DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters in this story, they are not mine.

A/N: Oh God, am I really doing this...I'm writing a GAML. THIS DOES NOT MEAN I BELIEVE IN EGOSHIPPING. My darling younger sister gave it to me as a challenge fic, and I took up the challenge. Twerpshipping is still the best around, but I thought I should expand my horizons with this one, so please just read and pray for the best, lol! :)


It was the day Ash Ketchum had dreamt about - and feared - for the past year. It was the Johto League opening battle. He had envisioned in his mind how this was going to happen, how he was going to win. Nothing else seemed possible.

His best friends, Misty and Brock, sat in the front row of the stand closest to him. They were both secretly disappointed Ash hadn't let them come down to the ground to act as his coaches, but they both knew how hard Ash had worked for this. He had grown a little more independent over the last year, and his training with his Pokemon had taken on a tougher meaning.

The breeze was fresh and the ground neatly smoothed over as Ash exhaled deeply. The mental preperation for this battle was almost as exhausting as the physical side of it. The other trainer strode out and Ash's other best friend, Pikachu, geared itself up by sparking a few warning shots at the opponent.

In the stands, Misty was clutching her stomach with a pained expression. Brock noticed this and immediatly asked her if she was okay.

Misty smiled. "I'm famished. I went without breakfast again" she explained sheepishly.

Brock shook his head. "You should never skip breakfast, it's the - "

"Most important meal of the day, I know" Misty finished, having heard the lecture a thousand times before.

Brock warily sighed and fished his wallet from his vest pocket. "I'll give you a fiver, but that's all! Next time you eat breakfast, comprendo?"

Misty stood up and saluted him. "Yes sir!" She started walking off as Brock realised something.

"You're not gonna miss the whole match, are you?" he asked. Misty stopped walking and laughed as she turned around.

"Of course not, there aren't that many hungry people in Johto, there won't be a huge queue" she reassured him. Brock raised an eyebrow, shrugged and turned back to the unfolding match.

Misty walked down to the back of the stadium and winced at the horrifically expensive prices of the food they sold. She knew that all three of them could hardly afford to eat here, and she knew that this would really teach her not to skip breakfast again.

Her growling stomach became a priority though, and she started running toward the food stalls. She obviously wasn't being very careful, because the next thing she knew her head had impacted with someone else's and she had fallen to the ground.

"OW!" she exclaimed at the same time as the other person. Rubbing her forehead to try and cease the pain, she angrily looked over at the person she had run into, and drew in a gasp.

He was still standing up, not very shaken by the force of the impact but shaken enough to feel a throbbing in his head, and he finally took a glimpse at her. They both recognised each other and scowled in disgust.

"Well well, if it ain't Ketchum's girl" he sniggered to himself.

Misty glared. "Gary Oak, the brat never looks at the truth...would explain why he'll never admit to himself how poor a trainer he really is..." she muttered.

Gary looked taken aback. In fact, he looked almost hurt, and Misty had a mad desire to apologise for the comments. But then she remembered why she had said them in the first place. She was not "Ketchum's girl", she never would be, and the thought of it made her wince.

Gary sighed and shook his head. "Sticks and stones..." he mumbled. With a frustrated groan he extended his hand in some sort of offering of help. Misty's eyes went wide at the gesture, but she accepted anyway, and got back on her feet with Gary's help.

"Sorry I ran into you" she said, eyes cast down towards the ground. She wouldn't apologise for the remarks, but she knew it was her fault this whole thing had happened.

Gary's eyes went as wide as Misty's had. He half-smiled, and said casually, "Don't worry about it." Misty lifted her head and shot daggers into his eyes. The least he could do was accept her damn apology.

"So Gary, where's the cheerleading squad?" she asked sarcastically, annoyed at herself for not thinking of a Misty trademark smart-aleck remark.

Gary folded his arms and eyed her carefully. "I'll have you know they went home months ago and I haven't spoken to them since" he gloated.

"Oh, so you paid them for their services and they left?" Misty snickered.

"I'd watch it if I were you. One day in the not too distant future I'll be the one laughing when Ketchum loses to me and you're sitting there sobbing like my girls used to" Gary said.

Misty stopped laughing. "You know, he does have a first name" she said quietly. "It's not like he goes around calling you Oak."

Gary's smile faded and he looked Misty in the eye. It was obvious to any random eavesdropper that she was concerned about her best friend, but Gary could see better.

He sighed and nervously ran a hand through his hair. "You wanna know what happened between us, don't you?"

