Dedicated to sarahgri99, who has left a review on every single chapter.
-Multiple-
Stalking your one-sided far younger crush who's currently on a date with their crush should be an exceedingly creepy and bitter-felt affair.
Biting into a sandwich from a nearby roof, he watches Jace destroy all chances with the current fling and comes to the conclusion that the only thing he suffers from is cringing sympathy.
Jace, flustered and nervous, looks at anything but the woman's face, and the lady's expression falls as assumptions are made. Nervousness is mistaken for something else, and the woman's plummeting confidence comes across as boredom.
It's a terrible thing to watch. He feels bad for both of them, but maybe he shouldn't interfere this time. Jace has to learn what he's doing wrong at some point.
Oh, wait, that's one of the councilmen's daughters. Of course it is. This lady could get Jace expelled for sexual harassment and take away all chance of becoming a Nurse Joy.
Jace seems to have an attraction for dangerous women; he can always count on the knucklehead to go after the woman most likely to ruin a man's career for not looking her in the face.
Falling for women like that wouldn't be such a bad thing if the guy didn't fail at every single interaction concerning the opposite gender.
"Alright, Noctowl," he says, releasing the pokemon, "time to save our buddy from himself. Again."
He made the mistake of staying out of Jace's terrible dates once. He's never had to create blackmail from thin air and educated guesses before, and he's not looking forward to doing it again.
He feeds the rest of the sandwich to Noctowl before getting the pokemon to Fly him over to the table the couple is dining at. He lets go of the pokemon, timing his drop so he hits the attached umbrella first.
He nails it, and the umbrella takes most of the impact before he hits the tabletop. It still hurts.
"Kyle?" Jace yelps.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" The woman cries, reaching for his pulse before he can answer.
The things he does for love, he thinks with a wince.
It's not like he messes up Jace's attempts at dating out of spite. The man continues to make poor life decisions concerning love, and he meddles only as much as he needs to.
He can't deny that some part of him relishes in driving away anyone who could take his best friend from him though.
The two of them continue on in life together as they are. Jace graduates, becoming rather famous for gender rather than work, and they take a trip to Alola.
Their unexpected stumble into a different version of Alola is something he still has a hard time dealing with. Sometimes he wakes up with a scream in his throat.
"Nightmares again?" Jace asks softly.
He grunts, not bothering to pick his head up from the kitchen table. The cool surface feels good against his forehead, and this way Jace can't see the tears prickling at the edge of his eyes.
He thinks he's been left alone when he hears Jace retreat back to the bedroom. Feelings of relief and abandonment war against each other as he takes deep breaths. He knows one of them should get some sleep tonight, yet he doesn't want to be left alone.
He's startled when something heavy wraps around his shoulders. A light touch runs through his hair.
"I'll make some hot chocolate," Jace says tiredly.
He clutches the ends of the blanket with trembling fingers. He squeezes his eyes shut to stop the tears even as he fights down a smile.
Through it all, Jace never manages to make a real connection with anyone, and he guiltily savors having the man all to himself. Not that he doesn't try to get Jace friends—it's hard as Jace keeps subconsciously rejecting other humans—but he can't help indulging in some happiness that he'll never have to worry about a wedding.
In retrospect, he's sort of an idiot.
The beginning of the end happens once Jace brings home Teri.
A familiar face from the past, Teri attempted the Nurse Joy program only to drop out halfway through. Jace bumped into her during a shopping trip. That chance encounter led to dinner dates to reminisce about the past. These dates went well enough that Jace now brings her to their house.
As the days go by with no sign of something going wrong, a terrible feeling hits his stomach.
There's nothing wrong with the woman; she's an absolute delight. There's no glaring flaw or terrible trait that he can indulge in. Teri is genuinely a good person, and it ends up being the worst thing about the situation.
Jace brings home a person that holds no severe consequence for messing up. Who happens to be a pretty lady that can see past the sputtering mess and social awkwardness. A woman with a deep love for pokemon and a smile that lights up her entire face.
Teri is here to stay.
"Hey, Kyle," Jace hesitates one morning.
He gives the man a sleepy stare. Jace fiddles with a napkin nervously.
"What do you think about Teri moving in with us?" Jace spews out in a rush.
It hits like a punch from Snorlax. Keeping tight control over his facial muscles, he makes a point to glance around the kitchen.
"Considering those are her drapes, her mats, and her dishes," he drawls out, "I think she already has."
