"Oooooh, it's getting dark in here!" Gary said in his best scary voice. "I hope nothing comes out of the shadows and bites our heads off."

"I guess that makes you safe then." Ash said, "There's nothing in your head worth eating."

"I'm trying..." Gary thought, "Not working..."

Ash tightened his grip on Gary's arm, "Did you hear that? Voices! Voices in the dark!"

"You're paranoid."

"Maybe! But the paranoid person is always right!" He shouted, "They're going to get us!"

"Hey, calm down okay!"

"NO! They get you when you're calm! They find you when you're all happy and relaxed! Then they tear out your organs and use your blood as fingerpaint! Hack you to pieces and then hang chunks of your severed limbs from the ceiling! Bite a hole in your stomach and chew on your insides!Hollow out your skull and use it as a DECORATIVE LAMP!"

"Those are really graphic images." Gary whimpered.

"AWAY! AWAY FROM MEEEE!" The same horrible voice from before echoed through the tunnels, "HELP! LEAVE ME ALONE! ALONE!"

"IT'S TIME TO DIE!" Ash shrieked.

"QUIET!" Gary shouted over him, "Your paranoia isn't helping. Here, let's talk about something else while we walk. I'll go first, *ahem*: What is your... favorite... game?"

"Hmmmm... That's probably Vampire Piggy Hunter. It's this really cool game that Lyra showed me!"

"...Lyra huh?"

"Yup! She's really nice! And she can be smart too. She said that along with going to school, her mom tutored her at home. And she's also a good person-"

"I may have misplayed that one." Gary thought, "I guess it's okay as long as he isn't scared." As they kept walking he noticed that Ash was still tightly gripping his arm. Even though it still hurt because of his toasted insides, Gary couldn't help but feel content. Ash had settled down quite a bit now, and the mood felt more relaxed than scary. He began to smile and blush a little.

"SCARY NOISES!" Ash shrieked as a stalactite fell, making a loud booming sound. He tightened his grip even more, making Gary cry out in pain.

"IT HURTS!" He squeaked and tried to shake Ash off him. "You're being difficult!" He said, "Stop being pathetic and walk properly."

"What do you know, huh? You're mean!"

"I don't have time for this! My intestines are baked and I'm in pain, so stop acting like a Skitty on a leash and help me out!"

"Quit complaining about it, okay? I get shocked all the time!"

"I know you do."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Let's be honest, Ash. You're a really nice guy, but a terrible trainer."

"IS THAT SO? IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?"

"That's what we're all thinking secretly." Gary sympathetically patted Ash on the shoulder, "We all wonder why you struggle so much."

"LIFE IS A STRUGGLE AND I'LL GIVE UP WHEN I DIE!"

"Well, that's pretty extreme, but I guess we all have to live for something."

"Y- yeah!" Ash said, "Besides, it's not like this world has anything else for us."

"Uh huh..." The words slowly sank into their minds, bringing on that kind of terror that philosophy brings, until (fortunately) a horrible scream of panic corrupted their train of thought.

"IT NEVER ENDS!" Ash grabbed onto Gary and buried his face in his hat.

"Come on! That sounded really close. The person who needs help is near by!"

"NO WAY! This is EXACTLY how people die! They think their being heroes and helping, but it's all a horrible trick!" Ash yanked on Gary's shirt, "It's all LIES Gary! Their feeding us LIES!"

"You make zero sense." Gary said and continued around the corner. Ash made a loud squeaking sound, but followed. They both turned the corner and stopped cold. "What the hell..."

A heap of green hair and shredded clothes sat huddled up against the wall, shivering and clenching a dirty pink and white hat. He looked as if he had been crying. A lot. The mess of bloodstained clothes and cut up skin looked up at them in fear, before his eyes showed traces of recognition.

"What the- N!?"

Touko wandered the everlasting caves alone. Every once in a while, she called his name as loud as she could, but the response was always only the sound of her own echo. "I better find him soon." She thought, " I'll lose my voice down here."

Then she stopped to take a look inside her bag, and pulled out a pokeball. "Hey." she whispered, "It's been too long since I've seen you." No response. "I know you don't like coming out, but I'm in trouble. I need you." Still nothing, "It's N. We got separated and I don't know where he is. You know how he gets when he's alone."

The pokeball began to tremble, then it split open, releasing a chilling darkness that surrounded her. She shivered and gazed up at the cloud of darkness taking form above her. Bittersweet memories of Unova made her feel like crying, but she held back, and reached up towards it. She gave a weak smile and said, "It's so nice to see you."

