"That was a great dinner Mrs. Ketchum." Gary said after they had all finished eating.
"You're so sweet! It wasn't all me though, my Ash helped me make it!" Delia said ruffling Ash's hair, making his hat fall off.
Gary caught it before it hit the ground and placed it back on his head.
"Thanks Gary." Ash said.
Gary nodded and moved towards the door.
"It's getting late, we should get going. We still have to feed the Pokemon their dinner." He laughed.
"I'm glad he's doing alright." Gary said to no one in particular.
The Professor nodded, hearing Gary's words. He walked beside him, with Tracey running ahead complaining of the humid night air.
"Me too… You should spend more time with him, the doctor says he could easily fall into a depressive state without support from friends and family. Most of his friends can't be here right now."
"I can do that." Gary said.
Professor Oak gave another nod, and picked up the pace. "It is humid out here."
Back at the Ketchum household Ash was helping his mom with the dishes.
"That was fun." He said.
"Yes it was, we should do it more often. They live so close by." Delia said, putting a plate away.
"I've missed this town, I love this region. Out of all the regions I've traveled to, none of them have had the same effect this one has on me."
Delia laughed and finished putting the plates away. She closed the cabinet door and sat down, motioning for Ash to sit next to her.
"It's obvious why. You started your journey here, you met Pikachu here, you met so many friends and you have you have your family here. I love this place too. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else." She said.
"I love you mom."
He wrapped his mom in a hug she returned.
Gary laid on his bed, lost in his thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking about Ash. Ever since his grandpa told him what happened he couldn't get his mind off of him. Why would someone cheat on Ash? He had everything, he was a great Pokemon Trainer, he was strong, had a great personality, and he certainly wasn't ugly…
"FUCK!" He yelled loudly.
Tracey opened his bedroom door. "I was walking by and heard you yell. Are you alright?"
"Yes, please leave. I need to be alone."
Tracey thought about prying a little bit more but the look on Gary's face was serious. He needed to be left alone.
"It's probably about Ash." He muttered, closing the door feeling rejected and a bit jealous.
Gary rolled his eyes and went back to his own thoughts.
There used to be some romantic feelings between them…mainly Gary…but Ash didn't return them. Well it was more like he couldn't, and Gary understood.
Three years ago
Ash was asleep in his room at the Pokemon Center when he heard a knock on the door. He looked at May, Max, and Brock who were all fast asleep. Which meant he had to get the door. He sighed and got up to get the door, stumbling over Pikachu in the process.
"Sorry buddy."
He opened the door and was surprised to see Gary Oak standing there.
"Do you know what time it is?" He asked his rival at the time.
"I know it's late but do you have a minute? I want to talk to you." Gary said.
"I have a minute. What do you want?"
"Can we talk in private?"
Ash nodded and slipped his sneakers on. He walked out the door, closing it behind him. He yawned.
"Fuck, I'm tired. Gary make this quick."
"Alright. Well, I had this big speech prepared, but since you are tired and want to get to bed I'll just give it to you straight. Ash, I like you. A lot. Not as a rival, not as a friend…I want to be more than friends. I love you."
"Are you high?" Ash asked.
"No! I'm not! I can say my ABC'S backwards. Z-Y-X-W"
"Gary, that's to test if you've been drinking. Not smoking pot. I'm going back to bed."
"NO ASH! I FUCKING LOVE YOU!"
Gary pushed him against the wall, and kissed him passionately to prove his point. Ash's eyes widened and he thought about pushing Gary away for a moment, but then he realized…it felt right.
Gary pulled away and smirked.
"So now do you understand? I'm serious. That was my first kiss and I gave it to you! I'd be willing to give you more…anything you want. That's what you do when you love someone. You do anything you can to make them happy. Well at least that's what I want to do."
Ash didn't say anything, he just pulled Gary into another passionate kiss.
Gary smiled fondly at the memory. They were each other's first kiss, and it kept going on and on. Kissing each other until Ash almost fell out from exhaustion. He really did a number on the boy. Of course Gary hoped that he could be his first time as well but their relationship never lasted longer than that night. His heart clenched at the memory.
Ash was about to head off with his friends when Gary came running up to him.
"Hey! What are you doing?" he asked.
"What's Gary doing here?" Brock asked.
"Uh…I don't know." Ash said. He pulled Gary aside, making sure no one could hear them.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I was wondering what you were doing. I thought we were gonna be together." Gary said.
"I just won my battle here, I need to get going to the next town. I have a journey to finish."
"I'll go with you. Just give me a few minutes to pack." Gary said. He started running off to pack, but Ash stopped him.
"Aren't you doing a research project? You can't leave, you need to focus."
"Then…How are we…"
"To be honest I'm not looking for a relationship right now. I thought about what you said last night and, I love you too, but I can't do it. I really did enjoy last night though. Thank you, it was a lot of fun. Maybe we can fool around again sometime." Ash said. He smiled and hugged Gary, but Gary pulled away.
"I have to go. See you later." He said and walked off.
"Maybe we can fool around again sometime. He's so dense, he probably didn't realize how degrading that sounded." Gary whispered.
There was no doubt about it. He did still have strong feelings of love for Ash, but he had to restrain himself. If Ash didn't show an interest, than neither would he. He refused to get his heart broken again.
After he "got over" Ash, he dated several other guys. Some of who he wasn't compatible with and some who just didn't treat him right.
One year ago:
"Just let me relax, Trip. I'm frustrated."
"Is it me?"
"No."
"You're a liar."
"It's not you! It's this damn fossil. I can't figure out what it is!"
"Fuck you Gary Oak! You think you're somebody! You are nobody!" Trip yelled, he picked up Gary's laptop and threw it.
"Why would you do that? It has all of my data on it!"
Gary ran over to his laptop and luckily it was alright. He turned to Trip and screamed.
"I hate you! You could've ruined everything I worked on for the last nine months!"
Trip grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up off the floor, dragging him into the bedroom. He threw him onto the bed and…
Gary bit his lip as he felt tears start to fall. He definitely didn't want to relieve thatmemory again. He had enough nightmares about Trip as it was. Even after that incident it took him a good six months to break up with him. He went back to thinking about Ash.
"Well he did say he loved me…that's a start."
A/N: Yes, I changed something up in the first chapter. So all of you who are gonna be like, but it said James was his first kiss…I changed it. This is better. And I chose Trip because he is so underrated. He deserves some attention, and no I'm not a Trip hater. He just fits the role. Everyone always uses Paul for the mean roles but I thought Nah…let's do something different. Also sorry for the late update, I got writers block soooooooooo bad.