He does his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He does a good job since all Jace does is let out a small laugh. Jace goes back to eating, never noticing that he doesn't actually answer the question.
Unfortunately, there's a lot more of Teri in their house than just those three things. The woman's been slowly moving in since day one.
He thinks about seeing the two of them every day for the rest of his life, happy and in love. A feeling of nausea hits him. There's no getting around it; he can't do this. He needs to leave.
Finishing breakfast against the rising nausea, he begins making plans. His fingers slide against the wood of the table, and he wonders how many times his heart can break.
He takes the happy couple out to dinner a week later.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you two meet?" Teri asks, taking a sip of sparkling wine.
Jace freezes, knife hovering over a piece of steak. Memories of a much younger and stupid Jace cause him to grin.
"It was boring. You definitely don't want to hear about it!" Jace laughs nervously.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," he purrs. "I seem to recall a not very bright kid bridling with pre-teenage angst."
Jace sinks lower into the chair, food all but forgotten, as he recounts that moment with gusto. It wasn't funny at the time, but looking back at it, crybaby Jace was hilarious.
"So that was it!" Teri brightens. "You're his older brother!"
He takes a sip of soda to hide a cringe. The lady's not wrong. In the beginning, he truly did think of Jace as a younger brother, but time changes more than just perspective.
"Older brother?" Jace grimaces. "Him?"
He blinks at Jace. The disgusted face the man makes causes his eyebrows to furrow.
"It makes sense compared to what I originally thought. To be fair, all the other girls thought it too," Teri says, saving Jace from further scrutiny.
"What do you mean?" Jace asks, taking a bite of steak foolishly.
"Oh, I thought you two were together for the longest time!" Teri laughs. "The way you looked at him like he was your whole world, well, it seemed obvious to me!"
Jace chokes, and he fakes a laugh. He leans forward and thumps Jace on the back none too gently. Jace waves a fork threateningly in his direction, coughing.
"Good thing for you it's not like that, huh?" He smiles resentfully to Teri. "You'll be getting him all to yourself soon."
The two stare at him with identical looks of confusion. He steels himself for the hardest decision he's ever made. Smirking, he rips his heart out in one go.
"It's time for me to leave. I'm heading for Hoenn and gifting you two the house. May you live in happiness for years to come."
He holds his glass up in a mockery of a toast at their flabbergasted expressions. Even if Jace and Teri don't work out, there'll be a new Teri down the road eventually. This way, he thinks with a pang, he can finally let go.
...
"Oh, I thought you two were together for the longest time! The way you looked at him like he was your whole world, well, it seemed obvious to me!"
The words won't leave him alone.
He'll never be attracted to Kyle; there's no getting around that. The female form fills his stomach with Butterfree, and just looking at pretty ladies tie his tongue into knots. Kyle is very firmly not female.
Still, the idea of the Ace trainer leaving turns his blood to ice. He'd always thought that Kyle would stay even if he found someone nice to settle down with.
Maybe it doesn't have to end this way. If Kyle finds someone too then they could bond over their married life together like normal adult friends. Their relationship would be different—they'd no longer be housemates—but that's completely normal.
The problem is that Kyle has never shown any interest outside of a single person.
Plus, he can't really imagine what it would take to marry Kyle of all people; they'd have to be able to put up with crazy antics and near criminal acts on a daily basis. He tries imagining Kyle with another person and—
Oh. He looks down at the snapped pencil in his hand. Well, that's new. He sets the pieces to the side and reaches for another pencil.
Yeah, it'd take someone with incredible patience who's experienced in dealing with absurdity like interdimensional portals. Good luck finding someone like that.
The day comes for Kyle to leave. He watches from the doorway as the man packs away everything in the bedroom that can fit into a large duffel bag.
He's agreed to put the remaining items in storage for the man to retrieve later, but he has a feeling those items will never see the light of day again. He blinks watery eyes at the thought.
"Will you at least tell me why?" He rasps out.
Kyle doesn't bother slowing down. Clothes, badges, and sentimental items disappear into the bag with efficiency brought on by years of travel.
"I can't," Kyle says, not looking at him.
So there is a reason, and Kyle would rather leave than talk to him about it. He grits his teeth. His best friend is walking out of his life without even giving him an excuse.
"Why not?" He snaps out.
It comes out angrier than he meant it to, but he can't stop the feeling of betrayal rising up. Kyle bristles in response to his tone.