"...Yamask..." It said.

"I'm hungry." Silver complained, "And I'm bored."

"So?" Lyra was getting annoyed, "We've only been trapped here a couple hours."

"Three hours to be exact." he said, "Hey, if we can't make it out of here, I think we should-"

"HERE!" Lyra dropped her bag and sat on the ground, "We can have lunch here!"

"Oh..." Silver still couldn't seem to get anywhere. Oh well. "Hey, why do you have all this sea food for lunch?"

"Oh, I'm on a sea food diet." She explained, "I only eat sea food."

"Ahaha, I don't think that's how the joke goes. I think it's I see food and I eat it."

He was surprised when Lyra shot a glare at him, "Do my weight loss goals sound like a joke to you Silver?" Then she continued to eat in silence.

"Damn." he thought, "I didn't know I was this bad at social interaction."

"Soooooo Lyra... What's THAT!?" he pointed to her PokeDex in an effort to take attention away from his horrible failure.

"You've never seen a PokeDex before?"

"Should I have?"

"Well, all the trainers I know have one."

"Really? What does it do?"

"It records information Pokemon that I catch. Like a digital encyclopedia."

"For real!? How does it work?"

"I don't know. It just ...does."

"Hmmmm." He took it from her to inspect it. "Why do trainers get these?"

"The Professor gives it to us. We're supposed to catch as many Pokemon as possible and collect info." She was still surprised he didn't know this.

"...Professor?"

"Yeah, the Pokemon Professor. Professor Elm? He's been studying Pokemon since forever!"

"Then why is this "PokeDex" empty?"

"Silver, you're asking too many questions." Lyra sighed.

"But I want to know! Shouldn't this be full if it's his life's work?"

"Who cares?"

"I do! What's he been doing? Does he just give this to random kids?"

"Why do you question everything?"

"Am I the only one who finds the logic in this world incredibly stupid?" He asked, "It's not just me right? There have to be people like me somewhere!"

"If you mean annoying people, then they're everywhere."

"But... it doesn't make any sense!"

"Really Silver, stop asking so many questions."

"...Okay..."

"Besides, didn't you learn this in school?"

"I didn't finish school."

"WHAT?! Why not!?" Lyra was surprised.

"I don't know, because I didn't!"

"But school is important! It teaches us all about Pokemon!"

"Yeah, that's all anybody talks about..."

"It's still important!"

"Oh yeah? SCHOOL is for the idiots that don't know how to STEAL!" Silver was irritated now, "Besides, it's not like making a living in the world requires any skills!"

"Now that I think of it, you said you couldn't multiply either, right?"

"What is this, a trial?"

"If you want, I can tutor you!"

"What?"

"I can help you with your math and stuff!"

"So, your saying, and correct me if i'm wrong, that you would set aside a certain amount of time for me each day and engage me in conversation?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Count me in!" Silver smiled to himself, "I'm not going to learn shit."

"N! What happened to you?" Ash cried, "WHO DID THIS?" N sat completely still while Ash freaked out. He seemed completely unresponsive to everything they said. He just stared at them quietly.

"Okay, here's N. Where's Touko?" Gary asked. N said nothing, he just backed further into the cave wall. "N," Gary leaned closer to him, "where's Touko?"

"...H- hey guys..." He flinched.

"Do you think something happened to her?" Ash asked, suddenly worried.

"Nah... Touko's pretty tough. I bet she's fine..." Gary said, trying to reassure himself as much as he was Trying to reassure Ash.

"N, was that you we heard in the cave?" Ash asked, "Were you screaming?"

"NO! HOW DARE YOU!?" Both Ash and Gary looked a bit shocked at his reaction.

"Doesn't matter, we should probably find Touko and make sure she's okay." Gary leaned down towards N, "Come on. We're going to find your girlfriend." N remained completely still. "Come on, we need to get going." Still nothing. "N, what's wrong with you? Let's go!" Gary's patients was wearing thin. N refused to move. "Come on!" Gary reached forward and gently grabbed him on the shoulder.

"UNHAND MEEEEEE!" N shrieked, making Gary jump backwards a few feet. N remained huddled in the corner.

"Um... N?" Ash cautiously crept closer to him, "We're gonna go find Touko, and Lyra, and my Lapras." he said, "Don't you wanna come?"

