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After his last adventure on a snowy mountain, Ash swore to stay far away from mountains for a long time.
But, turns out, Ash is really bad at making plans for the future. He’s a live-in-the-moment sort of guy and he can’t sit still after Professor Oak mentions Gary. Apparently, Gary is training hard for the upcoming league and Gary is capturing new Pokemon everyday and Gary is blah-blah-blah. Ash doesn’t stay to hear the rest of Professor Oak’s speech. Instead, he rushes out of the lab because he’s gotta start training right now.
Rumors say there’s a mountain full of powerful Pokemon to the west of Viridian City. Brock and Misty both groan when Ash announces that as their next destination.
“What? You guys aren’t busy or anything,” Ash huffs, pointing to the tv. “We’re supposed to be training our Pokemon, not watching movies.”
“No, you are supposed to be training,” Misty points out. “Anyways, what’s gotten into you? You’re the one who suggested this movie. Did you get the popcorn from Professor Oak’s?”
“Professor Oak probably mentioned Gary,” Brock says.
“It doesn’t matter who said what or what I said this morning, we gotta start training now!”
“Professor Oak definitely mentioned Gary,” Misty sighs.
“Uh-huh,” Brock agrees.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Ash shouts as he gathers their bags. “I wanna get to the mountain before dinner.”
“That mountain is always covered in snow. What if we get caught in a blizzard? Last time didn’t go so well for you and Pikachu,” Misty says.
“I’ve got a plan for that,” Ash replies, patting Pikachu’s head reassuringly. He waits until Brock and Misty look at him to finish his sentence. With a wide grin, he says, “We're just not gonna get caught in a blizzard this time.”
They set up camp at the base of the mountain. Ash wants to settle closer to the peak, but he’s outvoted. Even Pikachu sides with Brock and Misty. So he’s got no choice but to follow Brock’s advice: they’ll train at the base of the mountain, then, once the weather forecast is clear, they’ll hike up the mountain. They won't go far. They aren’t gonna try to trek to the mountain’s peak.
Everything goes fine at first. Except for Charizard, his Pokemon are eager to train. Ash swears he feels stronger after a few days on the mountain. Maybe he’ll stay here until the league, battling wild Pokemon, challenging trainers to battles, and falling asleep with his thoughts full about how he’s getting stronger than Gary everyday. That sounds like a good idea.
Team Rocket puts a dent in his plans.
It happens quickly. One minute, Ash and Pikachu are cleaning up after dinner; the next minute, they’re trapped in net from a giant Meowth robot. Ash ignores their stupid motto as he tries and fails to ripe the netting. They’re finally freed when Brock’s Onix destroys the robot. Ash and Pikachu run away from the smell of smoke, the screeches of breaking metal. Pikachu is fast enough to reach Brock and Misty, but Ash isn’t.
Blasting off is more painful than it looks.
Ash stares at the cloudy sky in a daze. It takes a moment for Ash to realize the white spots in his vision are actually snowflakes. He groans as he sits up. As far as he can see, blankets of snow cover the ground. The blast must’ve blown him to the top of the mountain. Ash swallows the lump in his throat. This is fine. It isn’t as bad as last time: Pikachu and his other Pokemon are safe, and he’s got a winter coat, the one that Mom shoved into his arms before he left home. All he’s gotta do is locate the path down the mountain.
He can do this.
'I can't do this.'
Ash shivers violently. He isn’t sure how long he’s been walking. The snowfall is fast and heavy now. Each step forward is a struggle. His legs sink into the snow. Snowflakes strike at his face, blinding him. And, worst of all, it’s nightfall. He's gotta find some shelter soon or else he’ll be defenseless in freezing cold darkness.
He squints as he tries to search his surroundings for shelter. In the distance, there’s a faint yellowish glow. Maybe he’s hallucinating. Maybe it’s a fire inside a Pokemon’s den. As he gets closer, he realizes it isn’t a hallucination. The light is coming out of a cave up ahead. It isn’t the light of a fire, it’s the glow of a lantern.
There’s someone else stuck on this mountain too.
“Hey! Hey!”
Ash tries to shout out a greeting, but his teeth are clattering too much for the words to form. He stumbles forward until he reaches the cave. It takes all of Ash’s remaining strength to crawl through the opening. He collapses on the cave’s floor, breathless and weak, but so, so happy to find some shelter from the storm.
Some movement catches Ash’s attention out of the corner of his eye. Oh, right. The other traveler. Ash slowly sits up — a grateful smile on his lips, an apology and a ‘thank you’ ready to spill out — but he's struck dumb when he hears a familiar voice.
“Ash?“
“Gary!”
This can’t be happening. Ash scrubs his face, hoping his eyes are playing tricks on him, but Gary doesn’t disappear. He sits in the corner of the cave, his lips pressed into a thin line. Gary doesn’t have the usual look on his face when he sees Ash, that ‘Meowth 'bout to pounce on a Pidgey’ look. For a brief moment, Ash thinks this might not be the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. They’re both obviously upset about the storm so maybe they could work together for once.
