Okay, so I did get a review that the POV switch was confusing. Since I'm just posting what I had written before, I'm not going to change anything, but I do want to apologize that it's confusing! Well... If you need any clarification, when you see that really weird fancy line, the POV switches either to Ash, Gary, or James. Thanks for reading! :D

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Fury burned in Ash's eyes. "Help me?" he snapped in disdain. "You're here to help me?" Gary didn't move, maybe bewildered by Ash's anger. "That's so kind of you!"

"Ash, you don't understand!" Gary pleaded. "I know what's going on in there. You can't go down, they'll just kill you." He looked at the base's boulder, and desperately continued, "It's not just Jesse and James' usual pathetic attempts to steal your Pokemon. They've got, like, actual grunts with them. This is real. They will kill you."

"How can you ask me to not go in there?" Ash spat. "I'm not like you, Gare- Bear." Gary's mouth hung open with shock. Ash continued in thoughtless rage. "I don't just betray people. Especially not after they've been there for me no matter what." He found himself unable to stop. "I went through so much for you. But this whole time... You... You..." But this time he was too angry to finish his sentence.

He stomped on the button and the entrance opened up. "Bye, Gary. Thanks for nothing." Gary was still speechless. "Have fun spending that reward." I added as I squated down.

"Wait, Ash!" called Gary. "You've got it wrong."

I'm sure I do, Ash sarcastically thought as he quitely slid down the hole.

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I played with the cuff of my sleeve anxiously. "Kill him?" The walls of the underground cave felt tight around me.

"No, we're going to let him go out and tell the authorities about us." Thayer spat. "Yes, we're going to kill him!"

"Well, by that logic, shouldn't we kill the other kid too? He probably knows even more than this one does." Jesse pointed out.

"He won't tell anyone, not now." replied Howells.

"How can you be so sure?" Meowth asked.

"Didn't you see that kid?" Howells said. "He was desperate. That reward means everything to him." Ash was waiting in the main part of the cave, his wrists and feet tied together, while we were in a small passage where, although we were not far from him, he couldn't overhear us.

He seemed confident, but I was still skeptical. "But, I don't think he still believes he'll actually get it."

Howells sighed, clearly annoyed. "Don't you get it? He has too much pride. Trust me, he's going to run home and pretend like none of this ever happened." He walked towards the Main Part of the base, making it clear that he was done with the conversation. Jesse, Meowth, and I followed.

The HQ was made up of a few parts, although comparably very small. There was the Main Area, and a few passages that looked like they led somewhere, but actually all circled back to the Main Area.

"Hey, lemme go!" Ash demanded, struggling as he sat against the cave wall.

I swallowed loudly. I would never admit it to anyone, but I've always kind of liked that kid. And maybe I act like a ruthless bad guy, but in reality, I would never want to kill anyone.

"You wanna go? Alright, let's go." said Thayer, preparing to leave, so we could go to The Bridge.

"Where are we going?" Ash said.

Before anyone could answer, Ash heard a siren. "We've got an intruder." said Howells.

"I'll take care of it." said James. "You guys go ahead."

"Okay, and you two stay here." Howells referred to Jesse and Meowth. "This'll be easy."

Ash looked scared. "Where are we going?" he repeated.

"We're going for a walk." said Thayer.

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"Ash, please!" I pleaded. "Come on, I'm trying to help you!"

"Help me? You're here to help me?" Ash looked almost red with anger. "That's so kind of you!"

"Ash, you don't understand!" I went on shamelessly. "I know what's going on in there. You can't go down, they'll just kill you." I glanced at the base, wondering what they could be doing right now. "It's not just Jesse and James' usual pathetic attempts to steal your Pokemon. They've got, like, actual grunts with them. This is real. They will kill you."

"How can you ask me to not go in there?" Ash growled. "I'm not like you, Gare- Bear." I felt my mouth drop. Ash has stooped too low, now. Out of everything that could be said, that was the one thing that was off limits. Maybe I should have felt mad, but I was too shocked.

When I focused again, Ash was still talking. "-betray people. Especially not after they've been there for me no matter what." He thinks he gets it. "I went through so much for you. But this whole time... You... You..." He doesn't. Ash doesn't get it.

He stepped on the button, opening up the secret door. "Bye, Gary. Thanks for nothing." I found myself unable to make words. "Have fun spending that reward." No. He needs to understand. It's not what he thinks.

"Wait, Ash!" I called. "You've got it wrong."

Ash wasn't turning back.

"It wasn't money, Ash!"

Ash was gone.

Overwhelmed. Sleep- deprived. Hungry. Remorseful. Hurt. Confused. Humbled. It was too much. I sat down, and waited for nothing. To hear the gunshot, maybe. I felt a lump in my throat, like dry- swallowing a pill.

