A.N. So I wrote this listening to severely sad music (Michael Giacchino- Lost Soundtrack to be specific) and it made this chapter ten times better and more emotional.

So if you wanna, just put on something that is slow and emotional lol I cried as I wrote X'D

Here we go.

~Tomorrow Morning~

Gary pulled his hand up to his neighbor's door, hesitating at first, but taking a deep breath and knocking four times.

He looked up into the sky and saw some storm clouds coming.

"Hopefully it won't rain too bad," he thought before looking back at the door.

He played with his bangs, which were now shorter since May cut it earlier this morning, out of nervousness. After a minute or so, the door opened and Gary quickly pulled his hands down and sheepishly smiled up to who he labeled as his second mother.

Delia, in return, brightly smiled and pulled Gary into a tight embrace.

"Shigeru! How have you been, honey?" she happily cried out as Gary hugged her back.

"I-I've been fine, Ms. Ketchum."

"Oh, I keep telling you to call me mom! You used to always call me that when you were younger," she replied with a pout as she let go, taking a step back and looking down at the boy who was practically a second son to her.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Ms. Ketchum. And you're not my mom so that would just be weird."

Delia sadly smiled, but understood Gary's argument and dropped the fight. He never really liked being babied anyway.

"So uhm, I was wondering if Ash was here yet."

"Ash? No, he should be coming soon though. Why don't you wait inside? I'd love to talk for just a little while. I mean, if that isn't a bother to you."

Gary looked up at the red haired women, who seemed to radiate a sense of happiness. At first, he wanted to decline the offer and wait outside, but knowing that she must have been quite lonely without her only other family member, he accepted and walked in, Delia practically skipping out of joy as she followed him in.

"I can't stay for too long though. I have to go to Viridian for my final gym battle."

"Viridian? Oh right! I heard that you had to get all seven Badges from Kanto to fight the Gym Leader."

Gary nodded, saying, "yup. I've got ten."

Delia's eyes widened as she sat on her couch; Gary sitting on the couch opposite of the coffee table.

"Ten?! I didn't know there were that many gyms here!" she said, still in shock.

Gary lightly laughed, enjoying the expression she gave him.

"Well, if you look all over, you'd see that we have more than eight. Just gotta look close."

Delia pulled out of her stupor with a smile and a shake of her head.

"You were always the type to check things twice. You're such an intelligent boy, Shigeru. But why don't you want to be a Professor? All these silly Pokémon battles aren't good enough for your intellect."

Gary folded his hands and placed them between his knees, trying finding a simple lie that wouldn't bring too much guilt to himself. He never liked lying to Ms. Ketchum; no matter what the reason was.

"Well I don't want to be kooked up in some lab for the rest of my life. I like learning about Pokémon but I'm more of a hands-on guy," Gary said, noting that this actually wasn't a lie.

"Well how about a Pokémon Researcher then?"

Gary looked up at Delia, giving her a confused look.

"Isn't that the same thing as a Professor?"

"Technically. But a Researcher actually goes out and researches things himself; rather than just staying 'kooked up in some lab.'"

Delia smiled after this and Gary looked down; truly giving that idea a thought. That sounds much better than just being a Professor.

"Your grandfather is a Researcher as well as a Professor, but he doesn't travel as much as he used to. You should ask him about it later! I'm sure you'd enjoy that more than being a Pokémon Champion."

Gary looked back up at Ash's mother and gave her an honest nod, noting that he would talk to his grandfather about it before leaving.

But he was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard a knocking on the door. He actually felt himself jump at this and he turned around as Delia got up, saying "that must be Ash now". Gary was about to abruptly get up, but Ash's mother stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking into his eyes.

"Gary. Just be honest, ok? I don't know exactly why you're here but...no more lying. And I don't just mean today. Every day; just...be you."

Gary silently watched her as she walked over to the door, feeling shocked that she managed to read him way too easily. As she opened the door and happily greeted her son, Gary shook the feeling away and took a deep breath, standing up straight and fixing his clothes out of habit although they were not improper.

Ash tightly hugged his mother, smiling brightly at her then introducing her to the Gym Leaders that followed him around again. He must have already introduced them because Delia cut him off, remembering such famous Gym Leaders. This made Gary realize that Ash must have seemed to have much more potential than he did if they followed him all through Kanto...

