An Unexpected Gift
The Palletshipping Discord came up with the idea of a weekly prompt, so I decided to try to do a one-shot for as many weeks as possible this year. Here's week one!
Prompt: Canon-verse; Ash gets a surprise visit from Gary while he's in Alola. Realizing that he might have feelings for his old rival, Ash decides that presenting him with an Alolan Pokemon is the best way to show his affection.
… … ...
"Ashy-boy!"
He'd recognize that voice anywhere.
Gary.
Except... wasn't he researching in Sinnoh still? Yeah. Tracey had mentioned it when Ash saw him during his recent Kanto trip.
There was no way Gary Oak was in Alola. He had to be hearing things. His homework was messing with his brain. That had to be it.
"Ash!"
There it was again. The trainer turned away from his homework and looked in the direction of the voice.
And there he was, striding across the sand and heading straight towards Ash. It had been years since Ash had last seen him, yet there he was: auburn hair tousled in messy spikes, bright green eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, wearing nothing more than a pair of black and purple board shorts.
Ash felt his stomach jolt in surprise and then twist in embarrassment when he realized he was staring at his friend.
"Gary?"
The researcher smirked and dropped onto the bench across from Ash. "You know, I thought going to school would make you smarter," he teased.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up." His stomach twisted again as Gary grinned, clearly amused.
"What? Aren't you happy to see me?"
"Yeah, I'm happy to see you. Just surprised is all."
It was true. With their rivalry aside, their childhood friendship had been reinstated and they had kept in touch over the years through email and social media, but Gary had said nothing about coming to Alola. The years had done Gary well. He was successful, he was fairly well respected in his science community, and that irritating arrogance had been tamed into a casual confidence accented with friendly teasing.
Perhaps best of all, he had grown into an undeniably attractive young man.
Ash's stomach dropped again.
Damn. Why did he have to think about Gary like that?
Of all people...
He blamed the homework. Always the homework. Everything was the homework's fault, even finding Gary friggin' Oak attractive.
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked.
He had to force his eyes to focus on Gary's face rather than wandering further down. Couldn't he have worn a shirt? Never mind that they were on a beach on a tropical island – it was distracting!
"Conference," Gary replied easily, shrugging his shoulders. "I was doing a presentation with the Sayda team on Aerodactyl. Realized I was just the next island over, so I hopped on Blastoise and here I am."
"Couldn't fly Aerodactyl over?"
Gary snorted indelicately. "No. Aero's back at Sayda. And he's not good with crowds."
"He would use Hyper Beam on everyone, huh?"
"A very real possibility," Gary agreed, laughing.
Their conversation continued with the ease that only comes from knowing someone as long as the two teens knew each other. Between Ash's schooling and battling, Gary's research, and both of their pokemon, there was no lack of conversation topics. Though they spoke often, the conversation was still full of surprises. Gary had been surprised to hear about Ash's recent trip to Kanto and his intense battle with Misty – and Ash had been surprised by just how interested Gary had been in that story, hanging on to each word with his viridian gaze fixated on Ash. It was intimidating in a way, but simultaneously... exciting.
The longer they spoke, the more and more aware Ash became of the way his guts twisted at every little smile or laugh of Gary's, and the way his heart seemed to skip a beat every time he caught his gaze lingering longer than it maybe should have.
Before they knew it, the sun was setting and it was time for Gary to head back to the island he was staying on. Ash stood in place on the beach, watching as Gary's Pidgeot disappeared into the sunset on his way back to the neighboring island. As he watched, he became aware of an odd empty and lonely feeling now that Gary was gone.
He'd missed him.
With that realization, something else hit him: he liked Gary.
More than friends usually did.
It felt odd, reaching this conclusion. Ash had crushes before, even dated Serena for a short while, but something was different about Gary.
Or maybe it was just that it was Gary.
Gary was different from other people. They had a history together and that seemed to speak for a lot. Their friendship had been able to rebound after years of bitter rivalry – if that didn't speak for the strength of their friendship, Ash didn't know what would.
But now Gary was gone again. At least for a while, the researcher had promised to come back the next day but that just seemed so far away.
He had the sudden urge to do something for his friend... but what?
A pokemon! was Ash's first thought. As a memory of Alola and a token of their friendship.
And maybe a way to break the ice and tell Gary that he felt a little more than friendship towards him.
Gary would be okay with that, right? The other teen had recently come out of the closet as gay, so that at least meant he wouldn't be freaked out by the thought of Ash liking him, right?
Right.
An Alolan pokemon just for Gary. Perfect.
… … …
Ash nervously turned over the pokeball in his hand. His heart hammered in his chest.
Was this really a good idea?
Well... Even if Gary didn't feel the same way, Ash doubted he would be mad. Certainly not with the gift Ash was about to bestow upon him.
He peered at the horizon, hoping to see either a Pidgeot in the air or a Blastoise on the water with a passenger. His heart sank a bit when he only saw the usual beachgoers in the water and the usual birds in the sky.
