won't be anything without surprises...

"Rotom, when you said we were expecting light snowfall, I was expecting something other than this..."

"I'm sorry, but I'm mainly a Pokedex, not a weather forecaster."

"You should have said that when I asked what kind of weather we were expecting!"

"Well, you didn't tell me to say that..."

"You sound like Lucario. Did he tell you to be cheeky, or what?"

"No, I just tell things like I'm asked."

"..."

It had been about a day since the group had left Circhester for Spikemuth. At that time the landscape had hardly changed at all, and they were still traveling through a very snowy landscape. They had found a forest path which, according to Serena, led directly towards Spikemuth. So they had taken that path, the beautiful sunshine cheering their spirits.

But it hadn't lasted long. In the evening, that beautiful sunshine had turned into a beautiful grey cloud cover, which had prompted Ash to ask Rotom for a weather forecast. Rotom had predicted a light snowfall, so the group had decided to keep going.

Too bad that "light" seemed to be a very relative term in this case. The snowfall had indeed started light, but had intensified all the time. In the end, the snow had begun to fall almost horizontally, and so hard that they could no longer even see properly in front of them.

"Ash, stop blaming Rotom, he was only doing the best he could!" Serena shouted, trying to shield her face from the snow with her hand. It didn't help much as the wind made the snowfall even harder than it already was. "None of us knew the weather would turn out like this!"

"Serena's right!" Gou also shouted, walking with Chloe behind Ash and Serena. "Instead of arguing, we'd better find some shelter if we don't want to freeze to icicles! After all, this storm isn't going to stop anytime soon..."

He was right about that. Just as he finished his sentence, a wind swept over them, much stronger than before. It made Pikachu almost fly off Ash's shoulder, Gou and Chloe cover their eyes, and Serena falter and almost fall.

"Your friend is right. We really need to find some shelter," Lucario also said. He and Greninja stood like bodyguards on either side of Gengar. All the other Pokémon were safe in their own balls, but Lucario was determined to stay outside. He had given the reason that if he had to guard Gengar, he would do it at least properly. Greninja, not wanting to be left behind by blue dog, had decided to do the same, although he was beginning to regret his decision (Lucario was too stubborn to have any regrets).

"Okay, let's do it!" Ash shouted back, though in the wind he could barely hear himself. The others nodded and started looking for somewhere to take shelter from the storm.

But it soon became clear that there was nothing to see in the storm. They were forced to give up and try to continue on the path they had been following.

Except that the path had disappeared. It had been covered in snow and now there was nothing but white in front of them. They weren't even sure they were on the path anymore. In the end, they decided to just keep going and hope that there would be something more than forest and snow.

After wading some distance in the snow, Serena noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She quickly turned her head towards the movement, but saw nothing but snow and spruce trees growing in the forest. She decided to take a closer look, however, and started to wade to the side.

"Where's your girlfriend going?" Ash, who had been pacing in thought with Pikachu on his shoulder, suddenly heard Lucario's voice and woke up from his musings. "What did you say?" he asked, turning his head in the direction he assumed Lucario was, and somehow saw Aura Pokemon pointing deeper into the forest.

Ash turned his head in that direction in confusion, and was even more confused to see Serena's red jacket disappear into the trees. "Serena!" he shouted, but Serena didn't seem to hear. Ash didn't want Serena to be left alone and lost in the woods, so he quickly set off to follow the trail Serena had left, which was quickly disappearing, with Pikachu still perched on his shoulder.

Lucario saw it. He glanced quickly at the bogeyman, and saw him walking safely with the frog. He decided that his Master needed him more than Gengar at that moment and quickly set off to follow the tracks he had left behind. He also had a feeling that his Aura skills would be needed soon.

