Friends, Rivals, and Lovers

Summary: While trying to figure out how to tell Brock and Misty about his relationship with Gary, Tracey comes up with an idea for adventure and can only hope that his boyfriend will go along with it. Can the five of them make it to Sinnoh in one piece in time for Ash's competition? Takes place towards the end of Secrets Told but can be read as a standalone. I figured I would write this separately to keep ST as the coming-of-age story it is as of now. I should also explain that, in this fic, Sinnoh, Johto, and Kanto are all on the same continent with Mt. Silver being at the southern end of the mountain range containing Mt. Coronet; nonetheless, I did try to follow the general geography of the games while adding my own spin to it.

Hope you guys enjoy this, please review and let me know what you think.

Rated T for safety I guess, might change though…

Disclaimer – I own the storyline, my interpretation of the characters, and nothing else.

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Chapter One

Tracey Sketchit meandered through the Oak house with a distinct purpose that he hoped to avoid, however a week's worth of planning with Brock was going to go to waste if he didn't go through with it. In the end, that was what ultimately led him to his boyfriend's closed bedroom door. He stood before the door, gazing at the scratch marks left behind by Umbreon and Arcanine's pawing at the door over the past three years without really seeing them as he tried to muster up the nerve to simply knock. The room beyond the door was quiet, as was typical for a late Saturday morning, especially considering the fact that Gary had gone over to a friend's house after Brock, Misty, Ash, and Mrs. Ketchum had left rather late the night before. No doubt the teenager was still sleeping.

Brock and Misty had been in town for the past week while Ash had been around for nearly two months, visiting home and training in preparation for the upcoming competition in the Sinnoh region. The competition was in three weeks and time was quickly running out. Now twenty-five years in age, Brock had decided that this would be his final journey so that he could dedicate his time to breeding pokemon; Misty, now twenty-one, was exclusively a gym leader and had taken time off from the Cerulean City Gym to travel with her old friends to witness yet another competition. It was likely that this would be her final journey abroad as well; with these facts in mind, Brock had made it clear that he was not settling for a simple trek to Cerulean to catch a ferry to Sunyshore so that they could make a short trek to the Pokemon League. It had been over a year since Tracey had last been on a trip like the ones he had been on in the Orange Islands with Misty and Ash and he longed desperately for some sort of adventure – Gary's frequent research trips with other professors left him feeling left out as he so ardently hoped for a chance for a bold excursion somewhere other than Pallet Town or the surrounding area.

That was the main thing that drove Tracey to come up with the idea that he had secretly harbored until his friends from Pewter and Cerulean made it to town. He had hoped to talk his younger boyfriend into tagging along as he had never had the opportunity to have an adventure with Gary, though that was largely due to the relationship being kept secret. Once May Oak had told nearly everyone in town about the relationship and, consequently, her younger brother's sexuality, it became apparent to Tracey that they now had options.

And those options certainly included going on a trip with friends.

While stopping by Ash's house to hang out with his three friends, he had found Brock poring over maps of the three mainland regions in the Ketchum kitchen. Curious about the young man's plans, Tracey had joined him and, sensing something deeper than innocent interest, Brock had invited Tracey along, teasingly giving him permission to "drag along that spoiled pain" that he had decided to fall in love with. As soon as Tracey told him about his desire to travel again, Brock included him in the planning process, not only including five people in his considerations of supplies, but looking to Tracey for ideas. A week later, he still hadn't mentioned it to Gary though he was fairly certain that something showed in his behavior.

Either way, the plan was to leave on Monday which meant he absolutely had to speak with Gary today. He was determined to tag along with his friends, even if Gary didn't go, though he was definitely going to try his hardest to get his stubborn boyfriend to agree. It was now or never.

With a weary sigh, he quietly opened the door and entered the surprisingly dark room. Closing the door behind him as he gave his eyes a second to adjust to the difference in light, Tracey was surprised when a soft glow appeared on the floor near the bed. Umbreon came into view, curled sleepily next to her trainer's bed, her rings giving off just enough light for Tracey to cross the room without falling over anything. Sun poured into the room as Tracey pulled open the dark curtains covering the windows, eliciting a groan from the direction of the bed. Crossing his arms, Tracey stood at the foot of the bed and shook his head in mild amusement as he looked down at his boyfriend.

"It's after eleven, you know," he said simply.

Gary rolled over and glared sleepily at Tracey, who never lost his grin. "Too early for a Saturday," he muttered.

Tracey laughed softly as he climbed onto the bed. There was a lack of grogginess to Gary's voice that indicated he had been awake for awhile and simply hadn't felt like getting out of bed. Typical, Tracey thought amusedly. "That certainly explains why you're awake," he teased, watching as his boyfriend stretched languidly before sitting up and allowing the blanket to pool in his lap.

