Both young men, covered in sweat and panting like Poochyenas, were catching their breath outside of their destination, the pokemon mating cave.

"Told you…*huff*….I knew where…*huff*...we were…." Gary said between breaths.

"Oh, please…*huff*...you just…*huff*… got lucky" Ash strained to slow his breathing.

"Whatever, We're here now, right?...*huff*... Let's just get in and…*huff*... get out." Gary spoke as he moved towards the cave.

"He's not as quick to anger as he used to be. I guess he's changed a lot." Ash was deep in thought and wasn't paying attention to where he was walking.

FA-THUD

"AH, Fuck, that hurt"

Gary whipped around and saw Ash had fallen face first onto the cave's floor; he couldn't help but laugh."

"Shut up, Gary!"

"What? Not my fault you're clumsy"

"I said SHUT IT"

"Whatever you say, Ashy-tard"

"I change my mind...he hasn't changed at all" Holding the parts of his face, that had hit the ground, Ash turns his gaze upwards and notices that the cave is full of little glowing specks.

"Gary, what are those things?"

"Hmmm?" Gary looked to where Ash was pointing. "Oh, those? Those are just glowing stones. They aren't worth anything but they make a great light source."

"That's really cool" Ash smiled. Gary quickly looked away.

" Yeah well from here on out stay quiet. This cave is full of pokemon, because of the caves effect on them they tend to be a bit...aggressive towards humans."

Ash was shocked. "I've never heard of a pokemon attacking a human before."
Gary turned around and got very close to Ash and spoke with the most serious tone Ash had ever heard him speak.

"Ash, pokemon, especially the wild ones, are unpredictable. Don't just assume that all are friendly. Especially in this cave of all places."

"Oh...um okay Gary. I got it." Ash was so surprised by this tone that he didn't even react with rebellion towards Gary telling him what to do like he normally would. Ash started thinking about how close Gary had been to him. "We hadn't been that close without arguing since we were kids. His scent...he smells different..he smells..really nice."

"Ash if you don't pay attention you're going to fall again." Gary whispered.

Ash blushed lightly and was thankful that Gary couldn't see him well enough to point it out.

Ash and Gary had been trudging in the deep, dank cave for what seemed like hours.

"Where is that damn crystal! My feet hurt and it's hard to breath in here." Ash whined.

"Well what did you expect? A fucking sign pointing in the right direction?" Gary replied.

"Well I wasn't expecting to be stuck with some asshole for the duration of my visit either, but poof here you are."

"Oh here we go again. As if you didn't want to see me."

"Why in the hell would I want to see you!? You're annoying, arrogant and selfish!."

"Shh, Ash keep your voice down."

" Don't tell me what to do ass hat! You always think you're so tough but I could take you on any day! Right here right now!" Gary turned to face the young man behind him.

"Ash, I'm fucking serious. Shut your Goddamn mouth."

"COME ON! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S ON TO-" Ash was cut short but a loud rumbling.

"Shit! ASH GET DOWN!"

"Wha!?" Gary leaped towards Ash, pushing him to the side of the cave and help him down as a wild Onix slipped his way along the cave. Gary, on top of Ash, leaned down and whispered "Stay absolutely quiet and still." Ash hadn't ever really been afraid of a pokemon until now. He started shaking, he was glad he had Gary holding on to him. If the boy with auburn hair wasn't there to hold him down he surely would have ran and most likely caught by the huge rock, snake pokemon.

"Onix…..On….ix" Ash grabbed on to Gary's shirt and squeezed trying to stop himself from screaming. The wild Onix was slithering right by them now. Very slowly, scanning the cave. Abruptly, the pokemon stopped and turned it's giant head in the direction of the boys.

"Onix?...Onix." Ash stiffened, Gary quickly shielded the body laying beneath him, covering Ash's view of the pokemon. Ash could see nothing, but he could now smell Gary more clearly than before. The scent relaxed him, made him feel safe, as if he weren't really here hiding from a creature he never thought of as dangerous before. The feeling didn't last long though.

"On…...ON...ONIX!" The large mass began to thrash his body around, hitting the cave walls. Gary wrapped Ash's body with his hands as best he could and used his body to shield the shorter boy from the falling rocks from above. All Ash could think about was all of the people he met, all of the friends he made, human and pokemon alike. He thought of his mother and of all of his accomplishments and failures in his past. He thought about his life until now, and he thought about Gary. The boy with dark eyes, the one who he thought hated him..who now was using his own body to protect his. Ash could feel the wild Onix stop almost immediately, and crawl off as if nothing had happened.

"We're safe...for now..we better get-" Gary stopped talking when he noticed that Ash was quivering and holding tightly on to him.

"Ash?" The dark haired boy stayed quiet, face tilted down so Gary couldn't see.

"Come on Ashy...boy… It's gone and we're going to be okay. Let's just head back you can enjoy that relaxation you wanted...okay?"

"Please…" Ash looked up at Gary through tear stuck eyes.

"Please just stay here with me for a few more minutes…"

Hi guys! most of you will skip over this...I admit...I'd do it too but for those of you who don't then I'd like to thank you for reading my fanfiction. It means a lot to me that people are actually reading this and liking it. Please leave a comment about how much you are enjoying it, hating it, want the grammar to be fixed or/and any suggestions on what you'd like to see further in the story. I do have it all planned out but I'm more than happy to listen to my readers and take their words into deep consideration. Thank you!