"Because I can't!" Kyle throws a picture of the two of them into the duffel bag roughly. "Leave it, Jace!"
He's taken back by the sheer venom in the other man's voice. The Ace trainer hasn't spoken to him like that in years. Kyle's face is scrunched up into a frustrated expression, and he thinks back to the last time the man behaved this way.
This is exactly how Kyle acted before leaving that one year during school. He studies the aggravated motions Kyle makes to finish packing. He's missing something obvious.
"Is this because of Teri?" He asks, already knowing the answer.
Kyle's face twitches into a scowl, and the Ace trainer zips the duffel bag with too much force. He watches as Kyle curses and attempts to fix the stuck zipper.
It's not about Teri, not really. He never noticed her back in school. This is about him. He's the reason Kyle feels the need to run away. What did he do that made Kyle leave all those years ago?
"Something scary happened to me, and it was affecting everything I was doing, saying, thinking. It just came on suddenly, as if from nowhere, and it involves you."
That's right. Kyle said something about a mid-life crisis. It'd be easy to accept that answer again, to say that the older man is upset over something so trivial.
He knows better than that. No, if anything, Kyle's upset about the relationship itself. Almost like Kyle can't stand watching him be happy with someone else—
Oh, he thinks from somewhere miles away as the puzzle pieces click together. Oh.
"Goodbye, Jace," Kyle says stiffly. "I'll let you know when I get to Hoenn."
The man slings the bag onto a shoulder and brushes past him. He doesn't bother turning around to watch Kyle leave. There's no slamming of doors or loud declarations.
"Did he leave already?" Teri asks from somewhere behind him. "Oh darn it, I packed him a lunch!"
He stares at the bed in a daze. His thoughts jumble over themselves as he tries to simultaneously deny and accept it. Is it possible? What about? No, it couldn't—but what about all those ruined dates?
"Jace? You okay?"
He lets out a shaky breath and attempts to give his girlfriend a reassuring smile. He fails if her worried look is anything to go by.
"Yeah," he says around the lump in his throat, "just need a minute."
He's going to need more than a minute for this. The room seems to close in on him, and he suddenly feels the urge to go for a walk.
"I, um, I need some fresh air," he mumbles. "I'll see you later. For dinner, yeah."
Two days go by, and he's no closer to finding an answer to the question he doesn't dare ask. Going through memories and pictures tells him nothing—it's all conjecture on his part.
Teri doesn't help matters by hovering over his shoulder as he attempts to find some sort of proof. He eventually gets her to leave him alone by agreeing to a date at the docks. She seems to think he'll tell her what's going on by then.
He's pretty sure she's in for some disappointment on that front. He can't even think about it without going light-headed.
He frowns down at the photograph of the two of them from when he was fourteen. He studies the face of the nineteen year old Kyle, searching for something, anything. He lets out a strangled breath and moves onto the next picture.
He doesn't know what he's looking for.
It takes two more days before he's had enough and does the one thing that makes him break into a cold sweat. He calls his brother.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Roger," he says weakly.
"What's wrong?" Roger asks immediately.
"Wrong, why would anything be wrong?" He squeaks.
He feels the sweat trickle down his neck in the ensuing silence. The sheer amount of condemnation makes him look around for something to save him. Kyle's empty bedroom holds nothing, and it's enough to break him.
"Kyle-left-and-I-think-he's-in-love-with-me-and-I'm-so-confused-help-me," he blurts out.
He's not sure, but he thinks the silence turns from scornful to incredulous. The Xtransceiver shakes in his grasp. He's both annoyed and grateful that Roger hasn't upgraded from an old phone; there's no video of his brother staring up at him.
He is not prepared for the eventual reply.
"You're an idiot," Roger tells him bluntly. "He's always been in love with you."
The words hit him hard enough to leave him breathless.
"It probably started the first time he ran away," Roger continues, ignorant of his muteness. "That guy was weird since the beginning, but he's not a pervert. You were probably what? Seventeen or eighteen?"
He opens his mouth to say something only to shut it with a click. What exactly can he say?
"So what are you going to do about it?" Roger asks.
He stares at the empty dresser across from him. A photo of the two of them once sat in the middle of it. He bites his lip.
"I don't know," he eventually says. "I don't want him gone, but then again—I just don't know."
"Well, figure it out. And soon. If I know anything about that guy, which I do unfortunately, you won't be able to find him after a while."