"OF COURSE!" At least he was responding now. "I- I mean, yeah.." N suddenly sprang up and grabbed Ash by the collar of his shirt, then began dragging him across the ground as he rushed forward. "I HEAR HER!" he yelled, "THIS WAY TO THE LIGHT!"

"N! WAIT UP!" Gary ran after them. "N! Stop it! You're going to hurt him! Just calm down, what did you hear?"

"I heard the VOICE Larry! It was her's! It sounded like a strawberry!"

"What?"

"Did you mean Touko?" Ash asked, brushing the dirt off himself, "You heard her?"

"Nrrrrrg... THIS WAY!" he shouted, "THEY TOLD ME TO GO!"

"Hold on a second. Who's 'they'?"

"THERE IS NO TIME FOR HESITANCE! WE MUST LEAVE!"

"I think he might be crazy..." Ash whispered, and Gary nodded in agreement.

N's eye began to twitch as he shot a look of disgust at them, "OH SURE!" he shouted, "N? YOU BETTER WATCH OUT FOR HIM THEY SAID! HE'S CRAZY THEY SAID! WELL YOU KNOW WHAT? OUR LIVES ARE NOTHING BUT MACHINATIONS OF A PREDETERMINED UNIVERSE! FREE WILL IS NOTHING BUT A COMFORTING ILLUSION! REALITY AS WE KNOW IT IS A LIE! YOUR LIVES AREN'T REAL! IF YOU CAN'T TRUST YOURSELVES, YOU GET NOWHERE! AND PRETTY SOON, YOU'RE 16 AND TALKIN' TO YER SOCKS! YOUR SOCKS LARRY! Sometimes I wonder, if you close the refrigerator door, is the light still on? IS IT ? Tell me ." Then he collapsed into a ball on the ground.

Gary backed away a good three feet. "That last one is a good question though." Ash said, "I've always wondered about those refrigerators."

"Well, we can't worry about that now. He's obviously mentally unstable. Until we find Touko, we're going to have to find some way to work around it."

"YOU LIE!" N shrieked.

"Okay then." Ash said, "Um, N, do you hear Touko now?"

"She vanished..." he sighed.

"Maybe, if I get to the right spot, I can get a signal on my PokeGear." Gary began to walk around, seeing if he could get a signal.

"Good thinking Gary! You're not completely useless!"

"It's something." Gary thought.

"They're all IDIOTS!" N began to rant again, "They think it doesn't rain in Australia because it's at the bottom of the earth!"

"What is 'Australia'?" Ash asked.

"I don't know, but apparently we're idiots if we think it doesn't rain there."

"Yeah, but how could it be at the bottom of the earth? The earth is flat."

"What if Australia is on some kind of round planet?"

"That would be weird!"

"Hey, I think I got a signal!" Gary said.

"Well, call Touko!"

"... I don't have her number."

"I should've known. You do lack the ability to get numbers from girls."

"Really Ash?"

"I saw the chance and I took it."

"Whatever. I'll call Lyra instead." He dialed her number.

"Hello?" Lyra's voice came through the speaker. It was crackly and broken due to bad reception.

"TALKING BOX!" N screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO TOUKO!?" His voice echoed through the tunnels, and in the distance, a soft fluttering sound began to grow louder, as if something was coming their way.

"Hello, is anybody there?" Lyra asked again. But The three boys stood frozen to the spot, horrified as a massive swarm of Pokemon circled over them. Fear paralyzed their bodies, until Ash finally managed to choke out one terrible word of horror.

"ZUBAT!"

Lyra listened hard, trying to make out the words coming through the PokeGear.

"AHHHHHH!IT'S TERRIBLE! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! SOMEBODY SEND BACKUP! THEY'RE GONNA EAT OUR FLESH! HORRIBLE PAIN! NO! NO! NOOOO! GET AWAY! AWAAAAY!" The PokeGear lost it's connection, and the voices where silenced.

"Who was that ?" Silver asked.

"I don't know." she said, "Maybe it was some telemarketer or something. Anyways, who's turn is it?"

"Mine. I spy with my little eye..."

In a desperate attempt to save the group from a horrible fate of death by Zubat, Ash pulled out Pikachu from his bag. "SAVE US NOW!" he screamed, holding Pikachu in the air. Once again, Pikachu released every ounce of energy within his little furry body. Millions of screeches filled the air as anything within 27 feet of Ash was fried with electricity. Unconscious Zubat fell to the ground all around them, dropping like flies. Gary was lying on the ground, shaking and twitching. The expression on his face was rock hard, and yet there seemed to be tears swelling up in his eyes. He was covered in ashes from the shock, and the Zubat had shredded his clothes.

