Chapter 13, wow! This chapter offers a change of pace, and a change of character for some characters. Sorry if some of you don't like it...but I hope you will :)

And, as always, I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit!

Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!

Before they knew it, the quartet and Amy found themselves in the midst of a blizzard on the mountain. They were all shivering, rubbing their arms for warmth, and had recalled all their Pokémon into their PokéBalls for their own safety. Luckily, just as the five of them thought they were about to freeze to death, Officer Jenny rode in on a snowmobile.

"Kids!" she called through the storm. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah!" they all hollered in response.

"Just really cold!" Rose added.

"Okay!" Officer Jenny yelled, skidding to a halt in the snow before them. "Hop on, kids, and I'll get you back to the village to warm up!"

"Thanks!" they replied in unison, as they squished onto the back of Jenny's snowmobile.

To their relief, it wasn't too long before Officer Jenny took them to a lodge-style Pokémon Center, where she and Nurse Joy gave them warm blankets and snow parkas and mugs of hot chocolate. They were comfy on an L-shaped couch in front of a fire that warmed them up nicely. It was certainly a welcome change from the blizzard raging outside. The kids were also grateful that Nurse Joy took in their Pokémon to treat.

Nurse Joy gave the kids permission to turn on the TV that hung over the fireplace, which they did. Rose found a channel that was showing a Pokémon Contest from the Hoenn region, which she was intensely interested in. She explained to everyone that Hoenn was the region where Pokémon Contests originated. She didn't stop there - she, in fact, explained every aspect of the Contest to the others, to the point where they were ready to smack her in the head. Or, at least, Elliot, Gage and Poppy were ready to smack her in the head. Amy didn't know her well enough to be annoyed by her never-silent mouth.

However, even Rose shut up when a certain someone walked into the room.

It was Felix.

He seemed just as surprised to see them, as they were to see him, as he asked, "What're you losers doing here?"

"What're you doing here?" Gage countered defensively.

"I'm on a little ski vacation," Felix replied. "Since I already got four more badges since we last met."

"What?!" Gage inquired, shocked and slightly outraged.

"Oh, chill out, Geek," Felix brushed off, brushing his hair from his face. "You must have, like, what, four badges by now?"

Gage didn't respond, he only stared furiously at his rival, as Poppy and Elliot restrained him from lunging at Felix.

"So, what about that battle you promised me?" Poppy piped up.

"Not now," Felix replied, brushing her off as well. Now, Poppy looked angry, while Felix only looked out the window and remarked, "Huh, it stopped snowing."

With that, he stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Enraged, Poppy leapt up, grabbing her backpack. She mindlessly thought that her PokéBalls were still in there, when in fact, she'd just forgotten that they were with Nurse Joy.

"What gives?!" Poppy hollered at Felix.

He was standing in silence on the edge of the mountain, looking out over the view, as the chilly wind blew through his disheveled hair, hands in the pockets of the borrowed snow jacket he wore. He was also ignoring Poppy, or so it seemed.

"Hey!" Poppy yelled, even louder now. Now, Felix was looking at her, amused, but just slightly, as she asked, "Why won't you battle me? You promised me we'd battle next time we met!"

"Well, I'm just not in the mood," he shrugged. "And I don't think you're ready."

"I'm not ready?!" she repeated, furious.

And, because she was so furious that she literally lunged at Felix, the icy ground crumbled beneath them, and they fell in an avalanche of ice and snow to the ground below. Rubbing their heads after the fall, they looked around, sitting up in the snow. Apparently, they'd fallen in some sort of gap between the side of the mountain and a glacier. There was no noticeable way to get up onto the mountain, or onto the glacier.

Most likely, they thought, they were stuck.

"Now, why'd you do that?!" Felix asked, frustrated.

"Because you were being a jerk!" Poppy replied. "If you had just agreed to battle me, we wouldn't be stuck!"

"You're not ready to battle me!"

"How do you know?!"

"Because I know!"

"Wow, original answer!"

After going on like that for some time, the two stood opposite each other, facing opposite directions. Their arms were crossed, and they both looked angry and frustrated, as they stared in two different ways.

Poppy was the first to break. With a light sigh, she dropped her arms, and turned to Felix, saying, "Look, I'm sorry. I was just mad. But we can't just stand here and be made at each other. We've got to at least try and find a way out."

Although he hated to say it, Felix replied, "You're right."

"Y'know, maybe if you get your Charizard out, we can ride it back up the mountain," Poppy suggested.

Felix groaned, and responded, "That'd be great, if I hadn't left all my PokéBalls with Nurse Joy."

Poppy then started fumbling around her backpack, mumbling, "Maybe if I...oh...shoot, I left all my Pokémon with Nurse Joy, too."

