Story Summary: It's a hot day in Pallet Town, and Ash and Gary are hoping to get some ice cream. Rated K.


The Ice Cream Incident

Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Came the footsteps of two little pairs of feet, completely off beat and not at all in sync with each other. Two friends walked along, enjoying the day.

"Ice cream, ice cream! Icy, icy, ice cream!" Sang five year old Ash Ketchum as he walked along, swinging his arms back and forth in his stride. Beside him walked his best friend, who was also five years old, Gary Oak. It was a sunny day, and they were off to Gary's grandfather's lab, to play around and see all the wonderful pokémon there.

...A secondary goal, however, aside from getting to Professor Oak's to play with the pokémon, was catching the Ice Cream Man on the way there, who usually came pushing his cart each day from this direction. Each little boy had a single quarter on them; that was enough money to buy one ice cream each. They hoped to meet the man during their walk to the lab.

"What kind of ice cream are you going to get, Ash?" Asked Gary Oak as the brunette looked over to his friend, who was practically skipping along. Ash didn't even glance over to his friend as he exclaimed, "A Rainbow Snow Cone, of course!"

Gary gave a tiny roll of his eyes. A Rainbow Snow Cone. Of course Ash would go with something like that. Each ice cream would cost only a quarter, though, so Gary supposed it hardly mattered what kind either of them got.

"What about you? What kind of ice cream are you going to get?" Ash asked, looking to his friend now with his brown eyes shining with excitement. A walk to Professor Oak's lab to spend the rest of the day playing with pokémon, and getting a treat on the way there! It sounded great!

In response to the question, Gary glanced up at the blue sky above, lips pursed slightly and his brown eyebrows furrowed together as he thought. "I don't know yet," He finally answered, and just as he did they heard a little bell.

Ding! Ding Ding!

The sound caught the attention of the two boy's, and they both looked ahead of them, to find the man they had been waiting to see. The Ice Cream Man! "It's him! It's him!" Ash called happily, already running forward. Gary followed, ready to get himself an ice cream - whatever kind he ended up choosing.

The man, slightly plump and sweaty from the hot temperatures of the past few days, stopped the cart as the two little boys came up, and he smiled. "What can I get ya', eh?" He asked, taking off his hat and wiping his brow with his wrist.

"I want a Rainbow Snow Cone, please!" Ash exclaimed eagerly, pulling the quarter his mother had given him out of his pocket. The man smiled, and traded Ash the quarter for his desired treat. Then, he looked to Gary. "And what about you, little tyke?" He asked.

Gary let his stormy blue hues drift to the little menu taped to the front of the cart. So many different things... But looking this list over, he knew what he wanted. He looked up to the man, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his quarter. "I want a Lemon Pop, please."

The man's eyebrows raised themselves as he heard the boy's request, and he smiled. "Most don't have a taste for Lemon Pops, but I like 'em." The man stated, and took the quarter. He got out a Lemon Pop, wrapped in a white wrapper, and offered it to Gary.

"Thank you," Gary said, taking the frozen treat. "Thank you!" Ash finally chirped up in his words of thanks, following Gary's lead as they headed off, back on their way. "Have a good one!" The plump Ice Cream Man called, and Ash looked over his shoulder and waved happily. "Bye, bye!"

With their small goal now accomplished, the two boys could enjoy their treats and focus on getting to Professor Oak's lab. Gary tore right into his Lemon Pop, pleased when he saw the yellow popsicle in perfect condition. Ash, however, wasn't having such an easy time getting into his ice cream.

The Rainbow Snow Cone he had gotten was wrapped in thin plastic, and didn't look like it'd be too hard to open. But the little boy struggled with it because the plastic was so tight against the treat, and finally looked to Gary, who was just getting ready to take his first taste of a Lemon Pop.

"Gary, can you open this?" Ash asked, holding the snow cone out. Gary raised an eyebrow and looked to the boy and snow cone, before sighing. "What would you do without me?" He wondered aloud, and stuck the Lemon Pop into his mouth, clamping his mouth around it to hold it there. Oh! Now that was sour! The boy felt himself shudder lightly, but focused on Ash's ice cream and opening it.