But all those negative thoughts faded away as he watched Ash smile and laugh in joy. He never looked like this when he was around him and he had to admit, Ash was so much cuter when he was happy, rather than angry. Sadly, these instances were scarce and Gary had to take in as much as he could before it went away. Really looking at him now, Gary concluded that he definitely wanted to be with him; to see that smile more. Maybe one day he could cause such a smile.

As Ash walked into the house, he looked over to Gary and his smile faded, showing more confusion and annoyance rather than the joy he had only seconds ago.

"Mom?! What's he doing here?!" Ash yelled out, being overly dramatic as always.

"Ash, I would like you to take Gary up to your room. He wants to speak with you about something very important."

"But-"

"Oh, don't worry about your friends here. Would you two mind coming to the kitchen with me?" she asked Misty and Brock with her sweet smile penetrating any sort of uncomfortable aura this scene was giving off.

"Uhm, Mom. See, about Gary," Delia turned to Ash, giving him a confused look.

"You two haven't been fighting again, have you? I know that you two have been rivals throughout this whole journey, but you're still friends, right?"

Gary looked over to Ash who looked back at him, wondering what to say. Ash was what you would call a 'mama's boy' and truly didn't like getting her upset (as hard as that was). But Gary, being a master of deceiving, knew that Delia was just playing the part so Ash could suck up to her. He quickly wondered if he got his good lying skills from her.

"Uhm...yeah! Of course we are!" Ash said as he laughed a bit and moved to the stairs.

"Ok, good! Now be quick! Gary has to get going soon!" Delia said as she led the Gym Leaders to the kitchen.

But Gary couldn't help to notice a glance that the Cerulean Gym Leader gave to Ash; one of reassurance. Ash gave her the same look then looked over to Gary with a frown. He began walking up the stairs and Gary followed.

He could feel his face burning with nervousness; believing that this was going to be one of the most difficult things he'd have to do in his life.

Gary didn't need to follow Ash as he knew the exact location of his room (and every other room in this house). Once they were in the room, Ash closed the door behind him and walked around Gary, standing in front of him. The brunette took a look around the room and felt a wave of nostalgia run through him. The room hadn't changed much; being quite empty as most of his items were stored in his drawers and closet. The walls were lined with posters of old cartoon shows and some of his favorite bands.

The brunette then turned around and inhaled, getting ready to speak. But Ash managed to beat him before the exhale.

"Before you start anything, I have a few things I need to say to you."

Gary blinked but broke his sentence; changing it to, "ok. What?"

"Firstly, I don't know why you're here and honestly, I kind of don't care. If this is apparently so important, I highly doubt you would come to tell me. Secondly, I've been wanting to tell you how tired I am of your attitude."

Gary opened his mouth to try to interject but Ash quickly stopped him, saying, "no; you shut up! You've had more than half a damn year to tell me how you feel about me so you will wait until I'm done!"

Gary was a taken aback by the outburst. Where did Ash find this sudden confidence? He decided to keep quiet, realizing how serious this was for the smaller Trainer.

"Ever since we started this huge journey, so many people have told me that I am strong, amazing, talented; hell, even handsome. But you know the funny thing? I can't believe any of it. Have you ever heard of that little fact of, if someone tells you enough you'll eventually believe it?"

Ash didn't wait for an answer.

"Yeah, well that happened to me. Every single damn time we met up, you always had something to say and always wanted to take me down. I've been through this whole damn region; beating each person I found. But no matter what, I still felt weak. Because whenever I saw you, you reminded me that in the end, you will always be better than me. Every word you would say, every insult you threw at me; it hurt, Gary. Yeah, I know I should be able to handle insults, but I can't handle it if that's all that ever comes out of your damn mouth! I can't take this anymore Gary! I can't take you being such a freakin' dick all of the time!"

Gary tried to keep a stoic expression on, feeling his heart breaking with every word. He just wanted to apologize and explain all of this; tell Ash that he had a reason for this and it was just to help him! But he knew Ash would get even more frustrated if he tried to cut him off.

The smaller boy took a moment to breath then continued.

"And I know I might sound weaker and girly because I'm telling you how I feel, but it's not. I needed to say this. I wanted to just punch the hell out of you but that wouldn't have solved anything..."