Misty was genuinly shocked. Of course she did, it seemed silly for these two boys who obviously had so much in common to have so much friction in between them without explanation, but she never expected Gary to bring it up so suddenly.

"Well...Ash never talks about it. I've tried to get it out of him before, but...he's so closed, so self-reserved when it comes to things like this..." Misty mentally yelled at herself when she felt tears flood her eyes. How could she cry over something so stupid, so minor, so pitiful?

Gary was quiet. "You really care about him, don't you?" he asked softly. Neither of them could believe it, but he was genuinly concerned about her.

Misty nodded. "He's been my best friend, we've been through everything together, and yet...he won't..." A lone tear escaped and silently rolled down her cheek. "I thought best friends told each other everything" she whispered.

Gary was feeling more awkward each second. Sure, he had seen his girls sob that one time he lost at the Viridian Gym, but this was different. The single tear Misty had shed told stories that existed behind the happy trio of Ash, Brock and Misty.

Misty was still looking at the ground, her hunger fading at the revelation of her emotions. And without even realising what he was doing, Gary slowly reached for Misty's cheek with his right hand and delicatly wiped away the single tear.

Misty immediatly tensed up, but to her shock, it was only for a second. The two teenagers suddenly felt completly at ease with each other in their current situation, and Misty slowly looked up to meet Gary's eyes. The cold, harshness that would usually occupy his eyes had been replaced with a sincere look of compassion and sympathy.

"Don't give up on Ash. He'll come around one day. I know the termination of our friendship hit him hard, maybe it's a shock he's still trying to absorb...I don't know. All I know is that he is very, very lucky to have you" Gary said softly.

"Why do you say that?" Misty asked softly after only a moment's hesitation.

"Because you care about him so much. You're much more of a friend to him than I ever could be, even if we did resolve our differences" Gary explained.

Misty smiled. "Gary, I..." She lost words as he again touched her cheek. She was spellbound by the gesture. She had never seen Gary Oak this sincere, this concerned or compassionate...she was seeing a side of him that she never thought possible, and it touched her to the very core of her soul to see him come around like this.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly, her eyes momentarily closing as she tried to regain normal breathing. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't!

"Wishing I was Ash" Gary replied, sending shivers of shock through both of them. Misty looked at him with wide eyes, feeling like her whole self was being transported to a place she had never been to before. It was a familier voice that brought her back before it was too late...

"Misty! The match has start - " Brock cut himself off at the sight. That couldn't be...Gary Oak? No way could Gary Oak be holding Misty's cheek, no way could he be looking so deeply into her eyes. It was like one of those "What's wrong with this picture?" picture.

Misty hadn't moved from her spot, and neither had Gary. Brock strode over and yelled her name again. "Yo Misty! You're missing the match!"

Instantly the hand went down and Misty averted making eye contact with Brock. She knew what had just crossed between her and Gary was infinintly wrong, it would cost her dearly if she dwelt on it, so she knew that, as of now, it was a non-event.

"Oh...oh yeah, um, how's he going?" Misty stammered through the question while Brock subtly tried to steer her away. She took a final glance over her shoulder and walked back beside Brock.

In a totally non-Brock way, he grabbed her shoulders and looked her severly in the eye. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

"Nothing, nothing, I was just...talking to him." Misty had become a terrible liar lately, and this was no exception.

Brock sighed. "Don't lay that crap on me, Misty. I can't begin to tell you the anger Ash would feel if he knew about...about this!" he exclaimed, waving a hand in the direction of a now distant and departing Gary.

"Why would he be angry?" Misty snapped. "Why, Brock? He doesn't own me, he can't tell me how to lead my life!" she angrily pointed out.

"He's your best friend! And that's his arch-rival!" Brock pointed out, even though he didn't really have to. Everyone already knew that.

"If he was my best friend he would be a little more open with me, don't you think? He's starting to become independent, and I'm starting to feel more like a companion than a friend" Misty confessed.

Brock shook his head. "Misty, he..." Brock paused. "He values you more than you realise."

"Well he better make me realise it soon, because I sure as hell don't see it!" Misty said heatedly. "And what's the big deal, anyway? It's only Gary, if you look behind him he's really just a normal guy. Nothing even happened, for God's sake!" Misty sighed in exasperation, threw her hands up in the air and turned around to leave. She was stomping away when Brock yelled out a sentance that made her freeze.

"Oh, so if it's not a big deal I suppose I can tell Ash then."

Still frozen to the spot, Misty slowly turned around. "Please Brock, don't do this..." She sighed heavily. "Don't put that on me. I'm going to watch the match, are you coming?"

