I've always been a fan of soulmate AUs, like the one you're about to read.
In which a simple meeting explodes in a flash of vivid color.
It's always been black and white. He knew Pikachu was supposed to be yellow with red cheeks but he saw light grey with dark grey cheeks.
His mom always told him that one day he would see in bright, vivid color when he met his soulmate, and he'd love every single color, but he was 15 now, when would he get to see the colors of the rainbow how they actually are instead of different shades of grey?
Where's Ash's soulmate?
One day, Ash was at the store, running an errand for his mom, when all of a sudden he locked eyes with a boy across the aisle. His vision practically exploded into various colors, no more greys. He dropped the groceries he was carrying and walked over to the boy.
"Do you see in color, too?" Ash asked him.
"Y-yes, as of about five seconds ago," the other boy said, slightly bewildered.
"You've got to be! My soulmate?"
"I suppose," the boy said. "I'm Paul."
"Ash."
"Nice to meet you."
"I've got to finish the shopping! Here, my phone number," Ash said, pulling a pen from his pocket and grabbing Paul's arm. He quickly jotted down his phone number. "Call me when you get a chance," he said, picking up his groceries and running off.
"Mom, the coolest thing happened today!" Ash said, excited as he came in the house, holding a bag of groceries.
"What's that, Ash?" Delia asked.
"I saw colors! It was amazing!"
"So, who's the lucky one?" Delia asked.
"His name is Paul. I met him at the store today! I gave him my phone number, so he should be calling any minute!" Ash said right before the phone rang. He put the bag down on the counter and answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Ash? It's Paul."
"Oh, hey! How are you?"
"I'm great. Listen, meet me at the park, I want to speak with you longer than we got to earlier," Paul said.
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll see you there," Ash said, hanging up the phone. He turned to his mother.
"It was Paul, he wants to meet me at the park right now! See you later!"
"Okay, see you!" Delia called out as Ash ran out the door.
Ash got there and immediately saw Paul there. He greeted him, and the two sat down by a tree.
"You know, I never knew trees were green like this, it's so beautiful," Paul mused.
"It is, isn't it?" Ash said with a gentle smile. He placed his hand on top of Paul's hand, a gesture to which Paul smiled and gripped Ash's hand back.
"You're so pretty in color," Paul said with a smile.
"I know we just met, but I can't help but feel grateful for allowing me to see the beautiful colors this world is made of," Ash said with a stupid grin on his face.
Paul looked at their intertwined hands, and then back up to Ash's face. He gently placed his other hand on the side of Ash's face.
"May I?" He asked, and Ash nodded. Paul then kissed him softly. When they stopped, Ash smiled his dumb toothy grin.
"We just met today, don't you think we're going kinda fast?" Ash said.
"You do realize our families will begin wedding plans immediately, right?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Nothing, I'm just putting thoughts out there. I'm perfectly fine with it," Paul said, blushing with light embarrassment.
"So am I," Ash said with a smile. He gently kissed Paul on the cheek.
Ash's mom insisted on waiting until the boys were 18 before a wedding took place, and Paul's brother couldn't agree more. So the wedding waited for three years until May 23, the day after Ash's birthday that year. It was a big occasion, as Ash had a huge pile of friends to invite from practically everywhere, and he had to let all his pokemon be there.
Snorlax slept, Sceptile hung out in the big tree nearby so he could see better, Bayleef cried while Bulbasaur comforted her, Totodile danced, Hawlucha donned a bow tie he had asked Delia to make for him, the birds all cheered during the kiss, and Greninja was sitting on the branch above Sceptile in the tree.
Paul didn't have nearly as many guests as Ash did, but he brought all of his pokemon too. They all stood in a crowd and watched as their trainer got married.
After the ceremony, Ash and Paul tried to dance, but Paul's toes had had enough abuse, so the newlyweds decided to sit out and just talk like they did for the first year or so of their relationship.
"So, we're married now. Feels like a long wait, huh? Ash said.
"Yep. Now we get to be together until death do us part," Paul said, tracing circles into the back of Ash's hand.
"I love you, you know."
"And I love you too."
Paul smiled and the pair kissed again.