Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon and all related merchandise belong to their respective owners, and I'm not one of them unfortunately.

AN: Yes, another one shot for you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This one took me about 20 minutes or something. It's a bit longer than the other one, but it was written for the same contest (be it the next round).

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Lost...

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After seeing the same tree for the nth time I finally admitted I was thoroughly lost in this ridiculously large forest. There seemed to be no end to the trees. What was that saying? Can’t see the forest because of the trees, or was it the other way around? That saying seemed pretty appropriate now. I shouldn’t have gone off the path; I shouldn’t have tried to find a shortcut. But it’s always easy to be the judge after the deed is done. It was my fault I got lost, and I would be the one to find my way out.

Problem was, this was a mountainous forest, as in high in the mountains with lots of snow. And cold, of course. I played with the thought of releasing my recently caught Delibird and have him find civilization, but dismissed it as the chance of him just flying off and not returning was too great. After all, he had only been added to my lineup about half an hour ago. At least something good had come from all this. I paused for a second to think and I was surprised to hear nothing. The forest had gone dead silent.

Suddenly a breeze started up, an icy cold gust, intensifying by the second. After a minute or so I took shelter behind one of the larger trees, but the wind just blew around it and chilled me to the bone. As the shivering got worse, I reached for Charmeleon’s Pokéball. As I reached it and tried to close my hand around it, I found that I had cooled down much faster than I thought. My hand wouldn’t move, or at least I didn’t feel it move. Fear kicked in. I could very well die here, in the middle of nowhere in some godforsaken forest just because I just had to go off the path.

Suddenly, the blizzard lifted and a bright blue light shone down from above. An unfamiliar cry made me look up and what I made me hold my breath. A large icy blue bird hovered just above the snow-covered tips of the trees. If I could still move my hands I would’ve pointed my Pokédex at it, but as things were I was completely immobile. I could only watch as the bird flapped its mighty wings, sending sparkling snow crystals in all directions. It cried out again before a bright flash of light knocked me out…

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I bolt upright and look around. Everything’s white. I take a closer look and conclude I’m either in a Pokécenter or in hospital. As the memories return to me I reflect on what I can only assume to be what happened. A nurse comes in and does a quick checkup, asking me how I feel among other things. I don’t tell her of the bird, she wouldn’t believe me anyway. She says I was brought in three days ago, suffering from serious hypothermia and frostbite. It appears I’m lucky to have all my limbs still attached. Three days… I find it hard to believe, yet it’s what they tell me. After the checkup my belongings are returned to me and I’m discharged, free to get lost again. As I walk down the street of the mountain village I can only wonder what that creature was up there. I turn my head to the forest, slightly above and beside the town, when something on the top of the mountain catches my eye. A bright shining bird flies over the top and disappears behind the slope.

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AN: A happy ending. Well, sort of... If you feel the need to criticise or compliment, feel free to review. I no longer expect reviews though, as everyone seems to just read and move on these days. Flames will be used to start up my barbeque, criticism will be used to improve the overall quality of all my stories and compliments will be framed and kept as tokens of appreciation.

WeirdDutchGuy