"Serena!" Ash shouted as he waded through the snow. The heavy snowfall and thick trees made it difficult to see and he had already lost sight of Serena. He began to feel panic growing inside him and he tried desperately to see any sign of Serena. Even the tracks she had left behind were no longer of any help, as the snow had already covered them. "Pikachu, this is impossible. We can't find anyone in this weather," he sighed in despair and Pikachu said worriedly, "Pikaa..."

"You can if you just use your Aura powers," came a familiar voice then and Ash quickly turned around. At first he saw nothing or no one, but then he began to make out the familiar blue figure in front of him. Lucario waddled towards him, looking at the snow with disgust. "Try. It's not hard."

"How?" Ash asked, his focus completely elsewhere. Lucario quickly waddled over to him and placed his paw on Ash's Pikachu-less shoulder. "Focus. Close your eyes and feel Aura inside you. You'll know when you've succeeded," he instructed, closing his eyes. Ash hesitated for a moment, but then did as Lucario had instructed.

At first he felt nothing, but then he began to feel something. Something that came from another living being, other than the trees around him. He grasped it and gradually the feeling took shape. It became a figure of blue energy, which Ash immediately recognized as Serena. And suddenly he knew exactly where to go.

His eyes snapped open and he found himself looking directly into Lucario's red eyes with a curious look in them. "I know where to go," he said and Lucario nodded. "Lead the way," he said simply and then Ash turned and quickly set off to lead them through the snowy forest.

Serena realized she had made the biggest mistake of her life. She had been left alone in a strange forest in the worst weather she could imagine, without telling anyone. Now she was alone in the middle of a snowstorm and had no idea where she had come from. What's more, the reason why she had gone out alone into the woods in the first place had been revealed to be nothing more than an illusion created by the snowfall.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." she cursed herself and kicked the snow angrily. "Stupid Serena, look what you've done! You've wandered off into the woods in the worst weather imaginable, and now you're freezing to death alone. And no one will ever find you!"

"Well, someone already did," came a suddenly very familiar voice from behind her and she stopped berating herself. She turned around quickly and thought for a moment that she had imagined the voice after all. But then she saw a familiar figure coming towards her from behind the trees and her mouth twisted into a smile.

"Ash! How did you find me?" she exclaimed as she ran to her boyfriend and hugged him tightly. Ash grinned and wrapped his arms around Serena's body. "With aura. Lucario helped a little, though," Ash explained and Serena only now noticed the Pokemon. He was watching them a little sideways, but still close enough not to lose them. He seemed to be watching a spot in the snow very closely, but Serena didn't think much of it. Instead, she sighed and said, "Well, I'm glad he helped, because I'm sure I would have stayed here if you hadn't found me."

"Yeah," Ash said with a smile and Pikachu patted Serena on the shoulder. "But we should probably get back. Gou and Chloe will be worried about us."

"I guess you didn't say anything to them before you went off to rescue me like some hero," Serena sighed, rolling her eyes and Ash chuckled. "Well, no," he said a little embarrassed, but Serena just giggled. "Then we're both even. Neither of us let anyone know where we were going," she said and Ash grinned.

"Yep," he chuckled and Pikachu rolled his eyes. Then Ash turned to look at Lucario, who was still staring at something in the snow very intently, and said, "Hey Lucario, let's go. Gou and Chloe worry too much otherwise."

"Just a minute," Lucario replied, however, and moved on to examine a pile of snow. Ash, who knew that Lucario never did anything for nothing, was now interested in Pokemon's behavior and asked, "What's up? Did you feel something?" Lucario didn't answer, however, and Ash wondered what had made Aura Pokemon so interested.

Ash was just wondering if this was another of Lucario's many oddities, but just then Lucario crouched down next to a pile of snow and started digging something up. Ash and Serena looked at each other and Ash said slowly, "Uh... Lucario? What are you doing?" Lucario still didn't answer and Ash thought the whole thing was getting very weird.

But then Lucario suddenly stood up and picked up something from the pile of snow he had dug. Ash and Serena tried to see what it was, but only succeeded when Lucario turned back to face them.

