Layers of snow had fallen on the house, the roof padded with thick clumpy snow on all sides, swamping the chimney up to where only a thin sliver of brick was visible beneath the steaming column. The ridge where the house sat was totally buried, with the snow sloping down to the front yard of the home and surrounding the left and right sides of the home, the front yard forcibly cleared with shovel marks on the surrounding knee-high walls of ice attesting to the difficulty of such a task. All of the windows facing the outside had a thick ridge of packed snow pressed against the frosty glass, masking the warm glow of the inside.

The sun was fading from view, passing down beneath the sloping heights of Mt. Moon. The hazy, snow-swept sky was darkening, turning a deep and lifeless shade of gray as the sun's warmth left it. Thick white flakes of snow continued to fall from the sky, swirling down through the breezy air.

A powerful gust of wind burst up against the back of Ash Ketchum as he walked down the snow-laden streets, his boots trudging through the tracks of where studded tires had gouged through the ice. The hood of his jacket kicked up, clumps of frost exploding over his shoulders and catching in what tufts of hair were beneath his trademark red trainer's cap. Despite the many layers of winter wear beneath his heavy coat, he could feel every lash of the cold gust, chilling him to the bone. Where his face poked out above the tightly wrapped scarf, his eyes visibly winced from the wind.

Down beneath, tucked in the folds of Ash's jacket, Pikachu sneezed. His ears pressed down around his head, wrapping around his circular head for whatever extra warmth he could get from them. He squeezed his eyes shut, further burying himself in Ash's jacket, looking extra worn out.

"Pi-ika..."

"Just a little bit more out here, alright buddy?" said Ash, looking down to Pikachu beneath his scarf. He zipped up his jacket a little more, focusing on the road ahead of him.

Towards the bottom of the curving, uphill stretch of road, a lone car was parked. The lights were still on it, casting light over the bright and extra-reflective snow. Not a lot of snow had collected on the green-colored body of the car, and the black arms of the window wipers squeakily brushed away snow from the windshield, brushing it to the corners of the windows where a sizable amount of snow had gathered.

Through the windows of it, Ash could see someone in the passenger seat of the car: it was Iris.

As Ash approached—rather slowly, keeping his footing in the ice steady—the driver side door popped open, making for a small gap. Ash reached for it, grabbing the inside edge with a gloved hand and opening it. As soon as he had opened it a bit he heard a shout of protest from the inside, making him flinch and threaten to shut the door on accident. Instead, he caught himself, holding the door open only a few small inches.

Sighing, Ash shook his head. He knew what this was about.

"Iris, come on," Ash groaned. He poked his head through, looking into the small, cramped space of the extremely utilitarian vehicle. A gust of hot, engine-tainted air hit him as soon as he looked inside. His nose wrinkled, smelling the musty air that had been pumped through the old car filters. The intense warmth made his eyes burn, almost making him nauseous. Without any warning or invitation, Pikachu hopped out of Ash's jacket, hopping over the drivers seat and hopping onto the center console to face the twin sets of heating vents—immediately looking like he was blissfully melting.

Iris was huddled in her seat, her legs wrapped beneath her arms and pulled up onto the seat with her. Her pink knitted hat had been pulled down over her head and her pink scarf pulled up to just beneath her nose. Between where her legs folded up and pressed against her chest, Axew was buried in the warmth of Iris' body heat, looking content where his head poked up just above her knees. Her wide, curious eyes looked up at Ash, seeming almost oblivious to Ash's thoughts.

Iris' expression immediately changed, looking mildly pained. "Are you sure the car can't go up any more? Didn't you say the road looked pretty clear?" she asked.

"Well, it looks clear for walking. Not exactly driving," said Ash. "At least that's what Dawn said when she sent me a message. It's only a short walk up to the house from here, and I really don't think it's safe to drive."

Iris looked annoyed. "Well, it wouldn't be a big deal if I hadn't underdressed for Snowpocalypse: Kanto Region Edition," she said. "I didn't think Dawn was serious when she said she was leaving the car down here, 'whether I was coming or not'. Seriously, I guess she thinks I'm some sort of kid not to want to walk through this gross weather."

"Well, you can always wear my jacket. I mean, if you like."

Iris gave Ash a strange look. It was one he couldn't quite understand, and he stared at it for a long time. If he wasn't so confused, he would think that Iris was blushing.

"Here, this'll make it easier," said Ash. He quickly unzipped his jacket, pulling his scarf loose from the teeth of his zipper, taking off the thick, puffy blue jacket. He passed it across the inside cabin of the car, handing it to Iris—who was still wearing that baffling blush, confusing Ash further—and taking a step back to adjust the jacket he wore underneath. It was his blue traveling jacket, the long-sleeved version he had worn in the Kalos region, the zipper all the way up on it.

Iris seemed fairly dumbstruck. As she held the jacket in her hands, feeling the residual warmth from Ash's body on the garment. She finally looked up towards Ash, snapped out of her stupor when the sound of the engine stopped, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Ash had turned the key out of ignition and taken it.

"Come on, let's get going!" said Ash, showing his typical boyish smile moments before shutting the door.

