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Desires

The last thing that Gary heard was the roar of falling rocks, and the loud growl of a furious Golem.

A moment later, everything went dark.

Gary felt as if he was perhaps unconscious or dead for several minutes. But then, he could also feel a cool hand on his cheek and an annoying voice calling to him, so clearly he was still alive and awake.

"Gary... Gary, wake up."

And that was Ash's voice. Gary had no doubt because he knows it very well. But the strange and unusual thing was that the voice seems worried about him. The young man was tempted to pretend to be still dead, just because it was nice to hear the caring tone in those words.

"Gary. I'm calling the hospital now," Ash whispered, and Gary decided that he had been cruel enough, and opened his eyes.

Ash was standing over him with his usual dark and disheveled hair, but there was no trace of his beloved red hat. The severe headache prevented Gary from analyzing him, and from noting that Ash looked different, and not just because he wore a red sweater and jeans that differed drastically from the way Gary remembered his incredibly style-lacking clothes.

"Ash?"

Ash smiled, letting out a sigh. "Thank God. You scared me, Gary. Are you okay?"

"Sure," murmured Gary, slightly embarrassed. When did Ash arrive?

Ash helped him up, putting an arm around him when Gary managed to sit on the floor nearly on his own. Ash quickly moved to feel Gary's injured head, his hand surprisingly gentle and careful. Gary looked around, too confused to concentrate on the feeling of Ash's fingers in his hir. There was something wrong with the world around them. 'I'm in a house,' he tought. Which was impossible because a second before he had been near a mountain in the region of Hoenn. The house was furnished with almost no order and care. There was a television, a red sofa and a coffee table full of magazines and papers. Shoes were abandoned on the stairs leading upwards. "Where are we?"

"At home."

At home? Gary tried to recognize the foreign place, searching in his own memories despite the pulsing between his temples, but with no avail. From the corridor where he sat, Gary realized he could see the kitchen table already prepared for lunch. The clock showed him that it was one in the afternoon. He thought he heard a cat meow from somewhere within the kitchen. "A house?" Ash's hands begun to massage his wrists and Gary couldn't avoid flintching.

"At home. Maybe it's better if I take you to the hospital-"

"No. Wait, what do you mean, home? Where is Pikachu? And Umbreon?"

In fact the most impressing difference was the absence of Ash's yellow shadow. There was no trace of the faithful Pikachu, surprsingly, and neither of that angry Golem, thankfully. "Uh, yes... They're here." Ash showed him the other room with his chin. Gary turned, and could see two cats through the doorframe. An orange cat with a tail that was completely black and the other a dark grey cat with yellow eyes.

"Oh," Gary managed to whisper, and for a moment he was sure that he was going to fall and black out again, slamming his head on the floor and escape that world where Ash and Gary had a home and Umbreon and Pikachu were cats.

"Do you remember me?" asked Ash suddenly. The expression on his face was both alarmed and hopeful, as if Gary had just kicked him and it is reassuringly familiar.

"You are Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," he replied, uncertain about what to say. "We were childhood friends and rivals."

"Yeah, right," Ash laughed.

"And this is our house because- because we are roommates."

The sun on the face of Ash Ketchum collapsed again. "We're engaged," he whispered, sounding on the verge of tears.

Engaged. Not possible. Absolutely not.

Not that Gary minded.

At the age of twelve Gary Oak had discovered that he was gay, even if it had been something that he had never said to anyone, and certainly not to Ash. And yes, since he had been twelve years old Gary had been hopelessy infatuated with Ash (it had been actually an epic realization). And it had always been obviously a one-sided affection because Ash had seemed the poster boy of a Pokemon obsessed witout any time or desire to even think about something else but battles.

And now Ash was here in front of him and- "No. It's not possible."

"Don't you remember?"

"I don't remember anything. What happened? There was a landslide and a Pokemon, it was a Golem... and you also have Pokemon! My God, you're the person most obsessed with Pokemon that I know."

Ash sighed and looked at him, wide-eyed. Finally he seemed to make a decision because he helped Gary to stand before taking them both on the soft red sofa. The television was off and the magazines on the table were all about science, chemistry and sports. "You wanted to hang a new picture your sister made and you fell. You hit your head pretty badly, and I'm probably a fool for not taking you immediately to the hospital." Gary nodded while the feelings of frustration returned, because he knew that was not how things went. He had not fallen. His sister Daisy did not take pictures and he and Ash were not engaged. "And there are no Pokemon," Ash smiled, sitting next to him almost timidly, "it was a game we played as children, remember?"

"I'm a scientist?" Gary asked suddenly, indicating the magazines with a sudden desire to cry.

"You're a biologist. You work at the University of Viridian. And I teach physical education in high school. And I'm your favorite baseball champion," Ash continued smiling with a hopeful note in his voice.