Lucario was holding a small Pokemon in his arms, which Ash recognized as Skwovet. Its eyes were closed and it lay too still in Lucario's arms. Ash heard Serena gasp beside him at the sight of it and he himself said quietly, "Is... is he dead?"

"Not yet, but if we don't get him somewhere warm quickly, he might die," Lucario said seriously and the little Skwovet didn't move in his arms. "He is very cold and is only barely alive."

"Couldn't you... couldn't you cure him with Aura's help?" Serena asked in a small voice, and Lucario turned his red eyes to her. "Like when Ash healed my spine back there at the lake. Couldn't you do something similar for Skwovet?"

"Even if I wanted to, I can't," Serena heard Lucario reply. "Freezing to death is not the same as a broken spine. I can keep Skwovet alive for a while, but eventually he'll need heat."

"Which is a good reason to head back," Ash said, nodding for the others to follow. "Come on, let's go! Aura will help us find our way back to Gou and Chloe."

He was about to start walking backwards when suddenly there was a sound like something heavy rolling downhill. Ash heard Serena shriek in horror and turned as soon as he heard it. And what did he see? Along the mountainside at the foot of which they were standing, a huge avalanche was rolling towards them. There would have been no time to escape, so Ash did the first thing that came to his mind.

He lunged towards Serena, turned to protect her and closed his eyes. And then, their world turned white.

"Wait," said Gou suddenly, stopping in mid-step. Chloe stopped too and looked at Gou, slightly confused. Greninja and Gengar did the same and also turned to look at Gou. "I think I heard something."

"Oh? All I hear is this wind," said Chloe and spread her arms, indicating the wind howling around them. But Gou was sure he had heard something. "No, I'm sure I heard something. Something other than this wind, that is. Ash, Serena, did you hear... Ash? Serena?"

He had turned to ask his friends walking behind them about it, but was surprised to find that the two were no longer walking behind them. Chloe seemed to notice the same and she asked in confusion, "Where have Ash and Serena disappeared to? They were just here."

"I don't know, and that worries me," said Gou, trying to understand where their friends had gone. In a storm like this, being separated from each other could be fatal, and Gou had thought Ash and Serena knew that. They should have at least said something, he thought, and huffed in some frustration.

"Ninja greninja!" Greninja's voice suddenly rang out and Gou and Chloe quickly turned their heads in his direction. They saw Greninja pointing somewhere in the hollow of a nearby forest and beckoning them to follow. "I think he heard something," said Chloe and Gou nodded. "Yeah, I think so, too. Come on, we should probably go and see what we can find out there. Maybe Ash and Serena are there too," he said, grabbing Chloe's hand.

They quickly set off in the direction Greninja pointed, with Greninja following with Gengar. And soon they too had disappeared into the forest, the snowfall slowly covering their footprints left behind.

It was quiet. Ash knew something big had happened, but he wasn't quite sure what. He was afraid to open his eyes, because he didn't know what he would see when he opened them. If he would see anything. Because he wasn't sure if there was anything left to see.

In the end, he couldn't stand it any longer, he had to open his eyes. Slowly he opened his eyes, finally opening them all the way. Blinking, he looked around, scanning his surroundings.

He realized Serena was leaning against him, her eyes squeezed tightly shut and her hands in fists. He himself was in a sort of protective position, his back turned away from Serena and they were both right on the ground. He slowly turned his head to look back and then gasped.

Lucario was standing right behind them, one arm raised in the air and the other draped around the small Skwovet. His expression radiated extreme concentration and Ash quickly realized what he was doing. He had created a protective shield around them from the Aura, which had spread out in a bubble-like shape. And that, Ash knew well, required skill.

"Ash, what happened?" came a small and frightened voice, and Ash looked away from Lucario. He saw that Serena had opened her eyes and was looking around in confusion. Her gaze finally wandered to Ash and they met. Ash could see that there was confusion and fear in her blue eyes.

