Hero
So this suddenly came to me while surfing the webs, and if seems pretty, uh, crap, I cranked it out in an hour and I would agree with you. Anyway, my OTP below.
She was his hero.
She was what he wanted to be, what he wished he could be.
She was strong, she was brave, she wasn't afraid to say what she was thinking. She wasn't quiet like him. She wasn't weak like him. No one picked on her like they did him, and she wasn't afraid to stand up for both him and herself when the bullies came.
He wished, more than anything, more than getting his own Pokemon, more than wanting to become the Champion, that he could be more like her.
When he was nine he made the decision to change himself.
When one of the bullies tried to harass her, he swallowed his fear, went over, and stumbled through a defense of her. The bully did leave, and despite how badly his hands were shaking, she smiled.
"Thanks, Red."
"Y-You're welcome, Leaf."
Over the next two years Red remade himself, going from a timid, shy, quiet boy to simply a quiet boy. But there was still something else, something he needed to prove to Leaf that he wasn't the little boy needing rescue.
He got his chance when he finally turned eleven and got his first Pokemon, a charmander. He immediately challenged her to a battle.
She was good. Really good. Even though her bulbasaur was at a type disadvantage, she almost beat him. But Red pulled by, if only barely.
Leaf smiled despite her loss, and her compliment of how good he was at battling now.
Red felt an enormous swell in his chest, and he grinned.
But there was still something... missing.
For the next year, Red struggled to find it. Soon after they turned twelve, Leaf decided the League Challenge, and he decided to do it as well, hoping he would find what was missing. But as the days, weeks, months went by, and he found himself falling behind Leaf, having two badges when she had three, five when she had six, he began to think he would never find that last piece, that last bit that would finally let him become like his hero.
After he had his sixth badge, he found himself in the Silph headquarters, fighting alongside Leaf against the threat of Team Rocket and their leader, Giovanni.
Afterward, with the building having burned down, Red stood on the balcony of his hotel room, which was provided by the Saffron Gym Leader herself, Sabrina. He leaned against the railing, mindful of his left forearm, wrapped in bandages. His pikachu hopped onto his should, nuzzling his cheek.
"I don't think I'll find it, Pikachu," Red said softly. His pokemon's ears pricked up. "I... I didn't do much, back there." He nodded vaguely in the direction the smoke was billowing up into the night sky. "Leaf did most of the work and I... I wasn't much use. Like always, she was strong and brave and I..." His eye suddenly stung, and lump jumped into his throat. He forced it down before looking up at the moon. "Will I ever be able to find that last piece...?"
There was a knock on his door. Pikachu jumped down and scampered over to it. Red opened the door.
"Leaf?"
She smiled. "Hi, Red. Can I come in?"
"Um, yeah."
He moved aside to let her in.
Leaf sat on the bed, Pikachu hopping onto her lap.
Red sat next to her.
After a minute of silence, during which Pikachu dozed off between them, Leaf looked at Red.
"About today, in Silph... I'm sorry."
Red couldn't help raising his eyebrow. "Sorry? For what?"
She pursed her lips before standing and moving toward the balcony.
"I... I went on ahead, completely ignoring you. I, I should have stuck with you. If I had, then..." She glanced at his arm, then looked away.
Red gazed at the injury, inwardly cringing at how big the scar would be.
"I'm sorry."
Red touched her arm. She looked at him, and if a cloud hadn't crawled over the moon, he could've sworn her eyes were shining.
"It's okay, Leaf, really."
They were silent for a few minutes as the clouds moved on, the moon shining down on them.
"You know, you don't have to keep watching out for me anymore."
She was quiet for a bit longer before smiling at him. "I know."
As the next few months went by, and they got the last badges needed to compete in the League Tournament, Red pondered what it was that was missing.
When he finally reached the Indigo Plateau, he began wondering whether he would find it at all.
When he reached the quarter-finals, he started thinking there if there was something missing at all.
By the third day of the tournament, just before the semi-finals, he figured he might as well give up. Maybe there wasn't something missing. Maybe he didn't need that last piece.
During the final battle against Leaf, when they were down to just their starters, Charizard and Venusaur, Red thought of the last year of travel, of adventure, of fleeting moments of love and hate, of trust and friendship, of the powerful bonds he made with his Pokemon, and decided that he really didn't need that last thing he had been looking for.
He defeated Leaf.
A week later, he was approached by the Elite Four. They explained to him that since there was no Champion, they wanted Red to take the position. They said he was more than worthy, especially considering he took down Team Rocket, even if they thought he did it himself.
He agreed.
Another week later, after the coronation ceremony, Leaf came to his room in the Pokemon Center.
"Hi there, Champion!"
She pulled him into a hug, congratulating him on his enormous achievement.
"You really aren't the boy I had to look out for anymore, are you?"
And with those words, Red realized that, all this time, that small bit he was missing, the piece he was looking for for three years, it was right in front of him.
The girl that inspired him to push himself into becoming the person he was now, strong, brave, and the Champion.
Without thinking about it, Red leaned down and softly kissed her. Her lips were... really soft, and tasted faintly of strawberries.
After a couple seconds he pulled away, horribly aware of the blush on his face, Leaf's expression almost mirroring his.
He looked away, rubbing his neck. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what-"
Leaf stood up on her toes to kiss him back, her hands on either side of his face.
She pulled away, smiling. Red couldn't help smiling back.
"Don't be, Champion."