"I don't like baseball." And it seemed like the right thing to say because Ash's face lighted up with a smile.

"Pikachu and Umbreon are cats."

"Huh? Yes... Wait." Ash rubbed a hand on Gary's shoulder, gently, as if afraid he could broke or fall down again, before getting up to start looking for something in the cabinet above the television. Gary took the opportunity to raise his legs onto the couch, his knees against his chest. He noticed he had no shoes and he was wearing a t-shirt he had never seen before. There was a name of a sports team on it and it had that exactly amount, or absence, of style that indicated...

Oh. He was wearing Ash's clothes.

When Ash returned, he must have noted the overwhelming redness on Gary's face because he addressed him with another worried look before sitting back and handing him some photos. "Remember these?"

"No," Gary said, before even looking at them. But Ash did nothing to take the pictures back, and Gary felt forced to finally look at them. The first was a picture of their cats, along with Daisy. His sister had one hand around the fake Pikachu and there was a ring on her finger. After that there was a picture of a beach. Ash was sitting on the sand, in a bathing suit, and clearly burned by the sun.

"It was cruel of Daisy to photograph that." But Gary didn't respond, because he had already turned to the third photo. It showed him and Ash, sleeping. Together in the same bed, with Gary's arm around Ash, clinging to his chest, their tousled hair together. "Another surprise picture by Daisy."

"I understand." The other photos were similar to the previous ones. Daisy hugging a stranger. Ash. Gary. Ash and Gary together. Touching. A kiss.

Why did he not remember anything? Undoubtedly the man in the pictures was him. He was Gary Oak, same dark eyes, same snobby expression, same brown hair and those lips that he thought were a bit too thin.

"It was our vacation in Hoenn," Ash said, his voice frail and thin.

"Ok. I'm sorry- I don't remember. Are we lovers?" Gary left the photos to turn to Ash and the man nodded, smiling slightly. His lips trembled. "I'm sorry," Gary repeated, feeling cruel and relentless. He didn't want to hurt Ash. Maybe he should have just lied and said yes, I remember everything, I love you, we live together and Pokemon do not exist.

"It's not your fault," Ash whispered, seizing his face in his own hands. He kept still, in that position, as if wondering about something, as if wanting to kiss him. "We're together. And we have lived here for a year and a half. And you worship me and do everything I tell you."

"I doubt that last part."

"Ah, see? You're already starting to remember. I'm going to take your jacket and shoes so we can go to the hospital." Gary nodded. He actually would have preferred not to go to the hospital, but there was something wrong with him. Or with the world.

He heard Ash walking upstairs and Gary wondered about their room. What was at their bedside? Because they were sleeping together, right? They were engaged.

The photos were still in his hands, smooth and cold, indifferent, distant. Why couldn't he remember? He had everything he had ever wanted, but he wasn't sure if it was true.

Perhaps it was the power of a Pokemon. A genius pokemon who fulfilled your wishes. Or maybe a parallel universe, time travel or there was Celebi- Ash's face emerged from the lounge entrance. "Still all right?" he asked anxiously, putting on a gray coat.

"How did we end up together?"

"It's a long story."

"I imagine so. But I'd like to remember."

"Well, you had just been hired at the university and we were celebrating. I was absolutely obsessed with baseball. Truly obsessed." There was a smile in his voice, but his head was gone, behind the corner, and Gary could hear the sound of dishes being hurriedly put into place.

"And then?"

"And then you told me 'I'm gay', and before I could answer you kissed me. I was so upset... But in a good way. Well, I never particularly liked women and I must admit that I never thought too much about my hormones. But it was definitely a positive surprise."

Gary got up. He needed to see his face. Why did he not remember anything about their first kiss? He wanted to remember it. Maybe he had a concussion and this world was real. It had to be real.

Ash was still talking, something about Brock saying 'finally', but Gary suddenly found himself standing, and his head started to spin. He knew he was going to fall as the cat Umbreon passed between his legs.

He hoped to not hit his head too hard again, because he wasn't ready for another change.

The first thing that Gary Oak felt after the cold darkness of his headache was the feeing of cold hands on his face. The first thing he heard was a worried voice that called to him.

"Gary! Wake up, Gary!" Ash's voice. Gary would recognize it anywhere.

This time Gary did not hesitate and he opened his eyes immediately. He needed to see the world, the house, the-

He could see the sky, a brilliant blue. And he felt wet grass beneath him.

"Gary?" asked Ash.

"Pika, Pika?"

Gary smiled. Pikachu wasn't a cat anymore. Under his right hand he felt Umbreon's muzzle nudging his fingers.

"Ash? Are we engaged?"

"What?"

Oh.

And before he realized it, Gary sat up, sore and hurting, and leaned toward his beloved rival, kissing him.

That was his first kiss with Ash. And he hoped he would manage to remember it this time.

"Finally!" exclaimed the voice of Brock in the distance.