"I don't know... I just heard something collapse, saw the snow rolling towards us, and then we were here" he explained, gesturing to the landscape around him. "And luckily Lucario was able to conjure up this 'bubble' here."

"As you should," Lucario grunted. "If I hadn't conjured this for your shelter, this avalanche would have squashed you into a pancake. And if I may say so, this is not the easiest job, maintaining the 'bubble', you see..."

"Maybe," said Ash. "But if we'd known about this earlier, I and Pikachu could have stopped it with one well-aimed Thunderbolt, right, buddy?" he continued and turned to grin at Pikachu, who he assumed was sitting in his usual spot on his shoulder. But then he realized there was no one sitting on his shoulder, not Pikachu or anyone else. In fact, now that Ash looked closer, Pikachu was nowhere to be seen inside the bubble. It was just him, Serena, Lucario and the half-dead Skwovet. Pikachu was nowhere to be seen and Ash's brain realized that meant only one thing.

Pikachu had been left outside the protective bubble and caught in an avalanche.

"Gou, look!" Chloe exclaimed suddenly, pointing at something in front of her and stopping in mid-run. Gou stopped too, looked in the direction Chloe was pointing, and gasped. Ahead of them was a piled avalanche, which spread in every direction. It had snapped trees out of its path and covered the surroundings in even more snow. And most likely, Gou and Chloe realized with horror, had crushed their unfortunate friends beneath them.

"No..." Gou gasped and ran towards the avalanche. Greninja did the same, but Chloe and Gengar stayed a little further back. "It can't be... can't be true... I refuse to believe this..." He began to dig the snow from the avalanche at a rapid pace, a furious look on his face.

"Gou, leave it. No one survives an avalanche like that," Chloe said inconsolably, watching sadly as Gou's fruitless attempts to dig out the avalanche failed. "Not even Ash and Serena. They're probably already..."

"NO! Don't say it, I don't want to hear it!" Gou shouted, interrupting Chloe. Chloe was about to say something more, but then closed her mouth and looked away sadly. "Say what you want, but I refuse to believe that Ash and Serena are gone until I see it for myself! It's just not possible, it's not!"

"Alright, but Greninja... hm?" Chloe started, but then stopped her sentence abruptly, as she had heard a noise from nearby. Greninja and Gengar had apparently noticed it too, as they immediately took a standby position. Suddenly there was another sound, this time closer, and Chloe froze, holding her breath. Then a small figure, yellow and very much like a...

"Pikachu?" Chloe said in surprise and Ash's electric mouse ran across the snow towards her. Pikachu looked worried and tired, and stopping in front of Chloe, he quickly said, "Pikachu, Pikapi pika chu chu!" while pointing to the avalanche. However, Chloe didn't understand what Pikachu was trying to say, so she crouched down next to him and said, "Slow down, I can't keep up with you!"

Pikachu looked at Chloe, a little irritated, but then ran over to the avalanche, stopped and said more slowly, "Pikapi, quick chu chu." He pointed to the avalanche below him and looked at Chloe meaningfully. Chloe stared back and suddenly she began to realize what Pikachu meant.

"Wait a minute... Are you saying that Ash and Serena could still be alive?" She said slowly and Pikachu nodded quickly. "But... how could that be possible?" she continued, confused. "You won't survive an avalanche like that."

Pikachu, however, had an answer ready. "Pikachu!" he exclaimed, then mimicked with his face one very familiar pointy-eared and grumpy Pokemon that Chloe was also very familiar with. Chloe quickly realized what he meant.

"Was Lucario with them?" she asked and Pikachu nodded again. Chloe, for her part, felt a small wave of hope at hearing it. If Lucario had been with them, he might have managed to save Ash and Serena using his Aura or something. Chloe had seen Lucario create shields out of Aura. Maybe he had created one now. Maybe they didn't have to throw away all hope after all!

