FIxing what was broken.
Ash let out a sigh as he cast his fishing line into the lake he had stopped by, Pikachu as always by his side. Since Ash had returned from the Unova region with only Pikachu for company he'd find his mind wandering back to the day that Iris had broke his heart. Even now, months later it still tore his heart in two. He threw his fishing rod on to it's rest cause his companion to jump.
"Pika, Pikachu, Pi" Pikachu sounded annoyned with Ash, he pulled the Pokemon on to his lap and scratching behind his ears
"Sorry buddy, I just still can't believe Iris... I was willing to do ANYTHING to make it work between us, but she wouldn't listen!" Ash's voice tinged with anger as he thought back to Iris' last words to him
"I'm sorry Ash but I have to go. I'll never get another chance like this again, I know it's hard and I am sorry but this is my dream. This won't make much difference but I'm never going to forget you." Iris told him as they stood on the platform waiting for Iris' train to pull in, tears falling down both of their cheeks. Iris saw her train slowing down as it came into view over Ash's shoulder.
"I don't want you to go" Ash whispered feebley. Iris couldn't bring herself to say anymore as her train came to a complete stop. Iris took a step towards Ash and kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear
"Goodbye Ash, I love you" and just like that she walked away and boarded her train leaving Ash stood there, Pikachu on his shoulder watching her train pull away and speed off out of sight.
Pikachu placed his paw on Ash's chest, trying to comfort his best friend.
"Thanks Pikachu, I guess it just hurts so much cause she was the first person I really liked since... Oh it's pointless, they wouldn't feel the same about me" Pikachu's ears pricked up as he heard tiny footsteps approaching, he jumped off Ash's lap and ran off in the direction of the noise followed closely by his trainer. Ash followed his friend a short way into the forrest when suddenly he and Pikachu came to a rapid halt in front of two familiar faces Richie and a Riachu
"Hey Richie, wow is that Sparky?" Ash exclaimed, beaming brightly and suddenly feeling better than he had done in months.
"Heya Ash, Pikachu" Richie replied, offering his hand out to Ash, he shook it and bent down to say hello to Sparky- Richie's Riachu.
"What are you doing around these parts?" Ash asked politely
"Oh I'm just wandering around, just taking a break from training for a while, how about you?"
"I'm back visiting my friend for their wedding" Ash answered
"Aw nice, who's the lucky couple?" Richie enquired
"Oh, it's Misty and Kacey" Ash informed him
"Awesome!"
"Would you wanna come with me?" Ash blurted out before he knew what he was saying
"I'm allowed to bring a plus one but the person I was gonna bring... Well she can't make it now" Ash continued sadly, swallowing the lump in his throat. Richie looked taken aback so Ash added quickly
"You don't have to, I just thought it'd be a cool way to catch up and you could see Misty and Brock again" Richie thought for a moment before nodding
"Sure, that sounds awesome, one problem though, I don't have a suit or anything" He admitted
"Thats fine, I have a spare one that should fit you" Ash told him
"Thanks Ash"
"Come on, we'll pack my fishing rod back up and we'll go back to my place"
"Sounds good, come on Sparky"
Ash led Richie and their Pokemon into his living room.
"Hey mom, I'm home and I brought a friend home with me" Ash called out as he motioned for Richie to sit down. Delia Ketchum popped her head around the corner from the kitchen
"Hi sweetie, who's your friend?"
"Mom, this is Richie, way back from the Indigo League years ago" Delia shot her son a questioning look and mouthed
"You mean... Richie, RIchie?" Ash nodded, going slightly red
"It's lovely to finally meet you properly Ms Ketchum" Richie greeted politely.
"Oh please, call me Delia dear" Delia replied "So what are you two gonna be up to?" She asked
"Richie is gonna be my plus one to Misty's wedding so we can have a proper catch up so would it be cool if Richie stayed here until the wedding?"
"Of course it is"
"Alright! Thanks mom"
"Thank you very much Delia"
Later that night Ash led Richie up to his room and immediately saw the problem that they were gonna have- Ash only had a small bed. He glanced over at Richie who was on his knees rummaging through his bag.
"Hey, Richie seeing as you're my guest you take the bed and I'll just grab spare pillows and covers and take the floor" Ash offered
"You don't have to do that, why don't we just top and tail?" Richie suggested.
"Umm, if... If you're sure you're okay with that"
"Sure" Richie smiled. Ash and Richie changed into their pyjamas with their backs to each other with Ash resisting the urge to steal a glance as Richie undressed. Richie pulled his pyjama shirt over his head and turned around to see that Ash hadn't finished getting dressed, his pyjama shirt tumbled out of his hand. Richie shut his eyes immediately and apologised. Once Ash put his night shirt on he told Richie it was safe to open his eyes again.
"Sorry Ash" Richie apologised again, not looking at Ash directly, eyes averted down at Ash's stomach. Ash and Richie climbed into Ash's bed and made themselves as comfortable as possible.
