- Outside the Snowpoint City Pokemon Center: 9:30 -

Maddison paced around the front of the pokemon center worriedly: Ash had disappeared at some point in the note and left a letter saying he would be back for 9. "Well its 9:30! Where is he?!" Maddison thought as A.J and Richie both looked at their watches with worry: Jason was fighting where he stood in worry whilst Natalie chewed on her gum, a look of non-worry on her face - which irritated Maddison to no end, enough to make her stop and glare at the girl, "How are you not worried?! Ash disappeared without a word and now he's late!"

Looking at Maddison as she popped the bubble she made with her gum, Natalie shrugged whilst taking the gum out and throwing in the trash, "Because its Ash: Ash isn't stupid - he said in the note he was just going to spend time with his pokemon - he probably just lost track of time" She explained, growing slightly unnerved when Maddison and the others starred at her, "What?

After starring for a few seconds, Richie and A.J looked to each other with a small smirk before looking back at Natalie, "I've been meaning to ask you this...but do you have a crush on Ash Natalie?" Natalie's eyes wide in surprise, her cheeks going a bright red at A.J's question, "W-W-W-What?! T-That's ridiculous! He's just a friend! I don't think he's cute or brave or any-shit..." She cursed at her words, covering her mouth as A.J and Richie smiled like Cheshire cats, whilst Jason stared at his childhood friend in shock and Maddison gave a small smile.

"Aha, I new it! A.J cheered, looking at Jason with his hand outstretched, "I was right, pay up" Natalie watched in shock as Jason grumbled, placing 50 bucks into A.J's hand, "You guys made a bet on that?!" Natalie asked angrily, the blush on her face slowly dying down: A.J and Jason nodded as A.J pocketed the money, "Yeah, I knew I was right!"

"Right about what?" The sound of Ash's voice made the group all turn to see Ash stood in front of them with Pikachu sat on his head - both were looking at the group in curiosity, "I knew that Natalie was c-mmph!" A.J started, only to be stopped by Natalie slapping her hand over his mouth, glaring at him as hot as her blush was flaring, "HE WAS RIGHT THAT I WAS CORRECT THAT YOU WERE JUST RUNNING A LITTLE LATE!" Natalie shouted, making Richie snicker and Maddison giggle whilst Ash and Pikachu shared a confused look.

Shrugging at each other, Ash and Pikachu turned back to face the group, "Well you were right, I kinda lost track of time - but anyway, are you guys ready to go?" Ash explained, watching as Maddison, Richie, Jason and Natalie all nodded whilst A.J wiped his mouth, mumbling a soft, "Yeah"

"Then lets get a move on"

Using one arm to shield his eyes Ash held Pikachu to his chest - he had wrapped him up once again in his jacket to keep him safe from the harsh weather: Ash could deal with, after a year on a snowy mountain he was use to it - But his other pokemon had all stayed in the safety of their cave home. Stopping to look back at the other's, Ash's brow dipped in concern when he could only just about see them, "We need to find somewhere to stop until the storm stops!" Ash heard Richie shout through the storm, making Ash look around swiftly before pointing to his side, "There's a cave over their! Everyone hold hands so you don't get lost!" Ash shouted, reaching back and grabbing Jason's hand before walking towards the cave.

Stumbling into the cave, the group all sighed in relief, shaking the snow of their clothes, "Man, that storm came out from no-were!" Maddison exclaimed as she brushed the snow out of her hair. Everyone nodded in agreement whilst looking around the cave, "Guess we can stay in here till the storm calms down..." Jason spoke up, walking over to a small log and sitting down on it, everyone following suit.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds until Natalie moved a hand to her neck, eyes widening and jumping to her feat, "ITS GONE!" She shouted, quickly running and searching the floor, "WHERE IS IT?! I CAN'T FIND IT! She continued when she couldn't find it, casting her eyes to the caves entrance and running over to it: stopping when Ash jumped up and ran to block her from leaving, "MOVE ASH! I AVE TO FIND IT!"