But before Chloe would start celebrating, Ash and Serena (and Lucario) would have to be gotten out from under the snow. Chloe still wasn't quite sure how she would do it, but she had a plan of sorts. And for that, she would need Gou's help.

"Gou, I need your help. We need to rescue Ash and Serena," Chloe said briskly and strode over to Gou. To her delight, the snowfall had begun to ease and now it was only falling small flakes. Gou didn't seem to notice, though, so intent was he on digging around the avalanche. Even when he heard Chloe's words, he did not stop, but said between his teeth, "Aren't I doing it already? "

"No, I mean really. At that rate you'll get nowhere," said Chloe curtly, and Gou turned to look at her, rather irritated. But before he could say anything, Chloe quickly went forward and said, "But I may have a plan to speed things up. And it goes like this..."

She quickly explained the plan to Gou and when she finished, Gou smiled slightly. "Sounds good. Let's do that," he said finally and so they started to implement Chloe's plan.

"Let me out! Now! I need to find Pikachu!" Ash shouted, pounding Lucario's Aura Shield with his fists. Ever since he had realized that Pikachu wasn't with them, he had been restless and worried. He had been spinning in circles inside their 'bubble', muttering to himself, and finally started beating the walls of the 'bubble' as if to break them apart. It hadn't worked, of course, and he had only become more nervous and restless. And it was no fun for the people inside the bubble either.

"I can't, Master. If I remove the shield, we'll all be flattened by the snow," Lucario explained between his teeth. Though he kept his voice as even as possible, Serena, who was sitting in the snow with a worried look on her face, Skwovet on her lap, (Lucario had given him to Serena, as he needed both hands to hold up the Aura Shield), noticed that it was getting harder and harder. Ash ignored this, however, and slammed his fist into the wall again (it was rippling) and shook his head, "I don't care. I need to know where Pikachu is. And to do that I need to get out of here!"

He didn't look away, but Serena could sense his frustration. She sighed and said slowly but clearly, "Ash, listen to Lucario. Pikachu will be fine. But we won't be fine if Lucario removes the shield. Pikachu won't be happy if we flatten ourselves into pancakes." Ash grunted something in response, but stopped pounding the "bubble" and that was enough for Serena.

The "bubble" was in a weak state anyway, even without Ash's hammering. It was taking a huge amount of Lucario's strength and it was starting to show on the walls of the "bubble". Serena had noticed a strange ripple in the walls of the bubble, and it worried her. She knew that Lucario was doing his best and telling him about things like the ripples would only make things worse. The situation might not have been so bad if Ash had also helped maintain the 'bubble', but Ash was far too restless and nervous for that now. So, it was up to Lucario alone. And it looked like he would soon run out of strength too...

Eventually Ash gave up beating the "bubble" and rolled down its wall onto the floor. He looked miserable and sad and was apparently about to say something when suddenly Lucario raised his eyes to one of the walls of the "bubble". "I feel a strong Aura coming from over there," he said suddenly, staring at the wall of the "bubble". Ash lifted his gaze as he heard it and Lucario continued, "And it's not just coming from one, but from many living beings."

"Pikachu! And Gou and Chloe and probably our Pokemon!" Ash exclaimed as he heard it and quickly stood up. He eyed the walls of the "bubble" with his gaze and then said, suddenly full of energy, "They've found us and come to rescue us. We must send them some message so they know where we are!"

"How? We can't get out of here," said Serena weakly, but Ash was not discouraged. Instead, he turned to look at Lucario and asked, "Can you send them a message with Aura?"

"I can try, but it might not work," Lucario replied, but Ash wasn't going to let that discourage him either. "Try anyway. It would be foolish not to at least try," he said, and there was such hope in his gaze that Lucario couldn't refuse.

"All right, I'll try," he said, a little reluctantly, and then closed his eyes. He knew it would take a lot of his strength to get the message across, but he didn't want to lull his trainer into such a depressed state again. So, he closed his eyes and focused on the people outside.