With the door shut, none of the cold coming in from the outside world, the trudging sound of Ash's footsteps being drowned out by the whooshing sound of the heating vents, Iris thought to herself silently, staring ahead at the dashboard. As her legs folded down, her hands pulling apart the inner flaps of the jacket so as to put it on, she felt Axew hop out of the folded, makeshift compartment of her legs and onto the center console with Pikachu, nudging him aside so as to get to the warmth of the twin heating vents—though she wasn't paying attention to them.

"I guess he's changed a little..." Iris muttered to herself quietly, feeling her blush lingering.

Moments later, Ash was standing outside the passenger door of the car, arms wrapped tightly around his torso in a weak attempt to stay warm. His body was stiff, held together to preserve all warmth, feeling the snowflakes that fell down seeping through his jacket. By now he had estimated it had been between three and five minutes since he had last heard from Iris.

As Ash was getting ready to go up to the door and say something, the passenger door finally opened. It was immediately coupled with a girlish shriek as snow knocked loose from the roof of the car spilled onto Iris' hat, immediately falling through the knitted space and soaking her hair. Iris' desperate attempt to reach up and brush away any more snow from seeping into her hat relinquished her grip on the door, sending it falling on it's hinge towards her. Ash ran up and reached out just in time, grabbing the door. He stopped it, his footsteps skidding beneath him as he hit an icy patch and the edge of his sneakers drifted into a small cluster of snow, stopping him from sliding another inch. Though the small sliding sensation hadn't done much to phase him, Ash still reached out to the inner post at the door's handle for some sense of stability.

Just as Ash was getting his bearings, he looked up to meet with a particularly dirty look from Iris. Her hand swatted his away from the post, making him back up. As she leaned forward in her seat, her legs dangling over the edge of the seat, Axew in her lap with wide, terrified eyes that stared at the snow below, she grimaced.

"I got it, alright? Jeez, back off," Iris protested, getting up out of the seat. Her hand reached for the door to hold it open, leaning forward and giving Ash an annoyed look.

Ash looked skeptical, and a bit hurt. "Iris, I was just trying to help."

"Well, you can help when I've—whoa!"

Ash had turned away for only a moment, tracking the path ahead of him up the road to walk away from the car and give Iris some space. He had only made it a few short steps before he heard Iris' shouts, and the sound of skidding ice. He turned, looking back to see Iris' legs flailing as she stepped onto the slick ice, her arms thrown about around her as she flew backwards. After a single, suspended moment in-air, she tumbled to the ground with a sudden, silenced impact, a bluff of frost kicking up from the soft, packed cushion of snow she landed on. From where Axew had been in her arms, he had flown through the air, spinning and squealing, moments before landing in a cluster of snow-covered bushes on the side of the road.

"Iris!" Ash shouted. As he turned to sprint down the snowy stretch of road, he reached back involuntarily towards the spot under his jacket where his utlity belt housed his Pokeballs, where he grabbed at frigid air. The Pokeball for Greninja was no longer there—as Ash remembered moments later his last moments with Greninja only a few short months ago.

"Pika!"

Pikachu had leaped from the center console in the car, running up to the open door and the edge of the passenger seat where Iris formerly sat to look out into the snow drift where Iris had landed. He turned for only a moment, craning his head up to see through the window where his raised ears had heard the crunching, quick footsteps of Ash coming. He then immediately hopped out of the car, his tail swatting the corner of the door and closing it moments before he landed on all fours in a smaller patch of snow.

Though Ash had been momentarily caught off-guard by the thought and memory of Greninja, he had still managed to hurry down the street to reach the side of the car, looking for where Iris was sprawled out. Something caught his eye moments before he found her—a rustling from the bushes by his side. Though Ash's thoughts first darted to if it was a wild Pokemon, his mind immediately flashed to the image of Axew being flung from Iris' arms in the commotion, and that image materialized before his eyes as a freezing, snow-covered Axew waddled out of the bushes and onto the snow-covered dirt, looking particularly ill.

"Gaaahh!"

A frigid shout came from Iris as she hopped up from where she had been sprawled on the snowy ground, practically having made a snow angel with her impact. She quickly dusted herself up, hurtling herself up off the snow and into an upright sitting position. She gasped, moving desperately to push the snow off of her body. When she got up onto her feet—noticeably making sure that she was standing on steady ground—she immediately dusted off her pants, making no small effort at having manners as she dusted off snow from her backside.

Before Ash could even ask Iris a simple question, Iris took off running, she ran up the hill, her stride lengthy to compensate for the ample amount of trudging she was having to do to get through the dense layers of snow. As she had seen Ash do moments before when he came down the hill, she followed the large tire tracks of a previous set of wheels, only deviating from the path to snag Axew from where he stood alone on the side of the road.

Taking an icy, confused breath, Ash looked up and stared through the haze of his exhalation. Pikachu had trudged through the ice clusters down by Ash's sneakers to look up at him, then also choosing to stare at Iris as she ran up.

"It's not so bad!" Iris called back down. "Come on, hurry up! It's not that cold, you silly kid!"

Ash shook his head, Pikachu also rubbing his forehead. He reached into his pant pocket, reaching for his key fob and clicking the button. The car behind him beeped, the locks clicking and the lights flashing once.