Complicated
Ash Ketchum wasn't stupid or at least not as stupid as everyone made him out to be. He knew a lot and would also admit when he didn't know something and would turn all of his attention to learning. There are just somethings though that Ash would never understand. Iris would probably call him a kid and tell him he was too stupid to understand a thing like love.
Ash would always tend to focus on what he knew well... Pokemon. Ash knew Pokemon like the back of his hand. He loved all of his Pokemon. He knew what each one of them liked and disliked. He knew how to battle and well. He always did well in Pokemon Leagues in every region he visited. He was even the first ever Pokemon League champion in Alola.
But love? That was something else altogether. Love was... Complex. Ash had spent his formative years growing up travelling with girls and boys- Misty and Brock, Tracey. May and Max. Dawn, Iris and Cilan, Clemont, Bonnie and Serena, Mallow, Lana, Lillie, Kiawe and Sophocles and meeting many more along the way- Ritchie, Paul, Alain, Gladion, Annabel, Alexa, Zoey and Bianca. As Ash grew up those friends he made would grow into relationships with both his female and male friends.
Ash had learned from experience that if a girl liked you they would act like they didn't and actually hated you instead or they would actively try to make you jealous so you would try harder to 'prove yourself' to them. His first experience with what he called love at the time was nothing like this.
He cast his mind to where it all began for him. Serena, in Kalos. His first kiss. His first girlfriend and his first heartbreak.
Serena liked him and she showed it off even if she would deny it at first whenever Ash was within earshot of her. Ash would later discover that she had, in fact, liked him ever since she met him when they were both children. (even if Ash had forgotten about that at first) However, when Ash and Serena began to date he discovered that there was a whole new set of rules he had to follow. For one thing, you couldn't talk about Pokemon too much, even if it was all you talked about with them before then. They really didn't appreciate it. Ash was called boring, single-minded, limited and only interested in one thing. Wat they now wanted was to always be with you, holding hands, kissing and cuddling but on the other side of that coin, if you did that too much then you were a clingy creep who had no life of their own and were dependent on them. It took Ash some time to sort out the balance between the two. But not long after he did, the relationship was over.
Ash learned three lessons from that relationship. The lessons he learnt? Girls were complex, he still had a lot to learn about relationships and even wanting something doesn't always mean that you'll get it.
"What time is it where you are?" Serena asked as she ran her hands through her hair.
"Quarter past midnight" Ash answered
"You should get to bed," Serena told him
"I'll be fine. I just wanted to see you" Ash replied.
"I miss you" he added. Those three words cut at Serena like a knife and made what she needed to tell him that much harder to say. Her smile faded as she cleared her throat and readied herself for what she needed to do
"Ash... I... I can't, can't keep doing this" She admitted
"Doing what?" He questioned
"I don't think I can stay in this relationship with you," She told him
"What?" Ash felt like he'd been shot through the heart
"The time difference, we're making ourselves sick, trying to wait to call and speak with each other. You being in Alola and me being in Hoeen. It's just not working. I'm sorry Ash"
"I-I'll leave Alola then. I'll come to Hoeen" Ash suggested
"NO! Ash that's not fair. You dream of being a Pokemon master and you need to be in Alola to help make that happen! I couldn't live with myself if you gave that up for me... I'm sorry but this is goodbye Ash"
"But... I... Love you" Ash pleaded. Tears now swimming in his eyes as he felt his world collapsing around him
"Me too" and with that Serena hung up, leaving Ash sat on his bed, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Boys on the other hand. Ash thought he'd be able to understand them, being a guy himself but he found out the hard way that boys were just as complex (sometimes even more so) as girls were. They were meant to be like him. Practical, unemotional, not interested in anything that really mattered... Simple. Or at least this is what he was told by May when she was complaining about Drew, but maybe that was the price you pay for dating and later marrying your main rival as Ash had never heard Dawn complain about Kenny like this (Ash did suspect though that was because Kenny was smart enough not to get on Dawn's bad side)
Guys didn't start off complicated for Ash. They didn't mind talking about Pokemon at great length. Basically anything the girls didn't want to talk about... The boys would. He thought back to the guys he'd travelled with and met on his journies and he'd never had any problems with any of them... Not until he arrived in Alola. Until things ended with Serena, that's when things started to happen. Things happened.
Ash had never actually 'dated' a guy. Even though he was attracted to guys he just couldn't imagine going on a date with another guy unless you count camping out under the stars then in that case Ash had had thousands of dates. There were only two boys though that Ash felt he'd like to date them but neither of them was the person the things happened with.
At first, Ash thought the thing would be a one-off but then they began to happen again. Sometimes it would become a regular thing. There was only one rule Ash had to follow. You don't EVER talk about the things. Never.