He lets out a frustrated sigh. His brother's not wrong, but he's not sure he can figure this out in what can be called "soon".
"Just don't expect me to find him for you," Roger warns. "I am not putting a bounty out on him again!"
The call ends with a click, and he stares at the device in his hand in disbelief. Roger's not usually that brusque, so he can only assume the topic is too uncomfortable for his brother. Still, one thing bugs him.
"You put a bounty on him?" He utters blankly to the Xtransceiver.
Understandably, he gets no reply.
In the end, it only takes half a day of zoning out at the Pokemon Center before he comes to a decision. He stares down at the counter, and thinks, I have to go.
Chansey pats his hand, and he nods at the pokemon. He grabs the work phone and dials his boss. He attempts to quit, but his boss talks him into taking unpaid leave instead. He exits the Center with determined steps.
It doesn't take him long to pack. In fact, he spends more time planning his search than he does anything else. He almost forgets a very important detail.
"Roger, I need you to tell my girlfriend I'm leaving," he says.
"What?" His brother chokes.
"I'd do it myself, but I can't waste any time," he continues. "She gets home at 5:30. Help yourself to anything in the fridge. Call you when I get to Hoenn."
"Wait just a minute—"
He ends the call, and tucks the Xtransceiver into his pocket. He grabs his backpack and heads for the door. He wasn't kidding about the time; his ship leaves in forty minutes.
He's going directly from Olivine City to Slateport City. He's certain that's what Kyle did, and hopefully he'll be able to gather clues along the way. Kyle's not exactly a forgettable person.
He hasn't quite worked out what he's going to do once he finds the Ace trainer, but he'll have plenty of time to think about it on the ship. The one thing he knows is that he can't let things end this way.
The ship isn't the same one that goes to Kanto, but it's built similarly enough that he can't stop the nostalgia. He walks around in a slight daze, chasing personal ghosts.
He ends up outside on the deck. Chansey hands him a boiled egg with a worried coo, and he pats the pokemon on the head.
"I'm okay," he tells Chansey. "Just thinking."
He leans over the railing, clutching the egg to his chest, and watches the waves hit the ship. The wind ruffles his hair, and he listens to the soft chattering of the people behind him.
"It's funny," he says. "Isn't this like our first trip to Kanto? When we first met Kyle?"
Chansey lets out a chirp, and he sighs. No matter how beautiful the scenery is, he can't enjoy it. He wishes Kyle was here to share this moment with him.
He thinks a lot about why that is on the long trip to Hoenn.
He doesn't give himself a chance to rest the moment the ship stops into port. Backpack on his shoulders, he goes to the one place he knows Kyle would have hit first: the Slateport Market.
He finds some promising leads from the stall owners. He purchases a Growlithe doll as thanks and makes for his next lead.
Dead ends keep him from progressing, and it's not until he's running around Slateport City talking to anyone that might have seen a trainer with a red jacket, that he realizes the obvious.
"Um, hi, this is Jace. Would you happen to know where Kyle is?" He asks, holding the Xtransceiver nervously.
Kyle's mother stares back at him, giant sunglasses perched on her large beach hat. Lips pursed, the woman studies him with horrible intensity.
"He's in Sootopolis City," Kyle's father says from somewhere off-screen.
"He is?" Relief floods him before realization kicks in. "Wait, isn't the only way into the city by flying?"
His face falls. Of course Kyle wouldn't make this easy. Kyle's mother, face softening, throws him a lifeline.
"Don't worry, dear. We'll have someone take you to the city. Wait in the Pokemon Center and give us fifteen minutes," the woman tells him.
Kyle's parents come through for him, and he's soaring on the back of a Pelipper thirty minutes later. The pokemon's trainer flies ahead of him on another Pelipper, and he hangs on for dear life.
It's only now, in the silence of the vast blue sky, that he realizes he has no way to get out of Sootopolis City if he can't find Kyle. Well, if it gets to that point maybe Roger will bail him out?
He doesn't get to think about it too long. The pokemon touches down inside the crater, landing in front of the Pokemon Center. He thanks the trainer for the lift before walking inside.
Nervousness eats at him as he asks around for information about the wayward Ace trainer. He has an idea of what he wants to say to Kyle, but he needs to find the man first.
He's pointed from one "maybe so-and-so's seen 'em" to the next. Hours trickle by, and he feels like he runs all over the city on a wild Swanna chase. Sootopolis, he swears, is made of nothing but stairs.