At first he felt nothing, but then he felt something. No, someone. A figure formed in his mind and became a familiar Pokemon. And made him groan. Why him? Why, of all the people around, had he managed to connect with that stupid blue frog?! Why?!

But it didn't help. That stupid frog could be their way out. So, gritting his teeth, Lucario refocused and sent a message to Greninja along the Aura, "Hey toad, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Greninja replied, sounding as reluctant to talk to Lucario as Lucario was to talk to him. "But why... no, how, did you even call me? Aren't you dead? "

"No, but I soon will be if you don't shut your mouth and listen," Lucario replied, still keeping his voice calm even though he wanted to strangle the idiot. "So listen carefully. If Gou or Chloe is nearby, ask them to dig up the snow from the avalanche and..."

"Nah, no need," Greninja said, and Lucario closed his "mouth" confused. "They figured it out themselves. Or Pikachu helped a little, but still. You'll soon see what I mean. But if that's all you had, adios, doggo!" And then Lucario felt the connection close, and he couldn't feel it again.

"That damn frog..." he muttered in irritation, but then something happened that made him forget what he was about to say.

The "bubble" around them was shaking, for something had slammed with force against its wall outside. Lucario almost lost control of the "bubble" as a result of the impact, but he managed to pull himself together just in time. Ash and Serena, on the other hand, looked startled and Serena shrieked, "What was that? What's happening?!"

"I don't know, but..." Ash started, but then another bump shook the "bubble". This was followed by a third similar one, but then there was a sudden silence. Then a bright light began to shine from above them and it made everyone in the "bubble" squint their eyes. And then Ash gasped in amazement and his face broke into a wide smile.

Someone had made an opening above them, from which light shone into their dim "bubble" and from that opening, Ash saw a very familiar yellow electric mouse. "Pikachu!" he exclaimed and relief washed over him. Pikachu was alive after all! Pikachu waved to him from outside the "bubble" and then another familiar face appeared in the opening.

Gou looked as relieved to see them alive as Ash was to see Pikachu. He smiled broadly and sighed, "At last! I thought you were dead after all!" The "bubble" slightly distorted his voice, but it didn't take the relief out of it.

"We would be without Lucario," Ash replied, nodding towards Lucario, who was still holding the "bubble" up. It did, however, remind him of one thing. Serena was obviously thinking along the same lines, because she opened her mouth just then and said, "But... how do we get out of here without this whole thing collapsing? It wouldn't be nice to get caught in another avalanche..."

"Leave it to us!" Gou said firmly and whistled. It took a few seconds and then a grinning Gengar appeared beside him. "Geng gengar!" he said and Gou grinned. "Ash, Serena, here's your ticket out of there. Gengar, please."

"Gengar!" Gengar said and his eyes began to shine. Then the glow caught Ash and Serena and before they knew it, they had moved out. They found themselves floating in the air until Gengar lowered them back to the ground. They staggered slightly as they hit the ground and then Ash heard a joyous shriek from nearby. "Pikapi!" Pikachu shouted when he saw Ash again and jumped into his arms. He rubbed his head against Ash's cheek and seemed overwhelmed with happiness to see his trainer again. "Pikapi chu pika! "

"I'm happy to see you again too, buddy!" Ash laughed and hugged Pikachu tightly. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look. Greninja had also come to greet him and Ash grinned at her too.

Serena watched him with a smile, the little Skwovet still in her arms, but then noticed something in the corner of her eye. She squinted to look and was surprised to see a stranger man walking towards them. Seeing them, the man began to speed up until he reached them.

"Oi! Get outa there, it's very dangerous to be near an avalanche!" the man shouted at them and Serena could now see him clearly. The man was wearing warm winter clothes, a bushy brown beard, and had a large backpack on his back. He strode worriedly towards the group and Serena guessed he was some kind of ranger or guide. "I suppose ye young people should know that."