"It was my parents, Ash." I croaked. "They said they could find my parents." Maybe Ash couldn't hear me, but I didn't care. "All I had to do was help them..."

I inhaled sharply at the sight of a tear dropping onto my knee. "No." Gary Oak doesn't cry. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried before this, if you don't count the Rattata incident. I sniffed loudly, and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"No." I repeated again. "I'm not giving up NOW, after all this." I felt my cheek with the back of my hand, and my face felt hot. I sighed, frustrated that I would have to save Ash looking like I was just crying.

Oh, the trials of being a hero.

But this situation does beg the question- what now?

I was getting impatient waiting here for so long. Besides, I didn't know how much time I had before Ash would do something dumb and get killed.

I pictured the underground base in my head. There were a bunch of little paths leading off of the room I saw, and I can bet one of them is a secret exit, so they can sneak out unnoticed if need be.

I hiked up a hill, one that was right by the base. It would be hard to find an opening. It wouldn't stand out any more than the entrance did. I bent low to the ground as I walked. "Button... Where's a button..." I mumbled to myself.

I spotted a boulder, practically identical to the one that the entrance was made of. "Stupid Team Rocket." I laughed, running over to it.

"Yes!" There was a button, blended into the scenery, in almost the same spot as the other one. I took a deep breath, hoping I would be able to sneak down quietly, and pressed it.

Suddenly, i felt blinding pain, darkness, and the earth giving way beneath me, all at the same time. I opened my eyes, and I first looked at my ankle, because I would naturally first look to it, as it was hurting badly. It was twisted a little, and not in a normal way. That just grosses me out.

Then I noticed that I was in a deep hole. "Hm. It was a trap." I said.

"And I'm all alone."

I looked up at the light shining in through the hole. What's wrong with talking to yourself if there's no one around to hear it? So, I scooted over so I could lean comfortably against a wall. "You know," I said. "This reminds me of what happened a few days ago. After I got attacked by that Pokemon. What was it?" I hesitated. "Oh yeah, it was a Rattata."

I coughed. "Trying to climb up that ledge, to save myself..." I looked down at my ankle, noting the searing pain. "Injured..." I felt the crumbling dirt walls with my dirty hands. "And I couldn't do it." I closed my eyes, tired. "So I just gave up."

"Only, I had Ash to save me, then. Now, I have no one." Disturbed, I opened my eyes again. "And now, instead of being killed by a Pokemon, I'll just starve to death." The air was thin and hard to suck in. "Or maybe suffocate."

"Maybe Ash will come to save me again." I waited. Silence. I waited some more. Nothing. "I guess not."

"I've changed a lot since then, you know?" I noticed, giving up on waiting. "It's kinda weird, I guess." I stood up, leaving the pressure off my injured foot, which did feel noticably better. "I realize that the moral of the story is that I shouldn't give up now." I looked up. 0Should I call for help?"

"Okay... I guess I should. On the count of three." I stalled. "One... Two..." I inhaled deeply. "Hello? Can anyone help me!" I bit my lip. "Hello?!"

"Can someone help m-"

"SSH!" Someone cut me off. I looked up, and saw a figure standing at the top of the hole. "Stop yelling." the voice said. I squinted. It was James.

"What are you doing?" I called, unsure how to act about this.

"I'm saving you. Your friend is in trouble." James told me. "We have to go." He dropped down a rope ladder to me. "I'll explain later."

It was kind of difficult and painful trying to climb up with my injured ankle, but it wasn't a good time to complain. Besides, it wasn't really that bad anyway. I rubbed my sore hands. "What's going on?" I asked anxiously.

"Come on, I'll tell you on the way." James said.

"That'll be a little difficult." I poised the conflict. "I kinda hurt my ankle when I fell. It's not too bad, but..."

"Okay, I can help you for now. Let's just go." James said. He walked over to me and stopped. "But wait- if we're going to do this, there's a good chance we'll fail."

I grinned. "I understand." I said, feeling brave, and proud.

"-And if we fail, you might die."

I repeat: The trials of being a hero.

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Ash paled when he saw what he was standing in front of. "The- The Bridge? Why are we here?"

The Bridge was pretty well known, mostly because of how deep and scary it was. It's a long rope bridge, complete with a stereotypical deep drop. No one can really say for sure how deep it is, but there are many rumors. Some say it's 100 feet deep, some say it's 600, others say that it's bottomless.

The two grunts exchanged a look. I felt my stomach drop to the floor.

"Come on, let me go!"

Ash whipped his head towards the shouts. No way. "Gary?" Gary stepped towards the bridge slowly, his wrists tied behind his back.

"Hey, Ash." he said solemnly. We're both going to die now, he knows it. And yet he seems to accept it. Like, he's okay with it. I squinted. What's with that kid.