Nothing comes from asking the locals, and in desperation, he searches around the bottom of the crater where sea meets land.
He doesn't find Kyle.
He finally gives up once the sun starts going down. He watches the water sparkle in the dying light and drops to the ground in defeat. He hugs his legs, resting his forehead on his knees.
Kyle's probably already gone. He'll never catch up to the man. He'll never get to say—
"So I hear you've been looking for me?"
Startled, he looks up. His breath catches in his throat as a familiar figure looms over him. Even shaded out against the dim light, he knows who it is.
"Kyle," he croaks out, hurrying to stand.
The Ace trainer makes no move other than to frown at him. An eternity passes by as they stare at each other. He takes a breath and realizes he needs to say something.
"I want you," he blurts out.
A beat passes by. He feels his face heat up.
"Pardon?" Kyle replies, dumbstruck.
"Wait, no, not like," he waves his arms, "well, maybe, argh!"
He's messing up exactly as he knew he would. Why is it so hard to put these complicated feelings into words? Struck with a sudden urge to make it so the man can't walk away, he latches on to Kyle's arm with both hands.
"You know what? I can't talk to you like this. It's too dark. Take me somewhere lit up," he demands.
It's an excuse to stall for time, but Kyle reaches for a pokeball with an uneasy expression. Releasing Noctowl, the Ace trainer flies them to the top of the crater.
They land on a house with a flat roof. Lamps from the ground give the rooftop a soft glow, and he knows Kyle's been here before. It makes sense; supposedly, Hoenn's greatest sight is the stars that shine over Sootopolis City.
He wonders if Kyle had trouble enjoying the view, wonders if the only thought the man had was a desperate wish to see it together with him.
He doesn't let go of Kyle's arm until Noctowl's been called back.
"What's this about?" Kyle asks warily.
"Do you know how precious you are to me?" He doesn't give the Ace trainer time to answer. "I never realized it, but we've been together for ten years. You've been by my side the entire time."
"That one year doesn't count," he says before Kyle can say anything. "We both know why you left."
Kyle's eyes avert to the ground, and he feels like laughing. He's so stupid to have missed all the signs. It's been five years. That's an awfully long time to leave someone drowning.
"I want you to come home," he says slowly, sounding the words out. "I want you to come back to Johto with me."
Kyle lets out a nasty laugh.
"You really want to pour salt on it, don't you?" Kyle doesn't look at him. "I'm not a good person. I can't stand watching you with someone else. You know what will happen."
Memories of Kyle's darker pursuits come to mind, and he recalls a portion of Johto burning down. He's got an idea. As much as he likes her, Teri stands no chance against Kyle.
"It's either Teri or me," Kyle says bitterly. "And that's no choice."
"It's no choice," he agrees.
He grabs the man by the front of the jacket and pulls. Kyle finally looks at him, eyes wide in confusion. If there was ever a moment to second-guess himself, this is it.
He has no doubts and brings their lips together. Kyle lets out a gasp, and he marvels over how weird it feels. He keeps their lips locked in an attempt to get Kyle to understand.
He only leans back when the need for air hits him. He digs his fingers tighter into the jacket; he won't allow Kyle to run any longer.
"Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" Kyle eventually asks.
He studies the dazed expression and comes to the conclusion that Kyle's completely unaware of having said anything.
"I think we're past that point," he deadpans, "especially since we're getting married."
A blank stare is the only reaction he gets. He waits patiently.
"We're getting married?" Kyle shrieks.
He laughs and rests his forehead on Kyle's chest. The Ace trainer remains as still as a statue, and he revels in this warm feeling in his chest.
It really was never a choice to begin with.
"Your girlfriend? You're straight? I," Kyle struggles to get out, "married?"
"I'm breaking it off with Teri," he says without a hint of sadness. "She's nice, but she's not you."
He smiles into Kyle's jacket and ponders how to say the next bit. He struggled with it himself on the way to Hoenn, and he never found the answer until this moment.
"I like kissing girls," he eventually decides on, "but I like kissing you more."
He leans back and is fascinated by the way the man's eyes glisten. Kyle doesn't look away, and he considers the last point on the checklist.
"Considering we already bought a house together, I think you need to make an honest man out of me," he teases.
They say the stars above Sootopolis City are the most beautiful sight in the Hoenn region. They pale in comparison to the man in front of him.
He smirks and grabs Kyle's face for another kiss. This time Kyle kisses back.