"Thanks for this Ash. I'm really glad I ran into you again. G'night"Richie yawned
"Me too. Night" Ash replied.
The next morning Ash, Richie, Pikachu and Sparky were wandering around the Viridian forrest, enjoying the bright afternoon sunshine breaking through the trees.
"Hey Ash, can I ask... What happened to the person you was gonna be taking with you originally?" Richie questioned. Ash's head dropped at the question which didn't go unnoticed by Ash's companion.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to" Richie added. Pikachu jumped up on to Ash's shoulder, his paw resting on Ash's head
"Pika, Pikachu, Pi, Pika"
"Yeah, you're right buddy" Ash replied to his Pokemon, he turned to Richie and explained to him how Iris had left him and broke his heart.
"Well it's sounds like she didn't have much of a choice and it was too good of an oppotunity to pass up, but it's her loss" Richie commented
"How do you mean?" Ash asked
"I umm... I dunno, isn't that just what people say?" Richie tried to back track, hoping Ash wouldn't question him further.
"It doesn't bother me now, I'm a lot happier now than I was when it first happened"
"Good to hear, so have you had many girlfriends? Richie asked, knowing that he and Ash were a lot older than when they first met and of course they'd have interest in girls and in Richie's case boys.
"Two, Iris and a girl named Austyn. She was cool. Had the most powerful Whiscash I've ever seen. How about you? Much action?" Ash laughed, just now noticing how much they had both grown up since the Indigo Plateu.
"Well... I'm um.. Ash... I'm..." Richie began, trying to compose himself, ready to confess to Ash what he had never muttered to anybody else outside of his family "Ash I'm gay" He confessed.
"Okay, so you had any boyfriends?" Ash changed his question, nonchalantly
"You... You don't care?" Richie asked
"Not really, being gay doesn't stop us from being friends, why would it?"
"I dunno, I guess I just didn't know how you'd react. Not many people know" Richie told him
"And... One, I've had one boyfriend before. Grant, A fire type trainer from Shepbark Town, broke up a while ago, but we're still good friends" Richie added, answering Ash's original question.
"Aw cool, that's good to hear... I've also got something I've never told anybody... Not even my mom knows this... I'm Bisexual" Ash admitted.
Three weeks later
Ash and Richie walked down the stairs from Ash's bedroom dressed to leave for Misty and Kacey's wedding.
"How do we look mom?" Ash asked, showing off Richie and his suits. Ash wore a black suit with a purple shirt and tie while Richie wore a grey suit with a white shirt and a two tone striped pink tie.
"OH wow you both look so handsome! I need pictures of this" Delia squealed happily as she ran to grab her camera, she came back and ordered Ash and Richie to stand together, Ash instinctively placed his arm around Richie's shoulder. He replied by placing his arm around Ash's waist. Both boys blushed slightly but smiled as Delia continued to take pictures of the pair. Once she had finished Ash and Richie let go of each other and mumbled an apology to each other, both still red in the face.
Ash was sharing a dance with Misty during the wedding reception while Brock and Richie were sat down on a table near by, Richie occassionally glancing up at Ash
"You really like him don't you?" Brock asked, noticing Richie looking over at Ash, who was still dancing with Misty
"Is it that obvious?" Richie answered, looking away from Ash and towards Brock. Brock nodded
"How long?"
"Since we first met at the Indigo Plateu" Richie admitted
"You gotta tell him" Brock stated. Richie was about to reply but was distracted as Ash grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor as a slow dance song began to play. Ash began to lead Richie in a dance, pulling the boy closer to him, Richie replied by whispering something in Ash's ear before resting his head on Ash's shoulder.
One year later
Ash and Richie were huddled together in an ice cave atop of a mountain overlooking Hullumberside in the Bringland region
"Well this was a brillaint short cut" Ash sniped
"You were the one who wanted to go up the mountain tonight instead of waiting overnight in the pokemon centre" Richie shot back weakly from the opposite side of the cave. Ash watched as Richie shuddered as a harsh cold wind blew through the cave. Ash stood up and walked over to Richie, taking his jacket off and placing it over his partner's shoulders, sliding down and sitting next to him wrapping his arms around him, hugging him tightly to share their warmth. Richie couldn't stay mad at Ash and snuggled in closer to him. Ash kissed the top of his head before letting go of Richie and reaching into his bag for the blankets and sleeping bags he'd kept in there. Laying them out he got in one and motioned for Richie to join him, once they were snug in the sleeping bag Richie threw the blankets over them as an extra layer of warmth. Ash pulled Richie closer to him, kissing the brunette boy gently.
"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you tomorrow" Ash apologised, feeling guilty because Richie was right. It WAS his fault they were in this predicament
"It's fine, you're just lucky I love you" Richie whispered.
"I love you too" Ash replied.