"Well, then I guess we're on our own," Felix concluded.

"Mhm," Poppy nodded. Stepping towards Felix, she extended a hand, and said, "While we're here, let's be on good terms. We're both stuck, and we've both got to help each other out of here."

"Agreed," Felix nodded, and they shook. "So, which way do you want to try first?"

"That way," Poppy suggested, pointing to the right.

"Alright," Felix nodded, and they were off.

Meanwhile, back up on the mountain, Elliot, Gage, Rose, Amy, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy were all shouting for Poppy and Felix. All of Poppy's Pokémon had released themselves to help aid the search effort.

It'd been a good half an hour since they'd seen the two go outside, and they were starting to worry. Officer Jenny warned them about the fierce winds and unstable grounds. She said a lot of the ground was actually just ice, and could crumble beneath you if you stepped in just the right place, or that the winds would intensify out of nowhere and blow you away. Both of these facts caused everyone on top of the mountain to fear and worry about what had happened to Poppy and Felix.

"I hope we find them," Officer Jenny sighed, after they'd been searching for quite some time. Looking at the sky, she observed, "The sun's starting to set."

"Oh no," Nurse Joy chimed in. "It'll get really cold when it gets dark."

Down in the rift between the glacier and the mountain, Poppy and Felix were struggling to walk against the wind. They were cold, and plenty tired by now, and it was nearly dark, and they had no idea how to get back to the Pokémon center or out of the rift they were stuck in.

"Looks like we're here for the night," Felix sighed. "We should find shelter and stay the night. Maybe a good night's sleep will help us find a way out in the morning."

"Okay," Poppy agreed. "What about that little cave over there?"

Felix agreed, and the two lodged in a tiny cave in the side of the mountain. Poppy lit a little fire with the spare firewood and matches she had in her backpack, and then rolled out her sleeping back. Felix sat, knees to his chest, in the corner of the cave, while Poppy tied her hair into a braid, which she pulled through the back of her baseball cap, which was actually worn forwards, for once. She tossed the last two pieces of spare wood she had onto the fire, before slipping into her sleeping bag, staring out into the dark, cold, land before them.

Felix stared at her, still shivering. It was better to be stuck with her down here than Gage, or the obnoxious little girl they travelled with, or the Trainer he'd beaten with the Deino. If it had to be one of them, Felix supposed she was the best one to be stranded with.

"Cold?" Poppy inquired, rolling in her sleeping back to face him. Her face was just visible with the illumination from the fire.

"Yeah," Felix nodded, teeth chattering.

"Get in," Poppy said.

"What?" Felix inquired. He wondered if he was actually hearing her right.

"I said, get in the sleeping bag," she repeated, as she got out of it. "You're colder than I am."

"No, Poppy, I can't do that," Felix responded. "Then you'll freeze to death."
"Fine," she sighed, with a slight eye roll. "We'll share. Get in here and warm up."

She wriggled back inside of the sleeping bag, and he asked, "You don't...you don't mind? You won't feel cramped?"

"Please," she countered. "I'm usually cramped in here with Dratini and Clefairy. You'll be nothing compared to those two. Just get in."

"Oh," he mumbled. "Okay."

He obeyed her and got inside the sleeping bag. Once again, they were facing opposite directions, except now they were directly back to back. Felix found that she was right. It was much warmer inside of the sleeping bag, partially because the material blocked the cold, and partly because he was feeling Poppy's body heat combining with his own. He didn't really know how he felt about sharing the surprisingly spacious sleeping bag with her.

In the midst of all the chaos of being lost in a blizzard, Felix found himself confused about how he felt about his rival's travelling companion. She was headstrong, stubborn, intelligent, and now, she was being extremely kind. It was selfless of her to offer the sleeping bag to him, and kind of her to offer a peace treaty in the first place. If it wasn't for her and her preparedness, with the spare wood, matches, and sleeping bag, he might've been a complete icicle by now.

"Poppy?" he called out quietly in the dim light of the cave. He wanted to thank her.

"Hey, Poppy?" he tried again.

Since he got no response, he rolled over on the sleeping bag, and found himself face-to-face with a snoring Poppy. She was kinda cute when she slept, if he had to say so himself. Even the snoring and drooling didn't look that bad on her.

"Thanks, Poppy," Felix mumbled, before closing his own eyes and falling asleep.

POPPY's current team:
Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy

GAGE's current team:

Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax

ROSE's current team:

Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur)

ELLIOT's current team:

Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick, Gligar

FELIX's current team (in case you were wondering):

Charizard, Cloyster, Victreebell, Electabuzz, Hitmonlee, Graveler