Ash looked away for a moment, his face red with anger. Emotion was always hard for him to express because he had so much of it that never stopped pouring out. Gary was actually a little amazed that he wasn't crying yet. Not that that would make him think any lower of Ash.

Still, Gary didn't know that his insults had hit so deeply. They became so natural to throw at him that the brunette thought his rival would eventually get used to it.

"So... with that being said, I don't want to see you anymore," Ash stated, looking up at Gary with an extremely serious expression.

Gary's eyes widened, a chill of fear running down his back.

"Wait...what?"

"I don't want to see you. After this little conversation, I don't want you getting near me, talking to me, passing by me; just stay, the hell, away from me. I don't know if you're 'man' enough to accept that, but trust me, I will just pretend you're not even there because you are not worth my damn time anymore. I know I'm weaker than you and always will be; I know I'm not 'as attractive' as you or 'as amazing'. But, hell, at least I have a heart."

Silence consumed the room as Ash seemed to have finished what he wanted to say. Gary could only look down at his rival's shirt; feeling too hurt to even look him in the eyes. To go as far as saying he had no heart. Gary definitely went too far because as heartless as he acted, it still hurt for someone to say that; especially the person who he wanted to be with.

For so long, all he wanted to do was help and it took him this long to realize that he only made things worse. Gary felt his eyes beginning to lightly swell, his body desiring to show the emotion that he desperately wanted to express.

What could he say? There was no way he could tell Ash how he feels now. And trying to explain why he did this to begin with will just confuse the boy and think that Gary is lying.

"So what's the last thing you're gonna tell me?" Ash said, now sounding more sad then angry. So this was hurting him too?

Gary finally looked up at Ash, who was looking down at his shirt. He opened his mouth a few times, still contemplating what to say, but shut it when nothing could form. The only thing that was going through his mind was what Delia told him earlier: just be honest. And he could be to a certain extent. So he did.

"You...are strong."

Ash instantly looked up at this, looking confused.

"And...brave and... so much more amazing than you realize."

Ash didn't reply but stood up straight, keeping his full attention on the taller Trainer.

"You can be a little annoying sometimes, but that just makes you you and it's endurable because...the rest of your personality is so worth it. And, don't even bring up the whole attractive thing because you are handsome. It's weird coming from me, but I know for a fact you are an attractive guy... And strong. Every time we battled, I noticed that you continued to get better. That, you made new strategies; ones that I never thought of, including things that just seem impossible...and you manage to do them without a second thought as if it was easy."

Ash's confusion began to grow but Gary could see that this was really affecting him. The boy's eyes lightly watered but he would take calming breaths to keep himself stable. Gary, on the other hand, saw his vision getting a little blurry. He knew honesty was a strong emotion. That was why he always avoided it. And letting it all out now felt as if it was all just too much.

"I'm just...I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry...I'm a compulsive liar and didn't get what I was doing until I went too far. I thought I was right but-," Gary cut himself off, clearing his throat as he felt it choking up.

He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, trying to make it seem that he was just trying to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes but Ash could tell he was removing the tears before they attempted to stain his face. Still, something was bothering the blackette and he had to ask.

"Gary...why did you come here?"

It only made sense that he wasn't going to apologize off the back as that was a reply to what he was going to say.

Gary chuckled, putting his head down and shaking it, murmuring, "I-I don't know. I forgot, I guess."

"No; tell me."

But Gary kept quiet and that only frustrated Ash more.

"You know that's your problem. You keep trying to fight on your own; without anyone helping you. But you're gonna lose at some point because everyone will be against you and you'll have absolutely no one to call for help...So just tell me."

Gary sniffed and forced himself to look up at Ash, hating the fact that his eyes were probably red from irritation. He realized that, in a sense, he had just been rejected, and that hurt more than anything. The one time he decided it was time to come out and express himself was far too late. And he only had himself to blame for that.

So with the energy he had left, Gary forced up a smile and said, "good luck. I came to say good luck. You're...very powerful and I know the next time we are ever forced into battle, it will be difficult and fantastic..."

With that, Gary turned and walked to the door, opening it to get ready to run again. It was as if that was all he was good at doing; running from his problems.

But oddly enough, something told him to stop. He had to do something before he left; even if it was absurd or illogical, he simply had to do it.

So he turned back to Ash, who hadn't moved from his place and was sadly watching him. He walked up to the boy and took off his hat, throwing it to the side.