Grabbing onto her arms, Ash looked her in the eyes, "Deep breathes Natalie, in and out, I need you to calm down and tell me what's gone" Ash calmly told her, guiding through the breathing technique, watching as her frantic face changed to that of sadness, her eyes filling with tears, "M-M-MY necklace...I-I-its gone...I-its all I have left of my mother, I-I need to find it!" She cried out, her tears threatening to spill over her cheeks.

Ash shook his head and dragged the older girl over to the log Maddison was sat on and sat her down next to her, "You can't go out their, its too dangerous!" Finally letting a single tear fall down her cheek, Natalie went to object but was stunned when Ash stood up and straightened his hat, "You guys stay here, you to Pikachu, i'll go and find it, what does it look like?" Natalie stared at her crush with a stunned look, snapping out of it and telling him what her necklace looked like, "I-its shaped like an angle...it has my mom's name on the back, Karen..." Ash nodded, turning to face the mouth of the entrance and began to walk.

"You can't go out their!" Both A.J and Richie shouted as they jumped to their feet, making Ash turn to them with a look that made the two boys sit back down, "I can and I will, this is important to Natalie, I have to/ and will find it" Ash stated, turning once again and walking out the cave, his figure quickly disappearing into the storm.

Bracing himself against the coldness of the storm, Ash trudged through the deep snow, his mouth covered by his jacket as he looked for Natalie's necklace, "Dammit, where is it...?" he whispered to himself, looking around himself, but only seeing the white of the snow and the storm, "I need to find it...for Natalie..." He continued to whisper as his movement started to slow down - the storm was getting worse, but Ash didn't care, continuing to push his feet through the thickening snow.

- Back In the Cave -

Pikachu stood at the entrance of the cave starring out at the snow with worry, his eyes darting every which way as he searched for any sign of his trainer. Maddison sat on a log near the entrance, grasping Natalie's hand who, along side Maddison, were also starring out of the cave with worry. Jason sat on his own log, rubbing his hands together, moving to zip his jacket up before shoving his hands in his pocket as he shivered from the cold, "Its so cold..."

A,J nodded in agreement, thinking and snapping his fingers, making Jason and Richie - who was sat next to him - looked at him as he called Alakazam out, ordering to psychically break one of the logs apart and bundle them all together. Turning to Richie, who stared at A.J with confusion, A.J indicated to Sparky who sat in the brown-haired boy lap, also shivering, "Can you get Sparky to use Thunderbolt on these pieces of wood? The friction should be enough to make a fire!" Richie nodded, looking at Sparky who climbed out his lap, shooting his attack at the ripped up pieces of wood.

Almost instantly the fire roared to life, filling the dark cave with new light and heat: Jason and Richie quickly scrambled over to the roaring flames, sighing in relief as the heat washed over their bodies. Rubbing his own hands near the fire, A.J looked to Maddison and Natalie, "Guys, there's a fire, come and get warm" The two girls didn't respond, making A.J frown but eave the two alone - who continued to stare out at the unchanging whiteness of the snow storm.

- With Ash -

Ash shook violently as his walking slowed down even more - this time not from the force of the storm. Finally coming to a stop, Ash's entire body shivered and his teeth chattered against each other, "I can't feel my fingers" Ash though to himself, curling his hands only to feel a numbing sensation. Shaking his head and deciding to ignore the feeling, Ash forced himself to take a few more steps before his knees buckled, forcing Ash to his knees as his entire upper body shook even harder, his vision beginning to blur, "No...I can't give up..." He whimpered out, now forcing himself to crawl through the snow, "I-I-Is that...?" Ash asked weakly as he felt a piece of metal hit his finger tips. Lifting the object up, Ash smiled weakly in victory when he made out the outline of an angle, "I-I found it..." He whispered before he fell forwards, losing consciousness with the necklace gripped in his hand.

"ASH!"

"PIKAPII!"