The Ketchum Family

Mastering an Aura of Terror

This chapter is set several months after the end of the previous one. Quite a lot of time is covered during this story. There's a major crisis on the reserve. Ash and Serena must work together to keep the Pokémon safe! Serena, must face fears from her past. Will she overcome them or will she wilt under the pressure?! You will probably like the ending of this one. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.

Winter had arrived in Pallet Town much like it did every year. Due to its close proximity to the ocean, Pallet Town typically enjoyed very mild winter weather, with only a few weeks of near freezing temperatures. The first two thirds of the season followed this trend. However, in the closing weeks of the winter weather, a bitterly cold storm descended from the north and blanketed the town with a layer of snow. Most activity in the town ground to a halt, as they simply weren't used to snowfall.

The children in the town loved the arrival of the snow. Some of the younger ones had never seen snow before, and they happily romped around outside; playing with their friends and building all manner of snow structures.

The adults were less happy. Quite of few of the houses in Pallet Town were not designed for extremely cold weather, and several families had to scramble to heat their homes or move in with neighbors who were better equipped.

The Ketchum household was one of the homes which struggled to keep warm. Delia normally heated the house with a pair of small electric radiators. When the cold snap hit however, the heating was completely insufficient. Despite them bundling up with multiple blankets and heavy pajamas, Delia and Serena had woken up in the middle of the night shivering from the cold.

That morning, when Serena relayed the news to Ash, he'd quickly swung into action and sent a Magcargo home with Serena. The lava Pokémon had soon heated their house back up, and they'd been fine since then. Ash also helped out a few other families around the town by sending fire Pokémon to heat their homes.

Ash's reputation within Pallet Town, while already excellent, rose even higher with this new action. He was becoming something of a legend amongst the neighbors. It made Ash somewhat embarrassed when random people walking down the street called out to him with words of thanks.

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Four days into the cold snap, Serena awoke like she always did. She spent a few minutes combing her hair and washing her face. During the winter, she'd allowed her hair to grow out and currently her honey colored locks reached down to her shoulders. She wasn't sure if she'd keep her hair this long, but right now, with the weather as cold as it was, she was glad to have a little extra covering on her head and neck.

Once she was done with her morning routine, she put on a thick black sweater, heavy black leggings, and then donned her red winter coat and pair of black snow pants. She also had a pink snow cap, which she pulled down to her ears, and a pair of red gloves.

Fully prepared for the cold, she put on her brown snow boots, bid Delia and Magcargo goodbye and started the trek to the reserve.

As Serena crunched through the snow, she listened to the different sounds which swept over the winter landscape. Normally, there was a low hum of life and activity in Pallet Town. Now, with a blanket of snow covering everything, there was mostly silence, occasionally interrupted by an echoing voice or the whistle of the wind. Serena wasn't a huge fan of the cold or the silence. She preferred the warmth of the sun and the sound of wind blowing through trees and grassy fields. She was glad that Pallet Town had mild temperatures for most of the year and she would be happy when spring arrived.

Serena reached the long stairway leading up to the reserve. She climbed the stairs carefully, making sure not to slip on the small amounts of ice. When she reached the top, she was surprised to find a few Pokémon randomly milling about outside. Most of the reserve's Pokémon had hunkered down in their respective areas during the cold snap.