"Gary...?" Ash asked.

But Gary ignored the comment as he looked down at him. He brought his hands up and held both sides of Ash's face, causing the boy's eyes to widen. Ash looked shocked, but he didn't move or force himself away.

Slowly, Gary brought his lips to the boy's forehead and kissed him, holding it there as if all the love in his heart was pouring out of this one action. Ash didn't move, but Gary could feel him as he placed his hands on his, lightly gripping onto them.

Excluding his family, Gary never expressed such a gesture to someone and never planned to. Yet, this one kiss felt necessary and Gary knew he had to do this. He had no definite answer as to why, but in a way, it felt as if this one thing could somehow heal all the wounds he placed onto his friend. And he hoped to Arceus that it meant something.

Hopefully, Ash will see how much love he was expressing and would understand Gary's feelings, but Gary knew that that was illogical and wouldn't happen; no matter how hard he begged for it.

He eventually pulled away, and gulped, knowing that this might be the last time he could connect with his old friend.

"I didn't mean any of it...Promise," the brunette whispered as he looked down, keeping his eyes shut.

After another moment, Gary opened his eyes and stepped back, sliding his hands off of his rival's face. He could see confusion in those burnt sienna eyes, but Ash merely took a shakey breath and looked away, biting his bottom lip. It was like looking into a mirror, with the way Ash hid his emotions.

After another silent moment, Ash finally said, "goodbye, Shigeru."

The use of that name brought a deep pain in Gary's chest. He was amazed that he had the ability to reply.

"...Goodbye, Satoshi. Good luck."

Ash didn't reply or look at him, so Gary nodded and turned around, walking out of the door and shutting it behind him.

As he grabbed his things that were on the couch and went past the living room, he could see Delia in the kitchen from his peripheral vision. She turned to him and was getting up, but that didn't stop Gary from making a beeline to the door.

When he put his hand on the door knob, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was soft and subtle; no sense of urgency or strength laced into it. The hand stayed there, as if instantly knowing that he needed this comfort.

"Were you honest?" Gary heard Delia whisper from behind him.

Gary gulped but nodded.

No response came in return and Gary somehow felt as if she was trying to understand him. And as if she could read his mind, Delia pulled him into a soft embrace from behind, kissing his head and telling him, "it's ok," as if she was his actual mother.

He stood there, feeling astounded that this woman knew how to break through every barrier he ever pulled up, as if she knew exactly how he felt. It made him wonder if she ever went through heartbreak...

Either way, she forced his tears to fall as she held on a little tighter. After a moment, he placed his hand on her arm, saying, "I gotta go."

Delia wanted to argue about it, but nodded, knowing that there was nothing she could do. If he really was honest, then whatever happened was the best that he could do; nothing more, nothing less.

"Ok. Be careful," she said with a soft smile as she let go.

Gary nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the door. He ignored the rain that came drizzling down and called out Arcanine, telling him to kneel down so he could climb onto his back. Arcanine instantly did as he was told, overjoyed that Gary was asking for help other than in battle.

Once Gary was on, he asked Arcanine if he knew his way to Viridian City. The dog took a moment to think but shook his head, unfamiliar with this terrain.

The boy sniffed and shook his head, saying, "just keep running this direction. I'll tell you where to go. But don't stop running, just...run."

Arcanine looked back at him for a moment, finally realizing how red his eyes were. But by the way he looked, Arcanine could tell that it was better to just listen.

So the large fire dog ran through the soft rain, enjoying the feeling although he found it odd that it wasn't hurting him.

As Arcanine ran, Gary held onto his fur and watched the scenery pass by. He passed by his grandfather's lab, reminding him that he had said goodbye to his sister this morning, but not to Gramps. Once they passed by it, Gary deeply sighed and buried his face in Arcanine's fur, saying to himself, "I fucked this all up...I ruined everything."

After a while, the fur began tickling his running nose and Gary pulled his face back up, looking around to realize they were at the edge of town. He looked up at the dark clouds above, letting his tears secretly fall with the drops of rain.

Who was he kidding? Confessing something like that was just a horrible idea. Trying to help to begin with was just a horrible idea. Maybe butting out would have been the best thing to do from the start.