"What's up?" Gary asked, ignoring the comment.

"I wanted to talk to you before anyone came over today," Tracey began. Gary frowned and Tracey knew that he was wondering if something was wrong. He gave his boyfriend a small smile to reassure him that the conversation would not involve anything bad. "I have a proposition for you," he finished, adding a slightly teasing lilt to his voice in order to appeal to Gary's curiosity.

"Which would be?" Tracey watched, rather distracted, as Gary stood and slipped out of the loose gym shorts he had been sleeping in to pull on a pair of clean boxers from his dresser.

"You realize how distracting that is, right?" Tracey asked, earning a smug grin from the younger boy. "Ash and company are leaving on Monday –"

"Finally," a dark mutter came from the closet as Gary fished out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Tracey closed his eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that Gary wasn't going to like the next thing he said. "I'm going with them."

Gary paused as he tugged on his jeans and frowned at the other boy. "Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief, wondering when on earth this little development had come into play. The nod from his boyfriend confirmed that he was, indeed, quite serious.

"I was hoping you would come along with us," Tracey explained. Gary closed his eyes for a moment and groaned, thinking of a way to tell his lover that he genuinely did not want to go. "Brock and I have been working on an itinerary for the past week; it should take two weeks for us to get there. Fourteen days exactly."

"Isn't there a ferry from Cerulean to Sunyshore?" Gary interrupted.

Tracey sighed softly and nodded. "There is," he began dismissively, "but we worked out a different way to get there… Brock wanted to do something adventurous, this is going to be his last time traveling with Ash and Misty and he wanted something big to go out on. To be honest, I'd really like to do this with you, Gary. I miss traveling sometimes and you always go off with the professors and have your little adventures."

Meeting Tracey's eyes with as serious an expression as Garyy could muster, he interrupted before the other could continue. "Trace, I just got home from being gone for three weeks; I'd like to stay home for awhile before rushing off again." And he was being honest: he had been in the Orange Islands with Professors Ivy and Birch, on one of their Sharpedo tagging and tracking research expeditions for three weeks. It had been Gary's third time doing it with them and, in all honesty, he wasn't quite sure that he had the energy for another "adventure" so soon afterwards. With three healing injuries, Gary was still exhausted, despite the fact that he had been home for a week now.

"But, Gary –"

Silently, the younger of the two held up his right hand so that Tracey could see the cut on his palm that had yet to heal entirely and he stopped mid-sentence. That cut had taken five stitches and nearly two weeks to get this far healed – one of the Sharpedo had managed to snag Gary's hand as he tried to attach a tracker to its fin. "Adventures tend to go hand-in-hand with injuries, Trace. No pun intended," he muttered, glancing at the scab that had formed on his hand. Seeing that Tracey was about to continue, he gestured toward his leg, which bore a series of scars from a Tentacruel attack that had occurred when he had to dive with Professor Ivy and some of her assistants to tag some of the sharks.

Tracey went on anyways. "Gary, I know better than anyone that you always get hurt because you like doing dangerous things – think of how many times I've had to give you stitches!" Stubborn as he was, even Gary had to admit he had a point there. "And we both know how much you enjoy getting out and doing that type of stuff." Tracey sighed and ran a hand through his black hair, messing it up slightly. "I've already talked to Professor Oak," he said softly after a short pause.

Gary knew that he shouldn't have been surprised – if Tracey had spent a week going over it with Brock then he must have talked to the professor about it as well. After all, he did need his approval to leave the lab for that period of time. Not to mention the fact that he wanted Gary to join them.

"I'm going with them," Tracey pressed on. "Even if you aren't. If you really want to stay here by yourself, then go ahead… But please, at least think about it for me?" With that said, he rose from the bed and left the room, leaving Gary behind to finish dressing as he thought over what had just happened.

As he sank onto the bed with a weary groan Umbreon climbed onto the bed with a reproachful look in her eyes that made Gary scowl slightly. He scratched Umbreon behind her ears and thought over the idea of Tracey going off with his friends for two whole weeks while wondering how, exactly, he would feel once he left without him. Almost immediately, Gary knew that he wouldn't be able to stand it. Hell, he could barely stand being gone while he knew that Tracey was safe at home, much less when he was out in the wild without his boyfriend being able to check on him.

"Want to go an adventure, 'Bre?" he asked his pokemon with a forced smile. Umbreon's excited response was blatant as her eyes widened and became brighter, her ears perked, and her tail began wagging hard enough to knock several pillows off the bed, causing a true grin to curve Gary's lips.

Sighing in resignation, he nodded and stood up to leave the room in search for Tracey to inform him of his decision.