Brock paused, then nodded. He knew more than Ash would want to know, and his sudden disposition was not one many desired to be in. His two best friends were on the brink of friendship because of Ash's sudden independance and Misty's sudden desire to give up on him. Knowing and revealing this secret could topple them over the brink. But then again, not revealing it could be just as bad...

Misty interpreted his thoughts perfectly. "Don't worry about it, Brocko. Nothing happened, and nothing will happen. He just felt sorry for me, he wanted to help, just like you would" she said as they sat back down in the stand. By now Ash had won one out of two battles and was on to the third and final one. He looked to be a shoe-in on this round though - Pikachu hardly ever failed to come through a tough situation like this.

Misty forced herself to focus on the match, and not on what she had felt at Gary's touch, not what she had read in his eyes when she had looked into them for so long. She knew how incredibly wrong it was, how incredibly stupid she was to be thinking or feeling what she was...heck, she hardly knew the guy!

Five minutes and a lot of pondering later, Misty witnessed Ash finally win his battle. Pikachu was the ultimate Pokemon, (A/N: That's true I tell ya!) it only went to prove that size doesn't matter.

Brock and Misty walked out to the front of the stadium, where they had planned to meet Ash. It didn't take long for him to come bounding out of the arena, dancing and skipping alongside Pikachu, who was equally as happy as its trainer.

"Woah, take it easy Ash" Brock cautioned. Ash stopped dancing and grinned at his two friends with bright eyes. Misty slowly smiled back, pushing all thoughts of rivals out of her mind.

"I'm sorry, Brock, I'm just so excited!" Ash paused to take a breath and found himself looking seriously at Misty. "Hey Mist, is everything okay?" he asked.

Her eyes shot wide open and she quickly shook her head - too quickly? "Yes! Yes, everything is fine, just trying to, um, keep myself sane while you're so obviously not!" she laughed, trying to regain some normality herself.

Ash shrugged it off as excitement once again overtook him. It outshone any other emotion he could've been feeling as the trio made its way back to their rented house.

Misty was once again engulfed by quiet throughout dinner, as Brock and Ash babbled on about battling techniques.

"So Misty, what did you think of that vine whip Chikorita used on that pathetic excuse for a Graveler? It was pretty awesome huh?" Ash gloated, finally including Misty in the conversation.

Misty was put on the spot. She hadn't been there for the Chikorita-Graveler match. She had been out the back of the stands, with his rival...

Now you shut up about him! her mind screamed. Nothing happened and nothing will happen! You don't want anything to happen...

Do you?

Wise crack, wise crack...Misty was commanding herself to come back as herself, to stop thinking about him, and a wise crack would show them she was still the same.

"Yeah, well I suppose if the Graveler was pathetic then it didn't take skill to beat it. Just chance" she shrugged. Ash scowled and angrily chewed on a piece of baked potato.

The rest of dinner was surrounded by tension, and Brock rightly decided not to intervene. He knew how easily the secret that was dominating his train of thought could slip out.

The three friends found themselves overcome by fatigue, and all said their goodnights at 9pm. They all had seperate rooms, which was a blessing to each of them. Sometimes being together all the time was too much time, and they had come to a point where they each needed some space to themselves now and then.

Misty was now more grateful then ever to have time to herself. She slipped into bed with a heavy sigh while Togepi quietly snored beside her. Sleep seemed foreign. The point of sleep was for the mind to relax. But nothing about Misty could relax.

She knew how dangerous this was, to even be thinking about Gary for more than a minute was considered dangerous!

"Why do I do this to myself..." she muttered quietly. She rolled over to face the wall. Forget him, forget him. You don't even know him.

That's right, Misty thought. I don't know him. All I know is that he and Ash can't stand each other, and that somewhere behind that tough, egotistical exterior is a guy with sincerity and compassion...

Why had he only shown compassion to her, never to anyone else? Misty finally fell into a fitful sleep, thinking of what she now had to do. She had to confront all the pros and cons that were racing through her mind. And there was only one person to confront them in front of.

Tomorrow, she sleepily thought. Tomorrow she would confront this and him, and it would all be over. She would look back and laugh at her fears, and her thoughts. This time tomorrow she would be fully celebrating another victory for Ash.

And Gary Oak would hardly ever exist in her world.


A/N: This is for my sister, who keeps bugging me about this. Chapter 2 will be up soon, no doubt about that, considering she's going on and on and on about it...anyways, I promise it'll get good! Flames, reviews, constructive critcism, I'll take it all and use it to make better chapters/stories! Thanks guys! ^_^