'I know it's somewhere near here,' the brunette thought exasperatedly to himself as he trudged through the forest at the base of a mountain. 'At least, that's what my PokePointer's telling me.' Gary glanced down at the sleek little piece of machinery in his hand when it gave off another quiet beep.

"You are now within fourteen feet of your search entry," he softly read aloud and scoffed. "It told me I was fifteen feet away when I was five yards back the way I came."

As if to mock him, the device sounded once again.

"Oh yippee, now I'm only twelve feet away," he rejoiced sarcastically. Gary was about to chuck the handheld electronic 'twelve feet away' when it beeped yet again and he heard a quiet scratching from behind a large pile of boulders.

His annoyance forgotten, Gary crouched and made his way over to the rocks with a pokeball in his hand. The spiky-haired brunette silently counted down from three before he leapt over the boulders and landed neatly on top of

"Ash?!"

The other groaned painfully at his name while Gary frantically scrambled to climb off of him.

"What in the name of Arceus are you doing here?" Gary growled after he'd finally untangled himself.

"I- I was just collecting some granite for my Charmander.. I think he might be kinda sick, so I wanted to get him something to make him feel a bit better," Ash explained after he managed to sit up. He looked up at Gary when he stood, "So what're you doing here?" Ash asked curiously.

"Gramps sent me out to look for an undiscovered Pokemon that he told me would be near this area, but I think the tracker he gave me is faulty." Gary held up the little machine as if it was proof. Ash motioned for Gary to hand it to him, and studied it for a short while before he started fiddling with the mess of wires on top. With a click, Ash smiled and gave back the PokePointer.

"The calibration was off; it kept telling you where all of the zubats were hiding, just not all at once," the trainer chuckled- giggled, really- as he attempted to stand.

Ash made it up just fine before he tried walking; but as soon as he'd put the slightest pressure on his right foot, his ankle gave way and he collapsed with a piteous yelp.

"A- Ash! What did you do? Are you alright?" Gary stammered with a hint of worry.

Tears were forming in Ash's eyes as he looked up again at Gary. "It's my ankle- I think it bent the wrong way when you fell on me. How am I gonna get home?" He wailed.
'Oh for the love of-' Gary sighed. "If you want, you could hop on my back and I could carry you home?" He suggested, almost daring to hope that the offer would be refused.

Ash tearfully nodded and reached up with his arms.

'Tch, just like a toddler,' Gary surmised to himself as he hefted the other onto his back and bent down carefully to grab Ash's things.

"I mnmphoo," was mumbled into the back of his shoulder.

Gary sighed again, heavier this time. "What?" He said harshly, "Muttering doesn't do much if you're trying to be heard, ya know."

"I- I said, uhmm... Thank you?" Ash finished with a question more than an answer.

"Tch, whatever." Gary started walking in the general direction of his house.

*~•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•~*

After the two had arrived at Professor Oak's lab, Gary gently sat Ash down on an outside bench that was beside the front door. He stepped back and stretched loudly with a long groan before he walked over to the entrance.

-Dear Gary,

I had to leave town quickly on an urgent business matter. You are to stay with Mrs. Ketchum and her son for the approximate two weeks I will be away. If you happened to have found the Kuwamon, please contact me on my usual cell number to leave a message. I have worked out all of the details with Delia and all of your necessities are already at their household. Please do not be angry with them, they are doing both of us a monumental favor. Do not gripe at her, either.

Signed,

Gramps~

After he'd read it for the fourth time, he growled some obscenities at no one in particular and stomped over to where he had left Ash. Gary found the other snoring lightly, curled up on his side.

'Adorable, he's sleeping.' "Come on, Ash," he said loudly, "we gotta go to your house, I suppose." Gary shook Ash's small frame almost gently.

"Wha-?" He yawned cutely as he mostly sat up and sleepily rubbed a fist over his eyes. "Home?"

Gary had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud at his former rival's display. "Yeah, sleepyhead. Your  house. Apparently, Gramps took off without me for a couple of weeks and I have to stay with you between now and when he gets back."

Now that he was more awake, it took Ash far less time to process what had been said.

"Wait, you need to live with me..," he received a confirming nod, "for two weeks?!'

Gary sighed and ran a hand through his spiked hair. "Seems like it to me," was the bored reply.

Ash groaned as he flopped back down onto the stone bench- and instantly regretted it. "Owwwch," he complained.

Gary accidentally let a laugh slip, "Come on ya loser," he chuckled. "I'll put up my white flag if you put up yours," Gary offered as a truce. Ash took a moment to think and nodded. "Fine, but you get to explain that to my mom," he said, gesturing to his swelling ankle. Gary shrugged, "Alright," he reached for Ash, "Come on then."

*~•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•*~*•~•~*

After they'd made it the short trek to Ash's house, Gary figured he should be thinking of how to apologize to Delia for Ash. However, the moment he'd opened the door, Delia was bustling to and fro distractedly. So Gary took this opportune moment to carry his 'delivery' over to the couch to set it down. "I'll go get some ice and bandages," he told Ash and ran off about five steps before he turned and asked, "where's your first aid stuff?"

"Ice would be in the kitchen and the first aid kit is in the cupboard over the bathroom sink." He noticed Gary open his mouth again and quickly added, "Second door on the left down the hall behind you."

Gary nodded his thanks and walked to the bathroom to open the medicine cabinet over the sink and pull down the kit. After he made sure there were enough bandages for Ash's ankle, Gary returned to the living room to set his load down on the table in front of Ash.

Kneeling down on the carpet, Gary took the injured foot and gently began to assess the damage. "I have to take off your socks and shoes now, alright Ash?" Gary stated calmly; he knew this would probably hurt at least a bit.

"O- okay," was the stuttered reply.

~A N~
Okay, I lied. It's not a oneshot...... But it's something, right?
More to come relatively soon... Bear with ^-^
F4Y