One of the grunts, the more relaxed of the two, looked at Gary. "Well, looks like I was wrong about you."

Gary shrugged and tilted his head. "How so?"

"Well, we only trusted you to go because we thought you were a coward." Gary seemed unphased, even amused. He lightly nodded. "We thought, this kid isn't a threat to us." The grunt nodded back. "In fact, we even thought you were too proud to tell anyone about this whole thing."

Now, Gary flinched. The man continued, "Yep, we were wrong. But for the record, we had no intention to even go through with our part of the deal." The smug expression on the boy's face wavered, and it was the grunt's turn to be coy. "You really thought we were going to find your mommy and daddy?"

It took half a second for it all to click. Gary sharply turned his head to Ash, and at once, it all came crashing down on him. It wasn't money. His stomach ached at the realization. He glanced down, off The Bridge, at his fated grave.

It couldn't end like this- it just couldn't.

"I'm sorry." he blurted out.

Gary's face softened into warmth. "I'm sorry too, Ashy."

The second grunt rolled his eyes. "Well, this has been cute, but let's just get this over with." He looked at the two. "Who's first?"

"It doesn't matter to me, sir!" Gary said lightheartedly. I couldn't understand what he had to feel so happy about. It was absolutely disturbing.

"Let's go." the grunt grumbled. He grabbed tight onto Gary's collar and walked him onto the bridge. My stomach lurched just watching it. I silently said goodbye to Gary, fighting hopeless tears.

The grunt narrowed his eyes at him. "What're you up to..." he suspiciously said.

I gasped. Gary, revealing that his hands were free, gave one big punch in the grunt's nose. The bridge shook dangerously. Taking his opportunity as the man recovered from shock, he ran to the end of The Bridge.

"Watch out!" Ash warned. The other grunt (He liked to think of him as Grunt #1) left Ash ungaurded and jumped in front of The Bridge.

"Uh- oh!" Gary was stuck in between the two. Grunt #1 threw a punch, but anticipating it, Gary dodged it. "Help!" he yelled.

"Uh..." Ash panicked. "I, uh..." He didn't know what to do.

"Don't move." James quickly moved behind Ash, and started cutting the ropes that tied his hands together with a knife.

"What do we do now?" I asked urgently.

Gary turned around and socked Grunt #2 in his face.

"I don't know, I never really planned past this part!" James cried.

Ash groaned and went behind Grunt #1, pulling his shoulder back so he was facing him, and giving his best punch. Unfortunately, the grunt completely dodged it and retaliated with a faster punch. The force was enough to push Ash back onto the ground.

Grunt #1 followed Ash off The Bridge and walked towards him. "H- Help, someone!" He was still on the ground, too scared to react quickly to what was happening.

The grunt walked up in front of me and jabbed me in the eye, and the sky looked purple for a second. Then he raised his fist, and I prepared myself for the knockout punch. Just when he was about to deliver it, he fell to the ground. "Huh?" Ash looked up.

"You're welcome." said James, holding a small pipe. "You're lucky that I always come prepared.

We turned around to see The Bridge, and Gary still fighting with Grunt #2. I was amazed at how long he had survived on there. "I'm coming, Gary!"

Ash ran onto The Bridge. He had always been told that he's brave and determined to a fault, and as he stepped on there, blindly, and without a plan, he suddenly understood why, as well as realized it wasn't a compliment as he always thought it was.

Gary was a few steps away, still fighting off the grunt. "I'm comin', Gary!" Ash shouted.

James tossed him the pipe. He slowly lifted it above his head, and with as much force as he could manage, swung it onto the grunt's head. The impact felt dull and thick. He heard an echoing thump.

Ash looked down at the grunt. "Wow." he said.

"Yeah." Gary agreed. "Wow."

Ash grabbed his arms and they dragged him to the end of the bridge.

"Thanks." said Gary to James.

Ash nodded. "Thank you."

James just shrugged. "Sorry, kid." he looked a Gary.

"It's fine." Gary assured him.

For once in his life, Ash admired Gary as a person. He looked at him. Blood- stained clothes, a slight limp, not to mention the emotional damage, but he had managed to pull through. He hadn't given up or let Ash down. Ash smiled. Maybe he'd always thought of Gary as the biggest douchebag- But he had proven himself to be a good kid.

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I had never thought I'd see Ash as anything but a loser before this. I looked at the boy. I saw bravery, a good concience, plus a nice black eye. He's everything that defines courage. Even when he's afraid, he will always put others before him. He smiled, and I did too. Maybe I'd looked down on him, and made fun of him my whole life- But he had proven himself to be a good kid.

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Dun- duh- dun! All done! I hope someone bothered to read this and maybe even enjoyed it ^-^ It's all over now! Thank youuuuuu :)