However, realizing that he was too deep in to run, Gary continued his way to Viridian; still striving to become the Champion. If not for Satoshi anymore, it would be for himself; to prove that he could do something without giving up halfway.

An hour or so running through the rain made Gary's emotions copy the feeling, as he became cold and retracted his feelings. Although he was going to hide the feelings he had for Satoshi, he still wanted to make a change and become more honest; starting now.

So attempting to fix himself up, Gary took deep breaths and watched as the city soon came into view.

Because of the odd changes in weather depending on location, Viridian City was only getting a faint drizzle, so before heading straight inside the gym, Gary waited outside for his clothes and hair to dry.

He leaned against the wall of the gym, making sure his mind was clear.

He had tried to look up information on this gym leader, but all he could obtain was that the gym was apparently a complicated puzzle in itself and that the leader had no preferred type.

He knew that this battle would most likely run smoothly, like all the rest, but he still had to mentally prepare. Maybe a good, difficult fight would clear his mind.

"Sir, he's finally here," the Team Rocket member said as he brought up a camera of the entrance.

The leader of the gym looked into the camera, watching Shigeru as he stood against a wall, thinking. A large, disturbing smile stretched across his face. He remembered when this boy oh so easily broke into his facility and took out more than half of his members without breaking a sweat. Then to top it off, he allowed another weaker Trainer to finish the job and even beat the leader himself.

"Good. Prepare the gym for his arrival."

"Shall we do an 'opening ceremony' for him, sir?"

"That is not needed. With my new toy, I'll give him all the entertainment he needs," the leader hissed out as he turned his chair around and looked at the capsule that contained his priced possession and most powerful weapon.

A.N. SO, lol this actually came out better than expected. Like, honestly, I was planning on adding a physical fight, yelling, and crying, etc etc lol but I was like no, I've been giving Shigeru way too much physical damage. He needs some emotional pain lol

Ok to explain a bit about that. I felt like...ok yeah, Shigeru has been through a crapload of stuff, a bunch of pain, so you'd think the writer would show some pity right? But I'm also thinking, Ash doesn't know about ANY of this. He just thought Gary was a major douche who just wanted to hurt him (keyword: thought).

So at some point, I imagined Ash just feeling so depressed about that and maybe Misty noticed this and talked to him about it? Told him "You need to tell that boy that he needs to stahp!" lol I dunno.

But back to subject, I felt as if this all was still...'imaginary' for Gary. Like, although all of this happened, he still hasn't fully taken it in.

So when Ash finally told him "I'm gettin real tired of your shiz man", something in him just made him realize that absolutely everything he had done was for naught. Lol I get the feeling you guys are gonna hate me for this.

BUT! If it makes anyone feel better, think about when Gary gave him that kiss and the way Ash looked and acted. That's actually very important in its own way.

I also enjoyed that a lot more than a kiss on the lips. I was originally planning that, but then I thought about how much Gary cares about him and everything he did for him.

That emotion of just severe protection made a kiss on the head more appropriate because I believe that a kiss on the head isn't about how much you physically love someone, but that you desire protection for them.

Like...(lol so hard to explain) ok, I thought of when children get hurt and the mother kisses that area. It may not do anything physically, but the sheer fact that someone who loves you is showing affection in your time of need somehow makes the boo boo feel better. (hell, it worked for me XD) Lol does that make sense for this argument? Lol I hope so.

Well, on a more important note (I guess), I will not be updating the next chapter for two reasons:

1) There is some research I am doing for the next chappy that involves me finishing a whole damn game lol So I need to do that.

and 2) I obviously need to rewatch this episode (Battle of the Badge I think?) and a few more afterwards that are important to the next couple of chapters. Gotta get mah notes and stuff, you know? lol So yeah, I apologize but that's what I gotta do XD It'll be worth it, PROMISE! (Especially because I'm planning a super crazy plot twist that is just like YES cuz it's awesome...)

Lol Ok then Please R&R! Tell me what you thought about the whole 'rejection' thing (I didn't think of it that way really but dude, if I was about to confess and the person said "I DON'T WANNA SEE YOU ANYMORE", I'd feel super emo too lol), anything you liked and/or hated about this chapter :) Stupid grammar mistakes lol

I actually think it was really short because so little happened, you know? But it's honestly as far as I need to go. The next few chapters are gonna be so AWESUM. I can't wait to write them X3