The first few times the things happened Ash had been confused, it was nothing like he'd experienced before but now he understood that guys were complex too, just in a different way. Unlike with girls, there was no kissing or cuddling and there was certainly no talking about their feelings. It was almost as if they didn't have any. Ash had tried to offer friendship but that offer fell on deaf ears yet the things continued to happen.
Guys were not above using you. Ash had been told this many times by many of his female friends but he always thought that it would never be relevant to him. But once they discover that you have something or anything to give them... They would use you, get as much out of you as they could and once they'd taken everything they could. They'd just discard you as if you were nothing more than rubbish. Not that Ash minded at the time. He always felt good whenever he was 'used'
Until he had it pointed out to him that he was worth more than just being useful to someone else.
"You did well" Gladion complimented, buttoning up his jeans. Ash wiped his mouth and got up from his kneeling position.
"Thank you" Ash muttered, staring down at the floor. He felt Gladion's hand on his chin, forcing him to look up at the blond boy.
"What was that?" Gladion asked
"Thank you" Ash repeated, louder this time
"That's better" Gladion praised, releasing his grip on Ash's chin
"So umm... Do you wanna have a battle?" Ash asked
"N-no... You gotta go" Gladion told him
"Oh okay"
"You know where the door is" Gladion ordered
"I'll see you around?" Ash questioned, already knowing the answer Gladion would give
'Maybe'
"Maybe" Gladion confirmed
Ash knew he wasn't totally stupid. He understood Pokemon. They were complex themselves but in a different way. They were
complex in a way Ash could understand. His Pokemon - or at the very least, most of his Pokemon - had always had the same attitude to battling and to life, that he had. They never gave up, even when all hope seemed lost. They kept on trying. Always striving for more. For better. They all strove to be the very best that they could possibly be. Ash knew that people looked down on Pokemon trainers, thinking that they push their Pokemon too hard. But this wasn't the case for Ash. He AND his Pokemon wanted it. He knew they did. You couldn't fake the attitude they displayed. They wanted to win that battle, that badge, that tournament or that league just as much as he did. It was because of him that they tried their best. Sure, they didn't always win and maybe they weren't the best (yet) but that didn't matter because he knew that they gave it everything they had and that made them happy. More than that- just being around his Pokemon made Ash happy. His Pokemon were his best friends - and he hoped. He really hoped that they felt the same way about him.
The thing was, Ash thought, that a lot of people didn't understand Pokemon. They thought of them as nothing more than simple animals. People also didn't understand Ash. He'd been called stupid more times than he could count. But he wasn't and he knew that Pokemon weren't either. Ash just knew that they had trouble communicating as Pokemon and people spoke two different languages.
As for himself. Ash wasn't sure why people thought him stupid. Was it because of his mistakes? His ego? His reckless behaviour or was it cause he never seemed to plan anything out, rather relying on gut feeling to guide him. Whatever the reasons, they didn't bother Ash. He knew he was better off without people like that in his life.
He had the very best friends. People and Pokemon. They were always there for him like he was there for them. No matter what he knew he could always rely on them ever since he started on his journey. He was lucky and he was grateful to every friend he'd made. He knew that a lot of other people didn't have that.
Ash had many friends. He'd had girlfriends and he'd had boyfriends, he'd caught Pokemon of all kinds of types and species. But there was only one best friend - The one he met on his tenth birthday back in Pallet Town.
"Pikachu"
"Pika?" The yellow mouse looked up at Ash from his position sat on Ash's lap.
Ash hadn't been planning to say anything. He just wanted to scratch Pikachu's ears in that one spot the yellow Pokemon loved, just to reassure himself that his friend was still there. But instead he said the first thing that came into his head.
"I love you"
ikachu studied him for a minute, his brown eyes wide. Ash's heart leapt into his mouth as he wondered if he made a mistake. A girl would be been suspicious. A guy would have been mortified. Pikachu was neither, though. Pikachu smiled. His eyes shining, full of love and trust.
"Pika Pi. Pikachu Pika" He replied. Jumping up onto Ash's shoulder.
Ash stood up and took in the view around him. He can't remember what made him want to climb to the top of Mount Moon but the view before him made it worth it. The lights of Pewter and Cerulean City twinkling brightly under the starry skies above. His attention turned from the scene below him to behind him as he heard his name
"Hi Ash" Misty greeted, stepping forward and sliding her hand into Ash's. Intertwining their fingers. He looked over at her. Her face seemed to glow under the Kanto moon. He glanced to Pikachu. Ash smiled as he realised he was wrong. Love was not complex.
Love was simple.