"G- Gary?" Ash cautiously crept towards him, "Are you okay?"

"Ask me again."

"Are you o-"

"NO I'M NOT OKAY!" He jumped to his feet and began making angry gestures, "YOU KNOW WHAT? I WAS JUST ATTACKED BY A SWARM OF ANGRY FLYING MONSTERS! AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? I WAS SHOCKED WITHOUT MERCY! AGAIN! DO YOU KNOW HOW TRAUMATIZING THAT IS? HUH? DO YOU?" He fell over and Ash managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"...Gary?"

"What!?"

"Are you crying?"

"Maybe a little!"

"Alright. Just checking..." Ash just sat there for a little bit while Gary held him in a tight hug, headlock thing. "Gary."

"Hmmmm?"

"You think maybe we should wait for everyone to find us?"

"Yeah, that might be better."

"Do you think N will be okay?"

"Probably."

N was sitting quietly a couple feet away, poking at a Zubat that had "passed out". He seemed completely undamaged aside from the injuries he had aquired before the attack. And he was wearing Touko's filthy hat.

"Maybe we should start a fire or something. It's really cold down here." Ash suggested.

"Do you have any matches?"

"No, but maybe I can use Pikachu to-"

"NO!" Gary shouted, "NEVER AGAIN! We'll use my Pokemon to handle this!" Gary pulled out his pokeball and released a charmander. "Hey buddy, we need some fire. Ash, do you have anything flammable?"

"Uh... I have some twigs and sticks in here I think..."

"Why do you have twigs and sticks in your bag?"

"I thought they looked interesting!"

"What are you, five?"

"Yeah, well they're helping us now! Now set them on fire!"

"Okay, whatever." Gary said. As soon as they got the fire started, N started to shiver and stare at the fire as if he was terrified of it. "Do you know what his deal is?"

"Well, N told me he has a couple of uncommon fears because of the animes he watched."

"So N's an otaku?"

"YOU CALLIN' ME A TACO!?" N yelled.

"No. What's wrong with you?" Gary tried to get closer to N, but he started twitching and making a weird squeaking sound. He turned to Ash, "What did you do to N?"

"What do you mean!? I didn't do anything!"

"YOU have an unusual ability to cause people physical and emotional damage!"

"I said I was sorry about that!"

"No you didn't!" Gary said, "And now I'm going to have nightmares about Zubat and Pikachu and potatoes!"

"Well too bad! Can't change the past! No matter how horrible it is!"

"Hmph!" Gary sat down next to Ash and made himself comfortable. "We're gonna be here a while, and it's probably late now, so let's try to sleep or something."

"Whoo hoo! Sleep!" Ash fell over on his back and snuggled up to Gary.

"W- what are you doing?"

"I'm sleeping."

"Like this?!"

"You're comfy."

"Wha- How would you know!?"

"You cuddle me in your sleep all the time."

"H-h-huh?!"

"Yeah, you get really snugly in your sleep."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?"

"I was going to, but I just got used to it."

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN EMBARRASSED?!"

"Not anymore, it makes my inside feelings happy." He looked up and noticed Gary was a light shade of red, and began to wonder why Gary found this so startling. Maybe he was embarrassed, but why? It was a little weird that they were both boys, and Gary didn't know about it. And it so happened that they were in a dark place with a fire, and it was pretty cold. But was that it? "Maybe I'm not getting something..."

"He's so stupid." Gary thought, "How am I supposed to respond to this?"

N was watching them from the other side of the fire, smiling and giggling to himself. This kind of event only happened once in a blue moon. And it served as a nice distraction from all the horrible flashbacks of Unova. Suddenly, he felt a chill come over him. He looked up to see a Yamask hovering over him. At first, he thought it was just another vision, until he noticed the mask it was carrying. He smiled as warm memories filled his mind.

"Hello T! It's been a while since you let me see you. Does that mean Touko is near?" N said, "You know, you should really come out more. We miss you, and Touko worries about you."

"Yamask..."

"Fine, I won't force you."

"N, who are you talking too?" Gary asked, "What- What the heck is that?"

"This is T! Say hi to him." N said, then started to whisper, "Hey, don't remind him he's a Pokemon, he doesn't like to be reminded."

"Cool!" Ash said, "What's the mask for?"

"SILENCE!" N screamed, then he turned back to T, "Where's Touko?"

" Ya... Yamask..."