"I'm sorry, sir, but one of our Pokémon has been caught in an avalanche!" Serena replied and the man looked horrified. "Holy sweet Arceus!" he exclaimed and ran the rest of the way to them, backpack swaying on her back.

It seemed that rescuing Lucario wasn't quite as simple as the others. Lucario was still inside the "bubble" and apparently refused Gengar's help. Ash, now crouched in front of the opening, was looking at him with a frown, apparently trying again to understand Lucario's reasoning.

"Lucario, what are you doing? Why don't you let Gengar bring you to safety?" he asked, a little irritated but also concerned, and Lucario scowled at him irritably. "I can get myself out of here, without the help of a bogeyman, thank you very much," he grumbled grumpily and Ash frowned a little more. "But... how?" he asked, looking even more worried. "Without the 'bubble' you'll flatten into a pancake."

"Hah! You bet! Watch and learn," said Lucario. Then he began to very, very, very slowly creep towards the opening, still holding the "bubble" up. Then, getting very close to the opening, he let the 'bubble' collapse and plunged towards the opening.

He made it out very narrowly. Just as he was about to get outside, the space hardened by the "bubble" collapsed and the snow enclosed it. Lucario, however, had made it outside and therefore did not become a pancake. Ash, Gou and the unknown man helped him out and he stood up with a slight shudder.

"Hahaha, there you go!" he said, pleased with himself and his performance.

And then he fainted.

"Thanks for letting us spend the night here," Ash said after a while to the man who had come to help them. The man had introduced himself Mortimer and worked as a ranger, guide and doctor in the forest. He lived in a large log house in the middle of the forest with his Pokémon Weavile and Mamoswine, and often helped trainers and travellers passing through the forest. He had let Ash and companions stay with him for the night, as the forest could be very dangerous at night, especially in such weather. Ash and co. were of course very grateful for this, as they certainly did not want to spend the night in a dark and cold forest.

So, soon Ash and the co. had found themselves in Mortimer's cabin and made themselves at home. Indeed, Mortimer had a large living room in his cottage, with a fire always burning in the fireplace, and the living room full of soft sofas. The group had, of course, settled in and warmed themselves by the fire. Serena was pretty sure that it beat hiding under a mountain of snow hands down.

"You're welcome," grumbled Mortimer. He was bent over the kitchen table, his brow furrowed in a very worried frown. For before him lay the little Skwovet that Lucario had rescued, still in a weak condition. Mortimer was now trying to think of something that would help the little Pokemon. His Weavile was also standing beside him, ready to help. "I couldn't leave you outa there overnight, ye see. Especially not in this weather. Weavile, would ye get some Aspear juice from my cupboard. Let's see if it helps this little lad."

"Wea!" Weavile said with a nod, and went to get some juice from one of Mortimer's many cabinets. They were all over his house, and each contained so many different herbs, berry jams, juices and other medicinal concoctions that Ash hadn't even heard of them. Thinking about them, however, made him glance at Lucario, who was lying on one of Mortimer's couches in a deep sleep. He had spent all his energy maintaining the bubble and had exhausted himself completely. Ash didn't understand why Lucario allowed himself to do so, but then he didn't understand his Pokemon sometimes anyway.

Mortimer noticed the look in Ash's eyes and said, "Don't worry, lad. Yer Pokemon is a strong one. He'll be fine." Ash nodded when he heard that, but said nothing. "I'm more worried about this little fellow. He's in pretty bad shape, and I'm not sure if any of my herbs will help. Hopefully the Aspear juice will do the trick."

He took the Aspear juice from Weavile, who had brought it to him, and poured some into Skwovet's mouth. "And now we wait," Mortimer mused, and the group in the room held their breath, waiting for something to happen.

For a moment nothing happened, but then Skwovet took a sharp intake of breath and then began to snore. A sigh of relief went through the group, for at least Skwovet was alive. Serena in particular was relieved, for she would have been horrified if all the effort Lucario had done to for that little Pokémon had all been for nothing.