He took the Rainbow Snow Cone into his hands, examining the colorful treat, before he started picking at the plastic. Ash walked beside him with his hands clasped behind his back, watching and waiting. Gary kept trying to pick at the plastic, hoping the small bit of nails he had could tear into it, but found that was unsuccessful.

Gary held the very bottom of the cone between his thumb and index finger, and picked around the sides of the cone. Finally, he felt his finger break past the plastic barrier, and he rather arrogantly jerked his hand, knowing he'd definitely get the ice cream open now. The plastic tore, and the snow cone seemed to tilt a bit too much with only Gary's two fingers being there to support it. Gary's expression turned from triumphant to horrified as he and Ash watched the semi-frozen treat fall out of the cone. The two stopped walking on instinct, and for Gary time seemed to stand still.

Both boys eyed the fallen, frozen treat as it lay on the ground, melting messily. Gary glanced up at Ash, and as he saw the boy's eyes becoming filled with tears he felt a big bus of guilt hit him. "Oops..." He muttered softly, and it was then that Ash broke into loud wails.

"My... My ice cream!" The five year old cried out, hands coming up to his eyes as he cried, sobbing loudly. Gary's face scrunched up as he felt his stomach twist into knots. Oh, geez. Look what he'd done! Now Ash was crying!

The two stood there a few minutes, Gary now holding his Lemon Pop by the stick as he watched Ash with an absolutely pitiful look, who cried and cried. "My.. Rainbow... Snow Cone!" Ash cried through his sobs, and Gary's frown deepened. The boy looked down to his Lemon Pop, and his eyebrows raised. Maybe...?

"Hey, Ash? I'm sorry." Gary apologized. He took a step towards his friend, hand going to his shoulder while the other held his slowly melting Lemon Pop between the two of them. "Do you want to share my ice cream?" Gary offered, and Ash lifted his head, looking up at his friend. The little boy gave a sniffle, and a small nod. "Okay..." He said quietly, and Gary held the popsicle a bit closer to Ash, who leaned forward to give it a little lick. Ash's eyebrows raised themselves and his eyes opened wide. "That's sour!" He exclaimed, scrunching up his face a little but giggling all the same. Gary smiled.

The brunette gave it a little lick, saving his hand from getting sticky just as some of the popsicle tried to melt onto his hand. "Here," He handed it off to Ash, who took it. The five year old gave it another little lick, and smiled up at Gary. It was sour, but not bad.

"The popsicle is sour," He stated, and stepped a little closer to Gary. His other hand came up, and Ash hugged Gary's waist a little, licking the Lemon Pop happily. "But you're sweet," He complimented. Gary felt his face heat up slightly as Ash pulled away, starting to skip towards Professor Oak's lab, which was in sight.

Gary watched his friend, and smiled. Slipping his hands into the pockets of the little pair of shorts he wore, Gary followed after Ash, not too far behind his friend but not quite with him, either.

The two finally made it to Professor Oak's lab, and it was needless to say that when they arrived Ash still had the Lemon Pop in his hand, licking at it furiously as it's melting process continued to speed up. Gary hardly minded, and by the time the popsicle was gone Ash had gotten the majority of it that sunny summer day in Pallet.

The two played with pokémon the rest of the day, and at sunset Gary walked Ash home - back to the Ketchum house. The two came across the spot where they had left Ash's Rainbow Snow Cone, only to find it gone - the paper cone and all. But the two little boys just continued on their way, not thinking about it.

Behind a bush nearby, a little Bulbasaur was trying it's hardest to stick it's tongue into, low and behold, the paper cone of some sort of ice cream, trying to get the colorful liquid, once a frozen treat, onto his tongue. Bulba-saur! It huffed, and continued trying to obtain the liquid from inside the cone.


THE END.


Raise your hand if you know who's food that Bulbasaur will end up stealing on a camping trip! -raises hand-

Yeppp... The Bulbasaur from Poké Camp Out totally made an appearance here. This is before that story ever happened, though, because Ash is still five while he was six in Poké Camp Out.

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