Ash’s hopes are quickly crushed when Gary opens his mouth.
“Why is it always you?” Gary groans, his voice dripping with distain. “Haven’t I suffered enough today?”
If Ash wasn’t half frozen, he would’ve flung himself at Gary. Instead, he settles for jabbing his finger at his rival.
“Hey! You ought be happy to see me!” Ash shouts. “I was gonna help you but now I won’t!”
“Help me? How?” Gary says, motioning to Ash’s clothes. “You can’t even help yourself.”
Ash grits his teeth. Gary has point there. He just has a coat while Gary has a coat and scarf, gloves and earmuffs, and even a blanket too. Ash is sorely tempted to make fun of Gary’s stupid fluffy earmuffs, but he desperately wants those stupid earmuffs for himself right now.
Ash crosses his arms against his chest, turns his head away from his sworn rival. He’s serious about not helping. Ash isn’t sure how long he ignores Gary. It feels like hours, but, if he had a clock, he’d realize it’s just a few minutes. He can’t stay quiet forever, especially in this cold weather.
“We ought light a fire,” Ash mumbles. “It’s getting colder.”
“If I could light a fire, I would’ve already,” Gary mumbles back. “The temperature is dropping for the night. We’re gonna freeze unless we do something.”
“You got any ideas about what to do?” Ash asks.
Gary’s quiet for a beat, then says, “We could huddle for warmth.”
“You wanna cuddle?”
“I said huddle.”
“That’s a coward’s way to ask to cuddle,” Ash says, then shakes his head. “And no. No way. Nuh-uh.”
If Ash must choose between freezing or cuddling with Gary Oak, he’ll take his chances with the cold. It wouldn’t be so bad to turn into a human popsicle. Brock and Misty would defrost him as soon as they find him. If he cuddles with Gary, he’ll have to live with that memory for the rest of his life.
Ash sneezes loudly.
“You’re shaking. Just c’mere,” Gary says.
Ash — too stubborn for his own good — stays in his corner. Gary sighs loudly. He crawls over to Ash, muttering complaints under his breath. Ash tries to insist, I’m fine, but his teeth clatter around the words. Gary rolls his eyes, then tosses his blanket and scarf at Ash.
For once, Ash is grateful for Gary.
It doesn’t last long.
“Are you really wearing fingerless gloves? You know those things are useless,” Gary says in his annoying you-really-don’t-know-anything voice.
Ash makes a face at Gary.
“They’re cool. You wouldn’t know anything about that.”
Gary scoffs. Ash expects a snarky response. Instead, Gary takes hold of Ash’s hands with a gentleness that Ash didn’t know Gary was capable of.
“We gotta warm your hands or else you’ll get frostbite,” Gary says, quietly.
He carefully slides his own gloves onto Ash’s hands. His fingers brush back and forth over the fabric. Slowly, Ash’s freezing hands thaw under Gary’s warm touch.
As Ash stares at their clasped hands, he realizes this is the first time they’ve held hands in a long time. The last time — of course, Ash remembers the last time because he can’t forget anything about Gary — was years ago when Ash got lost in the forest outside of Pallet Town. He was missing for hours. Eventually, Gary found him and led him back home. Gary held Ash’s hand all the way home, his grip firm and unwavering, as if he worried Ash might slip away and disappear again.
Even though Gary always ran ahead of him, it seems like he never really wanted Ash gone. If he did, he wouldn’t have been there for Ash back then or now.
“We can cuddle,” Ash mumbles.
Gary pauses, then says, in his most serious voice, “Huddle.”
“Yeah, sure. C’mere before I change my mind,” Ash says, holding open the blanket.
Gary sits next to Ash, pulls the blanket around his shoulders. For a second, Ash thinks this might not be so bad, but then Gary says,
“Move closer.”
“You move closer.”
Ash can’t help himself. He’s gotta argue with Gary. It’s a force of habit. Gary mutters, ‘Don’t be stubborn,’ and, before Ash gets the chance to complain, he puts his hand on Ash’s side.
Ash squeaks, high-pitched and embarrassing.
Gary laughs. He’s still laughing when they start pushing and shoving each other. Gary manages to pull him closer and Ash realizes cuddling — huddling — actually works. He does feel warmer.
He hates it when Gary’s right.
Ash tosses himself at Gary. Much to Ash’s satisfaction, Gary screeches when Ash crashes into him.
“There! Happy now?” Ash asks.
For the first time in his life, Gary is completely silent. Ash isn’t even sure if he’s breathing.
“We don’t gotta be this close,” Gary finally says, his voice higher pitched than normal.