That was okay, right? Gary was probably still wrapping up his work at the conference on the neighboring island. He would be here soon.
Hopefully.
And as soon as that thought passed through his mind, he noticed a bird flying, becoming larger and larger as it approached the beach. Pidgeot landed gracefully and Gary slid off easily, offering Ash a grin.
At least he was wearing a shirt this time.
Gary noticed the pokeball in Ash's hand and couldn't help but laugh. "A battle already, Ashy-boy? I just got here," he teased.
Ash scowled at him. "No, actually... Unless you wanna battle?"
"Hmm," Gary hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe later. Umbreon's been itching for a battle lately. Maybe you could show off one of your Alolan pokemon against him."
It was as good an opportunity as any.
"Yeah, maybe... Hey, speaking of Alolan pokemon..." Ash held out the pokeball to Gary, who looked a bit confused. "I thought, maybe, since we're friends and all... Um, you might like it?" he finished lamely.
Gary looked, if possible, even more confused as he took the ball in his hand. "A pokemon?" he asked curiously. Ash nodded. "Why?"
"I just... Ugh, this is harder than I thought," Ash groaned and ran a hand over his face. "I thought you would appreciate it, and... I wanted to... come clean about something, I guess."
"Come clean? What do you mean, Ash?" Gary's eyes bored into him and Ash could almost see the wheels whirring in his head as the researcher mentally dissected the trainer's behavior.
"I – I like you," Ash spit out, finally. He would have laughed at the way Gary's eyes widened if his twisting innards hadn't been making him somewhat queasy.
It took a moment for Gary to find his voice.
"You like me? Like, like like?"
"Yeah..."
"You're kidding."
Ash glared at him, hurt rushing through him. "Why would I joke about something like that?" He demanded irritably.
Gary calmed him with a gentle smile and a soft hand on his shoulder. "Ash, I know you wouldn't joke like that. It's just..." He sighed and turned the ball in his hand. "I've liked you since we were kids. It's kind of how I figured out I was gay."
He was speechless for a moment. That wasn't possible. It couldn't be.
Gary had liked him for that long?
What the hell was up the rivalry and bullying then?
Gary grimaced when Ash voiced that question. "There's no excuse for that," he admitted quietly, his gaze turning down towards the sand. "I was confused, I didn't know what was going on with me... It scared me. And it took a long time to come to terms with it. I know I've said it before, but I'm really sorry about that, Ash. I was an idiot back then."
"You were," Ash murmured. He noticed rather suddenly just how close together they were standing and felt his cheeks heat up. "So... We both like each other. What do we do with that?"
"Stuff it deep down and keep an eye on it," Gary replied dryly. Ash shot him a confused look and Gary laughed. "Sorry. I was kidding, it's from a tv show. Never mind. Stupid idea... How about I make it up to you?"
"How?"
Gary smiled and stepped closer to Ash, leaned forward, and pressed his lips softly to Ash's. He pulled away after a brief, gentle kiss and met Ash's eyes questioningly. Ash grinned in response and quickly reached out to twine his fingers through Gary's hair and gently pull him closer for another kiss.
"I know we're far apart, but maybe when I'm closer to home... we could do something?" Ash suggested.
Gary rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Something," he echoed. "So specific."
"Come on, Gary."
"How about we see what's in this pokeball and then decide," he suggested, grinning.
"I think you'll be impressed," Ash said proudly.
Gary shook his head, though he was smiling in amusement. He pressed the button on the pokeball and watched as the blinding light materialized into a pure white fox with brilliant blue eyes.
"A Vulpix," Gary breathed, unable to keep a huge grin from splitting his face. "Holy shit, Ash... That's amazing."
Ash watched as he kneeled down and extended a hand for the small fox to sniff curiously. Once the pokemon seemed comfortable, he reached out and gently stroked her head.
"She's beautiful," Gary said softly, running his fingers over the thick white fur.
"I know dogs are kinda your thing, with Umbreon and Arcanine and Houndoom and all... And I've never seen you use an ice pokemon so..."
Gary stood and pulled Ash close in a sudden hug. "It's perfect," he declared, pressing his lips to Ash's cheek. "And you're perfect."
"You're welcome."
The researcher rolled his eyes again and flicked the brim of Ash's hat, knocking it off his head. He laughed at Ash's indignant squawk and leaned in again, kissing him on the lips once more before the trainer could retrieve the hat.
"I guess I gotta do something for you now... How about dinner?"
"You mean like a date?" Ash asked. Gary nodded. "But... what about when you go back to Sinnoh?"
"There's such thing as a long-distance relationship, you know," Gary pointed out.
"But..."
"Will you just let me take you on date for fuck's sake?"
Ash couldn't help but laugh at the exasperated question. "Alright," he agreed. "Dinner sounds good."
… … ...