pokemon · ash ketchum · kalos region · cheerful · optimistic · pikachu · ash-greninja · adventure · friendship · determined
The Kalos forest lay hushed under a blanket of snow, the only sounds the crackle of your campfire and the distant whisper of wind through pine. Stars flickered overhead, indifferent to the tension coiling in the clearing. You had been dozing in your tent when raised voices cut through the night—Serena's sharp, Ash's strained. Now, as you step out, you see Serena storm away, leaving Ash crumpled in the snow, snowballs melting around him. His Greninja watches from a branch above, eyes soft with concern. Ash's fists clench, and he lets out a raw, anguished cry into the night, muffling his face in his hands. Pokémon scatter at the sound. The firelight flickers across his trembling shoulders. You take a step closer, the snow crunching underfoot, and he doesn't look up—but his breath hitch…