"Yeah, I guess that's okay," Mortimer grumbled, scratching his head as Skwovet snored on his table, and shrugged. "At least he's alive. Weavile, find this little fellow a place to sleep. My kitchen table is not the best place for that."

"Wea wee!" said Weavile, taking Skwovet in her arms. She carried the little Pokemon somewhere where he could rest in peace, and Mortimer watched her go for a while. Then he turned to the group sitting on the couches and Serena immediately asked, "Is Skwovet going to be okay?"

"I think so, but one should never be too sure," said Mortimer, sitting down in one of his chairs. "But tell me, why were ye youngsters out in such weather? Were you lost, or what?"

"No, we were on our way to Spikemuth," explained Gou, and Mortimer turned to look at him, a little surprised. "To Spikemuth, huh? What do you want there, it's not very... nice place," he said, rubbing his beard. Ash and Serena looked at each other when they heard that.

"I've a Gym battle there," Ash explained and Mortimer turned to look at him. "But what do you mean it's not a nice place?"

"Oh, ye'll see for yourself when ye get there," Mortimer replied enigmatically and Serena frowned. She didn't quite know what Mortimer meant. "But ye said ye were a Gym challenger. I was too, a long time ago, but it wasn't for me. I gave it up and became a ranger instead. This job suits me much better, I can live here in the forest in peace and quiet and develop my herbs at the same time."

"They seemed to work well," Serena said appreciatively, and Mortimer smiled slightly. "Well, thank you", he said, but then he looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh, it's getting late. Why don't I make you guys some supper and then we'll go to bed? You've still got a long way to go and it's not worth do it when you're tired."

And so they did.

After a while, as Serena lay on one of Mortimer's soft sofas, she thought about everything they had experienced that day. She thought about how they had almost died again on this journey. Indeed, now that she thought about it more carefully, there hadn't been so many close calls on their journey here than in Kalos. There had been Team Flare and a few other things, like Ash jumping off the Lumiose Tower, but otherwise the journey had been much less unfortunate. Perhaps Galar's nature was somehow more harsh than Kalos'.

"What are you thinking?" came Ash's whisper from the floor. He was sleeping on a mattress next to Serena's sofa, since there weren't enough sofas and Mortimer's cottage had no other rooms besides the kitchen/living room except a small bedroom upstairs and a bathroom and a few storage rooms. Mortimer had offered his bedroom to them, but they had refused. Mortimer had done quite enough already. So, they had grouped themselves on the sofas and small mattresses in the living room that Mortimer had found upstairs and Serena had found just enough.

Serena noticed Ash watching her curiously and she sighed. "All the things that have happened to us on this journey. Like that lake," she explained and Ash's expression darkened slightly as he remembered the lake.

"Yeah, it wasn't a very nice experience," he said and she could hear the pain in his voice. And she understood perfectly why. "I can only imagine. It must have been awful to see me die right there in front of your eyes," she said quietly and Ash nodded.

"It was. I thought I'd lost you forever. I still have nightmares about it sometimes," he said and Serena turned so she could grab Ash's hand. "But you didn't. And you won't. Because I'm never going to lose you, not after what we've been through together. I promise," she said, looking Ash straight in the eye.

"And I'm not going to lose you," Ash said and placed a gentle kiss on Serena's lips. "I promise, too. Let's be like in those fairy tales, "and they lived happily ever after."

"Sounds good to me," Seren giggled and turned back on her back. She stared out the window at the dark starry sky and dark forest for a moment, then yawned. "But Mortimer's idea of sleeping is really starting to tempt me. Good night, Ash," she then said, closing her eyes. After a moment she had drifted off to sleep, breathing quietly.

Ash watched her for a moment before settling himself on his mattress and staring at the ceiling of Mortimer's cabin. "Good night, Serena," he whispered into the darkness, then closed his eyes. And soon he, too, had fallen into a deep sleep.