"THIS WAY TO FREEDOM!" he shouted, pointing in a certain direction, that just happened to be blocked by a large pile of rocks.

"N, no offense, but I think you might be crazy." Gary said.

"SAYIN' NO OFFENSE MAKES IT MORE OFFENSIVE!" N yelled, "T DOESN'T LIE! DON'T DOUBT T!" He ran towards the blocked path and began screaming. "TOUKO! TOUKO! TOUKOOOOO! IT'S ME! GREEN HAIRED BOY!"

"N, that's not going to-"

"N? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Wait, TOUKO?" Ash pressed his face against the rocks, "IS THAT YOU?"

"YES IT'S ME! CLEAR THE AREA! I'M GOING TO BLAST THROUGH HERE!"

"WHAT? HOW DO YOU PLAN ON-" a low rumbling interrupted Gary, signaling Touko's attempt to break through.

"NO TIME FOR HESITATION! WE STRIKE NOW!" N screamed over the miniature earthquake, then he picked Gary up and carried him bridal style away from the rocks.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ash ran after them. Within a matter of seconds, the wall was blasted away by Touko's Crustle. She didn't even wait till the dust cleared before she was running over to N, who dropped Gary and went over to meet her.

"ARE YOU OKAY? MY ARCEUS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? Did you do this to yourself? Or was it a Pokemon?"

"Gary!" Ash cried.

"What now?"

"Why did you let him pick you up like that?!"

"I'm fine. Thanks a lot."

"What's going on?" Lyra entered through the hole that Touko made. "We heard a big noise and-" she stopped dead and stared at Touko's Crustle. "WOW! IT'S A LASAGNA CRAB!"

"Lyra, come on." Silver joined the group. "That sounds like something Ash would say."

"Oh hey you guys!" Ash said, "How convenient."

"Well, nice little reunion. Now how do we get out of this hell hole?"

"I know an exit. Everyone just follow me." Touko said.

"You knew an exit?" Silver asked.

"Yep."

"You could've left any time you wanted, then?"

"Yeah, but I had to find N first."

"Dedication like that shouldn't even exist." Silver thought.

The group had made it out of the cave-hell, and it was pitch black outside. The night had taken over and the water had calmed down. N was doing much better, but Touko still seemed worried, and tried to clean the wounds he had. Eventually, he managed to get rid of her long enough to go check on everyone else.

"Hey, Touko, not to pry or anything, but N was acting extremely weird in there. Any idea what that was about?" Gary asked.

Touko got very serious again. "Say you won't tell anyone."

"O- okay..."

She still hesitated a bit, and made sure no one else was within earshot. "N had... issues growing up." she whispered, "His dad put him through lots of emotional trauma."

"Wait, really?"

"He's doing a lot better now, but he has breakdowns if he thinks someone he cares about is threatened... Which is why he always needs to know where I am." She shot a look at him, "Mention this to anyone ever again and I'll reach down your throat, pull out your stomach and empty it's contents onto your face."

Gary stared at her wide eyed and scared for his life. "I- I wasn't going to, but..."

"Do you understand me?!"

"YES! But seriously... I mean, WHAT THE HELL? Why do you think of these horrific things? WHAT KIND OF CHILDHOOD DID YOU HAVE?"

"I didn't have a childhood, Gary." She hissed. "And don't think that this is only a threat. I've seen and done horrible things, so this won't be anything more to me than a new all-time low."

"Hey Silver," N said, walking over to him, "Are you doing okay? How's Lyra?"

"We're a bit bruised, but we're fine. What about you?"

"F-fine." N's left eye twitched. "On an unrelated note, did you get to second base with you-know-who yet?"

"Not quite, but I found the field! Or something." he said, "I told her about my pathetic education and she offered to tutor me!"

"Ahhh yes, the "tutoring"." N smiled, "It takes a lot of patients, Silver. And man does it suck, because patients is just a low form of torture disguised as a virtue. But you gotta wait for it."

"Well, it's not like I have anything else to wait for."

"That's the spirit!" N patted him on the back, "You have NO other options!"

"Hey Gary! I got my Lapras back! It swam here all by itself! It must really love me!" Ash happily stroked the Lapras. "You can come with me the rest of the way if you want."

"Yeah, yeah. When we get to the mainland, I'm gonna stare at a wall and forget this whole thing." Except for the cuddling. He was gonna remember THAT.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, this story keeps getting worse. Not like it was good to begin with. Long chapter, yeah. I need to make them longer. T said so.