Chapter no.31

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After hearing a rustle coming from the direction of his left, Ash rolled over and strained his eyes to see in the darkness. Even though it was almost completely dark, he was still able to make out Misty's bedroll, and he looked just in time to catch the end of a shiver and hear the end of a curse about how cold it was. This is such a depressing location... Ash racked her brain, unable to fall asleep despite the passage of another three hours and the night becoming even more inhospitable. At the very least, this ought to keep the insects at bay...

After turning over once more, Ash realised all of a sudden that he couldn't feel Pikachu curled up next to him. Pikachu and Growlithe were sound asleep behind him, just out of reach, which nearly caused him to experience a moment of panic before he noticed them together. It would appear that both of them thought it was too cold to even attempt to keep watch. Ash gave a tiniest smile before turning his attention once more to Misty. Now that his eyes had become accustomed to the darkness a little bit more, he was able to see that she was shaking, and this caused his heart to sink.

He muttered, "Screw it," before getting to his feet on a whim and strolling over to Misty without giving it a second thought. I couldn't care less if it's uncomfortable or if she interprets it in the wrong way...

The only thing that got the girl to stir was when Ash put his bedroll down directly behind her and then crawled into his bedroll himself. He mumbled, "It's too cold to worry about a little modesty," as he caught sight of his own breath and wondered for a moment how it was even possible that the forest could be this cold. "It's too cold to worry about a little modesty," he said. Ash felt a little bit warmer almost instantly after the trainers moved a little bit closer to one another.

Misty whispered, "You know what? I was just thinking the exact same thing." When she felt Ash lean into her a little bit, she curled up even further and couldn't help but crack a little smile.

Ash attempted to crack a joke by saying, "It looks like it's working for the Pokémon." After acknowledging what had been said, all he heard from Misty was a soft hum, and then her breathing returned to its normal rate. It was impossible for Ash to ignore the fact that she had not cautioned him not to form any ideas whatsoever. He eventually closed his eyes and was out cold in a matter of seconds.

Misty had turned around to face Ash during the night and buried her face in Ash's chest in order to better protect herself from the cold. When Ash woke up the next morning, well before it was light, he discovered that Misty had done this. In response, Ash had buried his face in her hair and kissed it. Despite the fact that both trainers were worn out from the trail, Ash felt revitalised... despite the fact that the forest was still taking a punishing toll on him, he had the impression that he could proceed with his journey. This was by no means a good sign. No longer did the idea of continuing his journey through the thickest part of the forest today, which would take several more miles, make him feel queasy inside. He smiled, but quickly pulled away and stood up as soon as he sensed that Misty was becoming restless.

"Good morning," the brunette greeted as she stretched and watched Ash roll up his sleeping bag. "Can you tell me the time?"

Ash looked at his watch and had to press a button to make the face light up so he could read it. When he read the numbers, he made a startling facial expression. He looked up at the sky and said, "It's... ten o'clock in the morning." "Wow…" Even so, it appeared to be the more nightmarish side of twilight. In the deepest shadows cast by some of the trees, Ash could even make out a remarkably thin layer of frost that had just started to form on the rocks. "This is terrible."

As Growlithe and Pikachu came to, Misty said with a smile, "Let's focus on just getting through it." Pikachu and Growlithe had been asleep.

After returning Misty's smile and nodding, Ash moved to assist her in rolling up her bedroll while simultaneously attempting to decipher the expression on her face. As he got closer and started putting away the bedroll, he noticed that the colour in her features became more pronounced.

In one respect, Ash had been completely correct; the cold did, in fact, prevent the insects from moving about. The party had not encountered a single Caterpie or any other Pokémon by the time they stopped for a late lunch just after three in the afternoon. This was despite the fact that the cold snap that had occurred the night before had subsided to some degree. Even though Ash was no longer able to see his own breath, the persistent and suffocating darkness of the forest was continuing to get on his nerves.

As the group continued to move forward, Ash remarked, "I can't wait to be out of here," despite the fact that the remaining dim light was already beginning to disappear. "I really wish that I could recall the path that I took with grandpa while we were travelling through this area. I don't think it was anywhere near as bad as it is now." When Ash's foot struck something hard that was concealed in the undergrowth that had recently begun to reappear, he stammered and fell forward. The fall jarred Pikachu loose from Ash's grasp and sent the little Pokémon careening off into the shadows.