Ash blinks. He takes in the way they’re a mess of limbs right now with Ash half-sprawled onto Gary and his face nearly pressed into Gary’s neck. Yeah, they’ve never been this close to each other. Ash’s face burns in embarrassment. Alright, he might have overdone it. He tries to draw back, but Gary stops him with a hand on his shoulder.
“No, it’s fine. We’ll be warmer this way.”
Ash stays still. He’s definitely feeling warmer, but he isn’t sure if it’s due to the shared body heat or his quick beating heart.
“So…how’d you get stuck here?” Ash asks, trying to distract himself.
“I was training my Pokemon in this area and…I lost track of time so we had to bunker down here,” Gary admits. “I have Arcanine resting in his Pokeball. He can carry us down the mountain after the storm passes.”
Gary’s honesty surprises Ash. His offer to help catches Ash completely off guard. He’s used to Gary’s brushing him off so he expected to part ways as soon as the snow stops. It’s strange to make plans with Gary. For some reason, he feels happy.
“What about you?” Gary asks.
“Huh? Oh! I blasted off,” Ash says.
“What?”
“There was an explosion. You know, boom! Whoosh! Splat!”
“D-did you fly here?”
“Yeah, sort of.”
Gary laughs, and Ash finds himself laughing too. He’s always wanted to go flying, but not like that. It wasn’t all bad though. He can’t say blasting off is the worst thing to ever happen to him because it brought him here to this cave, to Gary. Gary leans his head against Ash’s. Ash closes his eyes.
“We’re never gonna talk about this, got it?” Gary says.
Ash nods. He knows there are some things that they won’t ever mention again because Gary will pretend they never happened. Like, Ash holding Gary in his arms at the Viridian Gym, or Gary’s teary eyes when he found Ash in the forest years ago. That’s just how it’s always been between them.
Ash presses his face to Gary’s neck. His earlier flush of embarrassment settles into a pleasant warmth in his chest. He wants to hold onto this feeling as long as possible.
"Ash! Where are you?”
“Hey, Ash!”
Ash jolts awake to shouts of his name. His takes in his surroundings, confused about his current whereabouts. Gary leans heavily against Ash, his eyes half-opened and his arm wrapped around Ash's waist.
“Your friends,” Gary mumbles, his voice thick with sleep.
Yesterday’s memories rush back. Team Rocket. Blasting off. Snowstorm. Gary.
“Ash!”
Ash forces himself to move away from Gary. As soon as they part, he already misses Gary’s warmth. Still, Ash heads to the entrance of the cave. He waves his arms frantically so his friends notice him.
“I’m here! I’m alive!”
“Pikapi!”
Ash grins at Pikachu’s cry of joy. Pikachu rushes forward with Brock and Misty right behind him. Ash spins around to face Gary, excited to share the news of his friends’ arrival. His words catch in his throat when he sees Gary is already on his feet with Arcanine at his side. Ash doesn’t know why he hoped to sit together for a little while longer. Obviously, they should get off this mountain as soon as possible.
There’s no need to huddle for warmth anymore.
“Stop screaming. You’re gonna cause an avalanche,” Gary grumbles. “Keep your voice low while Arcanine and I head down, will ya?”
“You’re going alone? You know, you can come down the mountain with us,” Ash offers.
Gary stares at him. Ash swallows the lump in his throat, the words, ‘Please,’ and ‘You promised,’ nearly slip out. He can’t say that. It’s too embarrassing.
“We’ve spent enough time together,” Gary just says.
Ash expected that answer — it was stupid to hope for otherwise — but he’s still disappointed.
“Here, then. These are yours,” Ash says, slipping off Gary’s gloves and scarf.
Gary holds out of his hand, his fingers are stiff and his skin looks burnt red. Ash draws a sharp breath.
“Forget it,” Gary says, quickly drawing back his hand. “Just keep them. I’ll get off this mountain before you.”
“Gary-” Ash starts.
Ash's voice falters when he’s suddenly knocked off balance. Pikachu leaps onto his back, nuzzles his cheek to Ash’s face. Brock and Misty quickly surround him. They’re both loud as they scold and check on him at the same time. In the midst of the chaos, Gary leads Arcanine out of the cave. Ash breaks free of his friends to rush after him.
“Gary!” Ash shouts.
There’s nothing Ash could say to make Gary stay so he says goodbye like he always says goodbye.
“Let’s battle next time!”
Gary stops. He doesn’t turn around, but he shouts back, “Keep training then! I want a challenge!”
Ash smiles. This is the closest they’ll get to promising to meet again.
He watches Gary walk away. They didn’t battle this time, but Ash feels like he won something. He fixes Gary’s scarf around his neck, then rejoins his friends. He's gonna tell them everything that happened yesterday. Almost everything. He won’t mention he shared a blanket with Gary. They swore never to talk about it and Ash wants to keep some of those memories — the warmth of Gary’s hands, the comfort of sleeping side-by-side — all to himself.